This Week 28 Feb - 6 March: Your Ride and Practice

[Terminated]

Thanks Chanceyy and Quallman for your selections for this week.

Congratulations to Lissa and Grub. Interesting reading.

It was good to get the insight.

I will send PM to you all shortly.

Whoops some discussion further on below....well done guys.

[Kendog]

A low centre of gravity on a motorcycle destined for the road or race track is a bad thing. The c of G needs to be near the roll centre of the bike. Ask Wayne Garner whether or not an underslung fuel tank help the handling of an NSR500. Some hefty bikes like Triumph Rockets and Suzuki M109R's have low Cof G's to help low speed handling, but they seldom get pushed really hard, to where a low C of G would do things like push the front tyre hard, and make the bike increasingly difficult to steer.

What you've done is change the rider's C of G in relation to the bike, not the C of G of the Bike, and probably moved the combined centre of mass forward. I've got a cool picture in a magazine at home that shows the relative effects of moving the rider around in relation to the CofG and the CofM. I'll try to scan it and chuck it up.

The contrary view below makes more sense to me, though I think the first guy is thinking of the Trail bike technique of standing up tall, not hovering over the saddle like you're describing.

http://www.msgroup.org/DISCUSS.asp

http://www.msgroup.org/Contrary/NEG142.html

Thats a pretty good site with some useful info.

I have also been trying out the 'weight on the peg' theory, in particular puting my weight on the outside peg in corners and to me the bike feels way more planted. Probably not because of a lower CofG but more to do with the bike being held in a more vertical position while I can lean over more.

On his site he has another article where I think weighting the outside peg is of benefit, but it is not mentioned:
http://www.msgroup.org/TIP203.html

Am I on the right track?

[Grub]

Am I on the right track?

I think so ... and isn't it amazing trying some of this stuff.

I'm not consciously loading the outside peg but using the body to get inside of the bike for the turn does stand it up, does seem to use a better part of the tyre and just feels (your word) 'planted'.

I also find that if I have to change line in the corner (crazy car drivers over centreline usually), my body position doesn't change, I just push the bike up or bring it down. The bike feels like a nifty fifty instead of a 185kg sporter. What's happening is the greatest mas (me) is unhinged and floating free so the adjustment to the bike is effortless.

I don't know if I'm on the right track either but I'm learning so much in trying. Especially seeing how far i can/need to hang off the bike for certain corners and working on different leg positions.

I should say that I am not only moving my bum but more importantly head, chest and shoulders. If I want to tighten a corner, I just lay down forwards. My chest is touching the tank and i am looking under my mirror stem through the corner.

[James Deuce]

You guys are on the right track. Just remember that on the road you don't need to go into full on racetrack attack mode to make a difference. Moving a couple of inches in the seat and sticking a knee out will give you mostly the same effect.

A mate of mine got done for reckless for hanging off because he "wasn't in full control of the vehicle". It could be argued he was more in control.

In terms of how distributing your weight works, if you weight the inside peg you are adding force to the vector that is trying to make the bike move to the outside of the turn. Weighting the outside peg cancels a little of that force and adds some to the vector keeping the bike in touch with the tarmac.

[Grub]

You guys are on the right track. Just remember that on the road you don't need to go into full on racetrack attack mode to make a difference.

I know ... it looks totally stupid as well! I don't do it where I can be seen If another bike/vehicle appears I sit up and ride nicely.

Because I have the hill rd to try it (157 corners in 11.1km), I am able to see how much of this affects how much of that, where weight tightens or widens a corner etc etc.

Mostly I end up carving a much tighter corner that I need to so now I'm thinking that I can add a little more speed or apply power earlier to make the best of it.

I'm also aware that one day I might get to the boundary ... so sometimes I just back off and admire the scenery (well i did once ...)