Measuring your lean with scrape marks....

[SoloScott]

I have talked to many people who show off how deep they get in turns with the metal that is missing from the ends of their pegs and other hard pieces. Is this a good measure of how low you got?

I am a new rider. Today I was out, running through some turns. I had to haul down from speed coming into a tight turn and didn't get it into the gear I wanted until I was in the turn. As I kicked it down, so that I had some power to get around the curve, my shifter scraped along the ground. Am I fooling myself thinking that I'm getting more comfortable leaning the new bike through turns?

[The CyberPoet]

Re: Measuring your lean with scrape marks....

IMHO:
It's not a good measure of how well you turn -- it's a good measure of how far the bike has to lean to make the turn. Using body positioning(leaning/hanging off to the inside of the turn) to keep the bike more upright can give you a tighter turn (or higher-speed through the turn) without grinding than the same turn with you leaned the wrong way or remained perfectly parallel with the bike and ground out something.

Cheers
=-= The CyberPoet

[WildKat]

There's no reason to get that deep into turns out on the regular highways and roads in public.. unless of course you come into a corner to hot and you need to save it by really leaning. The vast majority of turns you encounter can be easily made by simply leaning in a normal fasion without having to drag a knee.

[Range]

see above....sometimes scraping is showing POOR bike control...I strive to keep bike as vertical as I can and lean my BODY over...that way, there is always more available if you need it on a decreasing radius curve.

[md86]

Yeah , my chicken strips actually started GROWING once I started hanging off !

[Zukiman]

I smell squid.

[paperairplane]

On the street I may occasionally scrape a toe slider and that is about it. I have never put a knee down on the street and have never touched a hard part of the bike - not even the center stand.

If you are scraping the shift lever you had better start pricing fairings because there is a low side in your near future.

Read some riding books and learn how to get your body off the bike more - you are doing unnecessary things to turn the bike and probably using poor body position.

Get your weight on the pegs, stay loose on the bars, get your head and leading shoulder pointed into the turn and move your posterior over about a half a cheek. This will allow you to lean the bike less or take a corner faster.

If you are at maximum lean just going around a turn, what happens when you need to adjust your turn b/c there is something in the middle of your line? At that point you are already out of lean and will have to try a panic stop while leaned over (poor choice) or lowside (equally poor choice).

I reccomend "Twist of the Wrist II" and "Sport Riding Techniques" as good reading for anyone learning to ride.

[md86]

Hey , maybe his shift lever is adjusted too low . I used to have my brake lever adjusted pretty low to help keep from locking up the rear wheel , but I scraped it a couple times , so I raised it again . Just a thought .
Oh yeah , and SRT ROCKS ! Everyone , BUY THAT BOOK NOW !

[trinc]

also some bikes that are lower tend to drag alot - but the foot peg feeler should be the first to touch down. i agree the shifter is probably miss adjusted.

if your dragging parts you have no room for line adjustments - get your butt off the seat ! that or slow down.

tim

[Matt]

Watch the races, pros don't drag hard parts, amatuers do.





Dragging hard parts means you're over too far, or compressing the suspension too far. Dragging hard parts is a fantastic way to wreck, because the metal that is dragging becomes a cantilever to lift the tires off the ground with.

Stand the bike up a bit more, and get your butt off, but to the inside of the seat. As you move your butt to the inside, you'll feel the bike tighten up the line and dive into the corner harder/tighter - which will usually require/allow for a lot more throttle so that you can maintain your line.

Just like learning martial arts, learn the proper movements, the speed will come in time.......

While yer buds are dragging their manhood, you'll be able to pass them on the inside.........

[Matt]

BTW: What would have happened if that shifter moved enough to switch gears on you?


Lowside, that's what would happen.


I'm puckering just thinking about how close you came....... be careful out there.

[Anonymous]

I'm going out to my garage right now with a chisel to make it look like I take it real low....

[paperairplane]

dude, everyone knows a belt sander is the best way to make scrapes.... you can use it to remove your chicken strips while you're at it.

(not really)

[SoloScott]

Thanks everyone. As I'm new to this, I'll listen to any advice I can get. I was going into this turn a little too fast for me, but I wasn't expecting a severe hairpin turn (prob 150 degrees). At the apex, I was probably going 20mph (speed limit sign said 10mph). Just so we're clear, I'm not describing an off-ramp at 60 here.

I totally agree that dragging even a peg feeler leaves VERY LITTLE room for adjustment in your lane. I haven't bought one of the books you guys mentioned YET, because I felt I was far from that point in riding. I have so many basics to keep me busy already

I read around here that hanging off is not something to do on the street (maybe it was just dragging a knee). Now, it sounds like hanging off a little is what I should have done. I guess my thoughts are, if it's proper technique and you are doing it safely, there should be no reason not to use it on the street.

[The CyberPoet]

TIP: Dragging the rear brake *LIGHTLY* will tighten up the turn radius and slow your speed at the same time (also useful if you need to shift your path because something is in your intended arc, such as road debris). This can make a real difference if you go into a turn too hot...
Do not lock up the rear brake in the process.

Good Luck!
=-= The CyberPoet