Hello Again! Now, before I go on, I ain't no racer! I did though have a sports bike (02 929 Fireblade) and there were a few corners where it was fun and seemed like the thing to do to shuffle ones backside off the seat and hang off the bike a bit. Didn't upset the bike at all and made me feel like a very old Marquez! Now, I tried the same thing the other day On my MTS and it seemed to unsettle the bike. I tried again where I just moved my upper body and was better. Does anybody have any experience of this? Cheers, Dave.
No need to do it because it's the thing to do. Just play with it and enjoy the dynamics of the bike. It turns the bike with less lean angle so it's a very useful skill. You can take the bike through wide turns with almost no lean at all if you just lean off to the side with your head and/or body.
I find too much movement unsettles my pipe and hot tobacco can flick onto my tweed so I avoid at all costs. That along with the sidecar means I don't move around as much as you clearly do. If I decide to lose the sidecar and give the pipe a rest then I have no unsettling feelings when hooning around a bit and getting off the seat some in corners, not exactly knee down on the MTS but I regularly scrape toe sliders and I ride with my feet up not with the pegs rammed against the hell of my boots.
Yes, the multi doesnt like body movement too much in corner. I have done a couple of trackdays on mine and you have to be ready really early before tipping in and a change of direction, like roundabout or chicane, if you move one side to the other it does feel like its hinged a bit.
I am off doing the rapid training 1 day course on Friday, really looking forward to it, don't suppose those guys are hanging off but every days a schools day so looking forward to learning more! I will be heading oop North to winchester area early doors on Friday to meet at about 9.
Get your bum shift done early (before or during breaking) while the bike is upright and stable. Keeping your head and upper torso central will stop the bike being unsettled. then as you turn in shift your upper torso in tune with the bikes transition to lean and hey presto you're hanging off like a pro
Are we talking track or road here ? On the road Plod doesn't hang off. If you are hanging off on the road in any meaningful way you are on the limit with nothing in reserve, which doesn't sound very sensible; or posing
Oop North - to Winchester? Fook me - where do you live - the Falklands? Enjoythe training - should be good, just watch out for the polar bears?
It's logical that a MTS (or any other bike where the centre of gravity - particularly the rider) is so far from the pivot point, that any movement will be amplified and unsettle the bike. I you're really smooth then you can move round weighting the pegs etc - but realistically (as already mentioned) why would you need to on the road? Just leaning your torso across will also be amplified for the same reasons, so I don't think any kind of hanging off is required or recommended. Mike the Bike was never slow and he don't need to scrape his plus fours on the deck?
It is raining and I do have a couple of flat caps - as it happens And yep Mike Hailwood. I know a few police riders and once spent a week riding around Wales with one, who'd just retired after 25yrs in the saddle - he rode a R1200R, never leant off it and went like sh*t off a greasy stick! His roadcraft was amazing - I'm no slouch and had a huge power advantage, but he was amazing. You'll hopefully come away a safer, smoother and quicker rider - enjoy.
It's not something I do every corner all the time cos as has been stated I would of lost my licence a long time ago. I am doing the course to become smoother more of the time although modern brakes being what they are sort of encourages late breaking and general messing about! I have read before that coppers generally don't hang off but are very quick and very smooth!
Agree, an upright bike like the MTS is suited to dirt bike style, which is popular down under and across the pond and best exemplified by Kevin Schwanz. Essentially, virtually all the track schools in UK follow the Californian Superbike School method which is to hang off. The idea is to reduce the required lean angle. This is great for sports bikes on smooth tracks. But not so good on upright bikes and bumpy roads. The Aussie dirt bike method is the opposite. Keep upper body up and twist the lower body into the lean. You can shift your butt if required. The idea is you can rescue the bike if you hit a bump. For the multi with high wide bars and highish rake, a good progressive shove on the bike to counter steer into the turn helps. On most roads though, its unnecessary to go all superbike/MotoGP.
On a slightly more serious note, late braking sounds heroic and cool, but is really a racing tactic. It actually makes you go around a corner slower. The orthodoxy is slow in fast out. Racers can brake late because they block the corner exit of the chap they are overtaking. But their corner speed will be slower. That's why in more evenly matched classes such as Superbike or Moto2/3, the guys a little off the front are able to catch and leapfrog the group fighting for the lead.
Actually hanging off on the road can be really useful, especially if its wet and cracking on. On a sports bike tho. But the road is a great place to practice. And get into position early, before the brakes, as yiu want to be in place when you come off the throttle. You'll note most pros often exit a corner and stay to the side ready for the next rather than waste energy and upset the bike by going back to centre then off the same side again
And the idea on track is throttle or brakes, never between, so brake right to the apex. Bikes dont like that. Tyres on gravel strewn, potholed UK roads dont either!
Sports bikes with crouched positions and high pegs is easier. Multi's pegs are too low and seat too wide to do intuitively I find. But yea, definitely helpful in the wet to reduce lean agnle.
