Nice Bike » rake angle http://www.nicebike.co.uk Helping you choose the right motorcycle Fri, 16 Sep 2011 04:28:30 +0000 en hourly 1 Choosing the Right Rake Angle to Improve Handling http://www.nicebike.co.uk/rake-angle/choosing-the-right-rake-angle-to-improve-handling/ http://www.nicebike.co.uk/rake-angle/choosing-the-right-rake-angle-to-improve-handling/#comments Fri, 27 Apr 2007 13:36:42 +0000 admin http://www.nicebike.co.uk/rake-angle/choosing-the-right-rake-angle-to-improve-handling/ Some motorcycles have an amazing straight line stability which allows you to point them in a direction and really open up the throttle. This disadvantage of this stability is that they are not easy to to turn around quickly and handle poorly on sweeping bends (such as maintain passes and coast roads).

Other motorbikes by comparison, especially sportbikes, handle curved roads very well, swooshing from one corner to the next but suffer on long straight roads

Quoting the “Proficient Motorcycling” handbook

The greater the rake angle the greater the straight line stability. The less the angle the quicker the handling response. In extreme cases a damper has to be fitted to a sportbike where the handling is so unstable as to be a problem.

Generally speaking, sport bikes have a rake of 24 degrees whilst the rake angle for cruisers is closer to 30 degrees.

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