[simeonovitch]

I was going through this G310GS review, and at around the 9 minute mark, he makes a point about there being two riding styles.

https://youtu.be/zNisoBz0h9s?t=546

- One being the American/European riding style where you stand up on the footpegs a lot
- Second being the Asian riding style where you just keep sitting

I, personally stand up on the footpegs a lot: Broken roads; stand, potholes; stand, uneven surface; stand, bored of sitting; stand
And whenever I do this, I see all the other people on the road giving me stares, be it fellow 2 wheeled motorists, car drivers or pedestrians. Never bothered me, though.

Infact, I've rarely seen anyone stand in this country. (Well, some dont even stand for the national anthem, but thats an altogether different debate)

What are the reasons behind not standing enough. Lack of physical fitness, or is it just a different riding technique?

[clevermax]

I'm no bike rider, but when I ride bicycles, I follow the first style which is mentioned above - stand up on the pedals a lot when there's rough patches. I think it is a natural thing to do when you're on a bicycle going over potholes or rough terrain. When it comes to bikes, I think it depends on what kind of bike, whether you're on a cruiser, touring, a regular communing bike or a dirt-bike.

[condor]

I am currently not a biker, but do use an Activa. Our lovely roads make us improvise, and I often stand up briefly when I cant avoid a pot-hole or a rough. Guess I should pick the American style as my poll option

[ashenoy]

I dont exactly stand, but get my posterior off the seat of my motorcycle just enough so my spine does not get jarred from a rough patch of road. Seems most logical to stand if the terrain is bad though.

[Sheel]

I stand on pegs when I can't brake on time for a pothole/speed-breaker.

I also stand to let in some air on long rides for 10/15 odd secs.

That is it.

[ashwinprakas]

In India you sit as much as you can, especially on a long ride, even more if it's a multiple day ride.

Else the next day your thighs would be screaming at you, worst case they cramp and your ride is delayed.

When standing make sure to stand on the balls of your feet with your knees bent, worst case your chassis bottoms out your ass hits the seat rather than your feet hitting the ground especially when you have your knees locked, riding with a torn ligament is excruciating to say the least, learnt it the hard way.

Take special care when standing on motorcycles with front end weight bias, especially tall riders, Tis a B to go over the front when the front end falls into an unexpectedly deep rut.

Never EVER brake before hitting an aggressive undulation, suspension travel gets compromised and if you're lucky you bust your seals, if not that much you bend your rims and in worst case scenario you break your chassis, this has happened umpteen times and yet people get over protective of their motorcycles and make this mistake, at best you can drop several gears and anchor the rear or simply ignore and take it at speed, even if airborne you'd land without a care in the world, provided there's no one in front of you or you don't lock the handle.

Ride Safe.
A.P.

[Urban_Nomad]

Originally Posted by simeonovitch

I was going through this G310GS review, and at around the 9 minute mark, he makes a point about there being two riding styles.
...

What are the reasons behind not standing enough. Lack of physical fitness, or is it just a different riding technique?

Just because someone says something on the internet; doesn't make it a fact (including what I am about to say )

US / Euro market is a lot more evolved as far as riding motorcycles is concerned. And the gap is absolutely gargantuan when it comes to off road riding. We are a nation just waking up to this sport and its slowly but surely catching on

Riding off road, you can sit down if the terrain isn't too bumpy. A gravel type road or just a smooth hard pack type terrain; its fine if you sit down. You carry the same speed through bog and ruts; you will either hurt your spine or fall off the bike... and then hurt yourself

So what do most people do (my experience. What I have witnessed)? Slow wayyyy down, plant both feet on the ground (like training wheels) and bob around

Standing up on the highway to give your cheeks a break is not the same as standing up "dynamically" while riding dirt. At any time if you feel the bike is pushing or pulling you as you brake or accelerate; you are in the wrong body position

But then, whats the right body position when you stand? How many know this? How many actually research and practice this? Everyone must try shifting gears (up and down) while riding standing up. Initially, its so awkward and you feel the bike is just going to careen towards one side violently. You need to practice these techniques

Physical fitness becomes a factor once you know and master the skill of standing up correctly. It gives me no pleasure to say this but I am probably in the worst shape of my life right now. My lower back is the first that screams out in pain after about 15 - 20 minutes of fast riding standing up. I hope I can improve

So its more about the correct way of riding off road vs not even knowing what it is. And the correct technique doesn't change; irrespective of the continent you are in or hail from

Hope this helps. Cheers!

[simeonovitch]

Originally Posted by Urban_Nomad

Just because someone says something on the internet; doesn't make it a fact

Riding off road

Okay, first and foremost, since you disagree about the two riding styles, you could always vote for the first option.

And as for the second, I didn't exclusively mean off-road.

On my daily commute, I encounter speed-breakers like these atleast 10 times. I just stand on the footpegs and dispatch it. But I've seen motorcyclists slow down to an absolute halt, put their feet down, and then cross it in first gear. Or, as you put it

So what do most people do (my experience. What I have witnessed)? Slow wayyyy down, plant both feet on the ground (like training wheels) and bob around

Its just this that makes me question as to whether we are taught to stay put in our seat (and thus being two riding styles), or is this a result of the potbellies that an average commuter has.

The rest of your post is pretty much spot-on.

[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by simeonovitch

What are the reasons behind not standing enough. Lack of physical fitness, or is it just a different riding technique?

Perhaps laziness, perhaps style. The laziness can certainly take a toll on the back over a period of time. When we go over a dozen humps/sppedbumps a day, those are a dozen jerks to the spine and the neck. Some of the helmets we wear are very heavy, and in stabilizing we cause fatigue to the neck muscles as well.

I made standing over bumps/potholes my style because - human knees are natural shock absorbers. When we go over a bump with the butt slightly off the seats (semi standing position), it completely eliminates the jerk on the spine, the leg muscles are stronger, and hence much less overall fatigue.

[DrCar]

I never ever drive my bike standing up. It is, I feel, one of the most unsafe practice which should not be done on our commuter bikes or scooters. Better to slow down when you spot a bump.

Indian roads are highly unpredictable. You never know what new bumps or potholes will come out next day inspite of driving regularly on the same road for few years.

Another reason for this is that most of the commuter bikes that we ride are built to a cost and light in weight. I have ridden Pulsars, Hunk and currently have an Avenger. I just cannot imagine doing such manoeuvres in Avenger which overall is unstable bike.

Even as a rider we are not much trained for such things. Those driving a high end bikes can definitely try once they are use to the machine. Anyways its my personal opinion that those driving high end bikes have enough experience to manoeuvre their vehicle safely.

The only point of contact for the bike are its wheels which too is about 10% of its total diameter. Commuter bikes are lightweight and once you reduce the weight while driving by standing up, chances of any one of the wheel coming off the ground is high.
I have no experience with high end bikes, but feel that they have enough weight to keep it grounded.

[dicor]

Originally Posted by simeonovitch

- One being the American/European riding style where you stand up on the footpegs a lot
- Second being the Asian riding style where you just keep sitting

What are the reasons behind not standing enough. Lack of physical fitness, or is it just a different riding technique?

OMG!!! I just realized that I spent my entire childhood/young age being American / European and now I am an Asian.

When I was young, bike was rocket to me. I never bothered to slow down on broken paths (there were no roads in my village), I never cared about my bike's (RD175 & Suzuki Max100) maintenance. So the easiest way was to get up from seat to avoid jerks.

So the whole point of standing is to avoid jerks without getting slow. The other reason to stand on foot peg was to mimic Shahrukh Khan of Deewana (Koi Na Koi chahiye) but that's different story

Today I ride TVS Jupiter and I prefer to slow down it to avoid unnecessary maintenance. If the vehicle is slow so there would be no jerks. Why to stand?

In youngsters, I think it's more to do with getting unnecessary attention rather then fitness.

[2000rpm]

I have been a typical Asian rider, but I think I need to stand up more. Mumbai roads with a Scooter is a bad combination. The road undulations are very sharp and the small tyres with poor suspension result in a horrible back.

[arulpeem]

In my experience I have come to do the following:

1. On solid and smooth surfaces:
Long rides:I sit and ride mostly and stand up for a short while, not more than 30 seconds or so, to improve the blood circulation to my bottom.
Short and City Rides: I only sit unless I encounter an unexpected pothole where I can not brake in time when I stand up momentarily.

2. On loose surfaces like sand or mud or loose gravel:
These are only on a few occasions in which I have ridden in the above conditions. I find that standing up and riding gives a better control. When sitting the bike slithers and the body tends to correct it which is not a good thing. When I stand up and ride the bike self corrects the slithering and I am much more confident. On a climbing a slope it helps if leaned forward and leaning back helps when climbing down.

[FrodoOfTheShire]

Voted for Asian style. I had a habit of standing on the pedals of my bicycle when I was a kid, because my bicycle had no shock absorbers and the seat was hard, so potholes and speed breakers hurt. Also the bicycle, once slowed down, took an effort to bring it up to speed, so I felt more inclined to not slow down.

With my bike, it has padded seats, shock absorbers and no physical effort to increase the speed, so I slow down for potholes and speed breakers. This also ensures that parts of the bike doesn't start rattling with age.

Originally Posted by DrCar

Even as a rider we are not much trained for such things. Those driving a high end bikes can definitely try once they are use to the machine. Anyways its my personal opinion that those driving high end bikes have enough experience to manoeuvre their vehicle safely.

+1. Most people in developed countries drive cars all the time. People who ride bikes there are mostly passionate bikers riding high end bikes who have better control over their bikes to stand on the foot pegs.

Originally Posted by dicor

Today I ride TVS Jupiter and I prefer to slow down it to avoid unnecessary maintenance. If the vehicle is slow so there would be no jerks. Why to stand?

Scooters are inherently more unstable than bikes due to smaller tyres. I can't even imagine standing on the front floor board of a scooter while navigating uneven surfaces!

[crdi]

Not much of a biker, but whenever I see people standing on foot pegs, my first thoughts are about the ability of these tiny foot pegs to bear the rider's weight and the amount of grip offered by the foot pegs against the rider's footwear.