JUST CHILL...

QI’m struggling to get anywhere near relaxed on my bike (BMW S 1000 RR) when I’m doing trackdays. For the first couple of sessions my hands start going numb meaning I have to come in early. I know I should be as relaxed as possible but it’s just not happening for some reason. It seems worse with tight corners as I’m always running wide having to make corrections after the apex. I’m turning as late as I can but the bike is just shooting into the corner. Help!

AHi, if your hands are going numb then you are most certainly holding onto the bars too tightly. Ideally we need to use our legs to hold onto the fuel tank, which means we can relax our grip on the bars.

Relaxing on the bars will also help with rider fatigue, and you will get better feedback as to what the bike is doing if you hold on with your legs, especially in wet and/or slippery conditions.

If you hold on tight with your hands, as the bike reacts to the road surface you will transfer every single bump through your body and into the throttle, causing the bike to jerk around as you go on and off the gas. You need pressure on (as opposed to holding tightly onto) the bars when you steer the bike, and you can relax the pressure on the bars after you finish the steering input, then having just enough grip on them to roll the throttle on through the remainder of the turn. Got that?

Are you holding onto the bars so tightly that when you steer the bike you are rolling the throttle on at the same time? There could also be other things that you are doing in the turn that will have an effect:

Are you sure you’ve completed your steering input and the bike is on your line before you roll on the throttle? If not, the bike will go wide when you roll it on. In tight turns it’s even more important to have patience and wait until you have the bike on line and steering is completed before rolling on the throttle.

Are you rolling on the throttle and then trying to steer the bike? The result is as above – the bike will go wide.

What exactly do you look at? Do you look exactly where you want to apex the turn when you look in? Do you look at an apex, or do you look straight through to the exit of the turn? How long do you look at your apex for? Long enough to ensure that you will go there? Do you target fix on the apex? Is your apex early, mid-turn or late? Your apex has a huge effect on where you will find yourself on the exit of the turn. Your letter suggests your apex is too early.

Do you look at the outside of the track? If you find yourself looking at the gravel trap on the outside of the turn, there’s a good chance you’ll end up there. None of these are scenarios that will help you relax on the bars. Have a think about what is going on and work out exactly what you are doing with your body and your eyes. You can then make the necessary changes to correct your error(s) so you will be able to remain relaxed on the bars as much as possible.