Advice: Cornering techniques

Hanging off

We carry the bulk of our body weight between our hips and shoulders. Where we place that weight on the bike can have a dramatic effect on how the bike will handle and will ultimately either help or hinder the motorcycle going around a corner.

The laws of physics dictate that when a motorcycle is leaned over, the position of its centre of gravity will heavily influence the lean angle of the motorcycle. As riders, part of our job is to make sure the bulk of our body weight is either running right along the bike's centre-line or, preferably, on the inside of that line. When you sit bolt upright on the bike and go with it when it leans, you would be considered 'neutral' in your effect on the motorcycle. Meaning that, aside from the extra weight you place on the bike (therefore reducing available ground clearance) and its effect on the height of the centre of gravity, you don't have any effect on the motorcycle. This means that at any given speed around any given corner you have a known and quantifiable amount of lean angle required to complete that turn, and that amount would be proportional to the combined weight of rider and motorcycle and the height of the combined centre of gravity.

If however you 'hang off' the motorcycle, you (in theory at least) bring the rider's weight lower and to the inside of the motorcycle's centre of gravity. This means that at the same speed as described above on the same corner as described above, you will need less lean angle to complete that turn. Make sense? This is the major reason why pretty much every racer on the planet 'hangs off' the motorcycle (aside from attempting to look 'cool' I guess...). For maximum benefit the whole shoulder-to-hip line of the rider's weight should be hanging off parallel to the bike's centre-line.

The unfortunate reality however is that most riders, when trying to hang off, create a greater problem than they are trying to overcome. When sliding their butts off, many riders leave their heads and shoulders on top of the bike, which basically means that they are missing some of the benefits of having their body evenly off to the inside of the motorcycle. The upper body weight that is still being carried high and on a different plane to the bike's centre-line, means that the bike requires more lean angle than if they had hung off correctly. It would, in effect, be like having a pillion on the back of the bike who was attempting to hold the bike upright as you entered the turn... and we all know what we'd do to that pillion don't we?

Good luck with your hanging off...

Steve Brouggy is the owner of the

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