It's Wild How Much Your Bike Affects Your Riding Style

Last month I got myself a shiny new-to-me Suzuki GSX-8R, all yellow and black, to replace my stolen F800GS. The new bike is my first non-ADV since 2019 or so, and it's made me realize something: My riding style is completely geared around narrow bikes with wide bars. Riding a sportbike, after all these ADVs, is absolutely wild.

A few prior bike experiences have made me think about just how weirdly I ride motorcycles. The Honda CRF300L felt perfectly natural to me much in the same way that track riding didn't, because my experience on two wheels far predates my M endorsement. I grew up on bicycles, usually mountain bikes, so I'm very accustomed to hanging my body over the frame while the bike leans, bounces, and occasionally crashes under me.

Predictably, this is how I ride motorcycles. At least, it was, back when I was riding narrow bikes with upright seating positions and wide handlebars for leverage. Now, leaning the bike under me for a slow-speed corner in an intersection is weird. I'm pitched over the clipons, missing the leverage on the front end.

To be clear, the bike rides great. I'm enjoying myself on it. But it's shown me I need to reevaluate how I ride — I'm no longer rocketing down hills at speeds ill-advised for my open-face bicycle helmet, trusting a 30-lb bike on 29-inch wheels to handle the terrain for me. Champ School taught me how to recognize a different riding style than my own, and the Suzuki is going to drill it into my head.