The simple keys to riding faster

One of the simple questions many novice and advanced riders ask is how they can ride faster. The answer can be just as simple.

However, the question can be a little vague.

Does the rider want to get to their destination quicker, do they want to reduce their lap time at a track, do they want a faster bike, do they want to negotiate a series of corners faster or do they simply want to break the speed limit?

If it’s the latter, the simple answer is wind the throttle further and pay the consequences.

However, you can still ride faster while staying legal and safe and that is the question we want to answer.

Getting there quicker

If you really just want to get to your destination faster, then the simple answer lies with a former Iron Butt rider who said “Stop less often and for shorter times”.

It seems like a silly answer, but it’s true.

Most time is lost on motorcycle trips waiting for lunch orders, frequent toilet stops and waiting on others in your group.

So the simple answer is to ride solo and do all your stops – fuel, food and toilet – in one hit and don’t hang around.

An extra 10-minute stop will take an hour of riding 12km/h above the highway speed limit to make up the time.

Read our tips here for riding long distances quickly.

Reduce lap times

The simple answer is to go to a track and take a course.

No point doing endless laps making the same mistakes. Get professional tuition to find out what you are doing wrong.

There are many great professional track courses available.

Faster motorcycle

Making your motorcycle go faster is not about power or torque.

Most production bikes have more power and torque than many riders can handle.

The weak point in most production bikes is the suspension.

The simple answer to making your bike faster is to improve your suspension. It will improve acceleration, lateral grip, stopping power and cornering ability.

Check out our suspension myths.

Otherwise, simple and cheap motorcycle maintenance can make your bike quicker. A simple example is having correct tyre pressures.

Faster through corners

If you just want to be a little faster through a series of corners where you always seem to lose ground to your mates, again the answer is simple.

Look further around the corner.

The problem with corners is usually a lack of confidence in lean angles and lateral grip.

That’s because we often think we are going too fast for the corner

We think we are going too fast because we have shortened our vision. We tend to look at entry, apex and exit points in a corner, rather than evaluating the whole corner.

If you looks sideways out of a car window, the scenery is a blur, even at low speeds. Look forwards and it doesn’t look like you are going near as fast.

Look as far around a corner as you can and you will not only ride faster through the corner, but also safer as you will see potential hazards sooner.