Ergonomics blow!!!!

[burning1]

Your crotch shouldn't be on the tank while cornering - you won't be able to move your body very far off the bike, and you won't be able to make good contact with the tank. You do have to shift up and down the seat while riding to be sure... E.g. to tuck properly, you have to move your ass backwards.

A mistake a lot of people make is that they try to keep the balls of both feet on the pegs. It's actually more ergonomic to move to the instep on the outside leg. Another mistake is trying to move back to the center of the seat between corners... It's not really necessary at a club racing level, never-mind at a track-day level.

Set-up early. Ass off the seat before braking. Get the upper body low and to the inside of the corner before turn-in.

[burning1]

I'm still working on my BP... Here are the best two examples from my most recent trackday...

http://www.gotbluemilk.com/web110512/s/imagepages/image18.html
http://www.gotbluemilk.com/web110512/s/imagepages/image29.html

[burning1]

BTW Strider... What shock are you running?

[Strider]

Ok so I need to get my butt off more as I suspected.  I could acutally get everything off more I'd say.  I posted a few pics here http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=54652.0, you may have seen them already.


I curently have a Fox shock.  I don't know what condition it is in though.  I had a local shop at the last race check my sag and he said everything was fine.  No mention of if anything seemed out of wack.  I'm not sure if its over sprung or not (previous owner was much heavier then I).  The forks were a mess until I got them redone this year.  Now they are great, well as great as GS forks can be that is.  I'm affraid to take the rear shock of and send it in for a few reasons.  I see Fox doesn't sell rebuild kits anymore firstly.  Second I hope its not junk cause its a damn nice shock.  I have a Works shock on my spare rolling chasis but god only knows whats the deal with that one.  The Fox has much more adjustment on it so I'd rather use that.  But if its junk when I send it in to get rebuilt I'm hosed.....

[burning1]

Give Catalyst Reactions a call. My guess is, they could probably service the shock even if a parts kit is not available. Worst case, they'll let you know it's not serviceable before charging you. FYI, I'm having good results with my R6 shock. If the Fox shock isn't an option, the R6 shock might be. You could even have it re-valved.

As far as whether or not the shock is toast... Sag will be fine, whether or not there is any damping. Perhaps, bring it in and confirm that it's still filled with nitrogen. Look for signs of leakage. As far as spring rates go... If static and dynamic sag are correct, then the spring is fine for you.

[burning1]

What I would suggest... Buy an old Contour HD 'Wide' camera... The one with the fish-eye lense. SD is fine, you don't really need the HD model, and the SD models are getting really inexpensive. Mount it to the tail. Get some video of your body position. Mount it to the bars, do the same from the front. When and how you move is every bit as important as where you end up when you move.

FWIW, your body position isn't bad. If I were you, I'd move the outside foot forward a little - it will put less stress on your knee and free up your outside leg and hips. I'd also try to drop the inside elbow a little, and keep the outside arm on the tank... But, again, I'm not seeing anything really wrong with your BP... I think the way you are moving may be causing your problems, and that's hard to diagnose from pictures.

With that said... I'm not a pro instructor, and I am still working on BP myself.

[Strider]

So you are suggesting to put the leading edge of the head pad thingy up against the peg on the out side foot correct?  Like this

[burning1]

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking... But yeah, I'm suggesting you use the outside foot position Biaggi is using in that picture.

Generally, I put my instep on the outside peg, and rest the heel against the heel guard. My goal is to create a relatively straight line between my knee and foot, so that I'm not twisting at the hip.

[Strider]

[burning1]

That looks like a huge improvement. How does it feel?

BTW: One thing I've been experimenting with a lot recently is how far your butt needs to come off the seat when hanging off. What I'm learning is that ideally, your rear end should be placed so that the inside thigh of your outside leg is inline, touching, and connected to the contour of the tank. As you move your body forward and backward on the seat, the amount you need to move your butt off the seat to achieve that ideal connection to the bike will change. Something also to be aware of... If your too far back on the seat, you won't have much of your outside leg in contact with the bike. Too far forward, and you won't be able to get your but very far off the side of the bike. There is definitely a happy medium here.

In my experience... The feeling of connectedness is critical to making the motorcycle behave properly. The more connected you are to the bike using your lower body and core, the less you feel you need to hang on with your upper body. When well anchored, it's easier to drop your inside elbow, and relax on the bars. In doing so, you make the bike behave much better.

Dunno if you've ever ridden as a passenger, but one thing I noticed from it is how much instability we introduce from the front. The rear follows the front, but tends to feel dramatically more stable.