As long as you're comfortable and rolling out of the turn- why not? There's a reason the treads on a motorcycle tires go around to the sides. 8)

Don't brake!

 

Sure - but you can corner faster and safer if you haul your ass off the seat a little and lean your weight out inside the turn. The bike will need to lean less to navigate the the same arc at the same speed.

 

I can`t find many roads that fit that discription here in sw Ga.
Too many blind driveways too...

 

It is safe to lean as far as the foot pegs touch the road, as long as the surface is not wet, oily or gravel? :?

True, for some; False for others.

 

Sure - but you can corner faster and safer if you haul your ass off the seat a little and lean your weight out inside the turn. The bike will need to lean less to navigate the the same arc at the same speed.

So if the curve is towards the left, you should lean your weight to the right?

 

Sure - but you can corner faster and safer if you haul your ass off the seat a little and lean your weight out inside the turn. The bike will need to lean less to navigate the the same arc at the same speed.

So if the curve is towards the left, you should lean your weight to the right?

No. If you are turing left, shift your body to the left, so more of your mass is left of center of the bike. This will allow the bike to turn in a tighter radius with less lean angle. Ever see motorcycle racing? The guys hand off their bikes on the inside of the turn so they can keep their bikes more upright and therefore have more traction, allowing for more speed and acceleration.

- Dan

 

Sure - but you can corner faster and safer if you haul your ass off the seat a little and lean your weight out inside the turn. The bike will need to lean less to navigate the the same arc at the same speed.

So if the curve is towards the left, you should lean your weight to the right?

No. If you are turing left, shift your body to the left, so more of your mass is left of center of the bike. This will allow the bike to turn in a tighter radius with less lean angle. Ever see motorcycle racing? The guys hand off their bikes on the inside of the turn so they can keep their bikes more upright and therefore have more traction, allowing for more speed and acceleration.

- Dan

Yeah, & the racers even hold their inside knees out to the inside of the curve so that their knee pads are scraping the ground. But then they're going around hairpin curves at something like 100 mph, so I'm not going to achieve that kind of scratches on my blue jean's knees.

I think that the whole idea is to make it safely around the curve. If you're able to to lean the bike so far over that you're scraping knees and foot pegs on the asphalt, then you're probably going too fast around such curves for it to be safe on anything other than a closed course. It is possible that something as mundane as a 3" spot of spilled sand could ruin your day. But, even so, if you're ABLE to do that, then you should still be able to back off a little bit & be safer and faster than most folks would be able to take the curve. It is a spot of sand that big that ended the ride & life of the son of someone with whom I worked a couple of years ago. The guy's favorite activity was his Sunday morning rides through the Texas hill country with his 28 year old son. The kid was practicing his leans & scrapes, riding in front of his Dad, when his Dad saw the kid's wheels hit the small spot of sand & the kid went skidding off to the side of the curve. It was a low-side slide until he hit the guard rail, then the bike rolled over the rail, taking the kid with it, and rolled down the hill. They weren't sure when the kid died, but it was sometime after he & the bike went over the rail and before he came to a rest with both him & the bike wrapped around the tree. Not a pleasant experience for the Dad, tho he did say he rathered it happened like that than with his son being out with friends doing the same thing. It didn't stop his Dad (my co-worker) from riding, but it did make him more aware going around curves.

In short, you can do it. But can the road support that kind of riding? And can you recover in time? Just something to think about. Don't ever over-ride your ability to recover, and you'll live to ride another day.

 

You can scrape those pegs going 15 mph in a parking lot.

Anyway, not saying you should be dragging parts all the time, but it's good to learn the limits of your bike in the event you NEED to know them.

- Dan

 

What David say's is absolute truth! Race courses are swept CLEAN, no oncoming traffic, no deer, or other critters, no driveways, no off roads, in other words, there is NOTHING on the track except the RACERS, scrubbed rubber and their own debris. They wreck at 100mph, get up and walk off. YOU WILL NOT!! I have a friend that raced for one of the popular brands for over ten years. He still rides like an idiot (To Me) on the mountain twisties, and I figure one of these days, I will have to pick him up in a non-leaking basket. Does take some of the fun out of it. If you do not maintain some margin for error (Safety), you will sooner or later, get bit. It will not be pretty.
O'Larry

 

You can scrape those pegs going 15 mph in a parking lot.

Anyway, not saying you should be dragging parts all the time, but it's good to learn the limits of your bike in the event you NEED to know them.

- Dan

Absolutely!
If you scrape without having heard it before you may react badly.

 

You can scrape those pegs going 15 mph in a parking lot.

Anyway, not saying you should be dragging parts all the time, but it's good to learn the limits of your bike in the event you NEED to know them.

- Dan

Absolutely!
If you scrape without having heard it before you may react badly.

Yeah, I'm afraid that when I hear it I'll freak out and pick the bike back up, running off the road.
I'm going to try to do it at a slow speed somewhere controlled so that I can know what it sounds and feels like

 

Yeah, I'm afraid that when I hear it I'll freak out and pick the bike back up...

The common reaction. And hard to avoid the first time (or two) you hear it, no matter how prepared you *think* you are for it.

 

And when it does happen most people instinctively react exactly wrong if they haven't thought about it and practiced.
The natural instinct is to pull your body up away from the road when the scrape startles you. WRONG!
The proper correction when you do drag is to move your body weight even more to the inside of the curve. This causes the lean of the bike to decrease a little, allowing you to hold the line you want.
Better yet, establish the correct body position while going into the turn.
IMO on cruisers we don't have to be extreme about it, just shifting your butt and your shoulders is enough.
-Glenn

 

When I first rode the ACE 1100 I scraped the right peg going out the driveway on a right turn on the test drive... It wasn't about going fast or being extreme, it just drags parts sooner than the sport bikes I was used to. I think it's about your own experiences and riding style more than anything else...

I can ride it all day now without dragging pegs, but at least I know when they hit...

 

I draged my peg with my wife on the back last weekend. She just told me, "not while I'm on the back" so I gotta be more careful from now on. I been riding for more than thiry years and these cruisers drag pegs alot more easier than the other bikes I've ridden. You could lean alot more if the pegs weren't so low but that's what makes it more comfortable to ride so I guess the best thing is to slow down a little bit more than your used to and drive it like a criuser.

 

It is safe to lean as far as the foot pegs touch the road, as long as the surface is not wet, oily or gravel? :?

Maybe. It depends a lot on which way you are leaning and which way you are trying to turn......

 

Lean into the scrapping side at higher speeds

Away at low speeds to counter balance the bike back upright.

Its never safe to drag bike parts, That would be EXCEEDING the limits of the bike which rarely comes out good on public roads.

 

Lean into the scrapping side at higher speeds

Away at low speeds to counter balance the bike back upright.

Its never safe to drag bike parts, That would be EXCEEDING the limits of the bike which rarely comes out good on public roads.

+1

 

I'm going to try to do it at a slow speed somewhere controlled so that I can know what it sounds and feels like

Yes, that is probably wise. Find yourself a parking lot that is empty on weekends - usually the industrial part of town has big parking lots & they only have employees filling them up Mondays thru Fridays, leaving them virtually empty on Saturdays & Sundays. Get yourself some old tennis balls (find a Pro and ask for their discards) & cut them in half, painting one half fluorescent orange & the other half fluorescent green, then lay yourself out a track on CLEAN asphalt & practice your turns starting at the slowest speed you can manage & then slow it down even further with each pass. Then, speed it up with each pass, until you can feel the effects of counter-steering (pushing the handlebars in the opposite direction that you want to turn will force the bike to lean into the curve & you'll go around the curve the direction you want to go). Then, once you have the counter-steering down, you can start speeding up even a bit more with each pass until you are pushing harder & harder on the handlebars in the direction opposite the curve, you'll lean harder & harder into the curve, and eventually you'll scrape. But, you'll scrape with the expectation of doing it and, tho it will surprise you, it won't shock you into a jerking reaction.

That's my practice routine, tho I've not gotten the pegs to scrape, yet. But, I do keep practicing the turns as slow as I can, and I'm getting slower, and faster with counter-steering, and I'm getting faster. But, on the open road, I ALWAYS leave myself room for error, lots of room.

 

I had something drag on a road we were riding in Austin and it scared the heck out of me, my first time and I was'nt expecting it...Don't plan on trying to repeat it....

 

I'm going to try to do it at a slow speed somewhere controlled so that I can know what it sounds and feels like

Yes, that is probably wise. Find yourself a parking lot that is empty on weekends - usually the industrial part of town has big parking lots & they only have employees filling them up Mondays thru Fridays, leaving them virtually empty on Saturdays & Sundays. Get yourself some old tennis balls (find a Pro and ask for their discards) & cut them in half, painting one half fluorescent orange & the other half fluorescent green, then lay yourself out a track on CLEAN asphalt & practice your turns starting at the slowest speed you can manage & then slow it down even further with each pass. Then, speed it up with each pass, until you can feel the effects of counter-steering (pushing the handlebars in the opposite direction that you want to turn will force the bike to lean into the curve & you'll go around the curve the direction you want to go). Then, once you have the counter-steering down, you can start speeding up even a bit more with each pass until you are pushing harder & harder on the handlebars in the direction opposite the curve, you'll lean harder & harder into the curve, and eventually you'll scrape. But, you'll scrape with the expectation of doing it and, tho it will surprise you, it won't shock you into a jerking reaction.

That's my practice routine, tho I've not gotten the pegs to scrape, yet. But, I do keep practicing the turns as slow as I can, and I'm getting slower, and faster with counter-steering, and I'm getting faster. But, on the open road, I ALWAYS leave myself room for error, lots of room.

Got some tenis balls 2 weeks ago and practiced...
Need to go back and try it again because I think I can do a much better job now

 

I remember the first time I scrapped peg on my shadow, scared the **** right out of me. But I realised I reacted porly with fear not with control. I made it a point to hit those pegs on the ground afew more times so that I would know what it felt like and not feel like jumping out of my seat when it happened! I'm a firm beliver in knowing your vehicles limits just in case you need them.

 

I'm going to try to do it at a slow speed somewhere controlled so that I can know what it sounds and feels like

Yes, that is probably wise. Find yourself a parking lot that is empty on weekends - usually the industrial part of town has big parking lots & they only have employees filling them up Mondays thru Fridays, leaving them virtually empty on Saturdays & Sundays. Get yourself some old tennis balls (find a Pro and ask for their discards) & cut them in half, painting one half fluorescent orange & the other half fluorescent green, then lay yourself out a track on CLEAN asphalt & practice your turns starting at the slowest speed you can manage & then slow it down even further with each pass. Then, speed it up with each pass, until you can feel the effects of counter-steering (pushing the handlebars in the opposite direction that you want to turn will force the bike to lean into the curve & you'll go around the curve the direction you want to go). Then, once you have the counter-steering down, you can start speeding up even a bit more with each pass until you are pushing harder & harder on the handlebars in the direction opposite the curve, you'll lean harder & harder into the curve, and eventually you'll scrape. But, you'll scrape with the expectation of doing it and, tho it will surprise you, it won't shock you into a jerking reaction.

That's my practice routine, tho I've not gotten the pegs to scrape, yet. But, I do keep practicing the turns as slow as I can, and I'm getting slower, and faster with counter-steering, and I'm getting faster. But, on the open road, I ALWAYS leave myself room for error, lots of room.

Got some tenis balls 2 weeks ago and practiced...
Need to go back and try it again because I think I can do a much better job now

It's always good to have some balls (to practice with)! 8)

 

Parking lots are a great way to scrape at slow speeds to get used to the sound. Although it's generally a warning you're about to exceed the lean angle of the bike...that said, some bikes do have lower pegs than others (like the '07 Aero 750 looked like it had lower pegs even though it was the same frame, didn't measure though)

Another way you won't expect a scrape is off a steep road onto another steep road. There are a couple very steep roads around my house that in neutral my car can go from a stop to 60+ starting from idle. When I turn off that street I transition onto a street about 2/3 as steep, but now going up. That transition makes you lose your angle fast, I'd recommend finding a road like that and practicing there too, at slow speeds. I think it helps to give you an eye for what road transitions need extra braking so you don't go into them dragging hot.

 

The pegs are placed on a bike in a precise location. Honda didn't just put them where they thought they looked good. They are calculated according to the tire friction, weight and handling. The pegs are placed so that they drag just before the bike looses traction and you go into a low-side crash.

The pegs dragging is the bike's way of telling you that you're pushing the envelope as far it will go. If you should hit a slick spot, some sand or some uneven pavement while the pegs are dragging, you've just lose your margin of safety, and you're done.

Best to keep the pegs off the blacktop!

--Justin