elbows UP!!!!
Mike Baxter
Just wondering, is there an easy way to learn to keep your elbows up while
riding. I know that it is one of my biggest flaws in technique. I having
a hard time breaking the habit of riding with my elbows down. If anyone has
any ideas, post them.
Later,
_____________________________________________________________________________
DoD #359 '91 CR250 | Mike Baxter
AMA #607249 #P61 |
TCCRA #P61 "Team D." | bax...@spdc.ti.com
Pro Class - Texas Cross Country Racing |
Sponsored by: ACERBIS, RACE TECH, | Texas Instruments, Dallas Tx.
WISECO & TWO WHEEL WORLD |
_______________________________________|_____________________________________
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are my very own, becuase
if they were worth anything TI would patent them.
Dr. Daniel R. Masys
>
>Just wondering, is there an easy way to learn to keep your elbows up while
>riding. I know that it is one of my biggest flaws in technique. I having
>a hard time breaking the habit of riding with my elbows down.
According to the "Cornering Techniques" MX video by 'Prof' Gary Bailey,
a good way to keep elbows up is to concentrate on keeping your head
position forward enough to look down and see the face of the number plate.
This moves your shoulders forward and your elbows gotta come up :-).
This is part of the "attack posture" which is standing on the pegs with
the balls of your feet, knees flexed, weight centered over about mid-
gas tank, in which according to the prof, you should be spending about
80% of your riding time while racing.
This all falls apart, of course, when you sit down and slide forward for
weighting the front wheel in turns, so he sez the best way to counter this
is to do an immediate "regrip" when you close the throttle for the turn:
ie., reach over the top of the throttle grip to get a new hand position that
results in the elbow being up at about 45 degrees, so that when you
accelerate out of the turn the elbow comes down to no lower than a 30
degree up angle.
'Course I don't race motorcycles and only use this approach when things
get a little 'competitive' on trail rides :-).
While on the subject, I should note that having seen a number of instructional
videos on dirt biking, I think the Bailey motocross training videos offer
a lot of very useful techniques for trail riders; more, in fact, than the
ones made specifically for trail riding. Especially helpful if you ride
a converted MX bike in the woods.
Dan Masys
ma...@nlm.nih.gov
Matt Barney
ma...@nlm.nih.gov writes:
>While on the subject, I should note that having seen a number of
instructional
>videos on dirt biking, I think the Bailey motocross training videos
offer
>a lot of very useful techniques for trail riders; more, in fact,
than the
>ones made specifically for trail riding. Especially helpful if you
ride
>a converted MX bike in the woods.
That's me!
Has anyone seen Dick Burleson's videos? I've considered buying them
for trail riding tips, but if Bailey's are better, I may go that
route.
----
Matt Barney '85 XR350R '87 CR250R
q...@inel.gov
Idaho National Engineering Laboratory
Idaho Falls, Idaho
Andy Weaver
>riding. I know that it is one of my biggest flaws in technique. I having
>a hard time breaking the habit of riding with my elbows down. If anyone has
>any ideas, post them.
Mountian biking has kept me in the elbows up, weight on the arms position
long enough that it feels pretty natural on the dirt bike now. But
now I have problems of keeping too much weight on the front. I have
KX500 fork springs in it, but I collapse them too much under hard
braking or turning. I may have to try some spacers to stiffen them up
a bit more.
Andy
Mike Baxter
>According to the "Cornering Techniques" MX video by 'Prof' Gary Bailey,
<lots of good advice deleted>
I went to the Gary Bailey two day class last year and he dogged me bad. I
learned alot from those two days, but I still catch myself riding with my
elbows down alot. I wonder if hypnosis would work. ;-)
fram...@skitzo.dseg.ti.com
>>a converted MX bike in the woods.
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> That's me!
>
> Has anyone seen Dick Burleson's videos? I've considered buying them
> for trail riding tips, but if Bailey's are better, I may go that
> route.
Ok this one is for me I guess. I've got two of Gary's tapes so
I'll give a short review. I'll even throw in some extra reviews.
New Rider Technique: Role models and general attitude. Rutts, small
cliffs, body position, starts, bermed/flat/offcamber turns, whoops,
jumps, airborne angle control, passing technique. Lots of slow motion.
(Did I miss anything, Mike?)
Strong emphasis on body position, clutch and brake. A lot of material
here. May have to watch the video a few thousand more times to get
it all to sink in. :-) I feel this video is directed towards the
MXer who wants to be faster, yet smoother. If you don't plan to
trail ride on the edge of sanity this video may not be what you are
looking for but you "will" enjoy it, regardless. Filmed riders are
David B, Rick J, Guy C, Ron L with a few others that I can't remember.
Desire to Win: Psyche video. Strong role model emphasis. Not much
riding technique. Mainly how to achieve the winning attitude.
Probably good to watch the night before a race. Really makes you
want to go out and whip some ass although the next day I'm usually
my same old clumsey self. Key riders are David B, Rick J "vs." Jeff W.
Contribute to David Bailey: Must have. Compilation of David's best.
One segment has him doing a huge step up to the top of a peak while
turning the bike 90 degrees in the air to come down the left face.
Never get tired of seeing that segment. Just wish I remember who
I loaned it to a few years ago.
Riding with Broc Glover: May not be the actual name since this is
another video I've been missing for a few years. Just a little
less material than Gary B delivers which may be a little better
for soaking in. He did one extra bit on crossups to brush off
speed when landing infront of turns. His apprentice is some
kid on an 80 but I can't recall who he is or if he became a hit
rider.
Some time ago I was talking to Bob Hanna after a lesson. I asked
him, since now he was retired if he was going to put out any
instructional videos. He said he hadn't really thought about it.
Don't know if he ever did. But if there ever was, I'm sure it
would take the cake.
_________________________________________________________________________
mark frampton....O/30 NOVICE | The next time you're looking for another
Slow #62. I'll get there! | thrill, try putting some tabasco sauce
fram...@skitzo.dseg.ti.com | on your toilet paper! 8-()
-------------------------------*-----------------------------------------
fram...@skitzo.dseg.ti.com
> In article <1993Jul9.1...@spdc.ti.com> bax...@epcot.spdc.ti.com (Mike Baxter) writes:
>>
>>Just wondering, is there an easy way to learn to keep your elbows up while
>>riding. I know that it is one of my biggest flaws in technique. I having
>>a hard time breaking the habit of riding with my elbows down.
>
> According to the "Cornering Techniques" MX video by 'Prof' Gary Bailey,
> a good way to keep elbows up is to concentrate on keeping your head
> position forward enough to look down and see the face of the number plate.
As I found out at King's this last Sunday... Being very far forward
was the only thing that kept me from looping out on the big stepups.
One needs to stay on the gas, all the way up to where you exit. In
the past, that always dropped the rear wheel.
Now that I've gotten semi-comfy with hanging over the front fender, I
hope I can get a better percentage of the longer jumps. :-)
> This all falls apart, of course, when you sit down and slide forward for
> weighting the front wheel in turns, so he sez the best way to counter this
> is to do an immediate "regrip" when you close the throttle for the turn:
This is something that I've tried and tried but never get burnt in to
do every time.
> Dan Masys
> ma...@nlm.nih.gov
mi...@oahu.cern.ch
: In article <1993Jul9.1...@nlm.nih.gov> ma...@nlm.nih.gov (Dr. Daniel R. Masys) writes:
: >According to the "Cornering Techniques" MX video by 'Prof' Gary Bailey,
: <lots of good advice deleted>
: I went to the Gary Bailey two day class last year and he dogged me bad. I
: learned alot from those two days, but I still catch myself riding with my
: elbows down alot. I wonder if hypnosis would work. ;-)
Did they talk about weighting the outside peg in a turn? I'm
sure all of you know that technique, but I didn't (at least
not consciously). I was trying that last evening (it is light
enough to ride here til about 10pm), and wow, what a difference!
--
Mickey Coggins
Mike Baxter
>
>: I went to the Gary Bailey two day class last year and he dogged me bad. I
>: learned alot from those two days, but I still catch myself riding with my
>: elbows down alot. I wonder if hypnosis would work. ;-)
>
>Did they talk about weighting the outside peg in a turn? I'm
>sure all of you know that technique, but I didn't (at least
>not consciously). I was trying that last evening (it is light
>enough to ride here til about 10pm), and wow, what a difference!
>
>--
>Mickey Coggins
Bailey covered that and a whole lot more. We actually left before he was
done, but it was getting dark and we were all tired. I would suggest his class
to anyone who is interested in learning to go faster and ride smoother.
Tim Keller
and beyond what it is intended to do. I want to use it to commute 80 miles
one way, 30 miles on improved 2 lane 55 mph highway, 50 miles on tight
winding road up to 7,000 feet and back down again to sea level. The road is
full of potholes (mostly repaired by a shovel of cold mix, and packed down
by cage tires) for about 25 miles, and then improved for the last 25 (but
still tight curves with quick transitions required and a lot of up & down).
My guess is that the KLR would eat this up and leave a smile on my
face. My question is, how fast would I wear this thing out? This is about
36,000 miles/year, and I wonder how many chains, tires, sprockets etc. I
could go through before the bike died.
Is this bike shim under, or shim over bucket? Is the front fork a
cartridge fork, or standard?
Lastly, and please don't laugh too hard, I would like to put some
hard bags on it.
All the mags say riding a good duel purpose thumper on a tight
winding road is about as much fun as you can have on two wheels.
Before anyone suggests a R1100GS (if/when it comes out), I just
can't write a $14,000 check for a bike.
TJK
'85 FJ1100 -"The Beast"
Frank Ball
& one way, 30 miles on improved 2 lane 55 mph highway, 50 miles on tight
& winding road up to 7,000 feet and back down again to sea level. The road is
& full of potholes (mostly repaired by a shovel of cold mix, and packed down
& by cage tires) for about 25 miles, and then improved for the last 25 (but
& still tight curves with quick transitions required and a lot of up & down).
& My guess is that the KLR would eat this up and leave a smile on my
& face.
Without having riden one, I would tend to agree (I own an XT350 and I've
riden a XL600-I did sit on a KLR).
& My question is, how fast would I wear this thing out? This is about
& 36,000 miles/year, and I wonder how many chains, tires, sprockets etc. I
& could go through before the bike died.
Figure on two chains/sprocket sets per year.
DP tires don't last long. I get 7K miles in back and 9K in front.
If you go for pure street tires you could get much longer lasting
tires. I'm not sure what would work better on your collection of
roads, but I'm really happy with my Avon Gripster DP tires.
& Is this bike shim under, or shim over bucket? Is the front fork a
There was an article on this in one of the rags last month-either
motorcycle consumer news, rider, or the AMA rag-I don't remember.
Anyway setting the valves sounded like a real bitch: remove seat,
tank, radiator, coil, wiring, a couple other odds and ends, and
finally the valve cover. I think you have to lift the cams to get
the shims out too, even though they are the shim over bucket type.
& Lastly, and please don't laugh too hard, I would like to put some
& hard bags on it.
This might be tough with the high exhaust pipe. I can't use my soft
bags on the XT for this reason. That's why I have the milk crate
bolted to the rear rack.
& All the mags say riding a good duel purpose thumper on a tight
& winding road is about as much fun as you can have on two wheels.
Yup. Lots of midrange. Lots of grounds clearance. Not much weight.
--
Frank Ball 1UR-M fra...@sad.hp.com (707) 794-4168 work,
Hewlett Packard (707) 794-3844 fax, (707) 538-3693 home
1212 Valley House Drive IT175, XT350, Seca 750, '62 F-100, PL510
Rohnert Park CA 94928-4999 KC6WUG, LAW, AMA, Dod #7566, I'm the NRA.
Blaine Gardner
> Tim Keller spake:
>& and beyond what it is intended to do. I want to use it to commute 80 miles
>& one way, 30 miles on improved 2 lane 55 mph highway, 50 miles on tight
>& winding road up to 7,000 feet and back down again to sea level.
Come on Tim, mention the good part, this commute is in Hawaii on the big
island!
>& My guess is that the KLR would eat this up and leave a smile on my
>& face.
>Without having riden one, I would tend to agree (I own an XT350 and I've
>riden a XL600-I did sit on a KLR).
>& Is this bike shim under, or shim over bucket? Is the front fork a
>There was an article on this in one of the rags last month-either
>motorcycle consumer news, rider, or the AMA rag-I don't remember.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That's the one, sometime in the last 3-4 months.
>Anyway setting the valves sounded like a real bitch: remove seat,
>tank, radiator, coil, wiring, a couple other odds and ends, and
>finally the valve cover. I think you have to lift the cams to get
>the shims out too, even though they are the shim over bucket type.
I don't know the Kawasakis that well, but there are the Tengai, KLR650
and the new KLX650, in ascending order of dirt-worthiness, as I recall.
I think all of them share the basic motor described above. Bob Palin
rode his KLR650, and Diana Boyd her Tengai, from California to Moab last
year, so you might drop them a line and see what they have to say. Bob
claims the KLR650 is more comfortable than his ST1100 because there's
more legroom, but then he's a tall one like me.
Honda's XR650L is definitly more of a dirtbike-with-lights, but it is
aircooled and has easily accessable screw-type valve adjusters, so
maintenance would be a lot easier. You can remove the air filter with no
tools, and the electrics are on the left side, but that does make the
rear of the bike rather wide.
>& Lastly, and please don't laugh too hard, I would like to put some
>& hard bags on it.
>This might be tough with the high exhaust pipe. I can't use my soft
>bags on the XT for this reason. That's why I have the milk crate
>bolted to the rear rack.
How much do you want to spend? Krauser sells mounting bracket kits for
all sorts of odd bikes, but my list is at least two years old, so it
doesn't cover the newer bikes. Lemme see here... they list the Tengai,
but I think only for the top case, not side bags. And the Honda NX650 is
listed, it was the plastic-wrapped thumper similiar to the Tengai. The
NX650 or Tengai might actually be a better choice, unless there's
anywhere to do dirt riding in Hawaii.
>& All the mags say riding a good duel purpose thumper on a tight
>& winding road is about as much fun as you can have on two wheels.
>Yup. Lots of midrange. Lots of grounds clearance. Not much weight.
I remember a picture from one of the magazine tests about 8-10 years
ago, probably on the XL600, and the D-P thumper was leaned over so far
the foot peg was nearly dragging! I didn't think that was possible!
--
Blaine Gardner @ Evans & Sutherland 580 Arapeen Drive, SLC, Utah 84108
blga...@sim.es.com BIX: blai...@bix.com FJ1200 XR600R LT250R DoD#46
"We usually don't stop until friction and gravity are finished." Merf