Motogp Comparison And Body Position

[rchase]

Jason Pridmore wrote a rather controversial article that I found through Facebook. While many won't agree with what he had to say I think he's touched on a number of things we should really think about when it comes to body position and our riding.

 

http://starmotorcycle.com/body-position-moto-gp-comparison-just-isnt-realistic/

 

I still think practicing good body position is a good thing. When we ultimately get faster we already are positioned so our bike is less likely to run wide. We just have to be a bit realistic about it.

 

 

[bradvanhorn]

The article is fairly non-descript really. Other than saying not to compare ourselves to MotoGP stars he really didn't say exactly what or why we should do differently. Or at least that's how I read the article.

 

I have been to Jason Pridmores Star School and so I've heard him speak, albeit briefly, regarding body position. To summarize, he recommends and his staff teach what I would call a crossed-up position. Look at pics of Jason cornering and that's what you get - more hip off and less overall body hanging off - lots of pivoting around the tank is my feeling. As it is described in the class, this less "extreme" hang off position allows for less overall movement by the rider and requires less energy to achieve and maintain thereby being less fatiguing (they reference endurance racing in the class, so that might be influential in that rationale). Myself and other students who had CSS training and were (more or less) already comfortable with our body position but they made a bit of spectacle (in my opinion) trying to change us to their body position. I didn't like the body position or the manner in which they instructed on this point (perhaps my biases came out). Anyway, sometimes different is just different. I'll stick with what I learn at CSS however

 

(Edited to add my disclaimer: I don't want to misrepresent Star School in anything I said, and it was a few years ago, so not all details may be perfectly related in my post(s).)

[rchase]

I have personally seen the value of moving my upper body mid turn. It's too much of a weight shift advantage to stop doing. I have experienced going wide and then sticking my head out in the hook turn and almost running over the apex. It works! Sometimes too well at times.

 

Jason's message is slightly controversial but if you look at what he was trying to say overall it makes sense. There's a lot of people out there (probably not many of us) that are wearing themselves out and not really gaining much speed advantage from it.

[tmckeen]

I think the basic point he's trying to make with this article, and it actually kinda lines up with the curriculum at CSS, is that there's a place for using lots of "body English" and there's a place where it isn't really needed. If your only using 20-30 degrees of lean angle anything you might gain from massively hanging off the bike could be done much easier by simply using a few more degrees of lean angle. But if your using 40-50 degrees of lean and your dragging hard parts, the only way to go faster is to use more "body English". If your a beginner or new to the track, "getting off the bike" isn't the first thing you want to focus on, in much the same way CSS doesn't really work on it till level 3-4, there are lots of other fundamentals that you should focus on that will net you much more gain.

 

 

Tyler

[ktk_ace]

I think the basic point he's trying to make with this article, and it actually kinda lines up with the curriculum at CSS, is that there's a place for using lots of "body English" and there's a place where it isn't really needed. If your only using 20-30 degrees of lean angle anything you might gain from massively hanging off the bike could be done much easier by simply using a few more degrees of lean angle. But if your using 40-50 degrees of lean and your dragging hard parts, the only way to go faster is to use more "body English". If your a beginner or new to the track, "getting off the bike" isn't the first thing you want to focus on, in much the same way CSS doesn't really work on it till level 3-4, there are lots of other fundamentals that you should focus on that will net you much more gain.

 

 

Tyler

X2

 

I would also like to add that some bikes are naturally more biased towards CSS ciriculum , namely BMW and kawasaki bikes (stock ones that is) as their forward and aft balance are more 50:50 + longer wheelbase so to speak

 

Do the midcorner "front part hangout" with a Suzuki and you risk oversteering and upsetting the rear. (Suzuki GSXRs are more 55:45 + a far shorter wheelbase in comparison in simple english )

 

longer wheelbase = more stable

 

shorter wheelbase = more nimble

 

 

wheelbase lengths

 

ZX10R 2015 1,425 mm

 

GSXR 1000 2015 1,405 mm

 

S1000RR 1432MM (i heard its even longer for the 2015 model)

 

PS. WSBK would be much more relevant due to the virtue that all aids and modifications on paper should be avaliable to the public (but that is not always the case, eg custom frame rigidity)