I've been riding for about 18 years now. Took the riders course before getting my license. Agree with the others, it teaches you 10 years worth of stuff in 2 or 3 days.
When I moved up to the bigger bikes in 2001 (bought a road king) I noticed sweepers were a little more challenging. On higher speed long curves the bike seemed to really want to push to the outside. It seemed I had to slow down too much to keep it in my lane. A couple years later I came across an article in a bike mag aimed at sport bike racing on a track. A few paragraphs were dedicated to a technique I didn't hear about in the MSF course or anywhere else for that matter. It was about "steering with your hips". Apparently the racers do this a lot. In a nutshell you make a conscious effort to roll your hips in the direction of your turn. The article was much more informative. If for instance you're making a left turn you counter steer slightly to the right (of course) and roll your weight to the left butt cheek and in your mind try to push the left butt cheek to the left as if trying to slide it off the seat.
It made a big difference for me. I've had an electra glide for the last 4 years now. Whenever I'm having trouble cornering I notice I've gotten of the habit of "steering with the hips". You mentioned you have a softail. The only softail I've riden is a fatboy a friend had. It definitely steers slower than an electra glide. It just takes a little more effort with them to change directions.
When I moved up to the bigger bikes in 2001 (bought a road king) I noticed sweepers were a little more challenging. On higher speed long curves the bike seemed to really want to push to the outside. It seemed I had to slow down too much to keep it in my lane. A couple years later I came across an article in a bike mag aimed at sport bike racing on a track. A few paragraphs were dedicated to a technique I didn't hear about in the MSF course or anywhere else for that matter. It was about "steering with your hips". Apparently the racers do this a lot. In a nutshell you make a conscious effort to roll your hips in the direction of your turn. The article was much more informative. If for instance you're making a left turn you counter steer slightly to the right (of course) and roll your weight to the left butt cheek and in your mind try to push the left butt cheek to the left as if trying to slide it off the seat.
It made a big difference for me. I've had an electra glide for the last 4 years now. Whenever I'm having trouble cornering I notice I've gotten of the habit of "steering with the hips". You mentioned you have a softail. The only softail I've riden is a fatboy a friend had. It definitely steers slower than an electra glide. It just takes a little more effort with them to change directions.
