Leaning Technique

[Offroad]

Just ran across this, found it interesting.

I do counter lean to avoid potholes, make u-turns etc, but I never thought about using it in low traction conditions like wet roads or slides.

Of course I think if you counter lean in a slide, that would help you high side?

 

[the Ferret]

Having raced dirt/motocross for 10 years, I use all three methods to negotiate turns at different times depending on the circumstances. In slippery stuff though, it's almost always neutral.

 

[Charlie Bravo_imp]

If you shift your body position to the inside, the bike doesn't have to lean as much, reducing the risk of sliding out.

 

[misterprofessionality]

If you shift your body position to the inside, the bike doesn't have to lean as much, reducing the risk of sliding out.

with the drawback of it taking longer to change direction, due to the delay of having to negotiate your entire body around the bike. This makes it a good strategy for turns that are not immediately followed up by a turn in the other direction. also it's important to remember that it isn't really about leaning less, it's about being able to carry more speed at the same lean angle.

on the other hand, if you counterlean, you can just throw the bike around underneath you and rapidly change direction. this is advantageous for roads where the turns are super tight and sequential where relentlessly flipping the bike back and forth is required. it comes with the added disadvantage of not being able to carry as much speed because you have to lean the bike so much more to do this. then again....if the road is super tight and full of repeated hairpins, you're probably not wanting to go all that fast anyway. something like a SMCR690 is ideal for this kind of riding.

Our CB is a funny bike, because it has the weight and balance for you to hang off the inside and reduce your lean angle if you want to carry speed, and it has big wide bars so that you can counterlean and you'll have the leverage on the bars to toss it around if you want to. Truly universal, if a bit bad at both things.