What is your riding style?

[PUMPKIN_HEAD]

What is your riding Style? I am a trail rider and when I ride I sit down most of the time. The only times I do stand up is for jumping, going over a log/big rocks, ect..

I am a average rider and I am wondering if my style is wrong. Are there any advantages to standing over sitting and vise versa?

[Dodger]

Stand up, stand up, stand up, stand up.........BTW, I usually ride standing ?!!

Seriousely, from all teachings and advise I've received over the years, the biggest thing that is always stressed to me, is to STAND UP. Chin over the bars, weight centered.......the only time I sit is hard cornering, then I scooch as far forward on that crappy WR tank as I possibly can. Try it, practice it, and you'll notice a big differnece in your riding in a short time .

Late

Dodger :D

[Hick]

I call my style the "Barcolounger" sit-down school of riding...

In all seriousness though, I ride my bike today like I used to ride my BMX bike as a kid. Elbows out, standing, leaning forward.

I can remember taking a friend of mine on my cow-trail loop one time. He is a dez guy, only does Baja and a few Whiplash races, only rides a big XR. So I'm brake-sliding and tucking my "little" YZ into all thes ridiculously tight corners and after about fifteen minutes of this I look back...

...and he is right on my ass (can I say ass??). And he was standing for all the corners.

IMO you should try and learn to operate your bike over all manner of obstacles while standing. Sure, you can brake harder and turn sharper while sitting, but there will always be exceptions where standing is better. Like braking bumps or roots through a corner. You can also absorb unforeseen obstacles better while standing, and can exert more leverage over your bike.

You would think some bikes lend themselves to "barcolounger" riding, and that one such animal would be a big XR, but my (very quick) Baja-racing pal said he rarely sits down, and when he does it is only for very short stints to get his stamina back in his legs.

My two cents.

[Mitch_R]

I've come to accept the fact that I am a sit down rider, having said that i try to stand as much as possible. I find natural places in the terrain that "help" me stand up. I definetly stand for jumps and tricky terrain, but I find if I sit, my legs feel better after a 50 mile ride. I think you can work your way up to standing more, but there is somehting to be said for sitting, after all I'm not trying to beat Ricky Carmichael anymore ?

[neWRiver]

I'm still only an average rider myself, although I do ride aggressively and have had tremendous improvement in my riding skill over the last year.

I have also found that standing equates to better riding. Seems like once you get used to doing it, it really doesn't exert much more energy than sitting over long periods of time. In fact, over rough terrain, I often find that my energy depletes faster when I am sitting and working harder to maneuver the bike. I've gotten to the point now that when I am ragged ass tired I will tend to sit when the terrain is smooth, but when it gets choppy I force myself to stand and find that because my riding is more fluid, I'm actually tiring less.

When I'm really pushing it hard and the terrain is challenging at all, I find the only effective way to control the bike is to stand and clinch my lower legs against the bike. I feel pretty comfortable riding in this position now and can ride hard for extended periods. Usually, if I am sitting it is because I am exhausted. I slow way down and just plod along until I get some energy back and than I try to get back up off of the seat so I can pick up the pace again.

[Pete_Z]

Here's some food for thought. When you stand up you actually lower the CG of the bike/rider combo. The heaviest single component of the equation is you, and when you stand on the pegs, it effectively puts almost all of your weight low (at peg level). When you sit down, you place a big weight way up high on the seat. Your bike can't help to handle better with a lower CG. The moral of the story is; stand up, go faster with less drama. Just my 2 cents.

Peace Eh - P.Z.

[mmbasa]

I call mine the Stinkbug.

[BigDesto]

Stand -up , let the bike take the pounding! When you sit down , every bump gets transmitted to your body(kidneys). If the bike swaps when your siting your going to get bucked off, you might have a chance to recover if your standing! Back in the 80's my friend who rode 125 pro for kal-guard, his father would take off his seat and send him out to practice without it (Indian Dunes-international track) ? That will teach you to stand!!

[endurodog]

I would suggest spending $20 on a instructional tape and watching that. There is a time to stand, most of the time, and a time to sit, sometimes. Standing will help with your head getting rattled less, your ability to move over obstacles front to back, your braking by leaning back as you brake over your rear wheel. These things will be explained in most tapes out there, or better yet take a class, I did and it helped me a lot. Cost about as much as a new silencer but helped me a lot more than any amount of any of the go fast parts I have bought.

[Team_Oatmeal_Pie]

I picked up the Gary Semics book for under $20 at the book store and imagine it covers everything the tapes do for less money. It has a chapter for everyting and I have found it to be very, very helpful. Highly reccomend for any one who is serious about riding better, faster, longer using less energy, and safer, while learning to be more competitive.

[Snapper]

My riding style is comfortable.

Stand up if you can, use the bumps to kick your arse up out of the seat and move your wieght around the bike - it makes an amazing differance.

Most of all be comfortable and enjoy - build up towards more standing - you'll go faster and be more comfortable.

Whatever you do don't make the mistake I made in April whilst on a two day ride.

It is a pretty competitive non-competitive annual ride and we cover some sweet fire trails and access road - about 450km's most years.

There is a fast and a slow group and about 140 riders. I tend to find I fit comfortably at about 25th in the fast group which keeps me pretty busy.

Straight after morning smoko on the first day we hit a tight but fast single track along the side of a fire trail, about 5 min's in a KTM200 passed me in a spot where you woould have had trouble fitting an XR50.

I resisted the temtaption to aggresively pass him back (probably would have fallen off trying) and noticed he was standing - he didn't sit down once and we were fairly scooting. I decided to stand for as long as he stood, about 10 minutes later my legs were fairly burning but I was still on his guard and having a great time. As you all know riding along behind someone you can see the obstacles and track changes and copy the rider in front...until...

As I saw stars I just had time to pull the clutch in and gently fell in a heap on my side in the bushes. It took me 5 minutes to clear my head and get going again and it was not until the next smoko that I found the KTM200 bloke to see what had happened.

I had been following and copying him avoiding the same obstacles as him. Only problem was he was 5 foot tall and he didn't need to duck for the branch that made me see stars.

It's all learning.

[vtfootball79]

I like to ride standing up most of the time. reason mainly being that the trails around here are all VERY ROCKY and i would take a punishing you know where if i didn't stand up. if it's wide open smooth trail, or sometimes in sand, i'll sit down for a while, but that's just for a minute or two at most

[Dan_Lorenze]

I would suggest to stand up as much as possible, sit down to rest when you can. Sit on the gas cap when you turn.

[John_H]

I stand a lot more than I used to, just because it helps me maneuver the bike. Noticed this last ride (Bloomfield, NM...What a great time www.abqjohn.com/blmfld/ ) that I'm leaning forward a lot more. Keeping weight forward helps eliminate arm pump some too by not having to hold on for dear life all the time.

[jwriott]

I agree that standing will give you the ability to go much faster and maintain more control. Standing gives you the ability to push the bike down, pull up the front wheel, compress the suspension, etc. so that you can absorb the terrain effectively.

The only time I sit is when I'm putting or just relaxing and enjoying the scenery or at the end of the day when I'm too tired to stand. I also sit on the bike, very far back in deep sand to keep the front end floating and put the most weight on the rear tire.

Standing does not however, lower the center of gravity for the bike, rider combo. It raises the center of gravity for the overall combination by taking a large mass and elevating it even higher above the seat.

[neWRiver]

Standing does not however, lower the center of gravity for the bike, rider combo. It raises the center of gravity for the overall combination by taking a large mass and elevating it even higher above the seat.

True, but what I think Pete_Z is getting at is that it lowers the point at which your body interfaces with the bike closer to the bike's CG.

[Pete_Z]

I'm about 95% sure that I read in some tech. article in a bike mag that standing up and bringing the majority of your weight to bear on the pegs actually lowers the overall CG of the bike/rider combo. I do see what you mean about putting more weight up higher though........ Oh well, one thing for certian, standing up gives you more control and allows you to go faster in most situations.

Peace Eh - P.Z.

[RLucky82]

In many cases standing can help you steer your bike. In my opinion having your weight on the pegs = more control!

[SPUTTER]

I suppose whatever works, works: but I just turned 55, and I can't stand completely up all the time anymore - but I find I can often go just as fast for even longer - The trick is suspension set up and how you sit - a little forward with as much weight on the pegs as possible with only what is necessary on the seat - and your knees grasping the tank always. If you take an unexpected hit from a rock or whatever there is still some room to absorb the upward movement of the bike and still hang on and control the bike with your legs. If you just sit down hard in the saddle, you'll pay the price sooner or later with a get-off or spine-spear. Always stand up knees bent for obvious obstacles - the bike needs room to move around under you. And you know, I must know what I'm talking about since I've never, ever crashed. ?

[Bryce_Senff]

I always sit, It's much more comfortable! The only time I stand is to go to the fridge and get a another cold one. I so much enjoy sitting in the garage thinking how nice it would be to clear triples with ease, lap RC once or twice and have the trophy-girl sit on my lap for awhile(while sitting of course) Some day I might take ol' blue out on the trails ?.......sigh