fossilfuel

Foot peg position for me is very important. I was pushing my knee into the tank but with a relatively small amount of contact area making my knee sore. I experimented with position over the weekend and have found a position where I get more inside leg against the tank, more contact on the Stomp pads. The forum is great! thanks.

Yes, I think you understand the point I am making. If you and I were to buy two new identical sport bikes, you are 5'10" and weigh 165 lbs and I am 6'2" and weigh 200 lbs is the center of mass the same? What can I do to make our CoM the same or as close to it as possible? Maybe nothing? I do get your point and it does seem logical. And I think you probably could come pretty close to making one bike/rider combo footpeg position relatively equal to another wrt "static" CoM with some effort. However, I think there might be more going on wrt CoM, body mass distribution, riding position, riding style, musculature and strength, etc than might easily lend itself to a "standardized" footpeg position relative to a dynamic CoM, ie. what works for one rider might not necessarily be good for another even if the footpegs postions are similar wrt CoM. In my experience, footpeg position can be a highly personalized thing for some racers, while others don't seem so concerned with it. At the end of the day, I think the guys who have a very specific preference have tried different positions to find out what works best for them. I have seen mounting plates with several or many different options machined or drilled into them for the purpose of experimenting with footpeg position. Of course, having access to a machine shop helps because, in addition to making a plate like that, everytime you move footpeg position you probably need to create a new shift linkage (unless you arc the various positions around a radius of a single linkage, which would probably be somewhat limiting). That said, there may in fact be some wisdom on the Pro/World Circuits wrt to footpeg position that one could discern by watching the tapes closely (freeze frame, take caliper measurements on the screen, etc ...?) Thanks Racer. I have really enjoyed the discourse. I will post what I have found after my two day at Barber. Feel free to chime in anytime.

Yes, I think you understand the point I am making. If you and I were to buy two new identical sport bikes, you are 5'10" and weigh 165 lbs and I am 6'2" and weigh 200 lbs is the center of mass the same? What can I do to make our CoM the same or as close to it as possible? Maybe nothing?

Racer, I have always wondered about the geometry of riding and how your set up should be on the pegs or how this effects total body geometry. My wife rides horses and teaches position and where the students feet should be in the stirrups. When I bought a mountain bike the first thing the bike expert did was set up my body position on the bike. When I ride my stationary bike there is a technic for setting up geometry that optimizes muscle efficiency. My problem has been the more laps I put in the harder it is to maintain that leg position and keep my upper body weight off the bars. I will adjust my pegs during a two day in March and see if I can get more contact with my calf and thigh and see if that helps my balance and center of gravity. My very first Keith Code School the leg anchor was mentioned late in the day by an instructor. I tried it through a down hill turn at about 90 mph dragging my fingers on the concrete curbing with no pressure on my throttle hand. It is a great technic. I just couldn't sustain it and think it is related to my peg postion.

I did some investigating and came up with the following, could be right could be wrong. I would have to consider that the most important aspect when setting up pegs on after market rear sets is center of gravity. I should position my pegs to create good positioning over the center of gravity of the bike. In my case being 6"2" it might be a little harder to do. According to some articles I have read, a 50%-50% weight distribution is key to the functionality of the motorcycle especially in turns. A forward center of gravity creates over steer with rear wheel slip in turns. With a high center of gravity the rear wheel tends to lift in braking. So in my case, if the pegs are to far back and to high I am rotating my weight to for forward creating oversteer and a high and forward center of gravity when braking. I think if I make the change It should take less effort to stick the knee in to the tank in turns and less arm pressure on the handle bars?

Hi Guy's, I am getting ready for my first track day of the season and wondered if there is a good indicator or rule of thumb for setting up rear sets for leg position. What is the most important variable that one should consider when setting peg position. I thought about this after having difficulty pressing into my tank with knee for turns. I thought my rear sets might be to high and to for back causing me to push in more of a horizontal plane than vertical. I am 6'2" and use stomp grips. Thanks for any thoughts.

Hey not a problem on the response. I think one of the things that Keith tries to teach that is really an underlying them to his school is awareness. I was not paying attention and asked a stupid question. I will get on the braking bike in June and until then be more aware of what the bike is telling me. I can fix it. I really appreciate everyones comments and help. See you soon.

Why not? Does this mean that you believe you are avoiding the ripples? Like you have found a smooth line through the braking zone? Or does it mean you are riding over them but you are familiar with what ripples feel like and what is happening does not feel like that? Ripples in the pavement from cars can be pronounced or subtle. Sometimes they are more wavy than bumpy washboard. Sometimes there are other imperfections in the pavement that might not be noticed if one is focusing on avoiding the car bumps. "From time to time" and "depending on how hard you brake." So, does this mean that it only ever happens when you brake hard in that one corner and that you are able to control it by braking less (and perhaps sooner?) so that the "time to time's" that it doesn't happen is definitely because you are braking less? To put it another way, are you certain that how hard you brake isn't moving your braking zone over some imperfection in the pavement? Is turn five the only place this seems to be happening? Can you re-create these oscillations in other turns or in a praking lot? What is the frequency of the resonance? Once per second? 2x/sec? 5x/sec? OK, to my ear, from everything you have said...unless you are certain that are riding a smooth piece of pavement that does not go over the ripples...it sounds exactly like you are describling riding over the ripples and that the bounce is being caused by them. Owing to the fact that it only happens in one turn and your verbal description "car over ruts" ...ruts dug up by cars sounds like a description of ripples dug up by cars. So, are you sure you might not be riding over the ripples ... from time to time? Now, if you are riding over ruts (or ripples), and "skipping" over the tops, I would say that decreasing the rebound damping to allow faster rebound and allow the wheel to track better or follow the ruts better might help. And perhaps a touch off compression as well. Assuming you can't find a smooth line first. But...you said that you don't think the ripples are the cause. So, if you don't think the ripples or pavement are causing the "resonance", I would isolate the situation and attempt to re-create it under some control situation. And as it only seems to be happening in this one corner ...from time to time. Maybe you are connecting it with the hard braking in your mind, and maybe hard braking does coincide with the the "bounce" and is intitiating it, but, maybe the braking itself is not really the root issue. And maybe changing the suspension isn't the answer at all. Have you asked other riders about their experience in that corner? Did you talk to Dan Kyle about it? You said you trust him, but, it wasn't clear why you mentioned that. Did he tell you to back off the rebound damping? Anyway, I would get really clear about the conditions, ie walk the track and look closely at the pavement and your RP's and brake markers to know well where you are, where all the bumps are ... and look for a smooth line. Amd ask other riders what they are doing. If you are confident that the suspension was set up to baseline correctly, I would look at that only after being really clear about the one corner that seems to be giving you trouble as the suspension seems to work fine everywhere else? I mean...why only turn five? And why potentially sacrifice good operation in ten other corners to solve a situation in one?

After posting this I happened to look at other posts and came across an article where the instructor kept commenting "you are answering your on questions". I have been through three Keith Code schools and learned more in three days than I had for much of my riding life. I should use the principles that he teaches to solve the problem then I will have become much more aware of the bike, the track, and my riding ability. Thanks Keith.

Thanks for your time. I will be the first to admit that my knowledge of suspension set up could fit on the head of a pin but I bought my forks and shock from Dan Kyle and have the utmost confidence in his ability. That being said, the bounce seems to feel like a resonance that begins under hard breaking and is difficult to stop before the entry into the turn. It feels like riding down rutted dirt road in your car like it just picks your car up on the top of the ruts and theres not much you can do until you get the car slowed down. When this occurs I feel like the only way to stop it is to let off the brake and of course I am then touring Mr. Barbers beautifully groomed lawn.

Are the springs in your Ohlin's sized for your weight? I was having pronounced oscillation in my bike's forks under heavy braking until I swapped the "racing springs" the previous owner had installed out for a pair that were more appropriate for my size - problem solved. YRMV. Kevin Kane Thanks for the response Kevin. The forks were ordered with my specific weight including equipment so unless there was a major screw up I do not think that is the problem. I will check with the vender I bought them from. I will be taking the level 4 class at Barber in April so maybe one of you guys can help if I do not solve the issue before then. Thanks

Hi Guys, It is getting close to the start of track season. My first is at Barber March 1 and 2. I have an issue with braking in turn 5 which is the hair pin off camber coming down the hill. I have done many track days at Barber and seem to be able to handle negotiating the track given my level of experience. Early in my track day experience I load sided there but understand thanks to you guys the problem with that. My problem now or has been is that I tend to get into a bounce that I can't get out of from time to time depending on how hard I brake. I have gone off the track because of my inability to slow down enough to make the turn ( bouncing). This turn does have issues with ripples from car braking but I don't think that is the cause. I have Ohlins forks and shock and decreased rebound on the front forks two clicks from settings that were sent to me and I still get it. What could I be doing wrong?