do you know what it is for?
 

Every time I watch GP riders some of them stick theirs inside leg forward just before they lean into the corner. As far as I can tell they do it just under heavy braking or as the release the break, but could be wrong. Pedrosa does it all the time, Rossi few times during a race but others don’t do it at all (Nicky or little Loris to name a few.) Does any1 know why they do it? Does it help them to control the bike? Or doesn’t it really mean anything at all?

changing gear maybe?

with a foot hanging 1/2 a metre from the bike?

ah, okay, I know what you're talking about now

it's just the relex action of putting a foot out when you're going in a little hot. Dani Pedrosa does it a lot, like you say, he apparently says he's not aware of doing it. Rossi does it now & then when he's pushing hard - Julian Ryder always prattles on about it being Rossi's 'stress monitor'. i think regis laconi or one of the other WSB guys does the same

so, in short, no, it doesn't do anything useful, it's just them bricking it a bit

Nice to know riding gods do that too (bricking it I mean), makes us mortals feel a lot better!

Thanks for that. I thought it was something like that but wanted to clarify that. Cheers.