How many of you rarely put your feet down while riding on city streets and parking lots?

[redtail]

Feet on pegs, snick into neutral 30' or so before I have to stop, hands over my eyes and using the rear brake only, see if I can visualize the stop before entering the intersection or hitting the car in front of me.

Just for the challenge....

 

[S21FOLGORE]

Wouldn't it be nice if there was a trials bike event along with police gymkhana, what ever they call the slow speed maneuvering?

How long can you "park" a bike without feet down?
That ought to give wordsmiths and lawyers fits.

Crossover thought.

High speed maneuvering, = bagger racing?

This is something you can do, either just by yourself, or with some friends.
Doesn't require huge space.

[YOUTUBE]pD6VSAtOj7o[/YOUTUBE]


Video like this gives you some ideas about how you can "practice" while you're riding on the street.

[YOUTUBE]AJtXOUMXImo[/YOUTUBE]

 

[CDONA]

Wouldn't it be nice you could get a performance award for balancing at a stop for 5 sec +

I'm talking a positive performance award, not something you signed for, , ,

 

[sanjuro]

Well, I put my foot down at stop signs as proof that I actually stopped.

 

[Busy Little Shop]

I practice coming to a complete stop without planting a foot on every ride... no tickets and no trouble yet...

Back in 1968 my USAF buddy Lee J got stopped by San Bernardino police for not
planting a foot at a stop sign... The Officer claimed that it was impossible for a
rider to come to a complete stop without planting a foot... Lee J countered that
it was possible... The Office said OK smart guy lets see you do it... Lee J
without planting a foot not only rolled to a complete stop but compressed the
front fork and rolled backwards... then slipped the clutch and rolled forward...
compressed the fork and rolled backwards... after Lee J rolled forward and
stopped and rolled backwards and stopped 3 times perfectly proving his point
the Officer closed his ticket book and dismissed us...

1982 Lee J and Fang... his Honda Saber modified with a air conditioning system off a car...

 

[Escape pod]

For years, I have tried avoiding putting my feet down at lights and stop signs. I come to a stop but maintain balance and continue on.

In parking lots, I can now slow down to a crawl while waiting for people to walk past and cars to move past, it's totally second-nature now.

If ever would I see ^ it would bring to mind .. not so much the hummingbird but the characteristic feature of a fairy.

 

[islemann]

I've been a practitioner of the footless stop for ages. I do it on big bikes and little too. As my knees have deteriorated it's a toss-up between the ow of pulling the foot back onto the peg or the ow of putting the foot down. Either way is ow now.

 

[Maddevill]

I often "stop" without putting my feet down. Of course there was that time that I meant to put my foot down and discovered, too late, that my shoelace was wrapped around the brake lever..Ooops!

Mad

 

[Shaggy]

I think many cops are trained on some techniques for determining if a vehicle stopped or not. With motorcycles it's the foot down, with cars it's the lift of the front or headlights. In both cases, it's not 100% fool proof, but that won't stop them from overlooking that fact, in some cases.

I do make it a point to see if any cops are around and to put a foot down if I see one, just to be on the safe side, it's your word against theirs and unless you have a video to prove otherwise you're going to lose that argument in court.

Cops are trained to look at the wheels, not the riders foot or car’s bumper. When the wheel stops turning, that’s a cessation of movement.

 

[onto1wheel]

I usually start counting the seconds once my rear tire gets back on the ground, is that the same?
haha, j/k, my current plated bikes just won't do that (KLR and C14)
but seriously, some of you guys should get yourself a trials moto and truly stretch your balance skills! (seriously. Great fun)
Balance is gold! Keep practicing every chance you can!




(and PSA, don't forgot to practice your counter steering technique every once in a while, once you get back up to speed!)

 

[vaara]

*raises hand*

If I'm at a light, I like to wait 2, 3, 5 seconds after the weight settles on the rear axle before touching boot to asphalt.

Conversely, once it's go time and I'm not splitting, I will usually raise feet a second or three before the clutch engages. It's fun.

Someone has to do this in order to counteract all those n00bs out there doing "Flintstone" starts. When I was an instructor, I often had to remind students, ever so gently, that their motorcycles had engines and that the purpose of those engines was to make the motorcycle go. No pushing with feet required. But so many riders still feel insecure about using the clutch 'n' throttle unless the wheels are already moving. *shrug emoji*