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I was so happy to find out, today, that A Twist of the Wrist II is available on Amazon Prime Video now! You can watch it instantly, here is a link to it on Amazon Video (or you can just put A Twist of the Wrist in the search box) : https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B089ZNVBW9/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r And since we're talking about the movie, what was your favorite part? I can't wait to hear what y'all liked best. My favorite part is the CG animation and explanation of why using the front brake in a corner tends to make the bike stand up, it was BY FAR the clearest explanation I've ever seen for why that happens. (My second favorite part is near the beginning where it shows a rider going off the road due to SR's, and explains and shows each of the Survival Reactions individually.) How about the rest of you, what did you like seeing in the movie, or what helped you the most with your riding?

I have the Kindle edition, here is a link for Twist II for Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Twist-Wrist-II-High-Performance-Motorcycle-ebook/dp/B00F8IN5K6 and here is a link for A Twist of the Wrist (Twist I), it is available on Kindle also: https://www.amazon.com/Twist-Wrist-Motorcycle-Racers-Handbook-ebook/dp/B00BNFIU08/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1593622442&sr=1-2 I love having these, because I can search for a word of phrase electronically to go right to the info I want. And it's great to be able to pull up the books on my iPhone Kindle App, at the track or wherever I might be.

Yes, riding the NO B/S Bike with Josh Galster behind me...outright terrifying. Let's the stage: Josh was a pretty solid AMA Pro, racing 600 Supersport at the time, good rider. We were on the NO B/S Bike, and came pretty close to the camera car (seemed way closer on the bike than it does in the video). At what seemed like the last possible moment Josh would reach down with his thumb and steer the bike away from the car. What you might not be able to see is how hard I was pressing on the NO B/S bars--surprised they didn't bend. Veins popping out of my neck, trying to steer the bike (was sure we were gonna hit the car) I felt totally out of control Really everyone should ride the NO B/S bike, at least once. The little fine-tuning adjustments riders make to keep the bike pointed exactly where one wants, not even aware that they are being made, become crystal clear when one rides that bike.

That movie changed my life. I had been riding (commuting) about 5 or 6 months when I figured I was ready to ride some twisty roads. So I went out and scared myself pretty bad. The bike wouldn't turn, I was crossing the yellow repeatedly, my wrists hurt from my death grip on the bars, etc. Every corner was terrifying; a "mild panic" as they say in the movie. It was a bad day. Then I found TOTW2 and I felt like Keith had just watched me ride and was going over my mistakes, one by one. The entire movie was a series of "ah-ha!" moments. Everything was explained so well. Now I've done a bunch of schools and I mostly ride track days. It's a slippery slope. My favorite parts of the movie are the cheesiest parts. That's what makes it fun!

Looks like good news:

Sorry to hear about the down. I think Apollo has the core of it, and if your lecturer didn't say to obviously use the brakes if you needed then that does seem to be an oversight. I'll put a clip in at the end from the Superbike UK's level 1 presentation -- should jump to 18:16 -- which is the clearest explanation of 'how' and 'why' to do the drill (including using the brakes if you must). In my experience, the no-brake drill is best approached in a stepwise manner and helps tune entry speed and understanding of slowing from things other than the brakes (tire drag, lean angle, engine braking)... I can say I definitely cover the brakes but don't need to trail brake in for this drill (and a mild brake application mid turn can be done safely -- just be smooth and be open to needing to stand the bike up a bit, and definitely don't be adding brake while you're still trying to bend the bike over further).

On modern tires, might not be more tire in contact with the ground, but the direction of acceleration force on the tire is changed with the bike more upright.

Thanks for the heads up! I agree that showing each of the survival reactions in turn, and the cumulative effect, with the all-too-predictable outcome (going into the scenery!) really hits home how small mistakes can add up. This was a real "ah-haaa" moment for me and something I recognised in my own riding which is what prompted me to come to school in the first place. Favourite part - a Harley rider, in full leathers, quick flicking it on the street! That, and the fact that you got Julian Ryder - the voice of MotoGP - to narrate the film. What I found most eye-opening were the overlays of the riders going through the 'esses' (one quick flicking, and the other not) and the result, not only of line but lean angle too. Aye! Agree with you here. I find doing something the 'wrong' way is a good tool to learning the right way. One of your coaches once gave me a tip to keep my non-steering hand on the tank so steering becomes purely one-handed. Great drill! What this highlighted that I was very right hand dominate (I am right-handed) and that my left turn was really weak and clunky. So, even when pushing with my left my right hand was doing the lion's share of pulling, which I was oblivious too.

by the by, @Cobie Fair / @Keith Code -- any consideration to putting Twist and Twist II on Kindle? I have two paperback copies already but one that I could keep on my phone or kindle so I don't ever forget it for a track day as well as the ability to search for terms would be excellent.

Welcome to the forum...nice picture!

I was so proud of that shot, no one had ever showed how much distortion there was on setting down a wheelie of angle. There's so much going on that we still don't fully understand.

Behind the scenes - yes, I was there and one thing that I remember was that it was SO HOT during the filming! Those scenes at Streets of Willow were like a blast furnace, the hottest days I have ever experienced out there, ever. You can see the heat ripples in the air in the film. I notice it the most during the radar-gun scenes where it shows different exit speeds based on better throttle control. You must have some behind the scenes stories about the riders on the lean bike, demonstrating bad technique over water and sand and sliding the front tire! I have a question - was it scary to ride the no BS bike and have someone else behind you doing the steering?

There is some terrific stuff in there (and the first one too). Maybe we should do a behind-the-scenes commentary (Hotfoot was there...) as well as the best parts to check out. I guess I'll start: how many have looked at the footage of Will (our Chief Mechanic at the time and a very good rider) riding one of the bikes and dropping the front tire from wheelie...have you seen the frame that shows the distortion of the tire? That to me was jaw dropping, how much the tire distorted.

Great meeting you too! And again, thanks for making me feel welcome. I'll probably head out west next season - just to get something different, but Barbers is just too local to ignore. Maybe both? Lol

Hanging off moves the combined center of gravity of bike and rider more to the inside which allows the bike itself to be leaned over less. With the bike more upright, the suspension works much more efficiently which improves traction by keeping more of the tire in contact with the road.

Hi Slylos, Like the others, very sorry to hear about this. I got a report on the day, I think yours was the only incident (and glad you are OK). I'd like to follow up with you on this, talk with you, get some more info. I'll email you. Best, Cobie

A philosopher by the name of Immanuel Kant (1726-1804) said that humans have knowledge that precedes and goes beyond their personal experiences. Motorcycle riders prove this to be true because they knew, before ever throwing a leg over a bike, that they’d love it. There is an inclination to try to categorize and define this bond. Shall we call riding an art, a passion, a skill, a compulsion, an instinct, a desire, an ego booster, sheer entertainment or simply a challenge? Celebrating my sixtieth year of riding, I still don’t know which it is and that doesn’t bother me. Why ride? The question has no practical significance, it is a moot point. I knew, from the first moment I considered it, as you probably did too, how it would, could or should feel. Riding fits into an already existing recess in our (riders’) souls, our urge to live, our sense of existence, our core aliveness, our essential being. Deny it at your own risk: enjoy it to your great happiness. Only one point should concern us: losing that sense of discovery. It’s that open, childlike view we must preserve where everything is fresh paint and dewy grass except you have a set of bars and a throttle in your paws and where each corner becomes an adventure and a world unto itself. I abandoned trying to discover “why I ride” long ago. Defining the qualities of a perfect ride; finding that groove where it all flows, where you are there but detached, where all things are obvious and yet simple keeps my passion alive. A good ride has qualities that transcend the moth-goes-to-flame category of experience. Here is a description of some of them that are on my list. I seek the perfect balance of focused but not too focused. Aware of what I am doing but not pushed into it like with my face pressed against a window. Focused more on a result than on the skills or technique I need to get the result. I have to be willing to crash but not have my attention on crashing. Keep my expectations of how well I'd like to, or think I should, be riding on the back burner. I’ve found there is a fine balance between taking small errors in stride and not feeling stuck with them but not ignoring them either; that’s a trick: I open up my mental riding software program which allows me to maintain enough free attention to identify an error and hit “save” so I can later make some decision on what I can do to correct it. Be willing to make changes but always keep in mind that sometimes a very slight change can make a world of difference. That means don’t be too darn greedy for change. Realize the instant that my focus is broken and either put it back together immediately or reduce my pace. On the track, I have to separate what a practice session is from a go-for-it session. Trying not to feel weird about it when someone quicker passes me is still a battle. I have to be willing to go slower to learn something new. Give any technique a fair chance of success and try it enough times to know if I can or cannot do it. I always accept coaching that I trust. I know that self- coaching is quirky; it’s easy to delude myself and miss what is important. Once I notice some little thing I’m doing I try to discover what it is. I keep in mind that riding is a universe unto itself and being a universe it has limitless opportunities to discover its intricacies and one’s own connection to them. With all of that in place, I have a great ride. What’s on your list? Keith Code PS: We still have some open spots for our Las Vegas schools in October and November. Weather is usually perfect at that time of year in Vegas. Check out the schedule here. Copyright 2017, Keith Code, all rights reserved.

Best race oriented pad I'm aware of is https://ebcbrakes.com/product/gpfa-brake-pads/ EBC's GPFAX, but I'm not sure they'll give you better feel per say, as that's much more based on the master/lines/rotor interaction... For your information, though, sometimes it can be that simple. e.g.:

Hotfoot's question wasn't directed to me but I'd like to share how I've been able to perceive improvement in my track riding over the last year. First, I believe there are both "hard" and "soft" measures of improvement, and both are important to my development. Hard measures are truly quantifiable. The best and easiest examples are variations of lower lap times (e.g., lower best lap times, lower session average lap times, and lower spreads or standard deviation to my lap times within a session). But there are other quantifiable measures that provide insight into my level of riding "precision" such as how many corner apexes I hit in a single lap or over an entire session. Am I hitting my apexes 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of the time? From a "hard" measurement perspective my best and average lap times have been coming down, the spread of my lap times in a given session have been getting tighter, and I am hitting a higher percentage of corner apexes. So in short, lap times and precision getting better as I look over the last year. But while I am a data guy and love hard measures, it has actually been "soft" measures that have provided more insight about my progress. I think about "soft" measures (a better word may be "indicators") as things I feel and know in my brain while riding. Things like being more relaxed and having greater comfort on the bike at higher speeds and overall pace through better wide-vision; having smoother throttle roll-on and more nuanced throttle control to manage my line or control the rear wheel; smoother exit drives and getting the throttle pinned in sections of a track I couldn't before; smoother braking control and having a nice repeatable trail brake action in a particular corner lap after lap; and having one smooth steering action into and through a corner (so minimal correction). These are just a few. And you can add having fewer SR moments to the list! I also happen to be the type of person who takes notes after each track session throughout the day. Notes touch on things like what drills were worked on, what went well, what didn't, new issues that seem to be surfacing, questions I have that I need to find answers to, and areas I want to focus on in the future. Looking back over these notes I see progress through my comments on the "soft" indicators. As the saying goes "don't compare yourself to others, compare yourself to the person from yesterday". For me, having notes on "hard" and "soft" indicators of progress allows me to do this self comparison. More importantly, it helps me figure out where I need to focus in the coming days! It is not perfect but the approach seems to works for me. Cheers, Dave