stuman
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Posts posted by stuman
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Hey Jason, good write up. I know what you mean about So Cal Track Days. I have been riding with those guys for a very long time, since they started out at Pahrump. I love the no sessions format, but they do have some safety issues to work out, no doubt.
I can't wait to ride that track. I'm headed out there 1/22 and 1/23 to ride with Track Daz and I'm looking forward to learning a new track. Maybe I'll see you there one of these days
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Ok, I worded it very badly but I think what i'm getting at is this: Would anyone on here think about trying to go into the corners faster to improve lap times? Just seems to be the opposite of what we have read/been taught.
So your saying that you have been taught that a high entry speed is a bad thing?
Increasing entry speed to improve lap times isn't exactly a novel idea.
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So your saying Lorenzo was "charging the turns"? I think we must have a different definition of the term.
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My clutch usage for downshifts changes all the time. Most of the time I blip and use the clutch as seen in the video. In some specific corners (like turn 9 on the big track at willow) I do clutchless downshifts. And still other times I will grab the clutch, downshift a number of gears and then let the clutch out slow. Just depeneds on the corner and how hard I'm braking. I use clutchless downshifts when there is little or no braking. When braking super bard, super late, I will drop a bunch of gears at once and let the clutch out slow.
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Very nice indeed, although it points a little too much down, in my opinion.
I'm still trying to figure out whether you were towing a student around, chasing up some student we never saw, or just having a blast out there
I pointed the camera down a little so you could see my hands and what I was doing with the controls.
This was just one lap at a decent pace, I wasn't leading anyone.
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I mounted the GoPro to the chin bar of my helmet while riding at Vegas. I just thought it was kinda a cool view...
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Congrats on a great year. Austin is a great kid and I wish him all the best!
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I don't really use the brakes much when riding on the street. A nice, smooth, steady pace leaves me more room for the unexpected.
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I thought it was great racing. The passes all seemed pretty clean to me...
You wana see rough racing check out the last race of the DSB class at Barber...
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Different line could be the cause.
Quicker turn could be the cause.
Different bike, more ground clearance, rearset pegs.
Different body position, one could have been twisted to the max so his butt was dragging but his upperbody still centered.
I'm sure their's more...
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one thing though.. You mentioned "Do Not let your inside leg off the tank until you are done braking or until you start to lean in." I understand this is ideal, but what would you do under circumstance you have to trail brake?? Thanks Stuman
When trailbraking I typically stick my knee out when I start to lean in. When trailbraking you're not really braking that hard after you lean in, so there isn't as much force that is trying to throw you forward...
I can think of a turn or two where I'm trailbraking really hard and have both knees against the tank even after I have started to lean in (usually not too far leaned over though, just bending it in on the brakes), but as a rule I think it would be OK to say that I take my knee off when I start to lean.
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Not really, I think if you don't hang off the bike (move your butt off the seat some) then sitting up against the tank is probably fine and I can't think of any problems it might cause.
When you start to hang off the bike it is important to slide back away from the tank some to allow you to move across the bike without getting twisted.
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Just FYI Eirik, when you sit very forward on the bike, against the tank, it kinda forces you into a twisted body position when you try to hang off and can lead to really bad form. I know you don't hang off, but I assumed because the OP was riding in the advanced group at track days that he was probably hanging off the bike and sliding forward against the tank could do more harm then good.
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Well, I would advise you do the opposite of what Eirik suggests.
when approaching a corner set your lower body position using a two step process well before the corner. Move your butt back away from the tank and then over into the position you would like to retain throughout the corner before you brake.
now that you have your butt where it needs to be you can start braking. When you do apply the brakes, pinch both sides of the tank hard with your knees to keep yourself from sliding forward (tech-spec or stomp grip really helps). This is very difficult and will feel very awkward because it is hard to grip the tank with your inside knee when your butt of off the side of the seat. It is even harder to downshift when you are all twisted like this and it takes a lot of practice to become comfortable in this position. At first you will feel all twisted up and that is normal.
While pinching the tank with your knees you also can use your core muscles to stabilize your upper body. Again this is not easy and it takes some practice. I'm not sure using your legs and core will allow you to keep your arms 100% relaxed (I've never been able to achieve this), but it will take as much pressure off your arms as possible.
Do Not let your inside leg off the tank until you are done braking or until you start to lean in. You but should already be in position, so when your turn in all you have to don is stick your knee our and lean your upper body into the corner.
I hope this helps. Braking hard and late on the track does put a tremendous amount of force on your body. The best you can do is use the larger muscle groups in your legs and your core to counter this.
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But riding like on the video - or faster or slower - I'm not really aware of what I do to turn the bike.
Becoming more aware and having control over this very thing is a pretty important.
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Press and Release isn't really a drill unto itself, it is something that we go over with some students that are experiencing a particular problem during the steering drill.
The concept is that sometimes during the steering drill a student or instructor will notice that the front end of the motorcycle kinds "digs in" at the bottom of their turns back and forth. This is typically because the rider will press on the bar to get the bike to lean over and then hold the bars to stop the bike from leaning. It's this holding the bars that causes the front end to dig in.
If you press on the handelbar to turn in and then release that pressure (just relax, not hold on) to stop the bike at the lean angle you want, the front end won't dig in.
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Erik, it is really quite simple. You counter steer to initiate the turn and once the bike leans into the corner the bars will automatically turn in.
If you press on the inside bar while leaned over the bike will lean over more. If you press on the outside bar the bike will stand up.
When a bike leans into a corner the bars will automatically turn in. This is not steering, it's just the bike balancing itself. This is what your video shows, nothing more.
Steering is when the rider performs some action to change the lean angle of the bike to get it to change direction.
You don't steer a bike into a corner, you counter steer it. Once you have counter steered the bike and it leans over the bars will turn into the corner without the rider doing a thing, this is not steering.
If you want to adjust your line mid corner you do so by counter steering.
As for your racer friend's advice it is fairly sound, if the front slides you can turn the bars in to recover and if you have to much lean angle for your speed turning the bars into the corner (pushing forward on the outside bar) will stand the bike up.
If you don't believe that this is how it works please try it for yourself.
Ride in a straight line at any speed over let's say 15mph, push forward on the left bar and notice what happens. Report back if you like.
Ride through a sweeping corner at any speed over 15mph, push forward on the outside bar and notice what happens. Report back if you like.
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Oh, that reminds me, I have a 6 hour race coming up, I need to dust off the Suzann Summers Thighmaster...
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Do you find your knees (on the inside of the turn ache)? If you carry all/most of the weight on the inside peg, your knees are way past where they're effective, and if you have ever tried to squat weights, you try to never go past 90degrees. Imagine squatting down on one leg, all that weight down on your leg, then extend yourself back up from that position, is it easy? How much effort does it take? Is that any different than what you're suggesting on the bike?
Second point, if you recognise that your not very effective/efficient doing this, imagine the scenario where you need to quickly transition from one corner to the next, how are you going to leverage that weight across the bike? Your legs don't work to well, so what levers will you use instead?
I see where you are going with this Bullet, but I have present a counter point.
Yes when I hang off my inside leg is fully bent and my knee does get sore after a long race. But In order to get into a good hang off position on a modern sport bike with rearset pegs I have no choice. I'm 6'2" and have pretty long legs.
When I move back and forth on the bike it is difficult to completely unweight my butt from the seat, so I don't. Instead I only flex my quads hard enough to take some of the weight off and use the muscles on the insides of my legs to pull my weight across the bike, the most important aspect of the Hip Flick drill. The big thing for me is that I don't use my quad muscule on my inside leg to push myself across the bike, instead i use the musles on the outside leg to pull myself across. Doing it this way means that I'm not really using my quads much to transition, only to take a little weight off the seat so I can slide across.
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Just to offer another point of view.
When I hang off MOST of my weight is supported by my INSIDE leg.
My inside leg is bent fully so that my calf touches my hamstring.
I see nothing wrong with this.
I do use my outside leg to lock into the tank as best I can and support as much weight as I can, but still most of my weight ends up on my inside foot. I feel there is only so much you can do with the outside leg.
I've ridden several endurance races on a track with mostly right hand turns. Durring and after these races my right foot and calf will be killing me along with the muscles on the inside of my left leg.
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That is so Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I wish only the best for him, such a good kid.
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I ride a Concourse 14 on the street with Pilot Road tires. Recommended tire pressure for the bike is 41 front and rear. This is way too much for aggressive riding in the twisties.
For your bike I would probably go to 34 front 36 rear and see if that makes an improvement. I run 36 front and rear on my Concourse when riding in the twisties and 41 f/r when commuting to work.
I suspect you have too much pressure in your front tire and that would cause what you are feeling. Also making sure your relaxed on the bars would probably help a great deal.
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I use a Leatt brace when riding Motocross and Supermoto. It is really great and I don't even notice that it is there when riding. I have taken a few headers riding MX and I think the brace may have helped in at least one crash. In any case I think it is well worth it when riding offroad.
That said, a brace will not releive any stress on your neck. It is only there to stop hyper extension and durring normal riding it provides no extra support.
I tried riding with it on a roadrace bike and didn't like it. It was hard to get in on over the leathers and it sat to high so it restrcited my head movement. I have seen guys use them road racing, but I think they had to cut their leathers a bit to make it fit right.
Chuckwalla Valley Raceway 12/4.
in School Questions/General Discussion
Posted
I'll probably be there for the race weekends.