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Webberman

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Everything posted by Webberman

  1. Marquez must be glued to the bike he's locked in so well. How's this for light on the bars!
  2. Just curious but it seems to me that given the speeds at which pros often do corner, there must be a significant amount of centripetal force created pushing the rider down into the seat. Could it be that this force assists the rider in staying locked on the bike at extreme lean angles? On MotoGP.com a few years ago Jorge Lorenzo was demonstrating how much lean angle they get to while cornering a MotoGP bike. http://www.motogp.com/en/videos/2013/09/26/the-lean-angle-experience/125254 They had a bike on a stand at like 60 degree angle. However there was no way that Jorge could hang onto the stationary bike at an angle like that. He needed the tremendous G forces that only occur while cornering to assist him in staying on the bike. Is that the component we are over looking when we see pictures like those in the original post? Just curious what you all think?
  3. I've always struggled with this as well. I feel like I am always putting way too much weight on the inside peg when I corner. On the street I am riding a sport touring bike (FJR1300) with somewhat limited ground clearance, so hanging off on spirited rides through the twisties has the immediate benefit of keeping hard parts from scrapping (other than the peg feelers which I occasionally grind on). I think I am just not locked in with the outside leg well enough. I am usually in textile riding gear and the tank is slippery. I probably need stomp grips or similar to help hold on. I think this probably means I am also not as light on the bars as I should be. By the way speaking of light on the bars, how about this guy? Elbow down with one hand
  4. So I looked into the stomp grip pads and they actually have a few different levels of pads. They have a "Volcano" style which is the pointy cones like at CSS. There is a Super Volcano which looks like you can impale yourself with and finally something called Smoothridge which is kind of like a checkered flag pattern of squares of different hights. I think I will look into the Smoothridge pads and see how they work.
  5. Good idea! I was suspecting that it had something to do with my inability to hold on . I'm going to research some pads to use. I want something to hold me in place when the pace goes up but not be too agressive for when I am just touring. I always wear full riding gear when I ride but its textile stuff not leather. I think the stomp grips are a bit too aggressive for my textile stuff. Any suggestions other than stomp grips?
  6. So I've only taken CSS level I and II. I think knee to knee and hip flick must be a level III topic but I sure could use an understanding of how its done. I also feel I am putting way to much weight on my inside peg when cornering. I mean after I have positioned my body in preparation for the corner I still have an extreme amount of weight on the inside peg even at mid corner. Its not until I am picking up the bike on exit that I *think* I'm easing up the pressure. I did n't realize I was doing that until a few weeks ago. I met a few friends of mine who ride sport bikes and we spent the day riding on and around Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah area of Virginia. I ride a Yamaha FJR1300 which is a "Sporty" touring bike, but obviously no sport bike. Its pretty heavy (600+ lbs) and does not have the greatest amount of ground clearance. On the way up the mountain there are some nice twisties and our lead rider (on an S1000RR) picked up the pace to have some fun. Nothing too crazy, but brisk. I found that I needed to hang off a bit more than I would like to on a public road to keep up with him, mostly to keep from scraping the pegs (the road is crowned so lefts are off camber). Now scraping the pegs is not that big a deal. It happens occasionally on that bike and the pegs are the folding type. Its an indication to me that I've reached the maximum safe lean angle and I either need to hang off more to keep the bike more upright, slow down or both. I usually just slow down. Now this time though, with the brisk pace, I was already hanging off in an effort not to scrape. What surprised me was just how much weight I was putting through the inside peg when it finally did scrape. I had very little weight on the outside peg, in fact I could easily adjust my outside foot placement. I was trying my best to lock my knee in but the tank is slippery and does not have a grip pad. My inside peg was a different story all together. I was putting a lot of weight through the inside peg. After the ride my legs were sore and fatigued. Obviously I am doing something very wrong (asside from spirited riding on the road). I was trying to be smooth and lift my butt up using my legs to slide across the seat, but I was still using the bars to move around (wrong thing to do) on the bike. In fact it felt more like I was squatting on the pegs with my bum off the seat and then trying to move the bike underneath me when setting up for a corner. I guess I was quite surprised when I scraped a peg and found I was still doing the squat thing even while leaned over, just now all on the inside peg. So here is my question. How much weight would one expect to have on the pegs, inside peg in particular, during cornering? I'm thinking that if I was comfortably locked onto the tank with my outside knee, I would not be effectively standing on the inside peg trying to keep myself in position. I was thinking that I should be light on the pegs and the bars with my weight on the seat unless I was transitioning from side to side. Still when transitioning I should not be pulling myself across with the bars nor should I be trying to push the bike up with the bars. Maybe its just the ergos of my touring bike. Its not a sport bike so maybe the ergos are all wrong for the occasional hang off or maybe I need something to help grip the tank better. I thought I understood the knee to knee thing but I think I am obviously not doing it. Time to dig out my TOTW II book and re-read it. Funny thing is I don't recall this being an issue when I took CSS II this summer. Then again I just might not have noticed it.
  7. I took my level 1 CSS at NJMP in July 2012 and my Level 2 just recently at VIR this May. Both bikes were truly awesome as I don't ride a sport bike. In fact my first experience on a sport bike was my Level 1 CSS. Outside of a couple of demo rides (2014 R1 and Ducati 1299) my recent level 2 CSS was my second ever real sport bike experience. I want one, but at least for now I've got room for only one bike at home and that would be my FJR1300 tourer. I think it is likely that any differences I felt between the two CSS days were probably less to do with the bikes and more to do with changes in my skill level as I learn and become more comfortable going faster. But anyway this was my impression. Take this with a grain of salt given my lack of track experience. Power delivery Both the 2012 and 2015 were scary fast (to me anyway) and it took a couple of sessions at my level 1 school in 2012 before I got used to the thrust at WOT. But like anything you get used to it and it is a blast! Power wise if there was any difference that I could feel, it is that the 2015 seemed a bit softer or maybe a bit less agressive when you first crack the throttle open at lean to start your roll on. In both cases I was in Sport mode but I recall thinking it was less abrupt. Maybe that is all in my head but I recall in 2012 feeling that there was a dramatic difference in both character and power between rain and sport modes. It seemed like the difference was less dramatic (in a good way) with the 2015. Shifting I loved the quick shifter especially the auto blipping down shifts on the 2015. It let me more spend more attention units on braking rather than worrying about my down shifting technique so much. Smooth downshifting is something I always try to practice on the street (no slipper clutch on a my bike). I probably didn't have to worry about it as much as I did in my CSS 1 anyway given the slipper clutch but I did not worry about it at all on the 2015. Suspension Ok this is where I really think the difference was in my progression and not so much the bike but who knows. Both were very stiff compared to my FJR. But what I felt on the 2015 is odd to describe. It was as if I had a better feel for what the tires were doing. Like you could feel them really grip the surface. I had this feeling particularly if I was going fast enough to scrape the knee sliders a little bit while going over less then perfect pavement, a bump or transition, etc. It was as if you could feel the tire coping with the imperfections but all the time still providing tremendous grip. It was very confidence inspiring and made me want to push a little harder each time I went through the same corner (Particularly VIR turn 1, 4 and the transition at turn 7). Maybe I did not feel this back in 2012 because I was too scared and lacked enough skill to push hard enough to feel that. I was not expecting to improve as much with level 2 but the difference was huge. The vision skills I learned seemed to slow everything down and give the feeling that I could go faster just about everywhere. Unfortunately by the time I had worked up to the point I was starting to feel these sensations the day was over. I hope it does not take me 3 years to get back and do level 3! Steering Can't say there was any difference here. Push the bar and it turned. Both bikes had a neutral feel. Neither falling into turns or trying to stand up. I guess that's really a characteristic of the tires and I think they were probably the same Dunlop Q2s at both CSS events. Could be wrong here. Dunno. Braking Phenominal brakes in 2012, probably equaly phenominal in 2015 but now I knew what to expect. I actually was easier on the brakes in Level 2 so nothing significant stands out for me, just 1 or 2 fingers and a light pull would shed all the speed I wanted. In fact every session I still felt like I needed to keep it pinned longer after the kink and brake later as it was so easy to slow down. I never really got it together and still rolled out of it too soon after the kink. I found myself feeling like I was carrying a lot of speed into turn 1 but then I would find after I turned in I was really going in to slowly. I would be a bit aggressive on my roll on to compensate but I would just end up running wide. My coach quickly pointed out that it was my aggressive roll on and not my corner entry speed that was making me run wide. Quicker turn in and less aggressive roll on cured that. Hmm what else is there? What a great bike and what a great school!
  8. Hey Jethead, I did my level 2 at VIR on May 12th and it was fantastic! Mine was a 50th birthday present to myself. When I get a chance I will post up my experience. How was your CSS?
  9. Hi Folks, I am new to the forum. I did my Level 1 at NJMP a few years ago and now completed level 2 at VIR this past in MAy. I figured I would stop lurking and join the fun!!
  10. Hey, I'm new to the forum here, lots of great stuff! need to figure out the Avitar thing! Wow! My first reaction was just turn the bike! But you know target fixation can be a beast, particularly if you have had no training. This guy accellerated just a little bit more than he intended on that ramp and unleashed a whole set of SRs. He found himself just running a little wide (easily correctable) but instead tried body steering and when that did not work he just stiffened up and target fixated right into the truck. Now I just completed my level 2 at VIR on May 12th this year and though I know better, target fixation still catches me from time to time. The difference is now with training the duration is very very short. Before taking any training I was like, "Hey look at that big pot hole in the road coming up, sure would not want to hit it ... omg, Omg, OMG BANG!" after training its more like "Pot hole, check" and I would momentarily spot where I wanted to put my front wheel and that would be the end of that thought. But a truck is probably a lot more firghtening and causes a lot bigger SR response then a pot hole. Still the training works. If he did nothing else but conciously look down the ramp where he wanted to go, I am willing to bet that he probably would have easily made it without thinking about it. A little counter steering would not hurt either.
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