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Roberts

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Roberts last won the day on July 15 2021

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  • Have you attended a California Superbike School school?
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  1. My fast bike is the SR/F. 140ft pounds of torque, 110hp. With those specs. you would expect it to be a wheelie machine, but in point of fact it is not. The traction and stability software suite keeps the nose down under full jam. Likewise, depending on mode selected, it monitors and limits power delivery to control wheel spin, and lean awareness limits power when dogged over. The overall feeling is very confidence inspiring, but there is this nagging question: Am I actually good, or is this all the power control algorithms? The same question came to me at CSS. I felt very connected and in control on the S1000RR, but should I have? Why was this machine not scaring me a little bit? I had never had a leg over an S1000RR before, but it felt easy and natural. Do the techs at CSS have the nannies on full for school? If so, does this give me a false idea of what I can do out there? If I bought my own S1000RR and brought it to the track, would I find myself eating gravel and wondering what just happened? Today's machines are amazing feats of engineering, and I love them all, no doubt, but it still makes me wonder....is it us, or is it the nannies?
  2. When Cobie says ''it's not a trick question'', watch out. When I came to class as a first-timer, I leaned my bike under me like a dirtbike. Proper instruction got me to lean with my bike, paying attention to CG. What happened was that I had to lean a LOT less to get the same result. It completely changed my street riding too. I think it's a fair guess that the excess leaners are falling into the same trap as the 'lean to turn' fallacy. They think that they are 'pulling the bike down'. As if. I suppose if I started picking up some real speed I might find some benefit in moving off the CG of the bike to the inside, but I am a full minute off the track top speeds, and at that level, keeping my body aligned with the CG gave large enough benefits that body position was no longer the driving obstacle for me. OK Cobie.....straighten me out.
  3. To answer Cobie's question, I have to say that lean angle for any given corner and velocity has a lot to do with *where* you are connected to the motorcycle. If you have all your weight on the pegs, legs locked in, and butt off the seat you have a very different result than if you light on the pegs with your upper body in motion, and your vertical loading of the suspension off vertical. Generally, for me, center body over center mass is more correct for a longer cornering process, call it a 'sweep' with longer setup, longer drop and rise, and longer exit. Having said that, I also ride with a guy older then me, that does everything wrong, sits on his bike like it's a couch, and is always further and further ahead at every corner. I think he may be a Jedi.
  4. I definitely quality as an older rider. When I start a ride I am all over the bike, 'hanging off like a monkey', but for the same reason you do a few miles to let your tires and pads warm up. It's stretching, finding the right tuck-in for knees and feet, and finding out which wrist angle doesn't hurt as much today. The faster I go, the less I crawl over the bike, and that absolutely means setting up for corners in a way that is more 'sweep' then 'toss'. Another important issue is following my site lines. Visual acuity has diminished, and it takes some warm up to remind my eyes where to look, to not flick to peripheral distractions, and to get the whole 'mind, body, eye' package focused and on task. Somedays it doesn't all come together. and on those days 'wisdom' needs to kick in. Older riders need to accept when it's an 80% day, and not 'deny and fly'. My 2 cents.
  5. Hi El Colibri, I am sorry that you had that experience. That stinks. There is no fair counter to your example. You were there, you know what happened, and any comment or suggestion about that event would be absurd. My guess is that you are an experienced rider, and the fact that you are on this forum indicates you think about riding a lot. I would also lay a bet that you have avoided a hell of a lot of collisions, left yourself escape routes, watched the front wheels of hundreds of cars at intersections, studied the roadside for hints of upcoming changes, and used your best x-ray vision to try to see what drivers in cars around you are looking at and doing. I bet you practice emergency stops and avoidance drills too. Nobody can stop from being bushwhacked. I have had people pull out in front of me claiming they 'didn't see' the 1-ton diesel Silverado in was driving. Not every driver is an idiot, but every idiot does drive. I still maintain that in an overwhelming large number of incidences, we are able to save our own lives by the application of practiced skills and attentive habits. And as for single vehicle incidents? Speaking for my self, CSS training, and reading books by Kieth and others, and lots of practice have given me tools to stay out of trouble while still enjoying spirited riding on civilian roads.
  6. I just completed a Washington State DOL motorcycle safety survey. Multiple choice, asking about experience, training, years riding, accident history, etc. One of the reasons I completed the survey was that they give you the current average response chart after you complete the survey. One statistic jumped off the page. over 50% of respondents stated that the main cause of motorcycle accidents was inattention of OTHER DRIVERS. Over half of all respondents believe that the main cause of motorcycle accidents is out of their hands. It's fate, and it's up to the performance of other people. If I believed that, I would sell my bikes today and never ride again. I believe my life is in my hands, and that choices I make on the road are 100% in my control. One of my principle reasons for coming to CSS was to clean up my own bad habits and misconceptions and to point me in the right direction for continued improvement. I can report that this training has actually saved me from myself on a few occasions, and certainly given me better insight into how my motorcycle interacts with the riding environment. A few specifics: Where is the actual limit of control? What is '80%'? and how do you know how much margin you have left? When you are at speed, and committed to a line, how can you make fast changes without crossing the line into uncontrolled flight? The road is not the track, and in theory we should not exceed the limits of control on civilian roadways, but if you put in unpredictable road surfaces, other vehicles, road hazards, and wildlife, you now have an environment where the same skills you need at high speed are required to survive slow to medium velocity travel. So, this is my plug for CSS. We all want to learn to get around the track faster every lap. There are few things better than that. Control is control, and CSS training is absolutely 100% an improvement in your understanding of what control is and how to get it. We also need to learn how to read traffic, observe changes in the riding ecosystem, and learn to pay attention and stay focused. All necessary life skills, but it's all just information that allows us to choose and act. CSS will help you learn how to take action so you can come back to the track in one piece.
  7. Even though you know you are in class. Even though you respect the rules. Even though you respect your instructor. Even though you know it's specifically for your own benefit..... How many of you CAN'T STAND being passed? I have to force myself to hold it steady every time. That is probably one of the hardest parts of track days. Am I alone here?
  8. Most of my riding is on the street, and I do have a preference for right-handers, but only because if you are apexing to the paint line, on left-handers your body parts are in the oncoming lane of traffic. Even on empty roads it feels like I'm asking for it, so I tend to be less aggressive on the lefties. On the track, no difference or preference.
  9. Hi Faffi, Sort of a yes here. I am very comfortable sliding around on earth surfaces of all types. Probably my single biggest question about sportbikes on asphalt has to do with sliding. I am under the impression from pit racing bull sessions that sliding leads to disaster. slip, grip, and flip seems to be a favorite expression. I read sections in TOTW II that speak directly to sliding as a thing racers do to find the limits of traction to dial in the max speed/force for any given track or corner. So now I am back to being baffled. As a general question: If your suspension is correct, tire pressures are correct, temperature is correct for your tires, and your tires are scuffed in, heated up and pretty fresh, can you slide an S1000RR in a controlled fashion? Do Q3s slide? If they do, do they regain grip smoothly, or is it a sudden lockup that flips you off into the gravel? Great topic and I would really like to hear what the experts have to say.
  10. Hey Vic, So, it is easy to dial up the engine braking to whatever level suits you. It's 'Regenerative braking, and you can (on this model) adjust to whatever you want prior to moving, but once on the road, you pretty much have to ride whatever settings you selected. As for my escape from a body cast, I have literally decades of competitive off-road riding experience, so I am accustomed to rapidly choosing the least painful way to crash. In this case I just barely made a driveway/sidewalk transition, rode between a power pole and it's guy wire, then through the shorter part of a hedge and right back onto an empty roadway, all while up on the pegs like a dirtbiker do. four serious chances to bite it, four narrowly missed. I had to pull over and have a serious talk with myself. Something about being too old to do stuff this freakin' stupid.
  11. Hey Dylan, I am sure you get this a lot, but..... Reading the information you put on the board feels like finding clues in mystery novel. Like a real-life Divinci Code deal, only for motorcycle addicts. I am still buzzing with the classroom time on physics, biology, mathematics, psychology, and the riddle of why motorcycles turn. I really appreciate your contributions here.
  12. One more thing... Since there is no clutch and no shifter, your left side has a lot less to do. I use very little rear brake, so I can literally set my feet and lock my legs in and never need to move anything below the knees, ever. That may sound a little strange, but the bike is very slim, and there is zero engine heat, so you can literally mold yourself into the bike with no discomfort. Add the fact that it is impossible to blow a shift, or be in the wrong gear, and that you always have 100% power on demand....always the 'sweet spot', so you can loft over any rise at a moments notice...well, it's just mesmerizing.
  13. Hi CoffeeFirst. I have two street bikes. A 2014 RnineT, and the 2020 SR/F. The SR/F is the heavier of the two machines, and it feels significantly lighter. The center of gravity is very low and centered, and first thing to contact the ground on either side would be the rider, so no clearance concerns. The 'problem' I have been harping about is that Force=Mass X Velocity. Without the auditory or physical reminders of your speed, and the linear nature of the torque curve it has happened many times that I become aware of the mass of the machine only as I realize I am running out of real estate. It is extremely easy to over-cook a corner. The other concern is tire load. The bike came with Pirelli Rosso IIIs on it, which spec out pretty good, but with under 1,000 miles on them they are melting away pretty fast. I think this is a 2 sets per season bike if it's just ridden on the street, and I would expect to go through a couple sets a season on the track. there is a price to pay for all that mass. So, short answer is that you never notice the weight until you need to slow down, or when you look at your rubber after a hot ride.
  14. Thanks Hotfoot. You points all make sense to me. Setting proper sag made a huge difference on the feel of my bikes, but none of them have the level of sophistication of the S1000RR.
  15. One of the great benefits of the CSS experience is that they have carefully researched and intentional reasons for doing things on a motorcycle. I personally adapt to my machine and riding environment in a thousand unconscious ways, and there is considerable effort required to trade habits and feel for science. My point being that there must be an optimal setup of suspension, power, regen, and technique, especially technique, that capitalizes on the different attributes of these new machines. i will say that this is the best problem a guy could ever have.
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