Jake
June 29th, 2003, 08:43 AM
... The first crash is always the most humbling. If you're lucky, you get to stand on the roadside looking at all that pretty plastic broken into pieces almost as small as your damaged ego. If you're really lucky, you've crashed in a turn right in front of your friends and get to die of embarrassment for having made a stupid mistake.
... Recently, I had my first error-filled, mid-curve crash. Two weeks later a riding buddy suffered the same fate, and a broken collarbone in the same place. Why are mid-curve crashes so common? Let's look at the physics of the crash and how you can avoid making mincemeat out of your fairing or your body.
Headed for Trouble...
... It was a typical Florida winter ride-crystal clear conditions on a deserted set of twisties. My front tire had been giving me crummy feedback, the rubber on the very last of its life span. Foolishly, I kept riding on a tire that made my concentration erode on every corner so I was mentally behind the bike. Fourth in line behind the other riders, I approached a slow left hander and began scrubbing off speed with the front brake. When slow enough, I leaned the bike over and began my turn-in with the throttle on. The left-hander revealed itself as an ugly decreasing radius turn, which meant that the line I had chosen was going to run me out of room. At that point, panic, rather than the logic I'd been taught, took over. I grabbed front brake which made things worse by standing up the bike and pressing it farther to the outside of the turn. The bike ran off the road and went down in the sand, sliding me across the ground on my back.
Re-learn a Turn.
... That cornering sequence was full of errors. I'd failed to remember all the cornering rules. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation has a clever pneumonic for cornering: SLOW, LOOK, LEAN, and ROLL. Pretty simplistic, I know, but it's made of the stuff used by greats like Keith Code, Wayne Rainey and Eddie Lawson. Let's take a look at the corner as it should have happened. SLOW. Pretty self-evident. It's a matter of getting the bike slowed before your turn-in. The difficulty is that during those microseconds you also have to SEARCH and PREDICT. What kind of corner is approaching? Are you wide enough to delay your turn-in? Have you gauged the speed to provide enough time and space to react to situations as they appear in your field of vision? I failed to recognize the corner as a decreasing radius and to appropriately delay my turn-in. Before the turn began, I was destined for trouble.
Looking to the Exit and Leaning.
... LOOK. This task is pretty simple too. So simple, in fact, that most of us don't do it correctly. As you enter the turn, your head should be facing the exit and your intended path after the turn. Examine a photo of one of the World Superbike pros (photo above.) His head will be cranked around as he blasts through the corner. Watching the exit allows you to perceive the turn as a single coordinated maneuver rather than a series of arcs and corrections. Instead, my eyes were on the outside of the curve, a far cry from the turn exit where I should have ended.
... LEAN. A motorcycle needs to lean in a turn in order to maintain balance. Leaning moves the center of gravity toward the inside of the turn, allowing the bike to move in an arc. An increase in speed and/or curve radius will require you to lean the bike over more. With today's tires, in most normal applications you will be able to lean your bike over farther than you believe. However, panic can overtake your ability to lean. Once I had the bike on the wrong path, I let my panic dictate too little lean angle. More lean angle might have saved me.
Rolling Through The Turn...
... ROLL. Gradually roll on the throttle while entering the corner. In A Twist of the Wrist II, Keith Code explains it succinctly. The sooner you get onto the gas, the sooner you have your suspension in control. Delicate throttle during the corner will distribute the bike's weight in a 40/60 distribution where more weight will transfer over the rear tire rather than the front. As a result, your tires have better traction and steering is more stable. What happens if you go through the corner with the throttle closed or worse yet, on the brakes? Weight is transferred forward, reducing traction, the bike over reacts to pavement, and wants to wander outward, not holding its line. By grabbing the brake, I overloaded the front tire. As I ran off into the grass, the front suspension unloaded in the soft sand and the rest is credit card history. The cardinal rule is gently roll on throttle, even when you're in trouble.
... There it is. The difference between brilliance and disaster is just a few simple thoughts - slow, look, lean and roll. Don't let the bike get ahead of your brain. It will lead to expensive repair bills every time. Go out and try these techniques on slow and easy turns until you can build your speed and confidence. At that point, your brain will be ahead of the bike. With that in mind, I'm going back out to that corner. Randy Price
... Recently, I had my first error-filled, mid-curve crash. Two weeks later a riding buddy suffered the same fate, and a broken collarbone in the same place. Why are mid-curve crashes so common? Let's look at the physics of the crash and how you can avoid making mincemeat out of your fairing or your body.
Headed for Trouble...
... It was a typical Florida winter ride-crystal clear conditions on a deserted set of twisties. My front tire had been giving me crummy feedback, the rubber on the very last of its life span. Foolishly, I kept riding on a tire that made my concentration erode on every corner so I was mentally behind the bike. Fourth in line behind the other riders, I approached a slow left hander and began scrubbing off speed with the front brake. When slow enough, I leaned the bike over and began my turn-in with the throttle on. The left-hander revealed itself as an ugly decreasing radius turn, which meant that the line I had chosen was going to run me out of room. At that point, panic, rather than the logic I'd been taught, took over. I grabbed front brake which made things worse by standing up the bike and pressing it farther to the outside of the turn. The bike ran off the road and went down in the sand, sliding me across the ground on my back.
Re-learn a Turn.
... That cornering sequence was full of errors. I'd failed to remember all the cornering rules. The Motorcycle Safety Foundation has a clever pneumonic for cornering: SLOW, LOOK, LEAN, and ROLL. Pretty simplistic, I know, but it's made of the stuff used by greats like Keith Code, Wayne Rainey and Eddie Lawson. Let's take a look at the corner as it should have happened. SLOW. Pretty self-evident. It's a matter of getting the bike slowed before your turn-in. The difficulty is that during those microseconds you also have to SEARCH and PREDICT. What kind of corner is approaching? Are you wide enough to delay your turn-in? Have you gauged the speed to provide enough time and space to react to situations as they appear in your field of vision? I failed to recognize the corner as a decreasing radius and to appropriately delay my turn-in. Before the turn began, I was destined for trouble.
Looking to the Exit and Leaning.
... LOOK. This task is pretty simple too. So simple, in fact, that most of us don't do it correctly. As you enter the turn, your head should be facing the exit and your intended path after the turn. Examine a photo of one of the World Superbike pros (photo above.) His head will be cranked around as he blasts through the corner. Watching the exit allows you to perceive the turn as a single coordinated maneuver rather than a series of arcs and corrections. Instead, my eyes were on the outside of the curve, a far cry from the turn exit where I should have ended.
... LEAN. A motorcycle needs to lean in a turn in order to maintain balance. Leaning moves the center of gravity toward the inside of the turn, allowing the bike to move in an arc. An increase in speed and/or curve radius will require you to lean the bike over more. With today's tires, in most normal applications you will be able to lean your bike over farther than you believe. However, panic can overtake your ability to lean. Once I had the bike on the wrong path, I let my panic dictate too little lean angle. More lean angle might have saved me.
Rolling Through The Turn...
... ROLL. Gradually roll on the throttle while entering the corner. In A Twist of the Wrist II, Keith Code explains it succinctly. The sooner you get onto the gas, the sooner you have your suspension in control. Delicate throttle during the corner will distribute the bike's weight in a 40/60 distribution where more weight will transfer over the rear tire rather than the front. As a result, your tires have better traction and steering is more stable. What happens if you go through the corner with the throttle closed or worse yet, on the brakes? Weight is transferred forward, reducing traction, the bike over reacts to pavement, and wants to wander outward, not holding its line. By grabbing the brake, I overloaded the front tire. As I ran off into the grass, the front suspension unloaded in the soft sand and the rest is credit card history. The cardinal rule is gently roll on throttle, even when you're in trouble.
... There it is. The difference between brilliance and disaster is just a few simple thoughts - slow, look, lean and roll. Don't let the bike get ahead of your brain. It will lead to expensive repair bills every time. Go out and try these techniques on slow and easy turns until you can build your speed and confidence. At that point, your brain will be ahead of the bike. With that in mind, I'm going back out to that corner. Randy Price