acebobby

OK so here's some interesting figures! Portimao Lap Record: Cal CrutchlowGBR Yamaha WSS R6 1min 44.781secs Jonathan ReaGBR Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 42.270s As you said Bullet it is clearly not a horsepower thing, thats 2.5 seconds between the top 1000 and the top 600 bike, Cal's time was faster than alot of the 1000s! Of course riding style comes into it, but thats been the case with the history of racing, bikes change in moto gp alone they have went from 500cc 2 strokes, to 990 4s to 800 4s with the same weight restrictions as the 990s, as the manufacturer's work hard to try to speed their bikes up the organisers keep changing the rules to try to slow them down for safety! As the bikes change the riders have to adjust their style in order to get the best out of the new package! It was once said that sliding wasn't the fastest way to ride a bike then along came Gary Mcoy and annihilated the field (Rossi included) by riding with an impressive sideway style that obviously wouldn't work on today's high corner speed 800s! I think as bikes evolve (roadbikes are even getting the electronics now) riding style will have to evolve with them, but the main area where bikes are improving is in cornering ability, (higher corner speeds and bigger lean angles)! The fundamentals taught in the twist books and at the CSS are the best way to improve cornering as a rider! Bobby

Welcome to the forum mate! I know how you feel, I myself was in the same position a couple of years ago worrying about all those things but let me assure you, you will have a great time! Once you have had your first class room session and go out onto track to practice your first drill you will forget all about those fears, You are there to learn so focus on the drills and you wont be caring if your the slowest guy out there (which you wont be) you will just be having so much fun and be amazed at what you and your bike are capable of! If you haven't already I would recomend reading twist of the wrist 1 and 2, that way you will be turning up at school a bit better prepared for the day ahead! Bobby

At that level 4 seconds a lap is massive, a huge improvement, imagine thinking that you have achieved the fastest posible time round a track and then someone comes along and knocks 4 seconds off it, at the very top of the game its the final 10ths that are hard to get, a racer a couple of tenths of the pace may run mid pack or towards the back, a racer that runs 4 seconds off the pace will be looking for a job! Bobby

Jason, your asking a question that probably deserves a thread of its own! Reminds me of a story Andy Ibbott told me about him riding an R1 following Rossi riding a stock R6, I'm sure you get where this is going!

Welcome This is a common question, It may well be to much info all at once, but in my opinion I say just do it, if you dont get something right on the day you can always go back and do it again! Bobby

Its a nightmare mate, at least your ok, just keep on riding and try not to over analyse what happened, it can mess with your head and your cornering confidence! Bobby

If you look at every racer in the world, the top guys in the world you will see that they have worked their way to the top through either mini bikes, dirt bikes, 50cc championships etc etc etc, None have jumped onto a superbike or a moto gp bike from the beginning, It wouldn't be possible to find the limits of these bikes without their previous experience! In the real world though as a track day rider, it wouldn't be cost effective to work your way through loads of different bikes slightly increasing your skill level with each faster bike you master, so you have to pick something that suits you! I personally like my cbr600rr, can I ride it to its limits? No Way but over the years as I have improved the bike has taken it in its stride and seems to get better all the time, I think the same can be said for all the modern 600 sports bikes, they are very user friendly but really start to excel once they are pushed! Bobby

congratulations jay, all the best!

Hay mate, welcome to the forum. I think I recognize the road in your picture, just past the green wellie up towards fort william! We do have some great roads here but as bullet say's getting good weather's another thing! Bobby

Thanks for the feed back guys, some really good points made! Bullet, I am more keen in learning about traction and feel than having the security of full wets I think, every time I go on track I am working on improving some area of my riding, so when it rains I should look at that as an opportunity to use good throttle control and search for the traction limits! A section from TOTW 1 that stuck in my head where Keith wrote "for your own instructional purpose, I suggest using a tire and rim combination that will allow you to slide the bike around at your level of riding" I know Keith wasn't talking about wet weather riding when he wrote this but it does hold some relevance in this topic. The extra security of the wets is appealing though but I think learning more about the traction limits would be more rewarding long term! Kevin, You have made an excellent point about the way the road tyres adapt to changing conditions, this is something I should have thought about as at my last track day of 2009 the weather was unsettled, it would rain then partly dry out then rain again, it did this for the whole day so in the paddock there were loads of guys that reckoned it was too dry for full wets but too wet for their dry tyres, throughout the day I got a lot of good quality track time on an almost empty track as I had dunlop qualifiers on so wasn't too bothered about the weather, I just went out and had fun while some people never got much track time at all. Thanks guys thats got that idea out of my head, saved me spending even more money on my bike, will spend it on track time instead lol! Bobby

OK so I am in the middle of turning my CBR600RR into a designated track bike, have spent a chunk of money on brake lines, brake pads, suspension components front and rear and a few other bits and bobs! The issue has been raised that I should probably buy a spare set of wheels and stick a set of wets on them, I am an intermediate rider and dont use tyre warmers, and had it in mind that I'd be fine running a good all round road tyre like I have been previously, i.e. qualifiers, pilot powers 2ct etc etc, due to budget thats what I'l be doing this season anyway. but what do you guys think, are wets on wheels worth having? Bobby

Just bought one of these alpinestars vests! http://www.rocketclothing.co.uk/alpinestar.../prod_1500.html haven't tried it out yet because its snowing here, but feels like a comfy fit off the bike anyway! Bobby

The coolest thread of 2009 has to go to Genevieve Lesieur aka Gigi with http://forums.superbikeschool.com/index.php?showtopic=1770 she doesn't post much but when she does it's a good one!

wasn't sure what section to put this in so if admin want to move it thats cool! I would just like to wish you all a merry christmas and a happy new year! I've had a good year this year completing levels 2 and 3 my riding has improved amazingly without incident, I would especially like to thank the instructors who take the time to come on the forum and join in the discussions, that kind of feed back is priceless! and cheers to all the regular posters who keep my brain active throughout the year with a variety posts and questions, and to the lurkers, get posting in 2010! Cheers guys and girls Bobby

Whats the purpose behind the new codebreak section in Keiths Corner?

Hay Jay The SRs you mentioned, (hunting eyes, narrowed vision, feelings of uncertainty). In my opinion are all visual, basically SR #3 and maybe #4, you may want to go over some of your level 2 drills regarding that! How wide do you hold your vision? Do you consistently use the 2-step? One thing I can never get my head round is how some people can tell exactly what speed they are doing when they enter or exit turns, how do you know that you increased your entry speed by 6 mph or your exit speed by 15 mph? Bobby

Hay Jay, how you doing? Its an interesting question, but the variables are infinite. Like most people I'm not happy with my entry speed, but I think that in your head if you make the turn you always think you could have went a little faster, and you probably could have! What limits your entry speed though, there are a few things I can think of that limit me, in no particular order! 1/ confidence in how quick I can turn the bike. 2/ think I'm going to fast and tense up, I know I do this so focus on it at times! 3/ think I'm going to fast and dont get on the throttle soon enough, as above! The worst case scenario for me is if-when SRs force me to turn in earlier than I intended, all my RPs become pointless and the exit is scary, with this in mind I practice increasing my entry speed at a known corner that I have a consistent turn point and good RPs throughout the turn! Bobby

This is one of my favourite drills, its an amazing feeling when you get the timing spot on and move your upper body in time with the bike! Bobby

Well you say without the expense... But, unfortunately, Oulton especially is very expensive to hire, Cadwell isn't much cheaper either. they're both MSV/Palmersport owned circuit's lest we not forget, so I doubt you'd be looking much less cost than Brands hatch for a day. Bullet Bullet the expense I was alluding to was the private hire of 1 CSS instructor + bike hire + 2x trackday tickets that would be required for personal tuition at Cadwell. I agree that you need a track that is small enough so that a reasonable number of laps can be done although I wouldn't grumble at a smaller version of cadwell without the mountain & hairpin. Stowe probably suits me for my tuition as it's the slower corners that I seem to find problems with. Oulton 3:30 - 4:00 with no brakes & 1 gear - who are you kidding, thats what I do flat out I could be very very interested in a 2 day UK camp especially if it was at Oulton. Paul Would'nt the short version of cadwell be the section with the hairpin and the mountain? I will be holding off booking until I see what comes of this 2 day camp, as that would suit me perfectly if the price is right! Bobby

The curriculum is set, as in the struture of which drills we can coach when, so drill 1 level is throttle control and so on. So if we see something really horrible that can only be addressed when you get level 3, we'll leave it until then. We also always work on the drill that needs the most work, so for example, you may need to keep working on your throttle control, when say the drill is turn points. Bullet I can vouch for the coaches using initiative and focusing on the drill that needs the most work, this year I did lvls 2 and 3 on consecutive days and was fortunate enough to have the same coach for both days, during my first day of lvl 2 I was working on my visual skills, doing the drills that Andy had set out for us in the classroom, lvl 2 had some big breakthroughs for me but the one thing my coach (Butch) was not happy with was my quick turn. First thing he did was organise it for me to do the lvl 1 off track drill, then during lvl 3, although I was doing the drills set out for me my main focus was on quick turning the bike, the improvement I made that day was astonishing. It was the following day I did a track evening at cadwell park that what I had learned really shone through, cadwells a very narrow track and benefits a good confident quick turn, especially through that little chicane everyone hates, and also at the hairpin! So thanks to my coach he turned one of my weak points into one of my stronger points! Bobby

WOW what a road, we have similar mountain roads here in scotland but with nowhere near that quality of surface! Bobby

The town where I originally come from is about 20 mins drive from Paislely on the west coast, and you are right, it's really cold here just now, roads have been salted, so if you do go out a bike ride you have to wash all the salt and ###### off or else your bike will turn into a pile of rust! Bobby

I like that Kevin, The A.T.G.A.T.T: principle, definitely the way forward, for the riders that think they dont push hard enough on the road to warrant wearing full protective clothing. In 2002 I had a 60-70 mph crash into a wall, I was mid corner on my 1994 Yamaha Diversion when I got a front tyre blow out! The protective clothing that saved me that day was my boots or to be precise my right boot, What happened was I was cornering to the left on a nice sweeping bend somewhere in the Scottish-English borders, when my front tyre blew I lost control of the bike and veered right across the road, bounced up onto the grass and hit the wall side on, destroying the plastic, the footpeg, the end can, and the ligiments and tendon's in my foot! There is no doubt that my foot was saved by the boots I was wearing, I still have a slight limp now because of that crash! I know this is a little of the topic of back protector's, but it's just an example of how your control of your bike can be taken away when you least expect it and your protective clothing becomes more necessary than you ever thought! Bobby

Oh that video.....! I know a funny story about that film... Bullet If it involves Andy Ibbot I think I know the funny story your talking about, I'l leave it for you to tell though! Bobby

Cheers Bullet I will probably just go for the layout that suits my dates best! Are you guys not running the rider aid bikes again next year? I will have to wait till after new year before I book anything but will hopefully manage 2 level 4s, if not I will definitely do at least 1 day of level 4, I have to wait for the UK TDO's to get their calendars up so that I can pick dates that allow me to do a trackday or 2 at either Cadwell, Oulten or Donington straight after the school to justify the travelling down, well justify it in my head anyway Bobby