Test your Body Position
“In Ama Pro Racing, World Superbike And MotoGP there’s been a shift in riding styles. From the days of ’80s and ’90s heroes like Kevin Schwantz and Mick Doohan who were forced to wrestle powerful, unruly beasts to their will, a younger generation of riders typified by Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner took over, rising from the high-corner speed ranks of 125cc and 250cc Grand Prix machinery to the more refined, better-behaved MotoGP bikes of today with their complex engine-management software and traction control. Actually Rossi’s career dates from the final days of fire-breathing 500cc two-strokes (he won the last 500CC World Championship in 2001, then piled up consecutive MotoGP championships from 2002 to 2005), which likely contributes to making him the most versatile and perhaps most talented roadracer of all time.
Focusing on riding styles, in particular body position while hanging off during cornering, we see the evolution from the more upright chest-over-the-tank style of the past couple of decades to the radically to-the-inside and almost under-the-bike shenanigans of the youngsters. The old school still has some fight left, as exemplified by former World Superbike champions Troy Bayliss (a dominant force in the series and currently leading WSBK points) and Neil Hodgson, one of our interview subjects here, who makes his return to AMA Superbike competition to take care of some unfinished business. Representing the new-schoolers is multitime AMA champion and factory Yamaha superbike pilot Eric Bostrom, a man who first popularized the modern style in the AMA competition despite his dirt-track and four-stroke background. When asked if the difference in riding styles comes from the younger generation’s experience being limited to modern chassis and tire technology, Hodgson scratches his head and says, “Yeah, it’s very possible; I’ve never analyzed it that way, but now that you’ve said it you’re probably right.”
My riding style , varies on so many differnt levels, and it seem to me its like a fingerprint. Its different for each and every rider. I perfer to fight my machine into a turn, positioning my body more off the bike, to keep it as upright as possible and to maintain a comfortable speed. Its a style that I’m most comfortable with. I’ve practice the low rider, tank hugger technique, but its not the same. You can find more of this article on http://www.sportrider.com/ride/RSS/146_0806_riding_styles_body_position/eric_bostrom.html.
The bottom line… “In terms of pure physics, the advantages of the new-school style of riding cannot be denied. The lower and farther off to the inside the rider gets his body, the more upright the bike is around a given radius at a given speed. Pure and simple, more is better, so long as your body position doesn’t compromise your ability to stay connected to the bike so you can feel what’s happening at both contact patches and maintain light and precise inputs on the controls. Since the days of rigid frames and spoked wheels, riding styles are constantly changing. Bike and tire technology, like time, marches forward and waits for no man-not even Schwantz or Doohan.”
