Scraping primary cover on ground
I was surprised to learn that you don't have to be a knee dragger to get results. I would first suggest just trying to dip your head towards your inside hand. I was surprised how much this little movement brought the bike back up. It's still a work in progress and I'm working on shifting the entire body towards the inside of the turn. IMHO, it's more difficult on an 800 lb bike that on a 400 lb bike.
It's definitely a learned art and I wouldn't recommend it for everyday riding but I want to have it available for the times I'm pushing my limits and may need something to get me out of trouble.
Big Kahuna HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 23,881
Likes: 34
From: USA
The above pic is a prime example of moving your butt over during hard corning, the only think I do different is I extend my right arm and leg more and lean my upper body low and hard, thereby standing the bike up more in the turn. this gives you room for more speed before contact and God forbid something goes wrong hell I'm already on the ground now I only have to worry about stopping, lol.
Road Master
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 1,109
Likes: 89
From: Tampa, FL
I always scrape something when i corner hard. Never thought i was actually hitting the primary though. Well... I checked the bike last night and you guessed it! The primary has that classic upside down triangle from scarping in the turns.
Guess I'll be upgrading from the stock shocks soon and practicing on my cornering techniques.
.
Guess I'll be upgrading from the stock shocks soon and practicing on my cornering techniques.
.
Club Member
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 753
Likes: 0
From: Yakima, WA
My first observation was that the butt slide produced a wobble in the front end because of the torque on the handlebars. I assume with practice this will go away. So because of that the rest of my experimenting did not include sliding my butt to the inside of the corner I was setting up for.
So I just shifted my body weight to the inside of the curve. It was hard to tell if it helped or not initially because I ended up scraping both foot pegs, and these curves were'nt really familiar to me so I couldn't say if I was going through them faster than I was able to before.
So I tried experimenting another way. I would go into a corner in my usual fashion (not leaning my upper body into the corner), then in the middle of it, shifting my body. I found that I had to set the bike more upright to maintain my line. When I reversed it, the same thing: I'd go into the corner leaning my upper body, then switching to not - I'd have to lay the bike over more to keep my line.
So bottom line is, even though it still doesn't compute in my head, how it works, it apparently does.
Thanks for making me a better rider!
Steve
Advanced
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 95
Likes: 0
From: Yukon, Canada
Watch some super bike races, these guys have it down like art. It is a very active riding style, you are not just sitting on your scooter but flowing from side to side as the turns dictate. Head, shoulders, knees and butt cheeks. Have you ever been deep in a corner and had a passenger turn their head and look over your shoulder on the inside - immediately steers the bike.
Road Warrior
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 1,789
Likes: 9
From: Double Oak, Texas
Yeah, in that corner my bike would be standing up more. It is so hard to describe. Last night I went out and did some sweepers after reading this post to try to see where I was on the bike as I increased speed. Really hard to describe as it is just "feel" to me. But I never scrape anything but maybe a peg once in a great while.
At that spot the transition had already begun of a weight shift to the right for the very soon to occur right bend just ahead. Had been way farther off the seat in the long turn which is why the left peg was glowing red hot, as it was driven hard on the pavement for a couple of hundred feet. The bottom of my left boot had a nice furrow melted into it by the red hot peg.
Last edited by Centerline; Oct 2, 2010 at 01:36 PM.
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Tourer
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 353
Likes: 2
From: Contra Costa County, CA
my harley definately doesn't weigh 1000 lbs but I must not ride fast enough cause I very rarely scrap anything, I think the OP should get those hot rod blocks that shower sparks thatd be bitchin'
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