By MIKE Phillips

LEAN lean or not to lean the

Slow-speed curves are at 10 miles per hour or less. These are mostly found in parking lots, U- turns, and tight, congested areas. At slow speed, a bike can turn without leaning. The training bikes we use for our class will turn in a 17-foot circle while ridden straight up with no lean of the bike or the rider. The same bike can turn a 13-foot circle when leaned into it. To help keep the bike balanced during this tight turn, I lean my upper body, called counterbalance, to the outside of the turn, turn my head as far to the inside as I can, and keep my eyes up and level. Some riders will slide their hip completely off the seat to the outside of the turn. If you are going to counterbalance, get your body in position before you start the turn. Counterbalancing, in a slow turn, helps keep the center of balance in the center of the bike. This can be very helpful when the steering angle can’ t be increased, or when the speed must be kept very low.

At higher speeds, like on curvy roads, the bike needs to lean into the turn for two reasons. First, the lean of your tires produces much of the cornering force necessary to make the bike turn. The other reason is you have to lean into the curve to maintain balance. As a motorcycle turns, centrifugal force acts through the center of gravity to try to push the bike toward the outside of the curve. To maintain balance, the bike must be leaned into the curve so the weight can counteract the centrifugal force, keeping the bike balanced.

Riders should lean their body into the curve to help keep this balance. I’ m not talking about dragging your knees on the pavement. That is strictly for the racetrack. Professional racers will lean in, causing their knees and sometimes their elbows to drag on the ground. That way they can take a sharp turn at 100 miles an hour. I am talking about leaning your upper body into the turn. By leaning your body into a turn, you can take the turn faster with a lower actual lean angle of the bike. This can be really important on cruisers with little ground clearance before the footboards start dragging, or on rutted, bumpy, or offangle roads.

When leaning into a curve, get prepared before the curve. Taking a left-hand curve, I counter steer by pushing slightly forward on the left handlebar. This leans the bike

into the curve. I press my outside leg against the gas tank. I lean my upper body into the curve by pushing my chin towards my left hand. The most important point here is to keep your head and eyes up and level. As my body leans to the left, I tilt my head slightly to the right to keep my eyes level.

Many riders do not lean into the curves. Some think they will lose traction and the bike will fall over. Leaning the bike does not reduce tire traction. If a bike falls to the inside of a curve, it is usually the rider’ s fault. Riders go too slowly through a curve, and the bike’ s weight overcomes its balance, causing it to fall. The most common cause of a fall to the inside is applying brakes in the curve, which causes a loss of speed and traction. Riders must maintain or slightly increase speed all the way through a curve. Sometimes the road surface is less than ideal, causing a loss of traction and a fall. This can be because the roads are rough, slippery, or covered with sand and debris.

Motorcycles make turns by leaning into the turn. We can help the bike turn faster by leaning with the bike. If you lean to the outside of the curve at speed, you are not helping the bike turn; you are helping the centrifugal force push the bike away from the turn. CMA

Mike Phillips is a certified Motorcycle Safety Foundation( MSF) instructor in Arkansas.

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