Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Hi everyone, first post...
Went to MSF school and got my license few weeks ago. Started riding last weekend. So far so good, though I'm a bit nervous on tight turns at slow speeds.
Today I was going around a rotary after coming to a complete stop and, as I was turning left, I had to lean really low in order to keep myself inside the curve. My left foot peg scraped the road a little and that got me thinking if I were doing something wrong. I read that this happens on Honda Shadow Aero but just wanted to double-check with anyone who might have some input on riding in a rotary. Never happened to me on regular turns, probably because I don't have to lean as much.
Thanks!

Totally normal occurrence on a cruiser, what with their lower ground clearance. The fact that you were able to post about it tells me that your MSF course paid off - you didn't panic and you completed the turn without incident. Well done!

Seriously- well done. As you become more used to the bike and more familiar with routes often traveled, you'll know what speed and angle of approach to use on certain corners so that bike parts don't get ground off. Or, more likely, as you get more confident you'll start to deliberately make a trail of sparks around tight corners while maintaining an indifferent sneer on your face, just to impress the chick in the white Mustang convertible following you...

"Omigod, like, are you okay?"
"Relax, ma'am, I'm a professional. I do this all the time. So, how's about dinner?"

You're not doing anything wrong, per se. You probably approached the corner a little on the aggressive side, which resulted in the bike running out of lean angle and having the peg touch down as a result. So just chalk it up to a learning experience and carry on.

Thanks for the great post, Gummiente! I'll just keep a spare pair of pegs in that case!
I had no idea that Ural and Dnepr bikes were used anywhere else but in Russia and former Soviet republics! I grew up in Moscow and haven't seen these bikes since I left in the 80s... Those machines are great !

Aragorn wrote:I grew up in Moscow and haven't seen these bikes since I left in the 80s... Those machines are great !

Nastrovya, tovarisch! The Ural is one of the most entertaining and soul-satisfying bikes I have ever owned.

The Ural is one of the most entertaining and soul-satisfying bikes I have ever owned.

Man, now I want to get one too!

It's easier to drag a peg when you are counter-leaning.

If you are turning left, but your body is more to the right side of the bike, the bike has to lean over a little more to compensate.

The proper way to take a curve at speed is to shift your balance *inside* to the lower side of the bike. This allows your bike to stand up a little more.
http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/school-SectionFiveB.htm

Makes sense. Thanks.

It could be that your leaning out of hte turn or maybe you're just going too fast for the turn to do anything else.

I scrape pegs on the V-strom when leaning into the turn. Thus, whenever I hop on a cruiser I'm always scrapping pegs.

When I'm not leaning the bike into a turn over I get really bored...

storysunfolding wrote:When I'm not leaned over I get really bored...

Uhhhh... okay. Dude, that just didn't sound right somehow...

Gummiente wrote:

storysunfolding wrote:When I'm not leaned over I get really bored...

Uhhhh... okay. Dude, that just didn't sound right somehow...

Fixed it you damned dirty Canadian