Nutcracker symphony

I once downloaded the only copy of Motor Cycle News I 've ever read. It was one of those low-res versions MCN was using to sell its online subscription service. I liked the content (apart from the latest bikes of 2015 and all, of course), but it was too freaking expensive to even be worth considering.

In that issue, California Superbike School UK chief Andy Ibott had one simple word of advice. And I've been using it ever since.

He said, 'At the end of a long, hard ride, the muscles that should hurt is the stomach and thigh. ' That's because, Ibott beleives that lots of riding benefits come from just locking the lower body into a road bike. Just eliminating the looseness of contact between the lower body and motorcycle produces a lower level of feel and feedback. And he's bang on target.

Why did I call the post Nutcracker Symphony? Well, hugging the tank tight will also stop you from sliding forward and slamming into the raised end of the tank... Ouch... when you're braking hard. It also gives you more control on weight transfer, allows the arms to stay relaxed under braking...

I tried it and now I can't touch the bike enough. Once the balls of my feet are on the pegs, I can feel the machine from ankle upwards, in an almost unbroken contact patch right up to the crotch. And then outwards to the insides of the knee. The result is a clear stream of feeback, not unlike the difference between a conventional and fibre optic transmission. Its lovely. Just don't practice this on old Harley's though. You'll be shaking like a mobile phone.

Wondering why I called this post Nutcracker Symphopny? Well, hugging the tank also protects the family jewels under hard braking. And you no longer slide painfully up against the rise in the tank. Which is to say, not hugging the tank and hard braking may equal Crazy Frog ringtone...