Mike “Spanky” Sanford
Most of us learned to ride our bikes “by the seat of our pants” and one of the biggest mysteries for many riders is how to make a good, safe, effective turn. To help us figure it out, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) recommends four simple steps to get us through any turn we’ll face in our riding career: Slow, Look, Lean, and Roll.
Slow - According to the MSF, there are three speeds associated with any turn: Approach, Entry, and Exit. Approach speed is simply the speed you’re traveling when you first observe the turn you need to negotiate. The second is entry speed or the speed you’re traveling as you make the steering input to lean your bike into the turn. The third is the exit speed, which is your speed as the bike leaves the turn and enters the next section of road.
Reducing your velocity from approach speed to entry speed is critical and should always be accomplished prior to leaning the bike into the turn. If you enter the turn too fast, you’re gonna be faced with some unpleasant choices: widen your turn and possibly hit oncoming traffic or run off the road; apply your brakes, which will cause a loss of traction and could cause a skid; or gently roll off the throttle, increase your lean, and hope you don’t lose traction through the turn. In any case, your pucker factor is going to rise substantially and it’ll make a serious dent in your level of riding enjoyment!
Selecting your entry speed is a complex process and depends on your perception of the turn radius (how sharp), surface conditions (rough, wet, sandy), limitations on your line of sight (can you see all the way through the turn?), other traffic, and the presence of fixed hazards (low hanging tree branches, light poles, medians/curbs, etc). All these come into play and you probably won’t have more than a second or two before you’ll have to decide how much throttle to roll off, how much front/rear brake to apply, and what gear you want.
Look – What we’re talking about is how much to turn both your head and eyes to see through the turn. Turning your head and facing the exit of your turn employs something called “visual directional control” where your mind tends to automatically make the control inputs necessary to make the bike go where you’re looking. As you make your head turn, tilt your head to keep your eyes level with the horizon because some individuals become disoriented if their head is tilted while in a turn.
Lean – This involves two ideas: (1) a motorcycle must lean to turn; (2) lean angle is most quickly, effectively, and precisely controlled through the use of pressure on the handgrips. Lean is required to produce cornering force and to maintain the balance of the bike against the centrifugal force trying to make the bike lean toward the outside of the turn.
To lean their bike into a turn, most folks use a technique called “countersteering” or “push turning.” Basically, you apply pressure against the end of the handlebar to initiate your turn (press right, go right; press left, go left), and here is how it works. Let’s say you want to make a right turn. When you push against the right handgrip, this forces the front tire towards the left and you actually begin a left turn! When this occurs, centrifugal force leans the bike to the right, or the outside of the left turn. At this point, you relax the pressure against the right handgrip, the bike is leaned to the right, and now you begin your right turn! To adjust your turn, you simply increase or reduce pressure on the handgrip while maintaining a steady speed.
Roll – This refers to rolling on the throttle as you establish your lean in the turn, which stabilizes your bike on its suspension and prevents any sudden changes in the distribution of traction between your front and rear tires. Since greater ground clearance and extension of the front suspension adds to overall stability and control, a gradual roll-on of the throttle is preferred to produce a steady speed or gentle acceleration through the turn. Remember, a gentle, gradual roll-on is what you want, because too much acceleration can overcome the available traction and a skid could occur.
Sounds simple enough, eh? Well, hopefully I’ve made the turning process a little easier to understand and you can use this new knowledge to improve your cornering technique. As with any physical skill, practice makes perfect, so I highly encourage you to spend some “quality time” on a quiet street or country road putting the Slow, Look, Lean, and Roll steps through their paces. Thanks again for your time and, until next time…ride safe!