Cornering?

Question

So on a 600r bike, can you maintain higher overall cornering speed by entering slightly too fast then brake up untill the apex? If so, do you use front brake, back brake, or a combination of the two?

Answer 1

if you brake through the apex, you wont be able to get back on the gas as quickly. ya you might go faster through the corner, but youll loose time and speed on the following staight. the fastest way is to brake early, then accelerate through the apex of the turn.

Answer 2

If I were you I would book into the local track or the nearest one to you and do a cornering school, or order Kieth Code's books on cornering like Bob said!
If you are learning this I wouldn't be doing it on the road unless you know it pretty well, the traffic is non-existent and there is plenty of run off or you might end up dieing!!!!

Everyone who wrote in has been on the mark and I won't regurgitate the same stuff because it's pretty close to the mark!
I will however suggest you get your bike set-up or find how to set it up online and learn about tyre pressures because these mechanical factors will help you feel whats happening underneath you a lot better and if your bike is balanced in it's set-up it wont dive violently when you brake and accelerate!

Braking wise though! If you are after confidence, look for a long quiet road and practice braking from 40mph to say 100 mph.
Don't downshift, just concentrate on shutting the throttle and squeezing the brake initially and increasing the pressure progressively until you come to a stop!
Once you realise that the front won't lock you can incorperate downshifting whilst braking!
You need to maintain steady brake pressure to do this whilst blipping the throttle and clutching in and selecting the next gear before letting the clutch back out!
Mastering this helps a rider ride into a corner faster maintaining corner speed and engine speed to control the bike once you are committed. Once you arrive at the apex you should be decreasing your brake pressure in relation to your lean angle and preparing to open the throttle to maintain stability. The transition should be very suttle as to not upset the bike at full lean.
If you do crack the throttle too hard you will end up getting a sea-saw affect in your suspension which will unload the front end resulting in a low side!
At the apex it is all about being smooth!

Good luck, and set up your suspension and learn about tyre pressures and how they affect handling then go practice and do a school for cornering!


Troy.

Answer 3

Generally true for all forms of racing, whether on 2 wheel, 4 wheels, or whatever:

The exit is the most important part of the turn. Whatever makes you exit faster will get you around quicker, because you carry the extra speed all the way down the next straight.

Bikes brake better than they accelerate (well, anything this side of a MotoGP bike does!), so the quicker you can get back on the gas, the better. Brake hard on entry, then slowly let off the brakes as you spiral in to the apex. By the time you hit the apex, you should be transitioning from brakes to throttle.

Use a combination of brakes. Braking forces will always be higher on the front wheel because of weight transfer, but that shouldn't be that noticeable to you. You want to strive for balanced braking between the front and rear, with each tire just on the verge of breaking loose but not quite.

Answer 4

No, you want to get all your braking done before hand. Pick where you are planning to turn, lean the bike and accelerate smoothly though the whole corner. You should have no mid-corner corrections, no braking, no anything other than to be on the gas once your leaned over. Why would you want to be going to fast into a corner? There are whole books on the subject. A Twist of the Wrist by Keith Code and Proficient Motorcyling by David Hough are good. It will benefit you greatly to take a look at these books.