And there was me thinking they were trying to attract the ladies with the well know leg out mating manoeuvre
Well, get it wrong and it will certainly attract the attention of the local nurses. I do like nurses. Hate hospitals. Love nurses.
The basic answer to the question is, as has already been stated, "because Rossi does it". Maybe he thinks it works for him in some way, maybe he's just playing mind-games with the others, but he started doing it and everyone else copied him. As far as the idea that it helps you lean your body further into the turn goes - have a look at some footage of Jamie Whitham when he was racing Superbikes : forget knee down, or even elbow down, the man could damn-near get his chin on the ground, and he never lifted his inside foot off the peg...
I think that motorcycle racing has changed. It used to be about getting a motorcycle around the track as quickly as possible. It now seems to be about getting yourself around the track as quickly as possible with the aid of a motorcycle. The motorcycle isn't ridden any more, in the sense that the rider is barely on it. He is scooted around the corner with bits of him on the ground, powered by a bike somewhere in the vicinity.
Well once I have an engine again I will have to give it a try, probably fall off the bloody thing though.
All this 'weighting of the pegs' is utter tosh. Moving weight around, however, to adjust balance/stability and/or maintain better control of the bars is not. Leg out, and the weight moves to the back putting less load on the smaller front tyre (because you push your arse further back instead of gripping tightly to the tank) and inside (because the dangling foot and leg is further from the centreline of the bike). Result? Harder braking, later, faster entry into a corner, less load/heat on the front tyre, and the ability to do a quicker turn to the inside as there is more weight on the inside (helps the bike tip in faster by countering the natural gyroscopic forces that keep a bike upright). As soon as the bike is tipped in, the foot comes back onto the peg through the bend to allow the bike lean and grip through the corner. The physics are demonstrated by a 4-faced pyramid whose dimensions continually adjust.
Hmmm, but more weight is required on the front tyres to gain a larger contact patch..........to improve grip allowing harder braking..............
When you are braking as close to the limit of adhesion as these guys do, maintaining a smooth transition of weight to the rear is important to not break grip at the front. Else you get what happens most commonly... front end folding.
I dont buy the weight or traction thing, its a comfort or mental thing. Can't see how it helps in any real way in gems of gyroscopics etc. Funny outcome is, it actually feels like you're going slower in with your leg a-dangling. But I can only do left leg, right leg feels all wrong, and it really is to stretch out before the corner from heavy downshift which is becming a habit on slower lefthanders...like Rocket in or corkscrew or last turn at Anglesey ;-)
I would have thought the weight went forward if anything as your foot must be forward of the peg IMO. It looks to me that most of the guys only do it with the left leg anyway, rarely see a right leg out. If it helps with the tip in then why don't they do it for every corner and not just the ones at the end of a fast section?
The relevant point is where the weight is acting on the bike. If you move your foot off the peg the portion of your weight that was acting on the peg is no longer doing so - it is then acting on the seat. Sticking your leg out moves the weight that is acting on the seat further out, increasing the leverage at that point. Therefore - taking your foot off the peg moves the effective centre of gravity of you and the bike upwards ( because the weight is acting at a higher point ) : this will make the bike turn into the corner quicker. Sticking out your inside leg moves the effective centre of gravity in towards the corner ( the weight acting on the seat remains the same, but it is moved further from the centre-line of the bike and so exerts more leverage on the point upon which it is acting ). Putting your foot back on the peg immediately lowers the centre of gravity because a portion of your weight is now acting on a lower point : this will make the bike easier to stand up again once it is through the turn. The basics of this is why trials riders stand up on the pegs - despite the fact that their weight is higher, the point at which it is acting on the bike is lower - ie on the pegs, not on the seat - lowering the effective centre of gravity and hence making the bike less likely to fall over.
Sorry, I'm a bit of a thickie but its all bollocks. VR does it once coz he's about to crash, but as he ran Gib off track had to come up with a reason and do a few more times, now they all do it. Tell me how Pedrose leg, which probably weighs half what his helmet does, makes a substantial enogh difference or, actually, any difference at all.
