I posted this in another forum, but just in case some of you don't read that forum I am posting this question here too.

I was wondering if any of you guys could give me some ideas for some good practice drills to increase my abillity for cornering.

I got rid of my cruiser and got my sportbike to be able to enjoy shredding Apexs, and the occassional wheelie.

I have been on this thing for 9 months, and I have come to a plateu....I ride the same mountain road frequently, and I am to a point that my fear of more lean angle is holding me back.
I don't have the money to go to any track days until next year, and then, I probably wouldn't need a track day, I would be better served by instruction.

Any ideas on how to overcome this fear with some kind of exercises that I can step up gradually?

Thanks,
Chris

advice I would give would be to learn at your own pace and take your time.

all setup for a corner should be done while you are in a straight up postition ie all braking, downshifting, and setting up your body postition. when leaning into the corner smoothly roll on the throttle to settle the bike. http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I would probably guess that you are not leaning as far as you think you are. What are the state of your tyres ? examine the edges of the rear tyre are they worn or not ? If the chicken strips are like significantly wide then you have plenty of lean angle left. As for overcoming the fear of leaning the bike more, I would forget about it for the moment and concentrate on smoothness e.g gear changes, braking and throttle input. As for improving cornering abilty you could try practicing riding figures of 8. Find some space where you can practice ( parking lot) and mark out a figure of 8. After a while make the 8, continually a bit smaller till the point where it is actually impossible to complete it. This should will help with throttle control and the positioning of the bike when making turns. Alternatively I have often had periods where my cornering ability has been poor, in these instances I go and ride some of the most difficult stretches of roads near where I live. I continually practice and after about 3 or 4 runs, my cornering comes back. http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

best advice is to go and take an instructional course on a race track. in our area the main one is the penguin road racing school. you get some instruction on how to be safe on a racetrack, and then you go on the track and have a follow the leader session. you will get personal attention from the instructors, and at the end of the day they give you 3 hours of open practice to go out at your own pace. there is no better place than the track to practice riding these bikes the way they were meant to be ridden.

bmfgsxr said:

there is no better place than the track to practice riding these bikes the way they were meant to be ridden.



That's what I was going to say. Practice, practice is all you can really do. Ask one of the fast guys to go out there with you on a practice session to tell you how he sees you. Then you follow him.