Ruminations on how to ride

Curves, slow tight curves in particular, are my greatest pleasure in motorcycling. Most riders exploit the narrow track of a motorcycle to "straighten the road" and go faster. My preference is to enjoy the curves, explore them to the extent possible and obtain the maximum sensation from a minimum of speed. There are practical advantages, too.

Normal traffic lanes consists of two relatively clean strips of pavement scoured by car tires. Outside the clean strips the pavement is apt to be covered with debris, especially on the little-traveled roads that are most fun on a motorcycle.

On any given turn, the longest sightline is obtained on the outside of the turn. So, it's advantageous to hop from left to right tire track, always on the outside of the turn unless there's interfering traffic.

This makes the "line" a series of arcs, connected by segments traversed in a straight line through whatever junk lies between the car tire tracks. Here's an oversimplified diagram:   The green line represents the bike's course, the blue represents the "grease strip" between the tire tracks and yellow is the lane separator..

The sketch is obviously artificial: Curves are not constant radius and auto drivers hug the inside of a turn the same way motorcyclists do. That's good, it lets one find clean pavement a little away from the centerline on right-handers. On the lower part of the example it makes sense to shift closer to the centerline in the absence of opposing traffic, just to be a little away from the edge of the pavement, with its dogs, pedestrians, deer, parked cars and small children.

The resulting course is serpentine compared to the "racers's" line used by most riders. The bike _is_ turning harder and going slower than possible. But, there are benefits: It's fun, good practice and the motorcycle does its turning on clean pavement.

Some will object that going outside is unnatural and dangerous. It certainly is unnatural; all _my_ instincts prefer the inside of a turn. But that's the point; I know there's traction on the outside, if I'm afraid to use it I'm riding over my head.

Whether it's dangerous or not depends on your warning thresholds and riding environment: For those who don't think they're going too fast until they start to slide yes, it's probably a dangerous technique. At least where I practice (the hills east of San Francisco Bay) stationary hazards (usually debris in the road, occasionally antimate objects) are a much more common threat than opposing traffic.

If a turn's first straightened and then overcooked it's the cook who gets burned.

On an unstraightend turn there's a chance to smell the smoke first.

8-)