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mugget

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Everything posted by mugget

  1. I will have to search the forum when I have a chance, pretty sure it was discussed but that would be years ago... At the track right now, felt so much better even in the first session. At this track it feels like I’ve come home. 🙂 Working through some drills, feeling more comfortable with the tyres moving around over all the bumps and creases I know in the track. Looking through my notes on the pickup drill - think they could be wrong somehow... I wrote “How: straighten inside arm”. But that would be the same as pushing the bar to counter steer? It should be straighten the outside arm? It was the last session of the Level 2 day so I could have easily got it backwards.
  2. Thanks Hotfoot. I will definitely take it easy and work on the drills, last thing I want is to have SRs kicking in. I’ve been using warmers for a while now, so no dramas there I’m used to pretty much getting stuck into it straight out of the pits - altho usually I can feel the limit of the tyres better - probably a combination of all the different things causing me not to have that same feel straight away made me a bit apprehensive. But I’ll focus on the drills and let it come to me. Great to hear the Twist II video is available online! I loaned my DVD to a friend and he must have liked it because I still don’t have it back after years and years. I will definitely have a watch.
  3. Cheers Yakaru, makes sense. I do actually have my own notebook as well as the CSS workbooks but didn’t take them to the last track days... thought that would be a bit much to manage with all the changes and being so long between rides. But looking back I think that may have been the one thing that would have really helped. Will definitely take them tomorrow. I usually make notes after each session, things I know I need to fix or improve, and little breakthroughs or discoveries I’ve made. I think it’s more the act of putting pen to paper that helps... and if something is working the worst thing you can do is change it! As for the higher seat requiring more lean angle... honestly that’s just something that I remember reading (higher CoG?). 😅 It was kind of a shock to me at the time because I wondered why racers would want to have to lean more... made sense when it was explained tho (can’t remember details unfortunately - would appreciate a refresher or summary). I’ve been out of it for so long now, I should probably go back and read all my old posts - feels like I could teach myself a thing or two. 😝
  4. Hi all, Well life has done what it does and kept me off motorcycles for the last 2 years... before that I'd only done track riding for 3-4 years and had done up to Level 3, made some really good progress and found myself in the fastest group at track days. I did a double track day in early September at basically a new track (I'd ridden it once 5-6 years ago), honestly didn't think it would take me that long to get back up to speed but I wasn't doing as well as I'd hoped and probably had unrealistic expectations of being able to just get back into it. Add into the mix that I've put race glass on the bike, that was a fair bit to get used to especially as the higher seat completely changing my body position. I was up higher over the front end, less space to "tuck in", it was more like folding myself on top of the bike, I was pushing down on the bars rather than forwards/horizontal. At the end of the first day I lay in bed to have a rest and my front delts were just stinging, so I knew I was doing something wrong! Anyway I was just wondering what others have done to adjust to bike changes like that? And how have you managed to get back up to speed after some time off the bike? It feels like I almost need to start from the beginning and do the school drills one lap at a time as a bit of a refresher. Also with the higher seat - that means I will need to use more lean angle for a given corner & speed, correct? I guess that will come when I'm completely comfortable and confident on the bike again. Last month was my first time on actual race slicks as well - wow they have some grip, I didn't even get close to their limits. I will be doing another track day on Monday at my local track that I spend probably 70% of my time at so I know it much better, hopefully a familiar track will help me get back up to speed easier. I just realised that I had so much going on last month that not once did I take a moment to "flap my elbows" to help stay loose. I was not in the best shape either, put on a few kilos during Covid lockdown. Plus brand new leathers that were fairly stiff and felt like they were limiting my movement. I should probably just write off the next couple of track days as "training days", take it easy and stay in a lower group? Cheers, Conrad
  5. I didn't really think it would be that special until I saw the below video and after reading your post there it all makes sense. Like you say - what they have done is amazing, you end up with a completely different machine building from ground up as a track/race bike rather than trying to turn a street bike into a race bike. Ducati Desmosedici RR used to be my "dream bike", but the way technology is advancing so quickly and with all this being available to Joe Public (if you have the cash...) well let's just say it's a great time to be alive!
  6. Cheers for the tip! I had completely forgotten about leather sliders, read about them years ago but have never seen anyone who uses them. Does anyone here use them or have a preference? I think there's really only two options - Klucky Pucks from Woodcraft, or Asphalt & Gas sliders? I will be getting myself a pair to try out. I also think the sliders that came with my leathers are really low profile to start with (it's a budget suit). At the narrowest section they only protrude about 17mm (0.6") from the suit.
  7. Interesting point! Cheers! One of the reasons that I didn't want to use my knee as a lean angle gauge is that when your knee touches down, it doesn't mean that you can't lean any more. I prefer to spend my attention on feeling traction at the tyres and use that as my gauge. But I guess I'll just have to make an effort to try and stop pulling my leg in towards the bike... if you expect your knee to touch down, that means it can't surprise you, right?!?
  8. This point caught my attention... how many people actually use the rear brake to tighten their line?? No one. Rear brake does not tighten line, if it seems that way it's because there is always additional rider input beyond simple rear brake actuation - such as body position change, handle bar input etc. So don't worry, you're not doing anything wrong and you're not missing out on anything. On the point of not having confidence in the front tyre - if you look at any mid-corner crash that doesn't involve throttle, there is almost always brake involved. Therefore if you remove the use of brakes, you remove a big portion of any chance of error. Taking it a step further - do you know how quickly you can steer the bike (given dry & smooth track, warm tyres, etc.)? You can steer it as fast as you want and the front won't give out/fold/slide. What will happen is that the rear will slide when you start to get to that limit. So if you're steering as fast as you can and there's no hint of the rear sliding, you are safe. Actually I think Keith Code has said that he's tried to crash a bike by using a "too fast" steering rate and he couldn't do it. So that should give you some confidence! Taking that and applying it to a double apex/hairpin type situation, if you remove the main danger (brakes), and you know that you can use as quick a steering rate as you want it opens up a whole world of possibilities. You can carry more speed into the turn, stay out wide and basically ignore the first "apex", it will set you up for a good exit. At least that's my approach now and it's helped a lot! I was in the habit of treating these types of turns as 2 separate turns with additional steering input in the middle, now it's so much easier when you can ride it as a single turn with one smooth steering input. If there is slightly more distance between the "2 apexes" it might mean that you need to tighten your line, but this is more of a continued steering input, definitely no brake or throttle in the middle. For this approach to really work it does mean that you need to carry a lot of speed into the turn, possibly a lot more than you're used to, but just remember that the very act of turning will reduce your speed and tighten your line, and you also have the option to tighten your line with line with continuous steering input as well as technique such as hook turn - when you put all of that together you can really start riding some much smoother and easier lines.
  9. I just did a track day, and during the day I got to thinking that I really need to start using my knee sliders and get comfortable using them. After a lot of big improvements in quick succession (suspension upgrades that gave much better feel & improved confidence, started using tyre warmers so I gun it into the first corner and don't waste time) I've found myself getting surprised the few times a knee slider touches down. Sometimes it's just because my inside leg bounces and the slider almost "slaps" the track over a bumpy section, other times it's just that I'm carrying that much lean angle. I've never focussed on getting my knee down, I've spent all my time working on other areas of my riding which is finally all coming together and paying off big time! Speed is not a problem, today was the first time I rode in the fastest group and I probably should have been there for a little while. I am probably the only person in the group that doesn't get knee down. But my riding style means that I don't have such an exaggerated "leg out" body position, in fact usually I pull my leg in towards the bike. So I'm never expecting it when the slider touches down and it has been catching me off guard, sometimes I actually check up and roll off the throttle slightly, which then puts me off and I loose the rhythm for the rest of the lap and a bit. So the question is - how do I go about getting used to using the knee sliders? Just keep doing what I'm doing... and try to get used to the feeling when it happens? It feels like I'm backwards with all this - usually people put all their effort into getting knee down to look cool, then focus on actually developing good riding technique - I went straight to the technique, "cool factor" be damned. Haha Has anyone else found themselves in this situation - being fast, but totally unfamiliar with getting your knee down?? Cheers for any ideas or suggestions!
  10. Just to be clear - when I talk about "maximum lean" in my own riding I'm talking about my lean angle in any given corner, not the actual possible maximum. But if tyres start sliding a lot more than usual in combination with greater than usual lean angle, it probably doesn't mean that I can't lean more, go faster, etc. - but I'd sure be paying careful attention to that feedback and wouldn't push too much more. Yeah plenty of fast guys don't need a massive knee slider budget for a year of racing. I did some training with Wayne Maxwell once and he goes through about 3 sets of sliders a year, which is not that much... But I am starting to get the idea that using knee sliders might have any benefit now, I don't really slide on corner entry, mid-corner - mainly on throttle. But as my riding changes and (hopefully!) improves I am starting to see how I could use it. Will keep that one in the bag until then. Cheers guys. And yes I think we can all agree that knee sliders are one of the biggest tools in Marquez bag of tricks! Haha
  11. Not using my knee sliders, my thoughts on maximum lean angle and gauging surface traction are that it can be done simply by paying attention to feedback from the tyres and adjusting my riding based on this. For example if I was using more lean angle than usual and noticed increased sliding at maximum lean I'd take that to mean that it's pretty close to the maximum lean angle the tyres can take. The other thing having gone so long without actually using knee sliders is that it's almost at a point where I feel it would be a distraction if I was regularly using them without actually being close to what the tyres and bike can do. If I only have $10 to spend, I'd rather keep as much as I can focused on what the tyres are doing instead of spending $1 or $2 here and there whenever a slider touches down and thinking "hhmmm light touch" or "wow, that dug in a lot..." My exhaust (M4 GP) is the most likely part to scrape (already has) and I have rearsets, so there isn't really a risk of dragging hard parts, so the way I see it using the knee slider for that reason just isn't worth it for me. I'm happy with the way my riding is progressing, I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything not using sliders but it just made me think if there's any other way I could or should be using them after seeing that post from Dave Moss...
  12. Ok so if someone was exploring trail braking (moreso deep trail braking?) or raising their corner entry/mid-corner speed I can see that could be an area where using the knee slider could be beneficial, perhaps mostly as a safety device to save slides?
  13. Wish I had a computer to look at the video frame by frame... but I don't think there's anything too mysterious happening here... For those who have ever done a quick change of direction through a slalom or short chicane you might have noticed that it takes very little throttle (or any at all, if the steering rate is so quick?) to lift the front wheel as the bike is coming upright on the change of direction. This is because the steering rate is so great, you have the inertia of the bike coming from lean to upright, the mass of the bike combined with that inertia means that it wants to keep going up - hence lifting the front wheel. If you're then trying to lean the bike over in the other direction while the front wheel is in the air... well you can guess what happens. I've also seen this with strange geometry/weighting. It was on a work delivery scooter, bit of weight in the top box, a quick-ish u-turn or even just straightening up quickly out of a regular corner would bring the front wheel off the ground and cause a decent tank slapper if not controlled properly. Given the extremes that MotoGP racers are dealing with it wouldn't surprise me if Vinales front wheel came off the ground and caused him to crash.
  14. I thought of this when I saw your post... Dave Moss comes out with some very insightful comments every now and then: Take particular note of your clip on angle as well as the position relative to the forks. To me moving the clip ons 30mm in front of the forks is a fairly radical setup, but what I take away from this is that the riders comfort and ergonomic fit is the highest priority. Move the controls to wherever you need them, the bike is always going to steer better for you if you can use the controls more effectively.
  15. Hi all, I was just reading one of Dave Moss post on Facebook and it really got me thinking... here's the post: And here's my comment on that post: Very interesting post... lots to think about. Makes me wonder if I have been missing the benefits of an important learning tool all this time... Like everyone when I started out I viewed "knee down" almost as the pinnacle of riding technique. As time went on I realised that getting a knee down is not an end goal in itself, it's the product of correct riding technique. I also thought that I didn't want to limit myself and stop leaning as soon as my knee touched down - better to feel the actual tyre grip and let that determine your maximum lean angle. So I just let my knee hang comfortably and it doesn't bother me that it almost never touches down. I'm still pretty happy with my riding and I'm within ~6 seconds of very fast racers at my local track (1:06 vs 1:00 flat, where anything quicker than 1:15 is considered pretty fast for the average rider). Talking about front end slides, I feel like this needs to be qualified - under what circumstances is the front end sliding? In combination with trail braking? I don't trail brake much, and if you're entering a corner with no brakes I've actually found that to be the safest way to increase corner speed and push myself on corner entry and mid-corner; the gains come from getting the bike to maximum lean in as short a time as possible, and if you're really turning in that quickly we know that the rear end will slide before the front does. So I wonder how I can use knee sliders as a tool in my current riding level and style? Or does it's use as a tool really only come into play when heavy trail braking is involved? Thanks in advance for any comments, this seems like a very interesting discussion.
  16. Seems like we have crossed wires here... The point I am getting at is that there is no reason to view coasting as something bad or undesirable. In fact unless someone is an exceptionally skilled rider and is either using brake or throttle all of the time, then they have to be coasting to some degree! Why is it that people tend to avoid coasting, why does it make them feel uncomfortable? Thinking back to before I had any type of training, I definitely felt uncomfortable when coasting - and this was wholly due to the fact that I didn't have a clear understanding of correct throttle use and as such my line choice left a lot to be desired (hugging the curb, riding constant radius lines, etc.) Now the way I ride has changed drastically. I never ride on a constant radius line, therefore my steering input is only completed moments before I have identified my exit point, know that I am going to hit it and begin to open up the throttle. If I am "cruising" around the track, then my entire steering input is definitely completed while I am coasting. As I am getting more comfortable with higher corner entry speeds I am gradually adding trail braking - but still finish the majority of the steering input while coasting. Eventually I hope to be able to completely eliminate coasting, but that will be quite a big step and is still a ways off. Maybe we are thinking of vastly different riding levels, but to me there is simply no option between coasting or using throttle mid-corner. That is because the line choices available mean that there is no in-between, effectively it becomes possible to late apex every corner so that you're ready for throttle as soon as turn-in is complete. Edited to add > Coasting is not always a problem, it can be a solution... depending on how you use it.
  17. Hhmmm... unless it's a fast corner or a slow entry into a faster corner, I tend to have the throttle closed when coming into a corner. PGI - Yes I think that definition of charging a corner is pretty spot on. I don't think it has so much to do with chopping the throttle or abrupt brake control (they are riding errors in their own right). The reason I made that comment about coasting into corners is that it's absolutely the safest way I've found to build confidence and work up to a higher corner entry speed. When you realise what the biggest danger is you'll probably agree that coasting is safe... think about every single racing crash you've seen where they've gone down on corner entry (one rider on their own, without being skittled by another). It all has to do with the front brake! The front locks up, and they go down! Therefore if you don't touch the front brake you completely eliminate that risk. It is also a good exercise to help refine your sense of speed, much like the "no brake" drills at the school. As we were told - if you can't set your speed within 300 metres of straight you have no hope of doing it within 100m with brakes. The other big benefit to being comfortable with coasting is when you're riding double apex corners or want to take a wide/late turn-in and still be able to tighten your line and make your apex. What happens if you're riding in a circle with constant throttle, then roll off the throttle..? Your line will tighten - exactly the same as when you coast into a turn. In combination with the Hook Turn this can open up so many line choices, like being able to ride your 1000 on a line that only 300's would otherwise ride!
  18. This caught my attention... why do you call coasting bad? It made me curious because coasting into corners has been one of my preferred corner entry methods for a long time. Consider what happens when you turn into a corner and don't touch the throttle - what would happen to your line? Would that ever be useful to you?
  19. I think there's a lot of emphasis on getting your head low, but that isn't everything... as Cobie alluded to, Level 3 explains everything about it. I would just add that it's similar to knee down - if you are trying to get your knee down - if you're trying to get your head low, then you're doing it wrong. These shouldn't be goals in themselves, but are end results of correct riding technique. Before I did Level 3 I would try and hold my body in all kinds of uncomfortable positions through the corner. Afterwards, I wasn't getting anywhere near as tired, riding took less effort and my body movement were more effective - I was overall a much better, faster rider.
  20. On the topic of thinner tread having less grip - isn't it the same rubber compound all the way through the tyre? Or do you mean less overall grip/less grip remaining? Jaybird - can only speak from my experience, but knowing how much tyre I use on a day I wouldn't start a day unless I have enough tread to get me through. In saying that I have once gone right past the tread wear marker and worn the tread sipes right down on the side and didn't notice it ride any differently...
  21. Hhmmm... maybe it's just something you get used to, seeing as there are so many different throttle ratios on different bikes anyway.
  22. Interesting, I've never really felt the need for this sort of thing or a "quick throttle". I think lots of guys swap the R6 throttle onto Gixxers but I've never had a problem that I felt I needed to fix. I do have to wonder how it would affect high-RPM rear wheel slides if you have less throttle range to manage that with... That has always been the one big turn off for me.
  23. Joe really need experience. But there are two kinds of experience - bad and good. It doesn't do you any good if you have "10 years of riding experience", but it's all bad experience! You can gain good experience through the application of systematic training that teaches the core basics of motorcycling. I wish I had started on a dirt bike - lower speeds and having a little spill at low speed on dirt sure is a lot less intimidating than crashing on the street (or heaven forbid, track)! Don't over estimate what is required of you at CSS just because they're held on a race track... My first time on track at CSS I was actually thrown completely because everyone was riding so much slower than what I was used to seeing on a track!! All the students are there to learn, doing the same drills and the majority will be riding at a similar pace. The way I would describe it to anyone wondering is this - if you're comfortable making the bike stop, go and turn, then you're ready to go to the school!
  24. Just coming back to this thread now as I've had some new questions raised after talking with someone who was adamant that all engines should always be fuelled with the highest possible octane rating, that they will always run better with a higher octane fuel. So - is it actually true that a higher octane fuel will "burn slower", or do the additives only change the volatility? Meaning that higher octane fuel is more resistant to pre-ignition, but that once there is spark both low/high octane fuels will ignite just as easily and burn just as quickly?? This also lead me to the subject of carbon deposits - if an engine has minimum requirements of 91 octane and we used 98, will that cause more carbon deposits? From what I have read some people say yes because the higher octane fuel won't have a complete/proper burn - others say it won't make a difference because the 98 will all burn just the same? Any info would be much appreciated! Cheers
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