Corners with a Decreasing Radius (Without Crashing)

 (This is a re-post of an article from my May 2009 Rubber Side Down Newsletter)

As some of you may or may not know, I was involved in a motorcycle accident a week ago. A friend and I were riding down the Oregon coast and into Northern California. It was a beautiful ride and everything was going great. We were looking forward to riding Highway 36 in California, which is considered by many to be one of the most technical and challenging pieces of pavement in the country. To make a long story short, after 32 years of riding hard and some years of racing, feeling confident in my skills, I went down. I was lucky to have only suffered a broken collar bone, a mild concussion and scrapes and bruises. Being airlifted by helicopter to the hospital was not a very pleasant experience as you can imagine. After all the dust had settled, I began to think about a few things. I decided it would be helpful to write short articles about some of the most important aspects of riding . Most of my writing comes from my own personal experiences of doing what I love to do most. Riding! Some information I get from different and varied sources. I weed out the bad and include what I feel is important to my fellow riders. My goal is to help both new and seasoned riders learn something each and every editorial. Hope you enjoy. 

Josh

Riding Through Decreasing-Radius Corners

At some time or another we all encounter decreasing-radius corners. Simply defined, this is a corner which tightens up the further you get into it. Decreasing radius corners get tricky for one main reason. If you approach the corner as if it were a constant radius, there will be nothing left in "reserve" when the corner tightens up. The challenge increases when the decreasing-radius corner is also a blind corner and the rider does not know what is coming the other way. 

One of the best rules to go by is to never go into a corner at a speed without some reserve which allows you to correct for the unexpected in mid-corner, be it debris on the road, negative camber or a strong decreasing radius. 

It is always extremely important to look through the turn and down the road. In this case there is no exception. If you're on an unfamiliar road, looking right through the corner will alert you to the decreasing radius before it is too late to react. Avoid using the early apex of the turn, as you will then be drifting to the outside of the pavement just as the radius starts to decrease. This is not a good position to be in. Release the brakes before you begin to turn the motorcycle, then hit the throttle to unload the front end as soon as possible. You'll be amazed at what a difference early throttle application makes in the willingness of the bike to arc through the corner. 

The rear brake may be used to slow the bike slightly and tighten the cornering radius of the motorcycle, but it is important that you get familiar with the sensitivity of the rear brake so you do not to lock them up. Do not slam the throttle shut in the middle of a corner. This can cause overloading of the front end resulting in the front end "washing out" . As the corner tightens, increase your lean angle, which should not be a problem since you have left some in reserve as was discussed in the first paragraph. 

Many crashes occur when riders panic and stand the bike up by applying too much front brake while into the corner. The fact is a corner can usually be taken much faster than most people think. 

At the late apex of a decreasing-radius corner, you'll be nearing the inside edge of your lane. Let the bike drift out naturally to the middle of your lane and give it a good amount of throttle to drive it out of the corner, making sure to stay well clear of the center line of the road. 

If you are on a road you don't know, it's most important to ride with reserve. If you enter a corner at full lean angle and then suddenly realize it's beginning to tighten up, it will be too late to correct. The trick is to go into each corner knowing that no matter how tight it gets, you will be able to compensate with the little extra you have kept back. The fun is then making it to the next corner to do it all over again. 

Cheers,

Josh