Does faster cornering come with experience?

talking to a friend of mine today who has a tl1000s he says adjusting the suspension settings on my sv will make a world of difference, personally i never touch the spring settings basically because i dont know what i'm doing.
id say cornering speed does come from 80-90% experience but i can be tweaked alittle by suspension adjustments. i now plan to go on a stretch of favorite road armed with a screw driver and plenty of spare time.

[the_lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

Umh... OK I see what you're saying and I agree with you, but ( theres always one isnt there )

oh there's always one, i agree with everything your post said, i always try and drive through corners, takes some time after driving a car for years and being able to brake deep into the corner to maintain your momentum. a bump will always affect the bike to some degree, but if the bike is suited to the riders weight and style it'll affect the bike and rider less than one without


why would they let you tailor a learner bike to one person's weight? the GS500 felt like it'd been round the block a few times and would get ridden by several people in one day, so what would be the point... if you were on your own bike i'm sure any decent school would let you adjust your bike so long as they knew that you knew what you were doing. regardless, you'd never approach the speeds in the corners while you were learning where you would start to feel if the suspension was set up correctly...

with a novice setting their preload well off and then caning it into a corner causing them to crash, that's Darwinian theory at work, as i said before only a total moron would do something like that and they would be equally as likely to wipe themselves out with a mis-timed overtaking manoeuvre.

as for the benefits, when you've done it you know what they are

ding ding, round three

To answer your original question : in my case yes, I've been commuting on the same roads for nearly 4 years and there's one corner which I used to take at 40 thinking "I'm sure I could do that faster", now I do it at 55 without batting an eye, nothing has changed but experience.

Oh, I do it on an SV now, I forgot!

Originally Posted by Steve H

Nah, just go out and buy the latest Supersports bike and you will be transformed into Valentino Rossi.
Well that seems to be what a lot of people think will happen!

Please a no!!!! No you all a buya supersports a bike. I be outta da job for a sure!

without a doubt, in my case, the anwser is - yes.

For example;
There is a scary corner that nearly had me off several times during my first weeks on the bike.
or
There is a fantastic corner that i look forward to reaching with a clear road i front of me.

The only difference is the two years of experiance between these two thoughts about the same corner. (and about 30 mph)

Few points:

1. Braking while banked over will almost certainly result in a lowside. Me, badly broken pelvis, Princess Royal Hospital, Telford, June 7 - June 11 2004. Bloody painful it was, DO NOT DO IT.
2. Everyone should follow Peter Henry or Luckypants on a twisty road. Peter and Mike put me to shame. I wish you could all see them. You'd all learn a lot.

Originally Posted by Ed

Few points:

1. Braking while banked over will almost certainly result in a lowside. Me, badly broken pelvis, Princess Royal Hospital, Telford, June 7 - June 11 2004. Bloody painful it was, DO NOT DO IT.
2. Everyone should follow Peter Henry or Luckypants on a twisty road. Peter and Mike put me to shame. I wish you could all see them. You'd all learn a lot.

Point 1. I hit the front brake coming round a roundabout this morning. I was doing about 40mph when I pulled the brake. I only used it LIGHTLY though to stand the bike up. Experience. I wouldn't recommend someone that's just passed DAS do this!

Point 2. I'll throw Petevtwin650 into that as well. I've seen Luckypants & Pete ride, but not PH. Or did you mean Pete & not PH??

[the_lone_wolf]

braking in corners is something i still can't get my head around, on my cbt the "head" instructor towed the line that using the front brake in any sort of corner would instantly cause the earth to implode, killing all the kittens, but i've been riding push bikes for years and have always used plenty of front brake deep into corners and have never come off because of it. what is it about a motorcycle that makes it so much more likely to go wrong?

btw before i get set upon i don't think we should all be flying into corners on the front brake, i'm just curious as to how and why it's such an issue with motorcycles specifically...

Originally Posted by The Doctor

Please a no!!!! No you all a buya supersports a bike. I be outta da job for a sure!

True. I understand that Casey Stoner rode bikes about as well as me until he
had a go on a Fireblade.

Originally Posted by the_lone_wolf

braking in corners is something i still can't get my head around, on my cbt the "head" instructor towed the line that using the front brake in any sort of corner would instantly cause the earth to implode, killing all the kittens, but i've been riding push bikes for years and have always used plenty of front brake deep into corners and have never come off because of it. what is it about a motorcycle that makes it so much more likely to go wrong?

btw before i get set upon i don't think we should all be flying into corners on the front brake, i'm just curious as to how and why it's such an issue with motorcycles specifically...

I guess on push bikes you're not stopping as quick and not as heavy, so alot less force on the front tyre? Not really sure.

There are good reasons for telling novices to avoid the brakes in the corner which have already been touched apon - if you're not sure what you're doing, you may well crash.