tomw

Here's a little video summary of the day. We had a great time and everyone improved from the morning. I have almost as much fun coaching this as the students have riding the exercises!

Hi there life long learners! If you happen to be in the NY area, OTRA Motorcycle School, an MSF certified and NYSMSP licensed motorcycle training school is hosting Corner College, an advanced cornering clinic, in Selden, NY at the Suffolk Community College campus. The date is Saturday September 9th (next Saturday!). This is not a track day, we will be in a wide open parking lot to focus on specific cornering techniques in a structured format with off-cycle coaches providing real-time and constant feedback to a small group of riders (maximum of 8 riders for the day.) This is a unique format developed by myself with OTRA to address specific skills that sportbike riders tend to misunderstand, to reduce the interaction of factors to occur that lead to crashes, on the track or the street. This is an excllent compliment to track days and track oriented schools, like CSS. Since the format is very different from the track we tend to break people out of ruts and plateaus in their learning paths that they have been struggling with. Past students have commented about how much fun it was to take a different approach and how much more they learned than they expected. That always warms my heart as someone who is also always willing to learn and grow. If you are interested or curious please call Vanessa our office manager (she’s also a certified MSF coach!) at 631-862-RIDE (7433). You are also welcome to come down and watch if you want to see if this is for you, perhaps for a future class! We welcome All to the celebration of motorcycle knowledge. “Learning is a journey, not a destination” Warmest Regards, Tom https://www.facebook.com/intuiTom https://www.facebook.com/On-The-Road-Again-118099454912957

The title is slippy drying street circuit, at the pace they are riding, I assume they are fighting traction the whole way. What does the front do when the rear loses traction (and the rider doesn't try to fight it?) Would slip and grip events with proper light weighting the handgrips make the handlebars seem to "jolt" from the reference frame of the motorcycle? When they leave the ground and land on the front after the forks compress all the way, what should handlebars do at that point to maintain overall motorcycle stability. Is the motorcycle actually stable or unstable here?

Just realized I've posted twice and forgot to read this newbie section! Well in case it wasn't obvious my name is Tom also. I've been track riding for 10 years, street riding for 25. I took level 1 and 2 about 4 or 5 years ago and it changed my life (literally). I was so impressed by the organization (of the material, the coaches, and the staff) that I decided to become an MSF coach and learn to coach motorcycling at a street level. Until my first experience with CSS, I thought coaching was "just follow me" with a point on the tail and someone disappearing 5 turns later. Uhm, what did I learn there? I loved the real coaching stye and I wanted to be that as much as possible. I've been doing MSF Coaching ever since then and now I say I get paid to ride motorcycles (paid should be in heavy air quotes since I'd do it for free, and almost do!) I took level 3 about two months back and for the first time tried the BMWs. It totally ruined me! I was looking at BMW motorcycle websites for days after that. Suddenly my little Ducati 748R seemed so....old. LOL Anyway, reality came back and I've been super excited to learn and apply as much as possible on the little yellow guy. While my background is in engineering, I actually approach motorcycling not as an engineer but as an athlete (air quotes again needed here!!). I think the best thing about motorcycles is that there is a technical aspect, but also a motor skills aspect, and they blend together into a package that takes two lifetimes to master.

I like to think about what I call the "Athletic Ready Position". Picture any basketball player, football player (soccer or "futbol"), or even the All Blacks doing their pre-game psyche out. If you take a photo right when they are about to spring into action, they are on the balls of their feet. Some sports talk about being caught "flat footed" when you're not in that position and can't make the move (tackle, pick, etc.) I've spent some time playing with my foot position and always go back to balls of the feet (when I do it right!). Interestingly, as a drummer, I switch between using the balls of my feet for the bass drum beater in faster/louder beats, but drop to heel for slower/softer more relaxed beats. I can push hard off the balls and be back ready for the next hit, but it's hard to do that softly. Perhaps some pros have enough attention credit to switch up the feet depending on the situation, I certainly don't!

It seems like the club racer above is using some sophisticated quick shifting to downshift mid corner and some traction control wizardry to maintain 40/60 through the turn. It reminds me of F1 engines in the early 2000s. Paddle shifting with traction control meant the gears were effortlessly changed at any moment with the throttle pinned. I always think about the time the electronics don’t work (faulty ground wire or something) and that riding style instantly becomes dangerous. Then there’s this onboard footage...speaking of “fastest”