StevenAthas Posted September 2, 2015 Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 Hey Everyone, Hope you all have been enjoying the season. I was planning on signing up for the June 6th Level 1 course this year at Streets of Willow, but unfortunately I tore my achilles playing basketball in April (I'm getting old ) and was finally cleared to ride again in August. After a look at my finances, it looks like I will be able to attend the October 24th date and I am beyond stoked! September can't be over soon enough. I feel like I have a fairly good understanding of throttle control but I can't seem to get my body positioning right. When I'm in the corners I feel like I'm off the bike quite a bit and everytime I look at pictures of myself, it doesn't even look like I'm close! So I figured I'd post a picture and get some input. What should I be doing differently than what I'm doing now? All input is appreciated. Thanks for taking the time . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaghetti Posted September 2, 2015 Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 Your upper body looks too close to the tank and upright. In general you want to avoid pressing the front of the tank with your upperbody to limit body-tank shocks on the bike. You do want to lock your outside tight against the tank of course, that should be your main contact patch. But I know with Ducati it's different because of the tank shape. You can see that clearly in WSB, they ride very close to the tank. With that lean angle I would also open the inside leg a bit more and drag the knee to have a max lean angle reference point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serega104 Posted September 2, 2015 Report Share Posted September 2, 2015 Damn, I also tore my Achilles in April. Had to miss the school in May. I started riding again about two months ago, but the leg does get tired after a while still. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YellowDuck Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 Your butt seems to be in about the correct place (maybe even a bit too far off the seat?), but your upper body position needs work. To my eye, you could slide back further from the tank, straighten, your outside arm a bit, and get your head down and further to the inside. Normally your face should be just back of where your mirror would be. Currently your head is nearly in line with the centerline of the steering head - it should be much farther to the inside. Once you get your upper body more to the inside you could probably also rotate your hips a bit into the direction of the corner. Are you a bit on the short side? That can really make it harder to get your body mass over to the inside, especially on a Ducati which usually has a long reach to the bars. Not sure about the 848 specifically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmckeen Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 Given that this is a photo from a public roadway I think your body position looks pretty good, Using aggressive track BP on public roads can result in very little lean angle for a given corner, and a lot of extra effort for minimal gain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenAthas Posted September 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 Your upper body looks too close to the tank and upright. In general you want to avoid pressing the front of the tank with your upperbody to limit body-tank shocks on the bike. You do want to lock your outside tight against the tank of course, that should be your main contact patch. But I know with Ducati it's different because of the tank shape. You can see that clearly in WSB, they ride very close to the tank. With that lean angle I would also open the inside leg a bit more and drag the knee to have a max lean angle reference point. I definitely feel like I'm up too close to the tank too but I struggle with sliding back in the seat without having to push backward with my arms, which we all know causes its own set of issues. Any suggesions that may help in getting myself further back without any handlebar movement? Damn, I also tore my Achilles in April. Had to miss the school in May. I started riding again about two months ago, but the leg does get tired after a while still. Yeah man. It was rough as I'm sure you know. I had a full rupture and went the surgical route and I definitely feel some tenderness every once in a while but for the most part my recovery has been really good. After about 20 mins of riding it's loose and I don't experience any pain at all. I was actually able to go riding for 5-6 hours last weekend and felt absolutely fine. Hopefully your recover is going well and you can reschedule your school session soon. Your butt seems to be in about the correct place (maybe even a bit too far off the seat?), but your upper body position needs work. To my eye, you could slide back further from the tank, straighten, your outside arm a bit, and get your head down and further to the inside. Normally your face should be just back of where your mirror would be. Currently your head is nearly in line with the centerline of the steering head - it should be much farther to the inside. Once you get your upper body more to the inside you could probably also rotate your hips a bit into the direction of the corner. Are you a bit on the short side? That can really make it harder to get your body mass over to the inside, especially on a Ducati which usually has a long reach to the bars. Not sure about the 848 specifically. Seems like everyone is agreement with me crowding the tank. Hopefully I can get that issue sorted soon. Definitely will be something I will ask about when I'm at the school. I remember reading once that the mantra is "bike follows body, and body follows head" which has helped me a lot but I run into an issue that I found discussed here on this forum a while ago; the helmet obstructing eye sight when tucked down. Seems the lower I go with my head, the lower the brow line of my helmet goes, which isn't very confidence inducing lol. I'm 5'11" so I'm not that short. To be honest, I feel like I'm hanging off a lot, but everytime I see pictures, there's not much hanging off happening. Given that this is a photo from a public roadway I think your body position looks pretty good, Using aggressive track BP on public roads can result in very little lean angle for a given corner, and a lot of extra effort for minimal gain. You are correct. I assume you know where these pictures come from then. I'm lucky enough to have some nice twisty roads where I live and don't over do it by any stretch but it's nice to be able to get out and enjoy some windy roads. Oddly enough, my experiences with those roads, make me want to go to a track more than anything else. You all might laugh at this, but I still haven't even had SAG set up for me yet and the bike still has all the factory settings. The rear suspension is extremely stiff and the front feels really soft so could this affect my BP at all? (front forks compressing so much that it makes me crowd the tank or rear being stiff, not allowing me to feel comfortable in hanging off, etc...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPyrion Posted September 3, 2015 Report Share Posted September 3, 2015 Confidence is a big part of riding (especially while riding fast) and feeling comfortable with your bike boosts confidence so yes, it's entirely possible that will make a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spaghetti Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 Any suggesions that may help in getting myself further back without any handlebar movement? Yes, it's a common problem. You have to develop the mussle memory to lock-in on the tank with your tighs before each braking or entry. Stomp grip helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hotfoot Posted September 4, 2015 Report Share Posted September 4, 2015 You all might laugh at this, but I still haven't even had SAG set up for me yet and the bike still has all the factory settings. The rear suspension is extremely stiff and the front feels really soft so could this affect my BP at all? (front forks compressing so much that it makes me crowd the tank or rear being stiff, not allowing me to feel comfortable in hanging off, etc...) Yes, it definitely could affect your position - if the rear is stiff and bouncing you around, and the front is soft and diving under braking, that could absolutely contribute to you sliding forward and getting too far up on the tank. It could certainly also affect your confidence in corners and make you inclined to lean on the bars, which affects handling. I have lots of experience riding bikes that are too stiff in the rear spring and the result is that you are not only bounced loose from your lock-in, you are usually dealing with a bike that isn't sagging enough under your weight and thus may actually be a bit tail-high and sliding you down toward the tank. Add a soft front end and braking to that formula and now you would be very hard pressed to stay in position without bar pressure or REALLY strong pressure on the tank with your knees. I second the comment on StompGrip, it makes a huge difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PittsDriver Posted September 6, 2015 Report Share Posted September 6, 2015 My $0.02 is that at some point, the thing that will hold anyone back from getting into the best BP will be core muscle strength and your overall flexibility. If you don't have the flexibility to get there and the core strength to keep your weight off your inside peg, that will make it tough no matter how much coaching you get. I'm speaking from experience because my pace has been steadily improving for the last couple of years thanks to the great coaches at Superbike School - but I'm at the lean limit on the bike, getting a knee down, but can't seem to consistently get the rest of my upper body down as far as would helpful. I'm committing to some pilates and yoga this winter to see if I can get my BP more comfortable in the corners but for a 57 year old desk jockey, it's going to be a challenge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rchase Posted September 7, 2015 Report Share Posted September 7, 2015 Here's what I see... What Tyler said about body position for a public road is true. Lets assume for a moment this is a track for fun. What advice would I have then? I always start from the base. It's difficult to see your feet well from the photo but I do see a foot that seems parallel to the bike. The ball of your foot should be on the peg and pivoted into the swingarm. This opens up your entire body. Your butt is in a decent position based on the position of your zipper next to the tank. Because your base is off you are in an unnatural position to get your head down and your inside arm down against the tank. Once you get that fixed you will find that it's easier to get your inside arm against the tank and to bend your elbow to get your head down. The head is one of the heaviest parts of the body and something you want low and to the inside of the center line of the bike whenever possible. The advice someone gave about moving back in the seat is also good. It's important also to fully understand the purpose of why we hang off. It's form vs function. Moving your weight to the inside of the center line of the bike helps the bike turn and conserves lean angle. Lean angle is a very finite thing on a motorcycle. As the speed increases it becomes much more valuable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Code Posted September 10, 2015 Report Share Posted September 10, 2015 This was mentioned briefly earlier but have a look at this video if you have not already: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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