How to hang off the bike

[DLIT]

Sitting back in the seat a lil bit and not riding the tank also puts weight on the rear tire. The g-forces from your 400+ pound bike will put weight on your tires, plus your body weight. The big thing is to not weight your arms, which is also one of the hardest things to perfect. If you weight your arms, you're pushing the front end away from you and that's what causes lowsides.

I'm gonna get Zort involved in this, he's been to many schools and has a lot of tips, some I stole from him while he was talking to somebody else about 'em. Not saying you guys are wrong or anything. Maybe I just don't understand or it is something I'm doing but don't realize it. But my outside foot, during a turn is kind of pushing my knee to the side of the tank so there's a bit of pressure on the tank. When done correctly I could take my inside arm off my bar throughout the entire turn comfortably.

[No Worries]

My friend Dean and I did over 300 curves yesterday. Half were uphill, half were downhill, half were blind corners, many were tight, and some were fast sweepers. These were the roads I was going to take Drewpy and company on.

My favorite curves are the S-curves. You are fully leaned in one direction then one second later, fully leaned in the other direction. Going into the first curve, you have a second to position your inside foot, position your body, locate the turn point, and look through the turn. Then you have half a second to relax the outside grip, and push on the inside grip. Then as you come out of the curve, you can roll on the throttle, push on the outside grip to get the bike upright, and move back to neutral. Then you have a tenth of a second to start doing all the same things on the opposite side of the bike.

What a workout for the brain and body. And what fun when done smoothly and correctly. When you think you master it uphill, then you do it downhill. Then you toss in some sand, cars coming over the double yellow, and deer jumping onto the road.

[Dnyce]

Originally Posted by DLIT

But my outside foot, during a turn is kind of pushing my knee to the side of the tank so there's a bit of pressure on the tank.

hows this sound?

for your outside foot to push your knee to the side of the tank, it would have to push against something...the peg. by pushing against the peg, you are putting weight on it, and therefore it would seem this is something u are doing and dont realize it.

[DLIT]

Originally Posted by Dnyce

hows this sound?

for your outside foot to push your knee to the side of the tank, it would have to push against something...the peg. by pushing against the peg, you are putting weight on it, and therefore it would seem this is something u are doing and dont realize it.

That's what I was thinking, but my weight is being countered by the force against my tank, I don't know, fuck it.

[Trip]

Originally Posted by DLIT

That's what I was thinking, but my weight is being countered by the force against my tank, I don't know, fuck it.

the force against your tank should be more of a squeeze in your thigh and so you feet shouldnt be so much a force on it.

[pickle.of.doom]

[the chi]

can i just state that everyone is going to have a difference of opinion on this one?

For example, those taller will have to adjust their style and cant ride like shorter people, those wider or stockier people cant ride like wiry people. After learning from my friends (retired racers, current racers, and track junkies), all people have a lil different style, you just have to find a proper style that fits your body type and ride.

I cant tell you guys to do it like I do, because I operate on a "tits to the tank" style. Being rather tiny compared to you guys, and not weighing very much, I have to adjust my style to compensate for this, and learning from female racers, I know if I have my chest on the side of my tank, with my arms relaxed, weighting the outside peg, and my knee directly out, ass off the seat and head down towards my mirror, then I am using the optimal position for me, whereas a heavier guy cant necessarily completely hold himself off the seat with knee out and his chest beside (not on or against, i mean BESIDE the tank, with shoulder at the same heigth as the tank) for any length of time. (think spider monkey)

Take the good points you can use, leave the rest and develop your best riding style for you. Good thread Trip!

[No Worries]

Wait a second. When you are riding mountains or canyons, there is no time between curves to rotate hips, weigh your feet, or hug the tank. Here's what Lee Parks recommends in Total Control:

1. Your foot should be tucked in so it doesn't stick out.
2. Start leaning your upper body to keep the centerline of your upper body to the inside of your bike's centerline.
3. Push on the outside grip to keep the bike going straight.
4. Locate the turn point.
5. After locating your turn point, look through the turn.
6. Now you start turning by relaxing the outside grip.
7. Push on the inside grip until your desired lean angle is achieved. Use only the inside arm to make all steering corrections.
8. Roll on the throttle smoothly.
9. Push on the outside grip to bring the bike upright.
10. Move back to neutral.

I don't do any knee movement, or foot movement, or move my butt around. I just move my upper body from one side to the other, and rotate my head to look through the turn. The upper body movement is enough to move the bike's center of gravity to the inside of the turn. With my upper body toward the inside, it's real easy to push on the inside grip. There is just no time to think about the other things, let alone do them, in the short amount of time that curves change direction in a canyon.

[DLIT]

Originally Posted by Trip

the force against your tank should be more of a squeeze in your thigh and so you feet shouldnt be so much a force on it.

I think you might be thinking I'm putting more force than I actually am. I use the peg as a point to create leverage against my tank, making my knee against my tank secure as fuck. I could probably let go of the bars, that's how secure I'm talking about.

[the chi]

I find that weighting my outside peg gives me that lil bit of "oomph" that will allow me with my momentum to slide to the outside while still accelerating forward...hard to explain but its an incredible feeling, and from something so small!

I place my foot to the outside edge of the peg with foot still on it completely and push down, while gripping with my thigh and leg to the tank and it actually anchors my leg more firmly on the tank, but thats due to the way the gsxr tank is shaped as well.

Im talking straight track riding however, including my post above...street riding i dont make nearly as complex...more of a roll...from side to side like what NW mentions...