How hot to enter a curve? >Was wondering what other listers use as a gauge for how fast they enter a >curve on an unfamiliar road? My rule of thumb has usually been 15 to 20 >miles over the speed limit sign shown before entering the curve. Maybe more if I >am familiar with that particular road. I have two riding buddies(one who rides >a BlackBird & one on a ST) who use a slightly higher figure for determining >their speed. Their rule of thumb is, 2x the speed limit sign. Hence, a >40mph sign, means that they can safely take that curve at 80mph. Suffice it to >say that I usually ride at the rear with these two. Generally, I find I *can* enter between 50% and 100% of the posted speed (100% is pretty rare for me to do on a bike, but generally not a problem in the car). HOWEVER if it's an unfamiliar road, I generally back it off a bit more - just because I don't know what's ahead. In addition, the entry speed isn't the only factor. There's also your exit speed! I don't know how many on this list have done track days, I have not done any on any of my bikes (maybe this weekend...), but have fairly extensive (car) auto-x experience (and training) and one day at Sears Point in my car (also with 1 on 1 instruction). A textbook technique for an unknown turn is to enter a bit slow *and* turn in both later than you would otherwise, and a bit farther, so that you'd cross the center line on a left, or hit the shoulder on a right (or just come closer than you normally would). Once into the turn, you accelerate and increase your turning radius, correcting the excessive turn in, and "accelerate out of the turn." Since this technique causes your apex (point where you come closest to the inside edge of the road) to occur (typically) in the second half of the turn, it's called (go figure) a late apex turn. Note that your exit speed can be higher than your entry speed, so (i) you gain back some of what you gave up on the entry, and (ii) if there's a straight following the turn, you can carry more speed (if appropriate) down the entire straight! If there is a problem, you simply have to stand the bike up a bit and slow down. Since you've set up so that you must increase your turning radius, this generally isn't a problem, ALWAYS much less of a problem than if you don't late apex! Another effect of a late apex is that it allows you (by the degree to which you late apex) to exit on the inside of the turn, instead of traveling to the outside at the exit. This is a big advantage in a series of linked turns as the inside of the first turn is the outside of the second and you can setup more easily for the next turn. One very common error I notice in many drivers and riders that have not received any training, is that they almost invariably turn in too soon (early apex). This has the effect of pushing you to the outside of the turn on the exit (and sometimes at the mid-point!). Bad for linked turns, and bad for problems; if you're kind of on the edge and must maintain your lean to stay on (your side of) the road, and there's something in your path... I hope this makes sense, I generally need paper and pencil to describe this well - according to one friend, I really can't talk at all without drawing pictures... It's car oriented, but there is an excellent book that covers a lot of driving techniques very well and I think it's generic enough to recommend it to a group of riders: Secrets of Solo Racing by Henry Watts Here's a link to a review : http://www.oregonpca.org/Library/track/solorace.htm or do a search on: "secrets of solo racing" "henry watts" "loki publishing" and find a number of reviews. I believe it's also available from amazon.com, probably at a discount. --Soren