How to hang off the bike

No Worries · 06-10-2008, 01:17 PM

Wait a second. When you are riding mountains or canyons, there is no time between curves to rotate hips, weigh your feet, or hug the tank. Here's what Lee Parks recommends in Total Control:

1. Your foot should be tucked in so it doesn't stick out.
2. Start leaning your upper body to keep the centerline of your upper body to the inside of your bike's centerline.
3. Push on the outside grip to keep the bike going straight.
4. Locate the turn point.
5. After locating your turn point, look through the turn.
6. Now you start turning by relaxing the outside grip.
7. Push on the inside grip until your desired lean angle is achieved. Use only the inside arm to make all steering corrections.
8. Roll on the throttle smoothly.
9. Push on the outside grip to bring the bike upright.
10. Move back to neutral.

I don't do any knee movement, or foot movement, or move my butt around. I just move my upper body from one side to the other, and rotate my head to look through the turn. The upper body movement is enough to move the bike's center of gravity to the inside of the turn. With my upper body toward the inside, it's real easy to push on the inside grip. There is just no time to think about the other things, let alone do them, in the short amount of time that curves change direction in a canyon.

06-10-2008, 01:17 PM	#11
No Worries Keyboard Racer Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Mile High City Moto: Old Superbikes Posts: 1,016	Wait a second. When you are riding mountains or canyons, there is no time between curves to rotate hips, weigh your feet, or hug the tank. Here's what Lee Parks recommends in Total Control: 1. Your foot should be tucked in so it doesn't stick out. 2. Start leaning your upper body to keep the centerline of your upper body to the inside of your bike's centerline. 3. Push on the outside grip to keep the bike going straight. 4. Locate the turn point. 5. After locating your turn point, look through the turn. 6. Now you start turning by relaxing the outside grip. 7. Push on the inside grip until your desired lean angle is achieved. Use only the inside arm to make all steering corrections. 8. Roll on the throttle smoothly. 9. Push on the outside grip to bring the bike upright. 10. Move back to neutral. I don't do any knee movement, or foot movement, or move my butt around. I just move my upper body from one side to the other, and rotate my head to look through the turn. The upper body movement is enough to move the bike's center of gravity to the inside of the turn. With my upper body toward the inside, it's real easy to push on the inside grip. There is just no time to think about the other things, let alone do them, in the short amount of time that curves change direction in a canyon.