An a MSF instructor, I've had students who were clearly afraid of leaning their bike. Leaning is a crucial element of riding and a critical skill to master so you have the option to use it when necessary. motorcycles will safely lean probably more than most riders ever venture to find out about, given that the traction is good and other inputs/actions have not used up your traction reserves.

Here's my best example. On my 94 BMW R1100RS, with a female passenger I was leading three bikes through the twisty backroads south of Potosi, Missouri. I misread (clue:mistake) an approaching turn (reading the tree line into the turn) at the end of an uphill cresting right hander. Still at 60mph, I setup wide in my lane and entered the turn, to realize it was a decreasing radius turn, with a pickup truck coming in its lane in the other direction. I maintained my throttle (to keep my ground clearance), looked to the exit of the turn (to maintain my path of travel, and not fixate on the pickup truck), pressed hard on the grip in the direction of the turn (to maintain/increase my lean angle), and rode it through even though my full boot edge was dragging, the centerstand was dragging, AND my passengers boot edge touched pavement (while fully on the pegs). The bike simply stuck, easily made the turn, and we rode on. She shreiked at first but then gave me a thumbs up signal.

What's the point here? I trusted the bike, and myself to do what I had trained to do. Had I not pressed (on the handgrip) through to maintain/increase my lean angle, the bike would have run wide and possibly smack the truck. If I had backed off the throttle but maintained my line/lean, the bike would have squatted down, lost lean clearance, and possibly unload the rear tire (lowside it). If I had backed off the throttle and touched the brakes the bike would have squatted but stand up (the physics involved would cause the bike to straighten up like applying the brakes) and ironically it would have run wide (exactly the worst thing to have happen). I was fortunate that the road was in excellant shape and clean with great traction. I have studied this event in my mind many times over and realized my initial mistake of mis-reading the road was corrected by applying leaning techniques most motorcycles are capable of, but many riders never attempt or learn to use. However, the MORE important thing I learned was to not enter a turn at speed when I couldn't see the entire turn. I should have slowed to about 50mph before entering the turn since I couldn't see all the way through it.

I consider leaning as part of the arsenal of CRITICAL riding skills necessary to master in order to fully enjoy riding and give the rider the ability to react properly. Leaning, high effort braking, throttle/clutch control, traction management and strong visual skills are the CRITICAL SKILLS that must be learned and mastered to survive for many years/decades of riding. Ask any rider who has had nearly no accidents/incidents, with many years and miles of riding experience, and you'll probably get similar answers.

Ok, so how do you get to that level? Take an experienced rider course. Sign up for some Track days on your bike, hopefully with professional instruction. Read some of the excellant books available at many bookstores. Ask experienced riders who have done these things. Practice, and get familiar with what your bike, and you can do. If you find you are not comfortable with this level of riding, then adjust your riding style to make sure you don't put yourself in a situation you are not able to respond to. Learn from every ride, be honest about your abilities, realize you DO have much to learn and gain, push yourself but trust yourself (this is VERY satisfying when it comes to riding). Enjoy your ride!!

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