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Spaghetti

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Everything posted by Spaghetti

  1. I heard stories of how health insurances won't cover any hospital expense in case of a track accident (what in policy language is called a "close course event"). I also heard of riders being questioned about their motorcycle activity by an insurance representative over the phone after an ambulance trip to the hospital. Do you have a special insurance to cover track days or racing? Are you confident your regular health insurance covers motorcycle riding?
  2. "More turns. I wish I could remember which ones but I can’t. A track that’s so familiar to me became unfamiliar due to speed." LOL A very enjoyable read. Congratulations for your 14 seconds improvement! And how about pulling a lap worth of data from Nate's bike logger for review?
  3. Yes Rea winning every race this year, Sykes the season before. Boring.
  4. I would spare all the chassis items (except maybe for the subframe, not sure how much it helps) and add an air filter, plus dyno and recalibration with the new exhaust. I would also save on the second GPS and connect the main GPS to the dashboard. Buy more practice/coaching track time with the saved money.
  5. Impressive, but MotoGP had a new (worse) ECU and new tires riders weren't used to during the season. I've been trying hard to get into WSB during the past season but with the Kawasaki dominating every race it became unwatchable at some point. Also of interest Moto2, which is probably more instructive to watch for us than MotoGP.
  6. Had some fun with iMovie and some track footage from last summer: https://youtu.be/wcOV2Jrkh9k
  7. I think he focus on the riders when he needs to pass. In a racing/all experts group things might be different. Otherwise the eyes are nailed on the apex 99% of the time!
  8. Thanks, all good tips (I was going for the smallest Asus Eee). About leaving the laptop unattended, a laptop lock can be enough to protect it, locked to the tools drawer or a portable table.
  9. Another way to think about the quick turn is that we work on the widest patch of the tire. I'm still not completely over the loss of stability that a quick turn could cause to the bike myself, but pushing the bike from up straight to a 30 degree lean angle works on the widest and most reliable tire patch. We crash when we input braking, throttle or steering on a higher lean angle, not when the bike is up. Same thing when flicking the bike from one side to the other, you're actually releasing lots of stress on the tire to go up straight than to the opposite side. Perhaps one way to wrap our mind around this is: all-in until 30 degrees lean, then smooth to 40 degrees (in one continuous input).
  10. Do you use a laptop at the track to read your data logger? I'm assuming it has to be a Windows one, since most DL software run on Windows only. Is a 10/11 inches clear enough to read the DL charts?
  11. Some more information on how to read data here: http://www.race-technology.com/new_to_data_logging_2_7461.html
  12. I just got an aim solo DL for my cbr600 (the solo DL logs ECU data but no analog signals, so rpms, throttle, gyro, gears, gps but no brakes). I have a general idea of what I can learn from it, like lean angle and throttle at the same time, but would be interested to know how else you benefit.
  13. I see, I thought I was looking at Road Atlanta. You guys are spoiled, two great tracks that close. I'll see if my club in NYC is willing to trailer bikes. Else the only option for me is to rent a bike there.
  14. A motorcycle might not be able to handle a double apex like a car because of the less traction at the point of the second steering input after the acceleration. So keeping the line at the center of the long turn allows riders to manage traction better and control speed as far as tires allow. This is one of the most technical tracks I've seen, I'd like to ride it one day.
  15. I heard these expressions from a couple of riders in the expert group at my track days organization. Apparently Turn 2 at Thunderbolt is an entrance-focused corner, Turn 5 is a drive-through and Turn 6 is a rolling speed. I guess drive-through means sticking to the inside-kerb for longer than usual in a slow speed corner. I don't understand what's the difference between an entrance-focused and a rolling-speed one though, but I find the idea of classifying corners interesting. For a start, what makes corners different? I would say radius is the main discriminant. Then camber and elevation, but radius is the most important. So one could shift the focus on different areas of each corner based on radius?
  16. I heard a few corner technique expressions I'm not sure about: - Entrance focused corner - Rolling speed corner - Drive-through corner What do they mean?
  17. ^^^^^ Agree. Would be very careful with these assumed communications at track days.
  18. I watched both videos, your corrections are not that bad but it's true that you drift towards the inside apex on many turns. I have the same problem, I think we all agree here that the entry mark is key to a good corner line. Then for regular fast corners I would do what I described in the previous posts. Now, for those long fast corners where you can't see the exit target on the kerb: I noticed the long left is marked as a double corner in your map: T14, T15. I agree with the map (btw, I don't see the experienced rider in your second video riding it as a double apex), I would approach it as two corners and thus would need two entry marks. The second will be on the outside kerb coinciding with he T14 exit. But there is still the problem of not seeing the T14 exit for a while. In that case I would use the middle of the track as my line until the exit mark is your view (I think that's what the other experienced rider is doing in the video). Anyway, this is all easier said than done. I think the most effective is to look for a racer or experienced rider and ask him to pick you up, slow down your pace, and follow his lines.
  19. If you can post a video with the camera pointing to your back from the tail it will help. At what mm:ss in your video we can see this problem? Same thing for the cornering forces you mention in your last post. Sounds like an interesting problem, at what time in the video we can check exactly?
  20. After hitting the entry mark I quick turn and look at the exit point on the outside kerb on a straight line going through the apex (if by now I can't see the outside kerb exit in a fast corner I'm probably dealing with a double apex). The projected exit is on the outside kerb because I want to use all the track width. I wouldn't call the exit mark a reference point: it keeps changing relative to my entry mark and my speed, bikes in front, and what if I miss the entry mark anyway. But I can always project that apex line and see my outside kerb exit target.
  21. I'm starting to like pedrosa more than anybody else.
  22. I also have problems with late apexes in fast corners. You have to make the best use of reference marks to nail the entry line because everything happens faster and there is no time to play with lines. In my experience that's half the battle, once you get the entry mark correctly it's a lot easier to nail the apex and exit line after a quick steering.
  23. Long corners are not easier! You already dissected them quite a bit, I'll add a few things: - The apex in a long corner can be later then what we are led to believe looking at the entry - There is less time to prepare the line - There is less time for handle bar input and corrections during the turn - There is more lateral G-force, thus less lateral grip. In facts the lateral G-force increases with the square of the speed (not linearly) - Problems with suspensions and frame geometry amplifies in fast corners I think a common issue some riders have with sharpe, decreasing radius corners is that all of the sudden you can't see the track in front of you. To the beginner rider that's a major problem, until he realizes track riding is first of all a memorization exercise. The long sweeping turn gives the illusion to know what's ahead of you.
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