Comments on: Riding Tips: Which Leg? http://citybiker.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/riding-tips-which-leg/ The New York Motorycle Blog Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:21:11 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: J D http://citybiker.wordpress.com/2008/06/25/riding-tips-which-leg/#comment-575 J D Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:16:48 +0000 http://citybiker.wordpress.com/?p=71#comment-575 Hanging off in either direction serves the purpose of altering the center of gravity. This may have a trivial impact to the position of the tires' contact patches, but it doesn't make much of a _direct_ difference in the turn radius, which is proportional to the bike's lean angle. What it does do, is make a difference in how fast you can take a turn, which can give you the ability to make a tighter turn _without_ slowing down. While leaning (turning), gravity and centripetal force must be balanced, or you crash. You can't change gravity, but you can change how much centripetal force you are subjected to by altering your speed or your center of gravity. In general, altering one of those means you must also alter the other. So if you want to take a turn faster, hanging off towards the inside of the turn will lower your center of gravity and counteract the extra centripetal force of your faster speed that might otherwise high-side you (A). Likewise, if you want to take a turn slower (like in a parking lot, or a U-turn on a side street), shifting your weight towards the outside of the turn will put your center of gravity closer to being directly over the wheels again, which will counteract the _lack_ of centripetal force that could cause a low-side crash (C). So, C can still be correct, but only in low speed turning. At "normal" speeds, keeping your body in line with the bike happens to put your center of gravity at just the right spot when taking a turn at its rated speed. Be sure to watch out for those yellow signs that tell you a certain turn is rated for a lower speed than the current speed limit, or at intersections, and adjust your speed appropriately before entering the turn. When turning at higher speeds, "putting your weight on" the outside peg (should really be "pushing off of" the outside peg so as to not confuse it with "shifting your weight to" the outside, which would be bad) really does help keep you in line with the bike, instead of subconsciously trying to keep your body upright. Hanging off in either direction serves the purpose of altering the center of gravity. This may have a trivial impact to the position of the tires’ contact patches, but it doesn’t make much of a _direct_ difference in the turn radius, which is proportional to the bike’s lean angle. What it does do, is make a difference in how fast you can take a turn, which can give you the ability to make a tighter turn _without_ slowing down. While leaning (turning), gravity and centripetal force must be balanced, or you crash. You can’t change gravity, but you can change how much centripetal force you are subjected to by altering your speed or your center of gravity. In general, altering one of those means you must also alter the other. So if you want to take a turn faster, hanging off towards the inside of the turn will lower your center of gravity and counteract the extra centripetal force of your faster speed that might otherwise high-side you (A). Likewise, if you want to take a turn slower (like in a parking lot, or a U-turn on a side street), shifting your weight towards the outside of the turn will put your center of gravity closer to being directly over the wheels again, which will counteract the _lack_ of centripetal force that could cause a low-side crash (C). So, C can still be correct, but only in low speed turning.

At “normal” speeds, keeping your body in line with the bike happens to put your center of gravity at just the right spot when taking a turn at its rated speed. Be sure to watch out for those yellow signs that tell you a certain turn is rated for a lower speed than the current speed limit, or at intersections, and adjust your speed appropriately before entering the turn.

When turning at higher speeds, “putting your weight on” the outside peg (should really be “pushing off of” the outside peg so as to not confuse it with “shifting your weight to” the outside, which would be bad) really does help keep you in line with the bike, instead of subconsciously trying to keep your body upright.

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