Making turns!

[hayleyscomet]

I am a newbie, and I know practice is everything. I just get really nervous making sharp turns, I end up psyching myself out and then I eat it. I was out at Stoddard Wells yesterday and I was in a sand wash attempting to make a sharp turn and of course I ate it and broke my clutch bar. Needless to say that was the end of my day! Anybody have any advice on how to practice my turns? Thanks!

[akarob]

The figure 8 drill is good. just get two cones (or whatever) and place them a good distance apart - enough so you can get into 3rd gear anyway. Then just do figure 8s around them. If you are goal orientated, you can time yourself for 10 laps.

[hayleyscomet]

Thanks! I appreciate the advice!

[ridin_red]

sit as far forward on the seat as you can, weight the outside peg and look around the corner. Have fun!

[ktm 125]

The figure 8 drill is good. just get two cones (or whatever) and place them a good distance apart - enough so you can get into 3rd gear anyway. Then just do figure 8s around them. If you are goal orientated, you can time yourself for 10 laps.

Practice is everything! I did the figure 8 and it really helped me learn how to be able to whip my bike around sharp turns. But also dont think about it just go, if you look and try really hard not to go somewhere or do something you probably will do exactly what you didnt want to do!

[tiemann1]

Practice with an experienced rider and switch bikes to confirm that your suspension, tires, pressure,. etc etc are on mark. Tweaking things a bit might speed up the learning curve.

[NP4M]

Go to Comp Edge and hit up the hillside track for a few hours. I tried like hell to turn better, but I never really saw improvement until I went to the track. The berms will be more forgiving and will allow you to figure out how to lean your bike over. Being at the track will help in two ways. First, you will see the same turn every minute or two and you can pick a couple to focus on. Second, there are better riders out there that will be passing you, so follow them into the turn and see how they attack it.

It is hard to learn in the desert since you don't see the same turn once you have ridden past it. Right now, conditions are great out there, and it is prime time to take advantage of the traction!

[2strokezuke]

keep clutch and brake levers in excess.

the figure 8 is a great idea because it will help get a feel for the traction limits of your bike.

This might sound strange but practice sliding out the back wheel during the figure 8. If you can slide out the back you will know at what point you will use traction and you will also get practice recovering from sliding out.

[Dwight_Rudder]

Uh, What is a clutch bar ?

If you are talking about a clutch lever, I suggest you also mount up a set of bark busters. They help protect levers in the event of a crash. Can't remember the last time I replaced one since using barkbusters for almost 28 years.

[2strokezuke]

its 2am , were all making typos at this time at night

[hayleyscomet]

Thanks 2strokezuke! Dwight_Rudder I am new at this and I don't know much about bikes...yet, cut a girl some slack ok! I am still learning, and I want to be the best rider I can be but we all know that it is a process and it won't happen overnight. I really appreciate the advice from everybody! Thank you so much!

[yztwostrokin]

Take a short wrench and duct tape it to whats left of the lever. Voila, brand new lever(almost OEM quality!) Did that in an enduro and it worked like a charm!

[Tom68]

You did mention it was a sandy wash you fell in. I'm hopeless in dry deep sand but if thats what it was you need to throttle through the turn to stop the front wheel tucking in.