The other day I was riding at a good clip down a town road with some traffic. That seemed to be behaving quite well when the traffic light turned yellow and the cager in front of me decided to stop in the intersection.
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So I had a choice, eat a back bumper sandwich, or try to turn left at 35mph. It was a very nice 90 degree intersection with on coming traffic. I pressed hard on the bars to lean the bike down, squeezed the clutch, and hand brake, and tried not to step to hard on the foot brake.
As I pulled out of the turn I could breath again. I down shifted into second and cruised away as if i knew what I was doing.
Indian Larry use to say the optimal rake for a bikes performance is between 32 and 34 degrees. the Americas rake is 33. I am a believer.
