If you’re not used to the handling, the MotoGP games can be difficult to learn for sure, and new players will without fail find themselves falling off the bike very often. In the first few hours of playing it, it can feel basically impossible to complete even a single lap without coming off the bike.

Rest assured that if this is happening to you, it’s perfectly normal – there’s a very steep learning curve to most of these game’s handling. I’m currently playing on MotoGP 22 – one of the very hardest editions.

But you can definitely get better – even after a few days of solid practice and I already was not falling off anything like as much as when I first played it, once I made some simple adjustments.

I’ll give a few simple tips based on my own experience playing these games so far, that should hopefully also help you gradually get better at the game and stop falling off the bike so often.

To avoid coming off the bike on the MotoGP games, you need to ensure you brake early enough and only when the bike is upright. Turning on some handling assists such as the Roll Mitigation Modulation will also help.

Let’s run some these basic principles in more detail so you have a good plan on how to get better at this tricky game.

Tip #1 – Get Your Braking & Cornering Correct

From what I can see so far, the number one reason riders come off the bike on The MotoGP games is incorrect use of the brakes, combined with incorrect cornering technique.

I’ll split this into two main components – braking distance and braking technique:

1. Braking/Turning Distance – It’s very common to brake too late, and this leads you to go off the track and often fall off the bike as you hit the grass/sand or lean over too far trying to make the corner. Whatever muscle memory you’ve got for braking/turn in from other racing games – forget it for MotoGP games. The braking and cornering is totally different and you need to both brake and turn in much earlier than you do for other racing games. Make sure you’ve got the Ideal Trajectory (racing line) assist enabled when learning the game so you know when to brake and turn in. And because you’re effectively leaning over to take corners, turning is also much slower than 4 wheel cars. Get used to preparing to take corners much earlier than other racing vehicles and always err on the side of braking too early rather than too late on these games. Overshoot corners and you’re likely to fall off trying to get back on track.

• Bonus Tip #1 – Also avoid the kerbs when cornering – especially raised ones. They’ll almost always spit you off the bike, especially MotoGP class bikes.
• Bonus Tip #2 – If you do over-shoot your braking point and end up in the gravel, keep the bike mostly upright (no heavy leaning) and dab on and off the accelerator gently to work your way out slowly and get back onto the track.

2. Braking/Turning Technique – The second thing newer players get wrong is the way they apply the brakes in combination with leaning the bike for steering. Strongly applying the brakes at the same time as turning is a recipe for disaster, and you’ll almost always fall off if you don’t know how to control the inputs.

Here’s some key pointers in this regard:

1. Apply the front brake first when approaching a corner, but only in a straight line and with the bike upright. Don’t apply the brakes heavily when leaning into corners. Get your braking done in a straight line, then turn into corners.
2. The rear brake can also be applied as an optional complement to the front brake for some extra stopping power, but the front brake is the main input. The games from 2021 and before also have a Joint Brake input to apply both the front and rear brakes together, which makes it easier. Again don’t apply when heavily leaning into a corner though.
3. Once you’re confident you’ve scrubbed off enough speed to make the corner, release the brakes and lean into the corner (there is a more advanced method called trail-braking, but it’s better to keep it simple when learning the game). Once you hit the apex, ease on the throttle out of the corner.
4. For simple braking and cornering, the general sequence to follow is brake in a straight line—release brake—-turn in—hit apex—-back on the power. This is the best technique to avoid braking and turning at the same time, which is the most common reason you’ll come off the bike when learning the games.

See our full guide on braking correctly on MotoGP 22 (advices applies to all games), including detailed steps on basic braking and also more advanced “trail-braking” which does combine braking and cornering but in a very specific way that needs a lot of practice and can gain you more lap time.

When learning the game though, it’s advised to focus on simple braking technique, which when done correctly should allow you to lap circuits consistently without falling off the bike. Brake early enough and correctly, and you should stay on the bike much more often.

Tip #2 – Get The Right Assists Enabled

A great additional complement to getting the right braking technique is to also enable certain assists that make it easier to stay on the bike and not fall off.

To do this, find the Riding Aids menu and browse the assists:

There is an Auto Brakes assist right at the top, which will literally handle all the braking for you, so you just have to worry about the steering. It’s good to turn this on for a short while to learn the steering and track layouts, but it’s not advised to leave it on permanently as it really slows down your lap times.

Therefore, it’s better to leave this Off but enable some other assists below this:

• Assisted Front Brake – Start with High or Moderate as needed (also controls the two sub-assists below it)
  • • Cornering Input Modulation
    • Roll Mitigation Modulation (only some games)
• Brake Input Modulation – Enable for better control of braking input to make spins less likely.
• Joint Brake – For MotoGP 21 and before. Allows one input to apply both front and rear brake together. Enable for easier braking.
• Accelerator Input Modulation – Basically a form of Traction control. Enable for better traction out of corners and less chance of spins.
• Cornering Input Modulation – Enable to control and modulate steering better to make falling off less likely.
• Off Track Aid – Enable to make it easier to recover without falling off if you overshoot corners and run onto the grass/gravel.

Enable any or all of these assists as preferred to make the general handing easier and make it harder to fall off the bike. For really tricky games like MotoGP 22, the Roll Mitigation Modulation is really one of the crucial ones here if you’re coming off the bike too much – it really helps stabilise the bike even if you’re leaning over to an extent that you would fall off if the assists were disabled. The RMM acts as a safety net to stop this.

A lot of players don’t like using assists, but it’s kind of necessary starting out on many of these MotoGP games, which have a very steep learning curve with all aspects of the handling.

Trying to master too many things at once can just annoy you and make you drop the games entirely if you keep falling off, so start with some assists and taper them off once you start to improve and gain confidence.

Tip #3 – Try The Moto2 Or Moto3 Bikes Instead

If you’re jumping straight onto the fastest MotoGP class bikes right away when starting out on MotoGP games, this might not be the best idea. These bikes have insane acceleration and top speed, and are much harder to handle than the other bike classes, and you’ll find yourself coming off these bikes even more than the others.

For a game with such a steep learning curve, it’s probably better to start with the slower but easier to control Moto2 or Moto3 class bikes. These bikes are easier to get stopped and make corners with in the early stages, so switch to these if you’re struggling to control the MotoGP bikes.

Also, if you’re falling off the bike a lot because you’re colliding with other riders, then the Moto2 and especially the Moto3 bikes are more forgiving in terms if you being able to survive collisions and stay on the bike. Also, because everything is moving slower, it’s easier to avoid collisions in the first place.

The Moto2 class bikes are often reported to be the easiest to control, especially with the braking.  So far, I can’t quite choose between Moto2 or Moto3 for which I prefer, but I know they’re both a lot easier to control than MotoGP class, and I’m falling off them far less. Either way, try these lower class bikes first to gain confidence, and then progress up to MotoGP bikes once you’ve got your head around the handling.

Tip #4 – Practice & Be Patient

Finally, even applying all of these tips and suggestions, it’s clear already that many of these MotoGP games are games that needs a LOT of practice and patience to get consistent and good at, to the point where you only rarely fall off the bikes. The MotoGP 22 and to a lesser extent MotoGP 21 games are particularly tricky editions to get used to.

On MotoGP 22, I’m already better on Moto2 and Moto3 class bikes even after a few days (getting better but still struggling with MotoGP class bikes). But realistically I think I’m looking at 30-50 hours of practice even with a lot of the assist enabled, before I’m in a position to race on tracks somewhat consistently and complete a season (update – that turned out to be about right – I’ve put in about that level of practice and can now compete and win races at 75% AI Level, which I’m happy with).

For other games in the franchise, it might be a bit less. But they’ll all need some time devoting to them if you’ve not played these games before.

Therefore, for sure be prepared to put the time in to get better at this game. It’s not going to come overnight. But I think most players are much more likely to get there by scaling up slowly and building confidence on the game rather than jumping in at the deep end and trying to master it with all the assists turned off.

Here’s some other tips in this regard:

• Do the Tutorials first under the training section where available (like on the ’22 edition). They build up the difficulty and complexity nicely and introduce you to the main features in the game’s handling slowly.
• Alternatively, spend some time on Time Trial mode just learning the handling model and circuit layouts without the pressure of racing against AI.
• After this, before starting career mode, I’d build yourself a small custom season of some of the easier to learn tracks (eg. Losail, Catalunya, Argentina, Chang, Valencia) on a lower difficulty (20-40) to build confidence and consistency.
• Practice with, and start your career in, the Moto3 or Moto2 class first (jumping in right away to MotoGP class isn’t likely to work except for the most skilled players who are used to racing no assists and naturally take to these games).

Tip #5 – How To Stop Falling Off The Bike Backward (Wheelies)

Another way you can fall off the bike is when the front end of the bike comes up as you apply the accelerator on corner exit, and this throws you off the bike. This is again because of the power these bikes (especially the MotoGP class bikes) deliver.

Here’s how to stop this happening:

• Turn on or increase the Accelerator Input Modulation assist from the Riding Aids settings (basically the MotoGP equivalent of Traction Control)
• Turn up your Anti-Wheelie (AW) settings on your ECU settings/dashboard to 4 or 5 to counter it.
• You can also turn up your Traction Control (TC) setting on your ECU dash.
• Be cautious and progressive on the power out of corners, not mashing 100% on the accelerator right away.

Tip #6 – How To Stop Falling Off The Bike In The Wet

Riding in the wet has always been brutally difficult on the MotoGP games. It’s very difficult to not fall off multiple times per lap in wet conditions, unless you apply 100% the correct technique.

Here are some extra pointers if you’re OK in the dry, but struggling specifically in the wet:

• Be more gradual and smooth on all your inputs
• Get all of your braking done before leaning in for corners
• Avoid rumble strips and white lines.
• Turn some assists on or increase them.
• Reduce AI difficulty.

See our guide on riding in the wet for more on each of these points.