Pushing on the pegs to help you lean

[dhgeyer]

I am going to add one more post to this thread. Two more things to add.

1. Being an open minded guy (sometimes) I just now did a little experiment. I took the GZ250 out and tried some footpeg pressing and leaning at various constant speeds with no handlebar inputs. Kind of fun. Reminded me of downhill skiing. It works pretty well on the GZ. Not sure I could get around a corner that way without a lot of practice, but it definitely has a control effect, and could be used in conjunction with countersteering. Then I parked the GZ and got out my 2006 Kawasaki Concours. This is a sport touring bike that weighs somewhere between 650 and 700 pounds fully fueled and with the stuff I have on and in it. I tried the same experiment. At speeds under 30 mph pressing on a single footpeg had some minor effect, but not enough to be of any practical use. At speeds over 40 I could actually stand on one peg only and have no discernible effect. I had a bit more luck with leaning up to about 45, but only with a fair amount of effort for a very small return. Nothing a slight flick of the handlebars couldn't do better. The Concours, in addition to being heavy is also known for being overly top heavy. Not one of its best features, although it is only really noticeable at slow speeds, or trying to push the thing into the garage.

2. One of the exercises in the MSF Basic Rider Course involves swerving. This exercise is done during the course, and also as part of the test that you have to pass to get your certificate. Basically you have to ride between two entry cones at a certain minimum speed, and then get around one or the other (left or right) of two other cones a short distance from the entry cones, and offset to the side. Then you have to straighten out to your original direction of travel in order to avoid hitting another cone. It's not hard for an experienced rider, but for a newbie it can be a challenge. In the exercise part of it, a Rider Coach stands behind the swerve area and indicates at some point during your approach which way you are to swerve. In the test part, everyone swerves to the left. The instructions for this exercise state very plainly that the way to do it is with two presses on the handlebars in rapid succession. If swerving left, for example, press the left handlebar to avoid the cone you want to miss, then press right to straighten out. Press Press. They hammer this point. Nothing about leaning. Nothing.

During the training I took to be a Rider Coach, we must have practiced this exercise dozens, no, scores of times. We learned to teach the course by teaching each other, so we did a lot of riding. I am convinced that it saved my life, and my wife's life. Two years ago a car pulled out in front of us on a U.S. 2 lane highway. We were going about the speed limit - 55 mph. The young lady driving the car was stopped at a side road stop sign. She showed none of the usual signs of not seeing us. The wheels of her car were not moving, and she was looking straight in our direction. No cell phone. At the last moment, the worst possible moment, out she came. There was no time to think, and I cannot claim credit for quick thinking. What happened is a testament to the concept of "muscle memory", or, in other words, when you have to react automatically, what you do is what you have trained yourself to do every day. With no conscious thought, I pressed the left handlebar hard, then the right. We did not, as most riders in that situation would have, T-Bone the car. The swerve worked well enough to get us in front of her. Bad news is she hit my right saddlebag hard enough to knock us off the bike. I came out OK, my wife was very badly hurt. I am convinced that if we had T-Boned her, we would have both been killed, as I had not even touched the brakes (no time), and we were still going 50 or 55. People don't generally survive that.

This is why I am very adamant that new riders should learn to control the bike by countersteering. Other inputs can be fun, and have an effect, particularly on smaller bikes. But in an emergency situation, you want to have practiced doing the most effective thing you can do, and you want it to be automatic.

This thread is in a section of the forum for beginners. I address this to the beginners. You are the people we are supposed to be trying to help. Read all of the above posts. Think about it. Agree with me, or disagree with me. Experiment yourself. By all means take the course. Make up your own mind.