Which is why I have a gremlin bell underneath and a pagan Green man badge instead of the BMW badge on the front nose.
Instep, balls?
- Thread starter Jumblemo
- Start date
Which is why I have a gremlin bell underneath and a pagan Green man badge instead of the BMW badge on the front nose.
Balls give that extra control, but for most riding use my instep.
I do notice the Main stand bracket when using Balls on occasion, so maybe those guys complaining about it aren't actually talking utter Ballocks
I do notice the Main stand bracket when using Balls on occasion, so maybe those guys complaining about it aren't actually talking utter Ballocks
Hammam
Registered user
Of course you do, if you want to.I tend to ride on the balls as its what I am used to.
Oh, and you don't actually change direction with your feet....it has no effect in the steering process
I always ride on the balls of my feet. The insteps feel I have no control over the bike. It's to the point I can't get in a turn at speed other than with my balls on the pegs.
+1
Makes me laugh when following other bikes and their feet are dangling down like clowns.
Welshman
Registered user
So I dont have to load the outside peg on gravel roads anymore
you should try 90 degree gravel bends to see if it makes a difference
you should try 90 degree gravel bends to see if it makes a difference
So I dont have to load the outside peg on gravel roads anymore
Weighting the pegs off road improves grip, has nothing to do with steering
I ride on the balls of my feet, it gives me a better feel for the bike underneath me.
One of the biggest benefits of weighting pegs (road, not off road .. !) is that it gives you a platform, from which you can lever your bars.
Some peepes push their bars, some pull and I tend to do a mixture of both without really thinking about it. But what I do know, is that my 'pull' the bike into a corner is much more effective, if i'm weighting the same peg as the pulled bar.
So picture a flick flack double bend; left then right. If I weight my right peg and as I weight it I pull the right bar up against the push of my foot ... bang ... the bikes on it's ear in a jiffy. And now, already on its left side, I weight the left peg and haul the left bar up against my foot - almost like putting yer boot on a door frame and pulling that jammed door open. The actual weighting of the pegs itself does bugger all, but it gives me leverage to pull the bars ...
One of the biggest benefits of weighting pegs (road, not off road .. !) is that it gives you a platform, from which you can lever your bars.
Some peepes push their bars, some pull and I tend to do a mixture of both without really thinking about it. But what I do know, is that my 'pull' the bike into a corner is much more effective, if i'm weighting the same peg as the pulled bar.
So picture a flick flack double bend; left then right. If I weight my right peg and as I weight it I pull the right bar up against the push of my foot ... bang ... the bikes on it's ear in a jiffy. And now, already on its left side, I weight the left peg and haul the left bar up against my foot - almost like putting yer boot on a door frame and pulling that jammed door open. The actual weighting of the pegs itself does bugger all, but it gives me leverage to pull the bars ...
GC6269
Registered user
Phew, either some people can't explain their riding or they've got some weird arse style.
Now, you see I am different. I find it much easier 'push' on the bar than 'pull'. Weight the inside peg and push.... Blimey that sounds like giving birth.
For instance, for a left hander, I find it so very much more economic to push on the left bar than pull on the right. The end effect is exactly the same, just approached from opposite sides in a mirror image.
In this scenario I probably do pull more on the right bar than I think, not least as I will be trying to open the throttle to increase drive and tighten the corner.
A good lesson in 'How to do it' is given by a good friend of mine who has a useless right arm. He drives all of his bike via the left hand, throttle and clutch. He is living proof that counter steering is real. On mountain hairpins, two up on an F800R the only bends he finds hardest ( though you would never know) are left handers. Here he has to push the left bar forward ( he can't pull on the right at all) which closes the converted throttle, making the bike run wide. So he has to push the left bar forward and twist (pull) the throttle back... You do not want to be engaging the clutch lever at the same time, trust me.
Dahoum
Registered user
another classic toilet bike thread in the making
Yup, it's raised the contribution quality immeasurably..... And occupies the minds of the 'Which gloves should I wear' merchants. A selfless act for which we shoud all be grateful.
Considering a lot of people seem to have got through their biking lives believing all sorts of myths and fairy tales, personally I think its a quite worthwhile discussion.
I attended a course a few years ago and at one point Counter Steering was discussed - I was stunned by the amount of riders where this was a new concept.
My take on some of the other posts...
I only tend to ride on my instep through slow moving traffic so I can get to the back brake for slow maneuvering , otherwise its on the ball as a) I don't use the back brake normally and its safer to stay away from it in the event of an emergency, b) my previous bikes were sportier and so it was more natural to be more "draped" around the bike with feet swept back when riding more enthusiastically.
As to Push or Pull...I think I tend to Push more instinctively and have to make a more conscious effort to Pull on the bar...normally if I have misread a turn and have to tighten the line a little quick
@The Nutty GSER -
You're right it does look like big clown feet flapping about...thats all I am going to see now lmaoI ride on the balls of my feet, it gives me a better feel for the bike underneath me.
One of the biggest benefits of weighting pegs (road, not off road .. !) is that it gives you a platform, from which you can lever your bars.
Some peepes push their bars, some pull and I tend to do a mixture of both without really thinking about it. But what I do know, is that my 'pull' the bike into a corner is much more effective, if i'm weighting the same peg as the pulled bar.
So picture a flick flack double bend; left then right. If I weight my right peg and as I weight it I pull the right bar up against the push of my foot ... bang ... the bikes on it's ear in a jiffy. And now, already on its left side, I weight the left peg and haul the left bar up against my foot - almost like putting yer boot on a door frame and pulling that jammed door open. The actual weighting of the pegs itself does bugger all, but it gives me leverage to pull the bars ...
Go into the garage, excavate your bicycle, inflate the tyres, take it to a flat piece of drive way or road etc., hold it vertically with just one hand on the saddle and commence walking forward, lean bicycle in the direction of your choice and watch the handlebars turn of their own accord, observe bicycle turning, lean bicycle opposite direction, watch it reverse it's course.
Bicycle geometry and motorcycle geometry are not quite the same and the amount of lean required is more than you would normally choose when riding your motorcycle "hands off" but it does have an affect. Don't argue, try it.
Mr Wapping, you say that you weight the inside peg? For clarity I mean the left peg on a left turn? I believe most people weight the outside peg so that your outside leg is tense and pressed onto the fuel tank as you lean off the inside of the bike. It helps make the connection twixt rider and bike more rigid and stable, the bike feels more settled especially in bumpy corners. What is your logic for weighting the inside peg? Is this a technique you have developed or one that was taught in some kind of training. I find it interesting.
Bicycle geometry and motorcycle geometry are not quite the same and the amount of lean required is more than you would normally choose when riding your motorcycle "hands off" but it does have an affect. Don't argue, try it.
Mr Wapping, you say that you weight the inside peg? For clarity I mean the left peg on a left turn? I believe most people weight the outside peg so that your outside leg is tense and pressed onto the fuel tank as you lean off the inside of the bike. It helps make the connection twixt rider and bike more rigid and stable, the bike feels more settled especially in bumpy corners. What is your logic for weighting the inside peg? Is this a technique you have developed or one that was taught in some kind of training. I find it interesting.
Mr Wapping, you say that you weight the inside peg? For clarity I mean the left peg on a left turn? I believe most people weight the outside peg so that your outside leg is tense and pressed onto the fuel tank as you lean off the inside of the bike. It helps make the connection twixt rider and bike more rigid and stable, the bike feels more settled especially in bumpy corners. What is your logic for weighting the inside peg? Is this a technique you have developed or one that was taught in some kind of training. I find it interesting.
I think people might think they are weighting the inside peg of a turn if they move their body slightly off the bike in a bend. So in a right hander, you slide your body slightly off the bike into the inside of the bend and so it feels like you are weighting the right hand peg as your weight bears down on the right peg.
The question then is, do you actively do anything with your outside leg ie the Left? Do you tighten against the tank and push down on the left peg? or leave it dangle in the wind?
My guess is that you subconsciously tighten and push down on the left.
In all honesty, I don't think its something I have actively thought about in a bend...I just do "something".
Well, that's another contentious topic; Use of the back brake. And though I think linked brakes make it a moot point, on other bikes, particularly without any sort of anti-dive capability, I'd suggest that a little rear brake better balances the bike to go round a corner with stability.
In all the years I have been riding I've hardly ever used the rear in normal braking - around town and slow maneuvering I'll give it a dab. As you say, with linked brakes now, the bike does it for you if it needs to.
I also think that on modern bikes there is so much stopping power in the front brake, that there shouldn't be any need to touch the rear.
I'm not sure what you mean by "I'd suggest that a little rear brake better balances the bike to go round a corner with stability"....but I'd say that ideally you shouldn't need to touch any brakes in a corner, as you should have scrubbed off enough speed before you get into the corner
Not being perfect
, I have been known to f**k it up occasionally by having misread a corner and have it suddenly tighten up on me. After the initial butt clench and oh shit, I tend to dab the front and then crank the bike over hard and pray the bike is better at getting round the bend than me
The Prospector
Registered user
Well what a load of crap, to put it bluntly.
I think you will find that if you try to corner a bike just by turning the bars you will fail as you will by simply leaning to one side and keeping the bars straight. The simple fact is that cornering on a motorcycle is a combination of many different acts, some probably done unconsciously.
You ask a racer if he ever weights one footrest to assist in cornering or a quick change of direction.
Some people are natural at cornering effectively and quickly on a motorcycle and some people look unsafe and wobble round like the corner was a threepenny bit, from the reply's I can guess which are which.
I think you will find that if you try to corner a bike just by turning the bars you will fail as you will by simply leaning to one side and keeping the bars straight. The simple fact is that cornering on a motorcycle is a combination of many different acts, some probably done unconsciously.
You ask a racer if he ever weights one footrest to assist in cornering or a quick change of direction.
Some people are natural at cornering effectively and quickly on a motorcycle and some people look unsafe and wobble round like the corner was a threepenny bit, from the reply's I can guess which are which.
Well what a load of crap, to put it bluntly.
I think you will find that if you try to corner a bike just by turning the bars you will fail as you will by simply leaning to one side and keeping the bars straight. The simple fact is that cornering on a motorcycle is a combination of many different acts, some probably done unconsciously.
You ask a racer if he ever weights one footrest to assist in cornering or a quick change of direction.
Some people are natural at cornering effectively and quickly on a motorcycle and some people look unsafe and wobble round like the corner was a threepenny bit, from the reply's I can guess which are which.
Cornering is a combination of many different acts, of which the only one of any real significance in actually making the turn is, counter steering.
Without that, all the other acts do diddly squat.
Similar threads
