TEAM Arizona Riding Tip December 2012: What’s the rush? Setting Your Entry Speed
Last Updated: April 1st, 2024
Cornering is a double edged sword for motorcyclists. So many of us find our joy in motorcycling by the mere act of cornering. There are many reasons why we love to corner: sense of accomplishment, excitement of leaning, or the feeling of freedom all apply. We love it when a plan comes together.
What happens when we don’t get it right? That’s the part nobody likes talking about, but there is a value to understanding why corners go wrong. Let’s start at the beginning.
NICE TO MEET YOU CORNER, I’M S L O W
Most riders will agree that the worst time to find out they are too fast into a corner is MID CORNER! Setting the appropriate entry speed is vital to our success when cornering. At this point in our discussion, defining ENTRY SPEED is necessary. The correct entry speed for a corner is the speed that permits a rider to roll on throughout the entire duration of the corner. As a rider, if you find yourself, delaying throttle roll-on until half way or two-thirds of the way through the corner, you have a major clue: YOUR ENTRY SPEED WAS TOO HIGH. How do we get our entry speed under control?
BACK TO THE BASICS
Riding over our heads and entering corners too fast is nothing new for motorcyclists. Studies from all over the globe indicate riders are not using proper cornering techniques thus resulting in unnecessary fatalities. For this very reason our entry level riders are given the riding technique of SLOW-LOOK-PRESS-ROLL (SLPR). The SLPR technique gives beginning riders a technique to focus upon early in their riding career. However, it has merit for experienced riders too. The big key to the technique? It works only if the riders follow the technique from the very beginning with SLOW. Besides, which side would we rather error on . . . going in too slow for a corner or too fast? Right! Too slow.
One great place to practice your entry speed is with us at our Advanced Riding Techniques (ART) course. As luck would have it, we’re running an ART courses at multiple locations this year. Why not come play with us?
Bill Seltzer has been a Motorcycle Safety Foundation RiderCoach since 2003 and a Total Control Advanced Riding Instructor since 2011. He currently serves as the Marketing Director for TEAM Arizona and is a member of the Arizona Strategic Highway Safety Planning committee. Have questions or comments about the article? Email him: Bill@MotorcycleTraining.com
