Ayup everyone,
Well I am back from tour and today I am going to look at cornering, and how to avoid crashing in corners.
After the recent tour through Europe into Germany, Switzerland and back, on top of years of track days and riding of all kinds, I think I have a decent grounding in the subject.
First let me say, there is nothing I can say that will prevent every crash, but by looking at the important things everyone should be thinking about when cornering, we can minimise any risk involved when you take any corner.
The scary fact is that almost half of all motorcycle accidents happen in corners.
That is an alarming statistic, but by thinking ahead, understanding the basic physics involved and the reasons behind these crashes, you can dramatically reduce your own risks out on the road.
I will analyse real-world examples, and provide practical tips you can put into practice immediately.
Now I’m not trying to tell grandma to suck eggs, I know many of you will do all of this without even thinking. But for newer riders or those of us that learnt a long time ago, a refresher is always worth it.
If you want to improve your skills and confidence in the twisties, you’ve come to the right place.
The footage is all from my recent tour through Germany Italy, Switzerland and Austria where some of the corners meant all of these hints and tips had to be used to manage the fantastic roads we encountered.
You can see more of the raw footage from the tour in the videos I will link in the description, but there are loads on the channel for you to follow the journey we took.
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Picking Your Line
To begin today I will talk about the most fundamental parts of cornering. Road position, and your line through the turn.
Poor road position and line choice are the biggest mistakes most riders make, especially newer riders who haven’t learned to carry more corner speed yet.
Let us take a close look at what happens when you approach a turn, where to position yourself and how to judge where to turn in better.
Many riders, even experienced ones, just turn in too early, and I will look at why that causes problems, but more importantly, I will look at how to master the best cornering lines to improve your safety and control.
Get ready for some real world examples as well as numbers and diagrams as I break it all down as simply as possible.
To begin, Position is everything
The first thing I will look at is road position and the approach to the corner. This is something that will determine everything that comes later.
I remember the very simple advice of a rider some of you may remember. The advice was “Straighten the corner out as much as you can”.
That rider was a young Derek Chatterton. He was never short of a word or two and was one of the riders who I watched rise through the ranks from local club meetings through the National Championships and into the International scene. He was never the fastest, but he had a dogged determination that would often see him take wins over much faster bikes and more experienced riders.
To follow that advice we need to position ourselves as far away from the inside of the turn as possible.
Now that doesn’t mean riding on the white line or in the gutters and picking up all the gravel and marbles that are often there. Be safe, but position yourself so you can see as far around the corner as possible.
On a right hand bend approach the corner as far left as is safe, and on a left hander position yourself as far right as is safe. This means you will see the apex sooner, and be in the best position to carry your speed through the corner.
Another really important piece of advice here, is only ever ride to what you can see. You might have ridden the road a thousand times, know exactly where your braking markers and turn in point are, but you never know if a lorry has spilt diesel or a quarry wagon dropped some pea gravel in a place that is bound to ruin your day. Prepare for the unexpected, always.
This also takes us into something else which might sound counter intuitive, but it works.
Get your braking done early. On a road, if you get your braking done early, the bike will be more settled. And however much the corner tightens up, you will be in the best position to deal with it. If the corner opens out after the apex, you can then pin the throttle earlier to get the best drive out of the corner.
Anyway, let us get back to the corner entry.
The Eager Early Turn-In
Imagine you are out for a spirited ride, approaching a chain of curves. Feeling confident, you decide to pick up the pace a bit. However, as you near that first bend, a moment of doubt crosses your mind.
Can you actually make this corner at this speed?
You might try rolling off the throttle or squeezing the brakes a little, but your first reaction is more likely to make you instinctively aim for the inside line to just get the corner over with quickly. You start to lean the bike over before you have worked out where the apex is, diving for the inside line in the corner like you have seen so many racers do.
Initially, all might seem OK. You have tipped the bike in and you can hug the inside line as you ride in an arc around the curve.
But, if your turn in point takes you into an early apex point, there is only ever one real outcome. You will drift outwards on the exit. About midway through, your arc starts widening, carrying you closer and closer to the outside of your lane. That is when panic levels rise, as you realise you are running out of road.
If you don’t do something fast, you’ll end up in the oncoming lane, or off the road entirely, and in the case of some of the roads you see here, that means off the edge of a mountainside.
So what could we do differently here?
Why did an early turn-in lead to running wide through the exit?
I am just going to analyse one real-world corner in detail as an example, but the same principles apply to every corner you will ever ride.
The numbers will show you just how much difference your line makes to the forces at play.
The difference between those forces with an okay cornering line and an ideal one might surprise you. Every road will have many different lines, each with their own trade-offs to consider. But these principles are always at play.
The tighter the curve at the same speed increases the sideways force on the tyre, and the faster the speed around the same curve, the more sideways force is applied to the tyre.
Analysing a Real Corner
For our example, I’ve chosen a random right-hand bend on a mountain road from the Klausen Pass in Switzerland filmed during our recent tour.
I will include links to the original footage in the description.
Making a turn like this as straight as possible is never easy, but a wide entry and slow in fast out approach is always the safest way to start.
As I approach the turn, I instinctively move towards the outside and begin to load the front end by applying a little front brake. Once I see the vanishing point in the road I hit the brake harder to start shedding speed before preparing to lean the bike in.
But here the key question is, what is the best line to take through the curve?
To understand that you need to see both the apex and the exit of the corner. That isn’t always possible at this point, but looking ahead to see how the curve tightens up and how the exit runs is vital, so forward planning is all important.
On some of the roads here I am looking down to see the corners that follow as well as the corner I am approaching, so when I get to the next corner I already have a preview of it stored in my mind.
A novice rider is often drawn to the inside of the lane too soon. This creates a false apex too early in the corner as they try to stay as far from the center of the road as possible.
It can feel safer to hug the inside and steer clear of oncoming traffic, but it will mean you will have to cut more and more speed.
Now trail braking comes in handy here, but to be clear, it is always better and safer to get your braking done first, before the corner, when the bike is in a more upright position, and trail braking is a long story for a different day.
So let us see look at what happens if we take that inside line with an early apex. Drawing a curve you can see how the line means you are already drifting out when you reach the real apex of the corner.
At that point, the natural line of the bike will take you wider and wider as you exit the corner. The experienced riders will say “but just apply a bit of counter-steer or trail braking to tighten up your line” and that is right, but on a road in average conditions, I would argue that it is always better to take a smooth line without the risk of having to adjust your line mid curve
What is the maximum safe speed we can pull through that corner
So as we approach we ask ourselves, what is the maximum safe speed we can pull through that corner?
And here I will be working on the principle that all bikes, tyres, road conditions suspension and skill levels are constant between all the comparisons.
Let us say for example that the maximum safe cornering speed is around 40mph or just above 60kph. The width of the arc at its tightest point will create the maximum sideways force on your tyres. As you try to tighten up your line, the centrifugal force trying to push your tyre wider is increased.
Remember, if the centrifugal or sideways force on the tyre exceeds the tyres level of grip, it all ends badly, unless you have Marc Marquez’s knee to push yourself back up of course.
So what is the right line I hear you say.
Well, this is where recognising the apex comes in, and it will be different in different corners.
But if we stay wider at the start and get most of the braking done before the corner, we can then cut back in as soon as we see the apex proper.
As we pass the apex we still begin to drift out, but at this point, we can judge the lean angle and begin to stand the bike back up to adjust for the exit line, allowing more power to be applied for faster acceleration out of the corner.
Riding this line which as you can see in the diagram creates a wider more even arc, means that the centrifugal force pushing you outwards is reduced dramatically. This means that the sideways force is much less likely to become greater than the grip from the tyre, so you have immediately minimised the chances of a slide.
The Ideal Line
The ideal line, as you’ll often see on track maps or watching a racers line on an open track, is a smooth geometric arc that starts wide on corner entry, clips the inside edge at the apex, then drifts back out wide on corner exit.
If we carve that path, we get a wider cornering radius, allowing for faster safe corner speed.
What you might be surprised by is how much these small differences make.
Let us take a 180 degree hairpin corner as it makes it easiest to illustrate the effect. Let us say we are taking that corner at 40mph or around 60kmh. Taking a wide in wide out line, creating a wider arc can reduce the sideways, centrifugal force on the tyre by up to 25% when compared to taking an early apex line which creates a tighter curve in that same corner at the same speed.
That 25% increase means unless you can scrub off more speed, you will be getting much closer to the point where the sideways force exceeds the grip of the tyre, and as we have said before, that almost always ends badly.
It may mean a slide or worse a highside if the tyre starts to grip again. Even more serious, it could mean you drift into the opposite lane into the oncoming traffic and into a 80mph or 120kmh head on collision.
Believe me, that is a place you never want to be.
Remember, the sideways force applied to the tyre is relative to the square of speed. So even a small change in speed has a much bigger effect on the safe speed on a set arc of the corner.
This applies in the same way if we try to ride a narrower arc at the same speed. Just a small tightening of the curve can cause a dramatic lowering in the safe maximum speed on that curve.
If we stick to that inside line right around the corner at 40mph or 60kmh, we would be at the absolute limit of available grip, with no margin for error.
In contrast, if we ride the ideal geometric line at that same 40mph or 60kmh speed we would be using around 25% less of the tyres maximum grip.
Increase Your Safety Margin
This gives you a huge safety margin, just by choosing the right line.
Choosing the right line gives you a significantly bigger margin for error, so the extra grip can be used for accelerating, braking, or handling any surprises.
Of course, the opposite is also true. A bad line can quickly eat up all your cornering grip and get you into real trouble.
The Perils of the Early Apex
In the real world, nailing that perfect geometric line is easier said than done, especially on an unfamiliar road. Truly dialling in the ideal path through a particular set of curves takes forward planning, practice, and repetition – that is why racers spend so much time learning the nuances of a circuit and fine-tuning their lines each lap.
On the street, we have to assess corners on the fly and often improvise. It is easy for newer riders in particular, to turn in too early, wrongly thinking that will give them a comfortingly wider safety margin on the inside of the bend.
But let us return to our example corner and see how that plays out.
Say the rider misjudges the turn-in and starts to lean the bike over about 8 meters (26 feet) too soon. Initially, this feels fine. The premature turn-in makes for a gentle, sweeping arc with a fairly wide radius.
However, this early-apex line comes back to bite us as we progress through the corner. By the time the real apex arrives, the arc we have chosen is already carrying us wider.
As the corner progresses, it becomes terrifyingly apparent that we are on a collision course with the oncoming traffic, or even the opposite side of the road could be approaching fast if we hold the same line.
At this point, we are faced with a tough split-second decision. To avoid running off the road or into traffic, we have to tighten our cornering radius dramatically, or stand the bike up and hit the brakes as hard as possible and hope.
The best case scenario, is that we can pull that off if we scrub off a little speed. But if we are carrying too much speed, our choices are limited.
Now don’t get me wrong, an experienced rider and particularly people who have raced, will have practiced using counter steer and a little extra throttle to tighten up their cornering, but these are skills learnt the hard way by many, and it is not an easy thing to do.
For most people the intuitive reaction will be to brake hard at the same time as leaning the bike over further, which is just a recipe for disaster!
You will see this exact scenario play out in crash footage all the time. The rider turns in a bit early, gets to the apex, and suddenly realises they are never going to make the turn. Panic braking while leaned over usually ends up as either a lowside slide or a trip into the hedges. Or worse if other traffic is involved.
The root cause, is that early apex. It uses up any room for error before the time that might be needed the most.
Remember, “Slow in, Fast out”.
So, we can say for sure that we clearly want to avoid an early apex line. But we also know a perfect geometric arc isn’t always practical on the street. Often the corner exit and even the apex can be obscured physically before we get closer to it.
So what is the best solution?
Luckily, there is a cornering approach we can use that is more forgiving, giving you a bigger margin of error, as well as allowing you to carry plenty of speed through the corner.
This is where that statement “Slow in, Fast out”, becomes more relevant than ever.
The Safety of the Late Apex
If an early apex is the risky extreme, a late apex can often be the safer, smarter route to take.
The concept is simple, and goes back to where we started. “Ride to what you can see”.
Rather than diving in toward the inside of the corner at the first opportunity, remember, you aren’t in a race trying to make a block pass.
If you stay out wide on the corner entry and delay your turn-in, You will need to brake harder and longer to cut enough speed to create a tighter arc at the start of the turn. This means that although you enter the corner more slowly, as the arc widens you can progressively apply more and more power as you stand the bike up in the widening portion of the arc. Your line will take you past the geometric apex point, which is why we use the term “late apex”.
If we turn in just 5 meters later than we would to create the perfect geometric line, we end up carving a tighter radius at the start of the turn. This will mean you have to scrub off significantly more speed before you enter the corner, you have time to do that in that extra 5 metres, and it pays dividends in several ways.
First, we are still on the straight leading up to the corner when braking as we decide to delay our turn-in. That makes it much easier to shed speed in a controlled way. Adjusting speed before you have the bike leant over is far easier and safer than trying to slow down once we are leaning into the turn.
Second, as we get further around the bend and spot our exit, the arc is opening up dramatically, and rather than running out of road and having to tighten up, we can now relax, stand the bike up more and accelerate out of the corner without getting close to that point where the tyres break adhesion,
It’s isn’t impossible to run wide with this approach, but it is much easier not to.
Stay Prepared
As with anything, there will always be exceptions, so try to stay prepared.
You can see here where I have stayed out wide to the left before entering the corner, then at the last moment, as I begin to turn in, I feel the front begin to slide on some marbles in the middle of the road. The road was clear and I managed to stand the bike up a bit and brake hard enough to adjust my turn in and stop any real overrun into the opposite lane, but none of us can ever predict everything that we will face on the roads.
In almost every normal situation on any corner, braking in a straight line, turning in a little later, and waiting to spot the exit before we commit to a line, we maintain a bigger safety margin and avoid the risk of destroying ourselves and the bike in that corner where things don’t run to plan.
As a bonus, the later turn in helps to increase the possible field of view through the corner. This is especially important on blind bends with elevation changes.
The further we stay towards the outside of our lane, the more of the road ahead we can see, giving us the maximum time possible to see and react to any mid-corner hazards.
Conclusion
So there you have it, the secret to avoiding needless crashes is in your own hands. It is all about the line you choose.
Turning in early might feel fast and the safer option. But it isn’t. It is a mistake that can quickly see you running out of road and with a long road to recovery.
Remember that statement, “Slow in, Fast out”.
The safer, smarter, and ultimately faster approach, in most cases, is to get your braking done early in a straight line before the corner. Look as far ahead as possible. Turn in later, staying wide until you can see the exit. Then roll on the throttle as you lean the bike back up and take the fast route out of the bend.
By waiting to commit to your line, you give yourself the maximum number of options to adjust to any unexpected circumstances you may find.
On the street, where every corner is different and road conditions are unpredictable. This more conservative approach will help you increase your safety margins and avoid any nasty surprises that might get thrown your way.
Now, to pick the right line through a corner is just one piece of the puzzle.
To ride like a pro, you will need to master much more.
Seeing the road as far as possible ahead and using your vision to open up the road is vital.
Body position, throttle and brake control, and more all play a part too and I may well look at them in future videos, so be sure to subscribe and stay tuned.
Until the next time, remember, look beyond the corner and choose your lines wisely.
And always think, “Ride to what you can see” and “Slow in Fast out” will help you to increase your confidence in corners.
Thanks for watching and as always I look forward to hearing your comments.
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