Let's talk about ergonomics

[R-Rated]

I saw this photo and thought of all the painful joints. Then I wondered how the rider could steer at slow speed.

Looking cool is ok but being comfortable makes for longer rides for more years to come.

Let's start with the handlebars -

In this pic I highlighted were the force pushing a handgrip down will have in relation to the front wheel

You see it behind the wheel. This is not effective because any oddity will twitch the wheel and the rider will need counteract by twisting, or turning, the bars. Worse will be in lean and hitting a patch or hole.

In this next pic I highted the bars in line with forks. Pushing downward on left or right grip will have more impact on steering as not only will the force go down but the forks will turn with that force.

This lends itself to counter steering much easier. Plus it puts the rider in a more upright position so they can the extend one arm while retracting the other for slow speed steering.


Finally, this is with the bars rotated back just a little. A downward push also transmits forward of the front wheel just a bit.

This will put the rider in a slight leaning back postion which should be a lot more comfortable since their legs are out front like they are. That position works great when rider has something to lean back into like a passenger, backrest, or travel bag in the saddle.

What postion do you find most comfortable and in control? And why? Use stick drawings to illustrate.

 

[Hippo-Drones]

I generally prefer an upright streetbike style, good visibility of the road, comfy on the back and shoulders (I have a shoulder injury and also broke my back many moons ago, so that can suffer on long trips too). I actually don't really like the adventure bike riding position which is odd as I own two of them. I find the bars too wide and too high, but then I am short and again, my shoulder suffers.

 

[CalmBiker]

Another vote for the street bike position. The bars on my Z are quite low but upright. Easy to push forward for quick countersteering, though also easy when tired to stop gripping with the legs and put a bit of weight on them. I like my little adventure styled CB500X too with higher and wider bars. I've got two plated collarbones and dodgy shoulders from shattering them both and my shoulder joints coming apart but I'm lucky that this doesn't cause too much of a problem on either machine.

On that bike in the picture I would think that countersteering would actually not be too bad. The rake means that the ideal angle for steering is a push forward and slightly upward and the position looks fine for that with a bit of body movement. It would kill the base of my spine though sitting that upright and not beign able to move forwards and backwards when I wanted to fidget.

 

[scooterwuf]

I prefer the second position, highlighted in green, or one that promotes counter-steering, which is my preferred method of riding. I also find the height of one’s knees in relation to their hips has an impact on comfort on long rides. And the distance between one’s shoulders over or near their knees affects comfort (over time) as well.

The closer in height one’s knees are to their hips seems to cause more strain for me, and the closer ones shoulder are over or near ones knees leads (for me) to discomfort too.

- Wolf

 

[Drakhen99]

I prefer low & slow, and laid-back. A nice rake on the front wheel, relaxed, mostly upright seating position, feet out in front.

More like the green than the blue. Great illustrations, btw, @R-Rated .

-John

 

[throttleup]

I don't care how many colourful lines you stick on that photo - I just do not understand ape-hangers. Every version of that picture causes me to shudder.

As far as non-ape-hanger bikes go, I'm too old for the sport-bike position now. I like my RT.

My 9T has wider bars, and (I think) a steeper fork geometry. Plus it's lighter. I can throw that bike around much more easily.

But when you're going to be sitting on a bike for hours - the RT's position is better.

 

[Motoguy]

I used to love the riding position of my VFR. It felt ideal. Now that I've spent some time on my Ulysses, it makes the VFR feel the same way a GSXR used to feel to me. Getting old sucks.