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xtrmln

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  • Have you attended a California Superbike School school?
    not yet but signed up for feb 24

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  1. In a non race situation I have a rule.. 3 laps. I figure I need my mind and concentration level up to temp and working first. It always seems the tires are ready to go before me. I wick it up a notch after each lap but it is never the same from session to session or day to day in regards to how fast of laps I'm doing. If my brain is warmed up and in " the mode" then it is easy to feel when the tires aren't ready. They slide and you correct for it. Sometimes by being stunned into no action. eheh.
  2. I have been pondering this one for a while now. In watching a slow motion of Stoner alot became clearer to me. I for the longest time didn't know how to put into words for others to understand just how the bike feels under very heavy braking. Scott Russell gave me the one I was looking for this season in one of Speed's broadcasts. He said "hinging". In watching Stoner in slow motion it was very clear that he was using the leg out to balance that hinging motion of the rear wheel at the steering pivot point. He was also very clearly not using his knees to brace against the braking forces. He was actually using the leg out not only for correcting for the hinging effect but also moving it back as he went to keep his body weight more over the rear of the bike. It was absolutelly a thing of beauty to watch him do this in slow motion. When you think about it for the most part we have all agreed that locking in on the tank with the knees is the way to go for obvious reasons. One of them mainly is to avoid bar pressure that would start the hinging process. However if you could lock on the bike with one leg and use the other as ballast to keep your weight rearward you are effectivly moving that locked in position more towards the rear of the bike which obviously enables one to brake harder and later.I beleive that some riders have found this method helpfull weather they know why or not really doesn't matter it obviously works. Hmm fastest guys on the planet? I'm betting if their doing it...it probably works. In my opinion Casey has taken a good thing and refined it to the max!! Inovative riding techniques are a glorious thing to see evolve. Never the less being that I am not a motorcycle racing legend. I'm thinking when I get back on the track I will be locking into that gastank and doing everything I can to keep everything balanced and tidy before my TP.
  3. Sanfret gets the gold sticky star! Pacific Raceway in Kent, WA. I will be out there again this weekend hopefully in a little bit warmer conditions. Unfortunately it's looking like the first dry stint will have to wait a few more weekends as it looks like we will be playing in the rain.... again! here is another snow day pic. Might be a bit small but it was definatley snowing. If you click on the pic you might be able to see the snow.
  4. uh, no thanks on riding in the snow (at least on a track) unless I really had to C Yes I would agree under most circumstances. I however knew I would be racing the next day and the forcast was for more of the same. I figured I might as well try and get used to it for the Sat. race. It was my last race to graduate out of Novice. We did have more of the same for the practices but by the time the race came around it was just a monsoon of a rain instead of the white stuff. I would have to say I really think it was because of the skills and the aproach to riding I learned with the Superbike School that allowed me to keep her on two wheels. The skills I learned on the slide bike have saved my bacon on way more than a couple of occasions. I didn't fare as well as I would have liked in the wet race (took 3rd). Especially after leading the entire race up till the last corner. I learned there is another aspect of my game I need to put some effort into. "Racecraft" as I have heard it called before. I will have a better plan for that aspect next time out for sure.
  5. This is a typical Pacific Northwest late March Adrenaline Freaks trackday. Gotta love playin in the snow!
  6. I don't have alot of experience with dirt but as far as for on a road bike the key is to approach the loss of traction slowly versus abruptly. It sound like you are pretty much on the money. It sort of depends on where in the turn you want to initiate the slide. For me if for some reason you want to start the slide at turn entry (not really the fastest way through a corner) a more aggresive turn in with a little more aggresive throttle application will get the slide initiated. Once the tire starts to slide you will need to briefly ever so gently pause throttle application as well as stand the bike up a bit to stop the slide from continuing into a lowside. Once you have the tire right on that edge of sliding and gripping you can then get back into the throttle and modulate the slide with a combination of lean angle and throttle application. I can tell you that there is alot less room for error when sliding on pavement versus dirt. I first played with sliding the rear on corner exit rather than on corner entry. Its much easier to overcome the limits of the tire gradually on corner exit rather than on corner entry. Just gradually add more and more throttle while exiting a given corner remember to be in the process of picking the bike up so that you are ready to compensate for the slide (the bike will be making a sharper turn once the rear breaks loose). The key is to be smooth, any sudden abrupt actions could wind you up on your head if your not careful. The only thing that you stated that I think may not be right is trying to use your hips to somehow initiate the slide. Maybe more talented and skilled riders than I might try to input this way but to me its all done with throttle and lean angle.
  7. If my memory serves me correctly you will learn all of what your looking for in level 3. Hints..flick that arse....both knees silly.
  8. I have not attended a 2-day camp. I have though completed all the levels individually. From what I have gathered it seems there is a lower student to instructor ratio in the 2-day camp over the individual sessions. Which lends itself to more individualized instruction. Also with fewer groups I understand that there is some more ontrack time. Again I have not attended one but this is the info that I have gathered. I will say that I came away from every level feeling as though I received a very adequate level of individual instruction and that my riding improved greatly each time out. I'm getting ready to take level 4 again (this time on my home track of Pacific Raceways) on Thursday then in Feb. 07 I will probably do level 4 again as a 2-day camp to prep for next years race season. You pay a little more for a little more with the 2-day but you don't get slighted in my opinion at all in the individual classes.
  9. I'm wondering will you have tire changing services for riders on their own bikes in the event of rain?
  10. Poor throttle control is to blame from what I saw. Looks like after he turned it in he gave it a healthy dose of throttle rather than a smooth roll on. Then hmm? Think he chopped it which transfered more wait onto the front tire than it could handle. To me it looks like he lost the front.
  11. I had a close one at the school last time out at infineon and I have done alot of thinking about what went wrong and right. T-11. came off the chicane with great drive got it flicked to the left fast and kept on the gas as I flicked it back to the right and headed toward my turnpoint at the entrance of 11. I carried more speed than I had all day going into the turn got set up made a downshift and realized my TP was coming up at a much faster rate than normal. I turned it in. This was my mistake because for the added speed I faulted in thinking I needed to turn it in before reaching my "standard TP". After thinking about this more I think I could make the corner with the speed I was carrying by using another TP that would take me just maybe a foot past my previous one. I beleive this to be the solution because I elevated my rate of turn in such that it put me way inside my normal apex. I think by accelerating the rate of the turn I could move the TP down the track and still get to my normal apex for 11. However I had turned it in probably a foot earlier I took the bike to a fairly steep lean angle I got into the throttle for my roll on then realized I was running up onto the blue and yellow paint. Some paint I have found to be fine to run on but I made a big mental note to myself after this one that Infineon paint is no good to try to corner on. My front tire seemed to just go in a heartbeat. No gradual transition from grip to loss of grip but rather a complete and sudden total loss of grip. I then went from a standard roll on to application of the throttle at a quicker rate. (as I had visions of my brand new bike not looking new for too much longer) This action did as I hoped. It got the front back inline and grabbing a bit but it was at this time that my rear (on the paint as well) stepped out in a very big way. I then haulted acceleration and maintained throttle position while gradually putting pressure on the left clip on to stand the bike up a bit as it was standing further up I went back to on-gas. The rear then came back into alignment with a little twitch in the bike as it grabbed grip again. I was off the corner ready to blaze down the straightaway for another lap. I think the track martial was debating about black flagging me and having a chat with me though. Needless to say I fouled up, but I just wanted to post this because this is what I love about riding a high performance machine at speed. It can always be broken down and analyzed. No matter what, you either did something right or did something wrong at a given time at a given place. After I analyzed this I realized that although I fouled up in the beginning I was very pleased that I didn't let SR's get in the way of me making this save. At the time although it was a little scary I felt incontrol and knew what I had to do I stayed relaxed, reacted to the grip issues I was having with what I beleived needed to be done with the throttle. I totally feel like this is a direct result of using the knowledge from both of Keiths books as well as the training on the track at the school. I'm a very average rider but feel that the road to being an advanced rider will be greatly determined by my ability to break down the things I'm doing on the bike.
  12. I think you actually stated it in your post. I'm pretty sure that if there were no weight transfer at all front to rear the rear would actually want to rise under acceleration however if I remember right the whole idea is to counter that rising motion by using proper throttle control to get the proper weight shift front to back. This counters this "rising" and ensures good grip as well as putting the suspension of the bike within proper range. I think when it is said that "the rear wants to rise" is only true when the application of the throttle has not met the load requirments of the suspension to "sit the tire down".
  13. I am coming down from Seattle WA and was wondering where the closest shops are in relation to Sonoma? I'm thinking I may need to do a tire change after the first day of school. I'm not sure cuz the 06 R6 came with the new Dunlop Qualifiers and I'm not sure how they will do. I have one trackday scheduled before the school and although I know I don't go thru the tires at school the way I do at trackdays I just want to make sure I have a plan incase they don't hold up for 1 trackday + 2 school days. By the way anyone have psi recomendations on the qualifiers for track use?
  14. "pick a spot and stick with it" I agree I am never moving around in the seat other than when im setting up or after the bike is stood up. I do not however stay in the same position front to back for all the corners on a given track. Is that what your suggesting?
  15. I would love to see some more replies on this as I have wondered for a while what the proper technique would be. For me in thinking about my riding I decided the faster the corner the farther back in the seat I would try to be and for the slower stuff I would hug the tank a bit more. I'm not sure if it's right but when I tried it it felt comfortable. In the slower stuff it especially felt like the way to go as it seemed to give a little more bite on the front end for the turn in. This is what I do most of the time however at my home track (pacific raceways) there is a right left chicane that is fairly fast and the exit is a hair downhill before it goes dramatically uphill on this particular turn even though it is fast I hug the tank to an extreme. It seems the bike gets alot of traction through this area and it seems to help keep the bike on the line I'm looking for to set up for my turnpoint for the turn at the top of the hill. Like I said this is what I came up with that seems to work well for me. Would love to hear other peoples take on this.
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