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Motorcycle Posture
A rider's posture closely affects comfort and control. You can adjust your posture to some extent, but personal body dimensions, such as arm, leg, and torso length often dictate how you sit. The style of motorcycle you ride also plays a big role in posture.
For instance, a cruiser places the rider in a semi-reclined position, whereas a sportbike forces the rider into a forward crouch. Standard, touring, and adventure style motorcycles put the rider in a more neutral upright position, which offers the greatest amount of comfort and control in most typical street riding situations.
Footpeg positioning is another key facet of riding posture. Cruiser motorcycles have footpegs or floorboards that are located forward, which places more weight on the rider's tailbone. The sportbike rider's footpegs are located rearward and high for an aggressive stance and maximum ground clearance when leaning. The standard bike footpeg location puts the rider's feet and legs more directly underneath the torso for even distribution of weight. This upright position also allows the rider to put more weight on the pegs or rise off the seat when riding over large bumps or surmounting obstacles.
Even though the style of motorcycle you ride has a large influence on posture, there is a lot you can do to ensure that your body position is optimal for comfort and control. Slouching can compromise comfort and can lead to back pain. Which can cause distraction that limits your ability to concentrate. It also limits how long you can ride before mental and physical fatigue sets in. By avoiding slouching, you alleviate stress on the neck, shoulders, back, and hips.
Slouching also rounds the back, which puts the vertebrae in a position that cannot easily support body weight. In contrast, a straight spine is a strong column that easily supports the torso. Many people slouch because they have weak torso muscles. It's not enough to simply 'will' yourself to set up. You have to strengthen your abdominal and back muscles so that this upright posture becomes natural.
Strengthening exercises to train you body to maintain good posture include the 'abdominal set back.' Begin by sitting on the edge of a chair with your spine in a neutral position as through you were in an upright riding position. Make sure your shoulders are comfortably back and your spine is straight. While maintaining this position, lean back a few degrees, making sure your spine and shoulders do not round. Your abdominal muscles will tighten to support your torso. Hold this for 5 seconds and repeat 6 to 10 times. If you feel pain, do not lean back so far or stop doing the exercise and see a health professional.
Some of you may ask whether a backrest or some other support system might work? While nothing can replace a strong core of back and abdominal muscles, a well-shaped seat with a lumbar backrest can help, and many riders find that wearing a rigid back support belt (www.backaline.com) or kidney belt can prevent slouching and aid endurance.
One aspect of riding posture that is important for safety is your ability to keep your head up so you can continually scan ahead for hazards and challenging roadway characteristics. Slouching bends the neck in a way that points the head downward. To keep the head and eyes pointed well ahead, the rider must compensate by extending the neck. After a while, fatigue causes the head and eyes to drop, making the scanning process less effective so that hazards seem o appear 'suddenly' and more frequently. It's not that the hazards have somehow increased, rather it is because your eyes are not spotting the hazards as early.
To allow your upper body to remain relaxed and stable, support your body weight with your thighs and keep your knees against the gas tank. Riders often make the mistake of letting their knees flop around, which can destabilize the motorcycle, especially at slower speeds. Squeezing the tank with your knees can also help support the upper body when braking strongly. This limits the unwanted transfer of upper body weight to the front end during rapid deceleration and takes weight off the arms, making steering control more sensitive.
Your legs are also important for maintaining control when going over bumps. By pushing on the footpegs you take some weight off the seat so your legs become a secondary set of shock absorbers. This isolates the bulk of your body weight from the chassis, aiding stability over bumps while relieving some of the load on the suspension. No need to always rise off the seat, just take some weight off your backside as you go over a bump.
For off-road riders, learning how to stand while riding is imperative to maintain control. Larger obstacles, such as rocks, logs, jumps, and "whoops" cause a lot of vertical chassis movement that has the potential to launch a rider right out of the seat. To maintain balance, off-road riders must learn what is often referred o as the neutral standing position, which involves standing in an almost upright position with the knees bent and the upper torso positioned over the front part of the fuel tank. This allows the motorcycle to pitch fore and aft as it responds to obstacles while allowing the rider to remain as stationary as possible.
It's obvious that feet belong on the footpegs. But did you know that feet also help stabilize the motorcycle? Try dangling your feet off the footpegs and you'll quickly recognize how much the feet support and anchor the legs to the motorcycle.
Most motorcyclists routinely position the arches of their feet on the footpegs, which is fine for most situations and is required when shifting or using the rear brake. But, there are times when it is beneficial to have the balls of the feet support the legs. Having the balls of the feet on the pegs constitutes the "ready" position and communicates to your mind and muscles that you are ready for action, such as sharpening attention to manage a challenging set of curves.
This ready position is also used when slight shifts in body weight are called for, such as when going over bumps, positioning yourself to 'hang off' in corners, or executing a tight U-turn. Keeping the balls of your feet on the pegs can also help avoid injury by preventing toes from making contact with the road when cornering or impacting obstacles off-road.
From Ken Condon, safety writer for Motorcycle Consumer News.
A rider's posture closely affects comfort and control. You can adjust your posture to some extent, but personal body dimensions, such as arm, leg, and torso length often dictate how you sit. The style of motorcycle you ride also plays a big role in posture.
For instance, a cruiser places the rider in a semi-reclined position, whereas a sportbike forces the rider into a forward crouch. Standard, touring, and adventure style motorcycles put the rider in a more neutral upright position, which offers the greatest amount of comfort and control in most typical street riding situations.
Footpeg positioning is another key facet of riding posture. Cruiser motorcycles have footpegs or floorboards that are located forward, which places more weight on the rider's tailbone. The sportbike rider's footpegs are located rearward and high for an aggressive stance and maximum ground clearance when leaning. The standard bike footpeg location puts the rider's feet and legs more directly underneath the torso for even distribution of weight. This upright position also allows the rider to put more weight on the pegs or rise off the seat when riding over large bumps or surmounting obstacles.
Even though the style of motorcycle you ride has a large influence on posture, there is a lot you can do to ensure that your body position is optimal for comfort and control. Slouching can compromise comfort and can lead to back pain. Which can cause distraction that limits your ability to concentrate. It also limits how long you can ride before mental and physical fatigue sets in. By avoiding slouching, you alleviate stress on the neck, shoulders, back, and hips.
Slouching also rounds the back, which puts the vertebrae in a position that cannot easily support body weight. In contrast, a straight spine is a strong column that easily supports the torso. Many people slouch because they have weak torso muscles. It's not enough to simply 'will' yourself to set up. You have to strengthen your abdominal and back muscles so that this upright posture becomes natural.
Strengthening exercises to train you body to maintain good posture include the 'abdominal set back.' Begin by sitting on the edge of a chair with your spine in a neutral position as through you were in an upright riding position. Make sure your shoulders are comfortably back and your spine is straight. While maintaining this position, lean back a few degrees, making sure your spine and shoulders do not round. Your abdominal muscles will tighten to support your torso. Hold this for 5 seconds and repeat 6 to 10 times. If you feel pain, do not lean back so far or stop doing the exercise and see a health professional.
Some of you may ask whether a backrest or some other support system might work? While nothing can replace a strong core of back and abdominal muscles, a well-shaped seat with a lumbar backrest can help, and many riders find that wearing a rigid back support belt (www.backaline.com) or kidney belt can prevent slouching and aid endurance.
One aspect of riding posture that is important for safety is your ability to keep your head up so you can continually scan ahead for hazards and challenging roadway characteristics. Slouching bends the neck in a way that points the head downward. To keep the head and eyes pointed well ahead, the rider must compensate by extending the neck. After a while, fatigue causes the head and eyes to drop, making the scanning process less effective so that hazards seem o appear 'suddenly' and more frequently. It's not that the hazards have somehow increased, rather it is because your eyes are not spotting the hazards as early.
To allow your upper body to remain relaxed and stable, support your body weight with your thighs and keep your knees against the gas tank. Riders often make the mistake of letting their knees flop around, which can destabilize the motorcycle, especially at slower speeds. Squeezing the tank with your knees can also help support the upper body when braking strongly. This limits the unwanted transfer of upper body weight to the front end during rapid deceleration and takes weight off the arms, making steering control more sensitive.
Your legs are also important for maintaining control when going over bumps. By pushing on the footpegs you take some weight off the seat so your legs become a secondary set of shock absorbers. This isolates the bulk of your body weight from the chassis, aiding stability over bumps while relieving some of the load on the suspension. No need to always rise off the seat, just take some weight off your backside as you go over a bump.
For off-road riders, learning how to stand while riding is imperative to maintain control. Larger obstacles, such as rocks, logs, jumps, and "whoops" cause a lot of vertical chassis movement that has the potential to launch a rider right out of the seat. To maintain balance, off-road riders must learn what is often referred o as the neutral standing position, which involves standing in an almost upright position with the knees bent and the upper torso positioned over the front part of the fuel tank. This allows the motorcycle to pitch fore and aft as it responds to obstacles while allowing the rider to remain as stationary as possible.
It's obvious that feet belong on the footpegs. But did you know that feet also help stabilize the motorcycle? Try dangling your feet off the footpegs and you'll quickly recognize how much the feet support and anchor the legs to the motorcycle.
Most motorcyclists routinely position the arches of their feet on the footpegs, which is fine for most situations and is required when shifting or using the rear brake. But, there are times when it is beneficial to have the balls of the feet support the legs. Having the balls of the feet on the pegs constitutes the "ready" position and communicates to your mind and muscles that you are ready for action, such as sharpening attention to manage a challenging set of curves.
This ready position is also used when slight shifts in body weight are called for, such as when going over bumps, positioning yourself to 'hang off' in corners, or executing a tight U-turn. Keeping the balls of your feet on the pegs can also help avoid injury by preventing toes from making contact with the road when cornering or impacting obstacles off-road.
From Ken Condon, safety writer for Motorcycle Consumer News.
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