Trail Rider Magazine

Rich lafferty Riding Schools Hand Position H ow you hold onto the bike is the foundation of good body positioning. If you hold on incorrectly, you will have a low elbow which limits you from getting forward on the bike and applying weight to the front end. If you have your elbows too low due to poor hand positioning, it will also cut down on leverage and control over the bike and make it hard for you to stand properly. The proper way to hold onto the handlebars is a two part deal: The first is to hold on to the bars at an angle like you would hold a golf club or a tennis racket, basically pushing your palm out toward the edge of your bars. When this is done properly you will see a small triangle of grip visible between your thumb and the other part of your palm (see photo 1). The second part of holding on properly is over grip. For example, while your bike is sitting on the stand, get on it and grab the bars, then loosen your grip and rotate your hands forward. Doing this will eliminate the uncomfortable kink in your wrist that occurs when you try and keep your arms up, and will let you keep your arms up more comfortably. This will also allow you to get your head over the bars more comfortably. 1 When under acceleration, you want your head up over the bars for two reasons. One is it puts weight on the front end aiding traction and making the front end stick better. The second is with your head forward you create momentum because you are forcing the motorcycle to follow you as opposed to the 2 36 Trail Rider motorcycle leading you. Also when you have the proper hand grip it makes the transition between sitting and standing so much easier. Most guys that tell me that they can only stand for a short period of time are the guys that stand with their legs bent, mostly due to too low of a hand position (see photo 2.) Bar width may be a small challenge when trying to hold on to the bars properly. For instance, if the bar is too wide it could be hard for you to reach out there and hold on with your hand at an angle. I see this a lot on the little guy's bikes. The best way to test and see if you're bar width is good is to put your bike on a stand in the garage and remove your grips and levers. Now position your hands on the bar correctly. You want your elbows to stick out slightly further than your hands. This will differ between riders due to the length of their arms and the width of your shoulders. Be sure to not cut too much off as this will create a loss in leverage. Also, to test your bar width properly get forward in the proper position while sitting on the seat and stand as well. I personally cut 5mm off each end then replace the hand guards. Another contributing factor of poor hand position can be either too low of a seat or too high of a handlebar mount. When teaching schools over the years I have noticed that this bike set up issue will not only contribute to a poor hand position, but in most case will force the rider to sit too far back on the seat. This also unloads the front suspension pushing the front end out and may cause the rider to have front end push/washout in turns. Now that we have gone over the importance of hand position, you need to go out and practice it. Like anything, we first must practice it at a low speed over and over until we get comfortable and it becomes natural. Repetition is the mother of skill. When doing any practice it is also a good idea to have someone video you so that you can see your progress and reinforce what you are doing correctly, or see what you are doing incorrectly. For any questions pertaining to schools, bike set-up, or more please email me at rich@richlaffertyracing.com www.TrailRider.com

• Cover