Friday, February 15, 2008

Here are some tips for people learning to lean a bike.

For some people leaning a bike is difficult. There are various reasons given for that, things like, cannot shift so much weight, fear of sliding, etc.

The fear can be overcome mentally, but to overcome the physical problem of leaning a heavy bike there needs to be a correct approach.

Different people have different approaches, here is mine.

Keep in mind I am not referring the whole process of leaning, because even though I lean decently, still I cannot write down the process since it comes instinctively thanks to experimenting leaning on bicycle for 7 years.

Ok, enough of that.

So when you aim to lean,

Decide the right speed (to complete the lean)—this is purely instincts, comes after riding the bike for long periods.

Decide the right line, meaning on which side of your road (your lane) you want to take the corner, is it left or right—choose right for high speeds and left for low speeds for left-hand corners and vice-versa for right-hand corners

Then lean the bike, use counter-steering (google to find exact meaning), avoid front brake use (while leaning), regulate throttle and if necessary use rear brake. That’s it!

This method is similar to mentioned by others. I still think, one thing that can be added, is the importance of using your legs to lean a bike, i.e. if you are trying a left-handed corner, and can’t pull the bike to the left side then you should try pushing instead of pulling i.e. you should push the bike to lean using the right leg instead of using the left leg to pull it. Most riders do this instinctively (again!), but not all. So that would surely help. Of course, while leaning there are more parameters that are to be considered but I haven’t found anything new other than what biking manuals say.

And one more thing, to get comfortable with the weight of your bike, you can do this. Sit on the bike, keep it straight, no need to start it up, now put one foot down and try to lean it to that side, this gives you fair idea of the weight and makes your hands and legs comfortable to the bulk of the bike, repeat this for the other side.

Disclaimer: Please wear protective gear while riding. And in no way is this blog or sanket kambli responsible for readers actions as an after effect of reading this post. Use it as pointer, as this is not a biking manual, it is just a source to enhance your knowledge. Practice safe riding, and riding experiments should be done on empty roads, not on heavy traffic routes.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Nice post...wish I had read this when I was learnin' to ride.