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I have this friend, Steve, who's in his late 30's and rides a Hayabusa. I think it's making just over 200HP on motor only, FYI.
Anyways, I was telling him tonight about my exploits in North Carolina at the SV Rally this year and happened to mention that I finally learned how to REALLY hang off the bike. I sat on his lowered 'Busa and demonstrated for him what it looked like and he laughed. I then allowed him to enlighten me.
His main problem is that I moved my butt off the the seat, insisting that I only should be moving my upper body forward and into the turn. He knew well enough to know that I shouldn't be supporting my weight by the clip-ons; instead, one should be supporting one's weight with one's legs. I explained that the G-forces of going through the turn do help to some degree to keep one on the bike through the turn. His bike was just sitting on the kickstand and not moving, obviously, so it's hard to prove what I'm talking about.
I then asked why I see so many better riders getting their butts off the seat. He retorted straight-faced serious with "well, you see those guys like Hayden and Rossi riding on those little 290 pound bikes so they gotta really put a lot into those bikes to get them to turn." Steve, I roll my eyes at you :
He said he plans to take his lowered, extended-swingarmed, 200HP 'Busa to Cresson in the next couple of months to see how well he can do on a race track.
He'll learn his lesson.
Note: I don't pretend to know everything, but I'm not about to agree with someone who rides around in jean shorts, a T-shirt, and no eye-protection regarding "real" riding.
Related side-note: he's expecting to get in his first set of leathers in the mail in the next week.
Anyways, I was telling him tonight about my exploits in North Carolina at the SV Rally this year and happened to mention that I finally learned how to REALLY hang off the bike. I sat on his lowered 'Busa and demonstrated for him what it looked like and he laughed. I then allowed him to enlighten me.
His main problem is that I moved my butt off the the seat, insisting that I only should be moving my upper body forward and into the turn. He knew well enough to know that I shouldn't be supporting my weight by the clip-ons; instead, one should be supporting one's weight with one's legs. I explained that the G-forces of going through the turn do help to some degree to keep one on the bike through the turn. His bike was just sitting on the kickstand and not moving, obviously, so it's hard to prove what I'm talking about.
I then asked why I see so many better riders getting their butts off the seat. He retorted straight-faced serious with "well, you see those guys like Hayden and Rossi riding on those little 290 pound bikes so they gotta really put a lot into those bikes to get them to turn." Steve, I roll my eyes at you :
He said he plans to take his lowered, extended-swingarmed, 200HP 'Busa to Cresson in the next couple of months to see how well he can do on a race track.
He'll learn his lesson.
Note: I don't pretend to know everything, but I'm not about to agree with someone who rides around in jean shorts, a T-shirt, and no eye-protection regarding "real" riding.
Related side-note: he's expecting to get in his first set of leathers in the mail in the next week.
