[The Bands Of Traction]

The Bands of Traction

 

If you saw the last GP in Portugal this past weekend you couldn’t help but be impressed with the traction capabilities of the tires. The corner speeds, lean angles and how quickly the riders could flick the bikes is astounding. Clearly, that level of riding can only be achieved by those who are able to trust the tires. How do you arrive at the point of being able to use current tire technology?

 

The Edge

 

Anyone would like to be able to read and sense traction at a pro level. That would mean something like: to always know when you were at the edge of traction and feel comfortable enough to bring it there when and if you wished to.

 

For a professional rider that “edge” has to be pretty wide. Think of it this way: you must be able to ride in that band of traction or you don’t get paid. That is a different perspective than most sportbike enthusiasts have on the subject of traction.

 

Bands of Traction

 

Feeling in control of tire grip would mean reading the signs of losing grip and knowing what those signs meant. If there was a nice long, tapering curve to losing traction, where the signs of it ramped up very gradually from a squirm to a little slip and then to a slip & grip and then on to a nice, clean, power-on slide we’d all be traction masters. The fact is, tires do have signs and signals just like that but talking about it doesn’t make it any more real or comfortable without some personal experience to back it up.

 

Reading the Signs

 

By questioning a track day or club race rider you could pretty well figure out what lap times they’d be able to turn by what traction signals they had experienced and were comfortable with. You would find most riders stuck right at the “squirm” band of traction.

 

Not too bad really, providing that the rider’s basic riding techniques were firm, he could go quite quick at the squirm band of riding. This would typically give lap times that were within 8 to 12 seconds of AMA Pro 600 Supersport times. The squirm band starts right when the rider has enough pressure on the tires to get a decent sized footprint on the pavement, which is the technological magic of radial tire design.

 

Many riders think there is less rubber on the ground when the bike is leaned over but it is the opposite, there is more. They think that because they can’t add gobs of throttle when it is leaned over. In actual fact, as we bring the bike up we can add more throttle because the tires do not have to deal with the leaned over side-loading from the cornering. When the bike is straight up it has the least rubber on the ground but no side loading to take away from the available traction.

 

Technical Skills

 

Having good technical skills is the only sane route to mastering the bands of traction and reading their signs. In other words, without a firm grounding in basics, it’s easy for riders to misidentify what they think is a loss of traction when it isn’t or because of poor technique they may skip a band or two and get themselves into trouble.

 

Sloppy throttle control gives a false sense of tire grip. Using lean angle in the wrong part of the turn for the wrong reasons gives a distorted feel for it. How the rider sits on the bike can have a huge effect on it. Confusing inputs into the handlebars is another classic way of misreading the signs your tires can give you. All of them will set you up to miss the signals completely.

 

These, and others, are all technical aspects of riding that can be adjusted by the rider without having to touch the bike’s suspension. Being coached through these points is the way to go and leads to control of the mysterious traction questions riders have.

 

Tire Technology

 

Riders know that 21st century motorcycles and tires are better than they are. Fine. What security does anyone have that this is true beside the thin hope that if they do get into trouble the bike and tires will save their bacon?

 

One aspect is tire warmers and the security they seem to give riders. Tire warmers are a fact of life these days even at track day events. What many riders fail to realize is that by the time they get around a lap or two the tires can actually cool down.

 

Tire temperature is based on tire usage. The higher loads the hotter they get. If you aren’t in the band of traction that will take you over the tire warmer temp you really are looking at a security blanket that isn’t totally real. For sure it can save a rider from the embarrassment of a first lap, cold tire crash and that is the good news.

 

New Skins

 

Aside from crashing, tires are the single most expensive, consumable cost riders have for track days and racing. Tires do wear out and that wear is part of the key to their ability to grip.

 

Take the tire’s viewpoint for a moment. They are willing to stick provided there is rubber covering the cords; the temperature is up to the loads being demanded by the rider’s speed; lean angle; braking and drive off the corners. Tires wear out just like skin. As the outer layer becomes dry it is swept away by friction. On your clothes when it comes to skin. On the pavement when it comes to tires.

 

Tires, like skin, dry out from age or from heat. Exposing the next layer of fresh, pliable rubber underneath to the road is critical to performance. If the dry rubber remains on top, traction isn’t as good. To expose the new, fresh rubber, enough load must be put on the tires to “clean” them. It has been theorized that 10% tire slippage is the ideal situation for tires because it keeps the temperature up and at the same time “cleans” them.

 

Heat Cycles

 

How many heat cycles a tire has gone through, theoretically, has a huge effect on how well they work. The heating and cooling is supposed to reduce their grip by changing the chemistry that holds the rubber together and riders sometimes worry about it.

 

The Dunlops on our school coach’s bikes are usually take-offs; they’ve already been raced on and often raced on by pro riders who can get them up to full temperature. We then use them for days of track riding and all the coaches can go quick enough to run club race lap times and most of them could qualify for an AMA Supersport race. While our coaches don’t ride hot laps every moment of every day the tires do get a minimum of 30 heat cycles a day.

 

Here’s the point: The record for a front tire is 38 school days. The record for a rear is 18 days. The average laps per day would be around 90. I think Dunlop knows something about tires and taking up the devils advocate, these are the stickiest, most expensive ones so perhaps, at least for the quicker riders, there is economy in buying the good stuff after all.

 

NOTE: We change the Dunlops on our ’07 ZX6 student bikes every three or four days.

 

The Sticky Stuff

 

Everyone wants to have the stickiest rubber they can afford but it isn’t sticky until they can put the big load on the tires. Most riders would do better and learn heaps more about traction with something lesser than full race, factory rider developed tires. Why? They don’t have to put the big loads on the tires to start to experience the bands of traction as listed above.

 

Look at it this way. If you are using the tire at the bottom end of where it was developed by pro riders would it actually save you if you got brave for a moment? The answer is no. Pushing the loads on the tires up for a moment when the rest of the lap was at your normal pace will not give the tire enough time to warm up to the level you momentarily demand from it to handle the situation.

 

In other words, your potential and that of the tires have to come up together for you to take advantage of what the tire has to offer. To a large degree, the security of the stickiest rubber is false. Until you arrive at some consistency in your levels of speed and lean angle and throttle control and the other technical parts of riding it is no more then blind faith.

 

Trusting the Tires

 

In the end it isn’t about the tires it is about the rider. It’s about using good technique and having good technical skills. It’s about gaining some consistency with them and knowing you can do it. After that, it’s not so difficult to trust your tires because you trust yourself.

 

 

Keith Code

 

ⓒ 2007, all rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced by any means without express written permission of the author.

[Target Fixing]

One other thing you can do to keep them in your view longer is change your focal plane.

Try looking through the screen as though you were looking past it out into space and for

me I was able to maintain the yellow dots much longer.

 

Also, you would never be staring at any one thing for as long as it

usually takes for the yellow dots to disappear and your eyes, under most cornering situations,

would have moved many times. A simple medium speed 90 degree turn can have an elapsed

time of under 4 seconds from start to finish. Turn #11 at Laguna is an example.

 

Keith

[Steer In Opposite Direction Prior To Turn?]

Yes when we let go of the handlebars that means letting go of the throttle. The original post is about appraoching turns. So it is OK to be off throttle during our test.

 

The example of a bicycle is an extreme one because the bicycle is light. The motorcycle and it's wheels are much heavier yes, therefore, we can not effect is AS MUCH, but if it can be done on a bicycle, it can be done on a motorcycle, just to a lesser extent. And remember, I'm only arguing that there is a slight affect of hanging off, not a major effect.

 

The 500-pound weight is another extreme example, but if having that much weight that far off the side of the bike has such a major impact, then having less weight less far off the side of the bike will have a slight impact.

 

I just rode my bike to work this morning, so I did the test again and again and again and the result is always the same. I can remove my hands from the handlebars and still adjust the direction of the bike by leaning back and forth. Leaning off the bike in and of itself causes the bike to lean in that direction and turn in that direction. Just go out and do it yourself. At 40 mph the effect is not really all that subtle at all. I could be going straight down the road in the hang off position with my hands on the handlebars, then let go, and in seconds I'd be almost in the ditch. At 70mph is was much more subtle but still quite obvious.

 

If you are appraoching a turn off throttle, already in the hang off position, the bike will gradually change its lean towards the direction you are hanging off, unless you counteract that with a steering input on the handlebars. That is what the original post was saying and it is correct. If you have never noticed this before it's because you either do not hang off prior to turns, or you are subconsciously counteracting it. And since you are doing it subconsciously, you will of course argue that you aren't doing it at all.

 

The first time Keith told me in a classroom that I could turn my handlebars to the left and it would lean the bike to the right, I thought he was a nutcase, until I went out and tried it, and then it was obvious that he was right. Then he told me that I could release all presure on the handlebars in the middle of a turn and the bike would just maintain its lean angle. No, I said, for sure it will sit up and go straight. Then I tried it, and obviuosly he was right again. So we can debate this all day long or you can go out and ride your darn bikes and take your hands off the bars and lean back and forth and then you'll see.

 

I think it is very very important for people to understand countersteering and understand that it is like a 1000 times more effecting than "body steering." What we can do with our bodies alone I would hardly call "steering." But there is some effect.

 

Once you change the bike and rider combined center of mass the bike is necessarily out of balance and will tend to go in the direction of the imbalance which does require a very slight pressure to correct for when going straight and hanging off. It's barley noticeable but you do have to do it. Once you transition to braking there is still some pressure needed to maintain a straight line trajectory as you enter the corner. The bike should turn easier as you apply pressure to the bar to counter steer it. It's a small percentage but you could say it does help and it does. Is it body steering, well, we don't have to beat a dead horse on that subject, we all know we would never get through the esses or miss a car with only so called body steering so leave it at that.

 

The main point is that it is a very fine point and not critical to good control of the bike, it is just something that happens. Subtle imputs happen all the time on the bars. The great thing about the No BS bike is that you become aware of them immediately once you to the top bars.

 

Keith

[Trail Braking---not That Fastest Way, But They All Do It]

Anyway, I feel that trail braking can be useful in corners where your slowest speed is somewhere past the point where you turn in.

 

 

Precise, concise, hit the nail on the head ... in a word: utterly sublime.

 

Well ... that's two words, but ... I couldn't have said it better.

 

In fact, I had the chance to say it better and didn't. Actually, I'm kind of bummed I didn't say it ...

 

Seriously, it seems so obvious and straightforward, but, I don't think I ever put it together like that.

 

Thanks, Stu.

 

racer

 

One other thing to consider is the width of the tracks. On the really wide GP spec tracks like China and Sepang for example, you will see a lot more trailbraking than you do on narrower tracks. One other thing to consider is how much actual braking pressure is being applied. When you look at the braking graphs in GP it looks to me like the very end of it is very light on the lever, its not an on and off thing.

 

One other point that was brought up is how much of an "advanced" technique it is. Well, watch the GP guys and see what you see on the turn entires. My observation is that quite a few of them are bringing the front wheel to lock-up as they tilt the bikes in and then releasing from there. This usually happens at conservative lean angles. When it happens at steeper lean, they lose the front end and crash which, these days, is the most common top level rider error that results in a crash.

 

Keith

[Throttle Hand Positioning]

Well, first off I just wanted to say thanks to all the CSS staff for the great level 1 experience I had at Laguna Seca.

 

One thing on my mind now, that I didn't realize while getting help on the steering bike, is just how to position the throttle hand. James' advice to rotate my hands so that I'm pushing more horizontally into the bars instead of angled made me feel more "agile" with the bike, especially with the quick-turn. I never realized how much wasted force I was inputting into the bars by pressing at an angle. The problem is that I'm not sure how to position my throttle hand normally to achieve this optimal position while riding. If I set it up at closed throttle, I limit my ability to fully open the throttle. Looking back on the remainder of the day, I think I was subconsciously using a single standard position where my hand would be in the optimal position at a partial (approx 1/5th way) throttle situation.

 

Do you start off with the wrist in the optimal position at closed throttle and regrip as you open the throttle? Or do you set a sort of intermediate compromise position where you're angled higher at closed throttle and at or near the optimal wrist position at a partial throttle situation? I wish I had thought of these issues and clarified them while doing the exercise on Wednesday. haha.

 

Apollo,

 

You really have the answer to this. While you are pushing the bar to turn the bike right you do want to be as "elbows down" as possible for the direct push to the bars. As you finish your steering input or braking you do want to reposition your hand/wrist so you can roll on the throttle. Starting from too low will make that difficult. starting from too high is uncomfortable for most riders but it really is personal preference. The other solution is to get a 1/4 turn throttle and all your problems are solved because you can turn it to wide open from almost any positioning of your hand and wrist.

 

Another thing to think about is being in a comfortable position so you can get the initial throttle on to be as in control and smooth as possible. You want that initial moment when you transition from off the gas to on to be a clean transition. Pick the wrist position that allows you to do that the best and you will probably have the answer.

 

Best,

 

Keith

[You Guys Saved My Life]

Hi, I'm from Sacramento, CA. I've been a long-time reader of this forum and Keith's articles, but never felt the need to post until now.

I started riding a 92 Katana 600 about a month ago, and last week I had a "near-life experience" in which the knowledge I gained reading these articles and forums saved my life.

 

I was riding home from work on the freeway going about 70mph in the far-right of three lanes. Behind me a semi-truck was passing another car while the freeway made about about a 20-degree left turn. Well, just as I was about to turn-in, the semi started moving right into my lane. I moved to the right part of the lane and honked at the truck with no response. Then I hit the barrier on the right side of the road. I was distracted by the semi and didn't make the left turn. I was now scraping my leg up against a concrete wall on my right, with a semi-truck three feet to my left. My body kind of went into auto pilot and I used counter-steering to pull away from the wall and out in front of the semi, and then got off at the next exit to thank God for my life.

 

My point: I have never taken any classes and have no previous motorcycle experience. The only way I could have possibly known to counter-steer away from the wall and not try to lean away from it was the articles I've read here. So thank you guys, I could be a statistic right now, but insted I just ripped the leg off a pair of jeans.

 

Oh, and I now hate semi-trucks.

 

--Soji

 

Soji,

 

That was a powerful story. You are right, nothing but what you did would have made it go the way it did. There is no other solution and that is why I built the No BS bike to show how little effect anything but counter-steering helps in virtually any riding situation.

 

Very well done,

 

Keith

[The Purpose Of Training]

What to Expect From Coaching

 

One of the primary purposes of coaching and rider training is: To elevate the rider’s acceptance of previously unknown sensations and gain control over them.

 

That’s a big statement but it pencils out. Take this idea: once a rider is willing to exceed himself he is reaching for a whole new plateau of riding. Getting to the point where he is willing to makes some commitment is often problematic. Improvement actually begins once the rider can pass those limits. Those limits have, or seem to have, barriers or else we would all be as good as we’d like to be.

 

Barriers

 

Each barrier a rider encounters is based on the unknown. What will it or should it feel like to go into that corner 2 mph faster than ever before and still maintain some reliable feeling of being in control?

 

It is easy to go into agreement with barriers. Most of them are the result of a rider’s survival instincts, his responses to the unknown or to danger. What riders tend to fall into is a habit of accepting the barriers. They have happened often enough that they become “the way it is”. These tend to stack-up on a person when they continue to happen.

 

Flinching

 

When you break it down you see that it is more the anticipation of some imagined bad result that keeps us away from moving forward into that uncharted territory of new sensations. When we flinch (withdraw from any undertaking, from fear of pain or danger) we waver from our purpose.

 

I can’t go that fast, I don’t trust the tires, I’m afraid of the lean angle, acceleration, braking forces, quick flicking the bike, etc., etc. Each of them has its own kind of stress and we feel the pressure from them. We even sometimes unknowingly assume they are real and agree with these barriers even when we see someone else go faster, cleaner, quicker, smoother, on better lines, passing where we can’t and so on.

 

This puts us in a weird situation. It can be done by someone but the personal barriers prevent us from rolling the throttle on a few tenths of a second earlier, braking later, entering the corner faster and all the rest.

 

If Only I Could…

 

While any person can visualize what he might do, should do or could do in a situation, the process of visualization itself is quirky and unreliable--it doesn’t work for everyone and it doesn’t work all the time. Aside from the many factors involved we still must deal with the Survival Responses that slam our good intentions into the dust.

 

Look at it like this, things really would work out if your ability to orchestrate all the elements was up to the task, so there is hope. You may be able to visualize yourself going over turn #1 at Laguna Seca at 150+mph but if your speed at present is 90mph it would be too big a gap to bridge. Your ability to organize and orchestrate it must be flawless or the right wrist will take command and go the wrong way, back to 90 mph.

 

Not everyone is cut out to ride fast. Not everyone can. Certainly one of the parts would be the ability to let go of certain sensations in favor of others that may be more important. Worrying about or resisting extreme lean angle alone can take all of your attention, so can traction, so can speed, so can your line, so can that strange weightless sensation you get in turn #1 at Laguna as you hit the crest or the rises and dips at Virginia International Raceway (VIR). Are they distracting? They certainly can be.

 

New Tricks

 

Someone might seek the benefits of visualization to handle the reasons why they are having problems reconfiguring actions on the bike that they already know how to do. You already know how to roll on the throttle, pull on the brake, change gears. Piecing together those known movements into a new configuration is the goal.

 

Bringing the bike up and rolling on the throttle more aggressively than usual is an example of this. As soon as a higher exit speed is demanded by you the senses can go into overload when you attempt to reach out for indications of how it is going. Essentially you are reaching out into unknown territory with your senses. Things seem to accelerate, it’s hard to tell what is important and what is not. A couple of mph and another 1/10 G acceleration makes a world of difference.

 

There is no trick that will get you to do it. Having a solid grounding on what is supposed to happen and sneaking up on it without becoming hysterical about it is more likely to succeed.

 

Using Visualization

So called visualization is loosely describes as the person’s ability to form mental images of some action or actions that they did or intend to perform.

 

Visualization can be a “solution” to different things:

 

1) An attempt to reduce or prevent something from happening.

2) The intent to add a flow between two or more known actions towards a positive (usually that means faster/smoother) result.

3) To achieve a breakthrough of a barrier you’ve observed in order to progress towards a known or an imagined goal, usually at higher speeds and most often with a better sense of confidence and control over it.

 

Numbers 1 & 2 seem real to most riders; number 3 is quirky. The hope in number 3 is that you’ll overwhelm the negative aspects by the visualization and it will somehow magically work out, the same as saying that practice makes perfect but it doesn’t always. When the same barriers are hitting you time after time, practice is actually the wrong solution.

 

Your Assets

 

The athlete who does the best with what he has often wins on the consistency factor alone. In other words, visualizing what you already are doing is real information, you did it at 90 mph, you are dreaming the 150 mph pass through the corner. The limit of your current assets are 90 mph, fine, now you know.

 

In other words, start off with a solid idea of what you are doing and some notion of what you may be able to do. Get real. As soon as you identify a proper step, that will solve a problem area, you have given yourself a real direction towards improvement.

 

Coaching Out The Flinches

 

More often than not the flinch can be overcome once it is identified correctly. No one likes to waver, to give up or feel confused about something they wanted to do but it’s easy to bite off more than you can chew. Having a pro coach look at what you are doing and lead you to success keeps down the indigestion.

 

This is why spot-on coaching is so very valuable. You can elevate your acceptance of that next level of rider confidence, speed and skill; cut down on the stress and increase your ability to get what you want out of riding. You can exceed your current ideas of what you can do. Come out to the track and take a school and I’ll show you what I mean. Sign up now. http://www.superbikeschool.com

 

Keith Code.

 

 

 

ⓒ 2007, Keith Code, all rights reserved.

Do not reproduce without express permission from the author.

[Newbie's Guide To Surviving The Cornering Forum]

My name is Brian Evans. I live in Columbus, OH and I love roadracing. I have attended three level of California Superbike School all at Mid-Ohio and I am planning on completing level IV Summer '07 at Mid-Ohio! Can't wait! I have learned so much from this school and I am a true student of the craft. I am currently reading Twist of the Wrist Vol. I and about to begin Vol. II in a few weeks. After completing my first level of CSSS back in 2001, I promptly went off for a race weekend with the Championship Cup Series and had a blast on my MV Agusta F4. since then I have owned a couple of Ducatis and my current bike is a track-prepped 2004 ZX-10R that's much faster then I am. Last year I completed an all-time season high of 15 track days and managed to improve my times at Mid-Ohio and Barber Motorsports Park by 10 seconds! I am now able to lap consistently around 1:38 at both tracks. I have ridden VIR (North & South corse), Putnam Park, Beaver Run, Mid-Ohio and Barber (my favorite). My goals for 2007 are to improve my lap times another 5-6 seconds by focusing on braking and body position and getting my heart rate down a bit! Glad to be here and I look forward to learning a bunch....sorry for the extended rambling!

 

-Brian Evans

 

Welcome Brian,

 

Very impressive butof course we expected nothing less...! Glad to hear you are coming to Mid Ohio again this summer, we'll be there same time same station as always, just after the August AMA races.

 

Post any questions and we'll see if we can answer them.

 

Best,

 

Keith

[Crashing]

Keith;

 

Once again you have taken a muddled up subject and put your eloquent, poingant hand to it. Congratulations. Well done. One of these days I'd love to see what you have to say about taking roadracing skills to the sport of Supermoto... a home for us old guys getting away from superbikes.

 

Kurt

 

Kurt,

 

WE did have a supermoto school at the UK CSS. YOu an contact those guys and see if they are still doing it.

 

Keith

 

http://www.superbikeschool.com/uk/

[Hi Guys, Finally Made It :)]

Hey,

 

Finally made it to the forum, just wanted to say hello!

 

Misti

www.mistihurst.com

 

Welcome Misti fast girl...

 

Keith

[Newbie's Guide To Surviving The Cornering Forum]

Hi All,

 

My name's Alan from Dublin in Ireland. I currently ride a 2006 Yamaha R6.

 

Attended levels 1 & 2 last year with the UK team at Mondello Park. Enjoyed it so much I had to visit Willow springs in the autumn to do levels 3 & 4 as a welcome diversion from the job training I was over for.

 

Look forward to attending for another bash at level 4 when CSS visit Mondello again in May.

 

Welcome Roxtar.

 

Keith

[Hanging-off & Weight Distribution]

I have been watching/studying dvd's of the GP and AMA seasons and have noticed that many of the pro's don't have their outside leg pinned into the fuel tank while they're "hanging-off". Why is this? How can they be "light on the bars" if they are not supporting themselves elsewhere on the motorcycle? Can their body positioning relative to the lean angle of the bike allow them to do this? I am very interested in your feedback here.

 

Kedo,

 

Good question:

 

(1) half the answer is in how much time top riders spend working out.

(2) Another part of the answer is how well the bikes are adjusted to the individual rider.

(3) Another is in the parts that are used.

(4) One more part is: There is more than one way to sit on a bike and still be able to be attached to it without stranging it and adding unwanted inputs into it.

 

In #1, using the back and abs can keep you off the bars.

In #2, getting just the right seat and seat height, peg position, bar position, in other words fitting the rider perfectly to the bike is a huge help. A small change in the bike's ergonomics gives big rewards.

In #3, using good footpegs alone gives huge stability to the riders lower half, allowing the upper half to be more relaxed, so do non slippery seats help keep the rider fixed and off the bars.

In #4, some riders use the tank to help and clamp onto it with their inner thighs and sometimes the arm, the seat can be used for this as well. Some use more inside leg, holding themselves up. Often it is a combination of all of them.

 

When you look at the engineering of the bike and a rider's body you can come up with a theoretical "best" way of sitting on the bike for the purpose of being loose on the bars. Will eveyone like it? Probably not. Would it work for everyone? Functionally yes, but personal prefernce and feel can sometimes overshadow what works the best.

 

The actual mechanics of how riders sit on bikes wasn't much of a subject before 1993. No one had looked at it from a technical viewpoint. Now we know more and can make the rider's job a lot easier based on solid principals.

 

Keith

[Crashing]

CRASHING

 

Riding errors which lead to crashing follow distinct patterns. Once detected they can be used to make huge leaps forward in skill and confidence.

 

Reasons To Improve

 

My experience is that riders come to school for a variety of reasons. They say: to be safer, faster, more in control, learn the skills, have more confidence, get their knee down, improve and so on.

 

Beneath all of these reasons and consistent with each is a very fundamental personal reason: riders don't want to crash. Everyone wants to experience the maximum freedom and exhilaration with the minimum of danger; and I fully agree with this.

 

For the school staff, this principle works out just fine. If a rider crashes on a school day, no one wins: we are deprived of the opportunity to finish up what we started and so is the rider. It puts kinks in the day for everyone involved.

 

Conventional Wisdom On Crashing

 

Unfortunately there is still a lot of really bad advice out there on crashing: "You don't know how fast you can go until you crash," is one of them. "There are riders who have fallen and those that are going to fall," that's another one that makes crashing seem inevitable. These pieces of "conventional wisdom" miss the mark by miles. They are actually harmful.

 

I'm not saying that you can get through all of life without falling down. You may. But riders have and will continue to crash, bin it, fall down, go down, throw it away, pitch it, drop it, put it down and lose it.

 

A significant rider error, when aggravated and compounded by the rider's "corrections", can result in violating the machine's inherent stability leading to a bike and rider going down. That is the negative.

 

Errors Follow Patterns

 

On the positive side, there are key indicators of these basic errors and they follow a pattern. I say positive because if you intend to improve someone's riding, but don't have a clue about these indicators, you may see errors and try to correct them but miss their underlying pattern, which in turn creates a mystery as to why the rider suddenly runs off track, scares him/herself or falls down.

 

These indicators do have patterns and are specific in how they look. They generally break down into two main categories. 1) the riders who look uncertain and choppy as they commit them, a sort of advanced case of new rider syndrome and 2) riders appear to have abandoned their senses like someone with their first unlimited-purchase credit card. They are purposeful, very positive and absolutely committed to their silly riding. You see what can only be described as blind faith in the bike and the tires with absolutely no idea of limits and how these limits may be correctly approached and eventually controlled.

 

Steering Drill

 

Those of you who have already done the school may remember the simple steering drill we did with you in the paddock or skid pad area.

 

There are 6 corrections we can make on how the rider relates to the bike as it's steered into a corner with that drill. Riders feel more in control of the bike from any of the six corrections, once corrected. However, one of the primary reasons we do the steering drill is to prevent them from making mistakes that, under very common circumstances, can lead to running wide, running off the track or even crashing.

 

When the coaches see these errors they know where the rider is going and what he thinks he is trying to do and how bad it can get if not corrected.

 

The Timid and The Brave

 

Some riders can't get comfortable with the no limits idea the track provides and actually ride slower than they do on the street. While at the other extreme, some riders go on vacation from the laws of physics, speed, lean angle and common sense. Whichever mode they tend toward, certain patterns quickly develop in their riding that, to the trained eye, spell TROUBLE.

 

I hope I don't blow any other schools out of the water with this but, all schools, all track days, all racing and of course street riding have crashes. Some people call them accidents but rarely are motorcycle crashes accidental; they are caused, more often than not, by the rider's own hand.

 

Statistics on Crashing

 

I bring this up because of what has happened at our school over the past year and a half. For the previous 25 years we had a pretty consistent attrition rate due to crashing. All in all it wasn't horrible, about one and a half million school miles to what you might call a serious crash: more than a broken collarbone or bruises kind of thing.

 

Because we pay attention to how riders are riding I was convinced it had more to do with the phases of the moon or something than observable riding patterns but we've had a fresh look at this and it began to resolve in the riders' favor. Once we began to really see the errors and what they meant, what seemed like accidents or fate turns out to be lack of technical skills and is very correctable.

 

What happened? Well, when you have a 50% improvement in anything you know that you are on the right path and we have, on average, cut our crash rate in half. Considering that we have more school days and hence more students now than ever before, that floats my boat.

 

Preventative Measures

 

We are becoming pro at spotting these patterns and nipping them before they progress to the run-off-the-track or crashing stage. Looking at it from another perspective, students have told me for years that crashing on the track is most probably many, many times ?safer? than on the street. But one of the great rewards of teaching this sport are the scores of students who have come back and told us of the horrible riding situation that they avoided because they knew what to do.

 

I'm not saying that we can make you a safe rider. I'm not saying that you can't crash at my school, you certainly can. Fortunately, we recognize something about ourselves and our sport: if riding was not dangerous it wouldn't be nearly as much fun. We know the risks, we like the risks and we love the rewards of taking them. It makes perfect sense to me. Taking risks, with understanding, makes a rider as safe as he or she can be.

 

Problems Lead to Improvement

 

The other huge positive that has come out of this evolution is that riders are made more aware of the points that get them into trouble. It may sound crazy but more often than not the "fatal" mistakes (resulting in poor control or catalysts to crashing type errors) mistakes are actually aspects of riding that the student felt were some of their best points. Clearing up these misguided ideas alone can open the door for vast improvement with any rider.

 

If this seems like I'm patting ourselves on the back, you are right. Crashing is a huge area of rider fear and eliminating 50% of the crashes on average is another milestone for us.

 

You have plenty of reasons to learn the skills of riding. We are doing our level (very) best to see that you get what you want with your riding and we are winning at it every school day. You will too.

 

See you at the track.

 

Keith Code

 

Copyright Keith Code, 2006, all rights reserved.

[Braking In Corners]

Trail braking is a highly useful skill to have for the corners and riding situations where it applies. Decreasing radius entry corners are a perfect example of a kind of corner where anyone might want to trail the brake in.

 

I was told by some car guys that Schumaker's team mate a year ago (don't know his name) who was driving pretty well didn't trail brake at all while Schumaker did all the time so apparently even in cars it is an option based on the pilot.

 

It is also easy to see that MotoGP riders often don't get back to the gas until around the apex of the corner. When you consider that it takes time to finish the release of the brake and move your hand into roll on position you see that the is only very, very slight actual braking going on through the first third of the turn.

 

You can also easily see that even the fastest guys make terminal errors with trail braking so from that perspective it is indeed an "advanced technique"

 

I don't have a quarrel with trail braking except that it can become a crutch for riders who don't have a clue on their turn entry speeds and trailing the brake in becomes a crutch to a rider who doesn't have a good sense of speed.

 

The fact is that trailing the brake is something that should be done on every track braking situation, whether the rider is leaned over or not and this is a huge point for riders when they are trying to "go fast".

 

It's huge because they tend to "charge the turns". THat means they wind up with a lot of brake at their turn in point and that just makes it more difficult to judge the entry speed accurately. Up to the point any riders is still having entry speed problems trail braking won't solve their entry speed judgement errors.

 

In many corenring situations in racing you will get passed if you aren't trailing the brake in. In others, if you can run late turn entries and you have good confidence to get the bike turned quickly you can let someone pass you going in and repass them on the exit because your line will let you drive off the corner harder.

 

On the road, trailbraking is a valuable skill for avoiding obstacles like pot holes or rocks or whatever. As pointed out earlier in this thread, lean angle and braking are porportional. The more lean you have the less brake you can use. If you are overconfident with it you will do a Danny Pedrosa and take out your team mate who is tyring to win a world championship...as an example...or crash on the road.

 

The question then is does trailbraking solve the other basics of corenring like choosing a line, good throttle control, visual skills, rider input errors and so on. I say it doesn't. On the the road to improving speed I believe there are points that build a stronger foundation for the rider than learning to trail leaned over.

 

Keith

[2 Day School]

Hi, two questions about the 2 day school.

 

1. In addition to the regular fee, do I read correctly that one must pay an additional $750 Parts Deposit? Is that basically insurance against crashes? And if one crashes on your bike, what is the recourse?

 

2. At what level does one leave the 2-day camp? I mean, does one go from I to IV, or leave still a I?

 

I'm loooking at coming in Feb. Thanks.

 

Cattivo,

 

The $750 is the maximum you would pay if you damaged the bike. No damage, no charges. If you bent a handlebar for example, it would cost about $25. If you totaled the bike it would cost $750, no more.

 

Fourtuantely, we don't have that many crashes.

 

OK?

 

Keith

[Picking Up The Bike]

Perhaps you are correct, good observations I would also suspect that there is some gyro effects in play.... It also seems that the bike will actually lean over more in a turn if you cut throttle after reaching maintenance throttle... Perhaps the front tire losses most of the forward drive or push actually in this scenario and its has a tendency to turn out more hence causing the bike to fall over more do you notice this as well? I use counter steering very consciously when coming out of turns in order to set myself up for a trun that might be very close aftwards such a chicane or whatever. However when I come around a nice corner that empties on to a bit of a straight away where I am not worried about setting up my line for the next turn, I think I let me acceleration alone pick the bike up. In other words once I hit apex of just before it I roll on throttle and how much throttle I can roll on is directly affected by how close my bike is pushing out to the edge of the track due to acceleration. I think this is why when you watch professionals they push their bikes out to the very edge of the track after turns that dump onto a bit of a stright…

 

They are trying to get maximum acceleration out of the turn and if acceleration picks the bike up like I am sure it does then one would want to use the entire width of the track so one could get maximum acceleration out of the turn before going into the straight.

 

Keith please chime in and school us....

Hi guys,

 

If you pay close attention to what the bike is doing you will find that the initial reaction of going off gas mid corner is the bike coming up slightly. As the speed deteriorates rapidly when this happens, the bike then begins to tighten up its line, going to the inside of the turn. The lean increases as the radius the bike is running on decreases.

 

The initial "stand up" is due to the drag at the contact patch trying to countersteer the front wheel into the turn and therefore bring the bike up.

 

Acceleration widens the arc the bike is on without altering its lean angle. Lean angle is depedant on speed and also the radius of the turn. You can be at full lean in a 35mph hairpin and a 150mph sweeper. Its just that the radius is great in the 150mph turn.

 

If acceloeration stands the bike up then that must mean a rider who is accelerating hard out of a turn must hold the bike down with the bars to keep his line on the exit until he wishes to pick up the bike for the next straight or corner and that is something that I have never had happen on any bike that I have ridden.

 

Most riders think that rolling on the thorttle brings their bike up at the end of the turn even if they are only accelerating a small or an average amount. What does that tell you?

 

Does mild acceleration also bring the bike up or is it just a false perception of the rider when they are actually steering the bike up while rolling on the throttle and doing it unconciously, as riders who don't understand countersteering think they are steering by leaning?

 

Keith

[Cornering]

That is very good input, thank you.

 

I did try different positions this weekend, and found that for me pushing back in the

seat, and getting very low with my chest on the tank was best, this put my arms

on the tank in a relaxed position, it seemed very easy to move around the bike, the

bike felt very stable, and I had very little weight on my wrists.

 

Again looking at the AMA riders I noticed some of them put thier weight over the front of the tank

well forward, but I cannot do that, and keep my arms low.

 

With my wieght back would that not reduce the turn in, and the grip on the front end?

 

Thanks.

 

 

Up to a point the bike can be adjusted to give you a good turn in even with your butt full back in the seat.

There are pros and cons and other approaches to the problem. Your reason for being back in the seat, "because it is comfortable" is one of the most valid reasons there is. Also, most riders sit up close to the tank so they can get a better, firmer grip on the bars which we know is a bad thing.

 

One other point is that sitting back in the seat helps riders to relax on the bike. A good thing.

 

The idea of where your weight is and what effect it creates on the bike and the idea of the bike "hooking" into turns is covered several different ways in Twist II. The "hook" is mentioned on page 59/

 

Keith

[Advice For Downhill (steep) Hairpins/decreasing Rads]

I have a similar issue, but I think it is mental. I'd love to know what others think.

 

I have a conceptual problem with downhill turns because I fear the front is going to be pushed past its traction limit because the bike is leaning forward/ as am I and the road is falling away. It is not an issue - in my mind- that there is to much weight, but to little - the road is falling away from the wheel. The last few turns at VIR threw me for a loop when I did Lvl 1 and 2. The fear of being able to get on the gas would result in me slowing down the entry speed and then being very conservative with the throttle.

 

The science of it would indicate that the front is not being over worked. The pitch of the hill is not going to change the weight distribution that much. Of all the places people crash at VIR, going downhill is generally not one of them. But, yet I have an issue with getting on the gas and shifting weight to the rear with a road that is falling away from the front. I'm guessing that this may be a survival instinct issue - I just don't feel safe pitched forward.

 

I know exactly what you mean and it is a barrier. If you can start out my giving it a little gas, then stay with that for a while in a particular turn (on track) and then persuade yourself to add just a little more gas, eventually you can break through to more confidence in downhill corners.

 

As I said before, the line has to be right or it spoils your attempts to the turn inpoint and your apeex points should be consistant before you go out on a limb and spook yourlself.

 

Keith

[Cornering]

When I see the top riders at every level in particular I thinking about AMA, I see very different

body positions on the bike from rider to rider, several riders have very different body positions, and are

very fast, The rider that comes to mind is the one who has elbows out, not down. Mr S.

 

I see some riders with the lower body hanging off with the upper body centered more over the tank.

 

It seems to me that many different body positions will work.

 

From my own experience being on the tall side 5 11, I find some of the riding positions to be impossible

to get into on my 600RR.

 

How does one find the best body position for one's size?

 

tfc600

 

Good obseravation--different riders look different on the bikes. Just as each of us walks a little different we tend to sit on the bike the way it feels best to us. Some riders do lots of stretching exercises, some look stiff, some relaxed.

 

5'11" isn't too tall at all to ride a 600 so don't worry about that part of it.

 

One thing you want to be aware of is the basic idea of why riders hang off and when you look at someone you can make a simple decision based on that.

 

The basic idea is to lower the combined center of gravity of the bik and the riders body mass which can only be done by bringing the body off the inside of the bike, this, among other things allows for less lean in the corners.

 

If they have their butts way off the seat but their upper body is countering that by being across the tank in the opposite direction they are not getting the full benefits of hanging off.

 

Instead of getting their weight to the inside of the bike their torso mass is countering that and they may be worse off than if they just sat up straight on the bike.

 

Use that as your guide and you can't go wrong if you are trying to learn hanging off.

 

Ben Spies "Elbows" rides like that because it is comfortable. try it yourself and see what it feels like. Try other body positions as well to see what they feel like, it is quite fun to mimic what a pro rider does on the bike and you can learn something about different body positions.

 

All of our Level III is based on this but we start setting you up at Level II on the "Lean Bike" which is when we work out the basics of how to do it best and fit you onto the bike.

 

Keith

[R.a.c.e. Program Schedule For 2007]

I was looking over your school's offerings, and I saw the RACE program. It looks interesting given my racing experience, and would like to join one of your sessions in 2007. Was wondering when will the 2007 schedule be published.

 

Best,

Nick

 

Usually around November 15th. If we don't have your email address go to the contact page and write to the school and that will get you on the list and you'll be first to know the new dates when they come out.

 

Keith

[Seeing Technology]

Keep it simple guys.

 

It's common to have a "bad side", I'm not so sure you can make a case with the dominant eye thing, I just don't know but there are other factors:

 

Take for example someone who has fallen off of one side or the other, that can be the one they can continue to fear from the lingering effects of the moment they felt out of control.

 

You can always recognize the rider's "bad side" by which one looks the most uncomfortable that will be the side where they won't go with the bike. That is right at 99%+ accurate. I mean once you notice this and then ask which side the rider is least comfortable on it is always the side that fits the description above.

 

The article "The Bad Side" posted here on the forum has tons of data in it about this and there is also a solution recommended. Get your body position the same on both sides of the bike, that means the minimum is you are going with the bike and not countering it by keeping your head straight up from the gournd. Once you get used to that and practice it I think you will find that your "bad side" might just disappear.

 

Keith

[New Boy Here In Need Of Help]

Here is another pic of the same 60mph left-hander. Please don't mind the letters.

 

 

Was my body in a slightly better position? Or did I do worse?

 

Next is a pic of me doing a 80mph right-hander (right after the front straight). Sorry that it's blur. The person taking this photograph forgot to set my camera shutter speed.

 

 

Is my position any better? I notice that I need to sit nearer to the tank. But otherwise this looks pretty close to what I think it correct.

 

Kindly comment. Thanks!

 

Your helmet should be where the mirror is on the right.

 

Keith

[New Boy Here In Need Of Help]

rhema83,

 

Look into the turn is great advice as is the shoulder pointing. There are other parts to good body position that are equally important to having your shoulder pointed toward the turn's direction.

 

I have a question. If you compared the shot you posted to Ben Spies or Danny Pedrosa or Val Rossi, etc., what would you say the difference between your head and upper body position and their's would be?

 

Keith

Hi Keith,

 

Since you mentioned Rossi, I will post a couple of pics from the very recent Sepang GP as our reference.

 

 

Honestly, what I notice is that Rossi doesn't hang off that much, and his chest is close to the tank at full lean. Also, his head is pointed slightly downward although I am sure he is looking far ahead in the corner.

 

Also, after a few more careful looks, I think the center line of his body makes a very very small angle with the center line of the bike. That means, he didn't use his hands as the fulcrum and rotated his butt outward. He "rolled" off the bike to the inside and hangs on with his outer knee and outer arm.

 

Am I correct?

 

I have this feeling that many riders, including myself, pay too much attention to hanging off itself and not realize that it's a mean to an end and not an end in itself.

 

Somebody once said "The best line ... is the one that most efficiently uses my tires. ... Lines aren't the objective, but merely a result." I think that applies to riding and cornering as well.

 

James

 

James,

 

The center line of the body to bike is a good place to start with your riding position and yes, hanging of to the floor can be more of a detriment to most riders than a help.

 

Get yourself in line with the bike and send us another shot.

 

Keith

[Picking Up The Bike]

What action starts picking up the bike following a corner? In order to get on the gas quicker and faster, I need to be able to stand it up quicker. Let's say we are headed into turn one (right hand turn). I typically start pressing on the left (outside) footpeg and start pushing with my left hand. Any other techniques that can help me?

 

xlr8tn,

 

You push on the left footpeg and which bar do you press to initiate the turn?

 

Keith

[Advice For Downhill (steep) Hairpins/decreasing Rads]

I've never been really sure of the best way to deal with downhill hairpins and downhill decreasing rad bends, especially on a steep incline.

 

On a level track or even uphill I've improved immensely, but downhill my riding always seems to suffer and gets worse the steeper the drop into the bend.

 

Can anybody offer any advice?

 

O

 

Orion,

 

Unless the hill is Really, really, really steep the bike slows when you roll off the gas. The secret to these turns is your turn point. If you make your final commitment to the turn too early, all of the bad things that are happening to you will continue to happen to you.

 

The basic idea of straightening out the turn means that you have chosen a turn in point that creates a constant radius turn for yourself. That means you must turn in later in most hairpins and ALL decreasing radius turns too straighten them out..

 

Turn in late enough and I'll bet that your problems disappear.

 

Keith