Tony Carter

What next for leg-waving?

Mon Nov 02 05:41PM

When I'm not presenting the British and World Superbikes for British Eurosport my job is that of magazine editor.

Part of that involves me writing things about riding motorcycles, which in turn means I have to get out there and ride a lot of them all-year-round.

And, as is the case when you ride enough motorcycles, sometimes I fall off. A few weeks ago I did just that, riding like a wally, I tipped off a motorcycle at 60mph.

Not all that fast when you see the heroes on the racetrack jump off at speeds that can sometimes be twice that, sometimes even more.

But 60mph was plenty quick enough for me thank you, and thankfully my Alpinestars leathers did a good job at keeping the hard surface away from my skin as I was sent sliding along the road.

A bit of a tumble or two later and I discovered that nothing important was broken, I could still walk in the normal way and apart from being very embarrassed at my own ineptitude on a slippery surface, I was fine.

Now, my leathers are your conventional, modern one-piece type. They have a lot of body armour in them and are very comfortable. They therefore do the job very nicely.

But recently we've seen more and more of these inflatable devices finding their way on to tracks as riders pioneer and use the sort of leathers that now carry a device which inflates a protective collar in a fraction of a second around the neck and over the collarbones.

It all looks very impressive when it goes off during a fall, and from the early reports back from those who have crashed in them, they are a brilliant idea which does stop you from snapping things that were never designed to be snapped.

If there was the option then I would certainly want to have something similar fitted to my leathers in future - anything that saves pain is good in my book and next time I might not be so lucky when I fall off.

But all this development got me thinking, so I made a few phone calls to see where things might be heading and it would appear that all this leg-waving that's going on in motorcycle racing at the moment has got a few people thinking about design innovations that are around the corner.

If this trend is helpful in getting a bike to turn, and not the panicky-oh-no-I've-overcooked-it-on-the-brakes thing that it looks, then where will it end? How will it develop?

Would there be a benefit from riders now putting their feet down on the track? If they do that could they hit the front brake later and harder? Allowing the front tyre to wash-out more dramatically and still be able to hold the front end up because they've got a sliding foot on the floor already going into the turn?

Something like dirt track on the oval mile springs to mind.

It's a fascinating idea that something like a bit of leg-waving can turn into a possibly new way of getting a road racing bike into a corner.

Will it ever happen? Only time will really tell, but it wasn't that long ago that a lot of people said the idea of expanding air-collars in leathers was far-fetched.

And fitting them into a race suit doesn't save you one 10th on track, which will ultimately be the reason anything gets pushed through from design desk to prototype during the races.

Comments1 - 22 of 22

One small leg-wave for a man.........?
From timstoker666 on Mon Nov 02 08:09PM
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Eh ? What the hell is he on about ? The two areas are totally unrelated. I don't see the connection. One is a safety innovation which is fitted into your leathers ( currently at prohibitively great expense ) and one is a riding technique used by no track racers.
The leg waving we see at the moment is the riders trying to get some feeling back into their feet.
Is this man so devoid of writing inspiration he has to pluck pointless drivel like this out of the air ? Clearly.
I could do better than that !
??????
From greenstandard on Tue Nov 03 07:23AM
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greenstandard, I'm with you. This article is so unconnected...
From mrrock696 on Tue Nov 03 08:29AM
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The same C£$% he comes out with all weekend on every race meeting!
From wigmore537 on Tue Nov 03 09:41AM
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WTF??? What is he on about? You can tell the season is nearly over, these articles are only gonna get worse.......
From deano.beck on Tue Nov 03 10:30AM
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More BS from old ginger pubes, who needs it? -REPSOL ROSS
From rrcarsofgosport on Tue Nov 03 12:56PM
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Well that wasted a whole 2 mins of my life reading this rubbish.... What drugs was he on when writing this???? Whatever it was, must of been good for him, as this made no sense at all. Come on man, get your act together if you are going to write stuff, make it worth reading......
From martyn9258 on Tue Nov 03 01:02PM
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Strange article, one minute hes on about throwing his bike down the road and next minute leg waving. And whats the picture of spies doing all about?
A bit ambiguous i must say.
From djspark1 on Tue Nov 03 06:02PM
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I bet Kai Wayne Rooney has a bit of leg waving to do before he gets on his first bike
From arttidesco on Tue Nov 03 09:08PM
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I have noticed that 'Carter bashing' is quite popular. The funny thing is that rather than not read his articles, some people probably look forward to them just to get on his case !
From mikehoyle75 on Wed Nov 04 06:49AM
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Sorry guys, but what do we expect from a former professional chef? Not as if he went to journalism school. How did he become a World Superbikes expert? I remember watching in the days of Julia Bradbury and Mary Anne Hobbs and he was clueless then so nothing's changed! He may have an unrivalled contacts list but I would bet that if he called he'd get the message 'the number has not been recognised' or simply no reply. He is quite cringeworthy when 'grabbing' riders etc for off the cuff interviews and they don't really seem to give a monkeys when they speak to him and that includes Hayden and the redoubtable Whitham. In response to mikehoyle, I don't believe we are queuing up to knock Mr Carter but that we all read (hopefully) to get something insightful or newsworthy, not the meandering dross he usually produces!
From garethmccarroll on Wed Nov 04 08:37AM
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Perhaps Gordon Ramsey should have a go, he's a Chef,.......... go on Tony there all jealous.......
From socialintercourse on Wed Nov 04 09:19AM
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If leg waving helps the bike to turn in, why not a flap of leather on the leg to act as an air brake. The disadvantage is, if they got too big, they might tear the leg off.
If you've got a speedway track near you, trot along there to see that the foot is only used as a sensor, much like knee sliders but can come in handy when the grip level is overreached. You'll also see many minor fore and aft and lateral weight changes whilst cornering, much like the GP stars.
Finally, give the lad a chance, he does write some interesting and controversial items but that adds to the flavour of life.
From wa.jones on Wed Nov 04 09:28AM
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Here Here wa jones........
From socialintercourse on Wed Nov 04 01:19PM
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Lets not go the chef route for fear we end up with the mockney k*n*o*b*h*e*a*d Jammy Oliver heaven for bid he starts waving his naked legs about, he is dangerous enough with just a Sainsbury's trolley
From arttidesco on Wed Nov 04 02:04PM
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The Can-Can......
From practicalman on Thu Nov 05 10:16PM
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I think the leg waving thing looks awful. It ruins the flowing style of a rider and after trying it once or twice, found it to be a hinderance when braking hard as i have no pressure on that peg. Thats just my opinion but i like to have all my extremities on the bike.
From spaldingsteven on Fri Nov 06 04:53PM
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leg waving is a Rossi mind trick that gets everyone copying him but in effect does bugger all except take their minds away from development.
From g_bez on Sat Nov 07 07:14AM
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There were riders in the early days of pavement racing that did put their feet down, they wore a steel shoe plate like the speedway riders still do. The technique was made obsolete by better tires and isn't likely to return unless tires get narrower and taller.
From alexsar on Sun Nov 08 01:40AM
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If you really want to read more of this @#$% , then you can always sign up to his blog!!!!!
From lofty on Wed Nov 11 03:20PM
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When KR made the switch from the american mile dirt ovals to european gp's he kept his feet up.
Vali has learnt a new trick but won't disclose it's true advantage, motorcycle racing is now super high tech but maximum speeds were reached ten years ago and developement is now about acceleration,cornering and overtaking same as F1.
During the last three decades racing speeds have increased by up to 40% maybe it is time to build a complete new set of international venues ?
From inrange on Mon Nov 16 10:46AM
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Tony,
I just thought a little more on 'leg waiving' but need to take you back to 1960's and in particular to Mike Hailwood, who always remained inside the fairing at every turn. It was said then that a motorcycle racer steered with his knees pressed into the bike and it was Paul Smart who upset this theory when he came on the scene sticking his knee out that the trend escalated.
....maybe now if they did'nt have slots in the brake and clutch levers there would'nt be the need to lift a foot off when cornering?
From inrange on Mon Nov 16 11:32AM
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