This post is about turning a bike as a sport touring rider. I define the sport touring rider as someone who rides roads fast - not crazy, but fast.
First of all (at the risk of upsetting our track day experts), racing is about spending as much time accelerating as possible. More specifically it’s about achieving the maximum controllable speed at any given point on the track. Because of this a racer approaches turning differently than the touring rider. Let’s say your bike’s power band is between 8K and 12K rpm. The racer goes into the turn geared so when they begin rolling on the power they are well into that 8K to 12K sweet spot. It’s a little more complicated than that but that’s generally the scoop. Two big reasons the racer can reduce cornering to good lines and throttle is because they assume A) the track surface is usually dependable and consistent; and B) they know what’s around the next turn.
If you have ever tried to keep up with a good sport touring (ST) rider you will notice that they never seem to be going fast. But as each mile passes they get a little bigger gap on you. That’s because where racers try to go as fast as possible on any given part of the track, experienced ST riders carry speed and conserve their momentum. As an ST rider approaches a turn, they A) take the longest, smoothest line possible around the corner and B) they set the gearing so that they are only using the engine to replace speed scrubbed off in the process of turning the bike.
There are a couple reasons the ST rider rides this way. First, you don’t always know what is ahead of you so getting around a given corner as fast as that corner can be taken is less important than the average speed on a given route. Since taking every corner at maximum speed increases the danger from road conditions (water, ice, gravel, deer, etc.), other traffic, or other unexpected obstacles; the ST rider concedes absolute speed to a safe speed maintained over a long period of time. Second, trying to leap out of a corner is best done under the controlled environment of a track as it greatly increases the chance of a high side.
So, coming into the turn the ST rider moves to the outside of the road (right side). They then analyze the corner for surface condition, obstacles, and visibility. If hard braking is necessary, it is always done with the bike upright so the contact patch is largest (unlike the racer who is almost always on the edge of traction, the ST rider is always well under maximum traction). In your mind think of the point where you plan to begin the arch into the corner (lean) – your braking should be done by this point (remember, you don’t have braking points marked like on a track). Now the bike is rolled into the turn early and the bike is pointed to the inside of the turn (left side). As soon as braking is done, you also begin rolling on power to keep the drive train tight and smooth (called maintenance power). Gearing is selected to keep the bike in the power band but not into the aggressive area of the power. As an example, where a racer might take a turn in 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] gear, the ST rider might be in 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] or even 4[SUP]th[/SUP] gear. This is because it takes very little power to maintain speed if you do it properly. As you exit the turn you head to the outside (right side) of the road. If all that sounds confusing here is a simpler version:
There are a couple of other things to note when fast touring.
Fast ST riding is super fun even though you rarely go above 80 mph. It takes a lot of strategic thinking on the part of the rider and maintaining this mental chess match in heat and cold for hours at a time is very challenging.
First of all (at the risk of upsetting our track day experts), racing is about spending as much time accelerating as possible. More specifically it’s about achieving the maximum controllable speed at any given point on the track. Because of this a racer approaches turning differently than the touring rider. Let’s say your bike’s power band is between 8K and 12K rpm. The racer goes into the turn geared so when they begin rolling on the power they are well into that 8K to 12K sweet spot. It’s a little more complicated than that but that’s generally the scoop. Two big reasons the racer can reduce cornering to good lines and throttle is because they assume A) the track surface is usually dependable and consistent; and B) they know what’s around the next turn.
If you have ever tried to keep up with a good sport touring (ST) rider you will notice that they never seem to be going fast. But as each mile passes they get a little bigger gap on you. That’s because where racers try to go as fast as possible on any given part of the track, experienced ST riders carry speed and conserve their momentum. As an ST rider approaches a turn, they A) take the longest, smoothest line possible around the corner and B) they set the gearing so that they are only using the engine to replace speed scrubbed off in the process of turning the bike.
There are a couple reasons the ST rider rides this way. First, you don’t always know what is ahead of you so getting around a given corner as fast as that corner can be taken is less important than the average speed on a given route. Since taking every corner at maximum speed increases the danger from road conditions (water, ice, gravel, deer, etc.), other traffic, or other unexpected obstacles; the ST rider concedes absolute speed to a safe speed maintained over a long period of time. Second, trying to leap out of a corner is best done under the controlled environment of a track as it greatly increases the chance of a high side.
So, coming into the turn the ST rider moves to the outside of the road (right side). They then analyze the corner for surface condition, obstacles, and visibility. If hard braking is necessary, it is always done with the bike upright so the contact patch is largest (unlike the racer who is almost always on the edge of traction, the ST rider is always well under maximum traction). In your mind think of the point where you plan to begin the arch into the corner (lean) – your braking should be done by this point (remember, you don’t have braking points marked like on a track). Now the bike is rolled into the turn early and the bike is pointed to the inside of the turn (left side). As soon as braking is done, you also begin rolling on power to keep the drive train tight and smooth (called maintenance power). Gearing is selected to keep the bike in the power band but not into the aggressive area of the power. As an example, where a racer might take a turn in 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] gear, the ST rider might be in 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] or even 4[SUP]th[/SUP] gear. This is because it takes very little power to maintain speed if you do it properly. As you exit the turn you head to the outside (right side) of the road. If all that sounds confusing here is a simpler version:
- Your line is inside outside.
- Run higher in the gears than when you are showing off to the buddies. Be smooth on the throttle.
- Brake early, the price of over shooting a turn are huge.
- Always turn a 60-70% of maximum. Save some traction for the unexpected.
There are a couple of other things to note when fast touring.
- One thing is that once a bike is in a lean it can be controlled with the throttle – more throttle the bike goes wide, less throttle and the arch tightens (this we share with racers). This is why a good suspension setup, good tires and proper pressures are so critical.
- On a hot day the tire pressure can soar. If you run a high pressure on the road to save the tires for the twisties, check the pressure at all gas stops. I was once rolling the interstate with 36 psi in the front to keep the bike off the sides of the tire and save gas. I checked the pressure at a stop and it was 49 psi! Now I always ride with a TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system).
- If there is an obstacle in the road, stand the bike up to brake, cutting the turn into a series of straight segments.
- Never trust a road surface that looks suspicious. Take your time if you cannot verify satisfactory road conditions in a turn.
- Don’t get over confident because you know a road. Real world road conditions change daily. A good ST rider is always vigilant.
- Finally, if you can’t see the road over a hill ahead, use caution. I generally move to the center of the road to allow the most reaction time if the road goes in either direction. I have learned to read the trees ahead to figure out which way the road will go.
Fast ST riding is super fun even though you rarely go above 80 mph. It takes a lot of strategic thinking on the part of the rider and maintaining this mental chess match in heat and cold for hours at a time is very challenging.
