Flat Turns vs Berms on a Dirt Bike: Two Opposite Moves

A flat turn forces you to slow down more and work with limited grip since there’s no berm to lean on, while a berm, banked at the edge, lets you push against it and carry more speed out of the corner. Treating a berm like a flat turn, or the reverse, is a common mistake that costs riders time or grip every time.

Riding a flat turn correctly

On a flat turn, with no banking to lean on, available grip depends almost entirely on the quality of your input. Chest and inside leg follow the same principles described in the cornering position article, but with a smaller margin for error: without a berm to absorb an entry speed mistake, coming in too hot translates directly into lost grip or a wide exit.

Entry speed matters twice as much on a flat turn. It’s better to slow down a bit more than in a berm and get back on the throttle earlier on exit, rather than trying to carry entry speed with no banking to absorb it. Throttle input needs to stay especially smooth: on flat ground, too much power on exit spins the rear with no dirt wall to stabilize the line.

Riding a berm correctly

The berm changes everything: the banked edge on the outside of the turn lets you push the bike against it, which increases available grip and lets you carry more speed all the way through. The move is to aim for the highest part of the berm and stay pinned there until the exit, rather than cutting the shortest way and drifting toward the bottom.

In a berm, you can open the throttle earlier and harder than in a flat turn, because the banking offsets some of the centrifugal force and reduces the risk of the rear stepping out. This is where throttle and clutch control makes the biggest difference between two riders of similar level. Exiting a berm requires anticipating where the banking ends — a berm often tapers off gradually or ends abruptly depending on how it was built, and exiting too late, once the banking is gone, leaves you without the support you were counting on, at a speed the flat ground ahead can no longer handle.

Mistakes that cost time or cause crashes

Treating a berm like a flat turn — staying low on the banking or chopping the throttle by reflex — is the most common mistake among riders new to berms. You lose all the benefit of the banking without avoiding the constraints of a flat turn.

The opposite also happens: carrying flat-turn speed into a berm entry, banking on the berm to absorb excess speed it can’t fully compensate for, which often leads to a wide exit or lost grip. On a flat turn, the most common fault stays entry speed through lack of anticipation — with no banking to bail you out, that excess speed translates directly into lost control.

FAQ

How do I know if I can carry more speed in a berm?
Pay attention to the support the banking gives you: if the bike feels stable and pushed toward the inside by the berm, you can generally open the throttle a bit more. If the bike feels like it’s sliding or drifting toward the bottom of the banking, reduce your entry speed before increasing exit intensity.

Why do I lose speed exiting a berm?
Most often because you exit the banking too early, before the berm actually ends, or because you drifted toward the bottom mid-turn without noticing. Stay on the high part until the banking genuinely runs out.

Is a flat turn always slower than a berm?
Generally yes, at an equal radius, because the lack of banking limits available grip and cornering speed. That’s also why entry needs to be more conservative on a flat turn than on an equivalent berm.

Find all the riding fundamentals on the riding technique page.