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Whaddup ya’ll Jays3 here. Ive only been riding for a couple months and i wanna put down some input and experiences ive had and helped me become a better rider. I spent a lot of time watching videos and reading online articles but i found there were a lot of things i experienced that i was never able to find online or in videos.
For example:
counter steering. Im sure most people know at least the theory part about it so i wont waste your time. If you dont then search it up online theres more than enough info on the web about it.The only riding experience ive had that even came close to riding a motorcycle was riding a bicycle so unconsciously i already had the skill to counter steer by riding a bicycle. So after a few weeks of riding for the first time of just getting used to it at my own pace, i decided to try counter steering. It worked at the beginning but i quickly found myself over thinking and messing up at turns. Theres been times where i even ended up slightly crossing the oncoming lane briefly.
After a while i decided to toss the counter steer idea out of my mind and go back to how i rode naturally. Thats when i noticed i was already using the counter steer technique to begin with but it was so natural for me i didnt even notice. I noticed that when i thought of counter steering my inside turn elbow would lock up or stiffen preventing proper body position and weight shifting. When i didnt think of counter steering my body position improved and my inside turn elbow would point downwards on their own without even thinking
The point im trying to make here is ride the way thats comfortable for you cause if your like me, it can mess with your head and fuck you up instead of helping you out.
Another technique i was naturally already used to is what i believe is called the brake trailing?
This technique is not highly recommended for the streets and i caught myself a few times doing so only because i use it all the time when i drive. I try not to use this at least not right now since i consider myself still fairly new.
For those who dont know what brake trailing is its using the front and rear brakes during the enter to roughly anywhere before the apex of the turn. What this does is shift the weight to the front thus tightening the suspension for better cornering. Slowly releasing pressure on the front brakes as the apex of the turn nears and readies (weight shift) the rear suspension for accelerating out of the turn.
Again this is not recommended for the streets but perfect for the track. The reason being is if your brake trailing at the initial turn and have to make an emergency stop, your initial reaction is to apply more pressure on the brakes. Since the front brakes are already applied you may end up applying too much pressure and cause the fronts to lock up during a lean. Im sure you know what happens after that.
I know its common sense but not everyone knows this so if your someone that may be doing this but was not aware of the danger then i hope i made you realize the hazard.
As a mechanic/technician for about 10 years (6 years honda dealer ship and current) i still can’t believe the lack of common sense some people have. For example a customer says their radio no longer works. Turns out their son used the car previously and turn the radio off. The fix? I pressed the on button on the radio. Btw i was the bad guy according to the customer because i made him look like an idiot.
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