I need advice...
 

My riding has struggled this past year. I seem to be wearing out quicker and on the ground more- which wears me out more...at one point I considered throwing my bike down & picking it up for 2 hours as part of my training regimen :D
Tonight while riding I think I discovered a problem- I'm holding on to the bike by the handlebars........if I get bucked around then I yank the bars which puts me in the trees and BAM I'm picking the bike up! :mad:
I went back to the oldens days (Professor Gary Bailey instruction days) and rode the rest of the evening with only my throttle hand while standing on the pegs. While doing this I discovered that if I wasn't very judicious with throttle application, I wasn't able to stay centered on the bike. Downhills weren't to bad, still need some work but flat ground momentum changes and uphills were a huge wrestling match.... You guys would have enjoyed the part where I got off balance , hit a tree with the left handlebar and rode it to the ground-all with one hand on the throttle :p
Any suggestions? I do wear Asterisk Ultra Cell knee braces which seem to make gripping the bike with my knees a bit more difficult but others do it so I should be able to also.
Feel free to offer anything, riding has been more of a chore than enjoyment lately so I want to get back to the fun of riding and staying up on two wheels and in the trail will help immensely
Thanks in advance

Pivot pegs, they get you balancing again and make it easier on up/ downhills to remain central, they take some getting used to, but are worth the trouble. they are not so god for stand up wheelies but you can do em, if you use them for 10 or so hours then go back to stock you find yourself balancing better as a matter of habit. All IMHO and hope that helps. You need to use a very neutral bar setup with them, no layback lazy boy style bars.

Good info Simmo. I put many hours on the 250F using powerpegz which helped alot. I then switched them onto the gasser but a stack on a rather rocky hill saw me riding home with one footpeg one day (thats good work for your balance), and never repaired or replaced. Now I think I prefer the solid peg as the shifter and brake are always in the same place in relation to the peg. This took some work with the pivotting pegs.

Slow down Fred! Best advice I have. Get back to basics. Ride the nasty lines at a slower pace and work on balance, throttle, clutch, and just letting the bars rest in your arms. When you fatigue keep moving on the cleaner lines until you recover and then swap back over. As the skills hone the pace will naturally follow. That and the good old seat time!

After a month off while I went through all the rebuild and holidays and other stuff I went for a faster paced ride with 2 other blokes and felt like a real gumby in the morning washing the front end everywhere and struggling to keep the bike on 2 wheels. I took it easy and by lunch was back in the flow, and come the afternoon I was carvin it up while they were puffin out. I think I found every muscle in my body as the next day I was sore! Arms, shoulders, back, legs, ribs. The lot!