upper body position when turning ?

miko

Member
Nov 26, 2003
45
0
Hi All,

I've seen a lot of pictures where people keep their upper body vertical while leaning the bike into the turn. Yet while watching the Canadian MX race on Speed the other day, I noticed that
most of the riders leaned with the bike.
Are both these techniques legitimate and useful depending on the
condition/grip, or is over leaning the bike a bad habit ?

thanks,

miko.
 

joereitman

Member
Jul 2, 2003
540
0
The better/steeper the berm/rut the more you can lean your upper body. On flat or cambered or slippery turns the bike must lean more with the upper body remaining more vertical. I tend to always lean the bike more than my upper body in almost all conditions, berm or not. The key in either case is sitting down properly, transitioning from brake to throttle, weighing the outside peg, pressure of the outside knee against tank/shroud, staying forward, keeping legs in against bike, turning upper body in direction you are turning, looking ahead, and throttle/clutch control. See recent thread on standing turning.
 

SpectraSVT

Member
Apr 17, 2002
720
0
I watched tthat race too and it had lots of ruts. I usually lean into the turn on ruts to keep the bike in the rut. When I try the other way bike wants to stand up.
 

CaptainObvious

Formally known as RV6Junkie
Damn Yankees
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jan 8, 2000
3,331
1
It really depends on the turn and your personal style. Joe gave the correct starter advice but the best thing to do is find a few of your favorite turns and hit them in different ways. If you can have a friend shoot some video of you that would be the best learning tool.
 

gxdragon

Member
Nov 13, 2002
268
0
You usualy keep your body vertical on flat turns (sitting on the edge of the seat while the bike is leaned over). According to the Gary Semics tape this helps keep the weight pushing down on the ground. If you lean with the bike it pushes more weight to the outside which can break your traction loose. In a berm or rut it is fine to lean with the bike.
 
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