How to Corner on a Cruiser Motorcycle?

If you own a cruiser motorcycle, then you must have faced difficulty in cornering. Whenever you lean your twin cylinder cruiser for cornering, you hear something hitting the road surface. The foot pegs go into the tarmac, the exhaust pipes scrape the road surface, and the side stand hits the ground.

After a few seconds, you find yourself with sweaty palms and a fast-beating heart. The major problem in cornering the cruiser is equipment clearance. Most cruiser bikes have a low clearance, a long wheelbase, plush suspension, low pipes, low foot controls, and even low panniers, etc.

It is like every component is against the cornering. You can make some changes in the suspension area but there is not much to do in the clearance area. You have to work with what you’ve got.

Nevertheless, the major problem in cornering is not always the bike but sometimes riders too. To do perfect cornering, you must ride with a fine, dynamic, lean angle, which is the angle where things start to touch the ground when moving. Your dynamic, lean angle calculation can say a lot about your riding style.

So, we are not going to argue over the riding style. After discussing with several cruiser motorcycle riders, I found new techniques and tips that can help you to do fine cornering on a cruiser bike. So, without wasting any more time, let’s take a look at those tips and techniques.

Tips for Cornering a Cruiser Motorcycle

Don’t Use the Brakes

The very first thing you need to do is to get all your braking over with before cornering your cruiser. If you are wondering, “What’s this is all about?” Then, you know damn well, when we apply the brake it affects the suspension and forces your bike to ‘sit down’. Whether you apply the front brake or the rear, it will make the motorcycle ‘sit down’, which will cause the clearance issue. With cruiser bikes, we can’t do anything about the suspension and clearance area, so make sure you don’t use the brakes while cornering your motorcycle.

Accelerate

You must have noticed that when you accelerate your motorcycle lifts up a little from the front and a very slight squat from the rear. So, when you are going to take a turn, make sure you put your bike in the right gear and accelerate the bike in the corners.

Correct Angle

Let’s assume, you know both points that we mentioned above and, in a situation where you followed these steps but you still heard the sound of foot pegs scraping across the road. Now, what? You are in a situation where you are at a maximum lean angle and at the ideal speed required for taking a turn. But the corner is tight and you need to tighten your arc accordingly. Well, that’s a tough one, right? So, in that situation, try to do it with a leaner angle, which is the only solution to tighten your arc. Don’t hit the brakes, it will compress the suspension and also don’t lower the gear your motorcycle is running in. Just try to hold the foot peg on the ground as long as you can.

Wide Corner Arc

Before leaning into the turn, you need to make the corner arc as big as possible without running too wide towards the exit. The wider the corner arc, the less lean angle you need. While going wide, be aware of the sudden flick and turn smoothly without compressing the suspension.

Conclusion

You can apply these techniques for cornering to other motorcycles. All you need is a little practice to become perfect in cornering.

If you know any other techniques that we haven’t mentioned here, then, please share them with our readers in the comment section below.