Cornering Courage

[OreoGaborio]

hehe, I'll try to answer the question a little bit

Some tires are different than others... some give you LOTS of warning, some very little... In either case you need to spend lots of time near that limit to be able to listen to them and learn the signs. With rear tire traction loss you'll feel the back end begin to walk out on you... with front tire traction loss it'll feel like the bike suddenly has power steering and the front end feels kind of "numb".

I'd be willing to bet that after a crash almost all of your typical street riders, the vast majority of track day enthusiasts and even some racers will say (at LEAST to themselves) "Man, the tires just gave right out with hardly any warning at all!". It takes a LOT of training to be able to push a tire right up TO the limit, RECOGNIZE that you're at the limit and KEEP it there at that limit without going OVER that limit.

Even at the level that I'm at, I still have plenty of trouble riding right at the limit & keeping it there consistently even though I've developed a pretty good feel for knowing when I'm there. The biggest reason why I haven't crashed much when riding as hard as I do is because I've developed the ability to stay very relaxed and smooth when the tires are slipping.

Needless to say I STRONGLY suggest you don't try to develop that skill on the street. Instead of practicing outright speed, practice being smooth & relaxed cuz THAT'S what will do the most to keep you out of trouble once you get to that limit of traction.... heck, you might not even realize you were there until a split second after it happened and you regained traction.


Hope that helps... lemme know if you're still kinda fuzzy on it & want me to attempt to clear anything up