Why every bend should be taken under light acceleration
Whether driving a car or riding a motorcycle, every bend should be taken under light acceleration. We tell drivers to ‘ease and squeeze’: I.E. when ‘easing’ the steering wheel in to the bend; gently ‘squeeze’ on the gas pedal! We tell bikers to ‘look, lean and roll’: I.E. on approach to a bend, ‘look’ into the bend; read the Limit Point and apply the Safe Stopping Rule; ‘lean’ the bike into the bend as you apply Positive Steering; and gently ‘roll’ on the throttle as you do so! In each case, a little bit of gas is used in the bend not to increase speed, but simply to maintain it!
Why should that be? Cars and bikes lose speed when travelling round a bend, even if the gas is kept constant throughout. This raises several questions that need investigation, E.G: • How do they lose speed if the gas is constant? • Does this loss of speed affect stability? • How does light acceleration help the situation when cornering?