[CoinSlot]

When you guys are riding (and more so when you're riding hard) how do you place your feet?

When I first started riding I read a bunch of articles about body positioning to try and get myself into good postion early. That way I wouldn't have to unlearn bad habits. The main one I went by said to get up on the balls of your feet, bum ever so slightly off the seat, so that the bike could move freely beneath you and soak up any roughness.

Trying that out, I loved it. It felt exactly how I imagined it would and I could really bury my inside foot with weight and get my upper body up and over. I feel very comfortable cornering like this.

Then I watched other people ride. Noobs, weekend warriors, MotoGP etc. the full spectrum. Almost everyone rides with their arch on the pegs. I thought to myself that I was doing something wrong if everyone else was doing it some other way. So I decided to try it out.

Nervous. That's the best way to describe how I feel entering a corner with my arch on the peg. I can't seem to get any weight on the peg and I tense up instead of hanging off/keeping my body in sync with the bike. Now I haven't had a 'proper' ride trying this style, just the few fun corners on the way home from work, but I can't figure out why it's so different to me.

I understand why you would want to be on your arch; easy acces to foot controls. When I'm on the balls of my feet I need to re-position to use the rear brake or change gears. In my riding experience there hasn't been too many times where I've gotten into some WOT action after a corner (I like my money and my licence) but on the track would be completely different.


So, how do you guys do it? When you first learnt to corner hard, where did you learn, what did you try, when did it click?

 

[Blackout]

I remember very much so like yourself when I first got my bike i wanted to make sure my riding style and position on the bike was correct so I wouldn't have to UNcorrect anything, only learn more.

When i first started riding and read you should try and sit 'light' on the seat, this was difficult for me. I would push my butt way back against the passenger seat, which is now my solo cowl, and have my toes just underneath the gear shifter and atop the rear break.

After a week or so, I realized this was horrible for cornering due to the fact my arms would have no bend in them, instead would be tight and straight, leading me to put more weight on my front especially in hard bends.

So, i eventually slid my bum up, so my crotch is maybe an inch or so away from the tank and my knees are hugging the flat black lower fairings/bottom of the tank. In this way, I could still sit 'lightly', but more importantly I was in a much more comfortable and balanced position to corner. i position my feet so that I have maybe an inch of shoe under the gear shifter towards the front, and likewise an inch of shoe over the brake. So the way you put it, on my arch, towards the front of my foot more so then the back (I do have a very pronounced arch), and this enabled me to feel comfortable whether I had to pop up quick for a pothole i spot, or hang off to the right as I pressure my left foot on the peg during a hard lean turn.

I really feel like for me (5' 10", 170) it is the perfect position for anything. Sometimes when i am turning onto a tight road after getting off any type of State Route or something like that where I cannot slow down TOO much or take the turn TOO fast, i scoot back up towards my rear and kick a knee out, sort of standing on the opposite peg to distribute my weight and feel solid throughout my turn.

I do sometimes try new things, new positions, more leaning and less counter steer, more counter steer and less lean, pressing the peg with my leading leg or following leg, etc. and still feel as if I am finding that perfect match and mix, but the best tried and true for me was the first couple paragraphs of this bible response.

The one thing that does not work for me is having tried riding with my heal on the peg, for the same reasons you stated, I would need to reposition my foot to downshift or break comfortably, and in general it just didn't feel very solid or comfortable.

I feel you should always be able to downshift and use your rear on the drop of a hat, just as you should always have some fingers hanging over your clutch and your front, so that is why the heal-job does not cut it for me.. I am going to go watch some videos and inspect for myself how I see these professionals and amateurs alike position they're footing, taking into consideration they're bikes are probably in a much more aggressive lean forward and sport/race riding position.

hope this helps some though, try out a few different things, you are bound to feel a little uncomfortable until you can properly adjust everything from where you sit to where you bend at your waistline. Adjustments adjustments!

 

[CoinSlot]

Excellent post! Thanks for putting in the time.

When i first started riding and read you should try and sit 'light' on the seat, this was difficult for me. I would push my butt way back against the passenger seat, which is now my solo cowl, and have my toes just underneath the gear shifter and atop the rear break.

After a week or so, I realized this was horrible for cornering due to the fact my arms would have no bend in them, instead would be tight and straight, leading me to put more weight on my front especially in hard bends.

It's the complete opposite for me. If I push back and get up on the balls of my feet I am so much more confident in the corner. Even with the clip-ons I don't feel too stretched out. I feel very stable. But I then have to re-adjust my feet for gear changing as I come out of the corner.

Adjustments adjustments!

This is a big thing that I have to look into. The rearsets for one. The shifter and brake need to be adjusted down a tad and if possible I need to get the knobs closer to my feet. They feel really far away, even though they look like they are in the perfect position. I *think* moving my rearsets back as far as they can go will help. To get my feet in the same position as if I had my balls on the peg (lol, not those balls.)


The other thing that I noticed riding home (rode some back roads to try some things) was the different muscles being used. Pushing hard with the balls of my feet is TOTALLY different to pushing hard with the arch. This is the major difference I am feeling. On the balls of my feet I feel like I could push through to the other side of the world if need be. Pushing on my arches feels really odd and weak.


This weekend I will try moving the rearsets, adjusting the shifter/brake and working on hanging off/pressuring the inside peg with my arch.

 

[Felix]

Dude, best money I ever spent was a track day with tuition at QR. Had a bloke who was a ex-superbike racer who gave us 1 on 1 tips and mentoring for a full day of racing... some really really good tips there.

Shame the 250 blew up shortly after and I was off 2 wheels for 8 weeks, most of what I learnt drifted through my fingers

Felix

 

[CoinSlot]

I absolutely have every intention of doing this. First is advanced rider course for insurance savings and then proper tuition at the track (followed by regular track days ).

Getting it right now would help a lot though

 

[CoinSlot]

Dude, best money I ever spent was a track day with tuition at QR. Had a bloke who was a ex-superbike racer who gave us 1 on 1 tips and mentoring for a full day of racing... some really really good tips there.

So Felix, what tips did you get on feet position? How do you ride in the twisties?


I've decided to change my rearsets again. I want to get back on the balls of my feet!

 

[Felix]

Get on the balls of your feet depending on what direction you are turning, push right down on that ball, will help with cornering. Thats about all I remember from my track day tut

Felix