Text and Photography:
Kevin Schwantz and Lance Holst



 

 Defining Corners

 Most street riders have favorite roads and favorite corners,
 and if they´re honest they´ll admit that they also have roads
 and corners that they just don´t feel comfortable riding. Ask
 them why and many won´t be able to tell you, but a number
 of aspects determine the average rider´s confidence level in
 corners.

 We´re going to take an in-depth look at corners and break
 them down in terms of radius, camber, elevation change,
 visibility, and pavement surface. These are the characteristics
 that make corners comfortable or uncomfortable for the
 typical rider, and defining them in these terms helps riders
 better understand them. With a higher level of understanding,
 riders can overcome the portions that make them
 uncomfortable and eventually master all types of corners and
 ride with complete confidence.

 RADIUS
 The dictionary defines radius as "a straight line extending
 from the center of a circle or sphere to the circumference or
 surface." When we motorcyclists talk about a corner´s radius,
 we´re actually referring to a section of a circle´s
 circumference or the arc of the turn. Corners are either
 constant radius, increasing radius, decreasing radius or, in
 some cases, a combination of the above ...

 



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