[TrialsRider]

Google Books is wonderful but 😮 😮 …I think I discovered the English language barrier

Searching for motorcycle + “centRE of gravity” and “centER of gravity” or “CoG” yields in completely different results, but either way the consensus is;
CoG is used predominantly when relating to balance and CoM when related to wind drag or mass inertia. Since we are only talking Slow stuff here, CoG is the predominant factor and correct term. Most of the motorcycle physics books I searched today refer to ‘the motorcycles’ CoG changing with the rider position, including lowering the bikes CoG by lowering the seat, and lol I’m pretty sure they are talking about the contact patch of your butt here and not the fabric and foam !

My trick monkey brain says it is logical that if I lower my weight all the way down to the pegs ( which are way below the motorcycles independent CoG ) and seeing as we are also upright relative to gravity here, I believe I could prove that weighting the pegs does lower the motorcycle CoG.

Disclaimer: Since I am always at one with my bike, and I assume that you are also when I refer to ‘your’ within the context of motorcycle riding, the ‘your’ is the bike and the ‘bike’ is you. ( ponder that Boolean

[TrialsRider]

Most of what I convey was taught to me by far, far better riders than myself, ( occasionally in French or Spanish ) so the terminology or expression may not be technically accurate, but the results are indisputable.
As for applying the techniques to road riding and specifically to slow race, that is my own little trick, rules are you can’t stand up but after I repeatedly beat a Sherpa T with my BMW at the rallies, they deduced I must be cheating and won’t let me play slow race any more

…must apologize, English is my first language ;i

[TrialsRider]

Full locked right to the stops turns, 2x 8’s in a row wearing moccasins
Never noticed it before …the bmw has rubber bumper stops.

[TrialsRider]

When I zap a 4′ vertical rock face I put my toes under the foot controls and point the toes way down, that weights the front edge of the footpegs

When I descend an extremely steep slope I fully extend my arms, lower my butt and tilt my heals down. that weights the trailing edge of the footpegs.

Inserted picture: displays Standard footpegs compared to aftermarket footpegs, the only significant difference being the front to back width, and yes a measly half inch wider does make that much difference and well worth the 80$

Point being; even an extremely subtle change in weighting can result in a significant control improvement.

If you have forward mounted cruiser type pegs, you can not weight the pegs without transferring the weight forward on the bike and pulling back on the bars. With rearsets, the opposite is true and only with centrally located pegs can you accurately control the front/central/rear bias balance point ( through peg weighting ).

When I set up sections for novice riders, I test them by riding the section while standing on the seat. Makes it much harder for me and brings things into the realm of a novice rider. If I rode an Intermediate section either standing on the seat or sitting on the seat, I would crash badly.

[TrialsRider]

The goal is to achieve a full lock turn figure eight, different rides have different turning radius’ and the tightest turn you can hope to track ( without doing flip turns, wheelie turns or hops ) is different on every bike. There are two tricks that will allow you to tighten the turn slightly; accentuating the bikes lean into the corner or forward weighting to compress the front forks will effectively reduce the fork rake and allow for a tighter 8 than the bike can be walked through vertical.

Remember that transferring your weight to the foot pegs Lowers your center of gravity and keeping your legs bow-legged and outbound on the foot pegs gives you more low speed stability control. Keep those elbows out and do Not squeeze that tank with your knees !:i

edit: Anytime it’s ridden bike and rider becomes one and when I refer to ‘your’ anything it always includes both.

[TrialsRider]

Would you prefer it if I said weighting the pegs lowers the bikes center of gravity? or prefer weighting the pegs lowers the combined motorcycle/rider center of gravity ? How about front to back weighting, in your estimation does that exist ?

[TrialsRider]

So as soon as I got home from work I tried ‘the box’ ( figure 8 ) with two of my bikes and measured the results; No practice, feet up my BMW K100RS can figure 8 in a box 17′ by 35′ and my 4RT can do 8’s in a 9′ by 18′ box.
BTW: that is on a loose crushed limestone driveway.

Just as JackTrade noted; transferring weight to the outside peg, lowers his center of gravity and shifting body position to the outside leans the bike more, which effectively shortens the wheelbase and steering angle. The result is tighter turns and perfect control.

[TrialsRider]

Slip that clutch, maintain a smooth high idle, drag both brakes very slightly ( one finger only on the hand controls ) and get that weight lower than your seat !!! If you’re foot dragging you have no control, in a right turn you can no longer apply the rear brake ( left on some bikes ) and have just transfered 99% of your weight to the top of the seat. Once you get it all together with a little practice you will smooth right out, relax more and be able to full lock turn any motorcycle.

Same applies if you care to win every slow race (…2 wheels only eon;)

With some bikes; adjusting the handlebars forward is like adding power steering, it transfers your weight forward and improves low speed control. Moving the levers in on the bars as far as possible advantages leverage and makes it much easier to one finger clutch, also prevents your fingers from getting crushed in a fall or if you smack the levers into trees, ( car doors or pedestrians. ) 😮

[TrialsRider]

…works for me. ‘Helmet head’ is typical with any helmet after several hours, dehydration is often overlooked and can contribute to muscle fatigue and headaches.

[TrialsRider]

Heavier more powerful bikes also take more to stop and change direction. You’re safer on the machine that you can handle than on one that can power out of a situation, unless you are concerned about road rage drivers in sports cars, 250 street bikes should be fine for 2 lane roadways, one up.
I traveled considerable distance on 2 lane roads for many years riding a TS185 Suzuki fit with full knobby tires and survived. Admittedly it’s the multi lane expressways that make a tiny bike feel like a slow moving vehicle, 45 miles on a 400 series highway would not be fun, a 500cc single or larger would be.

[TrialsRider]

Search Flickr.com for “2003 Honda Spirit 750″ and you can see a bike there with the 3″ fork extensions plus the rears lowered 1.5” if you post the owner your question, perhaps he can tell you first hand how the changes affected handling. Keep in mind that chopper mods are strictly show off and nobody would ever do those things to a bike in the name of performance improvement.

[TrialsRider]

In my case it’s grandma drives right at you and wingnut tries to run you over from behind ;(
The best safety feature of a motorcycle is agility and with a skilled rider on board, it’s ability to ‘no be there’ I generally feel as safe riding ( we don’t call it driving ) as when I’m driving my 1 ton truck, right up until the instant a collision occurs.

[TrialsRider]

¡Hola Paul, with healing ribs the rucksack shoulder straps might not be very comfortable, I often wear a large waist pack instead, google ( MEC Pulse Waist Pack ) for an good example.
paseo seguro

[TrialsRider]

…if falling off doesn’t scare you too much, grassy knoll and a little dirt bike experience.
I’ll probably catch it for this one but; contrary to BRC standard recommendation you would of had only one finger on that front brake if I was teaching you.

[TrialsRider]

Unfortunately, it’s more a fact of ‘race bikes’ not being classified by MTO, rather than an article specifically identifying them as exempt. I went with bill of sale in hand to purchase an off road plate and could not get one. I will inquire with the PQ police and ask if a cover will suffice, but it was suggested the machine had to be totally enclosed from view or is subject to inspection. Apparently this includes even lawn tractors in that province !
Would also be interested to hear what others are required to do with their motocross and roadracers, because I travel across both Canada and US for competition events and plan to do so even more when I retire.

[Author]

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