[Toshihiro Wakayama: Motorcycle Journalist]

》[Previous Column] Eliminating Stereotype Riding Techniques ”Chapter 1 Counter Steering”

“Shifting your weight to the inside footpeg,” a misdirected trend

Since when have the people come to believe that riders should “lean and add weight to the inside footpeg to corner,” or “shift their weight to the inside footpeg while cornering?” It’s such an absurd urban legend, you know.

Probably, the story had spread when people saw Randy Mamola, who rode the HONDA NS500 at the 500cc class race of the world championship in the early 80s, detach his outer foot from the footpeg when cornering. People started to believe that shifting your weight to the outer side was out of style.

People took for granted that riders should shift their weight to the inside footpeg because you are to drop your torso down parallel with the road, and this belief became to take root.

Still, Mamola himself had said that “it was only because my body slid to the front inner direction when I was cornering, and my foot couldn’t reach the outer footpeg then.” It wasn’t his intention to shift his weight to the inside footpeg.

Cardinal rules for cornering: the significance of “shifting your weight to the outside footpeg

Anyhow, to shift your weight to the outside footpeg is the cardinal rule for cornering, and this principle hasn’t changed since a long time ago. It is not a rule only for those old days when the performance level of tires or suspension and brake parts were low and the grip power was insufficient.

First of all, you got to understand that motorcycles become more stable when riders shift their weight to the outside.

A motorcycle keeps its stability by altering the condition of stable and unstable repeatedly. The positioning of the rider’s body also change rapidly and minutely.

If the rider’s weight is shifted to the outside footpeg, the machine will try to work on and stabilize itself even if it is under an unstable condition. However, the motorcycle will become unstable if you shift your weight to the opposite direction, for it means that you are inclining the machine downward. You cannot enjoy a relax ride unless you shift your weight to the outside footpeg.

To be extreme, even if the rear part of the motorcycle slips, the machine will rise up automatically if your weight is shifted to the outside footpeg. If your weight is shifted to the other side, you may end up in a highside accident, for you need to turn the handlebar to the inner side to raise your motorcycle.

It’s not only that. There is a more important thing about shifting your weight outside footpeg. It’s necessary for the rider to determine the steering angle when starting the cornering and changing direction. If you are to change the steering angle when you are to lean the motorcycle, you need to leave your body weight to the outside direction at that moment.

Weight shifted to the outside footpeg will be the axis for cornering

I believe that the body movement of a motorcycle ride is something that a person is born with. It is the same as the posture of a footrace player at the beginning of a race. The player sticks out his/her buttocks of the supporting foot side and makes a dogleg posture in order to leave his/her weight to the outer side as much as possible.

Baseball players do the same thing. When the player takes a batting or a pitching posture, while preparing for the lower half body to make a forward movement, the player bends to hold his trunk backward and put his weight on his rear (axis) foot.

To perform these movements correctly equals to shifting the weight to the outside. Some urban legends say that you need to “shift your weight to the inside footpeg at the beginning of the corner, even if you convert your posture to the outside during the turn.” But you cannot control your motorcycle to turn if you take that posture. Come to think of it, I think I’ve learned how to ride a bike by learning what shifting my weight to the outside footpeg really means.

Some may say that you cannot lean your motorcycle, or you cannot corner in that posture. But the answer is quite simple. You are kicking your motorcycle with your outer foot. You shouldn’t add any power to the motorcycle. Well, I would like to talk about that subject in my next column!

To be continued to the
[Toshihiro Wakayama’s Column] Eliminating Stereotype Riding Techniques, Chapter 3