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Do you have to be "fit" to ride a motorcycle?

24K views 64 replies 38 participants last post by  cadd 
#1 ·
What do you guys think? The reason I ask is because I saw a guy, probably weighing over 300 pounds, on a R6 today. I tried to imagine myself with his gut over the gas tank trying to make a sharp lean turn on a bike. This is not to offend anyone at all, but if you're riding a supersport wouldnt that be just uncomfortable?

I'm not saying you should be super ripped either. I have plenty of friends with cruisers that tell me their beer bellies can be a bother at times, they wont even touch a sport bike. I'd like to hear your opinion.
 
#2 ·
Overweight "husky" people look plain silly on sport bikes. My honest to God, blunt opinion. Sorry if I offend anyone. On the plus side, you learn just how mind blowing physics are.
 
#39 ·
The picture of that guy leaning is a perfect example of how NOT to lean a motorcycle. His body position is completely wrong. You could use that body position to turn a bike at slow speed in a parking lot but at speed his position will put hard parts on the ground really easy.
 
#6 ·
Good question!

The short answer is 'no', from my view of it. There's a point at which lack of fitness affects your rider triangle (how you fit on the bike) and your cornering, along with an ability to get one's feet to the ground (leg size). Lack of fitness can also affect your endurance for longer rides...perhaps, but people vary wildly here.

Being ripped? No way is that required. You just need your 'riding muscles' to be fit, and even people who are overweight will have those well-developed if they're experienced riders. Noobs (even fit noobs) will be sore as hell after riding for the first time, because their riding muscles are being taxed for the first time.

Since so many young men ride, we see apparent fitness related to youth, where these guys have an active metabolism....but once the mind is well-trained, fitness is just a mechanical issue at best and a very large stomach may frustrate one's natural reach to bars or clip-ons (which is why cruisers and pot-bellies work so well together).

Excess weight can also complicate one's gear choices, but that's easily solved with custom gear. Being short complicates that too, fit or not, which is why I rock custom suits.
 
#14 ·
once the mind is well-trained, fitness is just a mechanical issue at best and a very large stomach may frustrate one's natural reach to bars or clip-ons
But hey! Thinking on the bright side. Having a large stomach would allow just to rest on the tank of a sport bike and don't have any problems with putting too much weight on the wrists and handlebars! Proper body position would come naturally. Win-win!
:biggrin:
 
#7 ·
It also depends on how aggressive a rider you are. If you're racing, being overweight and out of shape will affect your ability to transition from left to right. Especially doing this over a half an hour or hour long race, fatty is going to be hurting. Almost anyone can ride sedately, someone who's really unfit isn't going to be able to ride hard for any real length of time. The dedicated body posture puts more stress and requires more work out of the core and legs the further forward and down you move your body to the bike.

It's not as physically demanding as a bicycle to commute on, but it's not as easy or accessible as a car either.
 
#12 ·
Fitness one way or the other can inhibit the skill you use... not possess. You can be the most skillful rider in the world... and loose your fitness, you have the skill in your mind, but cannot push it to the limit any longer, trust me on this.
Overweight or underweight, will affect you only slightly if you have the skill to ride well.
Yes it is all about stamina and balance, you must be able to adjust to your um new "physique".
You might think that you could outride that old skinny guy, or the fat nerdy guy....(you could change the physiques and ages).... but they might possess skills you have yet to aquire, and they might be only capable of using a part of their skill because of physical restraints.
I personally had to quit riding heavy bikes, cruisers and sports over 500lbs. I have a friend who looks much like the one in the picture, who has a 650.... in the twisties... I have a hard time keeping up... not because of bike size... but because he has much more confidence in his skill than I do.
Take it like it is.... if someone rides.... it is mainly because of reasons like you yourself have... they like the ride.... they like the feeling it gives.... keep an eye on everyone you ride with.... don't judge them on how they look, judge them on their actions and how they handle the bike.... heck you might gain a friend or learn a thing or two... I always learn a little something everytime I go on a group ride.... good or bad... I learn something.
 
#17 ·
I weigh 230 pounds and I'm one of the fastest riders in my group.
 
#20 ·
I love it. I have to get one of those He-man swords now. It applies to a lot of things, but if a big boy has heart, he can do it. I see it all the time during runs for morning PT. Some big boys just quit on themselves, some skinnier guys do too, and other big boys will blow by them.

A motor greatly aids in endurance as well.
 
#21 · (Edited)
I will say this...losing extra weight...especially if it's like 50+ lbs., is a nice HP power to weight boost! :)
 
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#22 ·
The larger the person, the higher the bike's CG will be too. When you have someone half the weight of the bike, it's not that bad. When the rider is about as heavy as the bike though, that becomes an issue with handling and the CG of the system will be quite a bit higher than with an average weight rider. 300lbs is a lot for a 380lbs bike. It's like the difference between 3k lbs and 4.5k lbs in the bed of a truck. When you have something loading on the vehicle that is near the vehicle's total weight, that weight makes a lot of difference to the total system. When flying, 3k lbs shifting about in a 17k lbs helicopter made huge changes in its CG which affects performance.

There's no free lunch(lawl) in anything. There will be performance issues with a much bigger rider that'll extend beyond work needed by the engine. While I'm not saying that there aren't fast fat guys out there on bikes, I bet vs someone with the same skill level, tubby isn't going to come close.

The way you have to look at the affects of something is to make all other factors equal. IF you made EVERYTHING equal between rider A and rider B, and just change rider Bs mass will there be negative results? Yes. Both in physics and kinesthetics and bio mechanics up-sizing the rider would have negative results vs if that rider were smaller. The larger rider can adapt somewhat, but when both riders push the systems of the bikes to the upper limits, the larger guy is going to take a performance loss in nearly every way.
 
#24 · (Edited)
http://www.tuneruniversity.com/blog/2012/03/power-to-weight-ratio/
I will come back and do the math on this unless someone beats me to it. CBF

If you ride like spirited riding and already have skill, then it will help immensely to be "fit". Having a good core helps support yourself on the bike for long periods of time, and having a strong upper body gives you better control over the bike. Being lightweight will also provide noticeable gains in the power of the bike.

On something like a 600 with more power, losing weight isn't going to benefit you as much unless you have the skill to push the bike to its limit. Reaching the limits of the 300 is easier, and therefore the power to weight gains will be helpful to more riders.
 
#27 ·
That first one is one hell of a claim and I very much doubt they can out ride 99% of the other guys on the street. A lot of different skill levels of people fall within that 99% you just excluded. It would also mean that they out ride even some professional riders as well.

Again the point was that if you took two riders of the exact same skill and made one of them morbidly obese, the skinny guy is going to out ride his giant doppleganger.

Also, it's not really theoretical, it's general physics. The large guy kills acceleration on the engine, puts a lot of stress and overloads the suspension, increases forces on the frame and tires and has a much different CG on a system that makes actions like turning, braking and accelerating much harder to do.

The statement in this case isn't whether a fat person can ride a motorcycle at all. It's whether if there are any disadvantages to being greatly overweight compared to being relatively close to your healthy weight and that's a pretty resounding yes.
 
#29 ·
if you are like 600 pounds id say you might wanna stick to "couch surfing"..other than that ride away son!
 
#30 · (Edited)
if you are a little out of shape like this person, id do a couple of sit-ups before attempting to toss a leg over the stout ninja 300..besides... isn't that what Harleys are for?---out of shape people who hate liberals?..lol...and not wave to you because you are on "that foreign bike"...that has more American made parts than their Harley?
 

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#32 ·
Sportbike, Harley, Hoveround. In that order.
 
#31 ·
I'd sum it up as follows:

Ideal weight>overweight for nearly any activity—riding is simply one subset of life. Whether it's riding, attracting mates, finding clothing/gear or overall fitness, moving freely, feeling confident, etc., an ideal weight is objectively better than an overweight condition. Freelancer makes good points about rider X with Y skill seeing a benefit from losing excess weight, and the effect excess weight has on a bike.

Valentino Rossi is a world-class rider. Valentino Rossi being 150-200 lbs. overweight would be less of a world class rider, despite having the same ability and experience. He would still be faster than most of us, but he wouldn't be the best *he* could be and his weight would cause more stress on the bike when it comes to braking, accel, power-to-weight ratio, inertial forces, etc. His fitness would undeniably be compromised too.

That said, many of us as we get older see a slowing of metabolism, or we already have a slower metabolism, so it's something we may all have to contend-with (in varying degrees) as we get older. I know that at 46, my own metab isn't what it used to be! I've started doing some kettlebell workouts but I might have to actually watch what I eat (for once in my life). :D
 
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