Scared to scrapes my pegs?

Question

I'm not too new to motorcycles, but I'm very new to sportbikes. I've got a '93 GSXR 750. I found myself in a situation going too fast into a corner and just leaned ALOT more (there went my chicken strips) and the bike settled and I got through unscathed and stayed in my lane. What concerns me is getting too low, scraping my foot and pegs (I was LOW, and have a lowered bike),having my foot dragged away, or prying the bike up off it's wheels and making a grease spot on the road. How much can I really lean before that happens? When it does, will it pull my foot off my pegs?

Ok.... Lowrider (go back to Starbucks) and Gonzo you're idiots and obviously didn't read the question. Yes you LEAN the bike. You countersteer so the bikefalls into place and is being held up by lateral forces, hence leaning. I am not new to motorcycles, I've just never had one as capable as this, but I understand the risks and always wear protective gear. I have owned this GSXR for about 4 months (and about 800miles) now and I'm the guy that's up at 6:30am on Sunday putting his **** on, but I was exploring a new country road and this turn snuck up on me. I am not a novice, I understand traction philosphy and rolling onto the throttle, etc, (same as car racing) but I was playing a little and got caught off guard. This was some turn though, Speed limit 45, recommended 15!!!! (you know the yellow ones), I was doing about 70 (top of 2nd gear) before braking. Oops. Got through it and went "oh, ****". I was looking for answers regarding foot and body positioning not a lecture fellas.

Answer 1

First off raise the bike back up to restore some better geometry. Lowering bikes just screws up the way they handle. Second dragging the pegs is no big deal, theyre hinged unless you have aftermarket rear sets. Ride with your toes on the pegs to not foul you boots on the pavement. Hanging off will allow the bike to be more upright thru the corner if that worries you. Sportbikes with chicken strips are not being used for what they were designed. If you ride that way and come into a corner to hot obviously the bike is much better than you, lean it over and make the corner. Most rookies panic and stand up the bike and blow off the road. Hitting the hero blobs on you pegs will not lever the bike up, you would have to hit something solid, such as the case, which is obviously way further over than your pegs. Lean it, have fun. Thats the big fun of sportbikes railing thru corners, not hanging at the starbucks.

Answer 2

When riding a sportbike, if you have it leaned so far over as to scrape the pegs, you better know what you are doing because you are at the very limit of traction. In a maneuver such as that, in order to maintain full traction, you also need to know how to lean your body off of the motorcycle. This is something you will only learn properly by attending a school for sportbike riding. Assuming that you do get in a situation where the peg is dragging, if your foot is not properly positioned, you can catch a toe and pull yourself right off the bike. Now as far as the peg levering the bike's tires off the pavement, it is a larger factor if the pegs are fixed in place and do not give. If the peg is able to pivot upwards, the leveraging factor is reduced because the peg will give before it causes the tires to lift off the pavement.

Remember that when you lean the bike to it's full lean angle, you lose suspension effectiveness. That minor bump when you are upright is properly absorbed by the front and rear shocks. When leaned over, the forces applied to the shocks are no longer in a linear fashion and the forks will flex and wobble and the rear will want to skip.

Answer 3

From all the banter here it appears that freshening your skills, un-lowering the bike, and slowing down on country roads would be the most prudent course of action. The fact that you said "chicken strips" leads me to believe you are more squidly than riderly. You shouldn't care about such things and just use the bike to the best of your ability. And if the bike is better than you, well, get your mind reading and your body training and you and the bike into a track school....


And no an extreme lean won't pull your foot off your pegs IF you have the appropriate safety gear on.

Answer 4

I have to agree with the second person. I too have a lowered sport bike. I'm not a racer wannabe, though, so I don't drive very radically, and I've never leaned over far enough to scrape anything.

You might want to check into a racing school. The great thing about these schools is that they're designed for sport bike riders, so you can get the most out of them.

Or like the guy said, don't get too crazy until you really know what you're doing!

Answer 5

The answer is simple. Don't go too fast into a corner because yes you can "pry the bike up off it's wheels" and loose traction. But don't worry a nice tree or steel guardrail will stop you if you slide too far. I'm not sure why they put all those hay bales around road race courses..... oh yeah... It's to preserve the lives of those professional riders who even after years of pushing their bikes into corners at speed they still occasionally misjudge or make a mistake and wipe out. Sounds like you can be a great benefit to your fellow man... just be sure to carry an organ donor card with you.

Answer 6

Scraping pegs is pushin' it a bit, but as long as your pegs aren't locked down, the chances of you getting hooked off aren't great. As you know, you definitely don't want your feet coming off the pegs in a tight turn unless you enjoy road rash. Counter steering in a turn? Remind me never to ride anywhere near that guy.

Answer 7

Not to sound like I'm being mean, but learn to ride.

You don't "lean" a bike.
You push the handle bars in to the curve.

It's called counter-steering, and is the safest way to make curves.

BTW, it's best to know a road "BEFORE" you push the envelop.