Motorcycle riding position: Relaxed and safe on the road

Nothing is more important than a comfortable, relaxed riding position if you want to enjoy your biking.

You need to sit correctly in order to perform all the necessary movements quickly, precisely and without wasting energy.

Hug your tank: A riding position well forward on the seat has two major advantages. First, you have particularly good contact with your motorcycle, so you can feel how it reacts in any situation. Second, being closer to the handlebar, you are less tempted to support your weight against it. Remember, the handlebar is for steering. You brace yourself by gripping the tank with your legs.
A straight back: Sitting slumped like a sack of potatoes looks pretty uncool and also restricts the movement in your hips that you need when swerving to avoid obstacles, for example. So the rule is to have your pelvis well forward and to use your stomach and back muscles to keep your spine straight.
Relax those shoulders: Beginners can often be seen riding with shoulders raised high and teeth clenched – a sure sign of tension and struggling to be in full control. A tense posture like this costs energy and ultimately reduces your concentration. It also restricts your mobility and your ability to react swiftly to traffic situations. The answer is to check your own posture. Are you clenching your teeth? Are your shoulders almost touching your ears? If so, you should consciously let your shoulders drop, relax your jaw muscles and, last but not least, reduce your speed until you feel comfortable.
Elbows slightly angled: It's difficult to steer well with fully stretched arms. Again, it's best to adopt a relaxed posture so that you can react quickly and steer smoothly and sensitively..

Lower arm, hand and fingers in a line: this is important for operating the throttle, clutch and brake quickly and confidently It also helps to prevent a cramped posture. Try it out and, if necessary, adjust the position of the brake and clutch levers down or up a little.

Apparently there are bikers who use their feet to judge how far to lean into bends: if their boot scrapes the road surface, the lean angle is OK. Firstly, that's not actually true. Secondly, it messes up your boots. Thirdly, you could seriously injure your foot and risk having an accident. The correct position is with the balls of both feet on the footrests. This also has the additional advantage that you can brace yourself optimally against the airstream and bumps in the road.

If all these tips do not help, Louis has a whole range of accessories for optimising your motorcycle's ergonomics.