RIDING TECHNIQUES: Body Position No.2

Brouggy's Riding Bible: Part Two - 'Hanging off' in corners

As discussed previously, the purpose of hanging-off is to get the weight lower and to the inside of the turn. If you were sitting directly on the top of the bike and leaning with it into the turn, the centre of gravity would run straight through the top of your head, through your body and the bike at exactly the same angle at which you are leaned over, meaning it would finish along the line of the tyre where it contacts the road.

If you were to hang-off correctly, that line would fall somewhere between you and the bike, making it closer to the inside of the turn. Imagine that the line now passes through your shoulder and hips and contacts the road somewhere to the inside of the tyre. This is the advantage of putting your body into this position. The problem is that a lot of riders tend to 'cross up' on the bike by pushing the bike under them, meaning that their body is no longer in line with the lean angle of the bike and instead tending to go against the inside of the turn.

Seeing we carry a fair amount of our body weight in our upper bodies, this means that instead of the weight being put to the inside of the turn, it can in fact be higher and further to the outside of the turn which can diminish the benefit of hanging-off the bike in the first place. If any part of your body fights against the lean angle of the bike, then it will mean that the weight is higher and to the outside.

In many cases the amount of 'crossing up' can actually counter the hanging-off the bike in the first place! If you were dramatically crossed up the gravity line could not only return to the centre of the bike, it could in fact move even further to the outside of the turn. So, why would you do that? The answer is quite simple really, it's a survival reaction...

Keith Code's greatest observation of motorcycle riders in my opinion is that most of us don't actually consciously make all of the decisions about riding the bike (for more information see 'A Twist of the Wrist II' - Chapter 2, more here).

Many of the things that we do, particularly those that we can't explain, are done almost automatically by our bodies' need to survive. We all have automated responses that are designed to keep us alive. Every living species on the planet has this basic urge. It's the urge to live. Your body doesn't want you to put it into danger and every time it feels you are doing this, it will respond in an attempt to keep you safe. Unfortunately on a motorcycle this can often mean it compels you to do completely the wrong thing. Holding your body up against the lean angle of the turn and fighting the bike is most likely one of these reactions.

The physical fact is that your body needs to go with the lean angle of the bike if you're to benefit from this technique, yet more often than not riders find themselves working against the bike right from the beginning. I'm sure the same riders doing this would complain about a pillion that refused to go with the bike and made their job harder in getting the bike around the next corner!

If you are going to hang-off, then consider what the benefit really is and make sure you're not working against the bike instead of with it.

Good luck with your riding...

Steve Brouggy is the owner of the

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Australia

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