acebobby

I dont think it would be possible to lift a 400 lb bike with your knee and elbow, but if you think whats happening if you dig your elbow into the road you would also be pulling on the inside bar while you did this, if the front regained traction even for a moment that could be enough to counter steer the bike back up! What would you be doing with throttle control though, Colins save looked like it was off the throttle to me, or maybe he just chopped it after he saved it! Bobby

Cheers for that explanation Bullet It is a shame, I really liked that little circuit and its where I've done all my levels 1-3 so probably the track where I have got past alot of my riding barriers and have improved my riding, no high speed stuff just corner after corner as you know. Ironically all 3 times I have been there it has been wet, and all credit to all the CSS staff, we were well warned about turns 1 and 6! On my last day there though you could see the coaches and staff getting a bit frustrated as they were warning people about it and then they went out and crashed, Hopefully Rockingham can get it sorted and get back on the calender for 2011! Looks like silverstone for level 4 next year, is the little stow track a good track for learning on or would it be worth paying the extra for the south circuit? Cheers Bobby

I find people are quite happy to ride in shorts thongs (flip flops for you unAustralians) Thanks for the explanation here ozfireblade, I saw thongs and it fired up a load of horrible mental images, unless of course you were meaning the biker girls ride around in thongs! Really though why not wear all the protective equipment you can on the road, if your getting a back protector do what you would do when buying a helmet! Try a few on until you find one that you like and is comfortable as there are loads of different styles out there. I am looking for one myself at the moment as I have just signed up for 3 trackdays in Spain early next year and the organiser for this particular event has stated that back protectors are mandatory, I've always intended buying one but since they have never been mandatory before I've always spent my money on other things, but when I get it, it will become part of my kit that I wear on the road too. When you think of it you spend a fair chunk of money protecting your head so why not your back, imagine how much a back injury could affect your life, then think should I, should I not wear a back protector. I would be interested to hear if there are particular back protectors that people recommend, I like the look of the knox and dainese style that can only bend the one way in line with your spine! Bobby

Bobby, Thanks for the feedback. Good info. I have studied all that Code has written, and Andrew Trevitt's Sportbike Suspension Tuning, Which I think was great. Sag has all been set, and I'm happy with it. I'm pretty much happy with the bike. Seemed too simple. I'm sure as I push the bike harder that weaknesses will become apparent, but so for this has not been the case. When that happens I'll just have to start experimenting. And, I'll learn more at that time. Additionally, input from a pro suspension tuner will be more valuable to me. But, I will insist of course that I understand the reason for any recommended changes, as opposed to just taking a "he said it, I'll just do it" approach. Thanks again, Mark Hi Mark Perhaps you have been lucky and dialed in the perfect setup right away, maybe while you have it set so well would be a good time to do as Keith says and wind down one thing at a time and take notes on how it feels, that way when you pick up the pace if something is needing adjusted you will recognise the feeling and know exactly what adjust! Hmm come to think of it that sounds too simple, but worth a try! Bobby

I see next years calendar is out and so far nothing at Rockingham, Is it because it always rains when we go there? The only choice seems to be Silverstone South, Stow or Brands hatch, hopefully more dates get added, I have a level 4 to do! Bobby

The BMWMotorrad web site http://www.bmwmotorcycles.com/us/en/index.html says that their traction control system is an add-on option. I'm not sure if the ABS is also an option or is standard equipment but the traction control is definitely an extra cost item. That said, it sounds like it is an awesome motorcycle and one that I cannot wait to ride at the School next spring. The combination of ABS and TC coupled with 193 HP in a 404 lbs. bike is almost an incomprehensible package. Rainman According to my Cycle World the DTC and the Race ABS are both options. You can have the ABS itself but to get the DTC it works hand in hand with the ABS, Here in the UK the options are S1000RR basic model S1000RR sport model which includes DTC, Race ABS, and a very clever quick shifter! I wonder which model the school will have? Bobby

Hi Mark This is an interesting topic, and one that whever you go no one seems inerested in talking about, you can pay guys at the track to sort out your sag and give you the settings that he thinks you need, this is probably an excellent starting point, but its not very realistic that you would pay a guy at every track you go to for a setup, also getting a couple of mates to help you set sag is a much cheaper option! The internet, thats where you will find loads of information on the subject. For starters both the Ohlins and WP websites have ace setup sheets, including problems and remedies! http://www.wpsuspension.co.uk/setup.php http://www.ohlins.com/Checkpoint-Ohlins/Se.../Underrubrik_1/ OK so both of these links are based specifically for WP or Ohlins but the rules are the same whatever components you have! Trying to educate yourself on suspension setup is definitely the way to go and it can be a tough subject to read about, I have an avid interest in it but have not as yet had the confidence to mess about with it too much, only because I dont have anyone to tell me whether what I'm doing is right or wrong. I have just bought a WP race shock for the rear and K-Tech internal's for the front end of my bike so next season I will be making sure I know what I'm doing and hopefully self teach myself how to feel for exactly what changes are required! My favourite site on the subject is Dave Moss's site http://www.feelthetrack.com/ They have free data sheets for you to download to record the changes you make, these are a must if you want to go back to familiar settings at any time! They also cover tyre reading, which can tell you what changes to make due to the way your tyres are wearing! All the info you need is on that site! Hope some of this helps and let us know how you get on! Bobby

Good trick video! Gp circuits have mega run off areas though, here in the UK and Ireland most of our short circuits have something to hit somewhere, or grass instead of kitty litter which causes you to slide for ages before you stop! Also we have road racing, IOM TT and North West 200 being the most famous but there is a series for this, mostly in Northern Ireland and I believe there is still at least one race held in England, worth watching if you get a chance cause it really is full on superbikes on the road! Then of course In Germany you have the Nurburgring, I have been going there every year for 6 years now, you have zero run off and you have to share the track with cars, campervans, and sometimes busses, very dangerous but also very addictive! Bobby

Those are some cool pictures bellevuetlr, Its rare to see a photographer get pics with the track horizontal to the bike, usually the twist the pic to make the lean look more extreme! The thing I noticed here is the position of their inside shoulder, Its almost in line with the centre of the bike, Lorenzo's a little less, by my shoulder width that would only mean my upper body should be about 10 inches maximum off centre to achieve this, you said that you aim to get your nipples in line with the outside edge of the tank, I'm not an expert but in my opinion thats too much, you must sacrifice some of your ability to lock on to the bike being that far over! Personaly I aim to get my nipple in line with the filler cap! Visuals, what do you think Lorenzo is looking at in that picture, or maybe what is it he's looking for? I would think that by that point in the corner he is finished with that turn visually and is looking up the track for his next RP! Back to head position, studying 3 pictures of the 3 top riders in the world shows the same thing none of them tilt their heads to either side, they all rotate their heads in the direction they want to look, and they do tilt their heads back to achieve better visuals! Bobby

I find that a few beers the night before is enough to get me a decent nights sleep, not to many though! I am and always have been an early riser so even if I set my alarm for 6 am before a trackday I tend to wake about 4 am!

Hi Jason I've not so much been reading about it online, my source of information is the twist books, but I recently reread twist 1 and it does cover sense of speed quite a bit in that book! The idea of taping up my speedometer came from a dramatic drop in laptimes from Bradley Smith in his first year 125s, when he was struggling to go any faster his team taped up his speedo and he went immediately faster, also when your bike gets scrutineered at the CSS here in the UK they tape your speedo, now whenever I do trackdays I stick a piece of tape over my speedometer and write RELAX on it, I know its a bit cheezy but it works for me! Bobby

Moto GP Stoner, Lorenzo, Rossi WSBK Rea, Fabrizio, Haslam, though theres going to be a good field of potential race winners in this series! BSB Easton, Ellison, Hill Moto 2 Unknown lineup but would be hard to bet against Mad Toni Elias if he rides the Morowaki Gresini bike he was testing this week! AMA unfortunately not up to date with the series, dont get to see it here!

Hi tweek Your question is an interesting one, I'm no expert on the subject but I'l fire an opinion in! How good is your sense of speed? This is something I've been reading about recently and you would be surprised at the amount of people it can affect, from track day novices to championship contenders! So you have to ask yourself how good is my sense of speed! You stated that you were approaching 140 mph on a section at your local track, I take it that you glanced at your speedometer at this point for you to know that, if so how many times during a lap do you glance at your speedometer? If this is something you are doing then I'd suggest that you stick a piece of tape over your speedometer so that you cant see it! obviously the no brakes drill is the best thing for sorting out your sense of speed! Some advice I got from someone on this forum that really helped me to speed up was to pick 1 corner and focus on increasing my entry speed, use the same turn in point, 2 step, and quick turn fast enough to suit the turn, by doing this you increase your comfort zone gradually but you tend to go that bit faster in all the other turns without thinking about it! Bobby

When I did my level 3 earlier this year my instructor told me to get as far back in the seat as I possibly could, mainly this was finding the best point for me personally to get locked onto the bike, (he also mentioned making me not looking so much like a big guy on a small bike), I'm 6ft 2 and my bike is a cbr600rr, but as I said the main reason was to get securely locked onto the bike! I have recently seen smaller people use a piece of foam to effectively bring the back of the seat forward a bit, I saw a woman in her 60s at the nurburgring earlier this year using this on an R1, also see that Dani Pedrosa uses this too!

Hi pbrown Thanks for posting this question as its something thats been messing with my head a bit too! My problem comes from turns that require you to use the hip flick, or similarly quick side to side direction changes! The thing is say for example you have a right turn going into a left turn, your leaned over to the right so if you wanted to turn left on a closed throttle, at what point would you want to close the throttle? Dont fancy the idea of closing it while still leaned to the right, so would you have to pick the bike up, close the throttle when the bike is vertical, get over to your desired lean angle, then get back on the gas? If so thats alot of things to do in a short space of time. Alternatively if you were to manage to maintain your roll on through the sequence of turns, when you flicked from right to left you would be effectively adding throttle and lean angle at the same time which is clearly a big no no! It left me wondering if you should pause your roll on, hold throttle position in position while you make the left right transition! Bobby

Welcome to the forum Vegasboy! Jasonzilla, I was expecting a bigger, better write-up on your 2 day camp experience than that, are you lost for words? Bobby

Hi Bongo Very cool video, have never riden Anglesey but its definitely on my to do list for next year! Bobby

Hay Jay, This is a quote from what stuman actually said "on unknown tires I tend to push the limits of traction on corner exits first as I am more comfortable sliding the rear then the front. After I start to get a feel for the tires I will begin to search for the limits of front traction mid corner. Corner entry is not typically a place where I press my limits because I'm a wuss." Earlier in the thread you said "I don't think I've ever pushed traction limits. I've felt the side of my rear step out a few times, but that was on rare occasion. Funny that it was always the left (hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm)....." Dont you think that it may be worth setting your goals on finding the traction limits on exits by consistently sliding the rear before you jump ahead setting your goal as "finding your front traction limits" As for how cold is to cold to do trackdays, thats an open ended question that everyone has a personal opinion on, how cold is to cold for you to go out a street ride, If you dont ride on the street through winter its unlikely you would go to the track! I personally would welcome the opportunity to do a cold dry track day! Bobby

OK guys this has turned into a brilliant and interesting thread, bit gutted you have come to a conclusion so soon as it became a proper question and answer session! Anyway I just wanted to fire an opinion in about something! So the apex stays the same! but then the apex would continue to change depending on speed! This cant be right! OK so what is the apex? Some would say that its the kerb, or edge of the track at the inside of the turn, if this is the case then ok, I agree that the apex does not change! Andy Ibbott says its the point where the rider gets closest to the inside of the turn which tells me that it is a point that can change or be changed! It also means you cant miss the apex but you can hit a bad apex, I like to think of it this way because it means rather than being a fixed point its something that can be improved! Bobby

Looks like Jays question got your back up there a bit Jason, I often think along similar lines as you do but then look at it this way, when you see these people you describe, the wasters of society, the druggies etc, getting a free ride with taxpayers money, its annoying but who's life would you rather have yours or theirs? and when it really gets to you, at least you have spent some of your hard earned cash on a motorbike, the #1 de-stressing machine!

HI BCNU What sort of other bikes are other people riding at your local track, infact what is your local track? What I have discovered since I started track riding is that you hear alot of different opinions from various sources on different subjects e.g those tyres are no good for trackday's, this track is best for 1000s, this track is beat for 600s etc etc etc. The point is you have what you have so use it, if your only ever going to ride that one track then it may be worth looking for a trackbike to suit it, if your riding different tracks then you will find a compromise for each track! You said that you are riding in the novice group so it may be worth focusing on moving into the faster groups and learning good technique before worrying about racing!

Just finished nightshift this morning and was rudely awakened by the postman putting my copy through the door, kettle on, plenty of coffee and watched it all! I'm impressed, it covers all that we have been taught but reinforces to me that the way I'm using the techniques is either correct or could use a little work! I like the way it follows the two riders and shows how they apply what they read in the book and gradually improve, until near the end when they realise that they are now on an endless learning curve! I think that is something we can all relate to, I know I certainly can! From the days when I had the chicken strips in the carpark and was looking at other people's worn tyres in awe, and now mine are the worn over the edge tyres! The detailed animation's of how the bike reacts in certain situations are great, and really make it clear in your mind how disastrous letting your SR's take control really can be! This DVD coupled with the twist 2 book will seriously improve your riding, and give you full control of your bike, well done to the team for putting the key elements of TOTW2 the book onto DVD, Its great in its own right but does not replace the book, but may make it a bit easier to read for anyone who couldn't get into it before! Oh and well done to the guy that did the simulated crashes on the lean/slide bike, that was pretty cool! Bobby

OK Cobie, I will have a go at this! Just watched the twist 2 DVD and got the idea from that, as good a rider as lorenzo is (I'm a big fan) it looks to me that whenever he gets into trouble he does not use a smooth roll off with the throttle! I have read the book loads and I missed this, associating rolling off with chopping the throttle, it seems that good throttle control works both ways, rolling on smoothly and when necessary rolling off smoothly! Bobby

Hay Bongo welcome to the forum mate! Like the riding style! Is that a throttle monkey sticker on your bellypan?

I'm not doing it right? It's so comfortable, and seems to work really well for me. Granted I'm going to do whatever makes me better, but I thought I had that part down. It's a double apex corner, and I was coming in tight, leaning on the front left bar, and then start pushing on the outside bars to get wide enough to make it. That was tiring. I ended up changing my one RP out a couple feet, and collecting a few to get me out there consistently. I can't wait until the school. Everything I'm doing so wrong will be corrected, or at least I'll be on the path to doing it right. Give me the tools, and I'll improve. I can't tell you guys how excited I am to be going. And tomorrow my wife will be Mrs. Ten Days..... Hay Jason, your going to love the school! You have read the books alot, you have posted about the subjects on this forum alot, and you are always thriving to improve your riding! Enjoy your days and concentrate on the drills as much as possible, I'm looking forward to hearing about what you get out of the school most! Oh yeah and try to get some sleep the night before! Bobby