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BLSJDS

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About BLSJDS

  • Birthday 03/16/1970

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  • Have you attended a California Superbike School school?
    Yes - Levels I, II, III, & several IV

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Orange County, NY
  • Interests
    CSS, track days, motocross, spending time & money on my kids & motorcycles (not necessarily in that order :)

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  1. I'd like to know about this as well. I think my Arai is coming up on 4 or 5 years old.
  2. Hey Nic - I'm heading down on Sunday the 18th and back home Tuesday the 20th when the day is over, but my bike will be on the trailer . If you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to ask. Being at the right place at the right time is key, so listen carefully to the announcements. Dan
  3. My buddy & I will be there on the 19th & 20th. We will be in garage 110 - stop by to say hello. Dan
  4. Turning in too LATE can also be indicated by your apex - it may be too late, in which case you end up on the inside of the track at the exit so you are not using all the track (which means you didn't straighten out the corner as much as possible, and thus your entry/corner speed was lower than it could have been), OR something else commonly seen is turning in too late and not being able to GET to the apex you wanted. For example, at my track day the other day I watched riders take a a very late turn point (they were watching each other, I think), and then never get anywhere near the inside edge of the track at the apex; I'd say they were at least fifteen feet wide of an apex cone that had been set at the edge of the track by the trackday provider. Ergo, they didn't really straighten out the corner as much as possible and then they had to compensate for that by either using a very low entry speed, or by stalling on the throttle to keep from running wide. RChase's statement above is a nice restatement of the definition of a good turn point: one that allows you to make one steering input, and apply good throttle control through the corner. Sometimes when you use an entry point that is too late, you make your turn angle into the corner much tighter (more acute) than it needed to be; anybody remember which Level 3 classroom topic and track drill addresses that? IIRC, that is the Attack Angles drill, which I really learned a lot from. One of the many things I like about CSS is that we are actually encouraged (albeit mainly during this drill) to use different lines / different attack angles and get comfortable with different approaches to a corner. As a result, there is a much better understanding of what needs to be done differently as you enter, apex, and exit the corner. It really helped with my passing ability. Most track day organizations want you to always "hold the race line", pretty much to a fault. There is one turn at NJMP Thunderbolt that, because of the way it is configured, a late apex actually slows you down. I had been consistently turning in too late, hitting an apex that was far into the turn, and not getting a strong drive out (and not using all the track available to me). Finally during a break, I went over to watch this corner and noticed how the coaches & faster riders were turning and apexing much earlier than I had been. They were getting great drives out as well. So I started to experiment with a few different turn in points and found my sweet spot. What a difference.
  5. A major indicator for me for turning in too early OR too late is where I actually apex. How quickly & aggressively I'm able to roll on throttle is another. Turning in early sucks because I generally apex early and still need to keep the bike leaned over quite a bit to complete the turn. As such, picking the bike up while rolling on the throttle aggressively has to wait. Come to think of it, turning in too late causes a similar problem .
  6. Increase my level of fitness / endurance for both the track and motocross. Reduce my lap times at NJMP Thunderbolt. Jump a longer double at the motocross track that I've never done before.
  7. FWIW, I just installed a Yoyodyne slipper clutch in my '08 CBR600 and now I don't bother blipping the throttle at all during braking / downshifting. It is really smooth and the rear end remains very stable, even at very high rpms.
  8. I get ALL of my braking done before I initiate turn-in. Some people like to trail brake, I am not one of them. I find that the Ohlins suspension settles the bike VERY quickly after I release the front brake. Once braking is complete, I quick turn to my lean angle. Once I am at my lean angle, I crack the throttle on (and a lot of factors contribute to how aggressive I can be with roll on). However, the initial throttle roll on is an area where I feel some fine tuning of the bike (using PCV, Autotune) will help make the transition smoother. At lower RPMs, my bike tends to be a little "jerky" when the throttle is initially cracked open. I spoke to Will about this and he confirmed that is fairly common and can be tuned out. So that's where I'm at now - installing Autotune to help smooth the transition.
  9. There are a few road trips up here that I think I really, really nice. Some good twisties on roads that are in great condition with very few cars. If you decide to take the trip up, let me know and I'll give you more details, but basically the back roads from Warwick, NY up to Port Jervis and then on to Rt. 97 along the Delaware River (and the famous Hawk's Nest) are excellent. Also 9W from Bear Moutain State Park on the west side of the Hudson River up through West Point on Rt. 218 is another good one, but sometimes they close Rt. 218 when it rains a lot due to possibility of landslides (the road is basically built into the side of a cliff ).
  10. Do you live in or near Orange County, NY? If so, where?
  11. What ended up being the cause of the problem? How did you find it?
  12. I thought I read mid-June in one of the articles / reviews...
  13. Every time I go out on track, whether at CSS or with one of the local clubs, I have specific CSS drills that I practice. I don't ride on the street anymore, but when I did, most of the drills I focused on were visual. Proper form & technique are critical, chicken strip reduction is not
  14. Hotfoot - that is really great to hear - thank you so much for taking the time to post that info! I'm looking forward to getting a set next month at Thunderbolt
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