How Not to Corner a Motorcycle

A 24 year old man crashed his motorcycle last Tuesday and remains in serious condition at Kalamazoo’s Bronson Methodist Hospital.

The rider, riding a Kawasaki Ninja, lost control swerving to avoid a deer. He told police his back wheel “locked up.” Police state that the evidence at the scene shows that he was traveling too fast for the curve in the road.

When I read this report about the back wheel “locking up,” I immediately thought that this is a rider who is inexperienced or simply riding too fast. Sport bikes can be great fun to ride. But if you don’t know what you’re doing, they can be very dangerous. I once read a great statement about cornering: “It’s better to go into a corner slow and come out fast, than go into a corner fast and not come out at all.” It’s very simple…never accelerate before you can see the exit. Too many riders crash because they accelerate before they have finished turning.

One of the foremost riding instructors that ever rode a motorcycle, Lawrence Grodskey always said, “Slow going in…out with a grin.”