acebobby

Also, the intro to T2 pg XIV (14) has 75% Anyone want to tackle these? Not sure if I uderstand your question jay, but will give it a shot, What is 100% to you? for me it is as fast as I can go but then me at 100% is probably the equivalent to a racer warming their tyres, so it is clearly very different for everyone. specifically what I change technique wise to adjust my pace is to try to eliminate the most attention sapping aspects of the lap, I think rather than thinking of it as reducing your pace you should think of it as more freeing up attention, in a learning environment you dont have to go max speed down the straights, nor do you have to late brake for the turn, thats why I like the no brakes drill so much as all of my attention becomes focused on the corner, and I can increase my entry speed gradually every lap comfortably. So to answer your question for me to reduce pace I dont brake so much, how ironic is that slowing down my pace by not using the one thing that will slow me down lol!

Bones and Ace et al; Guys, I don't take issue with the idea of running at 85% to insure that our focus is on all of the drills that day. I honestly never heard it before. I first took Levels I, 2 & 3 in 2001/2 but did a bunch of Level 4's since then. I decided to retake all four levels and re-did 1 at Infineon in November and will retake 2 and 3 at Infineon in March but back in November, I still didn't hear it...but it's OK...honest. It's me who is hard of hearing. BTW, if you have been away for a few years, it is eye opening to revisit the program. My regret was waiting too long to return. Kevin Hi Kevin The question was asked by a student at the end of my first classroom session- How fast should we go? Andy Ibbot answered jokingly by saying how fast do you want to go with no brakes, then went on to say that riding at 80-85% is good to free up attention to work on the drills! But perhaps if that student hadn't asked the question then we wouldn't have been told that!

When I did level 1 we were told to ride at about 85% of our normal pace to allow yourself to free up attention for practicing the drills set out for you, You must remember that it is a school and not a trackday, but that does not mean circulating slowly. You can ride as fast as you want as long as your doing your specific drills, if your not your only wasting your money and your instructors time. In my experience by the end of one day 85% for me was way faster than what 100% would have been at the beginning of the day, if that makes sense! At a few points throughout the day my instructor was encouraging me to do things faster, quick steer there faster, get on the gas a bit harder through there etc, etc,

I lowsided 2 years ago in the wet at knockhill, at my favourite corner. I went over the scenario in my head over and over and it really affected my confidence for a long time which in turn led me to eventually finding this forum. I never got any signals that would have allowed me to save it, 1 second I was taking the turn and the next I was sliding up the track watching my bike slide away from me! As I say It was wet and I was using road tyres, most of the other guys out there were on full wets so maybe I got lured into a false sense of security regarding the amount of grip available,

But dont you think that it would be better for you to try and copy the body position of a pro rider closer to the same size as you?

It appears that this economic crisis is hitting our sport once again http://www.crash.net/motorsport/motogp/new...uit_motogp.html If this goes ahead and happens will melandri and hopper be left without a ride?

Throughout various discussions on this forum I have decided to increase my time on the track, I will be doing levels 2 and 3 at the school, as many track days at my local track (knockhill) as my shifts will allow, which usually is not alot 2-3 times, and my annual trip to the nurburgring! I am also intending to travel to England 7-8 times throughout the year for trackdays and am going to book for donington gp circuit for march! My question is do you think I would improve faster if I just kept going to donington all year or should I try a different circuit every time I travel down to England?

I think thats the secret to a long and healthy life, eat sensibly and live an active lifestyle! The gym can become monotonous and boring like your doing it because you have too but if you pick a few hobbies like what your dad does your keeping fit just by doing things you enjoy so its not a chore! I think we could all learn from that!

And what did you find as a solution to your entry stability problem? The specific thing I noticed was that the bike wiggled/bobbled, whatever you want to call it, right at the end of the steering action, right as I got closest to max lean. It was a little unnerving. I had to learn how to ease back up on the bars. This wasn't just a one-solution fix though, as part of the problem was due to body positioning on the bike, and I wasn't supporting myself correctly with my legs. What Keith developed on the Lean Bike fixed most of it, then easing up on the bars at the end of the steering action. C I think I can relate to that feeling, before I had read TOTW and joined this forum I used to counter steer but not relax when I got leaned over, I would hold some pressure on the inside bar, at the time I thought this was the correct method and would feel that front end wobble all the way through the turn, back then I never got on the gas till the apex either so everything was wrong! Now since learning to relax my grip the bike goes through the turn so much smoother and am able to corner a lot faster than before, the only reason I need my hands on the bars during cornering now is to roll on the throttle! I cant wait to get on the lean bike though!

But who wins? Who's can withstand adversity better? Melandri hasn't been given the equipment that Pedrosa has. Pedrosa has had the fortune (probably well earned) of having the right people (HRC) behind him. This is what makes racing a team effort. The question wasn't who would win between Pedrosa and Rossi, or Melandri and Pedrosa, but who's style we'd like to emulate. I think Pedrosa has very good form, and can (it's been proven) ride with and beat the top riders in the world. But if you want to talk about who wins, Melandri is going to be a non-factor. And with the equipment, they're not going to focus all their effort on supporting a rider if they don't believe he is or can be great. It's not logical or financially sound. Even if Melandri hasn't had the opportunities Pedrosa has. Poor guy was stuck on the Ducati for 2008. We all know that wasn't a good bike. Might as well have been on a Kawasaki. As you say hub the question is not who wins races but who you emulate when riding, I said Nicky Hayden but in reality I dont ride the way he does, sideways everywhere, I would like to though, what I do is watch the body position of taller riders, Colin Edwards and James Toseland in Moto GP are about two of the biggest guys out there so I would try to copy their body position, the problem with moto gp is the bikes and tyre combination allow loads more lean angle so they dont stick out their knee as far as there is not much chance of dragging hard parts, I think that a better riding style could be found by watching supersport or superbikes where the bikes geometry is more like the bikes we all ride! except for those lucky enough to get to ride desmocedici's stuman! lol

Thanks bones, thats a well explained write up on how you find and use reference points! I am looking forward to getting back on track and working on this. cheers B

I prefer not to follow someone as I always tend to turn in sooner than I would like for some reason but if I'm following a rider that I trust their capabilities and I know what they are doing is correct like a CSS instructor for example, then I like to follow!

I have the same bike as you, all the standard settings can be found at page 30 in the owners manual, if you dont have the manual let me know and I will give them to you after new year.

I think that could work, thinking of it now I think I have been spoiled by having cones at the track side and have become used to looking for something there, say on a right hand turn I am always looking for something at the left side of the track to put into my peripheral vision to use the two-step. I never thought of things at the inside for some strange reason nor did I think of using the apex! I will work on this next opportunity I get! thanks B

Didn't know about that special, that is a deal. So, what's the gift? checked the site again the price is actually 29 pounds, still a great deal I think, the gift is a V2 sponge for cleaning your visor, I use one and its amazing for getting splattered bugs off!

For track only riding, it has less seams, less areas that can come apart. I'm more comfortable in one too. One thing that surpirses me is what guys do and don't wear under them. Bare flesh or t-shirts really aren't very good--one sticks to the suit. Inner liners like Kushitani or RS Taiichi (not sure on spelling), or Under Armour, lots of guys like those too. I wear both a full mesh liner on hot days, or top and bottom on cold days. Just this makes riding so much more comfortable! I wear an EDZ under suit with my leathers, its one of those light weight materials that keep you warm when its cold and cool when its hot, makes it easy to get in and out of leathers too without sticking to the lining.

I'm sure I could sound like a broken record on this type of point, but I'm just self confident enough (I didn't say arrogant:)), that this is what I think Keith has done--break the "intangibles" down into bite size pieces. That might not mean one could do those things as well, but could understand what the elite are doing, and practice/master it totally agree 100%! as for Rossi adjusting his brake lever at 199 mph is not that big a deal, if a racer finds a setting that needs adjusting during a race or even a trackday guy the obvious place to make adjustments is on the straight when his hands are free to do other things!

This gist is that you need a combination of both diet and exercise together. Part of the message is that you need to do resistance training, not just cardio, to lose weight. The idea is that by building muscle, muscle itself raises your metabolism and thus burns fat. An hour of cardio burns energy pretty much just for the period of time you are doing it, while lifting causes you to burn energy for an extended period of time. The other component of the message related to diet is to eat smaller meals throughout the day (5-6 times) rather than the customary 3 meals. The rationale is that you keep your metabolism, blood sugar levels, etc. more even this way. Its a form of food combining where you can eat from 12 food groups, This is not like most diets where you find yourself starving between meals, you seem to be full all the time and if you stick to it for about 2 weeks your energy levels go through the roof, The one thing which made it work so well for me was that you are allowed a cheat day once a week where you can eat whatever you want! unlike most diets out there this one is not about dehydration or deteriorating muscle to lose weight but is about maintaining muscle and burning fat, as described in the book, it turns your body into a fat burning machine!

CBT- compulsory basic training, the first step to getting your motorcycle licence here in the UK! firstly are you intending on getting your full licence, I think that will help alot, also forget about lean angle, as I learned on here that comes as a by-product of correct riding technique. as Cobie asks do you have the TOTW books, if not, get them! CSS uk website is doing a deal on them at the moment all 3 books + a free gift 25 pounds, bargan!

Your lucky Hub Its a very good day here if it gets above 20 degrees in summer, our roads are all salty just now to stop ice, and you have to wash your bike after every run to stop corrosion, I like to take my bike out regularly to get the engine up to temp from time to time and have been out in - 4 already this winter.

Every use an RP by judging how far you are from it, say the white line or edge of the road/track? OK I have read that racers can consistently ride around a track going over the same part of tarmac, within an inch or so lap after lap, what do they look at? I can see how you could use the edge of the track to judge your location regarding the width of the track, so knowing where I want to be width wise is covered, Say I ride along 3ft from the edge of the track down a straight, I use a rock at the track side as my on brake marker, get to the corner and can find nothing to indicate a turn point, I try to do the two-step, I see where I want to go but have nothing in my peripheral vision to tell me when to turn, this results in me peeling in a little earlier than I would have liked, basically blowing that corner, this is just an example of a situation where I need something solid to indicate my turn point, could I use the edge of the track in this situation, as in quick turn 5ft before you would run of the track, I know this subject is covered in both the TOTW books but I am keen to know what you all do or use as R.Ps, Is finding R.Ps the first thing you would do when riding a new track?

welcome to the forum

Welcome to the forum Steph1000,

True, we're all entitled to like who we want. I'm just at a loss on Pedrosa. I don't see what he does better than anyone else. He has size advantage, but that's being diminished with the 800 development. The 990 was wearing him out (LOL). I say get Melandri on equal equipment with Pedrosa and let's have a race! I tend to agree with you considering his weight atvantage and the fact Honda have pretty much custom built the bike around him he should be better, though he was leading the championship when he crashed out at Germany. next year should be interesting since he will be alongside dovitsioso in the factory team, with his performance on a customer bike this year he will be worth watching next year.

OK these are some good answers and when I do my level 2 in 2009 i'm sure it will become a little bit more clear to me, this subject is of interest to me and I think it may be effecting my riding in such a way that I am seeking out R.Ps but maybe not using them correctly, or maybe I need more. On a school day the X marks your turn point but in reality the X does not exist and you would be lucky to find such a conveniently placed R.P so say I find a mark on the track a few feet before where I want to turn, how do I use it correctly so that I am turning at the same spot every lap? Do I find something else in my peripheral vision during the two-step and use that or does it become a timing issue?