Seating position at a turn question

Ugur Dinch

Ugur Dinch

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Hello everyone,

At RTI, we were instructed to keep knees tight with the bike and not move to the sides of the seat, when taking a turn. Now that I have been riding for 5000kms this summer, and wondering what you guys think about the instruction.

When do I know it's time to break the neutral seating position ? I saw a guy the other day on another red Ninja 250 near Keele & Lawrence, and he was making a left turn at the traffic lights with the knee down....... looked pretty cool lol
 
Well, to put it lamely, at regular ahem, legal road speeds you really have no need to lean off the bike, you don't really need the extra weight transfer to begin and hold a lean angle because you aren't going anywhere near fast enough to require it at all
 
I usually try to keep my butt planted, knees to the tank and countersteer in corners (just as you were instructed by RTI.) The knee down thing seems to be a bit over the top for most riding - it changes the chassis dynamics unnecessarily and causes instability (in 99% of normal street riding) The knee drag might be appropriate for the track, but I don't see any need at all for it while doing any normal riding - it is more of a show-off thing. I would stick with the RTI instruction you were given - it will serve you well and lead to more enjoyable rides.
 
What everyone said ^ , there's no need to hang off the bike. At normal road speeds being in the seat gives you more options if anything unexpected happens. On the track where you are dealing with much higher speed and traffic on the track in the corner is moving at a similar speed then using a high speed cornering technique may be more appropriate for the situation.
 
I like to hang off whenever I get a clear chance(left turns w/ no oncoming; crazy twisties, etc...). It makes a normally enjoyable ride even more exciting for me. =D

Been experimenting with different methods lately and found this to be the smoothest transition in and out of a corner when doing in succession.
1. Shift to the outside of the lane
2. Knee out towards the turn on the approach
3. Chest shifting passed the tank towards the inside at the start of the turn
4. Lean and adjust to the degree of the turn.

I don't even have to shift mah butt or lean the bike over too much.
This works for me =)
 
KneeDown7.jpg
 
I keep my butt on the seat and lean in with my upper boddy if I'm going fast, and that already significantly reduces the necessary lean angle while still allowing for good control in case I need to deal with something unexpected.
 
Leaning with your butt off the bike to make a left turn is like drifting a car to make a left turn.

Wholly unnecessary.
 
i find most of the times that i get my butt off the seat to turn, i dont have to. Sometimes i have to speed up if anything to lean more but like 2live said, its fun. For me, its the best part of riding. But is it necessary? probably not.
 
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