ART - What did you learn about cornering lines?

[BCRider99]

Hey everyone, it is fun reading about your ART course experiences and looking at the pics...wish I could have gone this time. :(

Anyway I'm curious what they taught you as the keys to picking your cornering line? Specifically how did they tell you to select your turn-in point? And having picked it, what did they tell you to aim for next? I'm assuming they covered that kind of stuff.

Byron

[CoolDaddyGroove]

Naaaaah. They besaically spent the day teaching us how to do burnouts, stoppies and high speed wheelies. It rocked!

[Sewman]

Hey Byron. Each instructor gave different feedback. I just sort of took in information wherever feedback was given.

What I do remember about lines was:
Enter the corner wide and avoid the tendency to cut in too quickly.

Setup so that you have a good entry into the next corner if they're linked.

After you've picked an entry point, make it a decisive turn in and focus on the next corner early as possible. You should always be looking at the next corner, or two corners if they are tight ones.

Crack the throttle as soon as you're decreasing your lean - or after the apex to stabilize the bike.

That's all I can remember for lines.
As for hanging off:
They told us to hover above the seat and put more of the weight on the inside foot peg. Your ass crack should hover right around the edge of the seat. Honestly though, when you've leaned the bike over, your ass tends to start hovering right back where it was before. You pretty much have to exaggerate the hanging to get it right.

Everytime I came back into the pits complaining that I felt like a goof hanging off that much, they just gave me good feedback and told me to,"Lean more...it should feel ridiculously unnatural at first."

I felt like I was touching my wrist to my shoulder when I was out there.

[Sewman]

We did do stoppies and wheelies :cool

[CoolDaddyGroove]

jk

[TeeTee]

Hey there Sewman, you may have felt clumsy but your avatar shows pretty good form.

It feels really strange at first but when you're really over it makes so much more sense.

Looks like you dragged some knee too. Now that my leathers are broken in I'll have to try and remember to stick my leg out....... :D

[Sewman]

Hey bruce! I saw you ripping it up out there, what fun watching those super motard guys lightin it up too.

I remember watching the video for the first time. It really exposes how little we actually lean. In the morning, the video shows that my knee was close to the ground but I was hardly leaning off at all. I'm sure all of the other students will mirror my thoughts. After that, I saw how easy it was just go twist a little here and push a little there and weasel my hips and shoulders out just a couple more inches.

After watching the replays, you really get a sense of just how much you're supposed to monkey off the handle bars and pegs.:alien

p.s. Had to wait 2 or 3 laps on 30ish psi tires before they would be warm enough to hold those lean angles without drifting. I hope nobody reads this and tries it on the streets.

[jonathan]

I don't like those painted lines... I would have considered the course but being on painted lines I felt a bit sketchy about the whole ting.

[TeeTee]

Jonathan. The lines really aren't a problem. You just try to cut across them the short way and the worst you get at full lean is a little bit of split second sketchiness. No biggie and even to feel that you need to be getting pretty serious.

Sewman, I suspect you never thought you could have so much fun on a parking lot before that weekend either, didja? I never did touch down a peg on that bit because the far end felt a little slippery as I got down close to the full lean. Better to just hold off a little at that point. All great practice and I've still got a lot to learn and room to improve. I think I know how fast I can go but I'm sorta sneeking up on it and gaining some confidence and comfort as I go along.

And having a bike that I don't mind tossing down the road helps a LOT as well.

[Sewman]

Oh yah, I saw that F2. Absolutely beautiful. That's what I need.

What the market needs is a race trainer bike. Cheap as hell, gutless but great handling and sliders everywhere. :p

[Harps]

Originally posted by jonathan
I don't like those painted lines... I would have considered the course but being on painted lines I felt a bit sketchy about the whole ting.

Actually, it weas sort of good having the painted lines, and handicap signs, and even a metal drain at one spot (straight). :eek It made the course feel more like a real world situation, sicne it was street-rider training, not racing.

[Budgie]

Nice avatar Sewman. That little zx6 looks pretty dam good . I'm jealous. I think I need better tires. What have you got on yours?

[Sewman]

Hey thanx man! At least you've got some nice roads on the island to exploit your tires! Vancouver traffic licks.

I've got BT010's on there right now with 11,000kms and still plenty left. Before, Tires were tires to me. That's until I really wrenched on them. Now I know what it feels like when the tires begin to drift a little. I am one relieve SOB that I spent some decent coin on the Bridgestones instead of buying some rock hard touring rubber. I saw first hand, a front wheel lockup during our breaking exercises with Tweety's D205's on his blackbird. Granted, there's some funky shit going on with his linked braking system, but I doubt he would have locked his front wheel if there were stickier rubber. (btw, nice save Dave)

I forgot which tires you had on your ride. The michellin hi-sports? Any of the modern hi-performance tires will be better than the stock buns. Michellin Pilots, Bridgestone BT series, Dunlop's, Avons, Metzlers/Pirelli etc. Which one is best? That's a whole other thread that I don't wanna start. ;)

[BCRider99]

Originally posted by Sewman
What I do remember about lines was:
Enter the corner wide and avoid the tendency to cut in too quickly.

Setup so that you have a good entry into the next corner if they're linked.

After you've picked an entry point, make it a decisive turn in and focus on the next corner early as possible. You should always be looking at the next corner, or two corners if they are tight ones.

Crack the throttle as soon as you're decreasing your lean - or after the apex to stabilize the bike.

That's all I can remember for lines.
As for hanging off:


Thanks Jason! The best line through a corner takes some experimentation so I'm always curious what tips the "pros" have.

Byron