Motorcycling cornering

if you ride the next five minutes could save your life you probably thinking that's a bold statement we know you're probably also thinking yeah but I'm already a good rider let's be honest that's what these people thought too but with just a few extra riding skills you can avoid becoming a statistic - but who are we to tell you why should you listen to us well this is PC Andy Griffith's and it's safe to say he knows a few things about riding and do you know what Andy really wants to help us with corners yeah corners that's because around 9% of all road deaths and serious injuries happen on them road deaths and serious injuries that could be easily avoided so Andy is kindly going to help us improve our riding to do that we need to plan for what we can say can't see or reasonably expect to happen planning is the best way to stay safe and the best way to plan is with limit points so what is a limit point here's the official definition the limit point is the furthest point to which you have an uninterrupted view of the road surface what does this mean in reality though and how does it help let's break it down here's Andy riding towards a bend and this is his current limit point his furthest uninterrupted view of the road for you is the important part of this because as we all know you don't put your bike where your eyes haven't been this band is fairly open so right now the limit point is pretty far away which means Andy can maintain a good safe speed as he has more space to stop on tighter bands the limit point is closer meaning he needs to reduce his speed as there's less space to stop let's break this down into three easy to remember steps if the limit point is moving towards you you need to decelerate or break if you're keeping an equal distance to your limit point you're within the band and at the correct speed keep this up if the limit point moves away from you you can accelerate safely you can't however solely rely on limit points weather and road conditions also affect how you approach corners so adjust your speed in conjunction with looking across or beyond bends for hazards and warning signs ultimately it's about making sure you can stop on your own side of the road within a distance you see to be clear you should be constantly scanning the road for information but do you know there's a difference between navigating left and right hand bends in the UK left hand bends are the most dangerous it is difficult to perceive the curve when you're riding in it so Andy is going to set us up for success let's start with left hand bends positioning is key when approaching a band look where Andy is now positioning himself towards the edge of the road limits his view moving here towards the centerline is the optimum riding position giving him an early view of the band increasing his limit point riding closer to the line however brings you closer to oncoming traffic so you need to maintain awareness as we've seen the distance to the limit point dictates your speed so Andy selects the best gear for this band riding centrally gives you the space to maintain stability and grip by leaning into the corner whilst the camber increases the effectiveness of your steering as and he passes the apex of the band and the road opens up his limit point moves away and he can accelerate smoothly and prepare for his next hazard which conveniently happens to be a right-hand Bend so what's so different about right-hand bends you still need to consider all the factors we've just covered but you need to adjust your positioning as before Andy is in the wrong position here moving here towards the left of his road space increases his limit point of view riding at the edge of the road means you'll need to counteract the camber which reduces the effect of your steering whilst considering the road condition and oncoming traffic what if there's more than one band you can only class bands as a series if you can see through them otherwise you can treat them as separate and riders we've just demonstrated as u approaches series of bands you should always ask yourself where do I want to be to approach the next bend the key is to position yourself in the best exit point from the first band to then enter the second taking into account any hazards then safely accelerating away remember never sacrifice safety for positioning so that's the basics of cornering covered and if you remember just one thing it's that the more signage and paint you can see the greater the hazard if someone's gone through the trouble of putting out a load of signs or paint it's for a reason be aware and well you have great flexibility in positioning your bike remember you should never sacrifice safety for positioning and never leave anything to chance for more info on improving your riding check out the hints and tips provided by bike safe I am road smart andross / [Music]

Channel: RoSPATube

Views: 113,821

Rating: 4.9254236 out of 5

Keywords: rospa, royal society for the prevention of accidents, driving, riding, road safety, charity, health and safety, motorcycling, motorcycle cornering, corners, bends

Id: -ShHzG2jnaA

Length: 5min 59sec (359 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 25 2020