How do you gs'ers ride/sit on your bike.

[Rweimer]

How do you gs'ers ride on your bike.  i have seen so many pictures of previous gs's and seen how they are not in the sport-bike style.  i know the seat and pegs are different than other bikes.  

While i am still tooting around at pre 40mph speeds, i sit up right, and am taking some of that wind head on.  

ha, i keep on thinking about a post i read about sneezing/vomiting inside a helmet due to a suicidal sparrow, and i eye with caution every mockingbird flying around.

anyways.  When you are on a gixxer, you are hugging the gastank.  At higher speeds (interstate) do you hug the gs, or ride like a 1950's police officer?

pardon to any offense taken by 50's cops.

Robert Weimer

[Anonymous]

Just sit on it.

Ride it like a horse, keep your weight on you ass, not on the handlebars or the pegs.  keep your knees in against the tank.  Be comfortable.  It's NOT a racing bike and it's NOT a cruiser.  It's just a fun bike that handles well.  I have a smallish clear plastic front shield that takes most of the bugs to my body, the face shield takes the rest.  Yes, birds do get close sometimes.  I've had a few that I could almost grab as they flew by.

I take it you're still in break in?  Enjoy, You'll love it.  It's not "fast as lightning" but it can get you in trouble if you're not careful.

[Roadstergal]

Wow, that avatar is mezmerizing.

I grip the trank with my thighs, so they're doing all of the work in keeping me on the bike, and rest the balls of my feet on the pegs.  I end up mostly upright.

[Kerry]

On my first long trip, before I mounted my Plexistar II windshield, I did indeed "hug the tank" a lot at freeway speeds.  That way, only my head bobbled around in the wind, and not the rest of me.  

But an hour or two of that would really fatigue my arms if I left my hands on the grips.  Luckily, I had a home-made throttle lock (not the kind I would get if I had it to do over again), so I was able to lay fully on my tankbag and hook my fingers under the handlebars on either side of the handlebar clamps.  Even then, sometimes I would rest one arm or the other by letting it hang limp by my side and sticking my thumb in the top of my boot.

davipu went one better on his recent cross-country trip by hooking his feet over the passenger pegs.  But that was only possible on the right side because he had NO MUFFLER!  

I don't suppose you need to worry about ANY of these items, since you have a built-in fairing....  

[scratch]

At freeway speeds (shudder) I usually scoot back in the seat, up against the rise in the seat and grip/pinch the tank with my knees by flexing my inner thigh muscules.

[gobstopper]

Other than making sure that the handlebar thingy is in front of you, the GS forgives a lot in terms of riding position.

When I'm just bumbling along, I sit like a 50s MC cop.  When it's particularly windy at relatively high speeds, my nipples are pretty close to the top of the tank.  If I sit upright, I'm like a sail for crosswinds.  When I'm cruising at a constant speed and don't immediately need to brake or shift, the balls of my feet are on the pegs.  The driver's pegs.  I tend to hug the tank with my knees, and most of my weight rests on my upper thighs.  Not exactly my derriere, but my posterior upper thighs.  Also, try conciously slumping your shoulders.  Think of I love YOU yelling about bad posture.  I find that it keeps me more relaxed and more able to concentrate and feel the front end.

[Zarathustra]

i've got the sm2 bars on my bike, so i usually lean forward a bit more than normal.  i still keep the weight off my hands, mostly on my knees gripping the tank.  i keep the balls of my feet on the pegs when riding normally, and only move them when i know i'm going to need to break/shift, or am entering an area where that possibility is likely.

[Pam G]

I've found that having a tank bag on the tank helps to block the wind at higher speeds.  When I don't have the tankbag on and while riding in 55+mph zones, sometimes I do crouch for a few minutes at a time, checking my mirrors every now & then.  I can crouch a little behind the tankbag if necessary also, but then I'm only 5'3" tall (or short).

[Roadstergal]

Yeah, at 5'1", there isn't a huge change in the buffeting from upright to crouched.

[davipu]

and if I feel real flexable I'll lean all the way foward and flip my toes up on the pass seat and then lean back, like I am squatting on my haunches.   it works better in steel toes than regular shoes though.

[Flash]

Well, I'm 5'2" so I naturally lean forward a tad to allow proper riding position (slight bend in the elbows). However, I do lean forward and tuck behind my winshield like an AMA racer when I have to fight high winds, deal with rain, pass a semi-truck really fast (deathtraps :x ), or run from the cops ( :lol:  :lol: j/k).

[cummuterguy]

the suicidal sparrow incident was when I was on a 79 yamaha xs1100special, which had a more upright seating position (i had the old "king and queen" seat as well)
nowadays, on the highway (35 miles a day on I-95) I actually scooch up a bit on the seat to get my legs in a more comfortable position while still being able to cover the brake quickly (i usually end up doing 85-100 mph cruising speed) being a bit forward also lets my arms bend a bit, to absorb a bit of shock if I hit a bad spot in the road, and allows my knees to grab the tank a little better to keep the weight off my wrists.
once off the highway, i slide back a bit get my skinny butt up near the flat part of the seat, sit more upright and strecth my arms a bit...
I guess thats a bit backwards from a lot of people, but that works for me.

[gitarman]

I often find it most comfortable to sit on the tank, with my feet spread eagle on either side. It also looks real cool for the ladies on the sidewalk.  :mrgreen:

[cummuterguy]

til ya hit a bump :lol:

[MarkusN]

I have recently taken to setting the front of my foot on the pegs, not hook my ankles there. That gets rid of the problem that I have to "pull up" my right foot to get it in the right position for the brake lever. Much more comfortable on long rides.

It also means that Ihave to shift foot position for braking and shifting, though.

[snapper]

It all depends on all sorts of stuff.  Length of ride, wind, speed, traffic, tank bag or not..etc.  I do have the SM bars so I am more forward than that of the stock handle bars.  I find the bars sooo much more comfortable.

For riding to work.... I ride up a majorly busy highway so I can get to the safety of the HOV lane on 93.  So I am pretty cautious.  I ride upright till about 70 or so.  If I am relaxing (not so much traffic- no Jack A** on my butt) I rest my left elbow on the tank and hunker down.  Very comfy!  Feet - usually balls of my feet are on the pegs.  Sometimes I go to toes... and then to the arch- just to give my knees a bit of a change.   They tend to hurt if in one position too long (too much damn soccer abuse).
If its too windy or I am going faster (like this morning) both hands on the bars... and I am tuked under the screen for the most part.  I have bar end mirrors so I do not have to sit up to use them.  
My new helmet is a bit better in the wind, I get a bit more wind noise but I have less head-bob.  So thats kewl.

I too on long rides have done the passenger peg thing.  My trip out to the Hudson Valley area had me laid out on the bike.  Its a nice stretch.   :mrgreen:

I will have to get a pic of me riding now that I have a good digital camera.   :mrgreen:

[Cal Price]

Just grab it by the horns and keem 'em in front of you. Long rides tend to be more comfortable in the sit-up (50's Cop) position if you have a screen. I'v got a big 'un (screen that is) but even a flyscreen helps a lot.
I get a bit of pain in the shoulders, mainly the right but that probably has more to do with my history that the bike.

[pianopraze]

well i am 6'4" and i am comfy on my gs500 -- can't sit on a gixxer though because my knees hit gas tank wrong -- i am in wind all the time and enjoy it. i useually put my arch on pegs though as balls leave my legs too cramped and vibration puts my feet to sleep... lol

when i am on long rides i sometimes leanforward putting my chest on tank and put my feet on the back (passenger) foot rests. helps work out the kinks from riding in "normal" position.

The only other bike i like more is/was    my hayabusa... talk about a comfy seat! Due to my size proportions whatever... the hayabusa fits me like a glove  

[The Buddha]

My idea might not have struck many of y'all I know its pretty radical... but to sit on it... I use my arse...
Cool.
Srinath.

[cernunos]

You know, so many people say the GS500 isn't a sport-bike, but after riding an Electraglide for so many years the baby GS sure seems like a sport-bike to me. Of course that may be because it has the clip-on handlebars. But it even seems sportier than, say, on old Triumph or Sportster. At least to me. Ah but I love the Owl and the forum.

C.......