Cobie Fair

Front brakes are the single most powerful item on the bike, and create a lot of force. We often see riders over braking, scrub off too much speed.

They only showed a piece of it, couldn't get the whole thing. What pissed me off was no after race commentary from the racers! Great to see Nicky back up there, hope he keeps it up. Honda---motor! CF

I'll bet 98% of the guys there are nervous! CF

Honestly, it's not me. The R1 clutch is horrible. Nothing, nothing, nothing, grab... It even groans as you let the thing out as well. OK, I may have possibly exagerated 4 times a day, but I reckon I do it once a day, and I'm not on my own either! Bullet So, let me see if I have this straight--you stall the bike and now it groans at you? Just taking the piss out of you mate CF

Hi JT, We do get students that bring their own cameras, and most of the time it is fine. Here are some guidelines on this: 1. If you are using your own bike, no problem. Using ours, not likely going to work as the bike will be in use in the other groups (other riders using it). There won't be time to take it on/off, etc. 2. The camera must not interfere with the training. By this I mean, it can't get in the rider's way while riding, he can't go out of his way to film his buddies, he can't do goofy stuff "for the camera." All of the above has happened. 3. It can't interfere with the coaching. If your coach wants to work with you (he/she has very limited time and wants to make the most of it) and you are busy messing around with the camera, then that won't go either. 4. The tech briefings can't be filmed. Does that give you a good idea on this? Best, Cobie

And looking down at the speedo or the tach when entering a corner (which some people really do!) not a good plan. CF

No problem, I think you English is better than my Spanish. I worked there for part of a summer in 1980, fixing a house. On the way back, stopped in Barcelona, but only for a day or 2. Like to get back there--I'll be seeing a MOTOGP race there is something! CF

There is some info on this in Twist 2 on this, anyone know where it is? CF

Hi Luiz, and welcome! What tracks do you ride at? We had been down to Brazil, and rode a few tracks: the track and Rio (Nelson Piquet, and one in Curitiba--don't recall the name of that one). Best, Cobie

Hi Djm, Mate, if you weren't a little nervous, you'd be a cyborg! As for the rest (being slow and learing), not to worry, as Bullet pointed out, a little willing to learn some new stuff attitude and you will do very well. I guess we'll have to work on Bullet and his clutch skills though Best, Cobie

I don't understand where you guy saw this... the only coverage available here (US) was on the MotoGP website but their coverage didn't have the crash. It was really annoying but I just figured they didn't get any video of it? Did you see the race on Speed? It was on Sunday. CF

I'll call a fault on that "trivia" - we have a braking force (deaccelleration) measurement box* and we see just under 1.0G on normal asphalt (heck, we just saw a 'Busa do 10.1m/s^2 on average, which is >1.0G this weekend). *) http://www.bikeview.de/ Cheers, Kai Cool to know. I'm assuming the bigger/longer bikes (Busa, ZX-14) have excellent braking numbers/distances, due to longer wheelbase and weight--any data on that, say compared to a 600? CF

Hi Federico, Bullet is a nice guy, but can't spell. The rest of us are a bunch of bastards! I would love to go to Spain and ride, been many years since I worked in Mallorca, and didn't do any riding Best, Cobie

Not for some years. Keith originally invented (with an engineer's help) the devices that were used to train guys to wheelie. Then the school was sold, and it's not up and running any more. CF

OK--this got my interest, and I shot Keith a note on this, here is his comment: But he didn't mention if he was on the brakes or not, just that there wasn't enough weight on the front. From what Rossi says, the Bridgestones need a lot of weight on them so perhaps he didn't have the bike set up to transfer the weight forward enough to maintain his braking, if he was braking. Stoner's comment brings up more questions than it answers. KC

If the front is too light, it can slide (Keith covers this in Twist 2). Not letting it move back and forth as needed, can also make it slide. Where did you find this quote? Best, CF

Harnois made some good points. C/steering is the way to get the bike turned aggressively, and push/pull can work well. CF

Brakding and downshifting is a good skill to have, for sure can be mastered with some practice. More info on that in the books. Here is one pointer: do the lion's share of the braking first, then the engine doesn't have to be blipped as high (and it's loads easier on the machine). Keep us posted on how it goes! CF

An important skill to have when you win a race and cross the finish line CF

Started as a "dirty one" I like that! Love riding in the dirt, do it very rarely . Thanks for all that information, very interesting--I think I should start asking others to do that when they come onto the forum. Glad to hear the boys in Greece are looking after you! Please keep posting, tell us a bit more: are track days very popular in Greece, or is there a lot of mad riding on the roads? Best, Cobie

Hi Costas, and welcome, Tell us a little about yourself and the track in Greece! Best, Cobie

Hi Allison, You have already been welcomed, so I'll just do +1 to that. Lyle also gave a good comment on your bike vs our bike. The 1000's are amazing, and nice to ride, but if you would get to a school sooner riding your own, then do that. The books and DVD's are great resources, let us know how it goes with those, any comments or parts of your riding that you had some success using the info, we love to hear about it. Done a lot of riding at Loudon, but never made it up to Maine, hope to at some point. Best, Cobie

Do you want an honest answer Of course not.

Regarding flicking, turning quickly, esses are a great place to do this. Not sure we could make a blanket statement on the rest of your question regarding straighter line, that would depend on a few things: first turn radius, compared to 2nd, straight after the 2nd turn, etc. CF

It's pretty hard for me to see exactly what the girl did with her throttle hand. The thing that brought the slide on in the first place was she added lean angle and throttle at the same time--she had actually been leaned over more earlier in the turn, but then she added the 2 at the same time--deadly.