Basics of Body Position on a Motorycle

[xsiliconkid]

A couple of years back I created a PowerPoint presentation to emphasize a few key points about body position.
Given recent discussions on the forum on the subject I just dumped it to video...and added just one slide on the end :-).

Graham
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aW01UaHyC4

[WordTooYoMamma]

Wirelessly posted (Tilt: HTC-8900/1.2 Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows CE; IEMobile 7.11) UP.Link/6.3.1.20.0)

cool vid

[Stan]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9530/4.7.0.151 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

cool vid thanks for posting

[Doc]

So that is why I am putting so much pressure on my inside handle bar in 9

Gonna work on that inside arm and weighting the outside peg.

[GixerJockey]

Great vid Graham. And I love the final example.

[DerekSBelanger]

[Eddie]

Nice presentation. I remember have a nice rear view of that pink motorcycle. LOL

[xsiliconkid]

So that is why I am putting so much pressure on my inside handle bar in 9

Gonna work on that inside arm and weighting the outside peg.

Typically your weight moves to the outside peg as you turn on the gas.. Just like in the dirt
T9... some weight on the outside foot peg exiting T9 .... And NO weight on the bars once you have initiated the counter steer coming into the apex.... a lot of folk have weight on the inside bar to hold themselves up...T6 is a good err bad example bad, bad, bad.
In T9 the front tire has very little grip with suspension i fully extended.....track is also dropping away.

Weight on inside bar = bad...... what happens if front tire decides to skate a little with weight on the inside bar...? hmmmmm

[Ken C]

["Dangerous" Dan K]

Typically your weight moves to the outside peg as you turn on the gas.. Just like in the dirt
T9... some weight on the outside foot peg exiting T9 .... And NO weight on the bars once you have initiated the counter steer coming into the apex.... a lot of folk have weight on the inside bar to hold themselves up...T6 is a good err bad example bad, bad, bad.
In T9 the front tire has very little grip with suspension i fully extended.....track is also dropping away.

Weight on inside bar = bad...... what happens if front tire decides to skate a little with weight on the inside bar...? hmmmmm

I have demonstrated what happens in 3, at the transition, if the front decides to skate a little with weight on the inside bar. CEO, Bergs and god knows who else saw it. The result is nearly instant, and not pleasant. It involves parting company with your motorcycle as well.

I was taught/told to weight the inside peg tipping in, and not to weight the outside peg until I'm trying to stand the bike back up, something the throttle tends to do on it's own. Who else weights outside peg leaned over? Who weights the inside? Not trying to quibble or say what I was told is right, I'm just a novice trying to learn something here.

[xsiliconkid]

I have demonstrated what happens in 3, at the transition, if the front decides to skate a little with weight on the inside bar. CEO, Bergs and god knows who else saw it. The result is nearly instant, and not pleasant. It involves parting company with your motorcycle as well.

I was taught/told to weight the inside peg tipping in, and not to weight the outside peg until I'm trying to stand the bike back up, something the throttle tends to do on it's own. Who else weights outside peg leaned over? Who weights the inside? Not trying to quibble or say what I was told is right, I'm just a novice trying to learn something here.

DDK we are saying the same thing...sort of......weight the inside peg if you must to tip in... but once tipped in you might as well wave your leg around in the breeze....
on the way out, weight the outside peg (as in the dirt). Yes when power is applied the bike does tend to want to open up the radius = stand up ( why?= rear takes the load the front forks lift/extend, the geometry changes to give you more trail...what happens when you get more trail?)
Now to you point, why weight the outside peg if the bike is standing up by itself..... very simple you want to put more down force into the rear to help with the grip of the rear tire to pavement while you are still leaning over but on the gas.....as I said before - just like in the dirt - don't want the rear to spin up.....QED, no?

[Ken C]

I just wrote an article about this for an upcoming issue of http://www.mcnews.com .

Weight the pegs in whatever manner works for you TO HELP SUPPORTS YOUR BODY so you can be loose on the bars. For me, that is weighting the inside peg at turn-in and as I lean over, I transfer some of the weight to the outside peg.

[Doc]

Typically your weight moves to the outside peg as you turn on the gas.. Just like in the dirt
T9... some weight on the outside foot peg exiting T9 .... And NO weight on the bars once you have initiated the counter steer coming into the apex.... a lot of folk have weight on the inside bar to hold themselves up...T6 is a good err bad example bad, bad, bad.
In T9 the front tire has very little grip with suspension i fully extended.....track is also dropping away.

Weight on inside bar = bad...... what happens if front tire decides to skate a little with weight on the inside bar...? hmmmmm

Oh it skates a little... I feel like I am right on the edge and pushing the front half the time, I can't get on the throttle as much as I would like either... I bet my body position is WAY off too.

[Ken C]

Anyone read the Rossi interview in Roadracing World? Top level racers use slightly different techniques than even fast track day riders, but there is a lot of information that reinforces what Graham is saying.

[Ninjajim]

Cool video, Thanks. Sometimes that type of info is the best to reinforce.

[schleppy]

Could you post the actual powerpoint too?

[xsiliconkid]

Could you post the actual powerpoint too?

how do I post a 7mb Presentation?

[FirstDuc-1098]

very nice Graham

[breakdirt916]

great video

I wish I watched it before going back for a TTD in August!

[CBR929RE]

nice vid, good info. one thing I'd add that came from a friend of mine that has been to the Freddie Spencer school a bunch of times is to get my head way off to the side over my hand. And once you start to pick the bike back up you drop your head even more. I've found it actually does help finish the turn. I remember watching a GP race earlier this year and they showed the onboard ass shot of Stoner and you could really see him doing this.

In this pic I actually banged my chin on my hand. Granted it was mostly cause I was trying to pose for the cameraman but who hasn't done that.

["Dangerous" Dan K]

DDK we are saying the same thing...sort of......weight the inside peg if you must to tip in... but once tipped in you might as well wave your leg around in the breeze....
on the way out, weight the outside peg (as in the dirt). Yes when power is applied the bike does tend to want to open up the radius = stand up ( why?= rear takes the load the front forks lift/extend, the geometry changes to give you more trail...what happens when you get more trail?)
Now to you point, why weight the outside peg if the bike is standing up by itself..... very simple you want to put more down force into the rear to help with the grip of the rear tire to pavement while you are still leaning over but on the gas.....as I said before - just like in the dirt - don't want the rear to spin up.....QED, no?

Thanks for the detailed reply. Riding an EX, tire spin isn't much of a concern for me, but it's good to develop the right habits in case I ever move up to a big boy bike. The dirt reference is a good point, and I do this in the dirt, but I find street riding (well, uh, road racing street bikes) to be so much different than dirt that I make a conscious effort to forget my dirt habits when I'm on pavement.

I just wrote an article about this for an upcoming issue of http://www.mcnews.com .

Weight the pegs in whatever manner works for you TO HELP SUPPORTS YOUR BODY so you can be loose on the bars. For me, that is weighting the inside peg at turn-in and as I lean over, I transfer some of the weight to the outside peg.

Thanks Ken. I'll keep my eyes open for that article. If it occurs to you to post up a link when it's up I'm sure I'm not the only one on here who would enjoy reading it.