The bends shown below are at a 50mph limit in a rural area, snaking in a right hand bend downhill, bearing round to the left into a second uphill right hander. There are metal drain covers en-route as well as poorly repaired road surfaces.

  • How fast would you be going?
  • Where would you position the bike?
  • What gear would you be in?
  • Would you brake through this series of bends – braking causes instability and increases the chance of skidding and losing control!
  • This road is great in the dry, but what about in the wet? How would your approach change, if at all?


Cornering on bends like these cause 12% of motorcycle crashes; 7% on left hand bends, and 5% on right hand bends with the majority occurring on unfamiliar roads.

Slightly further on the bend develops into this:

There are 5 key Principles of cornering which, in conjunction with the system of motorcycle control, IPSGA, New Horizons Motorcycle Training & Tours can coach you to maintain a smooth constant and safe speed through this set, or any other set, of bends and reduce your chance of becoming a statistic.

  • Be in the right position on the approaching
  • Be traveling at the right speed for the corner or bend – I can do 50mph through here, but that’s on my bike – yours, is different so speed could be faster or slower!
  • Have the right gear for that speed
  • Be able to stop in the distance you can see to be clear on your own side of the road
  • Open the throttle enough to maintain a constant speed round the bend – maintain positive throttle

The photo below shows the road from above – you can’t see the nasty dip though. And for info, this is just past a village called Charlton on the B4040, just before Malmesbury.

New Horizons Motorcycle Training & Tours can help you improve your cornering skills and techniques on roads like these whilst enjoying a few days touring.

Drop us a line using the Contact form. Or email direct to peter@newhorizonsmtt.com or stuart@newhorizonsmtt.com

And here is my approach to it, from both sides; first at 50mph, then at 40mph or so which is a  lot more comfortable due to road “furniture”. If the road had been repaired better then 50mph would be fine on the initial approach! I find my wheel gets caught in a rut – Grrrrr!!!!