Solo Cornering crash (new rider)

[8Lives]

Two more thoughts to add:

1. All the gear, all the time - you were halfway there and now your lower half is paying the price.

2. Yes, you need a new helmet. You can have it inspected but the MTB rule of thumb is "hit head, buy helmet." which generally applies here too. Do not take a chance with your brain.

I'm sorry this happened early in your moto journey but listen to the good advice above and you'll have years of happy (and pain-free) riding.

 

[Busy Little Shop]

I'll ante up my braking skill notes accumulated over 50 years that I live by...

Step 1

Sort your bike out tire pressures and condition, suspension
settings, brake condition, then find a smooth, straight, clean bit of
road without too much camber. Do a few runs,braking fairly hard, to
warm the tires and get a feel for how it handles. As you line up for
your first hard stop, you need to be relaxed. If you need to stop
yourself pitching forward, grip the tank with your knees...

Step 2

The initial phase is important - how you first apply the brakes
determines how the bike reacts. Your brakes are not an on/off switch.
You're looking for a smooth initial application that transfers weight
on to the front tire without suddenly compressing the suspension. If
you just grab on the lever, the suspension bottoms out, and then can't
absorb any more movement. Something has to give, and it's the tire,
which will break traction. So smooth and firm is the key.


Step 3

Having transferred the weight onto the front tire, you've given
yourself bags of extra grip. To use it, you need to increase the
pressure on the lever progressively. On any modern Sportsbike and most
all Standards you should be able brake hard enough for the rear wheel
to lift off the ground. If it starts hopping that's because the engine
is locking it up... clutch in or slipped and it should stop, or rear
brake locks up, that's a good indication. This is hard as you can
brake in normal conditions. At this point, the rear brake's no use to
you at all. This is not a stoppie, by the way, that's a separate
stunt...

Step 4

Once you're up to full braking effort, you still have to assess what's
going on. If you're about to cross a patch of oil or go through a
puddle, you'll want to release the lever pressure slightly, then
increase it again as the extra risk is passed. You need to be relaxed
enough so that if you feel the wheel locking, you can let lever off
until it spins again, then get back up to braking pressure. The only
way to make this an instinctive reaction is to practise deliberately
locking and releasing the brake...

Step 5

As you come almost to the point of stopping, you'll obviously need to
actuate the clutch lever in to avoid stalling you can do this as soon
as you start to brake, but why not use the engine braking it'll help
you keep control. Secondly, slightly slightly release the braking
pressure at the very last moment. This gives the suspension a chance
to return to normal otherwise you come to a halt, and the forks bounce
up from full travel, which can unbalance you as try to put your foot
down and stop - you don't want to avoid an accident and then drop the
bike anyway do you?

BIKE
In good shape, well-adjusted, and with plenty of life left in brake
pads and tires. Wrong tires pressures or worn tires can destroy
braking feel and performance

HANDS
Some people use all four fingers on the brake lever, and some prefer
two or three. One is a possible with a modern race bike brakes, but
it's harder to get the fine control you need...

SURFACE
Constantly changing, so you need to keep changing your braking
pressure, and be prepared to let the brakes off altogether over really
slippery bits

ARMS
Don't lock them straight - you'll lose feel and control. Brace your
body weight by taking weight through the foot pegs and gripping the
tank between your knees

CLUTCH
Leave it engaged until the very last moment it should help you stop
quicker and more in control if you use the engine braking. If the
engine starts to lock the back wheel up, slip the clutch slightly
exactly as you would when you pull away...

BRAIN
Thinking to itself, "Do I need to stop? Couldn't I just bleed off a
little speed and ride round the problem? Where are my escape routes?"
If you plan ahead enough, you should hardly ever need to do an I
emergency stop. You should always be aware of your position in
relation to the perverted traffic..

EYES
I Constantly looking for another way out of trouble - don't look at
the problem you'll ride straight towards it, look for the solution

 

[Busy Little Shop]

I now have fear of cornering, especially in twisties? How can I overcome this fear as I still want to ride the bike and not give up riding?

Fear Smells...

When my confidence is shaken I continue riding at a reduce pace and
treat my condition as a barrier to overcome...

First signs to watch for are my vision... when it starts to narrow and
hunt frantically for my awareness I start to make mistakes... so I
check that by concentrating on pushing my field of vision back to
wide... only with wide vision will I see enough space to stay calm and
begin make accurate decisions that will definitely boost confidence...

Next is breathing... I monitor for first signs of panicky short and
rapid rates and then concentrate on calming it down with long slow
breaths...

Finally I busy my thoughts with the 3 basic tools of cornering more effectively...

1 How quickly do I steer the bike???
2 How much lean angle do I use???
3 Where do I begin my turn in point???

And finally I grade my performance after each corner and assign a number from 1 to 100...

1 did I roll off the gas to early???

2 did i tighten on the bars???

3 did I narrow my vision???

4 did I fix my attention too long on something???

5 did I steer too early or not quick enough???

6 did I brake when it wasn't necessary???

If I start receiving grades in the 75% range do I begin feeling a real rise in
my level of confidence...

 

[Busy Little Shop]

First, judging entry speed is a crucial skill to develop. You should have a good idea of whether you're into a corner too fast before you're really in the corner. A useful way to develop your sense of entry speed is to try to set your entry speed without shifting or using the brakes. This forces you to pay attention to your speed long before you arrive at the corner.

Andy... judging corner speed with the throttle without using my brakes was the
skill Kieth Code taught me in 91 at Laguna Seca... Honing this skill elevated my
riding to a whole new level of confidence and trouble...

 

[ThinkFast]

Yes, you might apply the same advice that instructors give people at track days: if you're scaring yourself out there the solution is easy: slow down.

I suppose same applies for street environment. If you're not comfortable going around corners, slow down your pace until you are going at a speed that you are comfortable with.

the corollary bit of advice is: let the speed come to you.

 

[Holeshot]

Sound advice Tom.

 

[patgm]

I would really appreciate your advice on:

1. How do I brake during a corner when I realize I'm coming in too fast ?

Lots of good videos on this. As another poster mentioned, buy the ChampU online course from Yamaha Champions Riding School. It's good for both beginners and experienced riders. Promo Code for 10% off: GitGud
Otherwise this video is a good one on cornering, as is the rest of that channel.
https://youtu.be/KjLVwTGt2Ds

3. Is the helmet any good now? It has some scratches on the windshield and above it. Is it still safe to wear this helmet or not? It was a pricey one ~$650 SHOE RF-1400 and I just got it not even 30 days ago.

The repeated impact test done by Nolan near the end of the video answers whether I would ever run a helmet that had hit the deck before:
https://youtu.be/Cl3br1PJ5-g?t=256
At the very least, send it for inspection by Shoei.

4. I now have fear of cornering, especially in twisties? How can I overcome this fear as I still want to ride the bike and not give up riding?

Canyon Chasers just did a phenomenal video on exactly this topic.
https://youtu.be/lt_SH5FOVdI

5. Protective gear for the lower body? Any recommendations on riding jeans with armor etc to protect if one falls.

I have tried a ton of motorcycle jeans, and I have to say there are a lot of very poor options, and a few quite good ones. Hood Jeans (UK) are my favorite option currently available because they have CE AAA slide protection, your choice of slim or regular fit, and your choice of different types of D30 Armor.
I prefer the standard T5 armor over the Ghost armor.
https://www.hoodjeans.co.uk/
Shipping to the US is quick and affordable.

If you want something a bit lighter than the fully lined Hood Jeans, RevIt Brentwood and Lombard 3 are good options (brentwood is slimmer, so it depends on your build.

Avoid products with minimal slide protection, for example, RevIt Piston or Jackson Jeans, Ironworkers products, Street&Steel Oaklands, etc. Also watch out for those which lack knee or hip armor pockets, you should add hip armor to any of those that don't come with it.

 

[MBRider]

What's the Z2 Rider program? Ima newbie as well.

 

[motomania2007]

What's the Z2 Rider program? Ima newbie as well.

Z2 RoadRider 2.0 is the official name of Z2 trackday's street rider training.

You can also take the Total Control Intermediate Riding Clinic and Advanced Riding Clinic offered at most CMSP training sites.

I have taught all of the above courses and several others.

The best course is the IRC as the next step from the basic licensing course.

 

[SVX-R Rider]

Commenting for myself, looking too much into the turn were I was at and not looking ahead far enough that got me. I've also learned to better match how far ahead/around a turn I can see with how fast I should be going. In paying attention to looking ahead and how far ahead I can see gives me the confidence to dive into the turns without the nagging fear from a previous crash; although, it takes practice.

 

[zanshin]

Great stuff above, and just to add.. practice progressively harder straight line stops from progressively higher speeds, start building a feel for threshold braking (if there's no ABS). I dunno what an R3 has. Shift your body weight aft to reduce the tendency to stoppie and increase braking force.

And it's real shame with these urban environments, that people don't start their riding careers ripping around on dirt bikes. A few days in the dirt is worth years of uninspired street riding.

Even mountain biking is very helpful, certainly to develop a fine feel for threshold braking. For power sliding, it would take legs other than mine.