Cornering Speeds

[sporto]

On dry clean roads, during the daytime, with little traffic and where you can see all the way thru the corner, is exiting the apex at double the posted speed limit something you do?

A. goodness no, never that fast

B. sometimes, when I'm feeling it

C. almost always, it is my goal

D. at least double the speed, for I am Ricky Racer and proud holder of several crash club awards

 

[Ignacio]

Official Forum Notice:

It's Forum Friday early. Have fun. :glare:

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Pick one sporto.

a. Double? Pussy. Grow a pair and try triple.

b. I pretend they're kilometers per hour and go that speed.

c. Like most of the population I know corner speeds are suggestions and pick a speed that is comfortable for me.

d. I do a statistical analysis of all corner speed limit signs in a 25 mile circle to see if they correlate to baselined Ricky Racer speed. Some signs are high, some low, and I throw out any that are more than 1 standard deviation away. The remaining signs I exceed by a factor of 2.172.

 

[wfooshee]

Feej won't reach double the posted limit on west Texas Interstates . . . . . . .

But it's usually clean and dry, usually light traffic, usually good visibility. That damned 80mph limit, though!

 

[johnny80s]

Official Forum Notice:
It's Forum Friday early. Have fun. :glare:

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Pick one sporto.

a. Double? Pussy. Grow a pair and try triple.

b. I pretend they're kilometers per hour and go that speed.

c. Like most of the population I know corner speeds are suggestions and pick a speed that is comfortable for me.

d. I do a statistical analysis of all corner speed limit signs in a 25 mile circle to see if they correlate to baselined Ricky Racer speed. Some signs are high, some low, and I throw out any that are more than 1 standard deviation away. The remaining signs I exceed by a factor of 2.172.

I just stop and walk the bike through corners. They scare me.

 

[Blind Squirrel]

Official Forum Notice:
It's Forum Friday early. Have fun. :glare:

-------

Pick one sporto.

a. Double? Pussy. Grow a pair and try triple.

b. I pretend they're kilometers per hour and go that speed.

c. Like most of the population I know corner speeds are suggestions and pick a speed that is comfortable for me.

d. I do a statistical analysis of all corner speed limit signs in a 25 mile circle to see if they correlate to baselined Ricky Racer speed. Some signs are high, some low, and I throw out any that are more than 1 standard deviation away. The remaining signs I exceed by a factor of 2.172.

 

[ionbeam]

When you are hanging off, the foot peg has been dragging for a while and now the exhaust pipe is starting to spark too, that is fast. When you are doing all of the above and your FJR low sides or slides off the road, that's too fast. The trick is to predictably know where that fine line is, every time, on every corner.

Here in New England we have corners that say 10 mph and mean it. We have others that say 50 mph and you could probably take them at red line in top gear.

In terms of performance envelope, a level of 1 means that you have zero risk and nothing could go wrong. A level of 10 is where you are on that knife edge of loosing control and even a stay grain of sand on the road will punt you off the road. I try to not exceed 7-8 leaving me a margin of control and the ability to maneuver and manage my line. Speed has nothing to do with that performance envelope number. I can have my game face on and whiz around a corner at 8 -- 20% away from crashing, and then have another FJR bud mention that I'm a pussy and rode the corners way too slow. My 8 may be a 4 for someone else.

I recommend that you mount the performance envelope numerical display high up on the dash so you easily have it in your line of sight, even when hanging well off the seat and looking through the corner.

This is a conservative cornering performance envelope number:

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

Feej won't reach double the posted limit on west Texas Interstates . . . . . . .But it's usually clean and dry, usually light traffic, usually good visibility. That damned 80mph limit, though!

I met a L.E.O. mid-curve, at a high rate of speed, in West TX -- he was in a P.U./S.U.V. w/roof lights -- he waved at me, I waved back.

Otherwise..., all those corner/curve speed info signs are for the edification of "other road users" -- not motorcyclists (especially not: FJR riders).

 

[Speed3]

Only go into a corner as fast as your comfortable with...on the street it's key to enter the corner slow and exit fast.

As a guide if the corner is marked at 25mph, I typically try to enter around 50mph or so leaving room for error.

 

[Fred W]

Being able to see all the way through the corner is the tricky part. Most places that have the nice curvy, twisty roads they also have these big green things that block your sight lines. That is usually the limiting factor.

 

[wheatonFJR]

There is some funny chit in this thread. Thanks Matt and Alan!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Threepointlanding]

When I lived in Sicily all of those signs with numbers on them were purely suggestive.

I enjoy the whole breathing thing, so when my anus taps the back of my brain and tells me that I’m about to do something incredibly stupid, I tend to listen.

 

[Fred W]

I have always heard that the yellow background signs posting a speed for a particular corner are just suggestions here in the US too, and primarily apply to how fast a big truck can take a particular curve. Legal speed limit signs are only the ones with white background and black numbers.

 

[FJReady]

Try them all sporto. Mr. Darwin will help you find your answer.

 

[Threepointlanding]

Those guys in Sicily are nuts. Signs are all blue and white over there, and in Kph.

The Carabinieri always seem to catch them though...lol. You would see them slapping the "stars" out of them on the side of the road. Literally, slapping them across the face. "They can do that as they hold their uzi's in the other hand"...

 

[Solo]

In corners I completly ignore speed limit signs and take them balls to the wall. When the bags start scraping and lift the real wheel off the ground, I use the skills I have honed over many years to collect the FJR as it slides and then power out of the corner with the front wheel in the air. That's why a set of PR2s only last me a weekend or so.

 

[Bounce]

Until I knew the corner, I'd follow the guidelines of the posted (yellow) sign. I've been in areas where the signs all seemed artificially low and other places that were spot on. In some places they're a mix. Without knowing what to expect (wildlife, road surface, etc.) I'd avoid assumptions.

It's not a track, so conditions can't be assumed and there aren't any corner workers to pick your broken ass up off the road if you crash and burn.

 

[Ignacio]

I've been in areas where the signs all seemed artificially low and other places that were spot on. In some places they're a mix. Without knowing what to expect (wildlife, road surface, etc.) I'd avoid assumptions.

Dang, you've pointed out a hole in my statistical methodology assuming the appropriate speed is within two derivations of the mean on the posted limit. I'm going to have to completely revise my alogrithm and weight another variable. My previous "c." is now being reviewed and will be revised.

In the meantime, I have a new option!

e. Click this definitive source, press Generate using the defaults, and take it at that. Maybe it can become an iPhone app and used in the field just before the corner.

I luuuuv Fridays.

 

[sporto]

To the few of you that provided a thoughtful response to what was intended to be an honest question. I thank you.

To the rest of you jokers and azzhats... :****:

 

[Threepointlanding]

Well, let’s be honest here. This isn’t an issue determined by the bike. It’s determined by the nerve and experience of the rider, and perhaps the wear on the tires.

If I’m feeling confident, I’m more apt to take a turn that I’m familiar with more aggressively than I would on a road that I have not been on.

I don’t think the majority of folks on here are Island of TT racers and have to go to work and earn money for their family’s the following Monday.

If you’re asking us to find out what nerve you should take in turns, I’m going to stick with my original post and say that when your azz tells you not to, don’t. I don’t think there is a “correct” or a “constant” answer here. Every situation determines the use of common sense and sometimes a bit of humble pie. It only takes one pebble or slip to ruin your life.

Going by your answers, I would have to say B, but only on roads I know, when I’m feeling good about it. Most of the time, I don't look at the "speed sign". I look at the turn, and "My Speed", and determine what is good for me. I don't really give a ratz azz what anyone else is doing, and if I fall behind, boo hoo...."Trust me, i'll catch up with everything attached".

A. goodness no, never that fast

B. sometimes, when I'm feeling it

C. almost always, it is my goal

D. at least double the speed, for I am Ricky Racer and proud holder of several crash club awards