Mock my Riding Position

[moanthebairns]

Steve Evil said:

.blue said:

"Ride on your tiptoes" - is that good advice for riding on the road too? WHat's the logic behind it?

Apologies if already discussed - have only read OP and looked at photos.

It's mainly for ground clearance. Riding duck-footed with your toes hanging off the sides mean that they're the first thing that's going to touch down when you're leaning as far over as you do on the track. Keeping on the ball of your feet and twisting your heel back towards the bike both gives you more ground clearance and lets your leg open out which makes it a more natural knee-down position (if that's your thing).

this could be why my @stars boots are fked it the slider thingy and why I had to get new ones for it.

That and my foot has been known to come out a few times.

[RizzoTheRat]

Steve Evil said:

drop your inside shoulder

No idea about tracks but that's a great bit of advice for road riding too. If I ever get a day where I'm just not feeling it I make a concious effort to drop my shoulder in to corners and it amkes a big difference to my riding and gets my confidence back up straight away.

[.blue]

So it's balls of feet on pegs and feet angled out from the bike to naturally open the legs - got it. Will give it a go this weekend.

Although (and apologies if I'm hijacking the thread though you might find it useful too OP), doesn't legs open clash with 'grip tank with your knees' which is advice I've been given several times before?

[Prof Prolapse]

moanthebairns said:

Right first things first I know I’m crap but I’m looking for advice on how to improve my awful riding position.




edit to add - photos from tracksidepics.com

Same bend... Diff line. less lean. Don't know why I posted really, I just wanted to see the pics together. Wish I'd had some pics from a section I don't hate.



Yes... I still need to pay for my pictures...

moanthebairns said:

Any other advice?

Yeah, binning it at the track is much more acceptable than binning it at a petrol station and having a fat bird rescue you from under it.

[moanthebairns]

she wasnt fat she was husky.

[Prof Prolapse]

Oh and whilst I'm on pistonheads, I don't remember if I responded to your text or not, but re: extractors, if you can tap them over it will definately remove, but my concern is you may not be able to get purchase over the domed allen bit in the first place. I'm assuming you've already removed the rearsets (I think that's what you had struggled with?) in which case you can bring the part with you and we can check.

[Steve Evil]

.blue said:

So it's balls of feet on pegs and feet angled out from the bike to naturally open the legs - got it. Will give it a go this weekend.

Although (and apologies if I'm hijacking the thread though you might find it useful too OP), doesn't legs open clash with 'grip tank with your knees' which is advice I've been given several times before?

In a corner you use your outside leg to support your body (and outside arm if you like). Gripping the tank with your knees is good advice in general, it keeps your weight off your wrists, but when cornering you should just need one steering input and then in theory you're free to let go of the bars, the only thing you need to hold on for is the throttle.

Coming up to a corner on track I'll shift my bum over to the inside whilst keeping both knees locked on, start braking and keep my knees locked in order to keep from shifting too far forward, then when I start to ease off the brakes and turn in, I release my inside knee from the tank and point it towards the deck. Your outer leg should provide enough of a lock to keep your whole body from falling off.

I don't do any of this on the road though, most I'll do is shift my upper body a bit and it takes me a few laps of a track to get used to moving around on the bike again.

[13aines]

.blue said:

"Ride on your tiptoes" - is that good advice for riding on the road too? WHat's the logic behind it?

Apologies if already discussed - have only read OP and looked at photos.

It just feels right. I feel like i've got more fine control with the balls of my feet on the pegs. Duck feet just feels plain wrong, and less accurate. Obviously you can't get your knee out while gripping the tank. But it helps take weight off your wrists A LOT when you're not trying to be the next Rossi, and just riding briskly, and especially under any braking.


I am even stter moanthebairns, but you look like you've got the bike tipped in pretty nicely, using a fair amount of the tyre, committed, and certainly, in my very humble opinion, need to focus more on your body position more so. Seems like you have good trust in the tyre and the bike - something I seem to lack.

A good book, if you can stop being a cheap tt is "Sport Riding Techniques: How to Develop Real World Skills for Speed, Safety and Confidence on the Street and Track" - i've learnt a lot from it and I am looking forward to trying to apply it when I find some good roads, and get real confidence from hot roads and tyres. I was going to pretty much echo what I have learnt, but it has been said above.

[Kawasicki]

Looks very similar to my riding position. On the one track day I've ever done the instructor followed me around for one session. His opinion...lean off way more, as I was running on the edge of the tyre, and he couldn't understand how I was managing to a)not fall off and b)actually ride at an ok pace. I tried leaning off way more, but it was sapping my concentration/skill reserves to do so and my line went all crap.

[sprinter1050]

.blue said:

, doesn't legs open clash with 'grip tank with your knees' which is advice I've been given several times before?

Some of us are unable to close our legs to grip the tank with knees due to the size of our "Mister particles"
:

[Steve Evil]

Kawasicki said:

Looks very similar to my riding position. On the one track day I've ever done the instructor followed me around for one session. His opinion...lean off way more, as I was running on the edge of the tyre, and he couldn't understand how I was managing to a)not fall off and b)actually ride at an ok pace. I tried leaning off way more, but it was sapping my concentration/skill reserves to do so and my line went all crap.

As you're trying to introduce a change to your riding style you need to back your speed off to allow you to adapt, then once you've cracked it, you can build your speed back up again until you're hopefully going faster than you were originally, then you hit the next wall and have to make further changes.

[moanthebairns]

one thing I started to do as the night went on was trail brake, especially at duffus dip it actually felt so much better.

Just a little but seemed to feel more natural that brake in straight line, lean in and throttle on.

[Graham]

.blue said:

So it's balls of feet on pegs

probably a stupid comment and maybe because i've only ridden on the road, but when i put the balls of my feet on the pegs im conscious i can't reach the gear leaver and rear brake..

do I just need to accept i need to move my feet and body around the bike a lot more than i do..

is there a particular method to move your foot forward to grab a gear or brake?

i await sell the bike and get back in your cage comments

[moanthebairns]

Graham said:

.blue said:

So it's balls of feet on pegs

probably a stupid comment and maybe because i've only ridden on the road, but when i put the balls of my feet on the pegs im conscious i can't reach the gear leaver and rear brake..

do I just need to accept i need to move my feet and body around the bike a lot more than i do..

is there a particular method to move your foot forward to grab a gear or brake?

i await sell the bike and get back in your cage comments

I was told not to ride like this on the road by my das instructor. There is no need for it.

Having done the balls method I will be using it on the road more.

[mu0n]

I never really understand why most riders ride with their feet out like ducks – I am pretty sure I don’t?

[moanthebairns]

mu0n said:

I never really understand why most riders ride with their feet out like ducks – I am pretty sure I don’t?

they're affraid of the BILL if they drop it

[Megaflow]

I was taught to ride duck style, or plodder style as the wife calls it. I tried balls of the feet once after she took the piss, and in the process of moving my foot I caught the gearlever and went *down* a gear rather than the up change I was about to make...

The bike was really not happy about that, neither were my trollies, duck style for me thanks!

[Prof Prolapse]

moanthebairns said:

mu0n said:

I never really understand why most riders ride with their feet out like ducks – I am pretty sure I don’t?

they're affraid of the BILL if they drop it

[mu0n]

Duck style just doesn't feel natural for me, but maybe it's because of the Arrow rearsets? I'm not sure - but I do know that I move my feet around quite a bit.

Then again I've only just started clutchless upshifting. I just had to realise I needed to pre-load the gear shift before coming off the throttle.

[Fats25]

I wouldn't worry about it!

I am no track god - I would be near the front of the novices, or back of the intermediates - and I would love to be knee down round every corner, and looking like they do on the TV. It ain't going to happen though!

I have paid for the MSV guides to follow me for a session before, and they told me not to lean any further as the bike was leaned over enough. I was advised as above to get used to hanging off the bike. However I am just not comfortable with it - I am actually quicker, and feel safer riding with my existing style. You can end up spending more time thinking about looking good than actually enjoying it!

I am never going to race, and my novice/inters is plenty fast enough for me - so I just get on the track and enjoy it now!

I found an example of my riding position to mock as well!

Edited by Fats25 on Friday 31st May 13:34