How you can improve your cornering

To improve your ability to corner, you need to consider several important factors:

■ Your speed – the speed you approach the corner will affect how you enter and exit

■ The amount of lean that you apply

■ The amount of acceleration and braking you apply ■ The slope across the road surface

■ The road surface itself and how weather and other factors affect its grip

■ The characteristics of the motorcycle and its ground clearance

■ The weight and distribution of any load (e.g. pillion). Once you understand the factors that affect your machine’s ability to corner, you can then use the system of motorcycle control to corner safely.

The overriding element of the ‘system’ is information processing, and the other four phases of the system – position, speed, gear and acceleration/action – are the key factors that you must consider when cornering.

As you approach the bend, seek as much information as possible about the severity of the corner using all observational clues available to you (weather, road surface, road signs, road markings, lines made by lampposts and trees, speed/position of oncoming traffic, angle of headlights at night, etc.). The more information you gather about the bend, the more accurately you’ll be able to judge the best position and speed to negotiate it.

Always keep your vision up. Remember to look where you want to go – don’t focus only on the bend. Your position will determine how much you can see when you enter a bend. Put your bike in the best position for you to see, with due consideration for safety.