Body Position - Street or Track

[MisterH112]

The motorcycle handles the same, whether riding street or track. Body position is non-mc technical factor than can help the rider have better control of their mc.

here are some helpful vids:

YouTube- Dirk Anderson: "Body Position" #2



YouTube- Dirk Anderson: "Body Position" MSR C

[MisterH112]

In light of body position, I find it's the one area that i'm always focusing on, it is because i'm trying to build consistency.

To try to generate some conversation, and also for those to see what the hell is wrong (lol), here are some pic sof me riding from a few years ago: who can tell what I should be doing?


http://c4.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/14/l_802727b20dd549d0ad6398b4a8d71c4b.jpg

http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/56/l_35db4a377c2d400c8c41c4b5e7218432.jpg

[MaTTMaN]

get off your bike!! by that i dont mean like get off your bike and walk away. just get comfortable with leaning off. aka EAT THE MIRROR!

[Birdman]

The first thing you need to do is reposition your foot.

[Jasonzilla]

My favorite topic. But I'm going to sleep. I'm telling you now: get a good BP and tweak it a little as you learn, but don't get too into it. It will waste a bunch of time, and lap time increases will be minimum. If you're going to Inde this weekend I will work with you.

[MisterH112]

LOL - Mattman - how do you suggest I "eat the mirror"? I hear this phrase often, but don't really understand it..

get off your bike!! by that i dont mean like get off your bike and walk away. just get comfortable with leaning off. aka EAT THE MIRROR!

Birdman - Can you elaborate on this a little please?

The first thing you need to do is reposition your foot.




p.s - I get what you two are saying.. i'm asking for those who may not know.

[Birdman]

Birdman - Can you elaborate on this a little please?


You need to get your foot (the one to the inside of the corner) up and out of the way of the roadway. The first thing that should touch is your peg, not any part of your foot.

Reposition foot is the first step of the 10 Steps to proper cornering that is taught in the Total Control Advanced Riding Clinic. You can pick up Lee Park's book at Border's and then take the class as well.

Things that require muscle memory typically require a coach and some training. Some people pick it up through written word, but ultimately even the pros turn to qualified feedback in a controlled environment.

You need to be careful with what you go out and "try" without first understanding the how and why.

[MisterH112]

^ Great Stuff!

[Racers Photo]

You really should get and read Lee's book, and the class is a bargain. 100% real-world useful info on a lot more than just body positioning. I've read the book, taken the class and am even a certified instructor (though not currently active). I highly recommend it!

But for the sake of this thread, here's something to chew on:

http://dean.rachwitz.com/MattDom-BP.jpg

This is Matt Dom (#3), a local expert CCS racer. Matt has very consistently good body position. While very few people do everything right, Matt is doing a lot of things right in this photo.

He's about to 'flop' into Turn 2 at Firebird East. You see that while his bike is still transitioning from right to left, Matt has already positioned his body for the middle of the turn. He will not need to change his body position until the exit of the turn, as he stands the bike up and returns to normal riding position. (You will learn, practice and be coached on this in detail in Total Control).

So, without going into too much detail, what can we see about his body position?

1. As mentioned by Birdman, his inside foot has been repositioned. It is up and out of the way.
2. Check out his body position. Head and shoulders inside the centerline of the bike. His butt is slid to the inside too, but head and shoulders are much more important.
3. Where's his head? He's looking at the apex of the corner at the moment, and as soon as he turns in he'll move his gaze to the exit.
4. Check out his arms. Very relaxed, ready to let the bike do what it already wants to do at this point, which is turn left.

There's so much more to getting through the corner than just getting your body position right, but hopefully you find that helpful.

Of course, Matt is on a race course and you shouldn't be dragging a knee on the street, right?



By the way, here's Matt, same corner just past the apex.

http://www.racersphoto.com/img/v8/p423818225-4.jpg

[Jasonzilla]

You are doing a few things right, Johnny. Your head is up, looking out, your body is in line with the bike, you don't seem to be fighting the lean. You'll progress from there, but it's a fantastic start. You have plenty to build on.

If you want things to work on, start simple. Getting your feet in the proper position is important. So is "locking in" to the bike. That's going to be holding your position and weight on the bike with your legs. Loose grip on the bike. These are both things you can work on when playing on the back roads, or commuting to work.

Don't get caught up in the complicated "photo op" position. Matt, above, has a perfect standard BP (except the wrists, they need to be straight to optimize rider input into the bars). If you look at Rossi, someone whom I think defines a great BP, he's not trying to drag his helmet or get on the side of the bike. Just getting over, dropping him and his bikes center of gravity and moving it to the inside.

As far over as Bautista is (below) he's got the same BP as if he was taking the corner 10 mph slower around this corner. Looks almost the same as Matt's, doesn't it?

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p65/hubbard_28/BAUTISTA.jpg

[MisterH112]

I like how we can see transitions in all 4 of the photos, going from my begining days and seeing what a new rider looks like, to matt, then to baustisa. matt and bausita have similarites in their bp.

dean gives a great explination of the stages of bp and then you add more to it. I would like to make a step by step process here, lets copy and paste it, so we can add more stages, also if you see a stage missed add it in.

1. Setting your feet up: ball of the feet on the pegs
2. forearms need to be parallel to the ground
3. The center of your body (the a line), including yoru ass, should be on one side of the bike or the other
4. lower back supports your upper body, and should be lean forward
5. head should be looking through the turn.

let's build from there

[MisterH112]

oh btw, i really do look like that when i ride anymore... i have photos to prove it. ;-)

[PHX600RR]

http://i22.tinypic.com/2ikxt4.jpg

[PHX600RR]

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w104/girly-panda/valentino-rossi-catalunya-03.jpg

[PHX600RR]

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d132/CheFBabU/img_1245676867_931_lg.jpg

[PHX600RR]

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d132/CheFBabU/n504618_ROSSI08_original.jpg

[PHX600RR]

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m155/rsp919/colin3.jpg

[DevilChild]

I like how we can see transitions in all 4 of the photos, going from my beginning days and seeing what a new rider looks like, to matt, then to baustisa. matt and bausita have similarities in their bp.

dean gives a great explanation of the stages of bp and then you add more to it. I would like to make a step by step process here, lets copy and paste it, so we can add more stages, also if you see a stage missed add it in.

1. Setting your feet up: ball of the feet on the pegs
2. forearms need to be parallel to the ground
3. The center of your body (the a line), including yoru ass, should be on one side of the bike or the other
4. lower back supports your upper body, and should be lean forward
5. head should be looking through the turn.

let's build from there

Crazy! As a passenger I do these things too. lol.
Except I'm setting up for the rider, as well as the corner. I never lean pass Giovanni, I go to the point that I can see but unless he moves his body, I don't move. Sometimes I have to move my hands too.

Riding by myself.. yup.. I follow the same rules. :)

[MisterH112]

PHX600RR - great pics, the first guy a deals gap, pretty intense, but effin' stupid for riding that hard on tail, that road is insanely dangerous. a lot of idiots cross over the yellow line there. go to www.killboy.com (http://www.killboy.com) you will see.

As for spies and rossi, those guys are out of this of this world, and our everday riding will never amount to an ounce of their talent. but at least we can view their bp and hope the we can be a few inches away from dragging shoulder like rossi

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w104/girly-panda/valentino-rossi-catalunya-03.jpg (http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w104/girly-panda/valentino-rossi-catalunya-03.jpg)

[MOTOXAZ]

http://i22.tinypic.com/2ikxt4.jpg
Ive had that photo on my computer for about a year now and has to be one of my all time favorites. Not to mention its an R6 as well :)