Cornering On Your Motorcycle

Whether you’re an expert rider or a newcomer on the scene, your motorcycle is a fun, fast, but potentially dangerous tool. One of the most important skills to learn is how to corner properly, both so that you can retain as much speed as possible and to keep you safe and in control. Learning that lesson can mean the difference between a tight, smooth turn and flying off your bike entirely. 

To help keep you safe and on your motorcycle, we here at Nielsen Enterprises in Lake Villas, Illinois, have put together some tips on how to corner properly. If you have any other questions about riding, you’re looking for a new bike, or your current bike is in need of a touch-up, stop by our store today!

Counter-Steering

Turning seems like a pretty easy process, right? You want to go left, so you point your front wheel to the left, end of story. But it’s not that simple. Counter-steering can be a vital technique that will seem counterintuitive at first, but will actually make your turns both faster and safer. Essentially, just before you go into the turn itself, you turn your wheel just slightly in what feels like the wrong direction. For instance, if you’re about to turn left, you start by steering just a little to the right before returning to a more natural turn process.

This utilizes some weird physics to start your turn earlier and make it tighter. Where a more natural turn takes time to get the lean and angle correct for your corner, counter-steering forces your bike into the desired angle early, allowing you to turn more precisely. We recommend you learn more about this technique before you attempt it, however, to make sure you do it safely.

Handling The Corner

As you see a turn coming up, it’s important to purposefully pick your entry line into the corner. If there are any obstacles in the way, like brake bumps, you’ll want to choose a wider angle. Once you’ve got that planned out, you’ve got to make sure your body is in the right space.

Body Position

Seated cornering is the simplest method and will do fine for you, most times. But once you’ve mastered that, you may want to try experimenting with central standing position while turning around a bend. Standing cornering can be great for saving energy and going through corners even faster, but it can also be a bit more dangerous.

Once you begin to approach the corner, make sure you’ve lowered your speed slightly and enter a standing position. When you’re actually going through the turn, lean forward slightly to transfer your body weight to the front of the motorcycle. 

As you’re leaning into the turn, it can help to raise your inside leg (meaning left leg for left turns, right leg for right turns) up and forward with your toes pointed down. This shifts the center of gravity inwards, lessening the amount of lean necessary while keeping your upper body in line with the bike to control the torque.

You’ll probably want to practice foot positioning on your bike so you can lift yourself up and from side to wide with little effort, keeping you from disturbing your overall balance. Remember that your handlebars are for steering, not for weight transfer. Utilize the foot-pegs to leverage your legs and body.

Stay Wary

As basic as it may sound, our best advice for cornering is to remain aware of your surroundings. That may sound like common sense, but the other tips we’ve outlined only end up useful if you know exactly where you, your bike, and any potential obstacles are at all times. Watch out for bumps and obstacles and avoid them entirely when you can, or at least be extra cautious when you can’t. 

It may feel natural to focus only a few meters ahead of your front tire, but scanning outside along your route will keep you prepared for any unexpected changes or traffic flows. Scan ahead regularly and with your speed in mind. Your body, and therefore your bike, will naturally follow your focus. 

We hope you found some of these tips useful! If you want to know more or you’re looking for your next bike, stop on by Nielsen Enterprises. We proudly serve Chicago, Illinois, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin—let us serve you today!