Yes. Being fast around the track is all about one thing, being smooth. Being a third of the weight of the motorcycle also means that you have an enormous effect on the vehicle dynamics and stability (or lack thereof).
The best way to learn about it is to do some track days in the rain. I’ve got a few hundred wet miles in on the track now and it definately teaches you to be smooth. You can’t get away with anything with next to no traction.
You need to have a good understanding of how to use body position, braking, and throttle to get the suspension where it is happiest. Nothing worse than chopping the throttle in a corner as I’m sure you can imagine.
ya zong, body movement plays a big part in agressive motorcycle riding. you hang off to the inside, putting a larger percentage of body weight on the inside footpeg. this lowers the center of gravity of your body on the bike to a much lower point, consequently its more stable. you put your knee down to gauge how much room you have to continue to lean the bike over. you hang on using your outside arm and leg, and just like a car, you roll in, power on post apex, track out, etc
so different, but so much fun. i enjoy car and bike track days, havent decided which one i like more yet
“hanging off” is really more for allowing the bike to remain more upright. The lowered center of gravity allows you to keep the bike more upright at the same corner speed, thus increasing the contact patch size, and ultimately allowing you to carry more speed through the corners.
Dragging a knee is purely an indicator, and if you watch the MGP and AMA guys you’ll notice they mostly have their knees just above ground level. Puck on ground = drag
Weighting the inside peg on turn in, and the outside peg on corner exit are more functions of getting the bike to turn in (or straighten back up) more quickly than effecting the bikes overall “stability”.
