I keep my feet on the pegs as much as possible. There are rare instances where it is necessary. When I see someone doing it, like at a stop light, it gives me the impression they are not a skilled rider.

 

During the Ride Like a Pro demo I saw last summer, he made fun of duck walkers. Said there was no reason for it if you know what your doing

 

I "duck walk" when there is something real tight to navigate through, like a bunch of other bikes at a bike night. But, most of the time, my feet are on the boards. I find it is much easier to control the bike that way. When taking off from a stop light, my feet go directly from the road to the boards as quickly as possible. When manuevering through a parking lot, I keep my feet on the boards as much as possible.

The guys that really crack me up are the ones that leave a stoplight, and let their feet dangle for a bit until they get some speed going.

 

hate it but gotta do what ya gotta do to keep it up sometimes.

 

Skootchnc has got it right.

In the MSF Basic Riders Course it's Exercise #2 and it's called "Power Walking". When I was an MSF Rider coach I didn't like teaching it. It's used to introduce the rider to the proper use of the controls and basic balance while in motion. The thing that really bothers me is that the MSF does NOT transition riders out of it. They send them out onto the streets of the world thinking that power walking is the way to go.

Back at police motor school we were taught to get our feet up and on the boards or pegs as soon as the bike is in motion. The police instructors explained that power walking is a lazy and unsafe habit to get into. The potential exists where as the bike slowly picks up speed, the rider is unable to recover their legs from the walking motion quick enough and risk getting them caught under a rear peg, rear crash bar, saddlebag or muffler and dragging the rider down under the bike. I've seen it happen and the result is usually a sprained or broken ankle. That's why over the ankle boots are usually required in most rider courses.

The ideal thing to do in congested parking lots or slow speed traffic is to ride in the friction zone with the right foot dragging the rear brake for slow speed control. And when you come to a stop, the right foot stays up on the rear brake, and the left foot comes down to hold you up. That's the foundation of Enforcement Style riding and it's what I teach in my Ride Like A Pro West Coast Classes. If you practice enough you will be able to move your bike along at a slow walking speed with your feet up.

A pefect place to see the difference in my neighborhood is the local 4th of July Parade. Here everyone in the parade is moving at a walking pace. The LAPD motorcops inch their Electraglides down the boulevard at a crawl while keeping their feet up and on the boards, riding in a straight line, and keeping in parade formation. The local HOG chapter from Bartel's HD is the polar opposite. They are just a mass of bikes moving at an uneven pace. Some riders actually power walk their way the WHOLE five blocks down Loyola Blvd. Some do the stop and go, stop and go method. Some power walk, and some do the unsafe and unsightly act of dragging BOTH their feet. It's quite entertaining as most of the HOG riders seem to be more interested in racking their throttle and making noise than applying the proper slow riding technique. Those of us watching the parade just see a bunch of bikers making noise while struggling to maintain slow speed control of their motorcycles. I'm not sure that's the impression the HOG riders wish to make.

I'm not a big fan of power walking. While it does have it's place as a learning tool, it should be discarded once a rider has gained sufficient control of their bike. As Darrell (one of the police motor school instructors) said to our class, "Which looks more professional and show better control, this?", he rides around dragging both feet and grabbing the front brake to stop, "Or this?", he rides around using the proper slow riding technique. It was an eye opener to me that I will never forget.

Mark

 

Ditto...the only time I "duck walk" the bike is when a line of cars are at a red light and the guy in front of me starts slowly movin' forward and I want to move up maybe just 2-3' to take up the slack waitin' for the light to turn green...other than that, I keep my feet on the pegs as much as possible.

 

I'm old (used to ride with Fred Flintstone...who you can see invented the 'Glide' line), so I can only manage to 'duck walk' up to about 25 mph. After that it's pegs all the way.

 

 

this thread "quacks" me up!

 

Whom do you prefer?