Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126298
;. IIllI II: s t 00 1:' 0) ...... ~ ~ >- I-t ~ ;::l I-t ..c Q) ~ ... " Ent e r the turn standing w ith t he bike tig ht between your knees," " At your pivot po int. get off t he brakes and sit up near the tank:' " Us e a berm only if you know it's faster than pivoting at the apex." ..After making your pivot, pop the clutch and get out of there fast l" How to ride like the Hurricane Part four Turns and berms By Bob Hannah as told to Jim Gianatsis " In motocross I treat' almost all turns the same way. This also applies when you're out trail riding. It doesn't matter if the tum is fast or slow, smooth or bumpy. "First you want to set up your lines , It 's always faster to set up your lines so you can dive straight in to the turn, slam on your 10 brakes , pivot and go . This is even fast for wide turns where you m ight think it's faster to slide the bike or follow a smooth arc . But it's always faster to go straight into and out of a turn if you use your brakes properly. I never slide a bike when I'm racing because it uses up too m uch speed. " N ext, I always go into a turn standing up . I ride standing up all the time . If the turn is really rough and full of whoops you'll want to stand up all the way through it. If it's smooth or has a really good berm that you 'll be riding up against hard, then you can go i?to the turn sta nd ing up and then sit down as you pivot and come out of the turn , " W h ile you're going into the turn standing, keep your knees up tight against the gas tank so your knees can control t he ba la nce of the bike . Bala nce yourself on the footpegs with your toes . Don't stand on the pegs with the arch of your foo t , otherwise your toe can get hoo ked under the peg or your entire foot can ge t knocked off in the turn if you grind the peg. If you' re balancing on the pegs with your toes and your inside foot ge ts knocked off the peg, then you won't fa ll off or lose control of the bike, If you're sitting down and your foot gets knocked off the peg , your balance is upset and you 'll lose control of the bike. " I usually have the clutch lever pu lled in when I go into corners. It not only allows you to brake fas ter goi ng int o the corner , but once you're in the corner you can kick the bike down one gea r and cl utch it out. That 's on an O pen bike and a 250cc bike, O n a 125cc bike I forget t he clutch and keep the bike wide open all the way through the turn. That way the 125cc bike won't lose its speed. "On a big bike you 'll see DeCoster use throttle control to ease the gas on smoothly as he comes out of a turn . But I like to use a lot of throttle and cl utch the bike so it explodes out of the turn. Howert on does it the sa me way . It's all a matter of style , but that's what works for me best. " • (Next week: Tricks ofjumping.)