Rodan

As a first responder for the last 15 years, in a prime motorcycle riding area, I unfortunately have LOTS of experience with single-vehicle motorcycle crashes. In my experience, SR's and target fixation are at the top of the list for causation, as the VAST majority of riders who crash entered the turn traveling a speed at which the motorcycle was capable of negotiating the curve. Most riders who crash (single vehicle on the street)attempt to reduce speed or stop, and depart the roadway to the outside of the turn before they go down. A significant number of cruiser riders who go down on the road lock the rear brake before falling. Rear brake stomping is less common with sportbike riders, but front brake crashes are relatively uncommon. It's much more likely that they will target fixate, and run off the road while braking and then fall down when they leave the pavement. Interestingly, crashes due to road condition (gravel, sand, etc.) are not really that common. So what can we learn from this: As Keith notes, getting on the track and getting some coaching pays huge dividends in safety on the road. In my experience most riders crash because they enter a turn at a speed they perceive to be too fast, and SR's, target fixation, and a lack of skill cause them to panic. Track time will teach you that most modern sportbikes are capable of entering a turn at a speed that would cause heart failure for most riders; but knowing this can keep you from panicking. The above is anecdotal, but based on 15 years of picking up the pieces (and sometimes the bodies), 5 years of serious track riding/racing and 3 Superbike schools (plus a couple of Keith's competitors'schools that I won't mention!). Push it on the track, not the street!

Nobody? I guess it'll be lonely on the track! ...getting antsy, and hoping for dry weather!!

I have ridden with both AZTrackday and Team AZ, and prefer Team AZ. I do cornerwork for them, but I had the opportunity to do that with either organization. I'll be happy to tell you the reasons over a cup of coffee sometime, but don't want to get into it in a public forum. That's been done enough already. Let me just say that there are some fine people working for both organizations. The TLR was a good bike in its time. The biggest problem was considered to be the rear suspension w/ the funky rotary shock. They've kind of been overshadowed by the SV1000, which is a better bike. That's not to say the TL is a bad bike. For the right price, I'm sure you can find a buyer in the Valley. Your form looks pretty good from the picture. That looks like the second left in the carousel... It's pretty hard to critique from a single picture, unless something is obviously out of whack. The attached pic is a pretty good example of a common error. That's me on the silver ZX-6, and if you look at the guy on the CBR600 in front of me, you can see the angle of his spine is nearly vertical, even though his knee is on the deck. It's important to keep your spine aligned with the bike to keep the center of gravity to the inside. This will decrease the lean angle required for a given speed/turn radius, and will also get you closer to the bars which will keep your elbows bent and help you be loose on the bars. Keith talks about this in either Twist II or Soft Science, but I don't recall if it's covered in Twist I. The pic is from the first left in the carousel before the strait at West. I'll look forward to seeing you at the track. I'm more than happy to give any help I can to an enthusiastic newcomer. If it wasn't for folks who did that for me, I wouldn't be riding at the level I am...

I will be at West this weekend with Team AZ. I cornerwork for them, so I don't attend the AZTrackday events. I'm currently riding an '06 GSX-R1k, previous track bike was an '03 ZX-6R. I live in the Prescott area. I read the RRSW forums, but am not registered there at the moment. I had intended to start racing this spring, but for various reasons had to put it off. You can get involved with PSC at www.phoenixsportbikeclub.com. It's a private forum, so you will have to request to join. My best advice for you is to work with the instructors that are available, and work on one thing at a time. Reading Keith's books will help, and attending a school is even better! Cheers!

Over the past several years I've run Dunlops (208GPA), Pirellis (Supercorsa) and Metzelers (Rennsport) on an '03 ZX-6R trackday bike (not ridden on the street). I do trackdays monthly, and my pace would be mid-pack in the local CCS amatuer classes. The Pirellis and Metzelers (same tire basically) were good for 4 hard trackdays, then 1-2 at a slightly relaxed pace (started to go away after 4 days), with 4-6 sessions per day. I don't have tire warmers, so that's a few heat cycles each day. The Dunlops were good for 3 hard days, and really started to go away on the 4th, so about one day less, and went away faster. In November, I changed to an '06 GSX-R1k, and am running Metzeler Racetecs at the moment. The first set has three days with no noticable loss of grip so far, although I changed them out for a new set, as I'm running the school at Laguna next week. I am still sorting out the new bike, so I'm not at 100% yet, but I'm running faster lap times than on my ZX-6. Anyway, that's my experience with DOT race tires in a trackday environment. YMMV Cheers!

Did you get any lap times on West? I'm assuming you were running with AZ Trackday, which group were you running in? If it was your first trackday, I'd guess either beginner or super street? 1:00 on East is VERY fast. Lap record was just reset at the last race at :54 and change. Most of the intermediate level trackday riders run 1:08-1:12, beginners 1:15-1:20+. If you're just starting out, 1:00 is a pretty lofty goal! I wish you luck, but get a baseline and then set reasonable and progressive goals. Remember, going from 1:05 to 1:00 is a lot harder than going from 1:10 to 1:05. Don't try to get it all at once, or you'll hurt yourself! I've been running trackdays monthly at FB for about three years now, and I'm currently in the 1:02s on East. 1:00 is my goal as well, and I can tell you if you get there, you're probably in the top ten riders at any given trackday, including the racers. BTW, are you on the PSC (Phoenix Sportbike Club) board? I'm Rodan over there as well...

Congratulations! The West track is short, but has some good technical parts that can really help you work on your skills. I believe Keith is coming to AZ again in the fall. Are you going to be out there with TeamAZ this coming weekend? (12th)

Yes, they come off fairly easily. You can remove any glue residue with one of the citrus based cleaners like "Goo Gone".

Anyone doing Laguna Seca in March? I'll be there on the 14th with another friend from AZ...

That's not exactly what he recommends... Mototune's break-in procedure is based on heat cycles, getting a good ring seat and changing oil right away to get the metallic particles out of the engine right away. FWIW, I have used this method on my last two track bikes ('03 ZX-6R and '06 GSXR1K) with excellent results. The ZX6 was done on the dyno, put down great numbers and ran perfectly for the 2.5 years I had it (~4000 track miles). No issues whatsoever. The GSXR is new this year, and I've only got around 400 track miles, but so far, so good. It also put down good numbers, but the break-in was not done on the dyno.