Weight on foot-pegs in turn -How much on which peg

[MJFRacing]

You're in a turn (Let's say a big sweeping left for discussion) and your hanging off with your left knee on the deck. . .

A. Which foot do you put the majority of your weight on (percentage) or is it even? ((Example - The right foot, the higher outside of the turn foot about 75% of my weight. etc. etc.))

B. Why? Does it help from crashing or make the turning easier or should I just put the majority of my weight on my seat?

Also, if anyone has any preferences of foot position. . . balls of your feet vs. heals etc. I notice a lot of the pros seem to have the inside foot (lowest to the ground for that particular turn) on the ball of the foot while the outside (high side) foot seems to be towards the heal.

Am I thinking WAY too much about this?!  ;)

Thanks for ANY advice, help and opinions in advance!

[tigerblade]

There are different styles, so your answer won't be cut and dried.  Some people use more lower body (body steering) and some use more pressure on the bars (counter steering).  The majority of my weight goes to the inside peg when cornering until it's time to stand the bike up for acceleration.  Then the weight shifts to the outside (higher) peg to get the bike upright and driving out.  Well, that's what I try to do anyway.  ;)

I definitely wouldn't have the heel of my foot on the inside peg; that would be a good way to snap your ankle.  The ball of the foot goes on the inside peg.  Colin Edwards even gets his heel almost flat on the heelguard but I'm not that limber.  LOL  For the outside peg, I dig into the heelguard with my boot.  Lots of times the peg will just in front of my heel on the outside.

[tzracer]

I learned to ride dirt bikes first and tend to put most of my weight on the outside peg. I prefer to have my weight on my feet in case the bike does something abruptly (slide). Keep the balls of your feet on the pegs, better feel and keeps your toes out of trouble.

Many pros, particularly those that raced 2 strokes, use rear brake while turning. So their right foot may not be on the ball of their foot while turning.

[MJFRacing]

I learned to ride dirt bikes first and tend to put most of my weight on the outside peg. I prefer to have my weight on my feet in case the bike does something abruptly (slide). Keep the balls of your feet on the pegs, better feel and keeps your toes out of trouble.

Talking to a buddy here at work, he remembers Keith Code's 'A Twist of the Wrist' video mentioning something about keeping more weight on one peg, and he believes it's the outside foot as well.

Anyone else have a prefernce and why?

[ecumike]

Weight on outside peg, but more so, the outside leg.

I 'hold on' with my leg against my tank and foot ready to shift (GP shift) in mid-turn.

I feel like when I have my weight on the outside leg/foot, it gives me more advantage to move/position around my body and move my inside leg/knee if needed, b/c there's no weight on it

My .02

[Super Dave]

Not always on the outside peg.  If you rode on the ice or on dirt track, you'd understand the difference.  This is something I cover in my schools and when I do one on one contracted work.  Very, very important for a racer.  Don't need it as a street rider as you don't push the envelope, but as a racer...it's all about control.

[tzracer]

I find that weighting the pegs is as important if not more so in street riding. There are far more variables in street riding than track riding and there are no corner workers watching the road surface for you. The envelope on the street is not clearly defined at all, the surface can vary from corner to corner, from day to day, and depends greatly upon the weather, more so than a race track. I use peg weighting all the time when I street ride, it is one reason why I don't like to ride cruiser bikes with forward foot controls. I also use body positioning a great deal when street riding, both like roadracing (inward) and like motocross (outward). It all depends upon the situation, I ride daily rain or shine from about mid March often to the end of December (SE Wisconsin). Not much traction when it is 15 deg F and the roads are white from salt and corners often have sand in them. I tend to use it because I learned to ride in the dirt (10 years motocross/offroad racing). The Hurt report also showed a relationship between dirt riding experience and lower incidence of street bike accidents (riders with dirt bike experience were under-represented).

I think peg weighting and body position is important when riding an offcamber turn with several (4) sewer caps and generous tar snakes in the rain.

I ride as often as I do on the street because racing is not enough. I guess I like riding bikes too much to be satisfied by racing alone. Being a test rider (for Buell 1988-1990) was the only riding that I really didn't like that much (ever take your hands off the handle bars mid corner and strike the bars to try to excite some bad behavior?).

[ekraft84]

Kevin Schwantz says to weight the inside peg entering the turn, then the outside peg as you're "in" the turn and exiting it.

It seems to be easy to weigh the inside peg, but requires more of a concerted effort to weigh the outside peg before it becomes natural.

[dylanfan53]

Seems weighting the inside going into the turn would assist a push to the inside bar and help initiate countersteering.  I can see that, but...  
I don't get the outside foot peg weighting thing at all.  How the heck am I supposed to get weight on the outside peg when my bod's hanging off the inside of the turn?
Maybe I should go out in the garage and sit on the bike to try it instead of sitting in a barcalounger with a notebook PC in my lap. Nah...not close enough to Spring yet.  :)

[Lowe119]

I feel like I am wrapping my toes around the outside peg and pressing my knee against the tank. Everything else is light. If my inside foot or knee hits, it is light and I can lift it so easily.

on a right-hander, I'll put a little weight on the inside when I need to shift, but the bike is a little more upright by then.

[ekraft84]

Try going around in practice and making a concerted effort to weigh the outside peg while in a turn.  When I do that, the bike feels more stable to me.

There's a lot of other things going on with regard to body position.  I would consult Keith Code's TWOTW books for more in depth detail.

[MELK-MAN]

i vote for the weight inside to turn in, push some on outside peg to exit and help the bike stand up. Sometimes i "push" the bike up 1st and my body follows exiting.. a 2 part move. Might be too much show but im able to get on the gas wide open sooner if the bike is more upright sooner. My feet move every turn. I have the ball of  the foot for inside .. and the middle of foot on the outside foot so i can shift or brake AND push more with the stronger thigh muscle, not a calf muscle.
I used to ride on the balls all the time, till i really paid attention to some motogp races and pics in sport rider of the pros. They move the feet every turn.