how to know when your at the limit?

By looking at your tyres you're not at the limit.

And honestly, the only way to test your limits is at the track and not a public road.

Once on the track you can push yourself etc etc.

Usually you will find the lean limit when you hit the ground, something you dont want to do on the road.

You forgot one Hoffy....... OIL on the road

yep know that real well!!!!

Low siding is easy enough to do if the conditions are crap. (OIL/WATER/ OVER CONFIDENCE)

Was always crapping my boots, now just ride on the balls of my feet. still scrape from time to time.

Side stand is scapes all the time.

Knee down still a no go haha.

Best way i have leanrt is to get of the seat and lean the fark, bit by bit! each time you hit certain corners just aim to go abit faster, lean the 250r and those chiken strips will disappear real fast.

Those strip's are smaller than mine

Those strip's are smaller than mine

damn better get up the old raod then dave

hey guys,

ive being riding for almost 6 months now and i think my cornering is improving. i can get enough angle to be scraping my toe sliders easy enough but im not confident enough to lean it over any further because i dont know how close to the limit i am! is there an easy way to tell? can i basically keep leaning until the pegs are nearly scraping or am i pretty much going as hard as i can without risking a lowside?
bike im riding is a 2008 ninja in case that helps

cheers,
Daz

tell me WHY do you want to do this....????

bikes go faster
UPRIGHT

all the racers will tell you that
yes..sometimes the bike has to be leant
and yes you might lean further ..ie knee out/knee down
but
the really good riders try and keep the bike as upright as possible
why?
becoz you can go faster

When your tyre looks like this you know you are there:

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I would have serious doubts to whether you can get a peg down on a 250 whilst still maintaining a safe lean angle on the road with BT45's.

And by the looks of that tyre your not close anyway. That's not a bad thing because you are still at a point where you can rearrange your riding style to allow you to progress further as you gain more experience.
1. Move your feet back
2. Move your arse back and from side to side (only a little)
3. Stick you knee out directly to the side.

The limit of your lean angle with be determined by speed as outward force whilst leaning keeps the rubber on the tarmac whilst mid corner. More speed = more outward force = more allowable lean angle.

chicken strips???

Yep, you've got heaps of tyre to go so relax 'cause you're not even close to the bikes limit. I'd say you are about ready for a cornering course followed by a track day though, as they will teach you a bit more about riding technique and YOUR limitations and give you the confidence you desire.

hey guys,

ive being riding for almost 6 months now and i think my cornering is improving. i can get enough angle to be scraping my toe sliders easy enough but im not confident enough to lean it over any further because i dont know how close to the limit i am! is there an easy way to tell? can i basically keep leaning until the pegs are nearly scraping or am i pretty much going as hard as i can without risking a lowside?
bike im riding is a 2008 ninja in case that helps

cheers,
Daz

tell me WHY do you want to do this....????

bikes go faster
UPRIGHT

all the racers will tell you that
yes..sometimes the bike has to be leant
and yes you might lean further ..ie knee out/knee down
but
the really good riders try and keep the bike as upright as possible
why?
becoz you can go faster

Im not exactly aiming to scrape pegs around every corner, my question was more aimed at me finding out how much quicker i can go through the corners and in particular if for example i was looking to run wide whether or not i would still have a reasonable buffer to lean the fkr over and get through the corner rather than run wide or lowside.
I just wanna know where that limit is so i know not to cross it! lol

chicken strips???

Yep, you've got heaps of tyre to go so relax 'cause you're not even close to the bikes limit. I'd say you are about ready for a cornering course followed by a track day though, as they will teach you a bit more about riding technique and YOUR limitations and give you the confidence you desire.

Agreed!! im hanging out for summer so i can do exactly that

I would have serious doubts to whether you can get a peg down on a 250 whilst still maintaining a safe lean angle on the road with BT45's.

And by the looks of that tyre your not close anyway. That's not a bad thing because you are still at a point where you can rearrange your riding style to allow you to progress further as you gain more experience.
1. Move your feet back
2. Move your arse backand from side to side (only a little)
3. Stick you knee out directly to the side.

The limit of your lean angle with be determined by speed as outward force whilst leaning keeps the rubber on the tarmac whilst mid corner. More speed = more outward force = more allowable lean angle.

hey blurr,

im pretty much trying to do all those things now but do i move back on the seat before the corner or just as i am powering out to get more grip onto the back tyre because ive just being doing the latter? excuse my noobness! lol

mate, just get out there and ride ! dont worry about all this stuff, just do the K's.

Its takes a long time to become a good rider, it's like gettin your black belt, ya cant cheat !!

those are crap tyres. i would invest in a pair of gpr alpha-10's . they can really get your confidence going.


but then again ive seen someone scrape knees, pegs, and outride bigger bikes on the same tyres that were about 5 years old , and had absolutely no thread on them . all on a 93 fzr250

as suggested above, do a cornering course. the new riders I've seen scraping pegs did it because they were on the wrong line and had to crank it over to make the turn. seems they start the turn too early. better riders get through the same corners much faster without scraping pegs!

On my GPX250 I first scraped toes.
Then pulled them in and began scraping the hero pegs.
Then took them off and began scraping the pegs.
Then learnt to hang off more and began craping the centre stand.
Then learnt to hang off more again.

There's plenty of room to go, and as others said the cause of a low-side is not normally lean angle but rather road or rider factors.
Most sports bikes, even 250's, will lean past the point of scraping the fairings (not that I suggest you try)