How can a motorcycle lean so much, yet still stays up?

Question

I see MotoGP riders lean so much that their shoulders can touch the ground. How is this possible?

In: Physics

Answer 1

The lean provides exactly the necessary force into the turn to make it turn. So it balances.

But there is a limit to how tight it can turn and that’s the wheel friction with the road. If the wheels lose grip and skid then the leaning rider falls over because the balance of the lean against the turn stops being balanced when the motorcycle fails to actually be turning because it’s skidding straight instead. When a motorcycle loses grip with the road in a turn the rider usually falls in the direction he was leaning and then scrapes along the road on that side.