Can't grip my bike, help

Do you even lift?

If I remember correctly, elikoz/huskytamir had this same problem, but he wears a cold-war era Bulgarian track suit when he rides - which is a very slippery polyester. I don't think he ever received a satisfactory answer. Stegz Pegz were mentioned to him. Tried those?

Sounds like a kegel problem broseph.

It's not just your knees that you should be gripping the bike with...it should be everything from the knee down (toes pointed in, feet, ankles, calves/shins).

Ever try gripping the bike with your ankles/calves? I find pinching the seat with my knees exhausting. On my last bike the seat was hard to grip so I changed my technique to grip the frame with the inside of my boots and it seems to work a lot better for me.

Titan beat me to it

Turn your toes in brah

I've has the same problem in the past and found it was a lot of body position issues. I can't speak for you're case exactly, but when i found the right neutral attack position i was able to hold on without the bike feeling like it was taking off from under me.

No matter how hard I squeeze with my boots, they just slide right over the plastics. They're not grippy, as soon as I accelerate I get thrown back.

Go to a skate shop and buy a huge roll of grip/ deck tape and make your own patterns and cut to fit. I have found this to last about 2 weeks and once you have a pattern made it's easy to replace. The grip tape isn't as course or abrasive as the stuff sold online I have found and gives just enough grip to assist but not destroy my boots or gear.

VxeR wrote:

No matter how hard I squeeze with my boots, they just slide right over the plastics. They're not grippy, as soon as I accelerate I get thrown back.

Maybe you aren't leaning info the acceleration enough?

VxeR wrote:

No matter how hard I squeeze with my boots, they just slide right over the plastics. They're not grippy, as soon as I accelerate I get thrown back.

Titan1 wrote:

Maybe you aren't leaning info the acceleration enough?

I tried this pretty good drill with a sharp set of footpegs you get on the gas hard and try to get the balls of your feet pushing into the front edge of the pegs. That helped me feel the bike stay planted under me, and from there i was able really use my knees to root myself into the bike.

The best thing I ever used was from Tech Spec. They use to make them custom fit for MX bikes but the market was too small and they stopped. You can still buy their general griper sheets and cut them to fit your frame.


http://techspec-usa.com/motorcycles/general-sheets.html

snackfedbear wrote:

Turn your toes in brah

X2

Acerbis makes lower-frame-guards with a rubber "gripping" surface.

Try these and learn to use your lower legs and ankles to squeeze the bike.

Also, I've had better luck hanging on with my knees on the FX/TX or FE/TE model GAS-tank (EX/XC on the KTM).


Good Luck!

What worked for me on my 450 is to not whack the throttle open to the point of being too weak to fight the force. Also try leaning forward more when accelerating.

Not sure if they are available in the states, but check out Steg Pegz. Look stupid, but man do they work well.

Here's a problem I see with steg pegs, sometimes you need to get over the back of the bike and they lock your legs . had to talk my son's girlfriend into taking them off her bike

Put this on your legs and wait 10min. should be good to go

another vote for toes and skateboard tape

How tall are you? Taller seat and/or lower pegs might help.

wsc96 wrote:

How tall are you? Taller seat and/or lower pegs might help.

Yes, you look 6'0 or more in your pic.

If you are not starting the "grip" at your feet, that is the first problem. Grip starts down low, you don't actually try and grip with your knee its self. Its actually a little hard to teach someone to hold on with more then those hands, just takes time. Just think of some of those little bitty pro guys who are wfo with the 450 that has xx amount more power then the regular joe can get.

VxeR wrote:

No matter how hard I squeeze with my boots, they just slide right over the plastics. They're not grippy, as soon as I accelerate I get thrown back.

Titan1 wrote:

Maybe you aren't leaning info the acceleration enough?

NJKawi913 wrote:

I tried this pretty good drill with a sharp set of footpegs you get on the gas hard and try to get the balls of your feet pushing into the front edge of the pegs. That helped me feel the bike stay planted under me, and from there i was able really use my knees to root myself into the bike.

A better practice drill is to ride standing up on a flat practice area. Grip the bike with your legs, toes in. Take your left hand off the bars and keep it to your side thus holding on to the bars with just your right hand on the throttle. Then slowly accelerate and keeping your left hand off the bars for about 5-10 seconds. Then get on the brakes and slow down for about 5 seconds. When accelerating, learn to lean forward into the acceleration and let the bike "push you". When braking, lean back against the braking forces. This subtly teaches you to grip with the lower half of your body and to properly lean with acceleration and braking. The whole time, your left hand is off the bars at your side.

wsc96 wrote:

How tall are you? Taller seat and/or lower pegs might help.

imoto34 wrote:

Yes, you look 6'0 or more in your pic.

If you are not starting the "grip" at your feet, that is the first problem. Grip starts down low, you don't actually try and grip with your knee its self. Its actually a little hard to teach someone to hold on with more then those hands, just takes time. Just think of some of those little bitty pro guys who are wfo with the 450 that has xx amount more power then the regular joe can get.

Yeah I'm 6'1. I do grip with all my legs, toes in and all that, but as I said, no matter how hard I squeeze, my boots just slide all over the place. I aldready tried skateboard tape, but it didn't do anything

Titan1 wrote:

Maybe you aren't leaning info the acceleration enough?

NJKawi913 wrote:

I tried this pretty good drill with a sharp set of footpegs you get on the gas hard and try to get the balls of your feet pushing into the front edge of the pegs. That helped me feel the bike stay planted under me, and from there i was able really use my knees to root myself into the bike.

TbonesPop wrote:

A better practice drill is to ride standing up on a flat practice area. Grip the bike with your legs, toes in. Take your left hand off the bars and keep it to your side thus holding on to the bars with just your right hand on the throttle. Then slowly accelerate and keeping your left hand off the bars for about 5-10 seconds. Then get on the brakes and slow down for about 5 seconds. When accelerating, learn to lean forward into the acceleration and let the bike "push you". When braking, lean back against the braking forces. This subtly teaches you to grip with the lower half of your body and to properly lean with acceleration and braking. The whole time, your left hand is off the bars at your side.

I'll try that out thanks