sit-up-and-beg

Of a posture adopted by a person steering a vehicle (such as an aeroplane, car, or motorcycle): sitting up straight, not bent forward or leaning back.

The pilot is thus in a sit-up-and-beg attitude and so seriously exposed to the elements that, as Wing Commander Wallis admits, a hailstorm would probably mean a forced landing.

Handlebars and other controls are supposed to improve control and comfort, they say. Motorcycles are supposed to fit people, not bend the rider into a shape dictated by the whim of fashion. The sit-up-and-beg posture keeps you hanging on against the wind and it's tiring.

Of a bicycle: having handlebars that are rather high and curve backwards, so that the rider sits upright rather than hunching forward; also, of the handlebars of a bicycle: rather high and curving backwards, thus requiring the rider to sit

Manufacturers introduced many incremental improvements, […] By 1930 these changes extended the range of cycles that manufacturers could offer from the ‘roadster’ (steel frame, three-speed hub gears, level-operated brakes and ‘sit-up-and-beg’ handlebars) to lightweight racing bikes (alloy steel frames, ten or more derailleur gears, cable-operated brakes and aluminium alloy drop handlebars).

The four boys, now safely sitting on the plinth of the War Memorial, turned their attention to the sight of the Vicar who was cycling along the street on his sit-up-and-beg bicycle.

A bicycle having handlebars that are rather high and curve backwards, so that the rider sits upright rather than hunching forward; a roadster.

I hadn't even found a proper bike shop – the one I did come across was full of the equivalent of our sit-up-and-begs.

Studying my bike in detail he then said, 'That's a good sit-up you've got.' For a moment I thought he thought I was riding a sit-up-and-beg when really I had a touring steed complete with drop handlebars. And then I realised my stumbling block. He had pronounced a very Kiwi sit-up for set-up.