what's with the hat man, you bald and ashamed of it??? it really does not enhance your videos.. it's silly, a little distracting and it just seems weird that it's such a big "thing" for you... but, whatever... it's just a little odd to me...
@@mojoriden I saw a video where you can see it clearly. He just have some hair loss that's all, he might doesn't like it that's why he always try very hard to don't show it. I don't really know what's wrong on having hair loss but some people can't accept it.
@@lf3106 I find it strange the first thing he does is put on his hat. I see nothing wrong with what little hair loss you may have. I thought his hat was like his trademark image or something. Excellent instructor!
Two fingers on the clutch lever and two on the front brake lever while covering the rear brake with right foot on slow corners, especially off-camber uphill tracks, body position and look through the corner. Appreciate your instructional videos.
Currently riding through the jungle in Thailand. I have consciously stopped flipper footing. Level of control has improved massively. Thanks, I needed this.
I recognize the first mistake from horse riding. I teach my students the same principle, but explain it differently as riding boots are more flexible. When I tell them to turn the toes parallel to the horse instead looking like Charlie Chaplin, they can force the foot, but it doesn't give the correct effect on the rest of the leg. Therefore I started telling them to push there heels outwards. When they did that the knee/rest of the leg automatically reacted on that movement in the positive direction that I wanted to teach them. When off roading I told that myself as well. That I need to push my heels outwards. Now I even do it when riding on the road.
About 4 years ago I was taught to only use 2 fingers, and to keep them on the levers. So much so, I’ve worn the black powder coating off my brake lever where I rest each finger! I just noticed it about 2 months ago.
MSF is actually moving on from enforcing 4 fingers - they demonstrate for, but if a student uses 2, it's considered a more advanced technique that should not be discouraged, so long as they aren't trapping their throttle. The big problem that we frequently see on the range is students using two fingers to brake and SIMULTANEOUSLY rolling on the throttle, which is why it was so heavily discouraged for so long.
Despite riding dirt bikes since the early 1970s, I was a four finger rider until my first track school at Pacific Raceways on a Suzuki Hayabusa. It was a CLASS school with Reg Pridmore. The acceleration of the Bus was so strong exiting the bus stop chicane that I switched to two finger clutch and brake for more control. Been doing two finger ever since on both street and dirt. Nice video! Will take your foot position advice to heart. I tuck my feet in when I get in tight spaces but am no doubt lazy in more open riding. Definitely need to improve on that! Thanks!
Nearly fell off my seat when you started talking about foot position. It's a big deal what you do with your feet, they're half off what attach's you to the bike. You covered the other half just as well, hand controls. It's a big deal what you do with the bars, too. Excellent vid, cheers.
When I was 19 I twisted my foot and leg back on a CR500. Bottomed out in the sand top of 4th gear. Blew my knee out and have been living with it ever since. Walking with a limp at 63… Still love riding Great advice
the way i fix my finger problem was easy, i changed the levers to shorty levers and only fit 2 fingers, 3 will be a very squeeze fit, but fors sure there is no room for the fourth finger to be on. so all fixed, and after 2 years riding like that i can jump on any bike and only use 2 fingers no matter the levers.
I came to Moto from Bicycling, took my Daddy's hat from the Estate and after Safety Course found my first, had to learn more on the second including picking it up by the Bars (Aruba Elite Police technique), glad y'all call us outside!!
Show off. I haven't seen your videos for a while and then watching this one I see three guys pulling up on motorcycles. Two stop and put their feet down. One brakes and steps off as the bike comes to a halt. I knew which one was Bret. Really fancy. Good video Good information, even for a street rider. Thanks
Always ripper training info and a world of experience that you regularly share. I came back to riding after a 33 year absence and even though I raced motocross in my 20's, I knew I needed to refresh my knowledge and get rid of my old bad habits... watching your channel and a few others really helped my 63 year old retired carcass from getting damaged and making my wife very cross :) A great many thanks Brett and also to the guys that help out with your channel. Warm Regards from Oz, Mark
hello ,guy ,I just want to say thank you very much of this Vedio ,I am a new driver ,my first time drive out for my travel is a 13 days 5000 km one ,and 1000 km of the road is off load ,I did not image the challenge is so hard for me and the plenty hwy in Australia is full of sand and rock and some even big cover hole .I feel so lucky I learned the right hand position and skill ,and it really really help me lot of times and make me feeling so lucky to finish the trip .thanks very much again !!! and wish you good luck . 感谢！！！！
Self taught. I used 2 fingers. That let me lock the front at will, but maintain control. (Street riding) Then did a course, and was taught 4 fingers. I learned the hard way that if you lock the front that you can't recover. I gave the trainers feedback and they just blew me off. I should have realised as the instructor locked the front and crashed demonstrating the skill. He was too badly injured to continue the day. The bikes we were using were Honda CT110 (it was a required course for the motorcycle delivery riders for Australia Post) that had single leading shoe drum brakes. Without doubt the least effective brakes I've ever used by a good margin. Still only needed 2 fingers on the street to lock the front solid.
I was also taught to clutch with four fingers and brake with two,before going to a MSF training for my license I rode dirt bikes and always used two fingers on both brake and clutch. After the riding class and license I tried to get use to using all fingers on clutch and brakes but was having a hell of a time in the control and sometimes braked too much or was late on the clutch. I'm going to the old self taught way for it is the most effective. Thanks for putting this out there, it helps so many riders to know this.
Great to see Kyle from Backcountry Adv Moto. His Idaho BDR series were the very first videos that got me interested in ADV riding. Thank you both for all the great content!
My first bike years ago was a 2007 Sportster 883 which has a tiny fuel tank. I trained myself se well to always hug it with my knees that even today riding a 1250 GS Adventure I find I'm still pressing my knees into the tank even though it's huge. Definitely helps keep the feet in, great tips as always Bret
I broke my ankle 3 days ago doing exactly this bad flipper foot move. I’m a brand new rider on a vstrom 650. I took a dirt road for a quick tour and found some thick sand. The sand plus my inexperience caused the crash but the flipper foot caused a broken ankle. Great video and safety tip.
Good advice and presentation. First time I rode a disc-braked lightweight dual-sport I found out very quickly to go light on that front brake! Coming from racing enduro on Bultaco's (dual drums) in the late 70's we had to use a "bit" more pressure!
Depends on the clutch pull. I'd prefer never to use more than 2fingers since you want to keep you hands on the grips. One or Two fingers seems to help with modulating and relaxing your grip. Flipper foots I learned quickly going through rock gardens when I started offroad riding...still a bad habbit. I always recommend using true motocross boots with lugged soles over those so called 'Adventure' boots....however, there is no substitte for true leg braces to help prevent those serious injuries . That's my ramble...have fun riding!
I HAVE to use 4 fingers(or 3), it's CRAZY painful if I attempt to use 2, no matter What I do, I just DON'T have any control with 2 fingers, period......I think it has to do with 20 years of playing Guitar, and bashing my hands up doing auto mechanics, lifting weights, etc.......but it's just Not happening and I stopped trying to use 2 fingers over 10 years ago! I've seen Moto GP guys that use 4 also.
I'm 63. I started riding off road on a Bultaco Lobito 100 at age 8. Since age 16, I have been riding both dirt and street and dirt, I've had over 50 different street legal bikes (pretty much everything but crotch rockets, I don't mess with trash like that) I have over one million street miles, and have never gone down on the street. Back when I was a kid I crashed a lot, learning how to do wheelies, jumps, and slides. No serious injuries. As a teenager I raced MX, where I did wind up with a few fairly serious injuries, which is why I had to give it up. I wasn't the only one, every weekend usually more than one rider would be out due to injuries from the week before. Some showed up to watch, in casts and on crutches. It's part of the deal, or at least it was back then. I agree with you on foot position, but as for how many fingers you should use on the brake and clutch, that depends on many things. The bike, the brake, the clutch, how much strength and control you have in your hands, and the terrain. I can use 4 fingers on the brake safely, because I have good control of my fingers. Whether I'm using one finger or four (assuming one finger is enough) is irrelevant. I have the ability to apply the right amount of pressure on the brake no matter how many fingers I am using. Controlling a motorcycle is not a simple task. You have to make thousands of calculations per second. It's like reaching for a glass of water on a table in front of you. You first movement will not be very accurate. But as you hand gets closer to the glass of water, you fine tune your movements more and more. Being just slightly off will result in your either missing the glass altogether, or knocking it over. Riding a motorcycle requires the same kind of precision. As for the clutch, it does not need to be quite as precise as the brake in most cases. Anyone who can ride can control the clutch well enough to be able to take off without stalling the bike, or taking off with the front wheel in the air. Remember, the clutch and throttle must be used together and well coordinated. Some bikes have a really light clutch that you can use properly with one finger, while some, like my Harley, actually require 4 fingers due to the physical effort required. Remember, the rear brake also requires a lot of precision, due to weight transfer when braking. It is very easy to unload the rear wheel and lock it up. Years ago, when I was younger and in better condition, I use to love doing tight fast left hand circles on dirt bikes, right up to the point where the rear wheel slid out and the bike went down on the left side. Never got hurt doing that, but it was hard on bikes. BTW, that little stunt you did at 4:40, where you hopped off the bike while it was still moving, with the stand up, was not very smart. I can just see someone trying that, and dropping the bike on top of them. At my age, I have to stop the bike, put the stand down, and slowly get off. That's good practice even if you don't have to do it that way.
Bret, where the heck were you in "69 when my hodaka super rat gave me lesson in foot grabs bush.... followed by " tree smacks fingers". all hard learned lessons passed down by great people like you, keep on teaching. Its hard to break my 50 year old habits but Ive learned alot from your channel and rider courses.
7:10 in... Just noticed this. Good job having the reverse-field flag on the proper side. A “Flag Proper” goes on the left arm, and a “Reverse Flag” goes on the right arm. This way, the stars always face forward. Just saw that, good job. 😎👊🏻 Also, thanks for the tip on the fingers for break and clutch. Been riding for over 20 years, mostly Harley’s, but today, I own (and love) a KTM 1290 SAS. I’ve taken the BRC, ARC, Off-Road and ATV courses from MSF over the years, and they always said “full fingers”. Experience taught me two was enough a long time ago, regardless of what MSF said. It’s nice to hear someone else affirm this. 👍🏻
Good stuff. Two fingers on the clutch and one to two on the brake for me. On the road pretty much the same. I always have one finger covering the brake for emergency response time.
Your words about losing control and not surfing the bike down the gravel and the like, ring so true now for me because I was in an accident a few days ago, in town. Walked away with a lot of deep bruising, but no broken bones thankfully. When you're confronted with it, there's really nothing you can do. In this instance - I accidentally wheelied my Versys (I let my frustration get to me and didn't realize I was giving it so much gas before releasing the clutch suddenly) and all I could do was when I felt the bike falling backward, was pushing myself away from it (and probably partially got thrown too) and landed hard on my side. Full gear substantially reduced the damage I could have taken especially since I rolled numerous times after hitting the ground. Still recovering, but eager to get back on my Versys once it gets a proper look over. Anyway wanted to share that. It's still pretty fresh for me. Your videos have been an inspiration, and I've learned a great deal from your lessons. Thanks for everything you do to help educate people. I'm eager to move forward from this experience, and continue improving as a rider.
Tim & his wife are a great couple!! we stopped in last August and she was cooking supper for folks working on the mine there and we got to eat some of her homemade spaghetti!! Ohh my Gosh!! The BEST ever!! The 3 of us from Arkansas had a fantastic meal in Yellow Pine thanks to them!!
Yup point 1 happend to me. I ended up under my bike and the foot stuck faceing down into the ground and the bike on top very nice situation. I had to wait until the others from the group came to help me.... Thanks for your Videos!
Great video, and thanks for the tips. I suffered a spiral fracture last year from skiing and it is no fun at all. Also great to see Kyle from BAM! Looking forward to more content from ID.
Tho I'm from Alaska, I was visiting family in Idaho a couple weeks ago and spent some time around the Yellow Pine area....awesome country around there! I have metal in both knees and ankles with no wish to add more, so keeping my feet and knees in is very important to me, along with riding mostly on the balls of my feet. I try to always ride with two fingers on brake and clutch but do find a third finger creeping in on the clutch quite often. Not great at it yet, but when giving the throttle a blip to cross mud, water, or up an embankment, having the third and fourth fingers on the handlebars really helps the control! Another great video, Brett....cheers!
I modified (lengthened) the clutch arm on my old KLR so that I could comfortably use it with 2 or three fingers. Stock it was just too much for a long day of technical riding, the mod greatly improved feel and allowed for a better experience.
anything less than 4 fingers on a DR650, you aint stopping!! Best thing about a DR650 is you can grab a fistful of brake on the dirt and not get into trouble, an F800GS on the other hand ....... Back when I was a (young)motorcycle instructor during the mid 80's, 4 finger braking worked well when trying to get those single pot calipers to grip that solid disc(s). Brakes have come a loooooong way since then!!! Good vid!
Great informational video and thanks for the first hand pointers. After having you on my case for a day I'll be sure to keep my feet in and use two fingers!
Thank you for the video. The third riding error is to wear Gaerne Balance Trial Boots. 😉 As a trials rider, I always have one finger on the clutch as well as one on the brake (on- and offroad).
I changed stock levers for shorties on both my Tiger and Bobber. Street or dirt - 2 fingers on both work for me. And can’t help but use pinky and ring fingers for hooks
The "no flipper footing" advice is also quite valid on the road for all the same reasons. Granted you will (hopefully) encounter less rocks and tree branches, but on the other hand you're likely to take more lean angle.
Thanks. Good advice. I’m glad to say have not ‘flip-footed’ as I’m usually hanging on for dear life!! So I clutch the dear bike as though I’m riding a horse!! I’m a newcomer on a gsa 1250 and guess I have been lucky. Enjoying the videos.
@ Bret Tkacs, fantastic information and training. Thank you. If I may, an additional aspect , if you ride with either one or two fingers resting on top (not pulling) of the front brake, it effectively assists in stabilizing throttle control, as it provides a natural reference, especially important over rough terrain. Stable throttle, more stable bike control. Certainly for me anyway :-). Once again, thanks for your brilliant videos.
Please keep making the videos there are people that need it . It’s surprising how much is over looked when your riding, I’m a two brake guy 60 rear 40 front and yes I ride a adv too . I do find your videos very very helpful thank you 🙏 from your Canadian follower
Here in Western Australia we have licence assessors (a breed apart) who will fail you if you don't use four fingers on the brake lever ! I have scanned the rule book and cannot find where the use of four fingers is mandated. Go figure their rationale. (Maybe they are so old that they were brought up on drum brakes). Racers, dirt and road, have been using just a few fingers for as long as I can remember. To my mind, riding off road with four fingers on the brake lever has the potential to wrench you hand off the bars if you hit a big enough bump during the process. Great video, and relevant.
I was taught 2 fingers as a teenager, though the bike was older than me and needed a good fistful to stop it. When I finally went for a licence and had a modern bike, I had to consciously use 4 fingers as stipulated for the test. I was reminded of this after the test so I must have still been seen to use only 2 at some point. Now the last 2 bikes have had heavier clutches and my hands are not as strong so it is 3 on the clutch for good control but still anything other than 2 on the brake is odd. Trail braking with one finger but adding another when braking with purpose. Do what works best.
MTB riders these days are also taught to use 1 finger on the brake levers, 2 at most, especially on the better hydraulic disc brakes. One is all you need since the brakes generally have good leverage and the levers are long enough for 1 or 2 fingers. Also you get to keep a good grip on the handlebars. Not a firm deathgrip but just the right amount for control. And being much much lighter than a fully loaded ADV bike, the stakes are much higher in the washout and endo departments if you accidentally do a 4-fingered grab on an MTB front brake. Good tip on the foot position too; very eye-opening. I'll watch my subconscious foot position the next time I ride out to see if I get to stick to this. 👍
I'm a combination of self taught and watching your videos. Finished some technical riding over the 4th on my KTM 890 Adventure R near Frazier Mountain, CA. Nice variety and great landscapes. The KTM was my first motorcycle at age 60 and I only road once as teen. I figured go big. I did some of the technique you showed and the skill set seems to come naturally from my MTB background. Crashed a few times but learned a lot in the process. I should be getting good fast. Thanks for the tips.
One week after watching this I was riding my BMW GSA on a two-track UTV trail, consciously keeping my toes in. I misjudged the proximity of an embankment to the left track I was riding and my foot was pinned between a rock and foot peg. I suffered a Lisfranc fracture of my first four metatarsals but because I had my toes pointed in I did not tear my Lisfranc ligament. Although I am now in the heavy metal club, it could have been much worse. Thanks for all of your videos!
@@BretTkacs No, not at all. I was wearing Alpinestars Toucan boots. In looking at them, one would never know they took the hit and they probably shielded my Lisfranc ligament from damage. The fractures resulted from a direct hit on the top of my foot. I don’t know if motocross boots offer additional protection from an impact like I experienced. Fortunately, I didn’t have much pain and was able to ride 40 minutes home. Not too many controlled intersections in rural Vermont so I didn’t have to shift too often which WAS difficult.
Great stuff Bret...the foundation to riding is key...starting at the base and controlling the clutch and brake...always good to reinforce the basics - keep the videos coming...thanks!!!!
New to the channel and like what I have seen so far. It is no surprise that you see many riders transition to ADV bikes. I rode dirt bikes and motocross as a kid/teen but have been riding street/road and cruiser bikes for many years now, so that is where my head is at. Current bike is a Triumph Rocket 3 GT, which is a tad different than an ADV. Planning to get an ADV to enjoy the dirt roads and back country where I would not dream of taking my bikes. I think it wise to brush up on knowledge and technique before getting the bike and taking a course (or preferably the other way around if a course provides bikes for students). I have ridden a lot but consider ADV different enough to seek quality ADV specific training and attend a course.
I don’t think I would’ve ever thought of my foot position like that while riding off road. My two riding buddies and I are planning on doing several sections of the WA and ID BDR on a summer road trip in a couple months. I’m definitely going to be paying attention with what my feet are doing when we do another training ride next week! I’ve been taking a deep dive in your channel lately and am gaining some VERY useful knowledge! Thanks! 🍻
Off road, always ball of foot on peg. Hit something and your foot doesn’t get hung up. More importantly, riding on ball of foot puts your lower body in the correct position and allows you to unlock the hips. Riding on the arch of your foot hinders your ability to control the bike properly. Sure, it’s not as comfortable, but it’s best for control. Biomechanically your last two fingers (pinky and neighbor) provides the most clamping force on the grip. Great recommendations
Both of my tibia and fibula snapped in half. It is healed, but technically it's still broken. These tips are on the top of my lists to learn to practice before I can go riding in technical sections in trails.
I was reminded that foot position alone won’t compensate for crappy boots. Took a serious log to the toe cap of my SG12s last weekend that completely glanced off and aside from a scuff - if that were my old crap fox boots, I’m sure I’d have many broken bones. (It also proved that I keep my toes in as the boot was pushed into the bike rather than ripping it off.)
Now Bret tells me. Do Not Flipper Foot! I was flipper footing during a stream crossing where I did everything absolutely wrong. My left boot toe caught in the mud. The tibia repair took 1 large plate plus 13 screws, while the fibula healed on its own. Once that healed, I needed a complete knee replacement on the same leg. Don't do this.
Flipper footing is fine on a street bike if you are cruising down the highway with your feet on the highway pegs. But not off road, and not in town, or any situation where you need more control, and/or may need to make a control input quickly and unexpectedly. You need to be in a position to do it.
@@geraldscott4302 it's not even really that good on street bikes tbh. Guy at the local motorbike shop here got his foot caught under his footpeg going around a turn because he was flipper footing. Maybe on a cruiser up on highway pegs, but not really a street bike.
@@geraldscott4302 Did a track day when I got my Fireblade many years ago and the instructor very quickly pointed me out and showed me that I must put the balls of my feet on the pegs for better control.
@@HartyBiker I said "if you are cruising down the highway with your feet on the highway pegs" Besides dirt bikes I also ride a Harley with highway pegs. The highway pegs are much higher than the regular footpegs, which would touch down first, letting you know not to lean over any farther.
That sounds nasty. And I’m the guy who broke his lower back, hip, pelvis (4 places), 3 ribs and smashed right foot at 17!! But I don’t flipper foot. Yet I still don’t know how to pronounce Tkacs…!👀🧐😎😜
Adding a comment only to get your video to pop up in more youtube feeds. Your videos are must-watch, and I hope to one day take one of your training courses as I live in Washington State. Your tip about foot placement is gold.
A bit late to the party on this video but I find the 2 fingers on the brakes thing interesting. I was taught by an ex-police rider in the UK and he advised braking with 4 fingers but rolling in from the pinky right to left so you're progressively adding more brake as you add another finger. I kind of change up my actual braking technique based upon where I'm riding, what gloves I'm wearing etc but I think the principle of gradually applying the brakes whenever possible works well regardless of how you go about holding the levers.
New rider. Appreciate the lessons. Got a 2022 RE Himalayan to ride with my sons on Northern portions of the Continental Divide trail. Bucket list item. 🙂 Liked and subscribed.
I've been riding the streets for 14 yrs now, and have always 2 fingered the front brake, the clutch is another matter, depends on the ease of pull-in and where the friction zone is on the bike in question. Flipper footing, first time I've heard that one. I ride feet straight to keep my feet over the brake pedal and over the gear shift in-case I need to down-shift quickly for a fast or panic stop.
I was trained in Singapore for motorcycle license which takes at least 3 full years to get from 200cc to 400cc to unlimited cc classes. I always am amazed at the lack of training or lack of commonsense knowledge when I encounter riders from EU or US where many riders get a license for riding in first gear for 2 mins without any traffic regulations. Now with offroad conditions, I did my fair share on my Kawasaki in 1990s in "unauthorised" areas reserved for military exercises and my bmx days. I appreciate these training videos by Bret and I certainly laugh my S off when he talks about quite simple stuff. It shows me how ill trained most riders in US are. LOL.
Yea... terrible old America, stuck running the world (not for much longer) where we are free to let our kids ride a crf 50 and shoot 22s at 3 yrs old (not for much longer). Someday we will be a great nation like yours.
I've seen people talk about the foot position, and personally, as I was riding a scooter before I got a Suzuki V-strom DL250SX (you can laugh, but I had never been into motorcycles before... 30 years of Rally cars made sure of that, so the scooter was a cheap way of seeing if the benefits of two wheels getting through the traffic and cutting down the commute time was something I wanted) But it's so nice to have something to clamp my legs to, the toes just naturally want to be close in to give my knees a better grip of the tank, & let my core muscles, which are now horrendously strong compared with what they used to be, do all the work in controlling the angle of the bike and do the majority of the steering... I'm just working the throttle, front brake, clutch and indicators with my hands, they barely do anything apart from a gentle push on the inside to stop the bike from trying to stand back up in the turns. what I struggle with is having to move my feet forward to use the clutch & brake, and that damn muffler that gets in the way of my heel, preventing me from being able to stand on the bike properly! It sounds like you're going to have to pay Scotty Kilmer to demonstrate the bike surfing thing... he said it's what he would do... and I need that laugh! back to position, I net nervous when my toes are under the gear lever waiting to upshift... It feels vulnerable down there! I know there is lots of meat between the lever and the bottom of the bike, so the foot is reasonable safe, but it doesn't feel that way. Hey Tim, before you jump off the bike... check out the very different dismount techniques... I wonder what the topic is with this? I use 3 on the clutch, I actually seem I use the two main ones to bring it towards me and the smaller two for the fine control (at the end of the lever) with the brake, I will keep two on it if I feel there is a need to have to make an evasive manoeuvre, but when it actually comes to stopping, I once again rely on the fine control at the end of the lever with the outer fingers! Admittedly, the worst condition I have ridden in is wet tarmac, maybe over dirt & grass, but only in first gear & that's to get to the road. I do want to ride on Gravel, the Bike is capable of it, probably not much more than a basic gravel road, but here in New Zealand those roads are off limits to anyone that hasn't joined a dirtbike club and it attending a club event!
I learned riding lane splitting in SF - two fingers on clutch and break was naturally evident as the way to go. Took some official courses got hammered to use 4 fingers, "thats something people who teach themselvse and who ride dirt do" was their opinion on finger riding. And yeah I'm totally back to using 2 fingers pretty much immediately after that. I can't speak to track riding, but for most street riding (100% dirt) I think 4 finger clutching and breaking is quite antiquated - its a loss of control for no real gain - maybe if your doing gnarly stop and go and need to conserve hand strength. Best I can tell it is a legacy of older drum-brake era bikes that require more physical strength to operate and your official msf style courses haven't caught up. Now to improve my flipper footing - whichI know i am terrible about.
Good video. I have no idea where my feet are. I just figured if they could work the controls they must be in the right place. I'll have to take a look. I do make a conscience effort to hug the tank with me knees. That said, it's my first adv bike. 2022 KLR 650. And I think I'm going to have to stick with four fingers on the clutch. You must be talk hydraulic clutches.
Great topic, I was riding a ninja 1000. The breaks on it are pretty responsive. If I ride with any more than 2 fingers on the brake l tend to over brake. I switched to a Tiger 1200 this year and its also hot some pretty sensitive front brakes. If I hit them with 4 fingers I see a disaster in the dirt and what not. Good to know I made a good choice. 👍🏼
Another great informative vid! And just a positive remark, I love Tim’s riding kit! Looks awesome with the Tiger 900! Oh and it’s great seeing all types of adv bikes on your channel, Bret! Mixes it up and makes it interesting! Cheers!
I flipper foot because after 2 left knee and1 right knee replacements I can't get my feet straight anymore. I started riding in 1972. I was 12 and my big brother showed me how to ride on my Yamaha jt-1 mini enduro. It was 1 finger on front brake 2 fingers on the clutch. I guess I had a pretty good teacher after all. ( that is one of the few Good things that I learned from him😉. I have a 1977 kz650 and a 2018 Honda 500x that I take camping . Don't ride much dirt anymore just putting into towns near where ever we camp to look for BBQ or the local D D D .
i am a noob, never did that cos it looks hilarious, penguin feet... i am so self conscious of that that even when i barely could ride, i was placing my feet correctly and well, my critics were offended that as a learner i was looking professional, they often laughed and mocked my serious approach!!! After watching motogp on projector, i dunno what happened, my riding just improved all by itself as i emulated those guys and now, this habit i had of correct foot placing has finally reaped reward, phenomenal control on every surface!!!
Hi Bret, first of all let me thank you for one more great video. What would like to ask is this, when we are sitting on the bike, our natural position of the legs is open with our knees facing outward. So on a anatomical point of view, the foot is aligned with our upper leg an knee. I believe that is why most of us ride like that, it's the natural position. If you force your feet to be facing forward, you are putting stress on the ankle and knee and during a long trip that can lead to muscle and joint stress (you are forcing a "twisted" position). So I believe that should be the case only when we are doing short off-road sessions right? Now, when you stand up, our feet get naturally pointing forward because our upper legs and knee are also facing forward. That's indeed the best position for off-road. Thank you so much and keep the excellent work!
There is nothing terribly wrong with stretching on the road and relaxing a bit bit I stay tucked all the time. It is a habit I built when riding on the track and after taking many performance riding classes for paved riding. If you only do it when you need it you won't. Just like the military you train how you fight so the muscle memory is on place all the time.
To me it´s one to two fingers for most of my riding, which is usually on tarmac. But, after some time riding - last year, up a gnarly mountain road with a slower rider ahead of me, for instance - I needed four fingers, due to tiredness. Cheers from Brazil.
As a street rider I always use two fingers on the front brake because it is more than sufficient for controlled braking and basically I'm fully engaging the brake long before the lever touches my fingers. On the contrary, my bike has a pretty stiff clutch and despite trying to adjust the lever I still find that I have to pull in the clutch so much to fully disengage that the lever hits my fingers which over time gets a bit annoying and also starts to hurt. I tried 2 and 3 finger clutching for almost the entirety of last summer but eventually reverted back to 4 finger clutch.
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what's with the hat man, you bald and ashamed of it??? it really does not enhance your videos.. it's silly, a little distracting and it just seems weird that it's such a big "thing" for you... but, whatever... it's just a little odd to me...
I just need a course from this guy on the transition from helmet to hat 😯👍. Good video like always and very nice place to ride 👍
Brets the best in the business. I've never seen the top of his head and i've seen every video.😆
He has his insecurities too, that’s why he is fast on the helmet to hat transition….lol
@@mojoriden I saw a video where you can see it clearly. He just have some hair loss that's all, he might doesn't like it that's why he always try very hard to don't show it. I don't really know what's wrong on having hair loss but some people can't accept it.
@@lf3106 I find it strange the first thing he does is put on his hat. I see nothing wrong with what little hair loss you may have. I thought his hat was like his trademark image or something. Excellent instructor!
Yep, there it is @ 6:19. Consistent remarkable technique in all Brett demonstrates!
Yellowpine is in a beautiful area. You’d think it was still our own private Idaho. 👍🏻🇺🇸
Two fingers on the clutch lever and two on the front brake lever while covering the rear brake with right foot on slow corners, especially off-camber uphill tracks, body position and look through the corner. Appreciate your instructional videos.
Those helmet cap transitions are crazy fast and smooth!!! 🤣 💀
I dont come for the motorcycle coaching..... I'm simply here in awe of the hat change! 😁
I didn't even notice there was a transition until the comments pointed it out. I think I subconsciously assumed that the cap is a part of his head
Currently riding through the jungle in Thailand. I have consciously stopped flipper footing. Level of control has improved massively. Thanks, I needed this.
Flipper foot off-road broke my ankle when the bike went down… it’s so true to tuck em in!
I recognize the first mistake from horse riding.
I teach my students the same principle, but explain it differently as riding boots are more flexible. When I tell them to turn the toes parallel to the horse instead looking like Charlie Chaplin, they can force the foot, but it doesn't give the correct effect on the rest of the leg. Therefore I started telling them to push there heels outwards. When they did that the knee/rest of the leg automatically reacted on that movement in the positive direction that I wanted to teach them.
When off roading I told that myself as well. That I need to push my heels outwards. Now I even do it when riding on the road.
Heels down, toes up, hug with your calves. At least English jumping from what I remember.
About 4 years ago I was taught to only use 2 fingers, and to keep them on the levers. So much so, I’ve worn the black powder coating off my brake lever where I rest each finger! I just noticed it about 2 months ago.
MSF is actually moving on from enforcing 4 fingers - they demonstrate for, but if a student uses 2, it's considered a more advanced technique that should not be discouraged, so long as they aren't trapping their throttle. The big problem that we frequently see on the range is students using two fingers to brake and SIMULTANEOUSLY rolling on the throttle, which is why it was so heavily discouraged for so long.
Despite riding dirt bikes since the early 1970s, I was a four finger rider until my first track school at Pacific Raceways on a Suzuki Hayabusa. It was a CLASS school with Reg Pridmore. The acceleration of the Bus was so strong exiting the bus stop chicane that I switched to two finger clutch and brake for more control. Been doing two finger ever since on both street and dirt. Nice video! Will take your foot position advice to heart. I tuck my feet in when I get in tight spaces but am no doubt lazy in more open riding. Definitely need to improve on that! Thanks!
My bike comes with a rider system where the rider uses the number of fingers best suited for every situation, as they arise.
Driving my motorcycles more than 35 years it's always learning . Thanks for your tips Bret!!
Nearly fell off my seat when you started talking about foot position. It's a big deal what you do with your feet, they're half off what attach's you to the bike.
You covered the other half just as well, hand controls. It's a big deal what you do with the bars, too.
Excellent vid, cheers.
Good stuff! Been riding dirt 35 years, this is the way! Man I wish I had a teacher back in the day like this!!! Thanks for sharing!
When I was 19 I twisted my foot and leg back on a CR500. Bottomed out in the sand top of 4th gear. Blew my knee out and have been living with it ever since. Walking with a limp at 63…
Still love riding
Great advice
Amazed by Bret's "Helmet to Cap" speed maneuver.
the way i fix my finger problem was easy, i changed the levers to shorty levers and only fit 2 fingers, 3 will be a very squeeze fit, but fors sure there is no room for the fourth finger to be on. so all fixed, and after 2 years riding like that i can jump on any bike and only use 2 fingers no matter the levers.
I came to Moto from Bicycling, took my Daddy's hat from the Estate and after Safety Course found my first, had to learn more on the second including picking it up by the Bars (Aruba Elite Police technique), glad y'all call us outside!!
Show off. I haven't seen your videos for a while and then watching this one I see three guys pulling up on motorcycles. Two stop and put their feet down. One brakes and steps off as the bike comes to a halt. I knew which one was Bret. Really fancy. Good video Good information, even for a street rider. Thanks
Welcome to Idaho! Great riding here. I've learned and unlearned alot watching your videos. Thanks!
Always ripper training info and a world of experience that you regularly share.
I came back to riding after a 33 year absence and even though I raced motocross in my 20's, I knew I needed to refresh my knowledge and get rid of my old bad habits... watching your channel and a few others really helped my 63 year old retired carcass from getting damaged and making my wife very cross :) A great many thanks Brett and also to the guys that help out with your channel.
Warm Regards from Oz, Mark
I rode for 40 years before I attended the MSF advanced rider course - and came out a much better and safer rider.
hello ,guy ,I just want to say thank you very much of this Vedio ,I am a new driver ,my first time drive out for my travel is a 13 days 5000 km one ,and 1000 km of the road is off load ,I did not image the challenge is so hard for me and the plenty hwy in Australia is full of sand and rock and some even big cover hole .I feel so lucky I learned the right hand position and skill ,and it really really help me lot of times and make me feeling so lucky to finish the trip .thanks very much again !!! and wish you good luck . 感谢！！！！
Self taught. I used 2 fingers. That let me lock the front at will, but maintain control. (Street riding) Then did a course, and was taught 4 fingers. I learned the hard way that if you lock the front that you can't recover. I gave the trainers feedback and they just blew me off. I should have realised as the instructor locked the front and crashed demonstrating the skill. He was too badly injured to continue the day. The bikes we were using were Honda CT110 (it was a required course for the motorcycle delivery riders for Australia Post) that had single leading shoe drum brakes. Without doubt the least effective brakes I've ever used by a good margin. Still only needed 2 fingers on the street to lock the front solid.
I was also taught to clutch with four fingers and brake with two,before going to a MSF training for my license I rode dirt bikes and always used two fingers on both brake and clutch. After the riding class and license I tried to get use to using all fingers on clutch and brakes but was having a hell of a time in the control and sometimes braked too much or was late on the clutch. I'm going to the old self taught way for it is the most effective. Thanks for putting this out there, it helps so many riders to know this.
Great to see Kyle from Backcountry Adv Moto. His Idaho BDR series were the very first videos that got me interested in ADV riding. Thank you both for all the great content!
My first bike years ago was a 2007 Sportster 883 which has a tiny fuel tank. I trained myself se well to always hug it with my knees that even today riding a 1250 GS Adventure I find I'm still pressing my knees into the tank even though it's huge. Definitely helps keep the feet in, great tips as always Bret
I broke my ankle 3 days ago doing exactly this bad flipper foot move. I’m a brand new rider on a vstrom 650. I took a dirt road for a quick tour and found some thick sand. The sand plus my inexperience caused the crash but the flipper foot caused a broken ankle. Great video and safety tip.
Good advice and presentation. First time I rode a disc-braked lightweight dual-sport I found out very quickly to go light on that front brake! Coming from racing enduro on Bultaco's (dual drums) in the late 70's we had to use a "bit" more pressure!
Thank you Bret ji for doing this video. I regularly watch your videos and appreciate !
Great advice and reminder on the feet. I find myself getting lazy or having bad bike posture if riding a lot of pavement prior to going off pavement.
Depends on the clutch pull. I'd prefer never to use more than 2fingers since you want to keep you hands on the grips. One or Two fingers seems to help with modulating and relaxing your grip. Flipper foots I learned quickly going through rock gardens when I started offroad riding...still a bad habbit. I always recommend using true motocross boots with lugged soles over those so called 'Adventure' boots....however, there is no substitte for true leg braces to help prevent those serious injuries . That's my ramble...have fun riding!
I HAVE to use 4 fingers(or 3), it's CRAZY painful if I attempt to use 2, no matter What I do, I just DON'T have any control with 2 fingers, period......I think it has to do with 20 years of playing Guitar, and bashing my hands up doing auto mechanics, lifting weights, etc.......but it's just Not happening and I stopped trying to use 2 fingers over 10 years ago! I've seen Moto GP guys that use 4 also.
Dude! Your helmet to hat transition is stunning! Commendable!
He is the GOAT in helmet-hat transition, fo sho!
Good reminders of basic but important practices. Another great video, that even more experienced riders can benefit from.
I'm 63. I started riding off road on a Bultaco Lobito 100 at age 8. Since age 16, I have been riding both dirt and street and dirt, I've had over 50 different street legal bikes (pretty much everything but crotch rockets, I don't mess with trash like that) I have over one million street miles, and have never gone down on the street. Back when I was a kid I crashed a lot, learning how to do wheelies, jumps, and slides. No serious injuries. As a teenager I raced MX, where I did wind up with a few fairly serious injuries, which is why I had to give it up. I wasn't the only one, every weekend usually more than one rider would be out due to injuries from the week before. Some showed up to watch, in casts and on crutches. It's part of the deal, or at least it was back then.
I agree with you on foot position, but as for how many fingers you should use on the brake and clutch, that depends on many things. The bike, the brake, the clutch, how much strength and control you have in your hands, and the terrain. I can use 4 fingers on the brake safely, because I have good control of my fingers. Whether I'm using one finger or four (assuming one finger is enough) is irrelevant. I have the ability to apply the right amount of pressure on the brake no matter how many fingers I am using. Controlling a motorcycle is not a simple task. You have to make thousands of calculations per second. It's like reaching for a glass of water on a table in front of you. You first movement will not be very accurate. But as you hand gets closer to the glass of water, you fine tune your movements more and more. Being just slightly off will result in your either missing the glass altogether, or knocking it over. Riding a motorcycle requires the same kind of precision. As for the clutch, it does not need to be quite as precise as the brake in most cases. Anyone who can ride can control the clutch well enough to be able to take off without stalling the bike, or taking off with the front wheel in the air. Remember, the clutch and throttle must be used together and well coordinated. Some bikes have a really light clutch that you can use properly with one finger, while some, like my Harley, actually require 4 fingers due to the physical effort required. Remember, the rear brake also requires a lot of precision, due to weight transfer when braking. It is very easy to unload the rear wheel and lock it up. Years ago, when I was younger and in better condition, I use to love doing tight fast left hand circles on dirt bikes, right up to the point where the rear wheel slid out and the bike went down on the left side. Never got hurt doing that, but it was hard on bikes.
BTW, that little stunt you did at 4:40, where you hopped off the bike while it was still moving, with the stand up, was not very smart. I can just see someone trying that, and dropping the bike on top of them. At my age, I have to stop the bike, put the stand down, and slowly get off. That's good practice even if you don't have to do it that way.
Thanks
Absolutely amazing and essential tips. I am “re-learning” to ride offroad and I have so much to learn. Thanks for the video. Alessandro 🇧🇷
Very welcome!
New rider, just ordered my first Adv bike. This was a great video for me, thanks!
Bret, where the heck were you in "69 when my hodaka super rat gave me lesson in foot grabs bush.... followed by " tree smacks fingers". all hard learned lessons passed down by great people like you, keep on teaching. Its hard to break my 50 year old habits but Ive learned alot from your channel and rider courses.
Bret, you just keep flowing with fantastic tips in all areas of adv riding I love your channel and learn so much.
7:10 in... Just noticed this. Good job having the reverse-field flag on the proper side. A “Flag Proper” goes on the left arm, and a “Reverse Flag” goes on the right arm. This way, the stars always face forward. Just saw that, good job. 😎👊🏻 Also, thanks for the tip on the fingers for break and clutch. Been riding for over 20 years, mostly Harley’s, but today, I own (and love) a KTM 1290 SAS. I’ve taken the BRC, ARC, Off-Road and ATV courses from MSF over the years, and they always said “full fingers”. Experience taught me two was enough a long time ago, regardless of what MSF said. It’s nice to hear someone else affirm this. 👍🏻
Good stuff. Two fingers on the clutch and one to two on the brake for me. On the road pretty much the same. I always have one finger covering the brake for emergency response time.
New subscriber here. No mater how much experience one has always remain teachable. Thanks for the video.
Your words about losing control and not surfing the bike down the gravel and the like, ring so true now for me because I was in an accident a few days ago, in town. Walked away with a lot of deep bruising, but no broken bones thankfully. When you're confronted with it, there's really nothing you can do. In this instance - I accidentally wheelied my Versys (I let my frustration get to me and didn't realize I was giving it so much gas before releasing the clutch suddenly) and all I could do was when I felt the bike falling backward, was pushing myself away from it (and probably partially got thrown too) and landed hard on my side. Full gear substantially reduced the damage I could have taken especially since I rolled numerous times after hitting the ground.
Still recovering, but eager to get back on my Versys once it gets a proper look over.
Anyway wanted to share that. It's still pretty fresh for me. Your videos have been an inspiration, and I've learned a great deal from your lessons. Thanks for everything you do to help educate people. I'm eager to move forward from this experience, and continue improving as a rider.
I trust my instinct and use 3 for clutch and 2 for brake, that speech assures me, thanks... 👏👏👏👏
Tim & his wife are a great couple!!
we stopped in last August and she was cooking supper for folks working on the mine there and we got to eat some of her homemade spaghetti!! Ohh my Gosh!! The BEST ever!! The 3 of us from Arkansas had a fantastic meal in Yellow Pine thanks to them!!
Great tips. I always use 2 fingers on the brake and 4 on the clutch (all street riding).
Cool to see brother Kyle with you Bret. He’s a solid dude, and should have more subs 👍🏻
Thanks for the kind words 👍🏻
@@backcountryadvmoto He is right Kyle. Your channel is awesome!
Yup point 1 happend to me. I ended up under my bike and the foot stuck faceing down into the ground and the bike on top very nice situation. I had to wait until the others from the group came to help me.... Thanks for your Videos!
Had this twisted foot on my first slide in the mud... very important hint for beginners!
Great video, and thanks for the tips. I suffered a spiral fracture last year from skiing and it is no fun at all. Also great to see Kyle from BAM! Looking forward to more content from ID.
This was a fun collaboration 👍🏻 Brett has sooo much knowledge
Tho I'm from Alaska, I was visiting family in Idaho a couple weeks ago and spent some time around the Yellow Pine area....awesome country around there! I have metal in both knees and ankles with no wish to add more, so keeping my feet and knees in is very important to me, along with riding mostly on the balls of my feet. I try to always ride with two fingers on brake and clutch but do find a third finger creeping in on the clutch quite often. Not great at it yet, but when giving the throttle a blip to cross mud, water, or up an embankment, having the third and fourth fingers on the handlebars really helps the control! Another great video, Brett....cheers!
I modified (lengthened) the clutch arm on my old KLR so that I could comfortably use it with 2 or three fingers. Stock it was just too much for a long day of technical riding, the mod greatly improved feel and allowed for a better experience.
anything less than 4 fingers on a DR650, you aint stopping!! Best thing about a DR650 is you can grab a fistful of brake on the dirt and not get into trouble, an F800GS on the other hand .......
Back when I was a (young)motorcycle instructor during the mid 80's, 4 finger braking worked well when trying to get those single pot calipers to grip that solid disc(s). Brakes have come a loooooong way since then!!! Good vid!
Well said.. all you teach is immediately useful and helpful .. also a reminder of that for long time riders is very nice.. Thank you from italy
Great informational video and thanks for the first hand pointers. After having you on my case for a day I'll be sure to keep my feet in and use two fingers!
It was fantastic riding with you!!!!
Thank you for the video. The third riding error is to wear Gaerne Balance Trial Boots. 😉
As a trials rider, I always have one finger on the clutch as well as one on the brake (on- and offroad).
I changed stock levers for shorties on both my Tiger and Bobber. Street or dirt - 2 fingers on both work for me. And can’t help but use pinky and ring fingers for hooks
The "no flipper footing" advice is also quite valid on the road for all the same reasons. Granted you will (hopefully) encounter less rocks and tree branches, but on the other hand you're likely to take more lean angle.
New things to learn. Thank you, Bret, for all your tips in the movies here on the channel. Bengt/Sweden
Thanks. Good advice. I’m glad to say have not ‘flip-footed’ as I’m usually hanging on for dear life!! So I clutch the dear bike as though I’m riding a horse!! I’m a newcomer on a gsa 1250 and guess I have been lucky. Enjoying the videos.
@ Bret Tkacs, fantastic information and training. Thank you. If I may, an additional aspect , if you ride with either one or two fingers resting on top (not pulling) of the front brake, it effectively assists in stabilizing throttle control, as it provides a natural reference, especially important over rough terrain. Stable throttle, more stable bike control. Certainly for me anyway :-). Once again, thanks for your brilliant videos.
Guilty on the feet positioning when in the street and off road but two fingers on brake and clutch unless trail braking then only one. Great video.
Please keep making the videos there are people that need it . It’s surprising how much is over looked when your riding, I’m a two brake guy 60 rear 40 front and yes I ride a adv too . I do find your videos very very helpful thank you 🙏 from your Canadian follower
Here in Western Australia we have licence assessors (a breed apart) who will fail you if you don't use four fingers on the brake lever ! I have scanned the rule book and cannot find where the use of four fingers is mandated. Go figure their rationale. (Maybe they are so old that they were brought up on drum brakes). Racers, dirt and road, have been using just a few fingers for as long as I can remember. To my mind, riding off road with four fingers on the brake lever has the potential to wrench you hand off the bars if you hit a big enough bump during the process. Great video, and relevant.
I was taught 2 fingers as a teenager, though the bike was older than me and needed a good fistful to stop it. When I finally went for a licence and had a modern bike, I had to consciously use 4 fingers as stipulated for the test. I was reminded of this after the test so I must have still been seen to use only 2 at some point. Now the last 2 bikes have had heavier clutches and my hands are not as strong so it is 3 on the clutch for good control but still anything other than 2 on the brake is odd. Trail braking with one finger but adding another when braking with purpose. Do what works best.
MTB riders these days are also taught to use 1 finger on the brake levers, 2 at most, especially on the better hydraulic disc brakes. One is all you need since the brakes generally have good leverage and the levers are long enough for 1 or 2 fingers. Also you get to keep a good grip on the handlebars. Not a firm deathgrip but just the right amount for control.
And being much much lighter than a fully loaded ADV bike, the stakes are much higher in the washout and endo departments if you accidentally do a 4-fingered grab on an MTB front brake.
Good tip on the foot position too; very eye-opening. I'll watch my subconscious foot position the next time I ride out to see if I get to stick to this. 👍
I'm a combination of self taught and watching your videos. Finished some technical riding over the 4th on my KTM 890 Adventure R near Frazier Mountain, CA. Nice variety and great landscapes. The KTM was my first motorcycle at age 60 and I only road once as teen. I figured go big. I did some of the technique you showed and the skill set seems to come naturally from my MTB background. Crashed a few times but learned a lot in the process. I should be getting good fast. Thanks for the tips.
I went to YellowPine last year. Great stop on the IBDR!
Excellent short but concise video!! I never thought about the flipper foot but I am a relatively new ADV rider (1 year) but now I know. Thanks Bret!
6:18
Your helmet to hat transitions never fail to amaze me
I've learned with mountain biking to use two fingers front an rear brake so from then on it was second nature.
One week after watching this I was riding my BMW GSA on a two-track UTV trail, consciously keeping my toes in. I misjudged the proximity of an embankment to the left track I was riding and my foot was pinned between a rock and foot peg. I suffered a Lisfranc fracture of my first four metatarsals but because I had my toes pointed in I did not tear my Lisfranc ligament. Although I am now in the heavy metal club, it could have been much worse. Thanks for all of your videos!
Do you mind if I ask what boots you were wearing and if you were in ADV boots would Enduro/MX boots have possibly made a difference?
@@BretTkacs No, not at all. I was wearing Alpinestars Toucan boots. In looking at them, one would never know they took the hit and they probably shielded my Lisfranc ligament from damage. The fractures resulted from a direct hit on the top of my foot. I don’t know if motocross boots offer additional protection from an impact like I experienced. Fortunately, I didn’t have much pain and was able to ride 40 minutes home. Not too many controlled intersections in rural Vermont so I didn’t have to shift too often which WAS difficult.
Your helmet to hat transition is on point my friend.
Great stuff Bret...the foundation to riding is key...starting at the base and controlling the clutch and brake...always good to reinforce the basics - keep the videos coming...thanks!!!!
New to the channel and like what I have seen so far. It is no surprise that you see many riders transition to ADV bikes. I rode dirt bikes and motocross as a kid/teen but have been riding street/road and cruiser bikes for many years now, so that is where my head is at. Current bike is a Triumph Rocket 3 GT, which is a tad different than an ADV. Planning to get an ADV to enjoy the dirt roads and back country where I would not dream of taking my bikes. I think it wise to brush up on knowledge and technique before getting the bike and taking a course (or preferably the other way around if a course provides bikes for students). I have ridden a lot but consider ADV different enough to seek quality ADV specific training and attend a course.
I don’t think I would’ve ever thought of my foot position like that while riding off road. My two riding buddies and I are planning on doing several sections of the WA and ID BDR on a summer road trip in a couple months. I’m definitely going to be paying attention with what my feet are doing when we do another training ride next week! I’ve been taking a deep dive in your channel lately and am gaining some VERY useful knowledge! Thanks! 🍻
Off road, always ball of foot on peg. Hit something and your foot doesn’t get hung up. More importantly, riding on ball of foot puts your lower body in the correct position and allows you to unlock the hips. Riding on the arch of your foot hinders your ability to control the bike properly. Sure, it’s not as comfortable, but it’s best for control. Biomechanically your last two fingers (pinky and neighbor) provides the most clamping force on the grip. Great recommendations
Thanks Bret...i learned many things about off road riding from u...idris from Malaysia
Both of my tibia and fibula snapped in half. It is healed, but technically it's still broken. These tips are on the top of my lists to learn to practice before I can go riding in technical sections in trails.
You're a really good communicator. Good advice. Thanks
I was reminded that foot position alone won’t compensate for crappy boots. Took a serious log to the toe cap of my SG12s last weekend that completely glanced off and aside from a scuff - if that were my old crap fox boots, I’m sure I’d have many broken bones. (It also proved that I keep my toes in as the boot was pushed into the bike rather than ripping it off.)
Now Bret tells me. Do Not Flipper Foot! I was flipper footing during a stream crossing where I did everything absolutely wrong. My left boot toe caught in the mud. The tibia repair took 1 large plate plus 13 screws, while the fibula healed on its own. Once that healed, I needed a complete knee replacement on the same leg. Don't do this.
Flipper footing is fine on a street bike if you are cruising down the highway with your feet on the highway pegs. But not off road, and not in town, or any situation where you need more control, and/or may need to make a control input quickly and unexpectedly. You need to be in a position to do it.
@@geraldscott4302 it's not even really that good on street bikes tbh. Guy at the local motorbike shop here got his foot caught under his footpeg going around a turn because he was flipper footing. Maybe on a cruiser up on highway pegs, but not really a street bike.
@@geraldscott4302 Did a track day when I got my Fireblade many years ago and the instructor very quickly pointed me out and showed me that I must put the balls of my feet on the pegs for better control.
@@HartyBiker I said "if you are cruising down the highway with your feet on the highway pegs" Besides dirt bikes I also ride a Harley with highway pegs. The highway pegs are much higher than the regular footpegs, which would touch down first, letting you know not to lean over any farther.
That sounds nasty. And I’m the guy who broke his lower back, hip, pelvis (4 places), 3 ribs and smashed right foot at 17!! But I don’t flipper foot.
Yet I still don’t know how to pronounce Tkacs…!👀🧐😎😜
Adding a comment only to get your video to pop up in more youtube feeds. Your videos are must-watch, and I hope to one day take one of your training courses as I live in Washington State. Your tip about foot placement is gold.
I very much appreciate it
A bit late to the party on this video but I find the 2 fingers on the brakes thing interesting. I was taught by an ex-police rider in the UK and he advised braking with 4 fingers but rolling in from the pinky right to left so you're progressively adding more brake as you add another finger. I kind of change up my actual braking technique based upon where I'm riding, what gloves I'm wearing etc but I think the principle of gradually applying the brakes whenever possible works well regardless of how you go about holding the levers.
Great seeing a video on the very basics being covered. A great teacher never forgets it always goes back to the basics
New rider. Appreciate the lessons. Got a 2022 RE Himalayan to ride with my sons on Northern portions of the Continental Divide trail. Bucket list item. 🙂 Liked and subscribed.
I've been riding the streets for 14 yrs now, and have always 2 fingered the front brake, the clutch is another matter, depends on the ease of pull-in and where the friction zone is on the bike in question. Flipper footing, first time I've heard that one. I ride feet straight to keep my feet over the brake pedal and over the gear shift in-case I need to down-shift quickly for a fast or panic stop.
I was trained in Singapore for motorcycle license which takes at least 3 full years to get from 200cc to 400cc to unlimited cc classes. I always am amazed at the lack of training or lack of commonsense knowledge when I encounter riders from EU or US where many riders get a license for riding in first gear for 2 mins without any traffic regulations. Now with offroad conditions, I did my fair share on my Kawasaki in 1990s in "unauthorised" areas reserved for military exercises and my bmx days.
I appreciate these training videos by Bret and I certainly laugh my S off when he talks about quite simple stuff. It shows me how ill trained most riders in US are. LOL.
Yea... terrible old America, stuck running the world (not for much longer) where we are free to let our kids ride a crf 50 and shoot 22s at 3 yrs old (not for much longer). Someday we will be a great nation like yours.
I've seen people talk about the foot position, and personally, as I was riding a scooter before I got a Suzuki V-strom DL250SX
(you can laugh, but I had never been into motorcycles before... 30 years of Rally cars made sure of that, so the scooter was a cheap way of seeing if the benefits of two wheels getting through the traffic and cutting down the commute time was something I wanted)
But it's so nice to have something to clamp my legs to, the toes just naturally want to be close in to give my knees a better grip of the tank, & let my core muscles, which are now horrendously strong compared with what they used to be, do all the work in controlling the angle of the bike and do the majority of the steering... I'm just working the throttle, front brake, clutch and indicators with my hands, they barely do anything apart from a gentle push on the inside to stop the bike from trying to stand back up in the turns.
what I struggle with is having to move my feet forward to use the clutch & brake, and that damn muffler that gets in the way of my heel, preventing me from being able to stand on the bike properly!
It sounds like you're going to have to pay Scotty Kilmer to demonstrate the bike surfing thing... he said it's what he would do... and I need that laugh!
back to position, I net nervous when my toes are under the gear lever waiting to upshift... It feels vulnerable down there!
I know there is lots of meat between the lever and the bottom of the bike, so the foot is reasonable safe, but it doesn't feel that way.
Hey Tim, before you jump off the bike... check out the very different dismount techniques... I wonder what the topic is with this?
I use 3 on the clutch, I actually seem I use the two main ones to bring it towards me and the smaller two for the fine control (at the end of the lever)
with the brake, I will keep two on it if I feel there is a need to have to make an evasive manoeuvre, but when it actually comes to stopping, I once again rely on the fine control at the end of the lever with the outer fingers!
Admittedly, the worst condition I have ridden in is wet tarmac, maybe over dirt & grass, but only in first gear & that's to get to the road. I do want to ride on Gravel, the Bike is capable of it, probably not much more than a basic gravel road, but here in New Zealand those roads are off limits to anyone that hasn't joined a dirtbike club and it attending a club event!
I learned riding lane splitting in SF - two fingers on clutch and break was naturally evident as the way to go.
Took some official courses got hammered to use 4 fingers, "thats something people who teach themselvse and who ride dirt do" was their opinion on finger riding.
And yeah I'm totally back to using 2 fingers pretty much immediately after that.
I can't speak to track riding, but for most street riding (100% dirt) I think 4 finger clutching and breaking is quite antiquated - its a loss of control for no real gain - maybe if your doing gnarly stop and go and need to conserve hand strength.
Best I can tell it is a legacy of older drum-brake era bikes that require more physical strength to operate and your official msf style courses haven't caught up.
Now to improve my flipper footing - whichI know i am terrible about.
Good video. I have no idea where my feet are. I just figured if they could work the controls they must be in the right place. I'll have to take a look.
I do make a conscience effort to hug the tank with me knees.
That said, it's my first adv bike. 2022 KLR 650. And I think I'm going to have to stick with four fingers on the clutch. You must be talk hydraulic clutches.
Great topic, I was riding a ninja 1000. The breaks on it are pretty responsive. If I ride with any more than 2 fingers on the brake l tend to over brake. I switched to a Tiger 1200 this year and its also hot some pretty sensitive front brakes. If I hit them with 4 fingers I see a disaster in the dirt and what not.
Good to know I made a good choice. 👍🏼
Another great informative vid!
And just a positive remark, I love Tim’s riding kit! Looks awesome with the Tiger 900!
Oh and it’s great seeing all types of adv bikes on your channel, Bret! Mixes it up and makes it interesting!
Cheers!
I flipper foot because after 2 left knee and1 right knee replacements I can't get my feet straight anymore.
I started riding in 1972. I was 12 and my big brother showed me how to ride on my Yamaha jt-1 mini enduro. It was 1 finger on front brake 2 fingers on the clutch. I guess I had a pretty good teacher after all. ( that is one of the few Good things that I learned from him😉. I have a 1977 kz650 and a 2018 Honda 500x that I take camping . Don't ride much dirt anymore just putting into towns near where ever we camp to look for BBQ or the local D D D .
i am a noob, never did that cos it looks hilarious, penguin feet... i am so self conscious of that that even when i barely could ride, i was placing my feet correctly and well, my critics were offended that as a learner i was looking professional, they often laughed and mocked my serious approach!!! After watching motogp on projector, i dunno what happened, my riding just improved all by itself as i emulated those guys and now, this habit i had of correct foot placing has finally reaped reward, phenomenal control on every surface!!!
Thanks a lot Brett, this sounds very important and I should have heard this years ago! Stay safe!
Hi Bret, first of all let me thank you for one more great video. What would like to ask is this, when we are sitting on the bike, our natural position of the legs is open with our knees facing outward. So on a anatomical point of view, the foot is aligned with our upper leg an knee. I believe that is why most of us ride like that, it's the natural position. If you force your feet to be facing forward, you are putting stress on the ankle and knee and during a long trip that can lead to muscle and joint stress (you are forcing a "twisted" position). So I believe that should be the case only when we are doing short off-road sessions right? Now, when you stand up, our feet get naturally pointing forward because our upper legs and knee are also facing forward. That's indeed the best position for off-road. Thank you so much and keep the excellent work!
There is nothing terribly wrong with stretching on the road and relaxing a bit bit I stay tucked all the time. It is a habit I built when riding on the track and after taking many performance riding classes for paved riding.
If you only do it when you need it you won't. Just like the military you train how you fight so the muscle memory is on place all the time.
To me it´s one to two fingers for most of my riding, which is usually on tarmac. But, after some time riding - last year, up a gnarly mountain road with a slower rider ahead of me, for instance - I needed four fingers, due to tiredness. Cheers from Brazil.
As a street rider I always use two fingers on the front brake because it is more than sufficient for controlled braking and basically I'm fully engaging the brake long before the lever touches my fingers. On the contrary, my bike has a pretty stiff clutch and despite trying to adjust the lever I still find that I have to pull in the clutch so much to fully disengage that the lever hits my fingers which over time gets a bit annoying and also starts to hurt. I tried 2 and 3 finger clutching for almost the entirety of last summer but eventually reverted back to 4 finger clutch.