stuman
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Posts posted by stuman
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Stationary bike!
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I'll look forward to seeing you there.
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The basic guideline for attending the school goes as follows. You should be comfortable operating a motorcycle without attention on the basic operations such as throttle, clutch, shifting and braking. As long as you can ride comfortably without thinking much about these basic controls, we do not require extensive street riding experience.
With these basic skills you would be fine attending a single day school or a two-day camp. During a two-day camp you would actually do level 1 on the first day and level two on the second. The advantage of a two-day camp is you ride a lot more and get much more individual attention, as the student to instructor ratio is better.
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If you're going to use one of our bikes it will be an '05 ZX6R. The best bet is go to a dealer and sit on one and see if you think it will be OK or not. If you think you are going to have a hard time call the school office and ask if it would be possible to have a cut down seat available for the school. Our mechanic may be able to remove some of the foam from a seat for you so you can get your feat on the ground.
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Doug, I would recomend level three as well. Once you have done level three you will have a pretty complete set of skills to work with, then level four is all about picking the weakest skill and making it stronger.
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Hook, I moved your thread here because I though it would get more attention, hope you don't mind. The FAQ forum is more for questions directly related to the school. This forum is kind of the catch all ...
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Your leathers will be fine, no problem.
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I have one question about the cost of the school.
How much would it cost me for both days of the school if I use the Kawi's provided.
Also would I get any bennefit in taking just a one day class.
That is two questions
At most tracks its $395 a day if you ride your bike or $595 if you ride ours. So for two days it would be $790 on your bike or $1190 on ours.
You would absolutely get a great deal of benefit from taking a one day class. Most people learn more in one day with us then they do in years of riding on their own.
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For the VIR class in May, which course, North or South?
I would assume the North course. This is the course we have used the last few times we have been there, same as the AMA races.
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I can only assume that the really fast guys who ALWAYS pass me have no choice but to get themselves and their bikes leaned over that far where knee dragging is a by product of cornering and not an end to itself. Am I correct on this assumption?
Pretty much, Yes. Some guys drag their knee because it makes them feel more comfortable with it on the ground. Some guys actually put some weight on their knee. I personally don't drag my knee much, but when I start to go faster I notice it touching down more often.
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Is it necessary to lean more in order to increase corner speed or can the same be achieved by a better line?
Your speed in a corner will be determined by many factors, lean angle and line are two of them but there is more to it then that.
Can the bike be leaned over more without going faster?Sure but that would be counter productive. All else being equal, the faster you go through a corner the more you have to lean the bike over to keep the same line. You could push the bike under you, like you do on a dirt bike, and that would cause the bike to be leaned over more for a slower speed, but what is the point? The more you lean a bike over the less traction you have. For racers lean angle is the enemy, they do everything the can to keep the bike more upright so they can go faster.
I know where you are coming from, you want to get rid of those unused portions of your tire, get your knee down and get the bike leaned over or what ever. That's cool, you can get there. Just keep working on your skills, building your confidence and you will reach your goal. I would suggest doing this on a race track at a track day or school though, rather then trying to do it in the canyons.
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If you can't get to the school right away, start by reading Keith's book Twist of the Wrist II. There's a ton of good infrmation in it on how to become a better rider. Read the book and then next time you go out for a ride pick on thing that you would like to work on improving and try to focus on that for your ride. Next time you ride focus on something different. After a while you will get better and vecome faster as a by product.
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I would assume the North course. This is the course we have used the last few times we have been there, same as the AMA races.
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Congrats man, that rocks!
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I personally don't use the rear brake. I just have a hard time with it and I don't think I'm going to gain much by using it. I?ve been trying to get myself to use it more on my MX bike, but I?m having a really hard time with it.
I read the article and it all sounds really good. The only problem I have with it is...
Doesn't rolling out of the throttle and applying the rear brake create the same force at the rear wheel? I don?t understand why using the rear brake would be any different then applying less throttle or rolling out slightly?
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I really can't say. Your best bet is to call the office and speak with one of the staff. They can tell you how manys spots have already been booked and give you some idea of how quickly they expect that school to fill up.
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Yes we use the same layout as the ama.
The track surface has many pavment to concrete transitions. They recently smoothed out these transitions with a machine that groves the pavment. Traction where it has been groved seems to be somewhat reduced but it's really not too bad. The track really isn't that bumpy, I think it's these transitions that people complain about most.
That said Mid Ohio is one of my favorite tracks. The track layout is WAY more fun and much safer then Watkins Glen. There are lots of hills and many different typse of corners. I'm sure your going to love it.
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We spend quite a bit of time with racing starts at the R.A.C.E. school.
you can learn more about the race school at http://www.coderace.com/
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That is a really good thread, the pics show a lot.
I think the main idea behind moving your weight on the street and track is basically the same. Your trying to move your weight lower and further to the inside of the corner so you don't have to lean your bike over as far. Whether you move your butt out of the seat or just move your upper body you?re still kind of doing the same thing. Your upper body has more mass anyway. I guess on the street it?s just easier to keep your butt in place and just move your upper body.
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Garry,
I think what you are experiencing could be related to a few possibilities. I?ll outline a few and maybe something will ring a bell.
Is it possible that you are rolling on a bit too much through the beginning and middle of the corner? If you were to build speed too early in the corner your turning radius would get larger too soon and you would have to wait to start your drive.
Something I?m trying to improve myself is waiting a little longer to start my drive. I run a lot of mid corner speed. I enter pretty fast and start rolling on right away. My problem is I try to start my drive off the corner a little too soon and I can?t drive as hard as I would be able to if I had waited just a little longer. This was pointed out to me when I rode with the head guy (Steve) of our Ozzy school at Phillip Island. When I would follow him around I would suck right up on him in the beginning and mid corner. I would start my drive and be right on him just past the apex, and then he would start his drive. Steve would drive out of the corner so much harder and would put a few bike lengths on me every time. I could usually make this ground back up going into the corners but when we really started to go fast he would put more ground on me coming off the corners then I could make up going back in and mid corner. Anyway, I figured out that I need to wait a little longer to start my drive, get the bike pointed and then really get on the gas hard!
You state
?I crack the throttle to settle things and continue to the apex, then wait to roll-on until I can do so and still maintain my exit line.?I?m just wondering how you know when to start this roll on, what is telling you that it?s OK to start this roll on? Have you ever just tried rolling on a little harder? Does it cause you to run wide? Does the bike slide? Maybe you have more in reserve then you think?
In Soft Science Keith talks about having a plan for a corner. Maybe you need to think about your total plan and change the focus a little more towards getting a better exit?
Next time you?re at the track try to pay particular attention to one corner that leads onto a strait, preferably a corner that you spend a little time in and not one that is really tight and over quickly. Each time you go through that corner take note of what your doing and see if you can come up with a way to get a better drive off the corner. Try changing you line, try going in a little slower, try not rolling on as hard in the beginning of the corner, try rolling on a little harder coming out. See if you can put some attention on the corner exit and change stuff up and see what works.
I hope this stuff helps. I can say that you ride very well as we have worked together at the track often. I know you have no problem turning the bike quickly and taking a nice deep turn point so it has to be something else. Corner entry and mid corner speed is a good thing and you don?t want to completely sacrifice this stuff to get a good drive. How much you sacrifice depends on how much power the bike your riding has.
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I can't see that one track would be better for a new rider than another. We do go to some great tracks, Laguna, Barber, VIR and Blackhoawk Farms are some of my favorites.
However we can't use the lean bike, slide bike and stuff at Black Hawk Farms due to a lack of space. Some times at Laguna they use the paddock for car stuff and we can't run the lean bike and stuff there, but that is rare. Every other track you can ride those bikes at the two day camp.
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Thor, sounds like you have it right to me. I've read that same article about twisting around the tank and I don't agree with it at all. It sounds like your on the right track to me.
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The two day camp is kind of like doing level one and two (or two and three, etc?) right in a row. You get much more riding tech and coaching then you would at a single day school. The two day camp offers several advantages over a one day school including?
MORE TRACK TIME
? You ride seven on-track sessions each day at the two day camp as opposed to five sessions at a one day school.More individual attention ? The student to on-track instructor ratio at a two day camp is designed to give the two day camp students more individual attention.
You ride our bike ? everyone at the two day camp rides one of our ZX6Rs. You don?t have to worry about the bike at all. Our fleet is well maintained and all you have to think about is riding.
Video bike ? Everyone at the two day camp gets to ride the camera bike several times and have their video reviewed with them by an instructor.
More off track stuff ? everyone at the two day camp gets to ride the brake rig and you can do the Steering Drill, NO BS Bike, Lean Bike, Slide Bike and the Control Trainer if you like.
Less Students on track ? We limit the number of students on-track so there is less traffic.
FOOD
? We provide breakfast, lunch and snacks all day long at the two day camps. -
One concern though, if crashing ends my day, and knowing the way I ride, will my day end early?
Not because I'm reckless or discourteous, but because of fear and lack of experience. Is there any assurances that if I wreck, I can still at least stick around and learn as much as I can? Crashing doesn?t necessarily end your day with the school. Of course you should try to avoid it at all costs but sometimes people make mistakes. If you can?t ride after a crash you can still sit in on the classroom stuff.
If you crash you may be allowed to go back out on the track but you have to get clearance from several school staff members and medical personnel. We won?t let anyone out that has any indication of a head injury or any other injury that might impair their riding
? We provide breakfast, lunch and snacks all day long at the two day camps.
Not because I'm reckless or discourteous, but because of fear and lack of experience. Is there any assurances that if I wreck, I can still at least stick around and learn as much as I can?
Sears Point In Gt4
in School Questions/General Discussion
Posted
Very cool. I pre-purchased my copy of GT4 a while back and can't wait till it's released. The next version of MotoGP is supposed to come out sometime this summer and from what I've read it should be pretty cool.
Video games are a great way to get a head start on learning a track. I played Phillip Island on MotoGP for weeks before I went down there in person. My first laps on the track were strange, I already knew where I wanted to be. The guys down there were surprised I learned the track so fast. I told them I had been riding it form months before I went down there