How do I change direction while in a turn?

Agreed. As long as the pavement is dry and clean it is nearly impossible to lowside a bike in most streetriding situations. It will seem counterintuitive, and requires some practice, experience and concentration, but countersteer for all you are worth and hang on. Your bike will get you through. Watch the roadstripe though. Those things can be slippery enough to lowside you by themselves.



In the event that you do lowside (gravel, wet pavement, WAY too much cornering speed) that is usually better than the alternatives: highside going off the opposite shoulder at speed, etc. Experience and mileage will help season your judgement here.



One time I was riding a mountain road at a brisk pace on wet pavement and encountered a car (drunk driver) in my lane at the apex of a curve. I actually went wide and got around the car on it's passenger side, but I don't recommend this approach.



Best of luck to you.

Chariton,



One more thing. You have actually survived a rite of passage in motorcycling - that of scaring the bejesus out of yourself for the first time. It is an important part of the learning curve and unfortunately is usually unavoidable. You just hope that it works out your way when the time comes which, in your case, it did. The fact that you have the presence of mind to recognize that you hade an expreience you'd like not to repeat is a good sign. It appears to me that you have already profited from this experience.



I'd point out that a lot of the excellent suggestions I'm reading here are things that one can learn on a dirt bike with far less dire consequences should things go wrong (fixating on the wrong thing, overcooking a corner, loss of traction, highsides, lowsides, etc.). On the street, for instance, it is way more difficult to learn how to look where you want to go instead of where you don't want to go without a little dirtbike experience, IMHO.



Cheers

#1. Unfreeze. Essential for survival on a bike. Learn how to do this NOW. (It is a learned skill for most)



#2. Once unfrozen turn harder. You'll be surprized how much grip you have.



#3. Learn not to shut off the power and brake. I once watched someone nearly kill themselves on a easy 80mph corner while travelling at 30-40mph doing this exact thing. Landed on the front of a van. Instead, keep the power balanced.



If you do need to slow down during a corner, say you find a seriously tightening radius or a blocked route, use the rear brake to rub the speed off. It is a good idea to keep the power on a bit to balance the bike while you do it. (This is essential with many shaft driven bikes) Note that this will initially make the bike sit up a bit, so it's only really useful when you have a second before you have to tighten your turn still further.





As an aside, I used to race bicycles in Britain when I was younger and the there was a rule for corners in a big group of cyclists: If you try to get round a corner and crash bringing everyone down with you, no-one will blame you. However, if you bottle it and go straight on taking someone's front wheel out from under them --- you will later wish that you had crashed. You soon learn that you can turn MUCH tighter than you thought.... and that this hurts much, much less.

Developing your riding skills is not a sprint

First off, I'm glad you are allright. 80MPH with a truck coming the other way (add his speed to calculate impact velocity) would not have been pretty. You escaped with your hide intact, so you focus on "learning your lesson" and make sure THAT YOU NEVER PUT YOURSELF IN THAT POSITION AGAIN.

I think a very small percentage of riders qualify as "naturals" (the Nicky Hayden's of the world). They just seem to have a natural ability to ride...that is how a 20 year old (how old IS Nicky, anyway) can win the Daytona 200. The rest us need to work at it. Learning how to ride a motorcycle well is not a sprint...it is a long-distance endurance haul....literally.

Accept right now that you are probably not a natural (a mere mortal) and embrace the fact that if you truly love riding you are going to need to apply yourself and TAKE YOUR TIME at improving your skills. It may not seem this way now (you are probably very anxious and excited about being out on the road and riding), but for me, progressively building and developing my riding skills has been a VERY rewarding experience. Treat it as an ongoing challenge to improve yourself and you'll stay motivated to continue to improve, while at the same time accepting and being happy with your riding skills today. If you respectfully practice, the skills will come.

The sure-fire way to guarantee you'll never improve is to ride beyond your abilities...that "sprint" mentality has had dire consequences for far too many. Read everything you can about riding, take any available educational classes or tours, and practice all the time.

So my friend, straddle your bike with pride and take the journey...for the long haul.