How far do you riders lean on stock tires?

[SampsonNation]

My 6R still has stock tires on it. I was wondering how far you all lean on them.

I know for myself, I'm probably looking at about 10 - 15 degrees. Maybe even to 20 at times.

I want to learn how to lean at 30 degrees, but it's been difficult! I'm determined to get there. Every time I try to lean more than 10 degrees, I have to slow down to like 30 mph from like 55 mph. I feel like I'm leaning too hard and I'll fall.

I attached a picture for everyone to see. Please let me know what everyone likes to lean at .

 

[cobaltitaliano]

I'd probably say the most I've leaned was 30-35 degrees going through a few round-a-bouts.

 

[MistahT]

Here is my experience, others may vary:

I came from a 20 year old GS 500 with skinny tires. That thing would lean over with confidence and the engine didn't have a ton of power so you could almost slam the throttle open without worry in corners.

When I got my FZ6R it felt VERY different at first. I felt everything about it was an improvement except cornering. The weight of the bike and the stock tires didn't give me much confidence. Then when I thought I was developing confidence, on a below-freezing morning on cold tires I went down.

Fast forward about 18 months to today. Always being more cautious in the corners than my friends I've progressed slowly, especially with the fear of going down again. I still don't really trust these stock tires all the way, but for the first time on a bike I'm getting all the way to the edge. I'll be honest, it's very uncommon that I do get all the way to the edge, but I am. I don't like going that far over, but I can do it and my confidence has grown especially since the beginning of this current season. I've been getting to the edge coming in a little hot on the backroads and leaning in, or more recently highway. One highway I live near as a nasty habit of gusting hard while riding up this one sweeper. So hard that at 80mph it started pushing me out of my lane. At that point it was lean harder or hit the car next to me.

I probably don't get farther than 30 degrees in my regular commute. I certainly don't have the technical skills or balls that a lot of these other guys have, but I've learned a bit of this and that. Don't let people worry you about not going fast enough or having chicken strips. Be safe, enjoy, and the rest will come in time.

 

[cobaltitaliano]

Here is my experience, others may vary:

I came from a 20 year old GS 500 with skinny tires. That thing would lean over with confidence and the engine didn't have a ton of power so you could almost slam the throttle open without worry in corners.

When I got my FZ6R it felt VERY different at first. I felt everything about it was an improvement except cornering. The weight of the bike and the stock tires didn't give me much confidence. Then when I thought I was developing confidence, on a below-freezing morning on cold tires I went down.

Fast forward about 18 months to today. Always being more cautious in the corners than my friends I've progressed slowly, especially with the fear of going down again. I still don't really trust these stock tires all the way, but for the first time on a bike I'm getting all the way to the edge. I'll be honest, it's very uncommon that I do get all the way to the edge, but I am. I don't like going that far over, but I can do it and my confidence has grown especially since the beginning of this current season. I've been getting to the edge coming in a little hot on the backroads and leaning in, or more recently highway. One highway I live near as a nasty habit of gusting hard while riding up this one sweeper. So hard that at 80mph it started pushing me out of my lane. At that point it was lean harder or hit the car next to me.

I probably don't get farther than 30 degrees in my regular commute. I certainly don't have the technical skills or balls that a lot of these other guys have, but I've learned a bit of this and that. Don't let people worry you about not going fast enough or having chicken strips. Be safe, enjoy, and the rest will come in time.

This ^ do whatever you feel safe and confident with. No sense in getting hurt or worse...and every bike is different, an r6 will obviously take turns differently than a fz6r

 

[JT]

based off of my chicken stripes I would say the most lean I normaly get to is about 28 ish. average is probably a lot less.


I would defiantly not concentrate on angle over form. learn form and with that comes higher speeds. at some point the best thing for you would be to take some track lessons.

 

[Fizzer6R]

63 degrees just like MotoGP

 

[dart1963]

My 6R still has stock tires on it. I was wondering how far you all lean on them.

I know for myself, I'm probably looking at about 10 - 15 degrees. Maybe even to 20 at times.

I want to learn how to lean at 30 degrees, but it's been difficult! I'm determined to get there. Every time I try to lean more than 10 degrees, I have to slow down to like 30 mph from like 55 mph. I feel like I'm leaning too hard and I'll fall.

I attached a picture for everyone to see. Please let me know what everyone likes to lean at .

You won't fall off... if anything, on stock tires, you'll lose grip and have the tires slide out from you. The bike, even on stock tires, can probably do a lot more than you think. You just have to ride more and get comfortable leaning with the bike... tighten up your legs on the tank a bit, as you get more comfortable, you can start dipping your head/upper body into the turn, as that feels better, you can start sliding off the seat a bit.... doesn't have to be all motogp style, elbows dragging and stuff, but you'll just feel more comfortable in the turns.

If you feel like you are going to "fall off" though, it's not the grip of the tires, it's just getting comfortable and trusting the bike/momentum/angles and everything else that keeps you from falling.

Just keep on riding and get comfortable in the turns! Most of all, enjoy your ride!

 

[SampsonNation]

If you feel like you are going to "fall off" though, it's not the grip of the tires, it's just getting comfortable and trusting the bike/momentum/angles and everything else that keeps you from falling.

I feel like the bike is going to fall over, not my physical self falling off .

You can find that "tipping point" when you try to lean. Every time I try to leave past 10, it feels like gravity is about to take over... I wish I could just take video of it and show you, but I have no way to do that right now.

 

[adamo3957]

Lean angle? I dunno depends on your view on things...

To understand lean you need to understand form vs bike lean...

Correct form reduces bike lean.

Bike lean can be manipulated. But mostly try to remember we want to reduce bike lean for maximum speed/grip, for this we need good form, to remove chicken strips without care for anything else, you can use poor form.

Look at the photo attached, which is from my track day earlier in the year, wasn't pushing hard, just enough to mess around with the mid-group of riders. (Track days in aus and most of the world, the riders are split into groups, first timers/low experience, mid experience/basic track regulars, high experience/hard core enthusiasts/racers.)

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The tyre isn't the stock tyre as that wore out before I hit the track again, if you look at the tyre there's still plenty left at the edge.

The reason for plenty at the edge is the fact I hang off. Alot. This puts me on a fatter part of the tyre meaning I can use more power.

I spent one session on the track not hanging off and to maintain the same speeds I was dragging foot pegs... (Including one pants sh!tting moment where I dragged the rear brake lever).

You mentioned slowing to lean more, this isn't how it works, you lean more when you go faster. You go too fast you crash...

It all comes with confidence and time, there is no reason to rush into it, your friends going faster than you? Will they pay your hospital bills when you push without knowing what your doing and stack it? Never rush it.

So to answer your question properly, how far on the bike do I lean? Knee down is 2/3s of the tyre. road riding about 1/2-2/3s of the tyre.

 

[dart1963]

I feel like the bike is going to fall over, not my physical self falling off .

You can find that "tipping point" when you try to lean. Every time I try to leave past 10, it feels like gravity is about to take over... I wish I could just take video of it and show you, but I have no way to do that right now.

flat spot on tires? as in you lean... then it just feels like it just really leaned? take some pics from the front snd sides

 

[blkbrd]

I'm in the same boat as MistahT. Started off on a GS500 and that bike was very flickable. The FZ6R feels alot different in the corners. I have definitely learned the importance of using better body position with this bike.

I don't know what stock tires you are running, but I ran my stock BT-021's for almost 20000km, and I never got to trust them. I would recommend to anybody using those things, to change them immediately if the budget allows.

I switched to Metzeler Sportec M5's and I'm leaning the bike somewhere between 40° and 45° on a regular basis without ever feeling that these tires are going to let me down. The bridgestones have slipped on me on several occasions.

 

[adamo3957]

Oh and forgot,

The rear is a battleaxe and the front is the stock tyre (dunlop on my bike)

 

[RoadTrip]

I agree with adamo, the more upright the better for reducing slippage. I got greedy with lean angle and have had a couple of big slips this Spring, so I re-focused on hanging off to put the bike more upright which has seemed to keep the slippage under control (I run S20's).

Another gotcha is very tight corners that require slower speeds, my biggest slip to date occurred on one of these, I entered a bit faster than normal and flicked it hard, the rear end stepped out quite a bit, but I caught it. I am sure it was rider error on some level, but I now have gone back to respecting these really tight (e.g. 10-15mph posted) corners. The 35-45mph posted sweepers are typically more fun anyway, and the bike seems to stick better at the higher speeds run through these (prolly because the suspension works better under a sustained load).

Finally, my philosophy is to not chase strips, the point is to have as much fun as possible Without Crashing. I ain't just talking the injuries here, I don't want to trash my bike and gear, and be stuck out there in the hot Texas Sun feeling like a fool cause I was pushing too hard. I mean I like to push it, but not too deep, you gotta spend a lot of time out there cornering and if you get a slip or two without crashing, then you have learned a valuable lesson about where the limits are.

I am sure plenty of highly skilled riders can slip around on every ride, I am just not comfortable riding on the edge all the time like that, I am just out there to clear my head and have a bit of fun - for me Safe is Fun.

 

[FastFreddy]

I liked the feel of the stock SportSmarts so upgraded to Q2s for even more safety margin. The Q2s lock on easily at 45 degrees. You start scrapping pegs at around 48-50 degrees, light scrapping is ok but if you go harder again the rear tyre will lift up. I'm happy in the 45 degree zone now with the body hanging under the centerline and just light slip angles when I'm riding regularly.

 

[nismos14]

I've gotten a lot more comfortable leaning with my GSXR than I ever was with the FZ6R, but I think it was just a timing thing. I can whip the GSXR around pretty good with confidence.

 

[adamo3957]

I've gotten a lot more comfortable leaning with my GSXR than I ever was with the FZ6R, but I think it was just a timing thing. I can whip the GSXR around pretty good with confidence.

A gsxr is a whole lot more nimble than an fz6r and cample of a higher lean angle...

My advice for anyone tho is not to chase lean, respect the difference between lean and speed, if you chase lean, your not chasing the faster line, you must tighten the corners to increase lean required leaving less margin for error, when you chase speed you leave lean angle to spare meaning you can sharpen up when the unexpected happens.

That always remember to ride and learn at your own pace. Live is for living no point cutting it short for a knee down.

 

[Chucker]

Here is my write-up on a track day with the stock tires. I replaced the stock tires with Pirelli Diablo Rosso IIs afterwards, but that was because I go to the track. I wouldn't be concerned about the tires letting go on you, I'd be more concerned about your body position while leaned over. Get that right, and the stock tires won't disappoint on the street.

http://www.600cc.org/forum/f87/track-day-shannonville-motosports-park-26344/

 

[Fizzer6R]

hmm that's interesting that both adamo & chucker's pics show some edge left. maybe it's the bike & tire size more than how fast they were pushing, hanging off or not etc.? ie some tracks are more flat, and certain turns will make you use more of the tire.

I've always been in the slower groups for the tracks days I've done, and still had 0 edge left. However I was on a Superbike w/dif. size tires, I'm not sure if that makes me a dumber rider haha. All I cared about monitoring was lap times. Of course we all want better form, but be it pretty or not, if I wasn't improving and knowing it via the data then it's hard for me to say if tire angle played a big part towards progress

 

[Chucker]

When I put my Rosso IIs on, I had to start taking my sidestand off at the track because it touched down. I also make good use of my toe sliders on both boots and use both knee sliders, yet I still have some chicken strips. I don't know how I could get rid of the chicken strips without leaning further than my toes allow. I'm looking at raising the pegs with MFW Vario extensions. That may make the difference.

 

[Riccochet]

I'm still on stock tires. Personally, I don't chase lean to go from edge to edge. I regularly ride with people on SS's. I keep up with them just fine in the twisties. Then they rag on me for having a chicken strip. To which I reply that if they weren't going so slow I could lean it more. In all honesty I'd rather not dip too low on these bikes and risk banging a peg. Having my rear tire come unglued at speed in a corner is something I'd rather not happen to me ever again.