WHY CRUISER BIKES HAVE HIGH RAKE ANGLE ??

You might have noticed that the angle of inclination of the front shock absorbers is high in case of cruiser whereas in racing bikes it is kept low.Have you ever wondered the reason behind this.

First of all let us understand what this angle of inclination known as.It is known as castor angle or rake angle.The caster angle or castor angle is the angular displacement of the steering axis from the vertical axis of a steered wheel in a car, motorcycle, bicycle or other vehicle, measured in the longitudinal direction. It is the angle between the pivot line (in a car an imaginary line that runs through the centre of the upper ball joint to the centre of the lower ball joint) and vertical. 

Rake angle has a crucial role in a motorcycle’s handling characteristics. Generally speaking (means there are exceptions), the greater the rake angle, the more stable the motorcycle is at higher speeds. It is normally accepted that the responsiveness of a motorcycle’s handling is inversely corresponding to the rake angle values. More precisely, the smaller the rake angle, the more agile the bike is. If you take a look at a chopper and a superbike, you will be able to notice the rake difference between the two.

To better understand this, let us take Honda CBR250 and Bajaj Avenger, as both motorcycles are from  different categories, they have their own characteristics. Let us get into the comparison, Honda CBR250 has a rake angle: 26°, as we all know, Honda CBR250 offers excellent cornering capabilities and it is very flickable, but does not offer a straight-line stability. Coming to Bajaj Avenger, it has a major difference in its rake angle compared to Honda CBR250, this is influenced by the good high-speed stability of the Avenger, but making a U-turn requires a high steering effort.

So,if the rake angle or castor angle is high it leads to better straight line stability but cornering capability is reduced.On the other hand.lower castor angle leads to excellent cornering but reduced straight line stability.