Standing up

[Phreaky Phil]

Standing up is good until you loose the front, then your usually on the ground before you can get a leg down. BUT, dont let that stop you riding standing up, especially offroad. Far better control. You can move your weight around. Heres a short clip of me On a WR450 http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...adventure&aq=f

[Woodman]

yea i stand quite a lot now, used to hate it but once you get used to it it is so much better. My klr has a ims tank which makes my legs splay out a bit and the footpegs are too far forward, but its ok ish.

its amazing the control you can get with foot weight. Try lifting your left foot off the peg and turning right (and vice versa)on gnarly stuff. works really good.

[Snails pace]

Thanks for the info guys and the humour. I will keep tootling along.

[pampa]

don't quite agree with that (I'm no expert though) ... I've found that standing helps there as well. You can keep one foot on the peg and the other one help you regain balance while staying on the throttle ...

Standing up is good until you loose the front, then your usually on the ground before you can get a leg down. BUT, dont let that stop you riding standing up, especially offroad. Far better control. You can move your weight around. Heres a short clip of me On a WR450 http://www.youtube.com/results?searc...adventure&aq=f

[NordieBoy]

I put some 25mm risers on, that did the trick.
The 950 is so easy to ride standing up, you can forget that yer on a big bike.
This sometimes allows the overconfidence fairy to turn up and smack you upside yer heed, like...

My bars are about 6cm higher than stock already.

Fluffycats 990 felt a lot smaller than I thought it would and it felt very DR'ish to ride - apart from the engine...

I can see why there's a number of ex-DR riders on the big ADV's.

[bart]

What....so you guys actually sit..........

Dirt bike background I guess, but I always stand when riding on loose surfaces. As for the loosing the front thing, I don't agree. By constantly loading and unloading the front wheel (as simple as moving your weight forward or back) you soon learn how much grip you have. It can be quicker to lean back and unload the front than dabbing a foot.....for me anyway, being 5 foot FA.

By getting your weight off the side of the bike on corners you can keep maximum grip with maximum momentum (or fishtail like a bastard if you keep weight forward as well)

[warewolf]

Standing up will stop you losing the front, because you will have more control and are able to correct faster. And losing the front is not a game-breaker, as you are in the right position to correct/catch it. Never give up, always ride the bike into the ground as it is amazing what you and/or the bike can save. You can also see further ahead, which gives you more time to plan/ pick your line.

The main thing to remember with standing up, is that your head ALWAYS should be over the handlebars. Move your bum/knees to shift your body weight. Set the bike up so that all the controls are easy to use while standing, 'cos you are only sitting down when nothing untoward is happening and you have extra time to get to the controls if they are a little awkward. When the shit hits the fan you are standing up and want all the controls just right there.

[Padmei]

Interesting.
Funnily enough the fastest guys I've ridden with & watched on TV/DVD have sat more than stood up. This is over flat & medium technical.

[wysper]

When there is a camera......Ain't that the truth guys?
Then we fall off some of the time too.....when there is a camera....
T

Absolutely love this! There is a lot of truth here young padawan LOL

The main thing to remember with standing up, is that your head ALWAYS should be over the handlebars. Move your bum/knees to shift your body weight.

Is this purely a balance thing? In a way it is hard to have your head anywhere else as the fact that you are standing up reaching for the bars and your feet are slightly behind you, you are almost forced to lean forward anyway. Not completely true as in traffic I can stand straight up no dramas but when you get a bit of pace on you tend to lean forward.

So I assume if your head is further back your balance will be screwed?

[Snails pace]

Just a follow up. I have tilted my bars back a tad and my center of balance is now more towards the center of the bike. Much more comfortable. I was never any good with maths at school, but when standing my arms to the bars would be approx 45 degrees. All I need to do now is crash a couple of times to see what hits first the feet or things higher up

[Monstaman]

When the shit hits the fan you are standing up and want all the controls just right there.

... and when that shit stalls the fan completely it is far easier to bail off and run over the top like a total gonk .... voice of experience after doing David Attenborough nature observation

I road ride a lot and have the ball of my foot on the peg, great for control and ground clearance thus I carried this through while ADV riding, I have seen guys snag the toe of their boots and cause offs and worst an injury so I would encourage the higher the better to within reason.

[NordieBoy]

I have seen guys snag the toe of their boots and cause offs and worst an injury so I would encourage the higher the better to within reason.

When seated my toes point down quite a bit so I learned to ride with the balls of my feet on the pegs so it didn't hurt so much...

Quite funny actually when your left foot is suddenly doing zero kph and the rest of you is still doing 40. It'd make good video footage especially in slow motion.

[Monstaman]

When seated my toes point down quite a bit

... now this is when it IS worth while being a hobbit

I also adjusted my gear lever up a bit, when we did Waiakia Bush Road with Matt (matsdaker) I rode into the ruts and the rut edge knocked the old bag into neutral.

So I looked like a total dork with max revs on standing (with balls of my feet on the pegs) upright wedged and not going anywhere and trying to balance and not go over the bars as the bike ground to a halt.

[PeteJ]

Interesting.
Funnily enough the fastest guys I've ridden with & watched on TV/DVD have sat more than stood up. This is over flat & medium technical.

Yup.

Bikes have seats for a reason.

Trials bikes have next to no seats for a reason.

[JATZ]

Standing up is good until you loose the front, then your usually on the ground before you can get a leg down.

I think the quickest lie down I had was when standing..... 1 second I was cruising along nicely the next I was rolling along the ground with the bike making strange noises next to me, it really was a split second between the 2