Lean IN or Lean OUT - Which is Safer?

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"As free love was going out of fashion and demand for good quality rubber was increasing..." -- taking a leaf out of Fortnine's playbook 😂

Normal, speed limit level street riding, lean with the bike. Super high speed cornering, lean more than the bike to keep from scraping hard parts an lifting a tire. Slow speed maneuvering, tight cornering, slaloms, or low traction situations, counter lean to have faster change in direction, tighten up your corners or keep weight over the tires so they dont wash out in gravel. Its a matter of how, what, an where you are riding.

I think that F9 made their point quite understandable: Counterbalancing just as hanging-off are perfectly fine given the appropriate situations. Long and fast corners benefit from hanging into the corner, giving you better shift of mass into the inner side while allowing the bike to stay low without exceeding max. lean angle. Counterbalcing is generally better for fast paced shift of lateral momentum, in tight corners that force you to slow down considerably, plus in any situation where you need an elevated leveled viewpoint. Just as a MotoGP rider would certainly have issues in city traffic with „hanging-off-only“, a police motorcyclist performing „counterbalancing-only“ wouldn’t get the best experience and performance out of a twisty hill pass. Both techniques are valid with respect to their intended purpose — and you should try to master BOTH as good as possible. In contrast: Greg Widmar (MotoJitsu) has simply turned into a pretentious, thin-skinned, preachy media personality, explaining only little of his rationale and simply marking his point by, well, marking a point. Additionally, his expensive Amazon-printed exercise ‚books‘ are mere 30 page abstracts of general concepts you can get everywhere on the internet for free. I have grown quite disillusioned by the guy as time went on. Only little insight to be gained from his videos recently.

As a new rider this video is brilliant - thank you. Confirms what I was starting to suspect - that there’s a spectrum from extreme counter-leaning to extreme hanging off the bike through a turn and most road riding is probably best done in a relatively neutral position with counter-balancing and leaning into turns being tools available to use appropriately depending on the bike, speed, road conditions etc and NOT techniques to be used indiscriminately just because a bunch of other people told you to do them because they’re always best or look cool 👍

I’ve tried ripping down the canyons both ways, on a variety of bikes. I concluded…ride how you want. We are not riding to shave off fractions of seconds, but to arrive alive.

Been riding for 60 years. Raced speedway and roadracing. Military dispatch rider. Uses different styles. Think it's important to change riding style depending on situation.

What is the world coming to when we discover YouTubers might exaggerate a point, take an extreme view, or even deliberately disagree with each other - and for what? Oh that's right... money. I'm shocked. Like all information, whether you pay for it or get it free off the internet, you have to use your own brain and assess it for your own situation. That's why I like this video - explanation and reasoning is presented, and then you are left to make your own judgement on how it might apply to your riding. That's why I keep coming back to this channel, though I do enjoy a laugh with fortnine too occasionally.

The homage to Tasting History was appreciated.

If you ride on the road, commuting, touring, and day rides, it is surprising how little of your time is spent going round corners at any significant speed. There is almost always a speed limit, or a vehicle ahead of you, or a poor line of sight, or the risk of debris or potholes, or a vehicle coming the other way, etc. Copying track techniques when you're probably doing 30 to 50 mph on a country lane is just pointless. However, the basic thing to remember is, the bike doesn't lean because of the corner; the bike corners because it is leaning. At any given speed, it will turn tighter and more easily if it is leaning more. On public roads, and at junctions, mini roundabouts and so on, counterbalancing is the way to go. For general flowing along at real world speeds on the open road, a fairly neutral position. The bike is usually better than the rider.

I generally lean my body in and keep the bike more upright when roads are wet. Stay pretty much neutral when it's dry. He didn't mention wet pavement.

Gotta agree with F9, couter-lean is probably best on the street most of the time because it offers the easiest path to change direction in the event of unexpected obstacles or road conditions such as sand, gravel, bad drivers, or deer. Neutral body position can be better when you can see all the way through the turn with no cars or animals present. Hanging off the low-side of the bike has no place on the street - you're too committed to a single course and have very limited ability to react to changing circumstances.

Hello from Rhode Island! I had little experience riding when 20 years ago I used too much rear break while trying to stop. No helmet, severe concussion, and I had a verbal stutter for about a year. I love your channel because it is definitely helping people stay safe. I have much appreciation for your time and effort. Thank you.

I was in middle school when I learned to ride a bike in the late 90's. I never knew such techniques existed till very recently. Watching these videos I realize that I use counterbalancing a lot in city traffic, bending the bike between knees while staying upright and leaning the bike in very long corners and twisties knowing I don't have to break in the middle. I think if you ride enough you will figure out the right technique that works for you. We don't have to be robots and learn the same techniques, we should rely on our brains and instincts and maybe we will come up with new ingenious ways to approach these.

one thing I constantly do whenever I am on a fairly calm road is to try and dodge the pot-holes and or sewer covers... less upset of the wheels plus I am also training my counter-balancing and for anyone who happens to be watching, having them ponder my sanity. It's actually fun and because of it, I think I am slightly more comfortable with it.

One of the best and most complete videos about ridding techniques I have ever seen. You called I points I could think of, including the alerts about street riding (real world dangers). Thanks a lot!

You are the MASTER of Moto Lesson Videos. I have learned so much from you and you’re making a huge difference in my experience. Keep up the GREAT work and easy to learn content.

What a time to be alive, from primitive suspension to active electronic suspension systems. To imagine that Isle of Man was even more dangerous way back then 🤯 Great info Andrey! 🤙

As with many things in life…it depends. As an owner of several bikes I find the cornering style is largely dependent on which bike I’m riding. In general my Honda Magna cruiser works best when the bike is ridden with a good serving of counter balancing pushing the bike down, my Goldwing in neutral position regardless of load except for really low speed riding, and my lightweight sports machines with neutral to leaning into the turn. Forward or aft positioning is also bike dependent. It’s a great topic for exploration and your vid is fantastic.

You really are the greatest teacher, A! I'm proud to have been with ya since you were around 10K subscribers and, whenever I hear conflicting info, always come back to you for my educational "center." I'm a daily rider/commuter and own a '21 H-D and '23 H-D, have been licensed for 3yrs, took the full YCRS a year ago, and, when I first started, had 1:1 with a moto-officer whom I credit with giving me the ultimate foundation. But of ALL the YouTubers, sole credit goes to you for teaching me U-Turns. Everyone else preaches the same (head turn, friction zone, and rear brake), but you did a video a couple of years ago on a H-D and discussed how the initial move is really just a counter-steer and you need to get the bike to full-lock to make the tightest U-Turns. That was my "lightbulb moment" where everything fell into place. This video is demonstrative of your innate ability as a teacher, because you're not negating either technique; instead, you're advocating for the benefits of both, while simultaneously advising when they SHOULDN'T be used, and in the end advising a safe, sound strategy for road-riding. Thank you for all the knowledge you share!