Hi guys! Here are 3 different ways to mount and dismount your bike!
The first one is the most usual, conventional way, which we all learn at our basic riding
course. We approach the bike from the left hand side, turn the handlebars, swing our leg,
fold the kickstand and boom - we are done! Dismount is the same, but in reverse. Awesome!
But what if my bike was taller, or I was shorter, or I had some kind of cargo box mounted on the
rear? I could do something like this, of course. But where is the beauty and grace in that?
What I'm going to do instead, is show you the second way of mounting the bike. Mounting from
the foot peg. Usually it's done from the right hand side of the bike, because since the right
side foot peg is tilted upwards, we have less chance to slip from it. In case our foot slips,
it will slip towards the bike. As you can see, when I'm mounting from the foot peg,
I have plenty of space between my leg and the saddle, regardless of how high the bike itself
is. And if I had any topbox, my leg would easily clear it. Very good! Now, how should I do this,
without dropping the bike on myself? Here is how it goes! I'm turning the handlebars left,
and putting my right foot on the foot peg. And here comes the important part:
as I'm stepping up on the foot peg and swinging my leg over the saddle, I'm keeping my upper
body on top of the bike. If I move it too far from the motorcycle, it will tip over. But as
long as I'm keeping my weight above the bike - everything is fine. And the same goes for the
dismount. I keep my weight above the bike, swing my leg and simply step down back on the ground.
3 frequent questions about this technique. Is it ok to put our whole body weight on the foot peg,
won't it break? No, it is perfectly ok. When we jump over the speed bumps and potholes - we are
standing on our foot pegs, right? And they are perfectly adequate for the job. And those are
impacts, which put more stress on them then when we simply stand on them. Besides, if we look at
those gentlemen, I think it becomes quite obvious that our foot pegs will probably be fine. The
second question is about the side stand. Wouldn't it fold under our weight? If we mount from the
right side - it most definitely will not, because since we are putting our weight on the right side
we are actually unloading the side stand. If we mount from the left side from the foot peg,
however, yes, we are putting more stress on the side stand. I personally never had an issue with
that, but it is something to consider. One more reason to mount from the right side.
And the third question , which is more of a criticism which I get about mounting from the
right side is that there is an exhaust there and you can burn your leg because of this. I guess it
is possible, but there are bikes with exhaust on the left side, or even both sides, so I guess it's
true regardless of which side you mount from. And besides, if you ride your bike with no pants you
probably deserve to burn your legs anyway. And 3rd way to mount and dismount today
will be a cowboy mount. It's a great balance exercise for a little bit more advanced riders.
Though you probably won't find it challenging if you mastered all the stuff from my advanced video
course. In this case you're going to find this mount/dismount super easy. Before we sit down,
the side stand already should folded and the engine should be running and in first gear. Now we
put the left foot on the foot peg and at the same time as we start putting the weight on it - we
simultaneously give the bike a little throttle and put the clutch into the friction zone. As
soon as the bike starts going forward - it becomes balanced and we can swing the leg any time. We can
ride standing on the foot peg as long as we want - there is need to hurry. And just like in the
previous case - we should keep our body above the bike, to help it remain balanced. Dismount is the
same in reverse - as we are slowing down with the front brake - we stand on the left foot peg and
just step down when the bike stops. And you can add a little flavor to it if when the bike stops
you simultaneously unfold the side stand. Since you are standing on the left foot peg the bike
will lean more to the right, so the side stand will not touch the ground until you fully stop.
This cowboy mount/dismount is pretty cool and useful as the additional balance training.
And this is it for today, I hope you will find these small exercises useful. Be sure to
subscribe and check out the rest of my channel. And if you find my explanations useful - get
my video courses, which are available in two versions, for complete beginners and
for more advanced riders as well. Thank you for watching and have a wonderful day. Bye!