P120
CN
III LOWSIDE
BY RENNIE SCAYSBROOK
O
ver the past few months,
I've been lucky enough
to visit several different
tracks around the country and
ride with a wide variety of people.
It's been heartening to see so
many guys and girls getting out
there, riding a bike fast on the
track, and not being idiots on the
road.
Yet, while I was riding at the
stupendous circuit that is The
Ridge Motorsports Park in Wash-
ington (seriously, you must ride
there), one thing struck me, and
that was the number of riders
who need to take a good look
at what they are doing on the
motorcycle.
Much of this has to do with
what we see on TV. MotoGP is
witnessing the kind of lean angles
many thought were impossible
20 years ago, scraping elbows
like its nothing, and in the case of
some, scraping shoulders. This is
not the right way to ride a mo-
torcycle that isn't doing MotoGP
speeds, with the tires, chassis,
cornering forces and electronics
that come with it. Look at three-
time MotoAmerica Superbike
Champion Cameron Beaubier—
even he doesn't ride like that.
At The Ridge, I saw so many
riders who were admittedly try-
ing extremely hard and putting
everything they have into their
craft, but they were doing it
in the wrong areas, and I sus-
pect that despite them having
a $25,000-plus Panigale with
a loud pipe, they have never
considered putting few hundred
bucks on the line and doing
some rider training.
The rider's body acts as a
pendulum when on a motor-
cycle. Have you put a medicine
ball out in front of you and tried
to swing it side to side? That's
LEARN TO DO IT RIGHT
Valentino in action.
Check out his arms—
they look so relaxed
he could take them
off the handlebar and
wave to the crowd,
which he often does.
