Can you lean Your FZ6 in confidence?

[Hellgate]

I thought it was a good, candid response!

Pure noob here, and I'm impressed with those that can lay it over. My biggest concern is all the crap I see on the road. Antifreeze, diesel fuel spills, belts and tires on road, I need all the bikes performance to negotiate around that stuff now.

You do need to keep an eye open for the crap on the road. That stuff will bite you when least expect it, sand, trash, stuff...

I have had cold tires let go first thing in the morning! Ouch!

Modern tires are great and grip so well. The stock Bridgestone 020s have really impressed me.

 

[4fun]

I have no desire to lean the bike over as far as it can go. I only ride the street and not the track. Using all of your tire will not impress me at all. If you want to impress people with having no chicken strips, go ahead. You can always cheat and use a little sandpaper on the tire and no one would no the difference but you, and you will avoid all of the dangers of trying to lean it way over.

I have chicken strips and I am dam proud of it. I take it as i am a safe rider.:thumbup::noworries:

 

[GConn]

You do need to keep an eye open for the crap on the road. That stuff will bite you when least expect it, sand, trash, stuff...

I have had cold tires let go first thing in the morning! Ouch!

Modern tires are great and grip so well. The stock Bridgestone 020s have really impressed me.

:hijack: Wait till you try the 21s. Grip is night and day

[/HIJACK] :innocent:

 

[Hellgate]

:hijack: Wait till you try the 21s. Grip is night and day

[/HIJACK] :innocent:

That is what I was thinking. If I like the cheap OEM tire, I can't imagine how great aftermarket tires must be! :drool:

I just remember that terrible Bridgestone Mag Mopus tire that came on EVERY Japanese motorcycle, it was HORRILE. The joke was they were use to proctect the rim during shipping.

 

[multiplicity]

I've only had my FZ6 for about 2 months and it is the first 'proper' (ie not a 125) bike that I've ever had. I can't seem to lean it much at all. I absolutly know mthat the bike will lean soooo much more but the chicken in me surfaces when I try it!! I have a question though, just what is the slowest speed that you can do while REALLY leaning the bike over through a corner? This will give me a clue at what speed to start trying out leaning further.

 

[hunterfz6]

i have found myself saying, lean or die!!. just be safe and have fun, who cares who leans the most, or who has the least chicken strips. Thats not important. are you having fun? is it cheaper to ride your bike around than your car? Your bike will be able to do WAY more than you can do for a long long time. It takes quite an expert to squeeze everything out of an fz6.

 

[Nelly]

I've only had my FZ6 for about 2 months and it is the first 'proper' (ie not a 125) bike that I've ever had. I can't seem to lean it much at all. I absolutly know mthat the bike will lean soooo much more but the chicken in me surfaces when I try it!! I have a question though, just what is the slowest speed that you can do while REALLY leaning the bike over through a corner? This will give me a clue at what speed to start trying out leaning further.

Hi mate,
I personally find that speeds of 35mph and above allow you to put more input into the cornering.
I found that initially I was trying to do roundabouts in 2nd but I was losing to much speed. So I kept it in third, it wasn't so fraught.
Practice in an empty Tesco. I started with a huge circle and gradually decreased the size until I felt comfortable. You do not need to do a full on knee drag to get the benefit of body position. Move you bum check to the side of the seat and keep you body in line with your bum. Drop your shoulder slightly and you will notice that the bike is more upright but you still make the same line. Its very subtle to start with.
I am also a short Ares and found the FZ6 needed a lot more steering input than my cc twin. Try adding a little pressure to the bar that corresponds to the direction of your turn ie right turn = right bar pressure.
Be safe
Nelly

 

[stevesnj]

i travel only in straight lines.

when i need to turn I get off the bike and walk it around.

I find this to be the safest possible manner of turning.

When I owned a Harley I did this...if they didn't leak first!!!

 

[cv_rider]

I continue to be anxious about gravel on the road. That's my limiter in leaning. Feel I've got to keep some safety margin to recover if I do hit some. Not really sure what exactly I'd do if I hit gravel, but I'm sure going slower would help. Who remembers that vid someone losing traction on an on-ramp, sliding out onto the freeway, and getting run over. The guy was kind of insane for riding the onramp like a race track to start with.

 

[steveindenmark]

I keep saying this to people.

Go on a track course for a day. Its about handling the bike not just going fast.

You will be amazed how much you learn and improve in one day.

Steve

 

[OkieDavid]

Track day would be cool if there was one within say..... 200 miles of me.

 

[Doorag]

We should all remember that, technically, we want to lean the bike as little as possible in turns. That's whay we hang off the side like monkeys - so we don't have to lean the bike over. I always try to get though a turn with the least amount of lean by shifting around on the seat a little. I figure that if I practice going slow and gradually build up my speed, I'll be better 'trained' for the day I finally get on a track.

It's like getting a knee down. I don't know for sure, but suspect that getting your knee down is more about how far off the bike you are and how flexible your legs are - not how far over you can lean the bike. Obviously you will need to be cornering failry hard and have a bit of lean on the bike, but again, the whole idea is to keep the bike as upright as possible during the whole process.

 

[Discofrank]

1st ever trackday

 

[Dunno]

Forget worrying about the chicken strips learn to use your body. You will go faster round the bends with less lean if you work out how to move your body around.
:mikebike:

I agree 100%.

Before my FZ6 my last 3 bikes were VFR400, RGV250 & ZX7R. Still have the 400 for track duties.
All 3 feel like im holding the axle in my hands & are very responsive through front end feel.

Aboard the FZ6 I felt that I couldnt trust the front end at all. It took a nice familiar & twisty road where I could grab it by the fluff of the scroat. I found myself hanging off the bike, riding usually reserved for the track. However thats how I came to feel comfortable.

As grommit says. The more you use your body to tip it into a corner the less lean angle you need.
I found by hanging off the bike, pushing my weight forward & into the corner I had a whole lot more feed back from the front end & thus confidence.

Watch someone like Colin Edwards who leads with his chin into a corner. Get forward & look where you want to go & the bike will follow.
You will lean more when you trust the bike & have a feel for what its doin underneath you.

Hope this helps:thumbup::aus:

 

[Cuba]

I've just started, little over 500mi on a bike period, but I lean it really hard... I generally don't shift my body position, just press hard and cut into the turn at a sharp angle/sharp lean... obviously watching for gravel and whatnot but I push it fairly hard without losing any traction so far. I guess this isn't really the proper method but it's been working for me, oh well I start the MSF tonight so they'll straighten me out I guess.

 

[steveindenmark]

Track day would be cool if there was one within say..... 200 miles of me.

So whats the problem?

Have a ride out and learn something.

Take a tent...learn to race and tour at the same time.

You would love it and you will ride like another person after it.

Steve

 

[pedwards89]

The FZ6 is likely to be far more competent than you or I. Eliminating chicken strips is well within the capabilities of the machine. However, trying that hard on a public road is the route to Squidland.

Whilst I agree that reducing the degree of lean required for a given situation is desirable, I would argue that the way to achieve that on the highway is by counter-steering. Watch your average Police motorcyclist. Typically, they are much better trained than 'Joe Average', they never move in the saddle, hang off the side or get a knee down, but they will out-run you & me all day every day.

Practice is the answer and don't get your ambitions & your capabilities mixed up. Do have fun though, it's what it's all about :Sport:

 

[damnpoor]

I sometimes scrape my boot on the ground when turning. I'm not sure how much further it would be till the peg scrapes, but when the boot scrapes it's a good alert.

 

[Avalon786]

I'm thinking you need insane lean to scratch the foot pegs no? I've leaned the tire near the very edge and foot was clear, so i cant imagine how low you have to be to scratch the peg!

 

[sideslider]

I have no desire to lean the bike over as far as it can go. I only ride the street and not the track. Using all of your tire will not impress me at all. If you want to impress people with having no chicken strips, go ahead. You can always cheat and use a little sandpaper on the tire and no one would no the difference but you, and you will avoid all of the dangers of trying to lean it way over.

I have chicken strips and I am dam proud of it. I take it as i am a safe rider.:thumbup::noworries:

funny I only have only worn the chicken strips down on my rear wheel lol j/k

I have been made fun of by some guys for the chicken strips on my other bike