SickNic Posted September 22, 2015 Report Share Posted September 22, 2015 Hello Superbike Family! I'm a newer member. Joined recently. I will start by saying I am self taught for the most part. Which can be good and bad depending on my habits! I have read many a book, watched many a video but the best advice I have received to date has been analysis of my pictures. So here we go! I want my body position to improve. I feel like I am doing something wrong. Would love to hear from everyone here on steps I can take to get better at this! Below are pics from my very first track day at Thunderhill, and my most recent which was this last Sunday First track day: Recent track day: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FieryRobot Posted September 22, 2015 Report Share Posted September 22, 2015 Honestly, it's not too bad. Better than mine, I think. You could probably poke your knee out more. Why do you think it's not good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YellowDuck Posted September 23, 2015 Report Share Posted September 23, 2015 I'd agree that it looks pretty good. I'd say the last two photos look better than the first two. Not sure what the difference is. Maybe in the last two you have you hips rotated more outwards, towards the corner? It also looks like you are crowding the tank a bit, which is affecting your arm bend. Could you scooch back in the seat a little? Just my two cents - definitely not an expert. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khp Posted September 23, 2015 Report Share Posted September 23, 2015 Hugh, What I notice between the first two and the last two pictures is that OP has her bum more out (check the zipper on the first and fourth picture) and that she's lowering her upper body more. Both good things! I would look for the distance to the tank as well - you need to be about a fists' distance from the tank with your crotch (I'm definitely guilty of crowding the tank too). With the pictures taken from the front, it is hard to tell if there is any hip rotation. SickNic: how comfortable do you feel about your inner hands wrist? If you feel it's a bit crammed, you might want to try holding it with a "screwdriver" hold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rchase Posted September 23, 2015 Report Share Posted September 23, 2015 Looking great there SlickNic. As others have mentioned the only suggestion I would have is the "screwdriver grip" in order to lower your inside elbow. That helps you lower your head and get it further towards the inside of the turn. Quite honestly though that's splitting hairs. Overall you look great! Even on your first track day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SickNic Posted September 24, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 24, 2015 Thanks everyone for the positive feedback! The first pics are from the first track day I had ever done. Which was January of 2014. I have done a handful since then, and most recently at Thill last Sunday. I just can't tell by looking at the pics! I feel like I still look awkward compared to other riders. But you guys have made me feel much better. I like the screwdriver suggestion. I started doing that with throttle, but never considered the other hand. That should help considerably. And getting further comfy with leaning over further too! I wonder also if I need to get more off the bike than I am too? Maybe more butt cheek off? Things to practice and work on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csmith12 Posted September 24, 2015 Report Share Posted September 24, 2015 I feel like I still look awkward compared to other riders. Perhaps that awkward look you feel you have is being tense, rigid or generally tight on the bars. Maybe try to relax more. How far do you need to hang off the bike? 1 butt cheek off is normally enough and your spine should be fairly close to being inline with the bike. Also, at some point, you will have to hang off a lot or start to rotate around the tank a bit. To help you figure out why.. go have a seat on your bike, get in your normal hang off position and then try to touch the chin of your helmet to your grip. What hits first? Which would also lead us to the next step... How do you know you hang off too much? Cool pics too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rchase Posted September 24, 2015 Report Share Posted September 24, 2015 I wonder also if I need to get more off the bike than I am too? Maybe more butt cheek off? Things to practice and work on! You can. It's decent practice but it's not really "needed" until the speeds increase. You will notice when you are having issues holding your line that you need to revisit body position and get more aggressive. My suggestion would be to work on getting comfortable with what you have now and perhaps getting the head down a bit by lowering that inside elbow. The most important part though is finding a position that you are comfortable with that's repeatable. It's also important to understand the why of good body position. The reason why we do this is to shift weight to the inside of the corner. This helps the bike hold it's line and makes it so we use less lean angle and have more ground clearance for the same speed. That gives you additional lean angle so you can ramp the speed up even further. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rchase Posted September 24, 2015 Report Share Posted September 24, 2015 I agree with csmith12 on relaxing on the bike. Something that's quite challenging to do when you first develop the courage to suspend yourself off the side of a moving motorcycle. Relaxing may also help you more easily move your head and extend your inside elbow while doing the "screwdriver grip" hand positioning on the controls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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