Ducati Sporting Club UK > General > Idle Chat > How far to lean?

[Gaz 748]

Check the edge of your rear tyre, 1/4 inch ( 6mm ) from the edge is far enough for the road.

[bradders]

"Check the edge of your rear tyre, 1/4 inch ( 6mm ) from the edge is far enough for the road."

does it make a difference if its a 180 or 190?

[Gaz 748]

I think it was easier to get to the edge on a 190 than a 180, tried both.

[bradders]

cool - I'll test that theory, just changed from 180 to 190

how about the front? I notice that on my monster and old 748 I would be closer to the edge on the fronty than rear, on 996 its the other way round with loooaaads left on the front and next to nothing on the rear...??

[phil_h]

Originally Posted by 900MAN

As a guy who does'nt use knee sliders I'm never sure just how far over I can go.
Back in the day it was easy, first was the sidestand, then the footpegs, then the centrestand, then the exhaust.
NOW, every time I go into a bend I always come out thinking " could I have gone through faster"
Just how do you find the limit, without sliding down the road on yer arse?

There are two simple things you need to do ...
1. Make sure your boots have replaceable TOE sliders.
2. Move the ball of your foot to the end of the peg when you corner.

The first is a really good idea anyway, and the second is something that will give you a better feel anyway.
If its still not happening, what you can also do is to reduce the rear preload a bit to reduce your ride height, and hence make your toe a little bit closer to the road. When you start getting your toe down, you can increase the ride height and try again etc.

One of my mates (ex racer in the seventies and eighties, and still very fast on his 748R) laughs about the need to get your knee down - but he does get through a lot of toe sliders

[Gaz 748]

1/4" on the back 1/2" on the front, it`s harder to get to edge on the front.

I go around corners slower with my knee down, it`s not much use on the road.

[900MAN]

Just measured the edges.
6-7mm on the back (190)
6mm on the front

[Glyn]

just to go against the comen veiw
i always go for a hard tyre compond e.g macadams,020's or azaro sts
i can still get my knee down with out to much of a problem
can take them right to the edge of the tyre
but getting back to the original question, for me the main reason for prefering these over a stickier sports tyre is that they will slide earlier than a sports tyre and in a more controlled maner
i can quite happily go round some of my favorite twistys and feel the feed back from both wheels and it is always very consistent
with a sticky tyre there is always the danger of them letting go of the road whitch is always going to be a lot further than my hard tyres will go, but where a hard tyre will walk a sticky one can just go out as you find it's limit

obviosly a sticky tyre is always going to be better for a person that can really ride a bike and know it's/his limits but for me on an st2 i like some thing to tell me when i'm pushing my luck

please dont all shout it's only an opinion

[dickieducati]

you can get your knee down on pretty much all bikes with all tires and you dont need to going fast or be a good rider. i can get my knee down at will but im not that quick or good. it is a very good indication of how you are cornering though. turn in speed etc etc

[Jools]

Originally Posted by dickieducati

you can get your knee down on pretty much all bikes with all tires and you dont need to going fast or be a good rider. i can get my knee down at will but im not that quick or good. it is a very good indication of how you are cornering though. turn in speed etc etc

Errrrr....I can't get my knee down at all.

On Saturday in the lakes there was a left hander that went around about 100 degrees. It was a fairly constant radius about the same as a large-ish roundabout right at the bottom of a valley. The road swooped down to the corner and back up the next hill on the exit. I arrived at the turn in point quite hot and had no option but to hang off the bike as far as I ever have done and I think that I must have leaned the bike to a greater angle than I ever have before on road or track - it felt like I was almost horizontal, hanging right off the bike and my knee still didn't touch down.