Rugged North - Content

by Gary Semics

4 Day Training Course
Day: 2 of 4 -- “Braking and Cornering”
Written By: Gary Semics

The Circle Drill:

The first drill to get started with when it comes to cornering is the circle drill. The circle drill is so effective because it totally isolates the cornering techniques. When you are performing the circle drill, you are doing nothing but cornering all the time.

Let’s break it down. Before you actually perform the circle drill, it’s very important to understand all the techniques that go into it. So let’s get to know and understand them in the stationary position. In this circle drill, we’re going to be concerned with the following:

Over Grip,

Elbow positions,

Sitting in the front part of seat (This Is The Pivot Position),

Weight Distribution. Your weight should be supported on the seat and outside foot peg on the ball of your foot -- do not support your body weight on the handlebars),

Body movements,

Throttle control,

Stay in 2nd gear… third gear if you’re doing a bigger circle, and…

the position of the Inside leg…

Also...

Do not use the brakes for the circle drill,

Run it in both directions, and…

Don’t just focus right in front of you; look out ahead so you can see where you’re going.

Now, let’s get more familiar with each one of
these techniques in the stationary practice drill.

Over Grip On Both Sides: There are two basic positions to hold the grips in. One position is for braking and the other is for accelerating. The braking grip position is a little lower than the over grip position for accelerating. This lower position allows your forearms and wrist to be aligned straight, giving you more leverage to take on those braking bumps while entering corners. More information on this later when we cover braking…

The over-grip position is what we want to focus on during the circle drill. This over grip will give you the leverage to work over the bike in the middle and forward body positions. The middle and forward body positions are what we’ll be using in the circle drill, because we will mostly be accelerating not braking. So make sure you keep those hands up high, with a lot of over grip.

Elbows Up: The over grip position works hand in hand with keeping your elbows up and out away from your sides. This gives you much better leverage factors between your upper body and the motorcycle. It’s impossible to keep your arms up and out without the proper over grip.

Try this simple test: Put your bike up on the stand… sit on the bike and grab straight onto the grips (of course, this would be too low of a grip)… now, open the throttle and move into the forward body position. You think that’s ugly, now try to stand in the forward body position! Doesn’t work, does it?

Now, do the same test with the correct over grip. Notice how you can work from the forward body positions both sitting and standing, and still maintain good lever factors over the motorcycle.

While doing the circle drill, your outside elbow should be cocked up high while your inside elbow is in a lower, more relaxed neutral position. Keep your outside elbow high, higher then the outside grip or at least just as high. Working from this framework with a high over grip and outside elbow will also help you maintain your center of balance by keeping your shoulders centered in the direction that your want to go.
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A common mistake is to rotate your shoulders towards the outside of the corner. This takes you out of the center of balance because you are trying to push the bike over into the corner as your upper body is pushed to the outside. Then you end up stuck out there facing the wrong way. You want to stay in the center of balance so keep that outside elbow up and keep your shoulders headed in the direction you want to go.

Sitting In The Front Part Of The Seat: When cornering, you want to sit in the front part of the seat right above the foot pegs. This is in the center of the M/C, right over the M/C’s pivot point. By sitting right on top of the pivot point, any movement forward and you have more weight in front of the pivot point. If you lean back, you have more weight behind the pivot point. Do not slide back and forth on the seat.

This takes too long to adjust your body position. Just move your upper body by pivoting from the front part of the seat. Don’t try to sit way up near the gas cap, either. This is too far forward, and in front of the motorcycle’s pivot point. When cornering, sit a little higher on the outside of the seat. This will give you better control and balance over the M/C. Just a little higher now, not so high that you’re trying to sit up straight and just lean the bike over. You have to lean over with it too, just not quit as far as it is leaning.

Weight Distribution: Your weight should be supported on the seat and outside foot peg, on the ball of your foot. Do not support your body weight on the handlebars. You see, the M/C and your body operate best with a low center of gravity. This means you want to keep as much weight as possible on the foot pegs first, the seat second and the least amount of your body weight as possible on the handlebars.

This technique will maintain a low center of gravity in the center of the M/C. If you support your weight on the handlebars, that is the highest possible point of the M/C and it’s on the front -- not in the center. So while cornering in the circle drill, keep a little bit of pressure down on the outside foot peg and stay on the ball of your foot. This is between the toe and the arch.

Let the rest of your weight be on the front part of the seat. Try to keep all your weight off the handlebars, even when you move into the forward body position. Keep your weight in the seat and the outside foot peg. Don’t try to stand on the outside foot peg. Just keep a comfortable amount of pressure down on it. This will help a lot to lower the center of gravity without being too physically uncomfortable.

Body Movements: Now you’re in the correct body framework, but that’s only the first step. Now you have to move and work from this framework. Do you remember the two categories of motocross that all the other techniques fall under? One is maintaining the center of balance, and the other category is mastering the use of all five controls.

It takes constant movement in order to maintain the center of balance because the M/C is constantly moving… always bouncing, jumping, turning, braking and accelerating. Your control for this circle drill is from your body movements within this framework we just covered, and throttle control.

We’ll cover throttle control later, but for now, let’s stay on the subject and deal with body movements. From this proper framework for cornering, you have a lot of upper body movement to use while you pivot from the front part of the seat, in order to maintain the center of balance.

A common mistake is to tense the upper body and try to hold the M/C in the corner. This is just the opposite of the correct technique. In motocross you can’t force or hold things, it’s all in timing, balance and anticipating what is going to happen just before it happens. Learn to relax your upper body as much as possible, and move in order to maintain balance and control.

During this circle drill, a common movement is forward and back. As you open the throttle you should move forward. This maintains the center of balance by putting more weight to the front, offsetting the acceleration. This of course causes the bike to handle better in the corners, turning faster and sharper. It will also allow the rear end of the bike to slide, pivoting through the corner. This way, you are steering with both the front and rear wheels.

When you shut the throttle off, it instantly causes more weight to go on the front wheel. So, your body position should lean back, again maintaining the center of balance by offsetting this effect.
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Of course there is also side-to-side movement and everything between. This side-to-side movement is also a big factor in maintaining your balance in the bends. The circle drill is the easiest and safest way to learn to relax and move around on the bike. So don’t just sit there like a statue, move and learn to react to what the bike is doing. It has to become an automatic reflex reaction.

An example would be like if you’re sliding through the corner, working from the front body position with the throttle on, and you shut the throttle off to slow down and stay in the circle. At the same time, you would be moving your body position back as the bike begins to steer with just the front wheel, instead of both front and rear wheels. You move your body position back to maintain the center of balance.

When you get really good at this kind of movement, it becomes an automatic reflex reaction. Say your front wheel hits a little rock and begins to slide out -- Your body movement would automatically react faster than you could even think!!! All movements would react automatically in order to keep you upright. It takes a lot of practice to program all this sort of stuff into your nervous system. That’s another reason why these practice drills are so effective.

Throttle Control: As I mentioned earlier, what gives you control in the circle drill is your body movements and throttle control. We’re not bringing the other four controls into the mix yet. This way, we can break it down and concentrate on a few things at a time. What you do with the throttle will instantly affect how you have to react with your body movements.

As your doing this circle drill, good smooth throttle control is what you’re aiming for. Don’t pump the throttle on and off. Instead try to keep it on as much as possible. When you have to shut it off in order to stay in the circle, try and open it back up a little as soon as possible. There is a big difference of how the bike handles when the throttle is off and when it is on (even if it’s on just a little).

When the throttle is on, the M/C is steering with the front and rear wheels. The more the throttle is on, the more the M/C steers with the rear wheel. Of course, when the throttle is off the M/C is steering with just the front wheel. Except when braking into a corner, then the brakes can cause the bike to steer with both wheels. By being steady with the throttle and learning to use it with a purpose for what you want the bike to do, you will have much more control, be a lot smoother and of course faster.

Once you have the correct technique and feeling down, try going faster and faster. When you start losing the proper technique or making mistakes, slow it down a little. There’s no reason to get bored. If you start to get board, just turn it up a little. Key into that throttle control. It’s an important link to your overall control, and the circle drill will program it in fast.

Stay In Second Gear: Second gear is what you want to use about 90% of the time when performing the circle drill. This is because most of the corners on a motocross track are second gear corners. First gear is definitely too low. You would get dizzy from doing donuts! If you tried to do the proper size circle in first gear, you would be too far in the top of the power band.

This would make the throttle response too jerky. Like when you shut it off, it would slow down too much from the backpressure of the engine. And when you gassed it, it would be jerky not smooth. When doing a corner, you want the engine to pick up the power in the bottom to the middle of the power range. This will allow the power to be smooth, be more controllable and pull longer before over revving. So keep that shifter
one cog up in second gear, and be smooth.

If you have the room, it’s okay to practice the circle in third gear once in a while. Of course, your speed will be higher and you’ll be carrying more momentum… but other than that, it’s all the same. It may just hurt a little more if you crash.
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The Position Of Your Inside Leg: When going through a corner or doing the circle drill, the position of the inside leg is another technique to get right. There are several reasons the inside leg or foot needs to be out when cornering. The most important reason is that you can quickly step with it to save the front end in case it slides out. It gives you more room to lean the bike over further when your foot is off the peg and out for the corner.

This is especially true in rutted corners. When your foot is out for the corner, it also gives you better balance and it acts as a guide for how far you can lean the bike over. These three things add up and allow you to go through the bends easier, safer and faster. So, let’s make sure that inside leg is in the correct position and able to do what it needs to do.

While you are sitting in the front part of the seat, put your foot out in a position that would allow you to quickly step and lift the bike up if it started leaning over too far, or if the front wheel tried to slide out. While it is hanging out there in this position, it should be just barley touching the ground. Not too hard, but still making a very light contact with the ground.

The heel should touch first, but don’t have your toes up too high. If you had to apply more pressure, your entire foot should meet the ground. Now while in this position, make sure your ankle, knee and hip are loose and mobile. Just use enough tension to hold your leg in this position. Do not lock your ankle, knee or hip. Keep them loose so you have quick reactions and good coordination.

There are two common mistakes when it comes to the inside leg. One is to stiffen everything up. This doesn’t work well because you lose your coordination and feel for when you have to use it. The other common mistake is to have it too relaxed, and let it hang near the foot peg.

This is not effective because it’s already back too far if you have to use it. If you need it, you’ll only be able to get one half-hearted step in before it’s back behind the foot peg. Doesn’t do much good back there, does it? When it’s out in the proper position, you should be able to get several steps in if you need to.

Do Not Use The Brakes For The Circle Drill: We’ll bring the brakes into play in the oval drill, but for the circle drill, we want to learn how to lean the bike over and control it with the throttle, body movements and the other techniques we’ve covered so far. You see, the most important part of a corner is where you go from braking to accelerating (the exit dex). This is usually at the apex of the corner (about the center), but not always in motocross because of different conditions.

We’ll cover the exit dex in detail later. Remember, part of the beauty of these action drills is that they isolate certain techniques, so you can practice and learn them more effectively. Although the front and/or rear brakes and the clutch and throttle are used at the exit dex, we don’t want to bring them into play yet… not here in the circle drill.

Other than using the front and/or rear brakes and the clutch, the circle drill does mimic all the other aspects of the most important part of a corner, the exit dex. As you go around the circle it constantly replicates the exit dex, minus the brakes and the clutch. Once you get these techniques, feelings and reactions programmed into your automatic reactions, the remaining techniques of adding the brakes and the clutch will be easier to pick up in the oval drill.

Remember what I explained in my Techniques Video # 1, (“How To Practice Motocross”), we are building the proper basic techniques and building a good solid foundation. So don’t use those brakes in the circle because you want to learn how to steer that iron horse with the throttle and your body movement first. Then you’ll be ready to add all the benefits of the brakes. And as you will see later, there are a lot of them.

Run It In Both Directions: It’s important to understand the strategies of how to use this circle drill. It’s not meant to be run for long periods of time. It is meant to run for short periods frequently, and definitely to switch directions often. When this circle drill is done correctly, it is very intense because there’s a lot going on.

Of course, it would be easy to just ride around at a slow speed. And at first, this is what you should do, so you can make sure you’re doing all the techniques correctly. But after you can do all the techniques correctly, you should try to go as fast as possible and still do everything correctly and smoothly.

This takes a lot of concentration and energy, because you are trying to slide the bike so that you would be steering with both wheels, then go back to steering with just the front wheel, and continue back and forth. At the same time, you are pushing down a little on the outside foot peg and holding your inside foot out. Your upper body should be constantly moving so it shouldn’t get as tired as your legs.

It is difficult, so I would say you should change directions about every three or four minutes and not spend anymore then twelve minutes at a time before taking a short break. On these breaks, you could practice another drill or ride the track a little. Remember to practice the circle drill often, but not all at once. When you begin to get tired and sacrifice proper technique, change directions or take a break.

Most riders have one direction that feels better then the other. That means you should work on your weak side more in order to bring it up to par. Figure out what you’re doing on your strong side, and make the necessary adjustments to your weak side.

Look Out Ahead: Where should you focus your vision, out around the circle? Almost a quarter ways out around the circle in front of you is where you should be focusing. It’s necessary to see exactly what’s coming up ahead of time. Looking out in front gives you more time to set up and be ready for what’s coming -- you are seeing where you’re going better. It slows things down so it doesn’t seem like you’re in fast motion, trying to catch up.

Looking ahead allows you to hit the exact line you want. When cornering and practicing the circle drill, it’s necessary to know exactly where your front tire is going. You want to look for the best traction and make good use of it. If there is a little ridge or berm, you have to make sure you hit it just right. So make sure you look out ahead, not just right in front of your fender.

Use all your vision -- your main focus and your peripheral vision. Do not get caught in the tunnel vision trap. I can always tell when a student is caught in the tunnel vision trap; he will not see my signals from the side. Be aware of exactly how you’re using your vision to scan the track as you go over it. Keep your main focus out in front of you as far as possible, and see the rest of the track with your perferial vision.

Surface Conditions: These drills should be practiced on all kinds of surface conditions… from dry and hard packed, to muddy and soft. You race on all kinds of conditions, so you need to practice on all kinds. Ideally, for the circle drill you want to practice sliding the bike, so it’s best not to make any berms. However, when it is soft you’re going to make berms. That’s okay too, but most of the time, no berms. Sliding around the circle is the best way to go.

Gary Semics Motocross School & Videos - www.gsmxs.com

Published on: 2006-03-06 (402 reads)

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