Thread: What makes some bikes feel more likely to fall down when making a u-turn?

I recently got a Kawisaki Vulcan 500 with a low seat, cruiser style forward pegs and long rake (33 degrees). I have put 40,000 miles on standard style bikes in the past 5 years, so I don't think I'm a novice at riding.

This Vulcan feels uncontrolable at anything more than say 20 degree leans from vertical. It just wants to flop down. I've put about 1500 miles on it and it"s gotten better, but still nothing like the sport bikes and standards which seemed far more tractable in tight spaces.

Is this normal for a cruiser style bike?
(I thought it would be fun to try one and see what it was like, but I'm getting the impression this just isn't going to do what I ask it to.)

What is it, exactly, that makes a bike feel more unstable/seem harder to control at low speeds?
(Rake, trail, tall gearing, feet-forward pegs, low center of gravity?)

Its all in the engineering. The center of gravity is too high for the wheelbase, which is good for what they are designed for, cruisin down the highway. Sport bikes suffer from that to a certain degree. The bike I have found with the least squirlly feel in u turns is the BMW airhead. That weird boxer engine gives the bike more mass in the lower bout making for superb handling at low speeds as well as highway speeds.