First Floorboard Scrape

[Sandman]

I just wanted to share my experience in hopes that other newbs might know what to expect when it happens.

I was on my way to the shop Saturday morning to drop off the bike for the 600 mile service. It was a hectic day with lots to do and little time to do it. I was in the middle of a u-turn when I herd and felt the S-C-R-A-P-E. Obviously my first thought as a new rider was WTF is that!? But I’ve read enough about peg & floorboard scraping here to realize what it was. My next thought was oh sh#%, now what do I do? I was scraping pretty hard and it seemed like it was starting to slow me down. The answer for me was to roll on the throttle enough to give the back tire a little more bite and force a slightly wider turn than originally planned. The scraping almost immediately stopped with no loss of control and I was able to continue while not disturbing the normal flow of traffic.

After I got to the shop I wondered why it happened and not in the 600 miles prior. I came up with two reasons. First, I was in a hurry. I was not focused on what I was doing but rather where I was going to and how soon I could get there. Second, I was over-confident in trying to take the turn tighter & faster than I should have. Either one of these two errors in judgment was more than enough to cause me to wreck, but I did not panic which gave me time to decide on a course of action.

In the first 600 miles, I have taken a few turns that I thought were pretty tight and was relieved that the tires didn’t slip out from under me. (Still getting a feel for the bike.) Now, it is nice to know that I can go all the way to the floorboards without slipping (provided that speed is not excessive), not that I plan on making a regular practice of this. This was completely unintentional. It was a very alarming experience because it makes an awful sound and was completely unexpected. Just don’t panic, but continue on with the turn and you will be fine.

It’s amazing what you can learn from a 12-15 inch gash in the asphalt!

-Sandman

[tlwisner]

With more experience come greater confidence and better riding. That you are scraping the floorboards means that you are gaining enough confidence to use all of the bike's (somewhat limited) leaning ability.

It doesn't take a scary amount of lean to make the C50 floorboards scrape - the upside is that they are designed to scrape. The floorboards have scrape protectors on the bottom, and they also hinge upward. Just realize that once you are scraping, you're not going to lean the bike any further.

The bike leans further if you are keeping your body vertical, the bike leans less if you lean into the turn.

[drgibson]

Hmm there are turns I take daily that I try to keep the peg on the ground through out the whole turn. I figure it's practice for the Dragon.

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by tlwisner

The bike leans further if you are keeping your body vertical, the bike leans less if you lean into the turn.

Could you elaborate on this? Are you saying that by keeping the body vertical in a turn, the bike will lean more than if you were to lean into it?

Does leaning into a turn only allow you to take it faster?

[Firedog]

If you haven't read it yet, read "Proficient Motorcycling" by David Hough. He discusses a bit about the physics of leaning and turning. I've found it quite helpful.

[Clint]

That's the primary reason racers "hang off". It keeps the bike more upright and improves the tires' grip. Sandman, you're bike is capable of leaning about twice as far as your 'boards allow. Keep working on your technique and you'll be confident enough to scrape in every turn. Then you'll want to upgrade to a performance bike.

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by RowdyRed94

That's the primary reason racers "hang off". It keeps the bike more upright and improves the tires' grip. Sandman, you're bike is capable of leaning about twice as far as your 'boards allow. Keep working on your technique and you'll be confident enough to scrape in every turn. Then you'll want to upgrade to a performance bike.

Thanks Rowdy, that explains alot. As far as my next bike, is going to be a Concours, but not for a few years. I want to enjoy this one for a while.

Firedog - Thanks for the reminder. I put the book away until I finished the MSF but then forgot about it. Will dust it off when I get home and get busy.

Thanks again!

[tlwisner]

Originally Posted by Sandman

Could you elaborate on this? Are you saying that by keeping the body vertical in a turn, the bike will lean more than if you were to lean into it?

Yes. When you are maneuvering at slow speeds, leaning away from the turn is a good thing, you are counterbalancing the bike. At road speeds, leaning into a turn is better - it's a good habit to develop. Many cruiser riders never develop any skills at turning their bikes - and many cruiser riders will report that they have never scraped any parts on the ground.

Originally Posted by Sandman

Does leaning into a turn only allow you to take it faster?

Yes. You are lowering the center of gravity which allows you to go through a corner faster. That's why you see those racer guys with butts hanging off and their knees on the ground to get through a corner at maximum speed.

BTW: My last bike was a Concours, now I have a C50.

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by tlwisner

Yes. When you are maneuvering at slow speeds, leaning away from the turn is a good thing, you are counterbalancing the bike. At road speeds, leaning into a turn is better - it's a good habit to develop. Many cruiser riders never develop any skills at turning their bikes - and many cruiser riders will report that they have never scraped any parts on the ground.



Yes. You are lowering the center of gravity which allows you to go through a corner faster. That's why you see those racer guys with butts hanging off and their knees on the ground to get through a corner at maximum speed.

BTW: My last bike was a Concours, now I have a C50.

Thanks! As I mentioned in the previous post, I'm pulling out the "Bible" and will be reading up on this as well.

(About your 2 bikes) Which do you like better? and for what reasons?

[tlwisner]

Originally Posted by Sandman

(About your 2 bikes) Which do you like better? and for what reasons?

The C50 is better for me.

I had both bikes for a year, and I ended up selling the Concours for lack of use. My GF didn't want to ride on it since it was so tall, and I'm not enough of a speed demon to really appreciate what it can do revving up at 10,000 rpms. It's illegal to ride it like it wants to go. At low speeds, the Concours is a very top heavy 600+ pound bike especially when the 7.5 gallon gas tank is full.

I wouldn't mind getting a much lighter VStrom 650 to have in addition to my C50!

[Clint]

Originally Posted by tlwisner

You are lowering the center of gravity which allows you to go through a corner faster.

I beg to differ. The only way you'd lower the center of gravity is by crouching closer to the bike. Leaning inside merely changes the lean angle of the bike, which doesn't affect the CG.

[tlwisner]

Originally Posted by RowdyRed94

I beg to differ. The only way you'd lower the center of gravity is by crouching closer to the bike. Leaning inside merely changes the lean angle of the bike, which doesn't affect the CG.

Changing the rider's center of gravity changes the lean angle of the bike - but you're right - it's not lowering the CG, it's moving the rider's CG off the bike's axis. I'll keep my day job and not look for a job teaching physics.

Like Sandman, I too am pulling out my David Hough books to read more. That's always a good thing!

Avoiding physics - leaning into a turn is good at road speeds.