Body Positioning

[NONE_too_SOFT]

Originally Posted by azoomm

I agree with NTS. Drop your elbow more... which will drop your shoulder and get you over. That will upright the bike more, which means more contact patch on your tires. If you look, you are at the WAAaaaaay edge of your tire - if you get your body over, and the bike up more... the contact will be better.

This is so much easier to talk about in person rather than trying to type it

lol i hear ya, i really couldnt find the right words to describe what i was trying to say.

[Trip]

yeah, you are twisting your body, definitely need to rotate the upper body out more and drop the elbow. That's my biggest problem too.

[lauralynne]

get out from behind the windscreen - specifically your head - the rest will follow. Try lining up your eyes/head with where your mirrors WOULD be.

[Avatard]

When you go around a turn to your left, centrifugal forces want to stand the bike up, and fling it off to the right. Your body weight is what keeps it down. Think of it as a tug of war against the centrifugal forces as essentially controlled by the throttle. The more you are leaned inside against these forces with your weight, the harder you can theoretically crank on the throttle without the bike actually standing up, and you flying up and over to the right.

Just like in a tug of war with a rope, you lean away from the pull of the forces by increasing your angle relative to your inside most contact [fulcrum] point (in this case your inside footpeg) to maximize the effectiveness of your weight.

In other words, the harder you're tugging that shit down towards the inside, the harder you can crank on the gas, and the faster you can go through the turn, the limiting factors then being essentially tire contact and adhesion.

Yes, the more you hang off that shit like a desperate tug-of-war participant, the faster you can go, all other things being equal.

Keeping the weight bias forward is essential if the bike is understeering, and when on throttle for exit, it will keep the back more tucked in. It's not so much one position, as a smooth arc motion. Lead with your forehead.

[DLIT]

Attach the pics.

[Avatard]

Try to find some video of European pocketbike racers. On the tiny bikes, the motions are all exaggerated, and it's all easier to see how they move/where they position.

Rossi came out of pockets. A lot of cats did. I used to race that shit. The funny thing is that it's actually easier to ride the bigger stuff, because it reacts so much slower (shorter bike, shorter "lever", it goes over center faster). Shit on high HP pockets is lightning fast. Big bike seems like a fucking motorhome after some track time on the tiny shit.

Your weight has more direct effect on the small shit too, so it really teaches you where to put it.

They're great for teaching throttle control and weight positioning.

[r!der]

Looks like you are doing something right to be riding in A group.
I noticed that everyone has their own form, what works for one may not work for another. That said, I think everyone should try the recommended "form" and let it morph as you get more comfortable.

Like someone mentioned, get your head out from behind the windscreen.
Try to get your upper body off a bit more, so basically the same as above....if your head goes, your body will follow.
Outside armpit on the gas cap. Drop your inside elbow.
Don't worry about looking like a frog. haha I think I look pretty funny too from side or rear shots.
Concentrate and consciously try to change your position if you are searching for your perfect "form". Sometimes to do this, you need to slow it down. It's hard to concentrate on something new when you are out there trying to go "fast".

I seriously believe the "perfect" form is different for everyone.
So the above are just things that worked for me. Then again, I'm far from fast.

[ontwo]

Gotta give Kyle credit. He may be an ass, but he's humble enough to ask advice. Especially given that prob 90% on this board couldn't keep up.

[Sig]

Imagine kissing the mirror, if they were still mounted.

[Ol' Man Rider]

I don't make it a habit of giving advice on the internet, but since you asked...here are my suggestions for improving your form. I can't promise it will make you any faster, but it made me faster.

Preface: This is always much easier to show someone when they are on their own bike on a rear stand. Body position in pic 1 and 2 are significantly different from 3 IMO. However, pic 3 helps explain some of the issues in 1 and 2.

1. Get your butt back. Not severe, but to begin with will feel severe. Really you only need to slide back a few inches in order to set the rest of your body properly. This will help with #2. This will also flatten out your torso so you're not so hunching over. And yes, one cheek should be plenty until you have corrected some other isues and develop your own personal preference after some seat time.

2. Refer to pic 1 and 3. In pic 1 your hip is open and you are sitting like a frog. Likewise, (note the direction of your pelvis) your upper body is inline with the left side of your windscreen. Whereas in pic 3 your lower body (note the direction of pelvis again) is pointing toward your outside clip-on. This is naturally causing your torso to head in that direction. After addressing point 1 open your inside hip and turn your leg out. This will help to align your upper body.

With the seating corrections, you most likely won't have the ability to stick that outside leg out like a wing anymore. However, if so, I suggest putting it up against the bike to assist you in going back to tuck smoothly. Smooth inputs...mmmm good.

3. The guys who have helped me get faster have a mantra when instructing...try dragging your helmet and not your knee. After a few laps of getting comfortable with the above changes, get your head down as low as you can. No seriously, as low as you can. So yeah, I too say get your head down. Combined with the above changes your torso will be aligned and COG will be lower.

Take my free advice for what you will. Hopefully, you'll try these changes and feel much better on you bike. I know I did. Worse case scenerio is you've wasted a few laps trying to improve your body positioning at a trackday.






These pictures of Stoner is a good illustrationof the alignmenment I try to acheive. Note the direction of his pelvis, Opened up hip in pic 1, and alignment of his torso in pic 2.