MotoGP guys sit up so forearms are flat. I bet that's why they actually sit up, to brace for braking. Watch novice group, they are all sit up like meerkats, its survival instincts.
Rossi dangle, Finiish flick in Rally, Frosby(?) flop. Imagine Frosby turning up going, "I've had this great idea".
That's it. just go run a nice bath with some overpriced salts, put on some classic fm, light a few wanted candles and go dream about Frosby rocking up to his mates with that idea of "flopping".
Finally, someone comes up with some sensible advice. Remember this day, folks, it was today that C_R's intense research has uncovered what to do in the winter when you don't fancy a bike ride. He is going to revolutionise the metro scene.
Haha, who on earth approaches traffic lights tucked in? ;O) Sitting up scrubs off loads of speed if the speed you were travelling at offers significant air resistance against your body, and it keeps the bike from unsettling in a way braking to achieve the same would cause. It also avoids showing brake lights for example on motorways, in between the cars when we cover ground so rapidly between them we don't really need to be braking to address the speed difference, we can sit up and scrub it in a second or two, alarming nobody. Same applies in patchy country traffic, in the right gear making progress you don't need the brakes if you adopt this method of adjusting your speed when closing the gap to the vehicle in front after a swift pass. If people are always in the wrong gear at the wrong time because they're not looking far enough down the road perhaps, this could seem a little strange.
I'm talking about track riding. Tuck on road isn't really required and sitting up gives a better view. The traffic light example was to show sitting up hardly stops a bike at all.
200mph with 200/300kg forward motion takes a lot of stopping. Sitting up will do next to fuck all. It's all in your heads people.
I suspect that, as is usual with motorbiking, there are several things going on for single given action. So popping up provides a degree of additional breaking, allows the rider to brace comfortably, gives the rider better visibility through the corner and, in my isolated case, it means I have fewer problems with my hip compared to when I am crouched.
If it's track, I must remember to watch for all the riders remaining tucked in the braking zone. If a rider is half the weight of the bike he has a huge affect on braking when using the 'air brake'. That wind resistance is kept off the wheel brake. This is grossly different to the weight, size, and resistance using a hand/car scenario, what, a 2000:1 ratio just regards the weight aspect, really?
Sitting up in the wind is never going to stop a bike, but you can feel the load on your body and thats the extra force added to the braking force supplied by the brakes. The faster you are going the more effect it has. Without sitting up there is less braking force applied to you and the bike and you would have to brake earlier, particularly important on a track. As you must appreciate something that is aerodynamic slips through the air better than something shaped like a brick. So make you and bike less aerodynamic and you'll stop quicker. Simples.
