Better Riding Advice: master your body position

When we talk about improving our riding, we often focus on vision, braking, or cornering lines. But there’s another powerful tool at your disposal—one that’s often overlooked: biomechanics.

In this episode of our Better Riding series, I’m joined once again by professional rider coach and ex-MotoGP engineer Mark McVeigh (motorbikecoach.com), who explains how understanding and applying biomechanics can transform your riding — on the road, not just the track.

Read on for a precis of the accompanying video or watch the whole thing here:

Better Riding – master your body position

Top riding tips from our Motorbike Coach on how to master your body position while riding on the road

This Better Riding series is brought to you in association with Honda Motorcycles UK and MotorbikeCoach.com – a program of self-help videos as well as written content packed full of tips, advice and simple-but-useful exercises designed to help motorcycle riders of all experiences or ability to get more from their riding. It provides expert information and practice drills that help increase rider confidence and machine control skills that supplement traditional post-test training techniques.

What does Biomechanics mean?

Put simply, biomechanics is the study of how your body interacts with your motorcycle. It’s about body position, movement, and how those influence the bike’s dynamics. While it might sound like something from a science textbook, it’s incredibly relevant to everyday riding.

“The rider makes up about a third of the total mass of the bike and rider combined,” says Mark. “So how you move and position yourself has a big impact on how the bike steers, grips, and balances.”

Small and smooth movements can work wonders

Why Body Position Matters on the Road

You might picture MotoGP riders hanging off their bikes with knees or even elbows scraping the tarmac, but Mark is quick to point out that you don’t need to ride like Marc Marquez to benefit from good body position.

Even subtle shifts, like dropping an elbow or moving your hips slightly, can:

• Reduce lean angle

• Improve grip

• Increase stability

• Make steering more responsive

“It’s not about looking cool,” Mark explains. “It’s about helping the bike do less work, especially in corners.”

Push at 90-degrees to the steering axis (green arrow), not down on it (red arrow), and engage your core

The Core of Control

One of the most common issues Mark sees at his riding academy is riders unknowingly putting too much pressure on the handlebars. This not only reduces steering precision but also dulls your front-end feel—that vital feedback from the front tyre.

The fix? Engage your core.

Try this drill: sit on your bike (stationary), assume your riding position, and take your hands off the bars. If you don’t engage your core, you’ll fall forward. This exercise builds muscle memory and teaches you to support your upper body without relying on your arms. And it’s an even better drill if someone can hold the bike, or you have either a centre stand or paddock stand.

Feet and Legs: Your Anchor Points

Your lower body plays a crucial role in stability. Mark recommends:

• Heels against the pegs (not just toes)

• Thighs gripping the tank

• Light touch on the bars

This setup locks you into the bike and reduces fatigue, especially on longer rides or bumpy roads.

Steering with Precision

To steer efficiently, you need to push at 90 degrees to the steering axis. Pushing down or at odd angles wastes energy and reduces control. With your core engaged and arms relaxed, you’ll steer more precisely and feel more connected to the bike.

Stand up to see over the crest if your vision of what’s ahead improves

Vision and Balance

Biomechanics also supports one of the most fundamental riding principles: see and be seen.

Keeping your head level—even when leaning—improves your vision and helps other road users spot you. On crests or blind bends, standing up slightly (especially on adventure bikes) can give you a better view of what’s ahead.

Building Front-End Feel

Front-end feel is about sensing those tiny movements and micro-slides in the front tyre. If you’re gripping the bars too tightly, you’ll miss that feedback.

“It’s about developing fine motor skills and dexterity,” says Mark. “That light touch lets you feel what the tyre is doing.”

Slide just 4” across the seat in the direction of the corner while in the braking phase

Small Movements, Big Impact

The beauty of biomechanics is that you don’t need to overhaul your riding style. Just a few centimetres of movement—shifting your hips, dropping an elbow, engaging your core—can make a huge difference.

“It’s another tool in your riding belt,” Mark says. “It helps you ride safer, respond quicker, and enjoy the ride more.”

Balls, not toes

Try This on Your Next Ride

Next time you’re out, pick one element to focus on:

• Shift your hips slightly in corners

• Keep your head level through bends

• Ride with the heel of your shoe/boot hooked against the pegs, or with the balls of your feet but not toes

• Practice light pressure on the bars

You’ll be surprised how much more stable and confident your bike feels.

What’s Next?

In the next episode, we’ll explore something a little more abstract but just as important: intuition. How do you develop that sixth sense on a motorcycle? Mark will explain how to build it—and why it could be the key to becoming a truly advanced rider.

A desire to be better at the things we enjoy is human nature, so whether it’s a passion, hobby or even a job, there’s an aspiration to develop. In our world of motorcycling that can be the difference between having a good ride or a great ride, or even avoiding that oil, pothole, dead badger, car and arriving at your destination safe in the knowledge those drills you practiced were worth spending the time doing. We all want to be better, and that means safer too.

Better Riding is supported by Honda Motorcycles UK as part of their commitment to rider safety and their goal of achieving zero traffic fatalities involving Honda mobility products by 2050.

If you’d like to chat about this article or anything else biking related, join us and thousands of other riders at the Bennetts BikeSocial Facebook page, or why not join our own new online community known as BikeSocial BikeClub.