Questionwhen coming out of a corner the bike drifts out what is the reason?
AnswerI'm presuming in my answer that when you say the bike "drifts" you mean it follows a line out of the corner that is wider than you intended. This would bring the risk of taking you off the road on one side, or putting you into the lane of oncoming traffic on the other. Not good!
I'm going to deal with this in two parts, firstly rider aspects and then bike aspects.
RIDER ASPECTS (most likely cause)
1) The most common reason for riders getting in trouble in corners is poor planning. You need to gather as much information as possible, as early as possible. This means positioning for best view through the corner. To get the best view you need to position away from the centre of your lane, either towards the centre of the road or towards the nearside depending on which way the bend is going.
2) Read the bend by looking for the point where the two sides of the road appear to meet (sometimes called visual point). If it is moving away from you, the bend is opening up and you can go quicker; if it is closing towards you, the bend is tightening up and you need to slow down.
3) Reduce your speed on approach to the bend; you should not be braking as you enter the bend.
4) Select a gear appropriate for controlling the bike through the bend. Typically, this will be 50% of redline on the tacho. So, if your redline is at 9,000 rpm, aim to be at 4,500 rpm for the bend.
5) Hold steady throttle after entry then, once you can see the exit, roll the throttle on gently. This causes the rear of the bike to increase traction and helps keep the steering tighter.
6) LOOK WHERE YOU WANT TO GO! This is probably the reason you are drifting wide. Many inexperienced riders do not look up and through the bend. Imagine someone is pulling you through the bend with a piece of string tied to your chin or the zipper on your jacket. Do not look down at the path being drawn by the front wheel, otherwise you will go wide.
7) Read up on "counter steering" in any of the good books available on riding technique, like 'Twist of the Wrist II'. Basically, it teaches you how to steer by pushing the handlebar on the side of the turn, i.e. to turn left you push the left bar under the bike. If you are trying to steer round a bend like you would steer a pedal cycle at slow speed, you will be fighting the steering through the bend and will run wide.
8) Forget trying to mimic race-track riders by transferring your weight in the seat or on the pedals until you have mastered the basics above.
BIKE ASPECTS
1) The shorter the wheelbase (distance between axles) and the more steep the angle of the forks, the quicker the bike will turn, so a 600cc sports bike will turn quicker than a laid back cruiser.
2) You can adjust this on some bikes by raising the forks a little up through the yokes (triple tree). This is a cheap and very effective mod to make, but seek guidance from a mechanic if you don't know much about working on bikes. Don't over do it, either.
3) Good or properly adjusted suspension helps a lot with adding confidence. The less the bike wallows in the turn, the more confidence you will have in going quicker with a tighter line through the bend.
4) Before messing with suspension, make sure your tyre pressures are as specified by the manufacturer. Many people run on tyres that are too soft. Do you know that modern Triumphs and BMWs run on 42psi rear and 36psi front?
Hope this helps.
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Regards
Alec
