Can you lean Your FZ6 in confidence?

[Wavex]

I can lean it with confidence alright... sometimes too much confidence for my weak skills :Sport:

 

[Maverick]

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

+1 I'm with the others on the wonderful benefits of a track day!

 

[abacall]

I was plenty comfortable leaning my Ninja 250, but I've found the FZ more intimidating.
I'll take my time and get a track day in, that should help. I also try to go up and down canyon roads at least 3 times a week.

 

[HavBlue]

+1 - I'm having a really hard time trusting the grip. I need a track day to play around safely. I know the bike will go WAY further than my ability (balls) will let me at the moment so I'm just riding like a granny and not crashing.

Hey Doo, I know somebody with some ovaries that will be glad to give you a hand.....he,he,he...

 

[Hollywood416]

I lean on mine pretty hard but I spent quite a bit of time racing both dirt and asphalt so that helps my confidence level. I've had mine litle over a month and on weekly commutes I only keep about 3/8" of strips but whenever I run up to the mountains they get completly gone. I just don't like pushing it that hard around town. Practice and confidence are the keys....few days on the track help bunches too. Reading the books or taking a course and learning techniques of counter steer, peg weighting, body shift etc. help bunches.

 

[fast blue one]

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:

And they don't get that knee down.:Sport:

 

[Jake]

1) Tires: Invest in some good sticky sport tires (I run Power Pilots).
2) Practice: Ride within your limits and concentrate on form. Baby steps.
3) Track Day: Attend if you can. You can practice in a controlled environment without worry of traffic/obstacles. I still have it on my list of things to do when I can afford and get some time off from work.

Some riders are perfectly happy sitting straight-up in the saddle and enjoying the turns without going super fast. However, it sounds to me like you'd like to push yourself and improve your cornering skills... nothing wrong with that. Lean angle increases as your speed/degree of turn increases. I've found it helpful to practice my body position even when I'm not going super fast through a turn. It helps you figure out how to position your body when you hang off the bike, where to position your arms, etc.

With the right tires, you can easily drag your pegs on the FZ without losing control. Of course this shouldn't be your FIRST goal when learning. Road conditions play a big part as well.

Jake

 

[hunterfz6]

I felt like one time I almost didn't have a lean right, mid turn getting on the expressway. I suddenly saw the jaws of death, IE the metal guardrails coming at me. I told myself, LEAN OR DIE and I threw my eyes back at the asphalt and threw the bike into the turn. What a rush after I got out of it. I have a bit more trust for my bike now, but I also pay more attention to my entry speed. I am really one of those kinds of people who feels that my angels need to stay close to me, if i'm too fast, they may not be there to help me in need. Trusting my bike and not listening to my fear instinct is always a tough balance. I know my bike can do more, but I come against that fear wall of, am I going too fast, what if a dog runs out at me, hit a rock. Lots of crap that kind of rob the , OMG I survived again feeling. If the OMG I survived was a carrot on a stick, and the bike was the mule, I think I would never go fast enough to catch the carrot. Why are you worried about it though, is it a I can do more push ups than you thing or something? If you ride on track days, you can get all of that feeling you can stand, but if your riding your bike on the road, you have a responsibility to safety of you, and other motorists. Treat your road riding as a privilege, as it is and can be taken away from you if you are caught. These are my opinions and you dont have to see it my. Just keep the rubber side down is all i'm saying.

 

[sPin0011]

Yes, I get right to the edge of my tires now, but it took almost 6 months before I could with confidence, I rode before but hadn't ridden for 4 years before getting the FZ. Setting the pre-load correctly for my weight (I'm not very heavy) really helped.

Hey man. I agree about the pre-load wholeheartedly. I got mine set to 2 and weigh 69 Kgs. What's your weight/setting?

 

[Botch]

One thing that helps me is something they keep drilling into you during the MSF course: don't worry about your lean angle, look into the turn, where you want to go! Your body will take care of the rest. It amazes me how well that works.

I finally got some video taken up Ogden Canyon this morning, and the steepest it looked like I leaned was about 40 degrees, that's plenty for me. Unfortunately a damn bug nailed the camera lens dead-center (I had removed my windshield for the video) so, darn, I'm going to have to do it over again tomorrow morning!

 

[Guitar Man]

Scraped my foot peg on my first track day a few months back. I learned more in that day than I probably could of in a year. Well worth the money. It was on a noob track day and I had an instructor that was able to help me out. Save some money and do it, it's a blast.

 

[bluenova]

Hey man. I agree about the pre-load wholeheartedly. I got mine set to 2 and weigh 69 Kgs. What's your weight/setting?

I weigh 60 Kgs have have it on 2 which is still quite firm for my weight, so I would think for 69 Kgs you should try 2 or 3 and see which feels best.

 

[ChromeX]

I'm fairly new to the FZ6 myself. The 1st thing I did was get rid of the 020's, just had that little bit of skip every so often front and back that puckerd my confidence. The 021's are doing fine and wearing nicely (4K) so far. Just to help me gauge I put some tubing over the peg feelers (just pushed them on) guessed at length (aprox 4" overall) "chicken strips". Slowly started working my way over and got lucky, seems the tubes were just about right to tire skuff with about 3/8" untouched (that's my comfort with reserve for emergency maneuver, bumps etc...). This without hanging out. It's a ways over for sure and now getting older am battling the mental which I think can be more dangerous than the lean angle!

 

[OneTrack]

We had a glorious 30 deg Celsius (about 90 F) day here yesterday, so I took a ride up Mount Seymour here in Vancouver yesterday, and I leaned my bike harder into corners than I ever have before. There are very sharp "switchbacks", and the road is not "bike friendly" to say the least....the camber drops off steeply from the crown of the road, particularly in the corners. There's gravel on the pavement and lots of potholes as well. Despite this, I think this ol' grandpa did pretty good. No knees out, just nice and smooth cornering. (Geoff Duke and I don't need to poke our knees out). When I got to the top, I checked my tires. The rear has about 3/4" of "chicken strip" left, while the front has about an inch. I guess (obviously) the flatter profile of the rear tire is the reason for the difference. That's quite good enough for me, thank you very much. :cheer:
I have always had some doubt in my mind about my OEM Dunlop's, but yesterday proved to me that there's nothing wrong with them. They are MORE than adequate for my style of riding....Despite some very aggressive and fast cornering, I came nowhere near to upsetting their traction. I have my rear strut set to 4. I did notice some slight "twitching" from the front end, but that's the somewhat soft front suspension causing that.
Man...did my bike sound good with the Scorpions going up that mountain road. I have lived in Vancouver since 1978 and I have always wanted to ride a bike up Mount Seymour.....finally, I did it. Yep, that's snow off in the background beyond the parking lot. It's the start area of the chair lift for the skiers for the short ride to the peak:-