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Body Positioning And Steering Techniques


Last issue, we outlined the importance of mental concentration and staying
physically relaxed on the motorcycle. As with virtually all skills in riding
motorcycles, these two are closely related with the interwoven techniques of
body position and steering.

Whether you're going to hang off the bike on a racetrack or stay centered on
it while riding on the street, proper body position starts at the footpegs
and works up from there. Anytime you're not using your feet for shifting or
applying the rear brake, place the ball of your foot on the footpeg. This
allows you to shift your weight more effectively than hooking your heels on
the pegs, as most street riders are prone to do.




Proper body position starts with the ball of the foot on the footpegs and
works up from there. Be consistent with where you sit on the seat while in
cornering mode because moving even a few inches before or after ahs a big
effect on weight distribution and handling; sliding up against the back of
the tank is a good place to start. This also helps keep weight off your hands
and wrists on the bars.







Get your body position set well before the corner entrance, as you begin your
transition to the brakes, not, as most riders do instinctively, while you
initiate your steering input. Ideally, the rider's upper and lower body hang
equally off the inside of the motorcycle to shift the combined center of mass
inward and allow the bike to remain more uptight for a given speed around a
given radius corner.

Riding with your heel hooked on the peg presents a couple of problems. First,
most riders end up pointing their toes outward, where they can drag on the
ground prematurely (very distracting, if not scary). And second, riding this
way forces you to use your quadriceps (in your upper leg) to lift your butt
off the seat for weight transfer. Placing the balls of your feet on the pegs
allows you to also use your calf muscles and keeps your toes away from the
asphalt.

Next, sit on the front of the seat near the fuel tank to stay connected to
the bike with your lower body and keep your weight biased toward the front
tire. Be consistent with your seat position because it has a major effect on
the weight distribution and, hence, the handling characteristics of the bike.
Your back and arms should have a natural, relaxed bend to allow your body to
absorb bumps without feeding them through to the chassis. You want your body
to act like part of the bike's suspension, not part of the frame. Finally, as
we described in the previous Riding Skills Series segment, grip the bars like
you would hold a bird in your hand: tight enough to keep the bird from
getting away, but not so tight as to crush it.

Stay Relaxed
It's important to remain relaxed on the bike. Remember that once a motorcycle
is in motion, the gyroscopic effect of the wheels helps keep it stable and
going in a straight line. The rake and trail of the steering geometry also
assist in keeping the bike going straight, even after the front wheel is
deflected by a bump or rock on the road, because of the self-centering aspect
of the tire's contact patch positioned behind the steering axis. When a
nervous rider clamps down hard on the bars, it feeds inputs that interfere
with the bike's ability to straighten itself out. Stay relaxed and trust the
bike.




A slight arch in your back and a natural bend to your elbows helps you stay
relaxed and absorb bumps without unintentionally feeding them to the chassis
through the bars. Think of your body as part of the suspension, not part of
the chassis. Use your back and abdominal muscles to help support your upper
body weight and keep a light touch on the bars for improved feedback and
stability.

Hanging Off
While there isn't a need for it on the street, hanging off the inside of the
bike is a good idea at the track because it keeps the bike more upright for a
given speed around a given corner radius. This then gives you two options:
either benefit from more traction from the greater tire contact patch or
increase your speed until you again reach your maximum lean angle.

While you're beginning to set up for the corner, shift your body position by
pivoting your lower body around the back of the tank to slide about half your
butt off the seat. Doing this in advance of the corner keeps you from being
rushed as you bend the bike into the turn and slows your perceived, or
mental, speed. Getting your body in position and downshifting done well in
advance of the corner gives you a significant amount of time to relax, set
your entrance speed by smoothly releasing the brake and pick a precise
turn-in point for the corner. Handling all the aforementioned tasks early
frees up an enormous amount of time and concentration for the really
important aspects of entering the corner.

Weight the inside footpeg and push against the tank with your outside thigh
as you countersteer to turn the bike in. Applying multiple, subtle inputs to
steer the bike helps you to stay light on the bars and keep the bike stable.
As the bike leans into the corner, shift your upper body off about an equal
amount to your lower body so that your back is more or less parallel to the
centerline of the bike but offset to the inside about four to six inches.

Hold your outside thigh against the tank so that it supports most of your
body weight and allows your arms to be relaxed at a natural bend. As you exit
the corner, pull your body back up with your arms and legs combined; using
only your arms can feed unnecessary inputs into the bars, causing the front
tire to get light and initiate headshake while accelerating off the corner.
Unweight your butt just enough to slide across the seat and back into
position; don't jump up from one position to another, which can unsettle the
bike. Consciously weight the outside footpeg to help the bike stand up and to
transfer traction to the rear tire.

It's important to not hang off so drastically that it compromises your body's
connection with the bike or your ability to control the bike should you lose
traction from the front or rear tire. Keep your head upright, looking two to
six seconds in front of the bike at all times. Most riders find it helpful to
keep their heads close to perpendicular to the ground, which gives a better
sense of balance and visual orientation, as well. If you stay tucked in
behind the bubble, your vision of the road ahead will be compromised.

Steering Technique
There seems to be a constant debate about whether countersteering or
lower-body steering is the most effective way to steer a motorcycle. The
extremists who think it has to be one or the other are missing the
point-using the upper and lower body together is by far the most effective
and efficient way to steer a motorcycle.

Your initial steering input should begin with countersteering (pushing
forward on the inside bar to use the front wheel's gyroscopic effect to bank
the bike into the corner) while at the same time pressing down on the inside
footpeg. Isaac Newton discovered that for every action, there is an equal and
opposite reaction. Pushing down on the inside footpeg at the same time you
push forward on the inside bar helps effectively anchor the body to generate
both forces and, as we shall see, the forces complement one another in
steering the bike.

Once countersteering banks a motorcycle into the turn, increasing lean angle
is a matter of pivoting the bike around its center of mass. The greater the
lean angle, the tighter the bike carves through the turn. Footpegs are
effective levers on either side of and slightly below the center of mass.
Pressing down on the inside footpeg helps pivot the bike around its center of
mass and steers it into the corner while requiring less effort from your
upper body at the bars.




Notice the progression of how these riders shift their weight from right to
left while transitioning from one direction to the other. By weighting the
inside footpeg and using the outer thigh to pivot the bike around its center
of mass, substantially less countersteering force is required. Applying the
inputs as low as possible allows the bike to remain more stable than using
countersteering alone.

Throughout Kevin Schwantz's career on Grand Prix bikes, which weighed between
250-286 pounds and produced upward of 175 horsepower, he found that the lower
his steering inputs were into the chassis, the more stable the bike was.
Consequently, while he did use countersteering to initiate the corner, from
that point on he used as little upper body input as he could. Instead, he
relied on weighting the inside footpeg and using his outside thigh to pull
the fuel tank to the inside of the turn and finish the steering input. As a
result, his arms could stay more relaxed on the bars and keep the bike more
stable.

Schwantz's motorcycle competition career began at a young age in observed
trials, where he learned the value, even necessity, of using lower body
inputs to control his motorcycle. This lesson he applied all the way through
his World Championship-winning career.

While pushing forward on the inside bar, weighting the inside footpeg and
pulling the outside thigh toward the inside of the corner might sound
complex, in actual practice you'll likely find that you've already been doing
it to some degree. When focusing on using the upper and lower body to steer
the bike more effectively, most riders feel that someone's installed power
steering on their bike. It turns in much easier with less effort, and with a
little practice it becomes second nature. The added stability of this
light-on-the-bars technique is ever more important as bikes get lighter,
shorter and more powerful.

From the apex of the corner on, weighting the outside footpeg gives a couple
of advantages. First, it helps stand the bike up off the edge of the tire to
generate a larger contact patch and allow the rider to accelerate. Second, it
helps transfer the rider's weight through the rear contact patch to the
ground, increasing traction.

This is another lesson Schwantz learned from a trials-riding mentor.
Traversing a steep slope of loose dirt on a trials bike while weighting the
inside footpeg forces the rear contact patch away from the hillside and
causes the rear tire to lose traction and slide downhill. Riding across the
same slope while weighting the outside footpeg forces the rear contact patch
into the hillside, maintains traction and allows the bike to ride straight
across the hillside. Whether you're riding across an incline or leaning a
motorcycle over on the pavement, the principle is the same.

Practice using your upper and lower body together, and you'll find that your
motorcycle steers more easily with less effort and remains more stable.