Rich uses feelers the way racers use pucks.
I don't think so. The max lean angle the MotoGP guys are hitting is about 60-65 and I don't think an FJR can come close to the lean angle those bikes/tires can hit.
Y'all saw my video posting earlier in this thread (given here again). You can figure the angle unscientifically by looking at the horizon, and how far it angles against the top side of the rectangular video box.
i see i'm not the only one that finds it easier to scrape leaning to the right as opposed to leaning to the left.
During the Napa Forum ride a couple months ago, I entered a downhill left-hander kinda hot, with dirt shoulder and a canyon to my right. When the left peg started scraping, I held a constant throttle, looked through the turn, then opened the throttle a tad while pushing the left bar down farther, and thank the lord I got through it. But it made me slow down. But I hadn't realized that, yeah, the right seems to scrape easier.
).
+1 :yes:
Actually, you lean until you go SUDDENLY HORIZONTAL, then you slide for awhile....
If you can find a safe place to do this, I think its a good idea. A long turn without anything deadly on the outside, just keep speeding up and leaning in, gradually, till you touch the feeler down. Don't panic when it touches, just roll off a bit and the bike will stand back up a bit and you'll have a good idea of where the scrape happens, what it feels like and what it takes to stop it. You don't really want to find all that out on a decreasing radius turn with armco three feet away.
As a MSF Instructor ( I know there are many here on the board) we have to practice what we preach. Between attending the 3 levels of Keith Code school, a number of track days and practicing Lee Parks techniques I can attest to the fact that learning this stuff MUST be done on the track lest you open yourself up to hurting yourself and possibly taking out someone else in the process. All the bad stuff you can hit or cause you to go down while at your max level of skill/concentration have been described in posts above this one. I've embarrassed myself on the track by showing up with an old ST1100 (only bike I had at the time), but I learned a lot and was a LOT more confident on the street to handle that once in a blue moon overcooked turn entry. If I hadn't done that experimentation on the track, I'd probably be at the bottom of Canyon Lake Road picking Saguaro Cactus spines outamyass. If you feel you can't afford a track day (stay off the beer for a month or two) check out the cost of replacing fairing parts, handle bars, mirrors etc... not withstanding any riding gear or personal damage that may occur. IMHO learning techniques in a controlled environment is the only way to go, but I'll bet there are a number of other riders that agree.
