Right Foot, Left Foot Shuffle

[Tim...]

With a 30' inseam, both legs are out, and it is a crap shoot as to which leg touches down first.  If on a incline/decline; butt shifted over to left so i can flat-foot, with the my right foot on the rear break.  Whatever works is my motto.

[carlson_mn]

haha funny topic Greg.  I often think the same thing, mostly when I'm out riding solo I think about stuff like that.  When I am stopped I find myself remembering to tell myself that I'm supposed to put my left foot down so I can stay on the brake with my right.  Then I realize that's stupid with the front brake at my finger tips. 

I usually am in neutral at stops.  I realize that it is better to keep my left foot up so I can quickly shift into 1st if I had to move quickly, eliminating foot shuffling. 

I think the MSF teaches left foot down to make the course easier for the instructors because so many riders are SO new to bikes they can't coordinate using the right hands for both throttle and braking, and they would just roll back into eachother and tip over when stopped for practice if their right foot wasn't on the rear brake all the time.

[Aprilian]

I admit to judging others based on this item.   Sorry.

Clarification, please?    (seriously and amicably, I'd like to understand your perspective on this)

Andy

  I started teaching for the MSF in '82 after teaching myself to ride.   I liked the fact that we did things for a reason and there was skill to be demonstrated by giving the left bar a nudge coming to a stop and the left foot touched down expertly.   It was many years before I realized that there were different ways to correctly ride a motorcycle and I'd only been given a good starting point.  By then it was too late, I'd developed the bad habit of judging others' motorcycle riders' manouvers thinking I had been given the secret "right way".  Luckily, when I teach these days I include comments like, "There are thousands of ways to go around a corner when you consider lane placement, brake usage, throttle application, where your eyes are, body position, etc.  Out of those thousands of ways, there are only 2 wrong ways;  ride off the inside of the curve and ride off the outside!"

[beedawg]

I think the MSF teaches left foot down to make the course easier for the instructors because so many riders are SO new to bikes they can't coordinate using the right hands for both throttle and braking, and they would just roll back into eachother and tip over when stopped for practice if their right foot wasn't on the rear brake all the time.

Sounds plausible unless you know that MSF teaches always using BOTH brakes to slow or to stop.  MSF suggests left foot down first, but doesn't say the right foot needs to stay on the brake when stopped.

[carlson_mn]

I think the MSF teaches left foot down to make the course easier for the instructors because so many riders are SO new to bikes they can't coordinate using the right hands for both throttle and braking, and they would just roll back into eachother and tip over when stopped for practice if their right foot wasn't on the rear brake all the time.

Sounds plausible unless you know that MSF teaches always using BOTH brakes to slow or to stop.  MSF suggests left foot down first, but doesn't say the right foot needs to stay on the brake when stopped.

yes, yes, I did the BRC and then the BRC and Advanced again 7 years later.  I drank the koolaid, good stuff.  I just remember having a fun time when we setup the race course in the ARC and the instructor said go ahead and have as much fun as possible with all of the skills you've practiced for the last 2 hours of the course 

[aschendel]

I admit to judging others based on this item.   Sorry.

Clarification, please?    (seriously and amicably, I'd like to understand your perspective on this)

Andy

I liked the fact that we did things for a reason and there was skill to be demonstrated by giving the left bar a nudge coming to a stop and the left foot touched down expertly.

Cool beans, thanks for the insight!  Old habits (and thoughts) die hard, eh?  Regarding slowcounter-steering, you should see the thread on ADV rider about that, that was a fun ride, lol.

Andy

[Ray916MN]

Left foot down for me.

29" inseam, I need every bit of distance shortening to help with stability when stopped. The crown of the road helps. Whenever I have to put my right foot down, I have to be careful to make sure I can put it down far enough to prevent the bike from leaning too far for me to prevent it from going over. Dicey for me to start from a stop with my right foot down, when the road is heavily crowned too since I have to have my body and therefore body weight so far over on the downhill side of the bike.

[vince]

Well since I was out yesterday I just do what ever. If I'm going to stop and put it in neutral I put my right foot down and use my finger, but I still may put my right foot down no matter what I plan to do. If I'm on a hill I may do the left foot or just use my fingers. Using the front brake and the throttle work at the same time. I just don't see any point to which foot I put down. Maybe I put down both more than one or the other.

[Elk]

Ok, Vince goes both ways . . .

[tk]

Ok, Vince goes both ways . . .

LOL   

I always suspected there was something different about that guy