Hello!
And welcome to my helmet for part two of how to master downhill corners.
We're currently at the top of Guardsman Pass, which is, like, almost 3,000 meters of eleveation.
Which is close to 10,000 feet.
It's a beautiful morning.
And we're going to take on one of the hardest roads around here.
It's called Pine Canyon Drive.
But I thought you would like to see the spectacular view from up here as we get started.
And we can talk about some of the key concepts of riding downhill corners.
First is grip comes from weight.
So, we're going to use the front brake a lot.
As the weight of the bike shifts towards the front, we have grip.
And you're going to be able to see, because I put a camera over my hand.
You can see what I'm doing with my throttle and brake.
They are going to be synced up so you can see in real-time, whats going on.
Something else.
We are never, ever going to overlap our throttle and front brake.
It is a bad technique.
It is based entirely one guy misunderstanding a racer, and then publishing that misunderstanding
in a book.
The racer was actually talking about overlapping the rear brake with the throttle to manage
wheelies, and as a pre-electronic traction control, on old 500cc two-stroke race bikes.
It doesn't work.
It basically puts the bike into a situation where it doesn't want to slow down and it
doesn't turn.
So, we're not going to use it.
And finally, because we are on a public road we have to be ever mindful of oncoming traffic.
That means, I'm not really going to be as swoopy as I would like to be.
I can't really open up my turns as much as I would like, because I have to be aware that
there could be a Dodge RAM pickup truck coming up, the other way, in the middle of the road
at any moment.
Beyond that, welcome along for the ride.
This is a beautiful morning, and I'm just going to try to talk you through what I'm
doing and what I am thinking as I am thinking it.
And hopefully I don't make too many mistakes.
It is surprisingly hard to do this and ride extremely proficiently.
You make a lot of mistakes when you are trying to think of the next clever thing to say to
entertain you fine folks.
Here we go, first tight turn.
You see I'm braking, downshifting.
You can see someone skid off the track -er, the road, right there.
I'm still slowing.
Taking it tight.
Oh!
Look at all that gravel.
See, check that out!
Real-life here folks.
This is not manufactured.
Wee!
I'm going to be riding the bike based on direction.
I'm going to slow until I'm happy with my speed and until I get the motorcycle pointed.
And I'm not going to go back to the throttle until I can see.
Until I have visibility.
Oh we got a Corvette here.
Hopefully we can get around him.
I don't know what all these people here are doing.
Lets see if we can sneak around this Corvette, because we will probably be going quicker
than him.
Alright, braking into the turn.
Nice tight one.
He's having a nice morning.
Let's slip by him.
Thank you!
But yeah, I'm a big believer in ride at the speed that brings you the most amount of joy.
Within reason, of course.
But, I can't imagine going mach two on a public road is that joyful.
Oh, that was nice!
That felt good.
See, I'm on the brakes, just kinda' helping put weight into that front tire.
Thats something else.
A lot of comments on part one.
And if you haven't seen part one, go watch it right now.
A link will be in that corner, or that corner.
No, that corner.
A lot of people recommended downshifting and relying on engine braking.
We actually don't want to do that.
In fact, in a lot of these turns I will run a higher gear to ensure that the engine is
running smoothly.
So I get really smooth transitions.
And I don't need a lot of power to drive out of the corners because I'm going down hill.
I have gravity to help pull the bike out of corners.
And I want to rely on my front brake.
I want to be in a situation where I feel obligated to use that front brake, because thats where
the stability comes from.
Thats where the control comes from.
I can add and subtract really tiny amounts of front brake pressure and be incredibly
precise.
I have more control with my front brake than I do with engine braking.
And as my dad always said; brake pads are cheaper than engines.
So, we wanna' use the brakes.
Alright, we're about to the good stuff here.
It's going to start getting fun.
Lovely views up here.
Trail braking in.
I can't really see so I'm staying kinda' close to the edge of the road.
Nice, I got some visibility.
Still staying over here.
Nice.
I can accelerate out.
Have a little fun through the dip.
Whoohoo!
See, there's a RAM pickup truck right in the middle of the road.
As expected.
On cue!
And why is it always a RAM?
Alright, trail braking in.
Off the brakes.
Accelerating out and not going into the oncoming lane.
Really kinda' hugging the side.
I have decent visibility here so I clip that apex.
Back to the brakes.
I'm slowing.
Little bit of gas.
Back to the brakes.
Oh, we have a rock right there.
We'll go around the inside of that.
Good visibilty and out we go.
Too easy!
So much fun.
This road used to be really jenky and bumpy and then they repaved it for the Tour of Utah.
And I kinda' miss it when it was jenky.
Because nobody rode it back then.
Or drove it.
Now you'll see dump trucks on it.
On the brakes, controlling my speed.
Look at that view!
On the brakes.
I'm going to duck in tight because I can't see.
There's my visibility and out I go!
Now if you want to keep up with your buddies in the canyons, don't try to be fast in the
corners.
Set yourself up to be fast out of the corners.
We want to get the bike turned and pointed and where we can see.
Then we get to turn the go-fast knob.
And I hear ya'.
I like going fast.
Turning that go-fast knob is fun!
Look at that guy.
Right in the middle of the road.
Three giant pickup trucks.
Because this is the road for a giant pickup truck.
Nice!
Love it!
Alright its all about smooth.
The first and last five-percent.
Really blind one.
Really steep one.
I hope the camera conveys that.
Yippie!
Remember guys, motorcycles are fun.
The reason why we go to all this effort to learn and become more proficient is to make
riding more fun.
Look, the Ford was on his side of the road.
What was I just saying about dump trucks?
Yeah, this is a road for dump trucks.
On the brakes.
Smooth.
We don't need to overlap brake and throttle to find smoothness.
We do that with our hand.
First and last five-percent.
See I'm on the brakes.
Off the brakes.
A little bit of acceleration.
No problem!
Slow in.
This is a really fun one.
Changing directions.
I'm staying on the brakes the whole time, through a transition.
Staying tight.
I can't see.
Can't see.
There's my visibility.
It's getting tighter and tighter and tighter.
Yay!
See wasn't that great!
That was so much fun!
We should do that again!
Alright.
Stay wide.
I can't really see.
I got some visibility.
There it is.
Now I can go!
I'm not willing to commit to a corner until I can see.
I will stay very conservative, on the brake, or at neutral throttle until I have my visibility.
Until I can see the exit.
There's too much risk to go to the gas early.
This one just goes on forever.
See.
Woohoo!
We're allowed to have fun!
Road narrows?
That's kind of hard to imagine.
Oh yeah!
Boy, it does.
Stay wide.
Alright.
Kinda' a little rough throug there.
It was a tight one.
There's my visibility.
To the brake.
Stay tight.
There's my visibility.
Now a lot of you folks said you struggled more with uphill turns than downhill.
We will make a video for you.
We are already in the beginning stages of developing that content.
So, if you're like; yeah!
downhill corners are cool!
Rock on!
But if the uphill ones scare me; we go something coming for you.
Ooh, this one keeps going and going and going.
Whoooo.
Stay with the brake.
You see that?
It is fun to turn the go-fast knob.
We're almost to the bottom.
Front brake.
20 miles per hour?
The speed limit on this road is fifteen, and they're giving us a 20mph corner advisory
speed.
Don't trust signs folks.
It's pleasant down here.
Really tight.
But no problem, right?
We just used our brakes to control our speed and slow until we are happy and had direction.
It's not easy, but it's not complicated.
It is surprising.
So, I've been riding, oh, for a long time.
Since the '80s.
Got my first street bike in, I think, '88 or '89.
And I'm still trying to get good at this.
How many things in life are that entertaining for that long?
We are constantly trying to improve.
Right?
Guitar.
Music.
Always room to improve there.
Ooh!
A center line!
Remember these things?
Aww, this is way easier, huh?
That center line is like a comfort blanket, isn't it?
It's like makes you feel all good on the inside.
Alright guys!
Thank you so much for watching.
Mastering Downhill Corners Part Two!
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Again, thanks for watching.
Ride on and ride well!