Does faster cornering come with experience?

Good advice, please keep it coming.

I sometimes think I should be looking to lean the bike more but I feel comfortable as I am and it may make me nervous/jumpy to take it further. Don't get me wrong I'm not slowing to pushbike speeds or anything like that .


I'm used to driving performance cars so try never to brake in the corner having been used to gettinfg ti set before the corner and power thru.

What is counter steering, tried to read up on it but I still don't think I've got it?

Do track days help or should they be left until you've honed your road skills?

Thanks

[the_lone_wolf]

Leave your suspension well alone!!!! Your suspension will settle by doing what Fizzwheel is saying.

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

you want the suspension of the bike working to help you turn and soak up the bumps rather than loading it up with big handfuls of brake and or throttle.

having altered my own suspension to suit me i can say that if you're suspension is set up incorrectly it can't absorb the bumps in the road surface properly, the bike will feel wrong, skittish or wallowy, all sapping confidence and taking concentration away from actually navigating the turn in the first place

perhaps i should have added a caveat of "if you are aware it will change the handling" - although it's blindingly obvious that to drastically change your suspension and then go into corners in full attack mode before finding out whether the settings affect the handling the wrong way is a stupid thing to do - provided you don't act like a total moron you'll never lose control simply because you made minor adjustments

clearly suspension tweaks can't cure poor technique, but why you would try to improve your technique on a bike that isn't happy in the corners in the first place is beyond me

Originally Posted by svrob

What is counter steering, tried to read up on it but I still don't think I've got it?

On a bike, you counter steer naturally at anything above 20mph. This is passive though, and people (me included) like active countersteering.

This is basically that if you push the left bar forwards, the wheel will turn to the right, and the bike will fall to the left naturally. Some people pull on the bars, some push, personally, I push.

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by the_lone_wolf

but why you would try to improve your technique on a bike that isn't happy in the corners in the first place is beyond me

To make the most of what you've got. To ride it better.

IMHO yes springs and oil do make a difference but I'm not convinced that its a big a difference as sometimes its made out to be. I think alot of the perceived difference is because you've put new oil into an old bike that kid of thing. Also it can also be in the riders head, rather than the bike being radically better to ride.

I've ridden standard and re-sprung SV's and to be honest I can't hardly tell the difference, yes there is a difference but you dont feel it till your pushing the bike hard into corners. I never really began to feel that I was pushing the bike hard to its limit and maybe beyond mine till I'd clocked up nearly 20K's worth of milleage on my SV.

As a novice rider you might not feel the difference. I'm still of the opinion that when you start riding, learning the correct technique for cornering and braking, is going to reap bigger rewards than throwing money at your bike upgrading x, y, z is.


IMHO

Originally Posted by the_lone_wolf

having altered my own suspension to suit me i can say that if you're suspension is set up incorrectly it can't absorb the bumps in the road surface properly, the bike will feel wrong, skittish or wallowy, all sapping confidence and taking concentration away from actually navigating the turn in the first place

I notice you said earlier that you made the front preload 1 ring softer and the bike is now planted. So your bike is basically stock?

You're 11 stone so there's no way a 1 ring front preload adjustment would transform an SV like you are saying above. Your SV will still bounce like it always has because there are no damping circuits on your bike.That's a placebo effect you're experiencing.

Damping slows or increases - pointy SVs don't have rebound or compression so you can't dial this out.

What Fizzwheel is saying about the suspension is "settling" it for the corner.

If you go into a corner, brake, shut off the throttle then start your turn then your front end has all the weight making the rear lighter. If you give a bit of throttle (1-2 mm is all it takes) just before your turn then you squat the rear and take the weight off the front. This balances your suspension for the bend and is more stable through the corner.

IMO if you have limited miles and you are fannying around with suspension (even on an SV) then you're wasting your time. Learn about the way the bike dives under braking and squats under acceleration. Once you have this sussed then start to adjust your suspension to fine tune your cornering.

I was just like you, and I still am to an extent. I don't think being overcautious is anything to be ashamed of. Just pick the where and the when to try going faster very carefully. Never attack a new (to you) road at your own limit, and be very very careful around blind corners.
Once you've had time on the bike it will feel much more under your control, so don't hurry it.

Originally Posted by stuartyboy

Damping slows or increases the spring rate - SVs don't have preload or compression so you can't dial this out.

Wrong. SV's (pointy's specifically) only have preload. Other than that, carry on.

Originally Posted by Baph

Wrong. SV's (pointy's specifically) only have preload. Other than that, carry on.

You got in too quick there Baph. Noticed my typo and was about to edit! lol

Originally Posted by stuartyboy

Damping slows or increases the spring rate - SVs don't have preload or compression so you can't dial this out...

...IMO if you have limited miles and you are fannying around with suspension (even on an SV) then you're wasting your time. Learn about the way the bike dives under braking and squats under acceleration. Once you have this sussed then start to adjust your suspension to fine tune your cornering.

Absolute rubbish.

Not only do you not have any clue what terms you're using actually mean, to say that adjusting suspension for novies is a waste of time is complete and utter ********, even on the SV.

Originally Posted by Flamin_Squirrel

Absolute rubbish.

Not only do you not have any clue what terms you're using actually mean, to say that adjusting suspension for novies is a waste of time is complete and utter ********, even on the SV.

Oh really?