In a motorcycle community, I was asked why Kurvenfokus calculates lean angle instead of using a combination of sensors and calculation. Good question — and the answer also explains why this feature is deliberately marked as beta.
The problem with bike sensors
Many modern motorcycles have IMU sensors built in — lean angle, yaw, acceleration. But manufacturers don't document these data points publicly. And you definitely can't get them in real time through the diagnostic interface. It all stays behind closed doors.
What we use instead
We work with what riders actually carry with them — a smartphone or GPS tracker. Apps like Calimoto or Motobit unfortunately record at only ~1 Hz (once per second), sometimes even less regularly. That's enough to roughly detect corners, but real lean angle is an estimate at that resolution.
How to do better
There are dedicated race trackers with a 10–25 Hz sampling rate. They're not even that expensive. I ride with one myself — currently still at 1 Hz, but the manufacturer can unlock it to 10 or even 25 Hz. With a higher sampling rate, the path through a corner is detected far more precisely.
That's why lean angle is a beta feature
I deliberately show this as beta in the app. It's a useful feature for orientation and comparing rides — but calibrated, physically precise lean-angle values need the right hardware. That's not a weakness; it's honesty.
Where this is going
My goal is for you to visualize the line you rode and the calculated racing line — for example, via Google Street View 360° in a kind of POV mode. Or, if you ride with a 360° camera, see your line versus the racing line directly in your footage.
"That's the spirit behind Kurvenfokus: be transparent about limitations, show what's possible at the same time, and openly document the way there."
Want to analyze your own lean angle? → Go to the lean-angle app