Jump to content

khp

Members
  • Posts

    956
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

Everything posted by khp

  1. A new year has come, and Ye Olde R1 (nee 2003) needs a new set of shoes this year. The old shoes are Dunlop SportSmarts that I have loved to pieces (literally), so it is an easy decision to just go for the newer SportSmart2. In the 190 size, they come in two profiles: 50 and 55. Obviously, the 55 profile is slighty higher (9,5mm if I got that right), which should give a more pointed profile, less rubber in the middle for the straightaways but more rubber when leaned over to the edge. Not that I've lacked edge grip on the SportSmart - I've run my knee into the tarmac on the outlap at a CSS course in Sweden, without any troubles. Do anyone have any experience with 50 vs 55 profile? Thanks, Kai
  2. Robert, all bikes and cars have that dobbler-effect going on them. Listen to the horns of a police car or ambulance as they pass. I prefer a deeper more "growling" sound over the high-pitched sound of a high-revving race engine. The sound of the MotoGP bikes at "low" rpms is awesome.
  3. Discussing engine oils between motorcycle enthusiasts can get you into a fist fight, so be warned! My father is a petrochemical engineer by trade and worked in the lubrication industry all his (working) life. His recommendations to people whenever they ask him is simple: Choose an oil that has the same specs (API, SAE, etc) as what the manufacturer prescribes in the manual. That's it. Forget about brand X is better than brand Y. It's BS. The reason the "brand war" is BS is that they all use identical base oils etc to get to those specifications. If they didn't, it would show up as a spec difference. For your racebike, I would still use the same engine oil, but change it more frequently. Kai
  4. Yamaha just released a number of press shots from their 2016 Launch Presentation yesterday (Jan 18th), including this shot of Rossi taken with a clear visor for once (pics on MotoGP website). Notice just how much of his brow you can see - that's how is should look like when you put your track helmet on.
  5. Caveat emptor: I'm in Denmark. My private accident insurance policy states that if I partake in "risk-prone activities" (invariably including anything that doesn't happen above or under ground-level and motorsports), my insurance sum gets halved. You can get specific insurances for racing (that's part of what you pay for in RR license), but it's cheaper to simply buy an insurance with 2x the coverage. Then you also get 2x payout, should something happen to you when you aren't taking part in a "risk-prone activity". YMMV.
  6. Unfortunately, I don't have any experience to share with you, DrIoannes. But what I'd like to know is where you purchased them and for what price. The ones I've found so far has been rather expensive ($230-250/each!)
  7. I believe that liability = third party insurance. Mandatory here too. What happens if you ride your car/bike without registration? You get to pay full tax + a fine equal to the tax. That'll teach 'ya. And if you're living in Denmark, you are not allowed to ride a foreign registered car/bike (there are some very narrow exceptions). I like to test my bike on a dyno or at a trackday for that reason.
  8. I'm not in the US, but here goes: It's pretty simple for us: if the bike doesn't have a license plate, it can't get insured. And since registration tax is up to 180%, we don't register trackbikes. So the only choice is self-insurance. Including for theft. Some insurance companies even refuse to insure motorcycles beyond Third-Party (which is required by law).
  9. Interesting. The refinement of the ABS systems continue and the newest models are now as good as a human. They weren't that good just five years ago when I was an instructor at MSF-like courses here in Denmark.
  10. @rchase congratulations on a really well written article. I sure can relate to your descriptions even though I never have gone 2-up with a racer. In fact, it's been many years since I last was on the back of a bike. 14 seconds faster is beyond massive, it's a gargantuan leap! But it does make me wonder what your previous speed at this track was. How many seconds or percent slower were you than the track record? At my "home" track I'm around 12 seconds back of the 58s50 record (my personal best from 2011 is 1m08s86) Thanks for the inspiration Kai
  11. @YD I don't think that that camera is helmet mounted. My guess would be a chest or shoulder harness, since it's at a lower angle. But the seasickness is the same :-D
  12. I stumbled across these two great films about the great period of the late 1980'ies to the mid-'90ies when Wayne Rainey, Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Gardner, Eddie Lawson, Freddie Spencer, Kocinski and Doohan was riding "The Unrideables" - the most evil SOB 500cc 2-strokes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6U43VG4VHY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3kxFveo6cw Enjoy them, I certainly did
  13. So fantastic - congratulations Hottie! I was really surprised by the amount of votes that Captn Austria hot - like 20+% of them. What the heck did he do to get that??? And *chuckle* all the way for Mario's comment
  14. So how did round 2 (finals?) go? - we can't keep holding our breaths anymore!
  15. Great to hear Hotfoot! 1,5sec faster in just the second session is pretty awesome. Just how much time have you shaved off on this particular track since starting the program? Did you know the track (layout) from before?
  16. Hotfoot, great to have you to inject some knowledge in this exchange of guesses My personal experience with braking is that stiff arms are much more harmful than sitting upright. I should know, because at 6'6" I can sit with an almost vertical back and still have bent arms. Of course, having the forks to bottom out is a very effective way of ensuring a stoppie (DAMHIK). But that shouldn't be your problem. It's the braking force vs rake/trail/CoG that's making the problem for you. In my 6 years as an instructor at a MSF-like course, I've worked on braking with more students than I can count and letting your arms loosen up worked for all, regardless of bike types (from Harleys to Ducatis) and rider body size.
  17. @csmith12 Hotfoot is already sitting fully back so she cannot sit further back - see her first post. So lowering her upper body should also bring her CoG forward a bit, right? I could be missing something vital here though
  18. I should know better than arguing with Keith, but if you lower your upper body to lower the CoG, you will also bring the CoG forward. I don't know which effect will have the biggest impact on the braking stability, but as you're pointing out, it's an easy thing to change and test out so by all means do it and see what it does. And please do report back here on your findings
  19. +1 to rchase's comments: sure it's preliminary, but everything has to go through the preliminary & testing phase before it becomes fully productized. Interesting to think that this could be a pair of goggles that you slip on inside your helmet (possibly with a thin wire down to a recorder/battery pack).
  20. 4 days at COTA, 10 days at Laguna Seca. Awesome calendar, Cobie. Maybe I need to start playing the Lotto and win a cool million, then I could join.
  21. Hotfoot, Could you give us an update - did you find a solution, and in that case, what was it? "Inquiring Minds Wants To Know"
  22. Change oil and filter - either before or after the winter break. Lube the chain. Spray WD40 on parts that might corrode (NOT the brake discs though...)
  23. 11 inch should be okay. It's about size vs resolution vs your visual acuity. For what it's worth, mine has a 12" 1366x768 screen. And yeah, it's Windows (7).
  24. From the school website, it seems that Andy Ibbott is no longer involved in the school anymore after his stroke back in 2011 But I haven't seen or heard any official word on this from neither the UK nor the US schools.
×
×
  • Create New...