My god i'm useless at..

Going round roundabouts or slow corners.

Been riding for about a month now and i haven't had a great deal of time to practice with my normal ride being from clapham to the city. The question is this, at what speed do you stop turning the bike as you would a pedal bike and just lean. As I was coming round the elephant and castle this morning i glanced at the speedo and it was showing about 20mph. At this speed i felt like i was turning the bike rather than leaning it, is this right or should i be leaning it over?

to be honest you need to stop looking at the speedo and start feeling the bike. there is no rule to say turn the handle bar this much at this speed just do what feels right. if you are feeling like you are gonna fall over because of your lean angle likly hood is your going to slow so either speed up or pick the bike up a little. if you think you are running wide then use a bit of counter steer to drop the bike in further which will tighten your line or slow down a bit.

The best advice i can actually give you is take a ride in the country. take a couple of hours to ride some twisty quiet roads and you will become more in tune with the bike. you will take a while b4 it becomes second nature and after 5 yrs i am still pitching the bike in too low for my speed occasionally but you learn how to deal with it and it will not be a problem just take your time and dont expect to learn how to ride fast and safe in a week. it takes months to become competant and years to become fast + smooth whilst remaining safe. take your time

I reckon at that speed you are on the limit of turning as opposed to countersteering. Suppose it depends on the situation you are in also. It will come more naturally with more practice.

Originally Posted by zx6man

I reckon at that speed you are on the limit of turning as opposed to countersteering. Suppose it depends on the situation you are in also. It will come more naturally with more practice.

not to mention it depends on the corner. hairpin or long sweeper

ok, cheers for the advice guys and practice i will. Intend to book myself onto one of those advanced courses in the spring sometime as well as coming on a few rideouts to see what others are doing. Incidentally i only had a quick look at the speedo this morning so i could write this post!

dude i wasnt avin a pop just makin a suggestion.

Yeah i know that, just mentioned it in case you thought every corner i went round my eyes were fixated on the speedo instead of the road which would cause a few, er, issues!

Cheers for the tips, appreciated.

no problem dude, it looks like there are quite a few newb's joining the forum, i feel a ride out happening with some more experianced riders and newbs, lol should be fun

Steveo,

I passed in March this year so I only have a little more experience than you, suggest you do not try and take the roundabouts at the Elephant took quickly as plod will be watching (if that is your route!?). I went on a Bike Safe day run by the Met and I learnt a huge amount in a day. They run them from Hayes near Bromley or from the Ace Cafe on the N Circ so you neither are too far. I will do another in Spring (the Ace this time). It only costs about £20 so really good value too. Cant remember the link but look it up on Google.

As has been mentioned a few times before on the forum - you could always join your local IAM motorcyle group - costs in the region of £30 for the year to join and you go out with observers who train you up (at your own pace) to advanced test level.

Its the only thing that kept me riding - I think I would have given up a long while before now if I hadnt joined. My riding has improved so much that I thoroughly enjoy it now whereas before I used to s***t meself every roundabout, turning, bend etc

hoping to take advanced test next spring - Ive only been riding 2 years btw.