OK, there is so much that is wrong about this photo that I can’t even begin, but it’s not what is wrong with it that is my reason for using it in this article. You see, today I want to talk to you about a little matter of riding style. Let me explain.
When I started riding in 1974, 45 years ago, bike were a deal more rudimentary than they are now. I often think how nice it would be to have one of my old bikes back again because I derived so much pleasure from riding them. However, the sensible part of my brain tells me that, 30 seconds after hopping on my old 500/4 and riding, I would be thinking to myself, “What an old clunker this is, whatever did I see in it?” Time moves on but it does so so imperceptibly that we don’t really notice it is doing it. My brother has a great analogy about this, he says that you have to line it up against a post to see if it is moving at all, and that is pretty true.
Amongst the plethora of differences between the bikes back then and those today is the multi-adjustable nature of riding position compared to then. Back then what you got was what you had. Of course you could make changes but doing so required a degree of mechanical aptitude that is not required today. And one of the things that you COULDN’T adjust at all was your footpeg position. These days no manufacturer worth his salt sells a bike that doesn’t have spring-loaded footpegs and have some degree of adjustability built in to the design. Back then, the footpegs were fixed and you couldn’t adjust them at all to suit your individual needs.
Added to this, bikes had less cornering clearance than what they have now. It wasn’t as if riders didn’t want to lean their bikes over like they do today. They did, but their ability to reach the crazy lean angles of today’s sports bikes was severely limited by the rudimentary tyres that were available. So fixed footpegs were not really as big an issue. Most riders rode with them just like they do today.
If you didn’t want your feet to drag on the deck while you were leaned over you learnt the art of riding with the balls of your feet on the footpeg rather than having your instep on the footpeg. The rider in the top picture isn’t leaning over but you can see that he has the balls of his foot on the footpeg. The rider above is riding with his feet in the “normal” position. And this is the way that I found worked best for me back in the days of fixed footpegs. The first few times that my boot hit the road I nearly scared myself witless. It didn’t take too many times for me to realise that I needed to tuck the feet up out of reach a bit and avoid having them grinding on the tar.
This was reinforced by the sight of my favourite road racers doing the same thing on the track and it probably took hardly any time at all for it to become a deeply ingrained habit with me. The gradual change-over to spring-loaded footpegs that DIDN’T dig on on enthusiastic cornering passed, it seems, entirely unnoticed by me. I rode with the balls of my feet up on the footpegs as I had learned to do.
40-odd years later and, guess what? Despite riding a bike that has more ground clearance than I will EVER use OR need, I still continue to ride that way. And now I notice some “expert” with more time on his hands than he probably needs, telling me that, if I ride like this, I have been doing it wrong all this time. Really? Why? Because, according to him and the “experts” that HE has consulted, riding with the balls of my feet on the footpegs increases the amount of time that I have available to me to reach the gear lever and the rear brake lever in an emergency situation.
Well, guess what, in 45 years of riding I have never encountered any emergency situation where I have had to quickly hit the back brake OR go down through the gears. Regardless of how much you analyze an emergency situation AFTER the event, the fact is that you don’t get time to do ANY of that. One minute you are riding along, at peace with God and man and the next, you’re sliding down the road on your backside wondering what the heck happened. There ISN’T time to downshift a few gears. If there WAS, it probably wouldn’t be an emergency in the first place. And, as for hitting the rear brake, well, anyone who knows anything about motorcycling knows that a sudden application of the rear brake is more than likely going to CAUSE an emergency situation rather than get you out of one.
I hasten to add that, most of the time I do ride “normally”; shifting between the two positions helps me take the strain off my injured right leg particularly. But, when it comes to the twisties, the balls go up on the footpegs and the boots get tucked in. Every time. “But what about changing gear when you’re attacking the corners,?” you might say. The same rule applies. If you’re riding well, anticipating what is on the road up ahead, reading the flow of the road, 99% of the time you are going to be IN the right gear for the next corner OR have selected the right gear by the time you get there so that trying to change, mid-corner, simply doesn’t become an issue.
Forgive me for appearing smug, I certainly don’t want to give that impression. But I find that keeping up on the balls of my feet is more comfortable, gives me a little bit extra ground clearance and increases the confidence levels accordingly. I guess it’s a personal thing, but that’s how it works for me.
Martino says
I agree Phil, but it also has a bit to do with the type of bike as well as comfort. I personally favour balls of your feet on the pegs because it not only allows better cornering clearance, but it provides better balance and the ability to move your body to suit the situation. Not just when racing, but also if your are about to impact that idiot that turned right in front of you !
Phil Hall says
And of course, though it isn’t mentioned in the article, the riding position also allows you to provide more foot pressure onto the footpegs during enthusiastic cornering! 🙂