Peg Weighting

[welderteacher]

Here in Idaho, we have a lot of narrow sidehill single track. Any advice on weighting inside or outside peg in these conditions. Same for tight and technical tracks, weight the inside or outside peg when cornering?

[SS109]

For me it is the same for both wide open terrain or tight single track. Bike leans left, I load the right peg and vice versa.

[scheckaet]

yep always on the outside peg. It's kinda hard to put weight on the inside when you have your foot out anyway

[Julien D]

Initiate the turn by weighting the inside peg, as the bike leans over, transfer weight to the outside peg and get that inside leg up by the front fender. This helps a lot in preventing washouts.

[WNC]

And when you do washout, you'll be on top of the bike instead of under it.
I tend to lightly drag my front brake a bit, it sorta preloads the front end and aides in traction, And exiting the turn, I release the brake which allows the bike to launch a bit. Bout like the same principle to jumping mx style. (preloading the suspension).

[Duke]

"Juliend" offered a rare bit of sound advice in that applying preassure to the inside footpeg really does aid in getting the bike to lean over. Leaning you head to the inside will garner you equall results. As for weighting the outside, Gary Semics advises that many folks apply too much weight to the outside, sort of too much of good thing principle. His theory is one where you dont want to push down so hard that it causes tension in the upper body. The upper body should always be loose and relaxed in order to sustian energy and keep a lower center of gravity. To your question, applying pressure to the outside peg on a off camber hill is the right things to do. You might also consider taking a standing trials position

[kawagumby]

"Juliend" offered a rare bit of sound advice..

Kinda harsh....LOL


And how does a loose upper body change the CG? Mebbe if you are ManDongo being loose would keep the weight lower, but that's not upper body anyways.

[Duke]

quote="Duke"]"Juliend" offered a rare bit of sound advice.. [/quote]

Kinda harsh....LOL

Maybe I need to rephrase the comment. "Rare" in that not a lot of folks recognize the value of weighting the inside peg. I am not implying that "Juliend" rarely offers advice that is sound. As for keeping the upper body relaxed, when you tense up you have tendency to transfer weight to the handlebars. When the upper body relaxes, the body weight seems to transfer lower.

[roberto_shift]

As for keeping the upper body relaxed, when you tense up you have tendency to transfer weight to the handlebars. When the upper body relaxes, the body weight seems to transfer lower.

Its because you are connected to the bike via your pegs - effectively lowering your CG - tense up and yes you transfer weight to bars which elevates your CG - especially if you are standing. The higher you connect the higher the CG and the lower you connect the lower the CG.

For cornering, personally, I use two different techniques depending on if I'm sitting or standing.

Sitting: I initiate with inside peg then shift pressure to outside peg and push in with my outside knee.

Standing: I peg steer which means if I'm turning left I push on my left peg... right I push on my right peg. I stand 90% of the time and practice the toes in school of thought so the terrain makes my knees grip my bike when needed without my input.

I keep my upper body loose in either case - and of course it's never quite as simple as that depending on the corner... is the corner rutted, braking bumps, roots, rocks, berm, off cambered... my speed, my braking (ie brake steering) and body position over the bike for optimal traction.

Just my 2 cents.

[adam728]

Changing whether your inputs are through the bars or pegs simply changes how you are leveraging the bike. Does not change center of gravity at all. How can it, the location of mass in the system hasn't changed.

Just a pet peeve of mine. I see it often as a sitting vs standing argument, that standing has a lower cg because you are on the pegs. Completely false.

Sent via morse code

[Postigo]

Changing whether your inputs are through the bars or pegs simply changes how you are leveraging the bike. Does not change center of gravity at all. How can it, the location of mass in the system hasn't changed.

Just a pet peeve of mine. I see it often as a sitting vs standing argument, that standing has a lower cg because you are on the pegs. Completely false.

Sent via morse code

For me the sitting ys standing argument is true. When you run in standing position you are compressing front and rear suspension even at the same time so you will have a lower center of gravity compared to the sitting position. By sitting on your bike you will always deliver more weight to the rear wheel leaving the front wheel without the support needed to assist the rear suspension. Remember that a motorcycle rear suspension depends of the front suspension to do the job and vise versa that why we take the time to set the suspension by using springs and compression settings.Look at the enduros in youtube and you will see how easy the riders loose traction while the are on the seat vs the ones that are standing on the pegs.

[adam728]

Again, that is nothing to do with center if gravity. I don't disagree with what you are saying, but it's a complete misinterpretation of the definition of cg.

There is so many variables involved in the dynamic of motorcycle handling / suspension that it's mind boggling. Center of gravity is just a small part of it, and explains very little of what you are trying to explain.

Think of this for a second, the center of gravity of a XR650 and rider is much lower than that of a YZ125 and rider. Who here will argue the YZ handles worse because of higher cg?

Sent via morse code

[Postigo]

Adam you are wright. I understand the CG definition and shouldn't use it to explain the seat and stand statement. Its not the same as force or weight applied to a specific palace here is a tread explaining the advantages http://motorcycletripper.com/?page_id=379420