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I have had my bike now for a year and it is my first street cycle. How far am I supposed to be leaning when turning?
How much is too much (don't say "When you fall")? Since I am still a relatively new rider <3000miles, I have no idea how to learn to lean properly besides trial (error is not an option).
Any tips on how to "feel out" the proper lean angle?

Thanks
Carter

There is no "minimum" lean angle to go around a curve/twisty "properly" per say. The amount of lean you need is based on your speed and the degree of the turn. If you are going blazing fast and going around a hairpin, you are going to have to lean waaaaaaayyyy over to maintain your line around the turn and stay in your lane. If you are doing a moderate speed, you don't have to lean as much. If you are going slow, like turning from one street to another, you barely have to lean at all. If you want to hooligan, you go blazing fast and lean way over. Otherwise, you just do the speed limit and lean however much it takes to maintain your line and stay in your lane. In the MSF, they teach you to approach a turn like this: Slow, Look, Press, Roll. You downshift/brake BEFORE the turn, look through the turn, press/push on the grip in the direction you are going (push on left grip to go left, right grip to go right) and then roll on the throttle through the turn.

"Lean" is a direct result of speed,... if you go into a sweeper corner at 50 mile per hour your lean is not as angled as if you went into the same corner at 70 mph, by the sound of it you are riding causiously at around 3000 miles, as you become more comfortable with your speeds in and out of corners, your lean angle will increase, corners that you used to do at 30mph as your comfort level increases will be done at 60mph resulting in more lean through the corner. Tires do have there limitations and the type of tire and compound you run will have something to do with angles as well. Word of Caution .... most single bike accidents are the result of to much speed being carried into a corner and the rider not being able to change the entry or exit angle to compansate for the speed being traveled. This results in running off the road or panic braking and sliding the bike and your self down the road. Only you will know what your comfort level is and the amount of Pucker Factor that you may wish to face, by the sound of it you are doing just fine now.

The only way to "feel out" the lean angle for any corner is as follows " if you have to pry the cheeks of your butt off the seat with a crowbar after any corner, you probably were going to fast and had to lean way to far over." LOL

Take some lessons ,best thing I even did .You get lessons on a race track and in a safe {no cars} environment.
Its all about YOU leaning ,not getting the bike to lean over more then you have to.

I have this DVD twist of the wrist 2 ,also have the books ,but the video is so easy to understand.
I have been playing on one corner every week for over a year and trying to get faster and smoother on it ,and after watching this video I hit it 20kph faster the next day .
You can get it on line .
The acting is crap ,but its just a way they used to explain the methods.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAeFrk7CU_w&feature=related

Here is short video with some training you can see and try today .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wYD9SSBBNQ&feature=fvw

You will notice in the video above the trainer really sticking his knee out ,Try it with out sticking your knee all the way out... just get your knee out ,even a few inchs off the tank and your cornering will improve with in an hour.

Step # 2....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8pnaRpDU1A&feature=channel

Then Step #3....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0v4greHKuI&feature=channel

Just take one step at a time ...its not a race

I highly suggest purchasing the Twist of the Wrist II DVD and Total Control: High Performance Street Riding Techniques.

Those 2 things mentioned above will probably save your life or help prevent you from seriously injuring yourself.

How far do I lean? Well I have no chicken strips and my right hand side feeler peg is quite ground down Mind you, this is mainly a result of two 'ride' days at a track.

As everybody else has stated here, get some reading information to see how it's done correctly, practice it in a controlled environment, just get comfortable with the handling of the bike, and it will become second nature. As a rule of thumb, the more you move your body to the inside of turn, the less angle you would be required to have on the bike. This doesn't mean stay in the middle of the bike to take a turn just to scrub off your chicken strips, that would be the wrong way to do it. Try this technique, as you come to a corner throw your inside knee out just a little bit, scoot your rear end towards the turn a tad, actually swing your hips into the turn a little bit (point your now open crotch in the direction you want to go), move your upper body towards the curve and imagine you are going to kiss the inside mirror,. This should get you into a good position for the curve. This works great for tight turns but would be silly for long sweepers where just a change in body position would be all that's needed. Get comfortable with where YOU are on the bike and the rest will follow.

I commute 42 miles each way to work, most of it is long straight stretches, and what turns I do have are usually at intersections. My chicken strips are about 3/8" on the front and less than 1/4" on the back. When there isn't any traffic on-coming and I am able to take the turns with some speed, I really lean her over. I do the same with my big 'ol Beemer too, but there is no way I can get to the edge of the tread on the back tire without dragging lots of hard parts, but the front chicken strips are about 1/2". That's saying something with those big balloon tires.

Go onto YouTube...there are some great videos on properly taking turns and proper body/bike positioning.

when my helmet scrapes, then i stop leaning!

Good 1 Ride4life, reminds me of my enduro days, usually someone NOT riding says as you are prepping: talked to the organizers and I hear the course is a bit wet (as we live 300 miles away we don't know the weather or the course) , how wet?? , apparently they won't be mounting the score sheets on the front fender, they are putting them on top of the helments.

You can only lean as much as you need too in order to take the corner. There is no general answer to "How far should I lean?".
If every single corner out there was identical, we all had the same ride style, same bike and we all did it at the same speed then sure we could all say "oh, just lean at about 50 degrees", but that's not the case. Every rider, every bike, every corner, every speed, every condition is going to be different and affect the lean angle.

As for "how much is too much" the answer actually would be "when you wash out and come off". The bike (with good tyres and correct suspension setup) will stick to the road beyond the limits that most riders would even dare try. You would be surprised just how far you can go. A comment made from a fellow rider recently while on a track day was "I knew I was leaning pretty far over when I noticed my elbow was nearly touching the ground". Take a look through Google at images of bikes in corners and see for yourself just how far you can actually push it without washing out.(by the way hot and sticky tyres are a must for extreme lean angles!!!. Try it on your cold stock commuter tyres and you'll wipe out very fast!!!)

The only true response to your question is going to come from yourself and your own experiences on the bike, not from an internet forum.
Just get out there and learn to ride at a pace you are comfortable with and don't go pushing it just because others can and do.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was "Ride your own ride and not someone elses."

Have you not taken a safety course?

There's a great video (and book) called "Twist of the Wrist II" - Check it out. It covers some good techniques for cornering and riding. Its been handy for my riding