What Lean Means Body Position, An Overview

WHAT LEAN MEANS BODY POSITION, AN OVERVIEW

IGNITION

RIDE CRAFT

The reasons why you should evaluate your body position

Nick Ienatsch

This body position overview was sparked by my recent participation in AHRMA (American Historic Racing Motorcycle Association) racing. On track and from the fence, I witnessed some riders taking more risk while sacrificing speed. They were going slower and riding less safely, all due to poor or nonexistent body position techniques.

In a nutshell, we move our body to the inside of our bikes—or “hang off”—to run less lean angle. Lean angle is risk, and GP-like body position allows us to run less lean

angle at the same speed. If you can run less lean angle, you can use more throttle and brake pressure. Safely.

Street riders benefit from this just as much as racers. The ability to carry less lean angle through something like gravel (because you hung off when you saw the gravel) will enable you to run the radius you need to stay in your lane but at a lean angle that helps maintain grip through the gravel. Cold tires, wet tires, and overheated tires all maintain grip better when more upright.

Racers can run less lean angle by slowing down, and

that is what many of the racers/trackday riders are eventually forced to do if they don’t hang off. Crashing and running off the track are the two factors that encourage these upright riders to slow down, and my personal experience has shown me that repair bills and/or getting badly beaten have a way of prompting racers to retire from our sport. Riding slowly around a racetrack is still fun, but racing loses its charm relatively quickly when compared with battling for a top-five position every weekend.

As you have seen through

the more recent history of roadracing, there are plenty of riding styles and minor differences in body position. That’s not what this article is about. This overview is about getting you to reevaluate your body position and even comparing it to your favorite roadracing champion’s. Look at photos and ask, “Is my body position causing me to take more risk than necessary?” If so, let’s work on it. Emulate the body positions of the best in the world and you, too, will achieve more speed and consistency, the hallmarks of champions.