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GARY SEMICS RIDING TIP OF THE MONTH

The Art of Cornering

Cornering is an art form.  To get really good at it you have to have a lot of talent, know all the techniques inside and out and then practice it frequently in many ways over a long period of time. 

There’s much more to cornering than just leaning over and going through the turn.  There are things like the angle of the corners, whether they’re banked or off-camber, sharp or sweeping, and the conditions of the track. Then there are the techniques of cornering between the rider and motorcycle. There are even techniques that affect the handling of the motorcycle in the corner. These techniques make the motorcycle either hold the track or brake loose and pivot, slide through the corner. 

In order to do a corner fast you need to carry as much speed as possible and as long as possible into the corner, slow yourself down just enough to still have control at the exit dex, (the exit dex is where you go from braking to accelerating) and then get on the gas as soon and as hard as possible. In order to carry a lot of speed into the corners, you need to have a fast and late approach dex (the approach dex is where you go from accelerating to braking).  With this in mind, we can understand that a very important part of cornering is braking. To be good at cornering, you have to be good at braking.

Of course, all through the corner, you have to maintain complete relaxed control. Tightness and mistakes will only make you tired and slow you down, if not make you crash. Remember, you can only try as hard, and go as fast, as you can do the basic techniques correctly and maintain relaxed control. So, if you’re tight or making mistakes, you will benefit by slowing down, which in turn will allow you to learn how to go faster.

          In others words, it takes much more finesse than just charging into the turns at full speed and hoping you’ll be able to make it when you get in there. You have to constantly anticipate exactly what is going to happen just before it happens. You have to know the exact line that you want to be on. That line should take you to the best possible traction for the exit dex. You see, it’s very important to know exactly where your front tire is going, so you can find the best traction at the most critical part of the turn. This is where you’re going to be turning the most, at the exit dex. Again, make sure your front tire is going exactly where you want it to go. If you’re doing the techniques correctly, the back tire will also go exactly where you want it to go.  For much more in-depth cornering info check out my DVD #7 (All about Cornering) on sale now at http://www.gsmxs.com/catalog/catalog_detail.asp?CID=176&CI=2915&PI=25681 .  For video downloads www.mxraceschool.com for free DVD previews www.gsmxs.com  

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