Hanging off

[urbanj]

no i dont hang off. i dont pretend to be a racer and i have nothing to prove. i dont think looks "cool" either.

Well technically if this guy is posting in response to the OP which was do you hang off on the regular when you are out for a quick ride then I think I'm with him. Should you really be going that fast on the street to necessitate hanging off.................... probably not.

"A gun rack? What am I going to do with a gun rack? I don't even own A gun, let along many guns to necessitate and entire rack."

Had to throw this in there. I wanted to use the word necessitate again.

 

[Cuba]

I do it all the time on the back roads, although I'm not pushing it hard enough to need to. Practice practice, you may need that muscle memory some day on the street and obviously will need it for the track. Plus it's cool to make a turn with the bike pratically vertical, and it freaks out old people.

 

[jfz6]

I wish I had someone to video tape me. I have tried hanging off the side but I am uncomfortable doing it and frankly I think I am doing it wrong but there are plenty of nice long corners here on the freeways at interchanges, etc. that I ride on the way home from my girlfriends house. When I first started riding I could only take them going about 40mph and now on a number of them I can hit about 80mph.

However, I feel like I need to go and do a track day and learn how to lean of the bike as I have been scraping the pegs lately and on one of the corners I have scraped the front part of my shoe a number of times!!! Freaked me out. I am worried I am pushing the speed and a short curve going 80 is no way to go down- right into the wall is where I would slide.

 

[Crotalus]

I lean so far over, I regularly scrape the side of my helmet!!

....okay, really.....
I often lean off the seat, not because I am that fast, but because I enjoy it. I seldom scrap my pegs, maybe because of the leaning but mostly because I am not that talented yet.....:Flash:

 

[Davey]

Good thread this one! Last week I went for a ride and was pushing fairly hard in the corners, and trying to get into the 'good habit' of hanging off. Scraped my boots a few times but not the pegs. However, I don't have knee sliders (yet!) so didn't want to push it too far.

There's a few vids on youtube giving some pointers as to how to do it properly. A common mistake people make is that they hang their bum off the seat but keep their head behind the screen, resulting in a twisted position. You've got to move your head too, think about looking around the outside of your mirrors and getting your chest to one side of the tank. Look at pics of the Moto GP riders positions for tips.

This is about getting your knee down but the principle is the same:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCg3BMGe52M]YouTube - MCN: How to get your knee down[/ame]

I def think it is a uselful and valid riding technique for the road or track.

 

[RZ350 Rider]

I lean off the side on mine. I was at Bridgehampton Raceway on L.I. for the bike races and watched a guy on Kawasaki, where he leaned off so far his butt was duct taped. No crap. It was so totally awesome to watch. He came in second. After the race we went to see him in the pits and, as an aside, he had his instruments taped over, the speedo completely taped but the Tach was taped up except for near the redline, a little below and some above.

RZ350 Rider

 

[Coopdman]

just wondering today whilst out on the bike if hanging off the bike is needed or not as last week whilst going round a left hander my footpeg hit the ground, although this caught me buy surprise it didnt unsettle the bike.
How many on here hang off on a regular when out for a quick ride?

Short Answer: Had you hung off the bike, you may not have scraped that peg...

A Little More: Hanging off the bike does change the dynamic properties slightly. Enough for it to be necessary for racers (at least if they want to win), but not most of us, although it is terribly fun.

Basically, you're changing the center of gravity (CoG) of the bike/rider combo. As you hang off to one side, the CoG shifts in that direction as well, allowing the angle of lean to be reduced; the counter-shift of CoG. This is safely obvious if you lean off to one side as you're driving a straight line. You have to lean the bike the opposite direction of your weight shift.

There are many more variables involved but w/o looking it up, I'd say CoG is the main player in why hanging off the bike can be useful.

Much more thoroughly explained: Bicycle and motorcycle dynamics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Enjoy!

 

[PAULED]

I would love to hang off my bike and get my knee down, but not that advanced in my riding career. "Feels" like I am leaning over quite a bit with the bike around corners, but I would like to film it to see how far I am actually am. I expect not as much as I expect.

I will try and get myself on film, as I am off for 2weeks and my son has his last exam tomorrow and he can do the filming. I will upload and leave myself open to ridicule for you. Hey but it's all good fun, right:thumbup:

Cheers

 

[mxgolf]

This is a cool thread. I have been riding a bit on the backroads and hanging it out some. I still haven't touched my knee. I ride dirt bikes so I have great balance on a street bike. I just need to get the balls to do it! Watching that video should really help. I agree you might need it some day. I do ride as safe as possible all the time. I do value my life.

 

[Misti]

In this case, had you taken the hanging off approach, the peg would not have likely dragged. Was it the peg or the feeler attached to it?

Had you been off the seat, your added weight to the inside corner would have allowed the bike to remain more upright thus allowing more clearance for the peg. This is the fastest method of cornering and why you see the GP racers so far off the side of the bike. They are keeping their bikes on the very edge of the tire that still allows traction without dragging hardware other than their knee puck. The puck is another important part of GP racing. This allows the rider to provide stability in the corner for himself and the bike in that his leg is flexible, like a shock absorber. If his knee was locked and immovable, it would have the same unsettling effect that your peg did.

In short, the farther you hang off, the more upright the bike can remain and the faster you can negotiate the corner. :thumbup:

Hope that helps!

Good explanation on the importance of hanging off and how it helps the rider lean the bike over LESS.

This is not just a technique used for racers, even street riders, especially guys like the OP, need to learn to adjust their body positions so that they are not leaning the bike over further than necessary for a given corner.

When we say "Hanging off" it implies hanging your butt WAY off the seat, knee out and trying to drag it, and that is impractical for most street riders that are cornering at moderate paces. I think the term "Body Position" is better. Any rider can improve their body position on the bike so that they have better cornering clearance and more stability while riding.

When I am riding on the street I don't "HANG OFF" so much as adjust my body position so that my lower body is stable and connected to the bike, and my upper body is leaning into the corner and "going with the bike". When I'm racing I hang my butt off the seat a little bit further, one cheek off, and get my upper body over to the inside, drop my elbow down and bring my head over my inside arm.

There are varying degrees of "hanging off" and how much you need is dependent on the riding situation and your speed in the corner.

Cheers,
Misti

 

[chihuahuastud]

The quickest street rider I know never leaves the seat. Like Misti said its getting your upper body positioned for the corner. I have been working on several techniques lately. One is aiming my shoulder into the corner. I found my inside arm is loose and the bike drops in much smoother and quicker when I do this. The other is reading the corner and taking the proper line. By using all of my lane I find I don't come anywhere close to scraping in a corner.

 

[Goop]

Good thread...keep it going!

 

[DefyInertia]

I don't really hang off on the street. I used to, but I've stopped gradually as my pace has picked up (since moving to Cali and getting to ride great roads all the time). I guess I lean into the turns a little bit but seriously hanging off isn't really practical for the pace and roads I ride. I think if anything, all of that moving around would require that I slow down OR commit 100%. I like to keep my head up and stay focused on my environment.

At the track there is generally more straight away time to set up and you can really get way off and fully commit to speed and speed alone.

On my dual sport I shove the bike down and get my leg out there for the super tight goaty stuff...it just feels natural and really helps the bike bend around those uber tight bumpy trails.

 

[Have2BeFree]

I started learning to hang off the seat a bit this spring, I also noticed that I was shifting my weight on the pegs as well. I did the track day a lot and yes, hung off the seat more than ever before. It was a blast!


I don't ride the streets like I rode the track and never will due to the unpredictability of street conditions, cages, animals, etc. However, I do practice hanging off the seat for the same reason as others - it is a learned behavior and it might just save me someday when it is a skill I need!

 

[Wavex]

I rarely hang-off unless we're on a spirited ride in the twisties... On spirited rides, I know I often "hang-off" too much for what is really needed, but I feel more comfortable that way... I feel like if something happens mid-corner, I have an extra margin thanks to the fact that I am already "in position"

 

[DefyInertia]

Plus it's cool to make a turn with the bike pratically vertical, and it freaks out old people.

lol...you're probably just upsetting the chassis and messing with the bike's natural way of leaning and turning at that point. And dude, leave the old people alone

 

[Hellgate]

I rarely hang-off unless we're on a spirited ride in the twisties... On spirited rides, I know I often "hang-off" too much for what is really needed, but I feel more comfortable that way... I feel like if something happens mid-corner, I have an extra margin thanks to the fact that I am already "in position"

I do out of habit but for the street less than the track. On the street you can be more steath when you're upright. "Why no officer, I was not traveling above the posted speed limit."

 

[Wavex]

I do out of habit but for the street less than the track. On the street you can be more steath when you're upright. "Why no officer, I was not traveling above the posted speed limit."

hehe... yeah definitely not as much as on the track.... the Buell's upright ergos and the high handlebars doesn't allow me to do it even if i wanted to

 

[Hellgate]

hehe... yeah definitely not as much as on the track.... the Buell's upright ergos and the high handlebars doesn't allow me to do it even if i wanted to

You need a set of clubman's and some cool Woodcraft rearsets. :thumbup:

 

[Wavex]

I am working on a deal with a member on badwebs about the clubman bars should get them later this year