The Mystery of Lean Angle

[OB_Velociraptor]

Just wondering if some of you racer boys out there can enlighten me.....

On the track I can get the tire wear all the way out to the edge of the rear tire but not quite to the edge on the front tire. Never touched down anything-no pegs, no fairing. I understand that hanging way off the inside will allow faster cornering by increasing the contact patch a bit-I am tall and so I can get pretty far off the bike(thus decreasing the lean angle and increasing traction). What are you doing different to start dragging stuff? Stuffing it past the edge of the tire??-seems like a road to disaster. I am not really interested in sliding anything but I read one Brit magazine talking about a guy dragging the fairing of a Busa and sliding off the track. Do they purposely use bad form to get the bike leaned over further to drag some stuff so they can put it in print?? If you are hanging off the inside and getting out to the edge of the tire and not dragging anything then what is left??

 

[OB_Dirty Pete]

Raptor what tires are you on? The OE tires are easy to melt to the edges on the track because they have a shallow radius curvature. Try it with ME Z3s. They are rounder and therefore allow you to keep a full contact patch while you're leaned over way further. You be very hard pressed to melt the ME Z3 front to the edge. What you're doing right now (assuming you're on OEs) would only take an ME Z3 to within 1/2" of the edge. Every tire's different in this regard.

But you're right, scraping bits is a signal to back off. Scraping moveable stuff like your feet or hero blobs is not dangerous. When you grind your engine on the left or fairing on the right (I have not done this), it's time to slow down or make major adjustments to your suspension.

You've taken your tires to the edge. As long as you're on a well maintained track, you can still go a lot further without hitting any parts or endangering yourself. The Busa will tell you to calm down well before it dumps you.

 

[Gixx1300R]

Well I have leaned over pretty far and never dragged anything on the Busa.I did reset my Suspension for my weight.The wear on the outside of the tire shows that I'm fully leaned to the max of the stock BT56Js.

 

[OB_Velociraptor]

I am using the stock tires. May get some Pilots when these wear out. Want to get the 200 rear. Judging from the few replies to this post, most riders aren't too interested in cornering or already have it all figured out! Or maybe the fairing draggers are all recovering from crashes??!

 

[OB_ianfila]

Your problem is more confidence than tires.
Take your Busa to a good race track and find a good corner, most people prefer left handers for some reason. After warming the tires, keep going gradually faster each lap and you will start grinding the side stand, then the foot peg! Race tires offer a LOT more confidence but it can be done on OEM's. DONT DO THIS ON THE STREET!! Once you start doing it, it becomes second nature.

 

[OB_Big Ed]

I have dragged my fairing on the right side of the bike from time to time on the street. I think it comes from hitting transitions in the pavement wile at full lean angle. I have my pre-load set at full in the rear and at two lines showing in the front but I weigh 290lb. This dose help but I can still touch it down from time to time. It’s not a unsettling as dragging something metal, but I fear I could unhinge the rear wheel if it hits too hard. One funny thing is that I’ve never hit anything on the left side but the footpeg feeler on the left side is longer than the feeler on the right side. I would think the side with the least ground clearance would have the longer feeler, go figure.