Recently I came across a very useful video by Australian motorbike racer and legend Mick Doohan who shares these handy tips in this video. I have summarised them below in text so new riders can learn from them.
- Remember that the corner doesn’t start at the bend, it starts before you arrive at the bend.
- Get your approach speed right; slow down as you approach the bend, get your gear right and increase your speed as you exit the bend.
- Turn in too early and you will run wide as you exit the corner.
- Turn in too late and you will find yourself in oncoming traffic.
- Ask yourself and work out what kind of corner you are heading into:
- Is it a blind corner?
- Is it off camber? Off camber is a kind of corner which starts higher and ends lower.
- Is it going to open up or tighten up?
- Look for the vanishing point at the end of the bend:
- If the vanishing point moves away from you then it means the corner is opening up.
- If the vanishing point moves toward you then it means it’s going to tighten up.
- Fixate on where you want your bike to go and not on the pole or tree at the side of the road.
- Positive camber is a good thing as you start lower and end up higher at the end of the corner. So your lean angle required is less.
- Negative camber is not so good as you start the corner higher and end up lower at the end of the corner so you need to lean more on your bike.
- Always stay switched on as the road conditions can change from one corner to another and adjust your speed to maintain grip on the road.