How far do you riders lean on stock tires?

[lytehouse]

I thought this thread might need a reminder of site rules:

Respect other members
Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. You have the right to disagree with that opinion. You do not have the right to be rude, vulgar, or disrespectful in expressing your opposition. Flaming will not be tolerated!

 

[dIGITAL dISCIPLE]

You can either countersteer throughout the corner OR you can countersteer whenever you need to change lean angle and otherwise giving the bike its head without pressure on the bars when not needing to change lean angle further. Go out, ride and test for yourselves and turn off that stupid idiot box.

Nah I got you man. I'm just new to the whole thing and was curious. I'm super scared still to even lean. I never worried about this on a dirt bike, but that's another story.

 

[alaskanflyboy]

I thought this thread might need a reminder of site rules:

Respect other members
Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. You have the right to disagree with that opinion. You do not have the right to be rude, vulgar, or disrespectful in expressing your opposition. Flaming will not be tolerated!

I think you're 11 months late on that one, Lytehouse. By now it's hopefully cooled down, or else it's simmered to a level of burning grudge that can usually only be found in the Levant.

 

[lytehouse]

I think you're 11 months late on that one, Lytehouse. By now it's hopefully cooled down, or else it's simmered to a level of burning grudge that can usually only be found in the Levant.

Well it popped back up on 8/3 and a member reported it having a condescending tone, so that's why I did it

 

[FastFreddy]

Nah I got you man. I'm just new to the whole thing and was curious. I'm super scared still to even lean. I never worried about this on a dirt bike, but that's another story.

I've started riding dirt bikes now, I've just got a Yamaha TTR-250 for now which is good enough for me. You definitely have to shift your weight forwards and back more on a dirt bike. I sometimes hang off like I'm on a road bike now on the dirt, and on the road I sometimes push the bike down in the corners rather than hang off. All fun. It's a lot of work to ride a dirt bike, I can see why they use those helmets now.

 

[FastFreddy]

Well it popped back up on 8/3 and a member reported it having a condescending tone, so that's why I did it

I was only originally mentioning it to improve people's understanding of countersteering and pointing out the misunderstood things about it.

If someone says what I said is stupid, sure I may either let it slide or return the shot with interest.

 

[FastFreddy]

more unsolicited advice

A lot of racers actually just use the inside of the corner bar to do everything, so if turning right, push right bar to lean in, pull right bar to come out. To turn left, push left bar going in, pull left bar going out. It's another method to think about that works as well.

 

[FastFreddy]

The arrow doesn't lie, it only points the opposite way for a very brief time while leaning back the other way.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZomZhTBaiSo

Another tip is to stay very still on the bike when turning. "Being a good passenger" as Keith says.

 

[Slick]

I have over 41,000 miles on my FZ6R, and love it. I hammer the corners as quick as I dare. OEM tires were good, replacements were RoadSmarts. Good tire, a bit hard. I learned to hang off the bike on these tires. Used the entire surface. Switched to ContiMotions for cost savings. Again, no chicken strips. Michelin Pilot Road 3 front and 2CT rear were next, and no chicken strips. Great tires, too. Went to Metzler Sportec M7... Different story. Excellent traction, wet or dry. Try as I might, I can't lean far enough to rub off the chicken strips. Second rear M7 put on last weekend. I like these tires. The profile of the tire is what is making the difference, in my opinion.

 

[dIGITAL dISCIPLE]

Ok, thought I would revisit this thread after a couple months of riding and learning for the new riders like me. I've realized you can go pretty far. Here's my stock tire with 1900 miles on it and I still feel like I can go further now that I'm getting comfortable with sharper corners at high speeds (70-100mph+)

Get em warmed up and they feel great. I can only imagine how much better it'll be with better tires after u learn all the nuances of the bike on the stock tires. Im getting really close to the side walls.

 

[nismos14]

Ok, thought I would revisit this thread after a couple months of riding and learning for the new riders like me. I've realized you can go pretty far. Here's my stock tire with 1900 miles on it and I still feel like I can go further now that I'm getting comfortable with sharper corners at high speeds (70-100mph+)

Get em warmed up and they feel great. I can only imagine how much better it'll be with better tires after u learn all the nuances of the bike on the stock tires. Im getting really close to the side walls.

It takes a while to get far over. It also does take a good tire to inspire the confidence to do so. It's also not always about the speed at which you take the turn but the timing of when you drop in for the turn.

On my FZ6R I never felt comfortable enough to get to less than 3/8's" or so on the tire, on my gsxr, the confidence it inspires and the awesome tires and handing I've gotten all the way to the edge.

I am confident if I hoped on an FZ6R again I could stretch its limits much further.

One of the biggest factors for me to be able to lean so far over is being fully comfortable and knowing the realities and risks and accepting them.

 

[brownwa]

Slick and nismos14 I think summed it up best.

The tire profile makes a world of difference in leaning comfort. I've found that with touring/highway tires, the profile changes too abruptly. Basically you feel like you're falling over when you get to that last inch of tread in a lean. However with a consistently round profile tire you can gradually lean more with confidence.

I noticed this immediately when I rode a gixxer with Bridgestone Battlax BT016 tires. These were the "same" stock tires as on my FZ6R, but they had a more consistently round profile. Heck I was leaning that gixxer without fear after only 60 miles on the bike (had to break in the new tires).

As for building confidence leaning a road bike, I find that lowering the tire pressure 2-3 psi helps dramatically. For the Battlax BT016 the normal cold weather pressure is 33/36 psi front/rear. However I do 31/32 psi front/rear for mountain roads and get significantly better traction and confidence. That and lean forward, a LOT. For some reason getting your head down and forward fools your inner ear into thinking you're not going to fall over so easily.