Steve M

Good write-up Will. Congratulations on your finishes. Makes for a good Father?s day! Steve

Balistic is the only person I personally know who purposely slides his bike and some times (last CODE RACE school at Streets) the bike comes around a bit too much - like to the locks. I do not intentionally slide - ever. When I do slide, it is a mistake and it usually happens so fast that by the time I know what is going on, the bike has already straightened it self and I am on my way. Steve

While I do agree that training is top priority, I think bike set up, (suspension, tire pressures, tire types, brakes etc.) also need a fair amount of attention. Many students who come to the school begin to outride their set-up within one day, simply because they are cornering faster than they ever have before. While set-up makes little difference at slow speeds, things like tire pressure, preload, compression and rebound dampening become a pretty big deal at more amusing speeds. This comes from personal experience. I rode my first sport bike like a demon, and it handled very well. Or so I thought. After taking level one at CSS, I suddenly developed a huge "Chatter" in my front end. I immediately began outriding the factory fork springs and what I was feeling was the forks bottoming-out. Yikes! It turned out that I was soooooooo slow before taking level one, that I had no idea my suspension was improperly set up. Still, you are right. Training is huge, and along with good saftey gear is the most important investment one can make for riding a motorcycle.

Great job Will! By the way, did you see that Nick Moore is headed to British Supersport for a couple races? http://venus.13x.com/roadracingworld/scrip...asp?insert=8974

Good advice. Another thing you can do is raise the idle a bit. I keep mine around 3k. This also helps take out drive train slap, which is not only annoying but at full lean can be dangerous.. Steve

Looks like we don't have many people out that way. Is this your first race? Either way, let us know how it goes for you. Good luck! Steve

BWEZX6 - Glad to hear of your success at BlackHawk. To me that particular track really lends itself to CSS drills. If you have trouble getting your bike turned quickly, stall the gas or have any other manner of difficulty, that track will point it immediately. I am very excited to get back there in June. Maybe we can convince Keith and Cobie to let us race some of the school bikes Sanfret - If you have the means to race there, do. The track is insanely fun. CCS runs at BHF. In fact, they have the track the weekend before we arrive on June 1 (same as last year). See the link below http://www.blackhawkfarms.com/

My primary street bike is a BMW 1150RT. It has what BMW calls EVO brakes (basically the front and rear brakes communicate with each other and BMW says they are anti lock). I assure you that you can lock these brakes if only for a nanosecond - I do it on occasion in gravel, rain and even once in some snow. Will is on the money. If you are leaned over to the head cases and you grab a hand full of brake, you are going down. And as mentioned above, I can go super deep into turns on the brakes but I think largely due to the geomotry of the bike (the telelever/paralever suspension removes a lot of nose dive so the bike does appear to be more stable under heavy braking). I also feel pretty comfortable trailing the brakes. But then, as mentioned above this is my main ride so I am pretty careful with it - unlike a certain GSXR...

I definitely go slower on the street since I started riding at the track. In fact, most guys I ride with leave me in the mountains. I just do not feel comfortable going fast (recall this is all relative) in the mountains. I always feel like I am on cold tires and I do not like the feeling of not knowing the surface of the road. Even if you know a certain stretch like the back of your hand, there are so many hazards. I found some radiator fluid two years ago. Cost me a gixxer. And, I was only going forty mph or so. Now, out in the desert is another story. I have a touring bike that I like to do long rides on and I have no problem cruising at triple digits in the desert (though I got a big fat ticket at the California/Arizona border a few years ago?..

I vote for number 2. Some time after I started the first thread regarding trail braking I tried coming off the brakes at different points in the turn. What I found was I really, really like the feeling of coming off the brakes just as I was flicking the bike. I think this was the feeling of the suspension remaining relatively settled (instead of bouncing up from release of brake and down again from compression due to cornering forces). When you time it just right, it is an amazing feeling. I intend to continue experimenting but for now I think the key is to time coming off the brakes with flicking the bike so that there is very little movement in the suspension. I have used my rear brake to settle the bike but it is a pretty delicate operation.

If you use one of Will's bikes (yes, they ARE Will's bikes), and you ask him nicely, he may switch the shift pattern for you. Personally, all my bikes are reverse pattern shift - except my BMW 1150RT - and I am working on a way to switch that one as well. Although I do not often get confused while riding (going back and forth between school bikes, personal track bikes and my RT), I can't count the times I have been in a parking lot thinking I was in first gear when in fact I was in sixth gear. Under these circumstances, finding neutral between fifth and sixth can be challenging and embarrasing...

Well, I hate to say it but AMP is not alone. Some locals in the area of Laguna Seca and Sears Point have been complaining for years. One of the bigger complaints is noise, so we have to run with stock cans to avoid being flagged. No big deal for me, but I will be willing to bet that some of the locals will eventually find something else to complain about. It's like we are all pariah. The last place we can go to practice our sport is the middle of the freaken desert (Button Willow, Thunder Hill etc.) And, one would think the locals would support track operations in hopes of getting guys to take their racing off the street and to the track.

Wow - Slow Dragon has done this before. I don't think I could add to that except to totally emphasize locating yourself on the track before you start adding much speed. Resist the temptation to chase guys going around you and stick to your plan. Locate good reference points for EVERY turn. Be honest with yourself ? if there is a turn where you do not have good reference points, go out the next session and find them. Once you have good reference points for every turn, you can locate yourself pretty easily and then you can start railing. I typically take my time in the first couple of sessions. I warm myself up by taking it easy, and I try hard to remain disciplined and do my drills (no brakes, reference points etc.). Many people go around me in the first session or two, but by mid day, I am up to speed and by then I am easily going around guys who were running faster in the first couple of sessions. Every time you visit the track, plan your ride and ride your plan (an old adage from scuba diving ? plan your dive and dive your plan).

Luke, What you describe is very common at T-Hill. For whatever reason, T-Hill is really, really hard on tires. It is probably a combination of asphalt construction and the fact that you spend so much time going so fast on the same side of the tire. I decided to try different tires last summer - I normally ride 208's as well and have the suspension set up fairly well for those tires. I did not make any adjustments to my suspension after I mounted the new tires. I put on RS1/RS2 and did two practice sessions on a race day before the rear tire was destroyed. (this is like 15 laps or so) Like you say, it looked like someone took a very hot knife and gouged a line out of the tire. The gouged part was actually convex! Until that day, I normally chewed up the 208's pretty good too, but nothing like the Metzler. At first, I started to believe that I was all that, spinning up the tire, blah, blah, blah. Turns out, I had way too much compression and rebound in my shock. I visited Phil Douglas' pit and he got me squared away big time. So, over to the Dunlop trailer I go (I had a race that afternoon). I put on new 208's, did one warmup lap and raced an 8 lap sprint. Guess what? The tire looked great, even after racing on it. Sure, it showed normal signs of wear, but none of the crazy tearing. So, the moral of my story is this - take a very hard look at your suspension set up and if possible consult with someone like Phil next time you are at T-Hill. Steve

OK people, check it out. See the full article on the MotoGP web site - good stuff. Also note that Yamaha is playing around with electronic traction control. Very interesting stuff... http://motogp.tiscali.com/en/motogp/index.htm

. OK - For those of you who do not know Will, he is not joking. We do run our tires pretty low on tread (often you can not even see signs that tread ever existed on the side of the tire when we replace them). It is so true regarding drive. At Pocono this year, my rear tire was so gone and so greasy by the end of day four (yes, I rode that particular take-off four straight days) that I had to do the pick-up drill in many corners and be seriously easy on the gas just to keep the bike up-right. Coming down the back and main straight were particulary tricky (at the exit like riding on in the rain) but I did hear a lot of guys having trouble getting traction coming out of that U-Turn (don't remember the turn number). I will say it is good practice to ride on baked tires, but it really sucks at track days when you want to chase your buddies but you just can't keep pace for fear of bending your bike......

FastFreddie - First let me congratulate you on a fantastic season with WERA. Those are some pretty impressive results. Secondly, that was a very well thought out and articulated post. I do have a comment regarding the following: I think it depends greatly on the rider and situation. I know several guys who push the front, which indicates they are already past the limit of traction (as they are already sliding the front). Should these guys apply any brake at all, the result will be to increase the slide, not give more traction. I totally understand the concept of getting the bike upright for more traction, but I think the events are out of sequence. Several motorcycle training organizations (like the MSF and CMSP) teach to get the bike upright first and then apply more brake. This makes good sense to me, as cornering forces use available traction as does braking. So, in a street situation where you must brake mid corner (say to avoid a deer), get the bike as upright as the situation allows while adding brake. In a race situation, I would think you are already at the limit of traction, otherwise you could have come into the turn faster. As far as finding the limit, I find the limit quite often and have crossed the limit (sadly) more times than I care to admit. I think a lot of guys do this - most racers I know fell at least once this past season alone (Ballistic may be the one exception). I think it is just part of the sport. We are constantly searching for that limit and consequently spend a fair amount of time there and sometimes cross just a bit much Steve

EA6BMech (I take it you are a Navy guy and work on Prowlers?). Your input is as valuable or moreso than most of us on this thread as many many of us already have certain notions (preconceived and otherwise) and fresh perspective is very valuable. To your comment: . This is very important. Recall the Level I drill "Throttle Control". What is the rider's job? To stabilize the bike (suspension). How do we accomplish this? By rolling on the throttle immediately after the major turn input. I suspect some the difficulty you have transitioning back onto the throttle is caused by an uneasy feeling in the bike while braking deep into the turn. If rolling on the throttle helps to stabilize the bike (this is a good thing), then won't you want to do it as soon as possible? I do. Can you do roll on the throttle while braking? I heard in an unrelated post on another message board yes, but I cannot, nor do I want to. Seems pretty dang sketchy to me. I suggest you really try finishing off your braking in a straight line, and get good a quick turning the bike at precisely the moment you come all the way off the brakes. Once you have mastered this, then experiment with trailing the brakes. As this thread seems to point out, trailing the brakes does work for a number of riders, but as Keith points out, I think it is much easier to learn trail braking if you first master straight line braking and learn to set your entry speed for every corner. One last thing I would like to add. When you really nail a corner with the right entry speed, finishing off your brakes and turning quickly while the suspension is still compressed, it is an amazing feeling. It is in these turns that I feel the most stable, and I am able to drive out the fastest.

Wow ? Go to Sears? Point for a couple of days and the thread gets away from you in a hurry. There is a lot to address so I will try to do it as susinctly as possible (hopefully Keith and Will will jump in to save me). Scott ? Very nice piece of work. If you ever get the chance to visit with Tony Foale, I highly recommend you do so. You and he speak the same language. I do have some questions/comments for you. First ? As Paab (I think) pointed out, the math probably holds true in a vacuum, meaning that there are so many other important factors involved like friction, heat, tire expansion etc. I totally understand what you are saying though, and it does help me to visualize cornering load. I am not sure I agree with this statement. I find that if I am still slowing the bike by braking, my line does not tighten, but in fact takes me a little wider than I want. To keep a tight line I roll on the throttle immediately after my major turn input. When I come out of a turn wide, it is because I made a mistake (in the turn) with my throttle or brake, or I am counter-steering the bike up and out of the turn (often occurs when tight on the bars). I think there are essentially two ways to tighten a line (once you are already in the turn). One is to add more lean angle and the other is to lower your center of gravity while in the turn (hook turn the bike). I too have a BMW (RT) and I too experiment with body steering. I find that if I turn on the cruise control and ride no hands, I can indeed influence the direction of the bike, but very slowly and over a very long stretch of road. We address some of this in Level III classes. I would not even think to attempt this if an even moderately tight turn were involved. Significantly all of influencing the direction of a bike comes as a result of counter-steer. I think you answered this yourself. If there is only 100% of traction available (before you begin sliding), and you are using 95% for corner forces then there is only 5% remaining for braking (again, before you slide). Recall that most GP riders do in fact ?push? their front ends, so it is possible that they are 110% (as in Keith?s example). I would not recommend this for the average racer and certainly not for the novice rider. I really cannot address this except to say that I feel faster and more stable not trailing to the apex. Maybe it is just me and my style, but I prefer to get on the gas the moment I am at my desired lean angle and I do try to get there quickly. Again, very cool post. I do enjoy the math though when I ride I don?t typically use too much of my ?$10.00 of attention? thinking about squares and such?.

Got it - That must be why my GSXR is so much smoother than the Honda (the GSXR has a Power Commander with a map from Spears' on it but I have not yet put a power commander on the Honda). Thanks, Steve

Paroxysm I could not agree more with Jaime. If you can work the basic controls of the bike as required to pass the CMSP/MSF course, you can ride on the track with us. Of all the great benefits listed, there is one more that I would like to share. Safety. We are very strict about safety. We do not under any circumstance tolerate close passing (minimum of 6-8 feet), or dangerous behavior. We have a high instructor/student ratio (no more than four students per instructor, and often less) on the track with you looking after you and your classmates. Our instructors are highly qualified, highly skilled, and are very interested in you and your progress. Typically, you will not find this sort of dedicated assistance at a normal track day. Along with demonstrating the techniques you learn in the classroom, instructors help to maintain a safe learning environment. At a track day, you may encounter other riders who are out there charging around the track, riding well beyond their abilities while not necessarily understanding how a motorcycle works. At a normal track day, you are likely to see all sorts of interesting riding techniques, best observed from a distance I think it is best to attend the school [first] before you develop bad habits at track days. This way, when you do go to a track day, you will get much more out of it, and you will have things to practice. At the end of your training day with the Superbike School we will give you a booklet listing the drills you learned and practiced that day. The next time you go to the track, bring the booklet and practice the drills. It worked really well for me when I was a student. I hope this helps and hope to see you soon! Steve

Will, You may have just answered a question I have been having. I noticed that about the same time I started raising my idle that my rear tire stopped chattering under heavy braking and down-shifting. I never made the connection. So, what is the deal with the jerk in the drive train? Is this all fuel related or is there something else going on causing the slap? In my Honda, it is really, really bad. At lower idle speeds, if I tip the bike in to full lean angle and then try to smoothly get on the gas, I get this big jerk - and it is realy unsettling. After I started raising my idle, the jerk went away and now I feel much more confidant getting on the gas without the fear of busting the rear tire loose at full lean. Steve

I started setting my idle high on my 954 becasue the bike has so much drive train slap. Setting the idle high effectively removes "jerkiness" related to the slack in the drive train so when I get on the gas there is very little if any "jerk" or slap from the drive train. Then, I started setting the idle high on my race bike (gixxer 750) even though it has very little slap - or so I thought - and I noticed the bike was much more settled when I start to roll on the gas. Now, I set the idle up on all the bikes I track ride (even the school bikes). I have been testing different RPM's and each of the bikes seems to behave differently at different RPM's, but as an example, the school's ZX9R rides very well with the idle around 3k. Will pointed something out that you have to keep in mind though - if you are riding on a track that has a very tight and slow hairpin turn, be sure that you don't set the idle higher than you are prepared to run through the turn

Wow Keith - That was a great post. You pretty much summed up my experience learning how to brake. Years ago, I thought I was the only person who had difficulty braking, but the more I talk to people, the more I realize that braking is a very misunderstood topic for many riders. I also realized that braking can be a very advanced subject. I copied the post, pasted it in word, printed it and am putting it my "binder" for futre reference. I started to experiment with trail braking after I became relatively proficient quick turning. I found it very easy to trail brake and I find trail braking to be easier (than quick turning). But, I feel like I give up way too much entry and mid corner speed by trail braking so I rarely do it (unless I am attacking or defending, or as Paab noted certain turns). I find that if I have clear track in front of me and I am under no immediate threat from behind, the fastest way (for me) through the turn is to finish my braking, quick turn the bike and get on the friggen? gas. It just works.

Paab - Sorry to hear about the weather. It got down into the 60's at Laguna last week. It was almost unbearable! j/k I try not to slide my bike on the approach to turns and rarely do, but I find if I go down too many gears too soon, I too get my back-end dancing around (like backing it in 4 or 5 times for one corner - how embarrassing). I have found though, that if the back end starts to dance around just a hint of rear brake helps to settle the bike (although I do not understand the science behind this, it seems to work). This is a very delicate matter though, as just a touch of rear brake is usually enough to get the back end to step out. I think you are right about the steering input too. When you are hard on the brakes, you will no doubt have some input through the bars however little. So, it stands to reason that the combination of loading the front under heavy braking and going down a bunch of gears can result in the rear end sliding. I think the key here is not to down shift too soon. I am not to keen on the concept of engine braking though. I think if you are riding fast, and braking hard, you probably are not getting that much benefit from engine brake (especially those of us on 125's and 250's), becasue in the brake zone you are so hard on the brakes your rear tire has very little weight (if any) on it and therefore very little stopping power. Maybe the big twins are different, but I really only on front brakes to slow me down (unless I am riding significantly off the pace).