I don't know what it is (maybe the fact that I'm a rookie) but I'd rather take a corner at a slower speed then a more aggressive lean angle, but I fell like I'm cheating myself out of some fun. So how far can I lean before I eat it?

Trust me, you'll get there! Do what you are comfortable with and it will creep up on you. If you are realy concerned about technique practice practice practice but best of all get a couple of lessons or a course if you don't have anyone around who can show you. If you have buddies with bikes and you go for a "rideout" don't get competetive until you get competent.

Yeah its natural to want to take turns at a slower speed. I think you'd be cheating yourself more by moving too fast and getting yourself in over your head.

How many miles do you have on the bike? I have close to 4,000 on mine and I can still say there are corners I know I could go faster on, but just don't.

To judge how far you can lean requires practice. Eventually (I'd say at least 1,000-1,500 miles) when you are leaning you'lll feel the tires starting to slip. This is a sign you are approaching the limit on your tire. Another way to tell is by looking at your back tire when stopped. You can see where the edges are shiny.

Hope that helps, also there are books out there (yeah like reading books) That I found really helped. A Twist of the Wrist is a good one

Organ, go out somewhere safe, like a private parking lot or something similar and keep turning at higher lean angles at different speeds. You will soon get a picture in your mind of the lean angle needed to make a turn of specific radius at a particular speed. Or if you have some favorite backroads you know of that are pretty much traffic free you can run back and forth on familiar curves, taking the turns at different speeds and so on...you don't have to run at illegal speeds to do this...until you get a feel for how the bike handles at high lean angles. The GS500 is a corner-happy little bike...at least compared to an old Sportster or Electraglide.  Love this little bike and this forum.

Yeah I guess i'll just have to learn.

Gitarman: I have a little over 2000 miles on my bottle rocket

My bike has 480 miles on it and I'm really comfortable. I know you are going to say I'm just a rookie and I shouldn't be riding agressively but I looked at my tires and I have about an inch of unridden tire on the sides. I get scared leaning because I think I'm going to hit my footpegs on the ground and wipe. I'm not scared about simply falling. I'm going to have to lean the bike on it's side to see how far it can lean before it hits the pegs on the ground. I also ride with my foot under the shifter a lot and I always get scared thinking I'm going to crush my foot under it on left turns. The GS is definately fun in the turns but I would feel more comfortable with wider tires. It doens't exactly have the wiedest tires Ive seen on a motorcycle.

Also a trick I noticed in corners. If your leaning and feel shaky or like your swinging to the outside of the corner a little then just give it more gas and lean into it. The bike really holds the corner well doing this or atleast I have noticed this. It's kind of like a rear wheel drive car. You want to power through the corner not get off the gas like FWD. Also I don't do this at excessive speeds. This works with normal speed limits.

Don't take this the wrong way but:

<LECTURE TIME AGAIN!!!>

Ride with the front of your foot on the peg. You don't shift mid corner, and you can shift your weight better than if you were on your heels. You won't crush your toes if you touch them down, but the first time you drag your shoe like that it could spook you, make you lose concentration and stand the bike up.  

The 110/130 is more than enough tire for the GS at anything but a race pace or you weight 300+ lbs.

If you have an inch of "chicken strip" on your tires, you are a long way from grounding out the pegs or pipe on your GS.

That being said, don't be in a hurry to find the outer limits of the GS's performance envelope, especally on  the street. Its not worth the risks. Even on my very capable YZF when I'm feeling frisky (ie: squidy and dumb) I only go at 3/4ths what I feel the bike is capable off. Ther are just too many variables that are beyond your control (oil, gravel, deer, etc).
Your ability to ride faster will come with experiance. And that experiance will see you thru the turn, even if you get in too hot.

If you haven't taken the MSF course, seriously consider doing it. It will greatly help you master the basics, and learn the best way to ride a bike.

If you are past that, there are track schools (NOT race schools) that you can attend that will teach you alot more than a hundred hours of turning circles and figure 8s in an empty parking lot by yourself.  Besides the fact that it is safer, you will have experianced riders there to coach and advise your riding.

Eventually if you find yourself dragging parts or your knee around intersections or out on the road, you should consider starting to do track days.  Spend 8 hours going balls to the walls will beat any desire you have for riding "fast" on the street  out of you.
:mrgreen:
</RAMBLING LECTURE>

don't stress out, it will come.  you need to go out and practice some stuff in an empty lot - stuff like emergency stoping (both straight and turn), dodging, or u-turns.

on the other hand, stuff like leaning into corners you don't really need to "practice" unless you want to compete or something.  i bought my bike in october, and rode very sparing during the winter.  at that time, corners were very difficult for me.  however, when the weather got better and i started commuting (riding every day for a couple of hours), i, very quickly, got much better at turning.

i guess what i'm trying to say is that some stuff you need to practice.  other stuff will just come to you as you put on more miles and get used to the bike and riding in general

~2c

after riding the very quick 2 stroke rs 125 for 2 years, i found that getting my knee down was as easy as starting the bike.
but now i have the gs i feel that its not a knee down action race bike, if that the fun you want thenreally you should have got the gsx-600-r or an older gsx-400-r.
i have on  a few occassions found my shoo slider scraping on the floor, but i realise that the foot pegs are to big and to low for this type of fun,

i have about 1/3rd of a ince left on my tyres of unused rubber, ...... i think it will stay like that too.

all i am saying is that, the 'commuter bike' as it is classed as isnt factory designed to get your knee down, yo need a differant radial tyre, new rear sets etc etc etc....

remember yo can hame MORE then enough fun on a GS without thinking your valentino rossi on every corner

Well I did take the the MSF class. I guess what I really want to know is what will happen first, draging the footpeg or loosing the rear tire?

Quote from: Organ DonorWell I did take the the MSF class. I guess what I really want to know is what will happen first, draging the footpeg or loosing the rear tire?

Loosing the rear :p

I always tell my friends and family when they start riding one thing. Don't lean the bike, turn the bike. You don't have to lean HARD to turn it.

I had about an inch of unused side rubber on the back and half an inch on the front, but after doing Angeles Crest I now have about half and inch on the back and a quarter of an inch on the front and i know there is quite a bit more I could go.

The following does not mean I encourage you to try this, just trying to show some that don't understand how it works:



When leaning the bike, gravity (mg) wants to pull you onto your side.  Because you're obviously turning whilst leaning, the centripetal force (f) is pulling your tires into or towards that lean proportionally to your speed. This counters the effects of gravity pulling you down (keeping you up, and alive). Therefore, the faster you go, the harder you'll lean, and the sharper you'll corner.

Hope that was clear.

I agree, it will come to the new riders. I have about 1/16th of an inch left on the side of my rear tire. I want to go further, but i can feel the tires about to give out on me. But this is where the fun is, IMO.

Quote from: TOMIMOTOThe GS is definately fun in the turns but I would feel more comfortable with wider tires. It doens't exactly have the wiedest tires Ive seen on a motorcycle.

wider tires are mainly good in the rear for acceleration.  actually, having a wider tire can make you have to lean further for a given turn.

i don't recall the physics precisely, but it's explained in Motorcycle Design And Technology.

cheers,
will

I'm fairly new at this (1000 miles) and I've started to get alot more comfortable with what the bike can and can't do. Today I went for a long road with sweeping turns, nothing that I would consider twisty or even sharp if I was driving a car. Most of the way down this highway I was doing 70-80 indicated MPH, and had no problems in the turns. I did notice however during a couple of the "sharper" turns, that the front tire would slip out (at 50-60MPH on less sharp, 40-50 on sharper corners) as I was entering the corner. I haven't had any problem with the rear tire slipping, but that during these corners it almost feels like the wind is pushing my front tire towards the outside of the turn. It's a really unnatural feeling for someone that has driven and raced cars all his life. When a car is tight in a corner it just stops turning, and drifts to the outside. The bike gets tight in the corner, and doesn't just drift, the front tire slips.

My question is...am I not leaning enough? Am I overpowering or underpowering into the corner? Is it all in my head? For reference, I didn't shift my butt of the seat, I kept my legs firm against the bike, and my body was in a moderate lean over the gas tank.

One more question, is the tendency to slip something I'll have to deal with until the edges of the tires are worn? In other words, do I have to lean more and take some sharper corners at lower speeds before my tires will grip properly in a higher speed turn?

Did you countersteer as you got deeper into the turn.

I was under the impression that countersteering was to initiate the turn and then use your body weight the rest of the way through....I didn't want to countersteer and make a slipping tire slip more. I dont know  I'm at the point where I've practiced all the normal day to day driving, and now I want to get better so that if I take a trip, I'll know that I can handle whatever roads I encounter. Idaho doesn't have a track, and I dont want to get into the twisty mountains north of here until I can take a normal 65MPH turn at 65MPH.

Your tires should not be slipping like that unless you were going to slow for the amount of lean you gave the bike. You didnt put any thing like "black magic" on the tires did you.

If you haven't scrubbed in the front tire to within a half inch of the edge, then yes, it might be that it needs to be scrubbed in a little (sandpaper, and I mean just a little).

If you're entering the turn on the gas (not even rolling off, or braking), then the front end could be light.

Could be a few ways to fix this:

Lean forward more.  This puts more weight over the front tire, hopefully planting it more.

Lean your upper body into the turn.  Hands on practice time!  Everybody go out and sit on your bike.  Lean towards a mirror, without sliding your butt off the seat.  Grip the tank with your knees if you have to, to keep yourself from sliding off the seat (you're not supposed to use ArmorAll  )  Flex your back to 'suspend' your upper body; like a string is attached to the nape of your neck, pulling upward.  This should be your body position.  This biases the weight over the front tire and lowers your center of gravity to the inside of the tire patch.

Suspension set-up: www.peterverdonedesigns.com/introduction.htm

Lower the front end/raise the rear/add more preload to the rear.  Biases the bike's weight forward hopefully planting the front end more.