Advice: Cornering

Cornering

News flash! Apparently the vast majority of motorcycle crashes happen on corners! What a major revelation this piece of information was when I read it in a recent advertisement supported by the RTA. I wonder how much money it cost them to figure this out? I'd have been happy to volunteer this information for free!

We all know that the straights are easy. Anyone can handle those. It's the corners where the challenges are, but it's also where all the fun is. In fact Luigi, my little Greek/Albanian/ Tasmanian/ Australian mate that works in our office (we thought weíd handle most of the minority groups in one individual), says that anyone can hold the helm in a calm sea. Too true my clever little friend. Then he surpasses even my limit for cliches (I never thought I'd see the day..), waxes all poetic like and says to me "when you think of it, the straights are like the calm seas, and the corners are the storms". The truth is, for frustrated would-be sailors like Luigi, the storm is where you find out what the helmsman is really made of. When talking about motorcycle riding, we could say that the corners are where we find out what the rider is really made of.

If you delve even deeper, you begin to realise that yes, the straights are easy, but so are some corners compared to others. One thing that I've found amusing to watch over the years is the struggle riders who attend the regular ride days held at Phillip Island go through when they decide to try a different track. No question, Phillip Island is an awesome piece of tarmac. I first rode there towards the end of my race career back in 1989 (yes - I know how old that makes me) and I am just as enamoured by it now as I was then.

I've observed that in Victoria, most riders will only ever attend events run at the Island. And most of them will tell you how forgiving the circuit is and how much room there is when you make an error. This may well be true at the speeds they are riding, but if you check with Valentino Rossi, I'm sure you'll find there's not much margin for error when he's riding Phillip Island. Why does this happen? You see, Phillip Island is full of the types of corners that only exist in a very few places in the world. The reality is that the corners on most other racetracks and indeed every corner on a public road are nothing like the ones in the cornering nirvana that is Phillip Island.

So why do these riders struggle with the other tracks they go to? Easy. These tracks are full of slower, narrower corners that normally exist in the real worlds where we all ride. After riding around and around a few kilometres of heaven a million times or more and getting used to being comfortable, it's a rude shock when you don't have the same luxuries anymore.

For example, the bumps, blind apexes, uphill/downhill sections of a difficult little track like Broadford don't bring out the same 'far-away' look as Phillip Island does. Why? Because it's harder, that's why! The corners are slower, so riders go faster - compared to what is possible - than they do on faster corners.

Let me explain. If we were able to get accurate radar readings of the mid-corner speeds of top level road racers at the fastest corners at Phillip Island and also at the slowest corners at Broadford, and compare them to the speeds attempted by the average garden-variety ride day attendee, I'll bet you that the Ride Day 'punters' are closer to the road racers speed at Broadford (percentage wise) than what they are at the Island. Why? Because the corners are slower, that's why. It's easy for most of us to decide to enter a corner that a racer may enter at 80km/h at around the 75km/h mark, but it's a whole new game to enter a 240km/h turn at 225km/h. The percentage of the outright speed is the same, but the commitment level and the forces placed on you are a whole lot greater.

Yes corners are harder than straights. No surprises there. But some corners are harder than others. So what do people tend to do that attempt the other tracks after their rude shock? They go back to riding the Island and appreciate it even more. Wimps. That's right, wimps! The challenges they face in riding the more difficult corner without the extra space, better surface etc. are what will make them better riders.

To continue riding where they are comfortable will not benefit them at all. Not surprisingly, those that take on the challenge of a different venue and work to improve there, often go back to the Island and ride better as they apply the lessons learned in the storms. So sailors - time to take the helm.

Oh - and in case you think I've forgotten you riders in other states, say NSW, how many of you just ride Eastern Creek? That's right - whimps!

Good luck with your riding.

Steve Brouggy is the owner of the

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