Post pics of your most recent track/racing BP (Body Positioning)

[csmith12]

No apology required my good man. Your seeing track fairings vs the stock street fairings, some cool paint/sticker jobs and nice riding. It's good stuff.

[Nemesis]

Originally Posted by alex.s

im sick and bored and medicated;

here's a shot from two years ago

2 yrs ago?

Read thread title. Pure FAIL!

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by Nemesis

2 yrs ago?

Read thread title. Pure FAIL!

here you go, princess. from jennings last weekend:



notice how much the bike is leaning :P :P :P






... here, i'll post one with a slight tip in

[shane liberty]

I'll post for my race team. The funny thing is, the guy with the "worst" BP is the guy who owns the lap record on a 250. lol. I think some folks have been watching too much MotoGP and are trying to replicate what the pros are doing on a bike. Not necessary to drag elbow to go fast but it sure does look neat on camera.

Darren Simms


Kit Liberty


Josh Fogle


Shane Liberty

[alex.s]

the cvr bowl always makes it look like so much more lean

[shane liberty]

Originally Posted by alex.s

the cvr bowl always makes it look like so much more lean

OK, here you go then

[alex.s]

see? awww yeah.

[Dmented]

nice pix!
GO #DmentedRacing!

[shane liberty]

Originally Posted by alex.s

see? awww yeah.

not sure what you're trying to say buddy. It's the same lean for me either way. that's the point of sticking the knee out as a feeler. The last photo is rotated. Rotate your laptop and level out the asphalt. It's the same thing.

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by shane liberty

not sure what you're trying to say buddy. It's the same lean for me either way. that's the point of sticking the knee out as a feeler. The last photo is rotated. Rotate your laptop and level out the asphalt. It's the same thing.

i'm just saying lean angle looks sexier when there's no camber on the asphalt

[shane liberty]

Originally Posted by alex.s

i'm just saying lean angle looks sexier when there's no camber on the asphalt

Not the Ninja but this is one of my favorites from CVR taken before the SV went by by at the end of the year

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by shane liberty

before the SV went by by at the end of the year

... no more SV??? just decided to have fun with the 250s? or did something happen?

[shane liberty]

Traded the SV for a race ninja and a minimoto. I've actually sold the mini also.


I wanted to race with everyone I pit with and I like that the Ninja is much cheaper on tires and it's a supersport class. I'm planning to stick with the 250 and do a little traveling to race with the team.

[Dmented]

only one ass cheek off.
perfect IMO. i finally got to a point where i wasn't upsetting the bike on tip in.
now to get some of my speed back.

[csmith12]

^^^^ fo shizzle

[csmith12]

We should do the body position contest again this year. I am startin' the year off pretty good.

Not to shabby for an old man at the start of a season.

[shane liberty]

I'm going to wait till the next BP trend comes around. I'm not feeling the "hang off the bike awkwardly far to look like Marquez" BP trend.

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by Dmented

only one ass cheek off.
perfect IMO. i finally got to a point where i wasn't upsetting the bike on tip in.
now to get some of my speed back.

What is the reasoning behind the hand positioning on the inside/lower hand. It looks like you're holding it diagonally, is this purely to get your elbow down easier or is there also a practical reason (can't imagine you would do it without one)

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by Sirref

What is the reasoning behind the hand positioning on the inside/lower hand. It looks like you're holding it diagonally, is this purely to get your elbow down easier or is there also a practical reason (can't imagine you would do it without one)

imagine trying to grip the bar straight when your body and arm are off to the side. you would be practically breaking your wrist already. its just a more comfortable grip on the bar. plus on the opposite side it makes twisting the throttle while you're all the way over like that easier. its like holding a microphone

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by alex.s

imagine trying to grip the bar straight when your body and arm are off to the side. you would be practically breaking your wrist already. its just a more comfortable grip on the bar. plus on the opposite side it makes twisting the throttle while you're all the way over like that easier. its like holding a microphone

Oh, I see now. Thank you, I'll start doing that now. My wrists typically haven't been annoying me though, might just be me not being fast enough (compared to a track pace)

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by Sirref

Oh, I see now. Thank you, I'll start doing that now. My wrists typically haven't been annoying me though, might just be me not being fast enough (compared to a track pace)

Putting your wrists in that kind of a bind normally makes you tight on the bars too. fyi

[Sirref]

tried it real quick on the way to work, it feels so natural.

[Dmented]

I have seen all sorts of "BP"... i wouldn't recommend trying too hard to look like somebody in a picture. the shot of me draggin elbow is super over-exaggerated on the grips.
BUT
I will say it helped me stay light on the bars and any chatter i had before has gone. I'll be playing with my BP a lot this year, just finding something that is comfortable AND allows me to go fast.

[Dmented]

correction... I just went over my data from my last races. I DID go my fastest while dragging elbow.

maybe there IS something in this new BP. but still, i think on my 250 i need to stay closer to the bike and rotate my body around the gas tank, instead of riding it how i would race my 1000rr.

[shane liberty]

Darren was grabbing the bar like that to get his elbow down. Plain and simple. There's no reason to change your grip to that extreme. Holding the bar in a screwdriver style method works well for a bigger horsepower machine as it gives you more control on the throttle when leaning over so you can modulate the input with more precision. This is the exact explanation that Jason Pridmore gave us for that method of holding. Beyond that, you want a normal grab on the bars. I myself do use the screwdriver method on the smaller bikes and I've done it with the clutch side so that I can hold the bars elbows out. It's stupid really but it makes me take the weight off my wrists so I'm not accidentally shoving on the bars or putting weird inputs into the bars when the bike is sliding. Too easy to tuck the front if you're ham fisting it or white knuckling the bars when the bike gets loose.


At CVR when you're turning a fast lap in a race, the bike gets loose. It slides and it tucks. First weekend racing the little 250 I lost count of how many times the front tucked. I am sure I could change geometry a little to prevent the bike being that nervous but I like the way it feels so I just cope. I don't ride the bike the same way that Darren does but Darren rides very well so if he wants to hold the clip-on weird that's his prerogative.

[Sirref]

Ah, thank you for the tips. Pretty handy and I can see how it's more important on larger machines, though getting weight off the wrists is a huge deal when trying to run at a track pace. I assume cvr is chuckwalla valley raceway?

[ally99]

Jennings - I know I should be lower than the close-up photo. I remembered that about halfway through day 2.

[choneofakind]

Getting weight off the wrists is important no matter where you're riding. Look out, your noob is showing.

[shane liberty]

It's always important to keep a light touch. We use the "baby chickens" mentality. If you're holding the bars any tighter than you would a couple baby chickens, you're holding them too tight.



Light tough, trailing, clutching, it's always important. Even if you're racing a kids bike. This photo of me racing the 65 is a good example of all of the above. I can run a :48 flat at Apex on a kid's bike if I'm being chased. You can bet your ass I'm using every trick in the book to make that happen.




Or the SV when I was battling the top 4 guys. I have lots of photos really guys, I've been racing tons of bikes for the last 4 years.



Or an XR115 during a 24/hr race


Or my amateur year of CVMA



Or my days racing my SXV450 Aprilia

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by choneofakind

Getting weight off the wrists is important no matter where you're riding. Look out, your noob is showing.

it's most important when you're running at a track pace though. I know to keep my weight off the bars, I only found a better way to do it while hanging off.

[choneofakind]

No, it's equally important to do at boring-ass commuting speeds too. Just as important as it is ok bicycles. Light touch.

[shane liberty]

Oh, forgot about racing the Aprilia RS125. That was one of my favorite bikes. Light touch is important when you're power sliding a 2-stroke while making a pass on Darren.

[Sirref]

sigh, what I mean is that it's the difference between crashing and not crashing on a track. Commuting on the highway it's more of a difference in comfort and not being blown around within your lane. I stay light on the bars all the time already but it's not the difference between crashing and not crashing unless you're pushing the bike a bit or you're riding in severely heavy crosswinds. Bars are meant for steering not for carrying your weight regardless of the situation, this is true. However, it isn't the end of the world if some weight ends up on them if you're cruising down an expressway. I do admit if I had cruise control on my bike I'd spend about half of my highway commute sitting straight up without either hand on my bars and I'd get there just fine without the issue of ending up treating traffic like a slalom ski run out of boredom. (a case where being light on the bars is obviously important)

[Dmented]

Originally Posted by shane liberty

Darren was grabbing the bar like that to get his elbow down. Plain and simple. There's no reason to change your grip to that extreme. Holding the bar in a screwdriver style method works well for a bigger horsepower machine as it gives you more control on the throttle when leaning over so you can modulate the input with more precision. This is the exact explanation that Jason Pridmore gave us for that method of holding. Beyond that, you want a normal grab on the bars. I myself do use the screwdriver method on the smaller bikes and I've done it with the clutch side so that I can hold the bars elbows out. It's stupid really but it makes me take the weight off my wrists so I'm not accidentally shoving on the bars or putting weird inputs into the bars when the bike is sliding. Too easy to tuck the front if you're ham fisting it or white knuckling the bars when the bike gets loose.


At CVR when you're turning a fast lap in a race, the bike gets loose. It slides and it tucks. First weekend racing the little 250 I lost count of how many times the front tucked. I am sure I could change geometry a little to prevent the bike being that nervous but I like the way it feels so I just cope. I don't ride the bike the same way that Darren does but Darren rides very well so if he wants to hold the clip-on weird that's his prerogative.

I agree... go fast however you can as safe as you can.

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by Sirref

it's the difference between crashing and not crashing on a track

i'm not sure, but i don't think that's true.

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by alex.s

i'm not sure, but i don't think that's true.

would "can be" be acceptable? if nothing else it slows you down and wears you out quicker while making the bike less stable.

[CC Cowboy]

Originally Posted by shane liberty

It's always important to keep a light touch. We use the "baby chickens" mentality. If you're holding the bars any tighter than you would a couple baby chickens, you're holding them too tight.



Light tough, trailing, clutching, it's always important. Even if you're racing a kids bike. This photo of me racing the 65 is a good example of all of the above. I can run a :48 flat at Apex on a kid's bike if I'm being chased. You can bet your ass I'm using every trick in the book to make that happen.

You have huge eyes!

[r6boater]

Here's one of Draik from this past weekend.

[ally99]

Nice one!

[shane liberty]

Originally Posted by r6boater

Here's one of Draik from this past weekend.

Great shot (your son?) and great paint on the bike.

Photos from this weekend