Given the impressive power-to-weight ratios of bikes, good acceleration is one of their most important performance features. It's also hugely enjoyable and, despite the myths, a very effective safety tool when used correctly.
Explore your bike's acceleration capabilities. Controlled and progressive acceleration out of corners is great practice. Acceleration from the apex-point can be increased incrementally as the bike becomes upright. But keep in mind that accelerating while banked over tends to produce under-steer, making the bike want to stand up and run wide.
Acceleration is greatest just before tyre adhesion is lost, after which wheel-spin will occur. This can be prevented by easing the throttle slightly until adhesion is regained, or by selecting a higher gear.
If violent wheel-spin is replaced by sudden grip while the bike is banked over, the reaction can be severe enough to flick you into the air. This is known as 'high-siding' and happens so fast that, realistically, there’s nothing you can do to counter it.
You can ‘low-side’ by pushing the front tyre so hard that it runs out of grip and the bike simply drops to the ground and ploughs on. You can also ‘low-side’ through total loss of rear-tyre adhesion when accelerating: the rear slides out so far that the bike drops and slides. Either way, you may be dropped onto the ground behind the bike or you may get caught under it. It always pays to wear the best possible gear...
