RIDING TECHNIQUES: Body Position No.1

Brouggy's Riding Bible: Part One - Knees to the ground

There are more and more riders who want to copy their road racing heroes by hanging off the seat and grinding their knees into the ground. While this looks great in the photos, have you ever stopped to think if it's relevant to your riding?

Firstly, your riding style should be results-oriented (meaning there should be a reason for your body position on the bike other than the way you look when you ride). This should be related to; getting the bike to steer better; having correct use of the throttle/brakes/gears etc. How well you use these controls/skills will effectively determine how well you ride.

Often students come to me with the goal of scraping their knee for the first time, genuinely believing they will have 'arrived' as a rider when they can do it. The fact is that hanging off and scraping your knee is a tool. A tool that is there to be used when it is needed, and not when it is not. Just as you wouldn't use hammer to tighten a 10mm nut, or a shifting spanner to change a tyre, you only use this particular aspect of riding the bike (and every other one for that matter!) when it is needed.

The theory behind how this technique works is really quite simple. When you're hanging off the inside of the bike, the weight is moved lower and to the inside of the corner. This means that the bike is less likely to feel the effects of the forces created when you turn the bike (which tries to make the bike go to the outside of the turn) because of the height and position of where the weight is carried.

If you're still sitting upright on the bike, the weight is carried higher and on top, giving the same cornering forces greater leverage. This means it actually takes less force to send the bike to the outside of the turn.

As you try to counteract these forces you will have to lean the bike over further, limiting the amount of ground clearance and traction available. Therefore if both riders are travelling at the same speed the rider that has managed to shift his/her weight lower and to the inside will have the bike more upright, meaning they can carry more speed, and/or have more control.

In essence, this is the main reason for using this technique. There are other benefits that are only relevant to the race rider, such as using the extended knee to balance the bike up as the tyres slide (don't try this one at home!) and having a built-in lean angle indicator.

Hanging off and scraping knees belongs in one place, and one place only, on a racetrack. This riding style does not suit public roads and is not only potentially dangerous to the rider, but also those around him/her. If you're travelling at speeds that involve knee dragging on the open road, you need to seriously consider some safety issues, and perhaps start doing more track days.

While this technique will feel strange at first, with the right effort over time you may find a valuable tool to add to your rider kit' And of course you'll have appeased the motorcycling gods of vanity! See you in the photos...

Good luck with your riding...

Steve Brouggy is the owner of the

Contact:
2 / 76 Rushdale St
Knoxfield, VIC 3180
Australia

Phone: 1300 793 423
+613 9763 3338