To the guy that said BS (DYNAJOE), you obviously havent ridden THAT much or THAT hard.

MATUCHI---Couldnt agree more.

Riding a dirbike fast and hard, especially on the fireroads, will teach you more than anything else about how a bike reacts in fast turns. You will learn how the bike wants to skid, lean, fall, etc. All of that can be transfered to asphalt. Look at all of the supermoto racers. Watch them make the transfer from dirt to asphalt. One thing no one here has mentioned is that so much of bike control is done with your legs and feet as opposed to only with your arms and handlebars. Try squeezing with your knees and driving into your outside peg while going through turns. Believe me you will see and feel the difference.

MATUCHI--where in Nor Cal is that pic? I lived in Glen Ellen for 3 years and Sebastopol for about a year. I used to ride and race all over Cow Mountain, CC Camp, Penny Pines, and Stonyford. By far the best riding Ive done in my life. I miss those places everyday. Nowhere to ride in the dirt around here. Sawmill Enduro was the most fun Ive had in a single race ever, hands down. And it got better every year.

 

nice pic!

 

It's been said a hundred times but, Practice , Practice and do not try to "keep up" or override your skills.
I started on "snake roads" like rt 92 /292 these were roads made based on old Indian and settler trails. Left , right, left again hairpin right. Lots of fun to ride,but, if you are going in wrong or coming out wrong you're screwed. Especially if you are worried about keeping up or the car behind you rear ending you if you go too slow.
You gotta get used to "reflexingly countersteering" and not be afraid to lean the bike. Look ahead to where you wanna be when you come out of that turn, are you gonna come out to tight or too wide for the next turn?
The bike will go where you are looking ! Or are you gonna go over the line and possibly get hit by a car coming from the other side who is going too wide.
Some of these mountain roads here are so narrow that a car going just a little too fast or being too lazy will often go over into the other lane making the turn.
Get used to the sound the pipes make while scraping on a tight right hand turn. Get To Know your bikes lean limits.

I hit parking lots a lot and practice real wide figure 8's and get them progressivly tighter and you get better at it.The Ride Like a Pro videos are excellent as many have stated. And they emphasize practice.Circle practice gets me dizzy but figure 8's are great .Find a big lot that's empty, like a school or factory parking lot on a Sunday morning. I ride daily and a couple times a week I still pull into an empty lot if I see one and do some figure 8's, U turns and low speed practice.

Start out slow and get to know the road you want to practice on, pull over and take a break and let traffic get out of the way .

Still you gotta watch for potholes , gravel, tar snakes and everything else.
You'll get it after taking it easy and doing some practice.
I'm on a softail with a 21" front tire, lowered an inch. Not the world's greatest cornering machine, but, I know what it can do and what I can do with it. I don't like to push either of our limits especially on new roads that I am not familiar with in a mountain area with a lot of twisties.
Oh, and stay off the front brake unless the bike is straight up.
Good luck.

 

Get Keith Code's book, 'A Twist of The Wrist" It is a treatise on proper cornering technique. Then, practice, practice, practise. You will be amazed.

 

Some people mentioned Ride Like a Pro video, but not sure if they mentioned that there is a whole series of vids on the matter, he has the latest (at the time of this post) Ride Like a Pro V, and Ride Like a Pro on The Dragon which is a video about higher speed maneuvers and curves like The Dragon @ Deal's Gap, there's a combo deal for the two videos purchased together to save a couple bucks...

I knew a lot of it already, but it was a nice refresher before going to The Dragon myself, not having been there before, I bought it to get a sneak peek at the road and see if there was anything else in there I didn't know, or forgot. We also took some very curvy highways to and from the Dragon, at higher speeds like 50-80mph.

I felt the same kind of skills and awareness were relevant for both the tight 2nd/3rd gear turns of the Dragon type roads, and the faster mountain freeway roads, although I wasn't looking to scrape the boards at 60 mph, I was a lot more confident handling the bike at speed, after going through the switchbacks and tighter turns at slower speeds. YMMV....

Have fun and be safe, gradually increase your comfort zone through practice, but don't ride beyond your comfort zone if that makes sense.

Taking the proper line, entry speed, proper technique and all that are good, but you still have to be prepared for the unexpected too, so remember that while increasing confidence is good to be able to manage the bike better through the twisties, you can't get too cocky coz you never know what's around the bend, right?

 

I had an experience a couple weeks ago while riding with a buddy. We were riding up to the blue ridge pkwy on a backroad I had never been on before. At one point the road went from nice sweeping curves with small straight stretches to hairpin curves with no notice. I hit that first hairpin about 60 mph on my SG. I did probably a half dozen things wrong. To fast for my abilities, toward the center of road for lefthand turn instead of getting to the right, all lean and forgot to counter steer( I generally try a combination of the two) got to staring at the cliff just off the turn instead of looking thru the turn, anyway you get the idea. Not only did I scrape my floorbaord but scraped the mount for the floorboard pretty good at one point so hard I felt the front unload some weight. The point I want to add is with all the things I did wrong the one thing I did not do was panic or freeze up. I kept working it and made it thru the turn. At one point I was so far up on the gas tank, leaned over toward the inside mirror I looked back and was staring right at the pickup trailing me in the turn. I just smiled and thought oh **** he is going to run me over. Got to the top of Tuggles gap and we pulled over my buddy said he could hear my floorboards scraping over his bike. I had a thought about how many people would have panicked and froze up and probably had worse luck. Along with all the right on great advice on this thread, always remember to stay calm and not freeze up. Act like your are scouting, if you are unfamiliar with the road take it easy.

 

Yes,riding the twisties isnt an option for this area,unless you stay on the interstate...rode up the Ocoee River gorge Saturday,thru Copperhill/McCaysville over to Merciers...passed the place dozens of times but never stoped before...bought a bottle of hot sauce..mmmm....$30 for a frozen T-Bone?...no thanks..

 

Remember when you were ten and would run around with your arms out like an airplane? You wouldlean into the curves you were making and glide right through them. When I hit twisties, I try to go back to that. Just relax, be loose because any tension makes you less likely to feel the turn and successfully navigate it, and think back to bein the kid in the front yard. That puts a smile on your face and makes the whole experience exactly what is was supposed to be - a blast!

 

I know how you feel..living on the plains of Nebraska, we dont get the opportunity to ride real good twisties very often. So when I go to Sturgis every year, it takes me a little while to get accclimated. I just ride my speed, and dont let anybody push me to ride faster than what I feel is safe or in my comfort zone.

 

Take a Rider Safety Course. I just took one after not having ridden in a few years. It was by far the best thing I've done so far. Now I'm scraping my footboards all over the place.

Another good thing was the video "Ride Like a Pro." Good stuff and incredibly helpful.