GENERAL CORNERING

As you look, so shall you steer! Looking where you want to go sounds easy, but way too often, you’ll focus on the bike that crashed in front of you, that rut you don’t want to be in, or that stump you want to avoid. Guess where you end up? Look at where you want to be, not where you don’t want to be.

Keep your body movements as smooth as possible. Quick jerky moves quickly put you off your bike.

Look ahead as far as you can. Pick your line before you get there and know where you’ll follow through.

Get your braking done before you hit the turn – you want to avoid hitting the brakes while you’re leaning.

Keep your throttle steady during the turn.

Keep your weight on the inside peg to begin the turn, then shift to the outside peg to counterbalance during the turn.

Stay loose – you have to guide the bike, not fight it. The bike may want to wander during the turn and if you’re tense you’re more likely to put the bike down or get thrown.

If you’re moving fast, the bike can drift a little. Don’t try to avoid the drift – you’re better off trying to anticipate it and use it. If the drift is unexpected, stay loose and correct for it.

Don’t wait until you’re out of the turn to accelerate. Start throttling up about halfway through and tease the clutch to control your traction.

As you finish the turn, remember you have more track ahead of you. Nailing the turn doesn’t do you a whole lot of good if you face plant on the next jump or turn.

When you’re accelerating out of the turn, it can help to shift your weight backwards on the seat a little to put more weight on the back wheel and gain some extra traction.

SMOOTH CORNERS
As you finish braking for the corner slide forward, seated, with your inside leg out towards the front wheel. Get up on the corner of the seat so that as the bike is leans for the turn your body is still vertical. Lean hard on the outside peg, to counter-balance the bike and improve traction.

After passing the midpoint of the corner you should be accelerating enough so that both wheels are just starting to drift. Easy does it though – you want to avoid having that rear wheel slide too far.

Straighten the bike up as you come out of the corner to get better traction and increase speed.

ROUGH CORNERS

Blazing up on a corner full of ruts freaks out a lot of riders – so mastering them can give you a real edge and lots of confidence.

Brake before reaching the corner, and enter the rut with your weight forward, your elbows up and your head over the handlebars.

Keep your weight on the outside peg during the turn.

Here’s the unnatural part for most riders -- let the rut to steer the bike. Stay loose and ride the bike… don’t fight it.

Begin accelerating as you pass the midpoint of the turn.

Practice. Practice. Practice. Start slow and steady until the technique becomes second nature, then start increasing the speed of your passes through the turn.

BERMED CORNERS

First of all, just because a berm is there, it doesn’t mean you have to use it. Sometime you can find a faster line through the turn by avoiding the berm.

A wide berm (lots of distance between the berm and the inside of the track) often means a slightly slower but shorter turn on the inside is actually quicker than a faster pace on the berm.

The steeper the berm, the more you can lean the bike into it, and the faster you can get through the turn.

When you can, start the turn higher on the berm and drive your way down to the bottom as you come out. Think smooth and flowing.