Set Up to Stand Up with Craig Hartley

This entry is part 10 of 26 in the series Adventure Rider Issue #4

A lot of riders find standing up difficult, and usually it’s because they have the bike set up for comfort and control while seated. A few tweaks here and there can make a huge difference and standing up can make life a whole lot easier. Craig Hartley offers the benefit of his many years of experience.

You get to see a real variety of rider styles over the years, especially while doing cornerman duty on adventure rides.

A couple of things have stood out to me when looking at other riders, and one is how uncomfortable some look when they’re trying to stand up and ride. Another is how many people just don’t stand up because it feels so unnatural.

Due to the weight and size of adventure bikes, there’s no doubt they become easier to ride and manoeuvre in a variety of different and more difficult terrain when the rider is standing on the footpegs. So it’s worth looking at what can be done to make this riding style more accessible.

Short story

It does seem most bikes are designed for riders of about 165cm to stand on the ’pegs. On most stockers, riders any taller than that feel standing up to be an unnatural stance. By this I mean that, in order to stand and look ahead, their neck is bent backwards and their shoulders are hunched forward. What were you always told when you were young? It was probably something like, “Stand straight, shoulders back”. For taller people on standard bikes this works out to be near impossible.

Looking good

The benefits of being able to stand comfortably on your bike are that it’s less fatiguing, and a rider gets pounded far less by the bike when he’s standing, so he can tolerate tough terrain for longer.

The other thing is that you don’t wake up the next morning with aches in your neck and between your shoulders.

Another benefit of standing, especially in more technical areas, is that your forward vision increases dramatically, and this allows precious extra seconds to be able to read the terrain, slow the bike down and set up for upcoming obstacles. The bigger and heavier the bike, the more important this becomes.

So the overall aim of this article is to help you make the bike feel more natural when you’re in the standing position.

High point

The best and most efficient way to tune your bike for standing-up riding is to raise the ’bars.

Depending on your height this could be done simply by rolling the ’bars further forward. For a little more lift you could add ’bar risers.

Another option is to fit a quality set of high-rise ’bars. These are easy enough to find, and what you’re looking for is something like the Pro Taper Pastrana FMX ’bars. Renthal also does a good high-rise 7/8” ’bar called Jimmy Buttons. They’ll suit the KLR and DR and bikes that don’t have the new style of tapered ’bars.It’s not uncommon, depending on the style of the bike or the height of the rider, to run both ’bar risers and high ’bars. Many steering dampers have under-’bar mounts, and this also can be used to great advantage to get the ’bars up high.

The only thing you’ll have to get used to once you have raised your ’bars, and in most cases rolled them forward a bit, is that it can make the bike feel a bit different when you’re sitting down. The benefits of being comfortable standing up far outweigh this, and if you just give it a few hours in the saddle you won’t even notice it.

If you’re planning on raising your ’bars, make sure your cables and hoses will still have good clearance, especially with the ’bars at full lock.

Keep it ’pegged

Footpegs are another area where taller riders can get a comfort benefit. Many of the aftermarket ’pegs have mounting hardware that enables you to set the ’pegs approximately 12mm lower than standard. It may seem that 12mm is not much, but the difference it makes, even when sitting, is a definite plus. First the lower ’pegs give an easier transition from sitting to standing as your legs aren’t bent at quite as sharp an angle when you go to stand. The other benefit is that it obviously puts the ’pegs slightly further from the seat, and this is more comfortable when sitting for long periods on open roads.

In effect, lowering the ’pegs puts your body lower which also gives an effect similar to raising the ’bars.

Some people say, “What about hitting your feet on obstacles?” I’ve been lowering ’pegs on my dirt bikes for years and I never found it a problem, even in the tightest of situations.

The other benefit of changing your footpegs is that most ’pegs are only 100mm long. A lot of aftermarket ’pegs, like the Fastway Adventure and Black Dog ’pegs, are 130mm long. That gives a better platform to stand on all day if necessary, especially for adventure bikes with larger tanks.

A wider view

If you’re happy with the footpeg height, there are some great extensions on the market to screw on to your original ’pegs and make them just a little longer.

Some bikes have narrow and short ’pegs. These need to be thrown in the bin. They’re totally uncomfortable for long sessions of standing up, plus they wreck your boots. A good ’peg size is around 130mm x 50mm.

Seat height is another area that can be modified. A higher seat will make the transition from sitting to standing far easier, but this comes at the expense of not being able to get your feet on the ground easily. The biggest problem with this is, when fully laden, big adventure bikes take a bit more holding up, and not being able to easily get your feet on the ground often results in a gumby fall.

No doubt we’ve all done that.

Set up is very individual. You’ll have to experiment to find what works for you, but setting your bike up so you can comfortably ride while standing on the ’pegs will give any rider a huge boost over one who’s stuck with their bum on the seat.

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