Webmaster posted on October 17, 2009 16:19
Point four of being in the correct standing position is to have your elbows raised up and pointing out.
This allows us to brace ourselves a lot better from having our body thrown around on the motorcycle by all of those major forces we encounter out on the trail, for example when we bottom out in a gully or sharp transition, etc.
This position allows us to utilize more upper body and arm muscles to brace ourselves which obviously disperses the required energy used out over a greater number of muscles thus leading to less general fatigue.
By keeping your elbows pointing up this gives you a better range of motion and smoother action of turning the handlebars, as opposed to having your elbows dropped down which results in a good chance that they will hit your rib cage when trying to turn.
This severely restricts your ability to turn and control the motorcycle.
Point five is to have 1 or 2 fingers over the controls at all times, so as you are ready to instantly utilize them in moments of need.
That could be the split second between averting disaster or getting carted off in the meat wagon.
The modern motorcycle generally only requires that you use 1 or 2 fingers due to the powerful front brakes and light pull of the clutch.
Years ago it was a different story! There is no need to be using 3 or 4 fingers to pull the levers in, although a lot of riders who transition over from street bikes have this habit.
Using all four fingers out on the levers makes for a more dangerous situation and increased possibility of the handlebars being ripped out of your hands whilst riding.
During a race or a long trailride I’ll start off using my first finger to operate the lever, then swap to my middle finger, and then towards the end of the race/ride when fatigue is starting to become a factor I’ll use both fingers together so as to not only increase the strength of my “pull” but also to increase the control that I have over that desired pull.