lwarner

I wanted a job where I could help people, I had comraderie with a team where there was an agreed upon standard of work ethic and behavior. I was mid the hiring process to join into law enforcement when my wife went back to school and we didn’t know where she would be accepted into college. That meant hiring on at any particular department would be difficult because I wouldn’t want to stay there when she moved for college. A friend of mine (who I had met at the school) was trying out to become a coach and motorcycles was already a real passion for me. After realizing that the staff aren’t necessarily local and I could potentially move anywhere my wife went to school and keep my job at CSS I agreed (with my buddy) to try out. Initially I intended to still pursue law enforcement but after working at the school I realized it provided everything I was looking for: comraderie, high standard of behavior and work ethic and the opportunity to help people, often on one of the best days of their lives but also perhaps saving their lives. So I started because I love motorcycles and it was a good fit for my life when I was semi-transient but like Adam R I stayed when I discovered the team and the people!

In the chapter on The Road We Ride in Twist 1 it talks about different aspects that make up the character of a road or track. You've mentioned uphill vs. downhill but not camber. Imagine a 45° lean angle on flat ground. Now imagine the ground sloping away: off camber. In that situation would you roll on more or less aggressively? Now imagine the reverse, the ground sloping towards you: you could have a 45°lean on a 45° on-camber slope. You would be 90°/perpendicular to the ground, effectively straight up and down. Would you be able to roll on more aggressively? Would you NEED to, in order keep the suspension from bottoming out? Not sure if this is relevant to what you're perceiving in the corners you are talking about but I hadn't heard it mentioned and it could be a factor.

Would it be any easier for you if you adjusted your brake lever to be closer?

Good to hear Scott, Connor and Johnny are top-notch!

Welcome! See you at the track.

Welcome to the forums! I hate tell you but I'm pretty sure your screen name is misspelled, pretty sure it has 3 m's: mowwwer. Maybe even 4.

Yep, usually Inn of Lancaster, I like it there. Others have given good advice regarding weather but out there in the desert we usually get good weather at the times of year we go. Welcome to the forum!

Welcome! If you make it out for a camp, ride the brake bike. Sometimes when people are interested in improving brakes it can be mind-blowing!

Welcome. NJMP is a fun track, one of my favorites!

Hit the nail on the head here: I thought this myself. I was not really happy when I discovered that the School used big 1000cc bikes for school bikes. After 4 levels with the S1000RR I discovered I was VERY wrong in my initial thinking. Here's why. 1. The S1000RR's power modes allows anyone to ride at a power setting that they are most comfortable with. 2. The S1000RR's traction control system inspires huge confidence and it's nice that it's there. 3. The S1000RR's ABS brakes are great at saving you from yourself if you hit an SR and grab a hand full of brakes. Don't ask how I know this as I'll never tell.

Welcome to the forum!

Well I've never done flat track so this is a bit of a guess but I suspect there is a wider window of sliding while maintaining control. In a car too, there's a big window of sliding while still having enough traction to maintain control. Which is kind of a long winded way of saying it's harder so less people do it... I think if you watch closely you'll still see some cool sliding going on. Take it with a grain of salt, maybe some flat trackers will chime in.

Hmmmm: (1) Knowing the outcome, a predictable result. (2) How confident are you? Hahah, I've been a 10 when I should've been an 8 but I've also been a 5 when I should've been a 6... pick any number. (3) How can you improve your confidence? Well, here I'm going to sound like a broken record but: by working on one thing at a time. An example would be someone who's never heard of throttle control coming to the school and finally making the bike stable (good TC) and experiencing increased confidence: when I roll on like this it makes the bike stable-predictable result. For me lately it's been reference points, finding RP's in areas where I lack confidence has helped me recreate my line precisely or know when I err from it slightly... predictable result, it worked last time, I'm duplicating it precisely, I know the outcome to a great degree.

Welcome to the forum Matt!

The only one I would change is "Trust your tires.", I think that could be destructive. If you're not sure if your tires have sufficient grip, blind faith is not a great idea IMHO. Trust yourself might be better advice? If you can't tell if you have traction it's probably not smart to proceed as if you do. With a few of the basics in place I think riders can learn to perceive whether traction is there or not. Once upon a time I was told was to just follow a faster rider: "If they can make it then you can too!". Although I was told this by nice people with good intentions I would categorize this logic as destructive advice. Rossi said something once like, " Today Lorenzo is riding very fast. And I tried to stay with him, and I should not have tried, and I crash." There are all different skill levels, tires, pressure settings, suspension and settings, etc. so all things aren't equal and just because one guy can corner at one speed doesn't mean everybody can!

Like Will said: looking forward to seeing you at Code RACE!

Welcome to the forum, we've probably crossed paths in person!

Welcome Jeremy, see you in Vegas!

Here is a video of our mechanic, Will shifting clutchless: I find it much easier. "- I was under the impression that once you brake harder than engine braking alone provides you are then slowing the engine with the brakes which would increase braking distance." I think modern brakes have enough power to slow the bike, the engine, and power left over to launch you to the moon, or at least do a sweet stoppie! Seriously though, if you think about lifting the rear off the ground under braking, it wouldn't be possible for the engine to increase braking distance. I think it may be easier to blip under heavy brakes? I've never thought about this and for me it works well under heavy or light brakes but if light brakes means 10 psi on the lever and you mistakenly add 3 lbs when you blip it would be noticeable but if heavy brakes meant 50 lbs (arbitrary numbers) then that extra 3 lbs might not be noticed?

You and are similar then Thomas! I need to start early with the electrolytes, if I wait until it feels like I NEED them it's too late for me. Since I don't want to have to chug a couple of gallons of Pedialyte I'm just gonna stick with tablets and water for my salt and potassium needs!

^^^^^ Troublemaker.

They'll take good care of you if you call the office!

Hey Rezonator, I just want to point out that you CAN'T push on the bar without being "stiff" in your arm. It requires muscle tension, strength, to push and cause the machine to lean over. It's not a bad thing, unless you try and "hold" the bike in the turn by keeping pressure on the bar after you've already got it turned. I think your observation is a good one though, the push/pull steering action isn't wrong and if you have more success relaxing after your input with it I would definitely keep using it!

BP is actually covered on Lvl 2. You will first do it with a coach on a static bike, you'll cover some common BP errors and why they would be considered errors and then you will be shown a BP that is "correct" or advantageous for YOU. The reason I emphasize the last bit is that everybody is built differently and will fit on the machine with slight differences. Once you and the coach have found a good BP he/she will put you on the Lean Bike and you will ride around the coach on the skid pad and work on the left and right side separately until they feel good to you and look right to the coach. Then you will take your new position onto the track and your coach can work with you there as necessary. Lvl 3 is about more than body position. We cover BP on Lvl 2 and you ride the lean bike then also. Lvl 3 goes more into how you can best position and move your body on the machine for maximum benefit. About how to move around with the most stability and where to move to.

Makes me want to work on my own riding.