Lean Angle

[RhadamYgg]

just get with an experienced rider you trust and follow him on twisties...mimic his movements. start slow and build up. Before you know it you will be going way faster and leaning way further than you currently think you want to.

Also, body surfing is a skill that you only need if:
A) you like to show off how bold you are in turns
B) you intend on racing.

If you are always going the posted speed limit, there is seldom a need to lean more than 15 degrees.

I agree with most of what has been posted. Quit thinking about it so much and just ride. I mean do you have to know how much flour is in a chocolate chip cookie to enjoy it?

Ahh, well, I haven't actually gotten with any riders, ever. I'm sure that would work.

Also, body surfing is a skill that you only need if:
A) you like to show off how bold you are in turns

a) I don't have anyone to show off to - and if I did, I'd probably ust wipe out in front of them anyway.

B) you intend on racing.

b) I don't intend on racing. Everything I've read pretty much indicates that you need to start when you are in diapers and have balls of steel to be able to truly race.

You know, that is an interesting thought about chocolate chip cookies. Probably get the mean amount of flour and then calculate the standard deviation....

RhadamYgg

[RhadamYgg]

If you are not dragging hard parts, you are not leaning too far. Get past hat, and learn to ride better.

Ahhh, now that's a psychological thing, there.

I know.... unless I'm dragging hard parts I can't possibly be overleanded.

But I don't... err feel it?

RhadamYgg

[mydlyfkryzis]

If you are not dragging hard parts, you are not leaning too far. Get past hat, and learn to ride better.

Ahhh, now that's a psychological thing, there.

I know.... unless I'm dragging hard parts I can't possibly be overleanded.

But I don't... err feel it?

RhadamYgg

That's my take on it.

If you can, or have the opportunity, get on a dirt bike.

I learned a lot on the Tank Trails at Fort Bragg. Sliding around turns, falling off into soft sand, finding the limits of a bike sliding around on soft surfaces. My friend has a terrible fear whenever he rides on gravel or dirt, or hits some gravel or dirt in the rode. His issue is in his mind. When you ride Dirt Bikes for a while, you get a feel for the wobbling and unsteadiness that seems to prevail on loose surfaces. As you ride more, you gain confidence, as you realize the bike may wobble, but doesn't fall. After slidng through a turn on a dirt bike, you don't get fazed by the sliding of your street bike as you encounter a little gravel on the road. think many falls happen due to the surprise and panic of a rider the first time the rear wheel slides a little on gravel, then the actual situation itself.

Your bnest bet, if you aren't able to ride on on a dirt bike is to ride more and practice leaning more and more.

We have roads that are paved with liquid tar than a layer of loose gravel is put on top. If you ride on them, the bike shimmys and sways and feels very loose. Well if you spend 10 minutes a day on those roads, after a while, the shimmy and sway are familiar and don't get the adrenaline going at all. Same with turning.

Keep practicing, yuo'll get there.

[SCgurl]

You are sooooo much overthinking this.

I will tell you exactly what was told to me and what I told my buddy from the "best compliment" thread...You cannot be afraid to lean the bike. I try to keep my spine in a straight line with the center of the frame (side-to-side). When I push left or right, I keep my back in that line, so that I'm leaning with the bike, but the bike is doing most of the work. If you accelerate slightly in the turn, the physical forces involved actually give you more stability and will keep the bike leaned. You have to look through the turn, as well-no looking at instruments, the ground, or at the pretty bird in the tree. Just the traffic and the turn. That forces your shoulders into the correct position.

I got a pretty good lesson by a motorcycle LEO one day on posture. We found that keeping my back in line was best for me. He showed me some drills that basically involved countersteering into tighter and tighter circles at slower speeds. Sounds like you need to do the same thing.

Just my

[RhadamYgg]

If I may be bold

Everytime I get some one who says they have fear of leaning, we find that the body positioning is all wrong. EVERY TIME.

Forget gadgets, get some one who knows what they are doing to follow you and help you with the body positioning, or get to a track with an instructor.

Listen to me dude, I am bullying you now.

Me too! More gadgets to "look at" on the instrument panel, means less brains to use to look where you're going and just ride the dang bike! If you've got $1 of brain capacity to use, don't waste even 5 cents on indicators that will tell you what the rest of your body can.

+1 on getting someone with some skill to follow you through curves, or sign up for "Lee Parks' Total Control: Advanced Riders Clinic" - available here in Maryland, and a few other East Coast locations.

P

I should go to Lee Parks school. I may be at the point that to continue on, I need more professional help.

RhadamYgg

[JC Viper]

Thought I'd put this here... you can see that I'm pretty aggressive with my bike with the chicken strips on the outer most edge. I made sure to be kind of loose while riding so I can move with the bike and be one with it (very zen)



I still recommend you pick up Proficient Motorcycling books if you haven't already. I think the second one covers leaning. Total Control book is a good read too. It may be about sportier riding but... wait you ride a B-King..

[RhadamYgg]

My rear tire. It seems to be too dark for me to capture my front tire.

Left/Right from rear of bike


Top Left


Left Side rear section


Top on the right side


Right Side from the rear

Some of them are pretty hard to see where my chicken strips are.

RhadamYgg

[RhadamYgg]

As far as checking your chicken strips you have no need to have a video camera follow you around.
http://www.shopmonkeys.com/dealsgap/60.jpg
Those are some nice small ones, but the rider can still lean further if needed.
http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/8464/picture9rk9.jpg
Those are relatively huge ones. The rider is afraid to lean very much.
Heck mine were smaller on my Volusia!

And yes I know those aren't images, just links, one is too big to be easily viewed on a forum.

It looks like (by eyeballing it) that I'm somewhere between the two.

RhadamYgg

[RhadamYgg]

If you've got $1 of brain capacity to use,

I think she just called you dumb bro, you gonna take that?

I've taken worse from the ladies. At least there is communication.

[RhadamYgg]

The lean angle gauge won't work. Your lean angle is determined by speed and turn rate. The outward force of the turn is exactly covered by the force of gravity. On a motorcycle, your lean indicator will always point to 0 degrees unless you are already falling.

Those indicators are for:

Off road vehicles. It indicates the lean when stopped or going straight. In a turn, the centrifugal force (Centripetal force for you purist) causes it to read incorrectly.

the aircraft bubble type have the same issue. In a normal, proper turn, the bubble should stay at zero degrees regardless of the actual lean compared to ground level. If the bubble is other than zero in a turn, you are banked too much or too little. In straight flight, it is desirable to keep the plane level, so it works there too.

A motorcycle lean indicator is useless straight, will read zero in any turn,
and can only read actual lean when stopped or on your way to being stopped as you fall off the bike.

The lean indicators I looked at might work. If they don't then you would need a gyroscopic one - like what is used on aircraft with an artificial horizon.

RhadamYgg