The 3 types of leaning a motorcycle. "Can you steer your motorcycle without leaning it?"

Why do you need to lean your bikes? Because a motorcycle turns by leaning, it is important that you know how to do it. Newbie riders are having a hard time leaning their motorcycle, I observe some riders lowering their motorcycles, they want to have an expression that the lower the bike, the more “Astig porma” it gets. They do not realized that the lower the motorcycle, the harder for them to turn during tight corners. The foot pegs limits the leaning angle of the motorcycle which limits you to turn.

Let me give you an example, Try to walk with your motorcycle while it was straight up then make a circle. You might get a 20’ to complete the circle. Then lean your motorcycle as far as it can go, you might get 15’ on that same motorcycle. That’s a big difference during a corner, the further you lean your bike, the tighter the turn it will make.

Now here are the three types of leaning;

“The Three types of Leaning”

Lean with – This is the common cornering posture which is widely used by most of the riders;

 the body of the rider is leaned at the same angle of the motorcycle which the rider is completely in control of the rear brakes, gear shifter, front brake lever and throttle.

Lean out – Commonly used in slow and tight turns, This posture holds the upper part of the body upright as if pushing the motorcycle down inside. Motocross rider commonly used this type of leaning techniques during competitions.

Lean in – This is used for high speed and slippery turns; this posture is to bend your upper part of the body further inside at a larger leaning angle than the motorcycle. The upright position of the motorcycle gives a large contact patch on the road that helps the motorcycle not to slide. This leaning technique is used by riders joining circuit racing.

Now for some tips, practice this in an open parking lot.

Place 5 traffic cones (plastic water bottles if you don’t have one) in a straight line, space at 8 meters apart. Run on the speed up to about 15 kph and began maneuvering in to the cones pushing back and forth on the handle bars. When doing these exercise, you should not use the front brake, you simply counter steer the motorcycle and do not use the rear brake if possible. Keep your eyes and head up and focus on the very last cone, allow your bike to go side to side, your goal is to let your pegs or floor board touches the ground. As you get comfortable, try to increase your speed.

In conducting low speed leaning, place the cones or bottles in 5 meters apart. When doing the low speed cornering, use your rear brake to modulate your speed. Again, let your motorcycle lean from side to side, this will make you familiar with leaning the motorcycle at slow speed.

The Circle Exercise, this is where you can practice the 3 types of leaning; the challenge is to touch the ground with your pegs or floor board.  Place a marker in the middle of the parking lot and start by making a big circle, try it on a left hander with a speed at about 20 kph  apply the lean in posture, after completing the first cycle, shift to lean with posture, while tightening up the circle you must shift to the lean out posture. Don’t forget to practice this in both directions so it won’t make you dizzy.

We'll post more cornering techniques and tips, so keep on visiting the rider to blogger. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask us. Good luck guys, and don’t forget to comment on Rider to Blogger!