The Machine Element | Riding Skills Series

Most riders are aware of how important riding techniques are and that for the most part they are learned skills. It takes time and experience to ride well. And most riders know how important setup is, whether it’s basic maintenance, suspension settings, engine tuning, or any number of variables. What we’ve found over the years, however, is that many riders overlook how those two aspects of sportbike riding—the skills side and the technical side—are linked. In other words, your bike has to be up to the level of your riding skills if you are going to make progress.

No matter what level you are riding at, you want to make sure your motorcycle is not the limiting factor to going faster at the racetrack or riding safely at a given pace on the street. If you are going to take your riding to the next level, your bike cannot be what’s holding you back. And if you are going to continue to improve, you will have to make continual changes to your bike and setup as your riding improves. They must leapfrog each other.

At the top levels, the machine is almost always the issue, as evidenced by World Superbike and MotoGP riders constantly referring to setup and the state of their motorcycles holding them back from a better result. That said, even those riders are always looking for improvement by changing something about their riding to work with a particular aspect of the motorcycle.

Luckily for the most of us, today’s sportbikes are at such a high level of performance that it’s possible to go for a long time before reaching any aspects of setup that can limit your riding. And, when that situation does arise, stock motorcycles have many adjustments available to cope. At a minimum, you should ensure your bike is in good working order, with decent tires, suspension that’s not sacked out, brakes not in desperate need of attention, and the hand and foot controls adjusted properly. Street or track, these are the basics, and there’s no point in trying to work on your riding if you are constantly distracted by a too-high clutch lever, bouncy suspension, or dodgy tires.

For most riders, the next limiting factor is suspension settings; all too often we have seen riders struggling with what they think is an aspect of their riding when in fact a simple change to the suspension either eliminated the problem or at least helped the rider overcome the issue. Again, most stock bikes offer plenty of adjustment opportunities; count on getting to know them intimately when your riding skills get to a certain level.

From there, the options become more targeted toward your individual riding style or the type of riding you do. Perhaps its proper DOT race tires at the track rather than street tires; maybe some rearsets so you can be more comfortable, an aftermarket shock, or a fuel controller for smoother power delivery. If something seems to be holding you back from concentrating on your riding and working to improve your skills, address the issue rather than trying to work around it.

The temptation for many people is to ride around problems rather than spend money or put the effort into fixing or upgrading their bikes. While it’s sometimes a necessity to deal with some limitation, and you certainly can learn a lot when you are forced to ride a bike not up to the task, there’s a good chance you will end up going past whatever that limit is and crashing.

As time goes on and your riding improves, you will probably find that you have to occasionally revisit some of the basics to continue making progress. Subtle changes in your body position may mean you have to adjust controls that were once comfortable and seemed to be set perfectly. More speed at the track will certainly require different suspension settings. And sooner or later your tires will wear out and need to be replaced.

Doing everything you can to ensure your bike is more than up to your level of riding means that every time you throw your leg over your steed, you will be able to work on improving every aspect of your riding—skills that you can further build on and apply to any situation on any bike.

More sportbike riding tips.