Caught red handed

After a longish, hardish ride, take a look at your hands. If your hands are red across the bottom of the palm (the fleshy part next to the thumb), you're not sitting all right. The redness means that you were putting your weight on your wrists (which can be good), but you were putting too much weight on them (which isn't). This also means that your hands are actually 'skewed' across the grips and every motion from twisting to reaching for the lever is 'polluted.' But you won't make out the difference until you try this. Next time, hug the tank tightly with your knees, firm up your abdomen (like you would if your were doing a crunch; this takes some of the weight off your wrists and curve your back. You should actually feel your arms go light. Ride like this and you'll notice a huge jump in smoothness. Want more? Tuck your feet onto to the top of the pegs and allow your heels, calf etc to make contact with the motorcycle. Even when you hunch forward (when you're going harder), staying locked onto the bike will make it feel lighter and more responsive. A good sign is a slight pain in the thighs and the abdomen after a really hard ride. That last bit is mooched off a column written by Andy Ibbott, head of California Superbike School UK, from MCN. So sorry).