Joined Jan 2008
43 Posts | 0+
Seattle, WA
I know there are a number of book threads on this blog (a couple of very good ones actually). Allow me to add a couple more logs on the fire. I have recently completed two very long book reviews of two of my favorite technique books:
Smooth Riding by Reg Pridmore [clicky]
Total Control by Lee Parks [clicky]
The latter book has gotten lots of good attention, and caveat emptor, I am a certified Lee Parks instructor.
Here are some snips fro my reviews, first from Total Control . . .
The heart of this book, at least in my opinion, is Lee's approach to Body Positioning.
If you have no experience with “hanging off” the bike, read this chapter more than once. It’s an eye opener. That thing you may have seen racers do on TV is something that all riders need to know how to do. I’ve seen guys do it on dirt bikes (on the road) and Harleys.
The basic idea is to get your mass inside the centerline of the bike before and while it’s leaning over. Not to worry. Unless you chop the throttle closed and coast to a halt, nothing bad is going to happen. Only good stuff actually.
Lee describes ten steps. It feels like a lot to remember when you’re reading it, but with just a bit of practice, it comes naturally.
1. Reposition the foot (get your toes out of the way so you don’t scrape them). On a cruiser, this isn’t important.
2. Pre-position the body. This is where the action is. Get at least your upper body inside the vertical centerline of the bike. If you’re riding a standard or sport bike, get a lot more than that over to the inside (looking at pictures helps right about now).
3. Hold the bike upright by pushing on the outside grip. So if you’re going to go right, your body is off to the right side and you’re now pushing on the left grip.
4. Find your turn point. Most riders don’t do this. They just sort of go around the corner. Instead, you want to pick a place to turn in and wait for it.
5. Look through the turn. This is MSF 101. While doing that, definitely scan your line to make sure you’re not missing anything.
6. Relax the outside grip. I think about “releasing” the outside grip. The feeling is that of the bike dropping into the turn. The first time this happens, it can feel pretty weird. The last thing you want to do right about now is chop the throttle. Maintain some forward thrust please,
7. Push the inside grip. At this point, if you have your weight to the inside, the bike will be heading off in a whole new direction. Now you can see why you want to find and wait for your turn in point. If you need more turning, this is when you add some counter steer. Gently. Sometimes this feels to me like pulling the bike down to me.
8. Roll on the throttle. Roll means be smooth with it. Your bike is still leaned over so you’re splitting traction between turning and going.
9. Push the outside grip. This will pick the bike back up. Keep rolling on the throttle as you do.
10. Move back to neutral. That’s you and your body back in the center of the bike.
As a point of order, Reg and Lee have a different point of view about all this. Here's what I said in my review of Smooth Riding . . .
This is where Reg departs from other instructors, most notably Lee Parks. I won’t recount the physics of how bikes go around corners other than to remind you that the bike needs to be leaned over for that to happen at anything above walking speeds.
Once up to speed, there are three ways to cause the bike to lean and thus turn. One is counter steering: pushing on the inside grip to momentarily deflect the wheel in the opposite direction you want to go, causing the bike to lean in. A second is weighting the inside of the bike; literally pushing down on the peg with the expected results following. A third is to move your weight to the inside of the bike’s centerline. You can think of this is pushing the bike in with the outside knee or pulling the bike in by getting your body mass inside the center of gravity. Same thing.
If you read my review of Total Control, you’ll see that Lee has you moving your mass inside the bike’s centerline. He doesn’t really talk about counter steering, so in that regard, he and Reg are on the same page.
Where they diverge is in how you get that done. With Reg, it’s all smoothness all the time. You move your body in increments off the bike, smoothing it over while you round the corner. With Lee, the strategy is almost completely different. You hold the bike up with your off-hand while you move your weight inside the centerline. You wait to the turn point and then release the off hand, allowing the bike to flop into the turn. It’s a sort of auto-counter-steering sort of thing. The “flopping” in part doesn’t come out quite this clearly in the book, but it’s there. And that’s where he and Reg differ.
Which is better? I’m not sure I’m the guy to ask. Here's a quote from Reg
“I’m always seeking ways to eliminate tension. When your input comes from of the whole body-body steering-you are reducing tension on your arms. You should have so little tension in your upper body that you can literally “flap your wings”-move your elbows up and down with total ease. Do this as a reminder to release tension in your upper body.”“Does counter steering work? Of course it does. You can get a motorcycle to follow the desired path exclusively by applying pressure to the handlebars, with no other body movement. Is it the best way? Not in my experience, and not in the experience of most racers I know. Try riding a tight figure eight with your feet off the page. It’s not too easy, is it?”
Both reviews are long and comprehensive. Rather than recount them all here, you can read them at midliferider.
Smooth Riding by Reg Pridmore [clicky]
Total Control by Lee Parks [clicky]
Smooth Riding by Reg Pridmore [clicky]
Total Control by Lee Parks [clicky]
The latter book has gotten lots of good attention, and caveat emptor, I am a certified Lee Parks instructor.
Here are some snips fro my reviews, first from Total Control . . .
The heart of this book, at least in my opinion, is Lee's approach to Body Positioning.
If you have no experience with “hanging off” the bike, read this chapter more than once. It’s an eye opener. That thing you may have seen racers do on TV is something that all riders need to know how to do. I’ve seen guys do it on dirt bikes (on the road) and Harleys.
The basic idea is to get your mass inside the centerline of the bike before and while it’s leaning over. Not to worry. Unless you chop the throttle closed and coast to a halt, nothing bad is going to happen. Only good stuff actually.
Lee describes ten steps. It feels like a lot to remember when you’re reading it, but with just a bit of practice, it comes naturally.
1. Reposition the foot (get your toes out of the way so you don’t scrape them). On a cruiser, this isn’t important.
2. Pre-position the body. This is where the action is. Get at least your upper body inside the vertical centerline of the bike. If you’re riding a standard or sport bike, get a lot more than that over to the inside (looking at pictures helps right about now).
3. Hold the bike upright by pushing on the outside grip. So if you’re going to go right, your body is off to the right side and you’re now pushing on the left grip.
4. Find your turn point. Most riders don’t do this. They just sort of go around the corner. Instead, you want to pick a place to turn in and wait for it.
5. Look through the turn. This is MSF 101. While doing that, definitely scan your line to make sure you’re not missing anything.
6. Relax the outside grip. I think about “releasing” the outside grip. The feeling is that of the bike dropping into the turn. The first time this happens, it can feel pretty weird. The last thing you want to do right about now is chop the throttle. Maintain some forward thrust please,
7. Push the inside grip. At this point, if you have your weight to the inside, the bike will be heading off in a whole new direction. Now you can see why you want to find and wait for your turn in point. If you need more turning, this is when you add some counter steer. Gently. Sometimes this feels to me like pulling the bike down to me.
8. Roll on the throttle. Roll means be smooth with it. Your bike is still leaned over so you’re splitting traction between turning and going.
9. Push the outside grip. This will pick the bike back up. Keep rolling on the throttle as you do.
10. Move back to neutral. That’s you and your body back in the center of the bike.
As a point of order, Reg and Lee have a different point of view about all this. Here's what I said in my review of Smooth Riding . . .
This is where Reg departs from other instructors, most notably Lee Parks. I won’t recount the physics of how bikes go around corners other than to remind you that the bike needs to be leaned over for that to happen at anything above walking speeds.
Once up to speed, there are three ways to cause the bike to lean and thus turn. One is counter steering: pushing on the inside grip to momentarily deflect the wheel in the opposite direction you want to go, causing the bike to lean in. A second is weighting the inside of the bike; literally pushing down on the peg with the expected results following. A third is to move your weight to the inside of the bike’s centerline. You can think of this is pushing the bike in with the outside knee or pulling the bike in by getting your body mass inside the center of gravity. Same thing.
If you read my review of Total Control, you’ll see that Lee has you moving your mass inside the bike’s centerline. He doesn’t really talk about counter steering, so in that regard, he and Reg are on the same page.
Where they diverge is in how you get that done. With Reg, it’s all smoothness all the time. You move your body in increments off the bike, smoothing it over while you round the corner. With Lee, the strategy is almost completely different. You hold the bike up with your off-hand while you move your weight inside the centerline. You wait to the turn point and then release the off hand, allowing the bike to flop into the turn. It’s a sort of auto-counter-steering sort of thing. The “flopping” in part doesn’t come out quite this clearly in the book, but it’s there. And that’s where he and Reg differ.
Which is better? I’m not sure I’m the guy to ask. Here's a quote from Reg
“I’m always seeking ways to eliminate tension. When your input comes from of the whole body-body steering-you are reducing tension on your arms. You should have so little tension in your upper body that you can literally “flap your wings”-move your elbows up and down with total ease. Do this as a reminder to release tension in your upper body.”“Does counter steering work? Of course it does. You can get a motorcycle to follow the desired path exclusively by applying pressure to the handlebars, with no other body movement. Is it the best way? Not in my experience, and not in the experience of most racers I know. Try riding a tight figure eight with your feet off the page. It’s not too easy, is it?”
Both reviews are long and comprehensive. Rather than recount them all here, you can read them at midliferider.
Smooth Riding by Reg Pridmore [clicky]
Total Control by Lee Parks [clicky]
