Limited Condfidence In Cornering

Can anyone give me any advice on how to gain some confidence in cornering? Since lowsliding my 125 (due to 13 PSI in the rear ) Ive had only a limited amount of confidence, such that I can corner at a decent pace, however whenever I try and push it as hard as I feel I can, I still never go any further into my chicken strips, which sit at a shoddy 1inch or so . I keep worrying its just going to slide out on me, however I see most bikes and they have no chicken strips, so the bike must be possible of greater lean angles? Obviously road conditions affect this greatly, so I dont try and go hard unless its bone dry.

I ride alot with my dad who is a RoSPA Gold rider, (he rides a BMW GS) and even he says I hardly lean the bike at all when I feel that I am actually leaning alot :\.

Note: Running Pilot Road 3's.

Cheers guys

[Bluepete]

Just ride.

Roundabouts, open roads, so long as miles pass by.

I'm a lot more confident at the end of a few hundred miles than the start!

It'll come, don't worry.

Pete

[DJ123]

confidence is gained by practice. Trusting in yourself and your bike for a start. Go out on the back of your Dads bike and go round some windy roads, this may help you become more comfortable with lean angles

I've not been riding long but the two things that have helped me so far are a) a new front tyre - the original was quite squared off and the bike didn't feel like it would go any further over, as soon as the new tyre was on I found it far easier. And b) going out with similar bikes - I went on a few of Bibio's Bimbles and he always set a perfect pace for building a bit of confidence without pushing it too hard.

[maviczap]

All the above and do a track day, do something like California Superbike school where they teach you the proper techniques.

But above all just ride

Slowly, slowly catchy monkey. It'll come with mileage. And it'll come with the summer time! Be content with the way you are for winter, you don't want to be leaning too far just now.

Don't worry about chicken strips at all. Some of the fastest riders I've rode with have massive chicken strips - it just means they lean off the bike properly and some tyres have a steeper profile than others. I had Diablo Strada's on my SV and I could deck out the pegs and I still had chicken strips. Similarly I've seen people with no chicken strips at all that think they are a riding god, then when you get behind them they are slow as **** and it's just because they ride like this!

Who cares about chicken strips... I just ride and ride and ride and make the tyres square, it's much more fun than low siding because I want to look cool by having no 'chicken strips'..


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Member of the 1 litre club...

If your tyres are decent and the road surface is sound then you will never outride good modern tyres.

It's fun to lean a biker over, just take your time, enjoy your riding and practice.

As said above, go to a track if you really fancy it. It was the quickest way for me to start improving.

Oh and the tyres you have are a good type, so don't worry about them

All of the above. Confidence comes with time and mileage. After I highsided my confidence was shot to pieces but it's slowly built back up. I still have chicken strips but they'll go someday, it's not a competition.

Originally Posted by Stuuk1

Who cares about chicken strips... I just ride and ride and ride and make the tyres square, it's much more fun than low siding because I want to look cool by having no 'chicken strips'..

This. Just take your time and you'll improve at your own rate and find your own comfort zone.
Trying to push too hard too soon is only going to end one way. Id much rather ride thousands of comfortable miles a year feeling confident and sure im getting round the corner trouble-free than be riding at my limit constantly waiting for it to go wrong. If that makes me slower than the next guy then so be it, its about enjoying every mile for me.