with Rapid Training Coach Dave Hewson
‘Why do I seem to lean over more than others?’
Q I’VE NOTICED THAT when I’m following one of my mates, he has noticeably less lean angle than me mid-corner, yet he’s going the same speed on a similar bike.
How is this possible? He is unable to explain what he’s doing differently to me.
A AS I GUESS you are aware, by carrying less lean angle your mate has a greater safety margin for a set speed, which is always a good thing – so you’re right to be curious.
Without watching him, it’s impossible to be sure to know what he’s doing. But by far the most likely explanation is that he’s steering a lot faster than you.
Basically, the faster you want to ride, the faster you have to steer. The logic is that if you go from upright to the lean angle you need in a short space of time, that lean angle will be less than if you spend longer on the steering process because there’s less delay getting the bike on to its line. If you take longer (ie, turn slower), the bike will run wide and you’ll then need more lean angle to compensate.
This is one of the reasons I see intermediate track riders carrying massive lean angles, yet I’m behind them doing the same speed and my knee is nowhere near the deck.
What I’m doing in that scenario is going into a corner nearly upright, steering very, very quickly on to my line, hitting the apex then standing the bike up and driving off the corner.
This translates nicely to the road – with far greater safety margins, obviously – because you don’t want to spend a load of time on the side of the tyre where the risk is greatest. I’m guessing your mate mysteriously pulls away from you out of corners too, because he’s able to get on the throttle earlier.
Armed with this knowledge, it’s time to practise. From a speed ‐o f‐learning and safety perspective, the best place to do this is on the track – Rapid runs track courses teaching the technique – but you can exp
