Keith Code

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

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

GSXR600, The situation you originally came up with was losing the front from acceleration while in the corner. If you have not leaned the bike over way too far and you aren't on the brake and it isn't a slippery surface then the reason you are losing the front isn't the gas--unless you are actually whacking the twistgrip open. Riders don't lose the front on the throttle. Going off the throttle and not bringing the bike up at the same time is far more likely the cause of losing the front than is adding throttle. Ancient racer wisdom tells us that rolling on the gas, not harshly, is what saves a front end slide. Kenny Roberts (senior), a keen observer to say the least, recently said that he'd never seen anyone lose the front if they were on the gas--provided of course it wasn't a really slippery surface and even then a little gas can save the front. Keith

Wisquared, Why not just turn up the idly a bit that will get the throttle on slightly and help. There have been some racers who have used this as a technique and I can't say it is wrong but it is complicated and you have to be delicate with the controls to make it work and not cause problems like a power surge while leaned over and on the brakes, that could ruin your day. I don't like to base things on what pro riders do but you can clearly see that no one who has ever had a camera on their bike in MotoGP is using that technique and those guys are pretty smooth and pretty fast. When they show the brake/gas graph it is always one or the other never have I seen both at the same time. Keith

Wippersnapper, Even the pros have all but given up on this as a useful technique. It used to be all the rage but it was discarded because it makes the turn entries far more complicated and all the sliding around became distracting to riders actually getting their turn entry speed right. A far more important point than looking cool sliding the back end into turns. You still see some back end movement in some corners for the pros but there are only a few who actually use the technique to get better turn positioning. Forget it as something that is essential to your progress as a rider, you, like the top pros will discard it eventually. Keith

strace107 Great success story. To answer some of the "questions" you brought up. Yes we make a point to ask our students about application because theory is all well and good but in the end if you can't apply the theory all you did was a mental exercise. Making any riding technique your own is always the battle and you had success doing that at VIR. Well done. Those points we go over in Level 1 are vital. No matter what else you do or how fast you are, those are the ones that make the corner happen or not. They are foundation skill sets but they aren't meant to be applied robotically. Take for example throttle control. We train it the way we train it becuase that is the way it works. Once you feel how it works, only then can you start to become creative with it and find its fine points. We say and Twist II says that once you begin to roll the throttle on you continue to do that at a steady, even rate throughout the corner. OK, where does the corner end so you can get the hammer down for the drive off the turn? Answer: Some riders in some turns are pinned before the bike is much more than half way to full vertical another rider may wait to 3/4 of the way to full vertical and so on. Another rider may quickly pin it just before vertical, that jacks the back end up and stiffens the rear suspension, that starts the wheel spinning and then they slam it up to vertical as it spins. That produces some pretty looking short slides and gets a good drive off the corner. The point with all of the drills at the school is to lay in a foundation so the rider can be the architect of his own style, with as few problems as possible. The more you stick with the basics the fewer mistakes you will make. Finding the loop holes is what we do on Level IV. On Level IV, it becomes your own individual program. So what I think you are saying is that you were able to integrate what we drilled and talked about at the schools into your senses and sensibilities and that is as good as, I think, it gets. Keith

Totally agree. Guys like Rossi make it look so easy you think he couldn't be "thinking things out" at those sort of speeds. He already made most of the key improtant decisions so he says in his book he's talking to himself about what he is doing but that is already measured up against his "plan". Keith Your questions will be answered after you go to school. Some of what you are confused about is in the Twist books, you are right about that. The thing you will get at school is the EXACT sequence you do them in and all the reasons why. Steve will deliver those to you in the classroom and you'll see that it is super simple in the end--all your confusion will evaporate once your coach works with you on track, I promise. All best, Keith

This is a great relationship--I have as much fun writting the articles as you guys have reading them. Keith

I've always thought that the Level II drills and skills are the most diffucult to take "on board" because it requires so much retraining of our visual system. There isn't anything natural about our eyes except that they create most of our problems because of their archaic programming to search out danger--not to find a good line through a corner or get us out of a panic situation. Trained, they are superb instruments that aid us in riding. Untrained, they get us into trouble. Great onyour successes with the drills, the more you use them the more breakthroughs you will continue to have with your riding. Keith

Oops, my bad, I reversed the name of the bike in my message. Please change all occurances of "R6" in my post to "6R" (i.e. Ninja ZX 6R) -- that should cause less confusion. -Celeste Celeste, We have a cut down seat for shorter riders. If you are coming out to school and using our bike, let Natalie know that you want a cut down seat on our bike. call her at 800 530 3350. Keith

Yes but only because your front brake may not be what you would use too hard if you ran off track. Keith

What we ask for is a competent street rider for exactly the reasons stated above -- if you are still wrestling with basic control operations it will be impossible to learn techniques. Get some experience on the bike and try to stay out of trouble for a few weeks and a few thousand miles then we can help you get what you want as a rider. keith

The Barriers to Improvement While riding, the more we resist things happening to us the more likely we are to make an error with that exact thing. The areas we fear, the ones we do not understand the basics or the limits of, the ones that stick our attention, will bite us in the end. Squirmy Barriers It's really simple, if you put too much attention on how the tires are gripping, each little squirm of the tire can make you nervous. Later braking, better drives, higher entry speeds and everything else there is to riding, especially quick riding, follows suit. They all have scary parts that can stick our attention. Look over most of the riding forums and see what the majority of questions are about. The questions all relate to the barriers these riders experience. Good Starts Take starts for example. You try to get a good launch and the right hand is too nervous on the throttle; your attention is fixed on it and the start is bogged. Putting all of ones attention onto the throttle and resisting the impact it "might" have leaves no attention free to look after the clutch. Done properly, we bring the clutch out to just before engagement and pin the throttle, leaving all of our attention free to use the clutch and correctly meter the power to get the launch; no bog, no wheelie. Attention Barriers Attention nailed in place, on what is being resisted, becomes the real barrier. The moment attention goes to what we don't want to happen (the scary bits) we miss the positive aspects that would allow us to improve. Chopped up riding is the expected, but unwanted, result of our attention being spent on and becoming fixated on that which we resist. It creates "no-flow" and hesitant riding is the result. If you wanted to get some immediate improvement in your riding you'd write out what it would be like if the commonplace things you resist were overcome. In fact, take a look at any time you've had a riding uncertainty and you'll come up with an item that was being resisted. The control inputs that govern your traction, line, lean angle, surface situations and speed are the most likely suspects to investigate for that list. Bridging the Gap In order to maintain contact with what IS happening the important must be separated from the unimportant. Easy to say but how do you bridge the gap between the fear of things and achieving the desired flow? Here we are back to the basic idea of "A Twist of the Wrist, Volume I", how our limited amount of available attention is being spent. What's Important? In the tire squirm example: tire squirm is important to you but your control over the throttle is far more important. In the end it will be mastery of it that allows you to move through the tire squirming barrier and get to the point where proper tire spinning is comfy. As you bring the bike up out of the turn and apply more and more throttle the rear end tends to stiffen, as a result, the squirmy little mini-slides are more easily achieved. Because of that, the drive area off corners would be the important place to begin to experiment with squirm and spin. Why? It's safer. Tire slip is tire slip and the rules say that slip at big lean angles is going to get worse a whole lot quicker than if the bike were more upright. This is important for you to know. It gives a precise area (turn exit) and action (bringing up the bike) to coordinate with your idea of tire spinning and throttle application. Squirm Barriers If the rider freezes as he feels the squirm two things can happen that make things worse: 1) she stops bringing the bike up and 2) the throttle roll on stops. That is exactly the point at which it would begin to work if she had kept going with both. In this case, the timing of the two actions is what is important just as the clutch engagement timing is the key that unlocks a great launch. The Time to Improve Riding and life work like this: put your attention on fears and we produce fear and errors; put it on our hopes, we see hope. The only hope you have of mastery in these areas of riding is to sort out the underlying technical points, procedures and priorities which, when mastered, will pave the way to success. It doesn't mean that there aren't riders who are quick, smooth and consistent naturally, I've known many; but the questions you have to ask yourself are, "Am I quick, smooth and consistent?" "Can I make it in the time I have allotted for this sport"? "Will 10 more track days pull it all together for me?" Un-resist On a purely physical level a great example of overcoming fear and resistance is the technique for going down a steep, slippery dirt hill on foot. If you resist, for fear of your feet slipping out from underneath you, they tend to slip. The moment you lean forward and begin to run or walk quickly enough, there is no possibility of falling from slipping. Skiing is very similar. Resist and you lose control. There is simple physics that accompany this technique but the point is-it's foolproof, you can't fall from loosing your traction if you run or walk quickly enough down the slippery stuff. The flow you impose on it overcomes the barrier. The potential for a bad result evaporates completely and you are in knowing control of it. Un-resisted Riding Actually, riding off-road is the same principal, the more you resist going down the hill by over-using the brakes, especially the rear, the less control you have; pushing through that barrier and allowing the rear wheel to turn ain't easy for some people but it is a whole other world of control on the other side. That world opens up when you correctly place your attention onto what gains you control rather than resisting it. Similarly, your chances of wheelying or bogging goes way down when the throttle is pinned for starts; it just doesn't seem that way until you do it. Every barrier you blow through results in a satisfying and in-control flow of actions. If you think what I am saying is: you have to push through the fear barriers to get to clean riding, you are right; but the push comes after the understanding of where your attention should or should not be focused. Simple Route There are basic principals to riding. What you ride doesn't change them. Where you ride doesn't change them. How fast you ride doesn't change them. They are what they are: they are not based on my opinions about them, they are based on well defined and easily understood basic principals you will understand. You may discover these principals all on your own, you may also win the lottery. Considering the limited amount of time most riders have to devote to riding your chances are about the same. It has been our great good fortune to research, discover and assemble these technical points of cornering. It has taken 30 years of devoted time and attention to separate the important from the unimportant and to figure out ways we can trick ourselves into giving up the resist-error-resist-terror way of doing things in favor of the focus-flow-focus-go mode. We now know how to achieve this with ANY rider. Indeed, the huge amount of improvement riders can achieve in just one day of training still boggles me, even after 30 years of doing it. The Superbike School's program is not based on tricks and I can't say it is easy to overcome the barriers. I will say that our route is simple to understand, direct, to the point and it works. You will improve; past that I can't promise anything. Learn the skills, discover the art of cornering. Best, Keith Code\School Director ⓒ Keith Code, 2006, all rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form without express written permission from the author.

It isn't about the weight you put on the peg it is about the what part of the bike you are using to pivot from--to get your footing to push the bars. Using the inside peg throws you out of balance, using the outside peg and the tank to lock yourself onto the bike is the most stable, most balanced and most powerfull way to get the bars pushed. Keith

You are all going in the right direction with the idea of rider stability. The stuff we have been piloting for the past ten years has been working great because it puts the rider in control of the bike without becoming the loose cannon on deck. There are many reasons that rider stability is important. My first clue to it was Pivot Steering which I wrote about in TWIST II. TWIST III will have a good deal more on the subject. Even in the past month of schools I see more about the subject of rider stability and why what we are doing at the schools works. There are actually four drills we do at the school which approach this in our usual step-by-step format. The whole process starts at Level I where we do the Steering Drill with each of the students. There are 5 other points we look at, one we work on in Level II with the Lean Bike and the rest on Level III--there are actually more when you include some things that aren't yet formal drills. The one thing you can count on is this: riders who don't understand something about their own stibility on the bike are the ones that are most likely to crash once they begin to go fast--either that or they will forever have handling problems that won't "adjust" out of the bike, no matter how much money they throw at it. keith

In considering it, while I don't know the exact answer and I'm not a physicist (nor did I stay at a holiday inn express last night), I think they are pretty much a wash. Under neutral load (balance front/rear, no braking or accelleration) the bike will be less apt to turn because the geometry of it should be very stable and promoting stability in a straight line. Under heavy braking, the geometry gets altered signficantly, removing that straight line stability and making the bike WANT to turn. However, the counter force of the braking on the front tire may very well affect the traction and feel of the bike while initiating a turn. Put it this way. If you could alter geometry WITHOUT BRAKING, going into a corner whereas the front end dropped down (wheel came up, suspension compressed) and rear end rose (wheel went down, suspension extended), the bike would be VERY twitchy and prone to changing direction (aka - turning). The variable here that plays into the problem is the braking. What impact is that force on the front end? I don't know... One thing you have to take into account is that the trail increases by up to 25mm under heavy braking. Trail is measured at the CENTER of the contact patch which becomes way different under hard braking, it moves rearward. 25mm of trail is enormous and is no doubt what contributes to the heavy feel you get at the handlebars under braking. So while the rake and wheelbase go towards a quicker turning machine the shape of the contact and its new location are huge offsetting factors. Keith

Commitment The actions of riding one lap of a complex circuit, like our favorite training track, the Streets of Willow Springs, breaks down something like this: Throttle position changes (including throttle blips) 50 Steering inputs 22 Gear changes 20 Clutch actions (downshifts only) 10 Front brake pulls and releases 14 --- Total 116 The 116 actions don't include any error or terror corrections you might make with the throttle, steering or brakes so the number could be well in excess of 116. Note: A lap at Laguna Seca is only about 10% fewer actions. Note: Count them up for your own favorite track. More Laps More Actions How much physical conditioning does it require to roll the throttle on and off 50 times every minute and a half to two minutes; shift the gear lever 20 times; push on the bars 22 times? Not a lot for one lap but over the course of 25 laps it adds up. At 25 laps there are approximately 3,000 actions that you would have to perform to complete a national or world level event or mini-endurance race or, perhaps in your case, a track day. Hmmmmmm. Even on a club-race 8 lap event or track day session you begin pushing 900 actions performed for the 12 to 20 minutes of riding. What creates a great ride? It's the precision, the exact degree you roll on the throttle or pull the brakes and the WHERE and WHEN of each of the 900 to 3,000 actions that add up to a good event or a good day at the track. Novice Lag I would like to cite an interesting and revealing point here. Despite the fact that a rider may be going twenty seconds a lap slower than a pro, the number of actions performed doesn't decrease, most likely it increases. Due to errors and corrections a less skilled rider creates for himself, that number may be significantly higher. This has a direct impact on the amount of time the novice rider has to identify and initiate correct and accurate control responses: he's often still busy fixing the last one. For any riding situation, the important inputs into the bike often take a back seat to the ones generated by the rider's own errors and error corrections. Chopped up braking and downshifting is a classic example. The important part of the whole series of actions, getting the turn entry speed exactly right, becomes lost in all of the background noise created by sloppy braking/downshifting. That leads to inaccurate braking. As a result, the rider feels frenzied and misses the feedback he needs to get the corner entry speed just right. Comparing Skills If you compare the pro rider's lap times to an average street rider's times you will see that, for the less skilled rider, there is an enormous amount of time being spent "looking things over". The pro has already begun the next action while the novice is "thinking" about it. It's not really thought out like when you are figuring out your tax bill, it is a lag between the idea of doing something and transforming that into an action. What is happening? There are three frames of reference available to look at it: what happened in the past could still be holding the rider's attention; what is happening in the present may be overwhelming his senses; he could have his attention on what will happen in the future. Ignoring the past is not good. Being careless about the present is likewise an error. Being able to predict the future is where every rider would like to be. Mick Doohan's comments on this are interesting, "I already knew what was going to happen in the corner, so when the front end started to push, I was ready for it". The worst of the three is having your attention stuck on the last corner or the last action performed. If the rider is pondering that last action, you can be assured he isn't starting the next one on time. That is the source of his lag. Living With The Lag A novice track rider lives with his lag, he is spending something like 30 seconds, or more, each lap, looking things over where the pro is responding and committing it to action, without the lag time. In short, the pro is using 30% less time to observe, commit and respond. From this perspective, a rider who has shortened his lag between identifying the situation, committing to a solution and responding with the correct control in the correct amount is, more skillful, more confident, can and will go faster and is in better control. This could be called a rider's Recognition/Response Factor. Sometimes it becomes confused with reaction time. No Time If you put telemetry on the bike and counted the number of throttle and steering corrections the novice was making that the pro wasn't, you'd see that the novice rider's time is chock full of things to do; too full to be accurate; too full to have the time to observe; too full to make good decisions; too full to make a solid commitment. He's still stuck on that last action. This comparison brings up a bunch of questions about what causes the differences in the pro's time and the novice rider's time and what they are doing with it. 1. Is it physical response time? 2. Familiarity with the road or track? 3. Understanding of the riding procedures like throttle control, corner entry speeds, etc.? 4. Feel for the bike and tires and what they are doing? 5. The rider's sense of time and timing? 6. Good visual skills? 7. The rider's ability to perceive speed and speed changes from lap to lap? 8. Some unique combination of the above that defines the "fast" or "in-control" rider? While these may all qualify as reasons, each one of them is practically an entire technical subject in itself. To understand and be able to teach riders, I began to break down the actions of riding into individual skills and drills back in 1976. The goal I set was to create a system for improvement. What a trip that has been for 30 years? The Next Now If you were trying to dissect and remedy your own recognition/response "lag time" it would be easy to generalize that lag as uncertainty, lack of confidence or unfamiliarity. Does labeling it like this solve it? Like most labeling it is too general and it solves nothing. The lag-time differential from the pro to the novice is based on where each have their attention focused. The novice's attention is focused on handling the right now moment or, quite often, the even worse scenario of lingering on the action just performed. As an example, barely cracking the throttle open and freezing, as opposed to committing to rolling on the gas, are quite a bit different aren't they? When you get just past mid corner and you've lagged on your roll-on and you realize you could have just kept going instead of sitting there like a mushroom with a twistgrip in your hand: that is your recognition/response lag time working. This should send a message to you. Seek out and identify what caused the lag. Was it your bike telling you something, like a twitch over bumps on the corner's entry; or your survival instincts telling your right hand not to roll on: what caused the hesitation? Was it a real or imagined reason not to roll on? It could be real, like getting in too fast on too wide a line. In either case, you need to know so you can master it. Riding in the Past Lingering on these past actions definitely creates hesitation and adds that 3/10ths second, on average, to each of your actions compared to a pro's. Would you call this lack of commitment? It's easy to throw a label on something but does that handle the situation? No. One sure fire way of getting unstuck is gaining more knowledge about something. It also helps to defeat the survival instincts associated with riding and as a side benefit reduces a person's Recognition/Response time. Sometimes we experience this as improved reflexes, even for us older guys. Look at it this way: if you always understood what was expected from the bike, and from yourself in working the controls and all of the options and results of operating them, would your riding be better? Is it better to linger on the past control action or be anticipating and executing your next action? Quick Flick Time Riders learning how to quick-flick the bike have one variety of this problem. They are wary of the follow up corrections they might have to make to their entry line. The idea of committing to the turn quickly gives them a queasy feeling. They aren't confident they'll have the time to observe and correct their line so they wind up lazily extending the steering. This is wrong thinking, they're actually burning up their observation time with hesitation. In the quick flick example, we see this fact--- turning the bike quickly, where it is appropriate, gives the rider more time to observe results than the lazy, non-flick steering method. The time he spends lazily bringing it over never does have a definite end result, not until it is completed. The bike isn't pointed until it is pointed. Do you see this as lack of commitment? Quick flicking with confidence is a barrier riders have to push through. Training, and a little precision nagging from your coach, helps get you through it. You can do this. Throttle Lag Throttle control is much the same. A short lag of only 3/10ths of a second to get back on the throttle goes by rapidly. It's not much time. Just get yourself a stopwatch and click it twice to see how long 3/10ths is--but at 60 MPH it is 4 bike lengths! Can you imagine yourself lagging that long getting the gas back on? Probably longer, right? This is real to anyone who is even half aware of their riding. Rules of Commitment -Completing actions is what buys you the time to observe and predict the results and commitment begins that process. -Being half hearted and non-committal on control actions only holds you back. -You can't easily predict the outcome of any control action on the bike until it is at least begun. -When you are hesitant, you are giving yourself less time to respond. It seems (on the Survival Response (SR) level) you are making more time but that isn't true. -Being decisive with control inputs, with the smallest possible lag time, is safer in the end. Smooth Is Quick. Quick Is Smooth. When you think of smooth do you normally consider how quickly you do things with the bike? If you are thinking that slowing down your actions is going to make it smoother, think again. The fact of the matter is that the pro is getting the same number of actions started and completed as other riders but using roughly 1/3 less time to do them...and looking smooth. Take the simultaneous braking and downshifting example. The quicker you can make your throttle blip and get the clutch in and out the smoother it becomes. Gear-changes up are the same way, the quicker the smoother. Quick shift mechanisms are a great example of quicker is smoother. Getting back to the throttle a little sooner (quicker), brings about a more stable machine (smoother) through more of the corner. Thinking Compared to Doing Thinking about riding does not always bring us into a state of grace with the bike and road. Riders say, "I want to have higher corner speed", "I want quicker lap times", "I want to brake harder, deeper, slicker, quicker". They want to go fast and find it isn't easy. Things start happening too fast. Their ability to observe and respond isn't there yet. It's a rare and special ability to "think yourself faster" and failing at this riders ask for the tricks to achieving it. But there aren't any "advanced" techniques for someone who is still fumbling with their basics: still lagging in their commitment to respond. Well crafted, step by step lessons and good observant one-on-one coaching will prepare you to get what you want. I can guarantee you that. Your contribution is the commitment to push through these barriers and sometimes it doesn't feel fast or smooth or confident when you are thinking it through and grinding on yourself to perfect a technique. Well, that's the way it is. Anyone who has improved at anything in life has experienced this. The good news is that all the cornering demons there are have one thing in common, they can't stand the heat of commitment. Understand and learn the skills; this shortens your lag time and paves the way to improvement. Commitment has its own rewards. Keith ⓒ Keith Code, 2006, all rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced in any way without express written permission from the author.

Eric You got it. The meaning of the article I mean. Thanks for the glowing successs story I appreciated that a lot and hope we get to continue wiht you in the fine points of the art. Just pay more attetnion to what you are doing if you intend to do the coast racing thing. I'm not recommending it solely on the basis of how many guys I've seen get hurt at it. In a lot of ways just leaving the bike in one gear and riding your favorite roads is just as good and also allows you to practice your throttle control. Keith

From the riders perspective what happens is the suspension stiffens becauase of the torque force being applied that is, from the sideview perspective, twisting the back of the bike upwards. What we are looking for in the middle of the corner is just enough throttle to maintain good suspension compliance and traction. Once we start to bring the bike up then the stiffness of the rear end actually becomes a benefit in that it allows the bike to spin the wheel easier (because the suspension is stiffer and the tire can't follow the road surgface as well) this is a benefit becuase it cleans the tire and makes it ready for the next corner with clean rubber. If you start the drive too early or spike the gas the rear stiffens up and that is a primary reason for an in-turn rear end slide. Not just the amount of gas but the stiffenng rear suspension not allowing the tire to grip evenly is what creates it. All anyone has to do is look at race telemetry graphs and they will see what is happening at the front and rear end. On a fast lap with a good rider you see mid stroke suspension action in mid corner and you see a very definite rise in the rear and front at the point where the bike is being brought up and the hard acceleration begins. This is an intersting point because years ago there was a thing called the ATK system that was two rollers set near the swingarm pivot. The chain ran over the two rollers so the chain going back and comig foreward to the engine were parallel instead of angled down to the countershaft sprocket. It eliminated a huge portion of the torque reaction and stiffening of the rear suspension. I set up a test day for Eddie Lawson and Team Kawasaki to test the device. Eddie went 1/2 second faster with it but didn't like the feel, he missed that stiffening at the rear and took it off and never tried it again. Keith

Throttle Control, Levels of Something as simple as rolling on the throttle has levels and shades of proficient, correct operation. Does understanding shortcut the process of mastering it or can we get by on practice alone? Starting The moment we take our maiden grab at the twistgrip with a live engine we hit the first wall; to get the bike moving, how much will be enough, how much is too much? Some of us get the truth of it right away--it doesn't make any difference--the clutch monitors how much or how little power gets to the ground for any start. Some never get it. With most of their attention on the throttle, rather than the clutch, it remains inconsistent. It's not that they can't ride, it's that certain limitations are imposed on their riding, like starting on uphill or with a passenger, not to mention bogged race starts for racers. Racers try, in vain, to put more and more attention on the throttle only to find themselves taking wild guesses at what will work. This only results in more inconsistent starts. Riders who rapidly blip the throttle for fast starts only have a 50% chance of getting it right. Those who pin the throttle and use the clutch for the power delivery are way ahead of that. Throttle Control Barriers Once we are in motion Throttle Control itself becomes a hot topic. Here again, riders can limit themselves by placing too much attention on the wrong thing at the wrong time and barriers result. In other words, riders tend to grind on some idea or technique that may be inappropriate for the circumstances. A common example is trying to get a good drive off a turn. Riders wait until the throttle can be opened aggressively to get the "hot drive" and to "feel" the acceleration; ignoring the roll-on they could have had in the corner. Confidence with the throttle or any control inputs comes from knowing we have choices. Being stuck with only one way to approach something isn't inspiring, especially when it doesn't get results. Just the words "throttle control" can become generalized as to what is needed and wanted both by the bike and the rider. Let's take it out of the general and break it down to specific ways to use it and situations to overcome with it. Here are fourteen points that will have to be mastered before you could call yourself a competent throttle jockey. 1. Overcoming the fear of opening the throttle the first tiny crack. The understanding on this point is that the bike doesn't actually accelerate with the first tiny opening of the throttle no matter what your Survival Response (SR) is telling you. 2. Trusting the bike to hold its trajectory. This is bound up with visual skills like what to do with your eyes in which part of the corner, but the feel part of it can only come from a clean rolling on of the twistgrip. 3. Sensing the chassis stability produced by good throttle control. This is the feeling you should be looking for in every turn. Repeating the throttle control rule to yourself and finding that it does produce a stable bike every time it is applied is the remedy here. See "A Twist of the Wrist, Volume II" for the rule. 4. Reducing the lag between off brakes and on gas. The moment you release the brake there will be a lag as you orient yourself to the speed you have. Focusing on that lag can shorten it. 5. Coordinating the roll on with picking the bike up. Knowing that the throttle is proportional to lean angle is simple knowledge. Sorting it out requires coordination of the two actions. Focusing on it improves it. 6. Overcoming the barrier of a consistent roll-on at steeper lean angles. As riders approach their own limits of lean the tendency to ignore the throttle is strong. The throttle is what makes the lean feel comfortable. Focus cures it. 7. Maintaining progress with the roll on despite distractions. This is a general point. Whatever unpredictable thing comes up like seeing a patch, seam or any rough pavement, you maintain your roll on because it is correct. 8. Being willing to experiment with roll-on rates. The right wrist often has its own idea of how quickly to roll-on. This is a bit scary to experiment with but worthwhile to conquer. 9. Overcoming the roll-off instinct. Checking your wrist's action when it wants to start to roll off the throttle would be the focus in this one. 10. Separating the eye's concerns from the wrist's action. Similar to #7 above but specifically overcoming what you see with how you control the roll on is a huge hurdle on your way to good control. 11. Separating the bike's "noise", its feel and any other signals it is sending to you, from tire squirm from your wrist's action. When you feel the squirm your task is to then maintain an adequate roll-on for the bike. You just have to ignore the squirm "noise" in the end. 12. Coordinating the exact roll on to stabilize the bike at the brake off/quick flick point. When you drop a bike into a turn quickly there is an optimum opening of the throttle, which maintains good stability through that transition. The focus on this is to see if you can grab the right amount of throttle right away to get that instant stability. 13. Maintaining a roll on when it gets loose. This is why I built the Slide Bike trainer. Once a rider has the presence of mind to not chop the throttle when the bike starts to get a bit out of track he has taken the first major step to controlling wheelspin. 14. Sensing the degree of acceleration that will maintain bike stability, hold a predictable line and, ultimately, traction. Once you have handled most of the above this is the point at which it all comes together. Having full control over this aspect of riding would indicate a very high level of skills. Accomplishing the Fourteen If you looked over that list and selected one at a time and really focused on that one point until you mastered it and then the next, etc., you would come to a pretty good understanding of throttle control. You would begin to move up through the levels, and there are levels, of good, proficient throttle control. Each of the 14 represents a barrier and, once overcome, a freedom in your quest for good throttle control. Reaching your own ultimate potential as a rider would heavily depend on the level of accomplishment you were able to achieve in each of point. Look at it this way, if you could get all of them right 51% of the time your riding horizons would broaden at a very rapid rate and continue to do so. This, in turn, and as a natural result, leads to proficiency in many other areas of riding. Coaching the Fourteen The whole reason that professional coaching is invaluable has to do with the error identification and correction factor. Leading the rider to fast progress in each of these areas of good throttle control is an art in itself. The proof of that lies in the fact that we have coached at least a score of riders who were faster than any of our own staff could ever hope to be. Our current score is 43 national and world championships won by riders we have coached. There you go, I am bragging. Does that make us heroes? Tiger Woods' coach, Hank Haney, can himself never hope to be anywhere near the golfer Tiger is and the same can be said for countless coaches in a dozen other sports. The point is: no matter what your current skill level of riding is, we know that once you are armed with the correct information and are able to apply it with a truly integrated, step by step procedure and are cared for by one of us you will make serious progress. It only takes the decision to improve. To put it simply, we'll be ready for you when you are ready for us. Best, Keith Code Director ⓒ Keith Code, 2006, all rights reserved. Do not reproduce in any form, in any way without permission from the author.

This article (attached here as a PDF) originally appeared in OZ based Rapid Bikes Magazine. http://www.rapidbikes.com.au Enjoy the read! RapidKeithCode.pdf

The Superbike School is listed in the 2008 Roadracing World Track Day Directory. http://roadracingworld.com/magazine/track-day-directory/

Holding Your Line Predicting a Line If you always knew precisely where the bike was going to be, as far up ahead as you could see in corners, what sort of impact would that have on your everyday riding, touring, track riding or racing? Think of how easy it would be to have good throttle control if you always knew where you were going to be! Isn?t throttle control easy when you know your line is ?good?? This could easily lead you to believe that having a good line was the key to good throttle control but it?s not. In fact, it is the opposite: Good throttle control is the answer and opens the door to ?good? lines. It is true, one of the great results of good, standard throttle control is the bike holding a predictable line in the corner; and all riders realize that having the ability to accurately predict the result of their line would result in a far more positive riding experience in any cornering situation. Would that be true for you? The Purpose I?d like you to take a look here at some data on this subject and at the end I?ve prepared an exercise you can do to gain better control of your line and more confidence in predicting it. Throttle Control Virtues At the Superbike School we spend a lot of time and put heavy emphasis on Throttle Control. From a technical perspective, all that goes right and most all of what can go wrong in a turn starts and ends with how well you conduct that precision control device on the right hand bar known as the throttle. A predictable line is one of the many positive results of controlling the throttle accurately. It?s easy to communicate how easily good Throttle Control solves common problems and puts the rider in ?full? (the best it can be) control of the bike. We sing its praises and tout its many virtues--when we get it right. Riders generally deplore their own shortcomings in being able to maintain it when fear and panic seize them. They understand its simplicity; they grasp its importance immediately and see areas where they could improve throttle control just from a classroom briefing on it. Running Wide Running wide is a major concern for all riders. Name a situation (other than in multiple radii turns) where running wide is a benefit. If you are at a loss to find one, I understand, no one ever has. How do you handle running wide? This is a huge concern and it brings up such questions as: Should I just trust the tires? Should I just lean it over more thinking ?the bike can do it?? Should I stand it up and go for the brakes? What do you do? Contrary Feelings Let?s start out with our Survival Instincts and see how they may cause problems. When the bike is running wide the last thing your instinct tells you is: ?You need more gas here?. In fact, it is quite the opposite. It tells you that rolling on the gas will make it worse and you will crash. This is a Survival Reaction, we call them SRs for short. This particular Survival Reaction (SR) may be based on the very first day you rode a bike at slow speed in a parking lot. Perhaps the bike felt like it was falling over and you gave it some gas and that stabilized it: that stopped the feeling that it was going to fall over. It may have even felt like it brought the bike up. This second one is a false perception. The bike did not ?come up? but it did stabilize. If stopping the bike from falling inwards mistakenly becomes confused with ?coming up? your right hand on the throttle would have a very strong opinion about this in the future, i.e., gas on = bike comes up; as opposed to the truth of the matter which is: gas on = bike stabilizes its lean angle. A related misconception that many riders have follows along this same line. Most riders say the bike comes up as they begin to roll the throttle on more aggressively towards the end of the turn. Contrary to that feeling, the bike does not ?come up? from throttle application when you are exiting a turn. You Choke, You Lose In running wide, even a momentary hesitation is enough to cause anxiety. Perhaps you find yourself in a turn running a bit wide (or at least you think you are) and that very brief hesitation, which is composed of you thinking it through and mind wrestling with the instinct to roll off, is enough to make it all go wrong?the throttle roll-on stops or even backslides towards OFF a bit and the bike does try to run wider. By the way, this is another area of false perception that many riders have. They say the bike goes into the turn on a tighter line when they roll off the gas but, guess what, they are actually steering it inwards. Left to its own, the bike comes up and runs wide. Back to the point. Even with terrific reflexes it takes time for you to subdue the Survival Reaction (SR) that created that hesitation and finally make the decision to roll it on. A half a second is short for this type of thing. In reality it takes more like a second or even two to regain your control. That is a lot of space, that is a lot of running wide, that is a lot of anxiety and that is most of any short turn. Precision Control Superlative Throttle Control is a precision activity. Easy for those who can do it and very confusing (probably based on the contrary evidence from false perception as above) for those who cannot. Finding the right amount of gas to stabilize the bike and hold its line isn?t even vaguely easy, it is hard. Initially, you have to break through some pretty tough barriers just to maintain good throttle control to get the bike to hold a predictable line, especially as the speed increases. Unfortunately, even after you have done it successfully in one corner there is no guarantee it will be solved in other turns! Throttle control must be looked at from the angle of a fluid and continuous maintenance of the bikes attitude in the turn, i.e., enough weight transferred off the front and onto the rear of the bike to maintain its best and most neutral handling attitude, not too much or too little. And more importantly, maintaining the suspension in its optimum stroke-range with the throttle. This requires a continuous roll-on. The point is this: your ability to maintain good throttle control is an absolutely necessary and integral part of conquering the SRs connected to running wide. Being able to judge your line has everything to do with your sense of confidence in any cornering situation. Note: Throttle control is well covered in ?A Twist of the Wrist?, Volume II, as those of you who have read the book already know. Any Solutions? Not yet. Without first hand knowledge of how it feels and looks my words are not likely to make running wide disappear as a problem for you. Another thing I should mention, there is no iron clad, fits all situations type answer to it. But there are answers. Here is a drill to improve your ability to predict your line. 1. Find yourself a curvy road. A familiar one is best. A calm track day would also be perfect. 2. Back off your speed enough so you are certain you won?t run wide. Set your speed that way for each turn you enter. 3. Get the bike fully turned into the corner so you are happy with where it is pointed. 4. Begin your roll-on as soon as possible after #3 is settled. 5. Estimate where exactly you think the bike is going to be at its widest point on the turn?s exit. Don?t choose blind turns to do it. You are trying to predict at what point ahead you will come the. closest to the center line (in right hand corners on the road) or the road?s edge (in left hand corners on the road). Your final and widest exit point. 6. Maintain a fluid, seamless and continuous roll-on throughout the corner. 7. Do not adjust the steering or lean angle of the bike (unless you really have to). 8. Evaluate your estimate from #5. How did you do? How close were you to the point you thought was going to be your exit? 9. Experiment with slower and/or more aggressive roll-ons until you get the feel for what it takes for that bike to hold a predictable line. Run Wide Adjustments Here are some classic errors and problems that counter your efforts to maintain a predictable line: Throttle errors: 1. You roll on the gas too soon. Before it is fully leaned into the turn. 2. You roll on the gas too aggressively. This over-extends the forks and increases speed too much, both make it run wide. 3. You roll on a little bit and stop. That alters your line. This counter-steers the bike up (wide again) when weight transfers forward. 4. You go on and off the gas in the turn. That makes the line unpredictable and it widens it. Line Errors 5. You start into the turn too early, forcing a wider line through it . 6. You start into the turn too far to the inside, again this forces a wider line through the middle and exit of the turn. 7. The turn is too much of a decreasing radius turn. Do it in constant or increasing radius turns until you get the hang of it. The Usual Bike Setup Errors 8. You have an overly stiff a spring in the front of the bike. That holds the front up too high and makes it want to run wide. 9. You have too much compression damping in the front end of the bike holding the front up too high. This makes the bike want to run wide. 10. The rear ride height of the bike is too low. This rakes the front out and tends to make it run wide. 11. The tires are worn and you have to fight the bike a bit to hold it in the turn. This also makes it run wide. 12. Too much rebound in the rear and too little in the front. This holds the back down and the front up. Wide again. As Good As It Gets How many turns it will take to build confidence in yourself and, eventually, the bike I can?t tell you. I do know that it will all come down to achieving a high degree of good, solid control of the throttle. It goes like this: you can?t trust the bike or the tires until you can trust yourself and your right hand to do the right thing. That?s as good as it gets. It is a tried and true route to confidence and accuracy in your lines. Very best, Keith ? Keith Code, 2006, all rights reserved. Do not reproduce in any form, in any way without permission from the author.

Hi Mike, Thanks I'm happy you got the idea and the purpose for the article, which you did--it provokes thought and taking alook at those areas so that riding doesn' turn into a big generality or frustration. Have a great time at school I know that Andy and the boys will take good care of you . Best, Keith

This article (attached here as a PDF) originally appeared in Fast Bikes Magazine. http://www.fastbikesmag.com/ Enjoy the read! Fast_Bikes_CSS_2005.pdf