Interesting Shot Of Casey Stoner

[khp]

I stumbled over this photo taken of Stoner, which shows the extreme that the MotoGP guys goes to, in order to fast in the turns.

 

 

Casey is clearly leaning his body much more into the turn than taught at CSS, but then again I think we can safely assume that he has very good reasons to do this and understands the consequences and what he needs to do to move safely into or out of that position.

[Dark Suzuki]

well i suppose when you look at it he is still locked-on to the tank, his arms are relaxed, his spine is inline with the angle of the bike, and he's definitely not crossed up. i wish I looked like that when i rode...

[faffi]

Looking at that picture, it strikes me that hanging off would have a much greater impact at small lean angles than at big lean angles. The closer the bike gets to horizontal, the less effect you should get from hanging off, if my understanding is correct.

 

Furthermore, it seems that Stoner keeps is torso/head high, which should help more the closer you are to horizontal (when it comes to reducing the amount the bike needs to lean over).

[Crash106]

I'm sorry to be so contrary, but why is Stoner hanging off at all? Look under his right foot--clearly, that Repsol Honda has room to spare. He's not even close to dragging a foot peg, never mind a muffler or belly pan. So why is Stoner working so hard to crawl up underneath that thing?

 

I know Stoner is a better/faster rider than me, and that I am unworthy to kiss his knee pads. I understand the physics of the combined center of gravity. What I don't understand is why so many riders worry about their body position when they are leaned over, maybe, 15 or 20-degrees on a bike that can easily handle 45-degrees of lean angle. I was just watching track day videos last night and almost every rider I looked at was twisted up, kinked, pretzelized and yogasized trying to look cool. Meanwhile, they were so busy trying to look like Casey Stoner that they couldn't be bothered with things like looking up the track, putting the bike on a good line, or rolling on the throttle.

 

This is wrong thinking, and it needs to stop or the world will come to an end!

 

PS

By the way, KHP, that's a great picture! Here I am ranting about style obsessed riders, and I crave a Repsol Honda just because those orange wheels are so cool.

[faffi]

He is hanging off so that he can corner faster - his bike will run out of tyre before it runs out of cornering clearance. So if the tyres allow 60 degrees of lean, what if you by hanging off can lean it 58 degrees, leaving a bit more grip for acceleration, yet have the same cornering speed that would demand 62 degrees of lean, 2 more than the tyres allow? You'd go faster

[Mika]

that Repsol Honda has room to spare. He's not even close to dragging a foot peg, never mind a muffler or belly pan. So why is Stoner working so hard to crawl up underneath that thing?

Mr. Crash;

I looked at this pretty closely and I couldn't see very much room to spare as you mentioned in your post; is it just me or were you kidding us?

 

Mika

[Crash106]

A little of both, Mika. Racers must hang off to be competitive, but some folks let body position distract them from the essentials.

[comptonchinee]

He is hanging off so that he can corner faster - his bike will run out of tyre before it runs out of cornering clearance. So if the tyres allow 60 degrees of lean, what if you by hanging off can lean it 58 degrees, leaving a bit more grip for acceleration, yet have the same cornering speed that would demand 62 degrees of lean, 2 more than the tyres allow? You'd go faster

 

 

^^^ This.

[ozfireblade]

I'm sorry to be so contrary, but why is Stoner hanging off at all? Look under his right foot--clearly, that Repsol Honda has room to spare. He's not even close to dragging a foot peg, never mind a muffler or belly pan. So why is Stoner working so hard to crawl up underneath that thing?

 

 

Champ you must surely be joking, his lean angle might have something to do with him cornering at mach 1 million

[johnnyrod]

He's always fun to watch, if ever someone doens't believe in countersteering you can show them some head-on footage of him entering a tight bend

[Titus]

These pics are so cool!

 

It's strange to me though, it looks as if he's barely holding on to the bike with his legs.

 

I see this with Stoner & Pedrosa especially, it's like their outside leg is barely touching the bike, but they can stay locked on & lean very far off the bike...

 

I'd like to be able to hold my body with my leg like that!

 

 

 

This one his outside leg isn't even in contact with the tank!

 

[Jasonzilla]

I think the issue is that his upper torso is as far away from the bike like it is. Some riders, and Casey Stoner exaggerates it, have their bodies off the tank while they're braking and turning. Their still making their steering input.

 

I'll bet this pic is of him braking into a corner. He's still steering into the corner and trailbraking. You can see he still has the room to lean the bike. GP riders don't leave that much room. People like me do. Once he's done braking and making his steering input, he relaxes his arms and lays on the tank into the standard position that you see in the second pic of the three posted just above my post, so it's nothing new or different.

[faffi]

What Stoner and Pedders do more than anybody else, is continue to hang way off their bikes while flicking it more or less upright rapidly as they get on the gas. Naturally, this gets the bike onto the fat part of the tyre while the combined CoG means the bike is still in corner mode.

 

From what I can see, few world class riders are relaxed or use they legs much to take their weight; they use a lot of arms/torso and you usually see them splay their legs equally to both sides while cornering.

[Jasonzilla]

What Stoner and Pedders do more than anybody else, is continue to hang way off their bikes while flicking it more or less upright rapidly as they get on the gas. Naturally, this gets the bike onto the fat part of the tyre while the combined CoG means the bike is still in corner mode.

 

 

They do and Pedrosa is the most aggressive doing this. CSS teaches it as the pick-up drill and it works great. They're still on the tank when they start doing this, and Stoner is still way off the tank.

 

 

 

From what I can see, few world class riders are relaxed or use they legs much to take their weight; they use a lot of arms/torso and you usually see them splay their legs equally to both sides while cornering.

 

 

Good eye Eirik. They're hard trail brakers on their race line, so they look very tense because they take so long to complete their turn action. That's what Stoner is doing in the top pic. They can still lock into the tank with their legs seemingly so far off the bike.

[Cobie Fair]

In the first picture, Casey's leg is right on the tank. 2nd one, a little harder to see, torso is blocking most of the view, he is still holding on primarily with that outside leg. Last photo, leg is not splayed out much, it's right along the tank. He, Rossi and Lorenzo all are very similar in having their legs along the tank. Don't take my word for it, look at multiple photos.

 

Here is something for the guys that still have the Brno MotoGP. Casey in the lead 7 secs plus, 3 laps from the end. He loses the front in a transition, and a few turns later the TV shows a close up on his hand. If watching closely HE LETS GO OF THE BAR. That is when the bike recovers, which is does right away, and our hero keeps merrily on his way.

 

If he's not holding on with his legs, what's left? He's not using his hands if he is letting go, is he?

 

CF

[faffi]

I wonder if he relaxed his grip or if the bars were just kicked hard enough to force his hands open? Or perhaps he just had to readjust his grip after the shake?

[Cobie Fair]

I wonder if he relaxed his grip or if the bars were just kicked hard enough to force his hands open? Or perhaps he just had to readjust his grip after the shake?

 

Did you look at the footage? Let me know on that.

 

CF

[faffi]

Yes, I looked at the footage repeatedly and also the shot of his right hand, but for me it's hard to tell if it was voluntary or just more or less unavoidable due to the forces involved - especially if his grip is fairly relaxed to begin with. Then again, due to lack of personal experience, it is also hard for me to know exactly what minute movements to look for that can separate a willing from a forced reaction.

[Cobie Fair]

Yes, I looked at the footage repeatedly and also the shot of his right hand, but for me it's hard to tell if it was voluntary or just more or less unavoidable due to the forces involved - especially if his grip is fairly relaxed to begin with. Then again, due to lack of personal experience, it is also hard for me to know exactly what minute movements to look for that can separate a willing from a forced reaction.

 

He's letting go, he opens his hand.

 

THAT is what causes the bike to stabilize (and good throttle control).

 

CF

[faffi]

I wasn't questioning what stabilized the bike, only how one can tell that it was a deliberate move.

[tuscani451]

I wasn't questioning what stabilized the bike, only how one can tell that it was a deliberate move.

 

 

Its not his legs or arms but a scary third option that lets him ride like that, he clearly sold his soul to devil for those fiddle skillz lol

[Cobie Fair]

I wasn't questioning what stabilized the bike, only how one can tell that it was a deliberate move.

 

There are quite a lot of pictures of him with the off hand open, after he steers the bike. That and the fact he does it again, and again, and again. He has trained this response in, as the normal reaction is just the opposite.

 

CF

[bellevuetlr]

awesome pictures!