Braking And Body Pisition - Arms, Back, Legs?

[jrfuisz]

A question I was going to hold until my Lvl 3 class, but I bought a new bike and it is buging me. So I'm always trying to hold the bars like eggs. Which means while braking I'm trying to use my legs to drive my body weight through the chassis. (This may be my problem). Which leads to sore legs as I try to stay back on the seat as I pintch the tank. Lesson learned from the Brake bike -but maybe I'm going to an extreme. Hanging off causes problems because I can't get control over my body - I'm not consistent with the pinching and where my buttoick ends up. I just bought a new bike and found that the fairing helps - nice location to wedge the inside leg into to keep from sliding up the seat - basically wedge my knees him, get a half buttock off the seat and then hit the brakes. I'm still perplexed though.

 

I'm guessing I've taken the weight transfer issue to an insane extreme. I'm trying to brake with no pressure on the arms - right now I can hold them above the bars while full on the brakes until my muscles give out of course (which does not take long). I'd would love hearing from folks on the correct balance between legs and arms.

 

I should also say I'm large 6-2 and 220. I'd rather ride dirt track style and ride up on the seat - against the tank - let the tank take the weight. But I was trying to get my buttock back in the seat after an enlightening ride on the lean bike last year. Maybe the solution is tank pads to counteract the shiny new paint that provides next to no grip.

[mike isbill]

Yeah, definitely get some stomp pads. Probably the best thing I put on my bike for making me comfortable at speed. Amazing how such a simple little thing can make so much difference. As for getting everything consistent, I took a page from the school and started doing a lot of practice in my garage with the bike on the stands to get some 'gluteal reference points'. I just wanted to get to the point where I knew exactly where my butt should sit on the seat during corner set up/braking without having to pay it any more attention. It really worked, and allowed me to focus more on the bike and the actual corner rather than having my head up my a** so to speak. With the stomp pads you'll most likely feel a great deal more control over your body under braking and be able to keep the force off your arms. You'll feel a bunch more comfortable while hanging off as well. Won't feel so precarious. And you're right to try and absorb most if not all the force of braking through your legs. Relaxed hands and arms will be much more able to dial in precise inputs to the controls. Stiffen them up and the inputs will stiffen as well. Oh and I'm about your size, so I understand the difficulty of holding that much weight back during hard braking.

[bellevuetlr]

Yeah, definitely get some stomp pads. Probably the best thing I put on my bike for making me comfortable at speed. Amazing how such a simple little thing can make so much difference. As for getting everything consistent, I took a page from the school and started doing a lot of practice in my garage with the bike on the stands to get some 'gluteal reference points'. I just wanted to get to the point where I knew exactly where my butt should sit on the seat during corner set up/braking without having to pay it any more attention. It really worked, and allowed me to focus more on the bike and the actual corner rather than having my head up my a** so to speak. With the stomp pads you'll most likely feel a great deal more control over your body under braking and be able to keep the force off your arms. You'll feel a bunch more comfortable while hanging off as well. Won't feel so precarious. And you're right to try and absorb most if not all the force of braking through your legs. Relaxed hands and arms will be much more able to dial in precise inputs to the controls. Stiffen them up and the inputs will stiffen as well. Oh and I'm about your size, so I understand the difficulty of holding that much weight back during hard braking.

 

 

i usually experience the same thing entering a corner coming from a long straightway. just like you, i move my weight to the back and grip the tank with my legs and leave my arms loose. you can still grip the tank with your legs while hanging off. when you move your body to the inside, just keep your inside leg attached to the tank until youve scrubbed off enough speed. Then just let your knee drop as you tip in the bike.

 

 

 

you could ride like that, or you could adjust your suspension so you can ride the front end and just let the tank support you. charpentier from BSB ss rides just like that. alot of the gp guys from my observation rides the front of their bike usually.