Calling all Master Yoda experts..

[just gone]

I've read the rather lengthy Master Yoda riding position which seems to spend a lot more words on selling itself
than it does explaining itself (Dick Franz probably felt he needed to at the time.) If you have had success with it, would you please share with the rest of us?

The basics seem to be:

1•  Bend at the HIPS, not waist.

2•  Maintain a SLIGHT arch to the back, not allowing it ever to 'curve'.

3•  Move the butt AFT so the weight is OVER YOUR FEET.

4•  Apply pressure to the feet, using the THIGH muscles, so you are sitting 'lightly'.

5•  ELBOWS BENT, now DROP the hands to the bars.

I want to make it clear that I'm not being critical of the method, I just want to make sure I'm understanding it.

#2 Which way is the arch going (concave or convex towards the rear of the bike?), and how would you describe the difference between an arch and a curve?

#3 it says to move your butt back, but then it goes on to say "don't be afraid to touch the tank"
If I move my butt back, with what am I not supposed to be afraid of touching the tank, my chest?
(I guess I could just put a chest pillow on and rest on my tank bag, that would be comfy, until I fell
asleep and hit something.)
 
#4 How much 'lightly'? Half my body weight? ..for 500-600 miles..my legs aren't that strong, and never will be.

#1 and #5 seem understandable (so far) but it's all that fuzzy part in the middle.

anyway...if it is going to be valid for me to use, I think I should master it before I get any special underwear
or a Russel daylong seat.   
I tried to use the method (the way I thought it should be, but I'm not sure) the other day during a short ride
and it did seem to hold some promise. However I felt a little bit like I think a gay guy

"Not that there's anything wrong with that!"

would when "presenting" his backside to his life partner. Is that how it's supposed to feel? ..or was I curved instead of arched, or
did I have the arch going in the wrong direction?

So if you've had success with the Master Yoda riding position, you don't have to sell it, just please explain it as you interpreted it.
Thanks.

(By the way, I did search and advance search and only found one mention of it, but feel free to point me to a post with more info. )

[JetJock]

I don't remember this from Star Wars. Which episode?

[Cold Streak]

I tried to use the method (the way I thought it should be, but I'm not sure) the other day during a short ride

"Do or not do, there is no try."

[BackInTheSaddle]

Sounds more like the Kama Sutra than riding posture...

[JetJock]

"Do or not do, there is no try."

My favorite quote and general approach to life!

[throb]

The concept not understand you do not.  Master Yoda teach you much yet he must!

[JetJock]

Farty, glad we could help! That's what makes this forum so useful!

[Mister Tee]

Like wow, that was the big thing on the Beemer board.

Get real people.  If you want to be comfortable on a long ride, sit up straight.  If you want to tear up the twisties, lean forward.

Sheesh.

[digger]

I'm certainly no expert in the MYRP, but I can direct you to a couple of sites that will help explain it.

If  I were not such a luddite, I would give you the actual links. 

Google" Master Yoda's Riding position.  Look for "Master Yoda's Riding Position-BMW Sporttouring forums.  10 posts  5 authors  last post Aug20, 2002
     It is a 10 page discussion with R Franz and forum members.  I think it will answer many of the questions raised in the OP.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, Google "Master Yoda's Riding position- I Bmw.com.
The first post in this link is by Rick.  His second link will take you to a Franz article called "How to learn to ride an RS"  Scroll down through the verbiage and you will find several photos showing the MYRP in good form.  Note especially the bend at the hips and
the arch of the back.


http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2737&


http://home.earthlink.net/~ruslter/Learn_To_Ride_RS%20.htm


Still a luddite, but try those links.

[GeeBeav]

jibba jabba

[gPink]

Demonstrate Yoda will:http://cycle-ergo.com/

[just gone]

Farty, glad we could help! That's what makes this forum so useful!

Well, fun it makes anyway. 

Demonstrate Yoda will:http://cycle-ergo.com/

If I'm understanding the MYRP correctly then this site would be helpful. I put in all the numbers and then see which back angle would best get my forearms parallel to the pavement. That would give me a place to start anyway. Thanks gPink

I'm certainly no expert in the MYRP, but I can direct you to a couple of sites that will help explain it....

Thanks digger, those look very helpful, ....a true luddite you not be. Especially thanks for not using lmgtfy .

So....there are a few Yoda experts here but not many(any?) YMRP experts/practitioners here?  I could have done the googling that digger did for me, (in fact I did, I was just trying to avoid reading page after page of BMW posts    i.e. dabble in the dark side of the force ), but what I was hoping for was someone here that either tried it with success; and could tell us how long it took to see results, were there any stumbling blocks in the learning curve?, did you remove any
comfort farkles from your Connie/Connie14 afterward because they were no longer needed?..how about your neck muscles, did they start to hurt from holding your head up more?; or did you try the MYRP and abandon it, as useless or pain inducing hooey. 

Like wow, that was the big thing on the Beemer board.

Get real people.  If you want to be comfortable on a long ride, sit up straight.  If you want to tear up the twisties, lean forward.

Sheesh.

Yeah, I may end up agreeing with you, but I gotta check it out. I'm off to the beemer boards, hopefully I'll be able to resist the pull of the dark side.

[Pokey]

I just simply change my riding position to suit the conditions, also taking a simple break for only even 10 min does wonders.

[Boxer]

Imagine the new rider getting on the bike for the first time.  He knows that the bike is gonna hurt him if he
doesn't get a death grip on the handle bars and force the bike to perform under his control.  Lock the arms
from curled fingers squeezing the grips through straightened elbows, tensed shoulders and a straight back
leveraged against the seat.  The bike will be forced through muscle magic to make it behave.  The more
force that can be applied to the bars the less likely the bike will be able to buck him off.

The other end of the spectrum is a video someone posted here showing a guy drifting on a bike.  He's so
comfortable and loose while he's frying the rear tire sliding sideways through a corner and he reaches down with
his left hand drags his finger tips on the ground as he's leaned over.  He didn't need any muscle magic to over
power the bike.  He set it up and the bike did what he knew it would do.  He had no fear he'd be bucked off.
He also knew that a death grip on the bars causes problems.

The Yoda position is nothing more than saying:
1. Sit comfortably on the seat.
2. Depend on your legs to support your body (very important for people who will not move their butts)
    Place them in a position where you can use the pegs as leverage to move your body.
3. Slightly arch the back as if you were stretching.
4. Loosen up your shoulders and arms so that your elbows are bent and as you bend at the hips lower your
    hands down to the handle bars.

It is meant to be a neutral position that you try to start with and then return to while riding. 
In this position you can not use your body as a mechanical leverage against the handle bars.

If you never tense up during a ride then Yoda is meaningless to you.  I would imagine there are a lot of others
who find that during or after a ride they are sore and uncomfortable and don't associate it with the habit of riding
with tensed muscles trying to work magic on bike handling.  Your legs can support you for hours but hands, wrists,
elbows, arms,shoulders and back give out. 

Tensed muscles don't make motorcycles work well, make riding comfortable, or make it safer.  Yoda is a funny name
for a very simple concept.  It's worth trying just to see how tense and wound up you get while riding.  If your elbows
aren't loose and floppy your tense.

[gPink]

 

[YoDoc]

I just returned from a trip to see a buddy, and decided that five hours there and five hours back was as good a time as any to experiment with this.

1) I found that I just tried to do what I had read, and the bike let me know when I was doing it right.
2) I feel that I got the position mostly right, and my bum hurt a lot less, but I don't think this position will ever let me ride longer than my knees will.
3) I need to lose some weight, that'll probably cure the rest of the sore bum issues.