yeah, i do the same thing sometimes jusfor fun!! have you noticed that it doesnt feel "right" tho? lol. anyways, hurricaneforce, you HAVE to trust your tires and your ability. with the technology in tires nowadays, they will hold!! unless YOU do something wrong, or there is crap on the road. i think the funniest thing i see when riding is guys hanging off their bikes in the easiest of turns!! only do that if you HAVE TO!! i dont race or anything, but i also dont have any "chicken strips" on the front or back (like that means anything!) do whatever you feel is comfortable and if you have "it" the rest will come naturally. keep in mind all the advice the other guys are giving you though. good stuff!!!

kidcr3nshaw "Lean and ride like you're running the MotoGP class - just not at the speeds." im not sure what you others think, but i cant really lean mine (and i mean LEAN IT OVER) over unless im going at a nice hearty pace!! i understand what ur saying (wont be as fast as those guys do it) but you will still have to be goin at a good pace.

 

"you HAVE to trust your tires"

I trust my tires not to explode, but I try to not have to trust them to hold their grip at high lean angles. I keep my bike's lean angle (and thus the traction required from the tires) at a minimum by leaning well off.


"they will hold!! unless YOU do something wrong, or there is crap on the road."

I ride in Seattle, and it's constantly raining, there's oil on the streets, and it snowed this winter, so the city sanded the roads and never cleaned them up. I feel that when I start to slide (it's usually the rear wheel when I'm powering out of a turn in the rain), the straighter up and down the bike is, the more time I have to save the slide. I KNOW that I have been saved from a few low sides in the rain by having the bike nearly vertical in a corner. All that said, i just got new tires, and am excited to find out how far I can take them in the rain. I love driving hard out of corners while still leaned over, and I'm hoping these new tires will let me do that without having the back end step out too far.


" kidcr3nshaw "Lean and ride like you're running the MotoGP class - just not at the speeds."...."

I think he means lean OFF, not lean the bike, and I agree with him. Practice good form ALL the time, not just when you need. That makes it more automatic when you do need it, and allows you to fine tune other aspects of your riding, like throttle control and braking, etc.

 

I meant your body lean.

And yes, you'll see my body adjust every single time I take a corner unless I'm in a pack running double file. I may not be hanging off, but I don't sit still.

If I sat still I'd by a Shadow.

+1 Hurricane and his sick *** bike.

 

thanks for the reply's, it appears there is diferent opinions on if you should hang off on the street or not.
I think it makes sense to hang off, for a more verticle bike and better traction. but, according to others, it is
not at all neccessary. especially at only slightly above speed limits.

abad, thanks for the insightful feedback. it seems that basically, I just need to continue to gain confidence, not only in
my tires, but especially in my lines through a corner.

but when I do set "centered" on the bike, I just feel less stable.

 

someone posted about tilting a bike over to see how far over the bike can go and some have used that to see how far they can lean before things drag with very bad results.

remember, in a lean, your suspension is compressed...therefore, taking away some amount of lean that the bike can otherwise do before dragging hard parts.

 

One of my riding instructors said this to me.... Riding is 90% mental. I'm a firm believer in that.

As I eluded to earlier, I wouldn't worry so much about lean angle and body position. I think those things are secondary. If you get your vision skillsand throttle and braking precision down and pick the right line, the speed will come along with lean angle and body position.

IMHO, hanging off like a monkey on the street only puts you at risk.

 

i have a question....
are "chicken strips" the flakes of rubber that come off when you tear up the sides of your tire?

 

No, they are the strips of unused rubber that are left on the edges of tires that don't get leaned all the way over.

 

Man u gotta love that sentence right there lol. Just get used to leaning your bike over on your own terms. What i do is go down a certain street that i know pretty well and is decently twisty and practice going a lil faster in each turn every time...that way u have to lean over more regardless. Just be careful and go at ur own pace and u will get it soon enough man.