When taking curves, can one lean too much? If so, does this cause one to lowside? I am curious if there is a limit to leaning the bike over? I watch Rossi and the rest dang near have the handlebar on the ground so I am thinking that is the limit and any further the bike goes down. If so, how do you perfect maximum lean to the edge of leaning?

You've got to be kidding with that question - right?

Do you ride?

You've got to be kidding with that question - right?

Do you ride?

Try thinking just a little bit.

No no, he has a point, of course you can lean the bike over, if you lean it over any more IT FALLS OVER.

The trick to getting it to lean the most is riding within your limits and making sure you dont push yourself more than you feel comfortable doing, at any rate if you go further than you feel comfortable you probably arent having as much fun doing it...

When taking curves, can one lean too much? If so, does this cause one to lowside? I am curious if there is a limit to leaning the bike over? I watch Rossi and the rest dang near have the handlebar on the ground so I am thinking that is the limit and any further the bike goes down. If so, how do you perfect maximum lean to the edge of leaning?

There is no limit to leaning a bike over, people drag the bar ends all the time.

There is no limit to leaning a bike over, people drag the bar ends all the time.

HUH????? Where did you get this info? i hope you are kidding, right? No traction limit? Did the rules of gravity and physics and motorcycles just change? I hope you were kidding, but if you arent, advice like that could kill that guy!

It's kind of like the goldielocks story.
If you went wide in a corner then you didn't lean enough!
If you went to far inside then you leaned to much!
If you made it around to corner then you did it just right!

It depends on the rubber you have on the bike, your skill, and the surface you are on, there is an appropriate limit for each situation, if you are not comfortable, then you are leaning to far, if you are on the track and you get er over far enough to drag pegs, then good for you, if you do the same on the street all it takes is a loss of traction via gravel or shitty pavement and a lowside can occer, its a ton of different variables.

When taking curves, can one lean too much? If so, does this cause one to lowside? I am curious if there is a limit to leaning the bike over? I watch Rossi and the rest dang near have the handlebar on the ground so I am thinking that is the limit and any further the bike goes down. If so, how do you perfect maximum lean to the edge of leaning?

Don't compare a GP bike to your own. The tires, suspension, chassis, etc. are in a totally different league... However, even with a production bike, provided you have good tires and properly set up suspension, you can get some pretty hard lean angles on good asphalt.

I'd recommend taking it to the track and go search for that lean limit yourself ;)

to answer your question, yes, you can lean over too far.

HUH????? Where did you get this info? i hope you are kidding, right? No traction limit? Did the rules of gravity and physics and motorcycles just change? I hope you were kidding, but if you arent, advice like that could kill that guy!


Yes I was kidding.

i have all wheel steering on my bike so i don't have to lean...

i have all wheel steering on my bike so i don't have to lean...

haha now that is funny


dude the lean angle limit depends on so many things. if your on the street and touching a knee, then that right past to much for the street.


go to the track and learn your lmts. lowsides don't equal to much lean. lowsides can be rear wheel lost traction from to much throttle and you lost it, but mananged to keep from highsiding. Or loading the front up to much meaning your brakeing to much, or just coming into corner to hott and the front end isn't grabbing and won't turn in.

Ok, here's the big tip.

You can lean your bike over further.
Sit on your bike as you normally would.
Keep your legs in as if you were going in a straight line and keep ducked down.
Once you're comfortable in that position slightly pull in your front brake.
Now kick up your side stand. And get your foot back on the peg as fast as possible.
After about two seconds your bike will just fall into the right position to lean over as far as possible.
You don't even need to warm up your tyres or start the engine to do it either.

No no, he has a point, of course you can lean the bike over, if you lean it over any more IT FALLS OVER.

The trick to getting it to lean the most is riding within your limits and making sure you dont push yourself more than you feel comfortable doing, at any rate if you go further than you feel comfortable you probably arent having as much fun doing it...

From my understanding, the point is to lean the bike as little as possible for the given speed and radius of the turn. Hence why people that brag about chickenstrips make me laugh.

read twist of the wrist 2 , and you'll get all your lean angle questions answered... $20 at your local bike shop or less online.....

From my understanding, the point is to lean the bike as little as possible for the given speed and radius of the turn. Hence why people that brag about chickenstrips make me laugh.

Nah, the faster you go around the corner the more you need to lean.
If someone has chicken strips it just means they go slowly around corners, do a lot of commuting or live in the country where all the roads are straight.:thumbup

Nah, the faster you go around the corner the more you need to lean.
If someone has chicken strips it just means they go slowly around corners, do a lot of commuting or live in the country where all the roads are straight.:thumbup

so answer this for me, where do you think the extra lean angle comes from when a slow guy burns off his chickenstrips but a guy on the same bike is much faster but still has 1/2 an inch left on either side? you body position has more to do with chickenstrips than how well you ride (even though they go hand in hand) you can drag knees at 25 mph but that doesn't mean you should be at that point.

Nah, the faster you go around the corner the more you need to lean.
If someone has chicken strips it just means they go slowly around corners, do a lot of commuting or live in the country where all the roads are straight.:thumbup

The more you hang off the bike the less it leans and the less tyre width you use. The less you lean the bike for the same speed the more traction you have and the earlier you can get back on the gas.

Once you are on the edge of the tyre any additional lean angle results in a smaller contact patch and therefore significantly less traction. Now if youve gone in a bit hot or the corner tightens up, your in a situation where leaning the bike more will significantly reduce your traction!

The ex aust superbike racer i ride with has chicken strips on his road bike yet rides around the outside of guys that are proud to be straping boots and pegs.

Maybe you should check out your mates race tyres.
They should flatten out on the sides, so that there is a larger contact patch.
I can send you a pic to show what I'm talking about if you like.

I agree that you don't need to go all the way to the edge, I just under 1cm on untouched rubber on the sides.

Maybe you should check out your mates race tyres.

I thought we were talking about road riding.

I agree that you don't need to go all the way to the edge, I just under 1cm on untouched rubber on the sides.

So does this mean you "go slowly around corners, do a lot of commuting or live in the country where all the roads are straight."?:)

there is a certain pt to be fast you HAVE to get rid of a chicken strip.

there is a certain pt where sitting up and down you'll hit the lmt of the tire's traction lvl and u'll either crash or not be able to go any faster. Stay at the same lean angle but now get off the bike and now you can carry MORE speed at the same lean.

I have 5-10mm of chicken strip on the rear tyre on the road. On the track on the same bike with the same Pilot Powers the rear chicken strips are gone and front are down to less than 10mm.

So I agree with you.

I was disagreeing with the idea that chicken strips mean you arent riding fast enough - on the road.

I took my almost stock K3 to the track for my first track day. In the middle of the day I lowsided. Alot of the racers was looking at my bike to see how I was riding it (looking at the tires). When I lowsided we could see I was running on the very edge of the tire and could see where I gave it little to much gas and the rear tire slid out.
Few of the racers said that I was riding to far on the edge of the tire. They told me to try to lean more over but to push the bike up alittle to ride more on the contact patch of the tire instead of the lip.
It was kind a pain in the ass to "push" the bike up while leaned over but it seemed to work :confused
At the end of the day, I could see where I was riding between 1/4 of an inch and to the lip but not ON the lip.

Ok, you brought up your ex superbike racer. I just assumed he'd be running race tyres.
I wouldn't run a street tyre to the edge on my bike, the frame on the old gsxr would hit the ground before I reach the edge of the rubber.
What I mean by leaning over more the faster you're going is that the more speed you take a corner at the more horizontal g force you will get, which will require the weight to be shifted to a point that will balance out the bike and rider.
Meaning you can sit lower and the bike can sit higher, or you can sit higher and your bike can sit lower. Either way the sum of the two positions will be proportionate to the speed you're travelling. this is getting too indepth for my drunken brain. this isn't even making sense to me.:drool

Ok, you brought up your ex superbike racer. I just assumed he'd be running race tyres.
I wouldn't run a street tyre to the edge on my bike, the frame on the old gsxr would hit the ground before I reach the edge of the rubber.
What I mean by leaning over more the faster you're going is that the more speed you take a corner at the more horizontal g force you will get, which will require the weight to be shifted to a point that will balance out the bike and rider.
Meaning you can sit lower and the bike can sit higher, or you can sit higher and your bike can sit lower. Either way the sum of the two positions will be proportionate to the speed you're travelling. this is getting too indepth for my drunken brain. this isn't even making sense to me.:drool

I think we agree, just getting confused about what each is saying.

I only brought up the racer stuff up to show that you can be very fast and not use up all of the tyre width on the road. On the road my tyres and his look very similar, however he's riding much faster.

BTW He also doesnt use the very low tyre pressures so many on here suggest for road riding and he gets much better tyre life.

lmao

Race tyres, good for 1.3G's of grip http://www.msgroup.org/forums/mtt/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=73 at 50 degrees they're pushing them to 1.2G's, street tyres have given up by then.

Another street tyres are good for about 1.1G, 45 degrees will put 1G of loading on them http://www.msgroup.org/forums/mtt/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=868

Yes.. this actually just happened to me a few weeks at Big Willow :sad

I was coming into a turn too fast, so I had to lean more than usual to hold my line, problem (now I know) that you have to get off the bike when leaning the bike. I leaned the bike too much where there wasn't enought contact patch on the tire. I guess that's why it's so important to get off the bike and try to keep the bike a little more up right.

:mad http://www.gixxer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107960:mad

what happens when you lean too much

Race tyres, good for 1.3G's of grip http://www.msgroup.org/forums/mtt/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=73 at 50 degrees they're pushing them to 1.2G's, street tyres have given up by then.

Another street tyres are good for about 1.1G, 45 degrees will put 1G of loading on them http://www.msgroup.org/forums/mtt/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=868
wish i would have seen this before MONDAY. i was past the 45 degrees

so answer this for me, where do you think the extra lean angle comes from when a slow guy burns off his chickenstrips but a guy on the same bike is much faster but still has 1/2 an inch left on either side? you body position has more to do with chickenstrips than how well you ride (even though they go hand in hand) you can drag knees at 25 mph but that doesn't mean you should be at that point.

body english (proper) and lines with have a huge effect on how much the bike will need to be over. if you've out of the bike and on the deck, you're flyin'.

One of my favorite pictures