These Four Deadly Sins Will Prevent You From Cornering Hard
An Australian YouTuber explains how to ride your Harley around corners like you stole it.
A couple of months ago, a Harley-Davidson enthusiast from Australia named Aymen Fares showed us five mistakes that newer Harley riders make while navigating traffic. Now he’s back to share some tips that’ll up your game when slicing through corners. Fares, who’s responsible for the cleverly named YouTube channel OldNotDead, reckons that “you can’t have more fun than riding your Harley hard around corners.” Well, at least not doing anything that can be discussed in polite company. Here are his secrets to fast-cornering nirvana.
Don’t finish braking too soon
Rather than slowing down completely prior to entering a turn, use your front brakes deeper into the corner. To be clear, you’ll still want to do the majority of heavy braking while your bike is straight upright, but you don’t need to be completely off the brakes before entering a corner. Instead, slowly release the brakes as you’re beginning to lean. Slight braking pressure will compress the front suspension, which loads up the front tire and actually increases grip.
Avoid target fixation
Next, Fares tackles target fixation, which he defines as when you “focus on an object or obstacle in front of you on the road and you lose sight of the actual path that you want to travel along.” In reality, staring at a threat on the road makes riders drift toward the danger, not away from it, which can lead to a crash.
Instead, focus on the safe path around the obstacle. In general, Fares recommends a more holistic approach to paying attention. That includes looking through the corner to the exit point, not just watching what’s immediately ahead of the front tire. Physically turn your head toward your intended path, not just your eyes.
Master the art of counter-steering
Counter-steering is also pretty counterintuitive, right? To go right, you’ll want to pull the handlebar to the left, and vice-versa. This will cause the bike to fall in the direction of the turn, initiating the cornering process. If it’s easier for you to remember, an alternative way of thinking is push right go right, push left go left.
Fares cautions that the faster you’re traveling, the more aggressively you’ll need to push the handlebars to corner like a pro. Leaning the bike and shifting your weight will only take you so far in aggressive cornering without proper counter-steering technique. It’s definitely a skill worth mastering.
Learn to lean when cornering your Harley
To have maximum fun through the twisties, the final tip discussed in the video is learning to lean more aggressively into turns. Your Harley will naturally drift toward the outside of a corner, which is definitely something you’ll want to combat. By positioning your upper body off-center toward the inside of the turn, the bike itself won’t have to lean as far over.
On some Harley-Davidson models with floorboards, exhaust, or luggage that can easily contact the ground, not having to lean the bike over as far is a real asset. To be clear, you don’t have to hang off the side like Kyle Wyman or James Rispoli at a King of the Baggers race. Leaning your torso slightly will suffice, but if you want to get more aggressive about leaning, you can rotate your hips as well.
Images: OldNotDead/YouTube