jps600rr

I am thinking of getting a Ninja 250 for the track only, does anyone have information about the potential mods that can be made to this bike, and how suitable is it for track learning. Thanks. James

You may find this interesting, research on what it takes to be the best. The first major conclusion is that nobody is great without work. It's nice to believe that if you find the field where you're naturally gifted, you'll be great from day one, but it doesn't happen. There's no evidence of high-level performance without experience or practice. Reinforcing that no-free-lunch finding is vast evidence that even the most accomplished people need around ten years of hard work before becoming world-class, a pattern so well established researchers call it the ten-year rule. James.

Thank's guys. I have seen the clip ons at different heights on a street bike. Comfort issue I guess. Some people want to fit the bike, others want the bike to fit them. It's a question of just trying things out, but body position is determine alot by the clip-on height. James.

In connection with the quick turn discussion, I have noticed that several AMA riders have the handle bars set higher, or lower than a traditional out of the box bike. How does modifing the handlebar height and width effect turn in, and throttle control? As with the body position there seems to be an ideal position for the handle bars, is this related to the angle of the wrist to the arms on the controls? I have seen some bikes with the throttle side set higher than the clutch side. Thanks James.

I think that the traction control would be activated when a small spin is detected before it would require a large power chnage to take place, The system on the BMW can be switched off, I found the info just after my first post. I think the issue I am confused about is why do the racers at such a high level of expertise need to rely on traction control at all.

Well here is a bike with the technology avaliable now [i]ASC, which will be available on 2007 boxer models (except the R1200S) and the K1200GT, uses the wheel-speed sensors that are part of the ABS. The electronic control unit compares front and rear wheel speed, and if the rear tire starts to spin faster, the engine management system reduces power in a two-step process[/i] It would seem to me that reducing the throttle with the rear spinning is NOT want we need to do.

I think it is only a matter of time before we see traction control on the production bikes, two years. An open question, do you think this will change the way in which riders are trained, and how does traction control compare to the throttle control we are using thru the corner? Does traction control maintain the back tire weight bias?

From what I can see the Quick turn is likely the most important of all skills to master, in terms of being quick, and safe, that is were the pro's would leave the rest behind. I wonder if that can be practised on the corner bike at the school.

I have a question to clarify the quick turn in, the bike is flicked quickly to high lean angle, and a split second later the throttle is opened, this leads to an overall higher speed through the turn because the bike is leaned over a lot at the start of the turn, and you cannot start the throttle opening until the bike is leaned Also you set you lean angle at the turn point for the whole corner? I find that a quick turn is acheived by hanging off, and pushing the bike away keeping in a straight line, and then just let it drop, but I usually find that I increase the lean angle as I reach the apex. at the end of the turn I have a higher lean angle compared to my lean angle entering the turn.

I find that the best way to enter almost all corners is by using a late apex, hold off a turn in , this works well on the road as it gives you more visability through the turn. I focus on a point towards the exit as an apex, this allows later braking, but requires that the bike is leaned quickly to a high lean angle, but the amount of time the bike is at a high lean angle is much reduced compared to a mid apex. However I do not see late apex used in races all the time, is that because it allows someone to come up on the inside. and cause a blocking type move? So there seems to be two methords recommended one for the road, and one for the track?

Thank you very much for your suggestion in trying different body positions. It's eactly as you say, when I am back in the seat it feels as if one is connected to the bike, very stable feeling, with the fingers almost just resting on the controls, as one makes a corner it is easy to just slip the body to the inside of the coner, and the upper body moves to the inside naturally, the bike almost falls into the corner with very little effort. I am gradually increasing my lean angle, my main concern now is that I think my pegs will touch down before my knee touches the ground, I have heard that the pegs drag on the CBR600RR early, I get the feeling that I should move my inside foot up and back to move it out of the way. I need to come to see you at the school, at Firebird PHX. Thanks very much Keith.

Could anyone explain the effect of uisng the back brake for adjusting the speed/lean angle through a turn in particular the down hill/hairpin would seem to be a good place to use it if you need to lose speed when leaned over without overloading the front tire. On the gas with a little rear brake should do the trick.

That is very good input, thank you. I did try different positions this weekend, and found that for me pushing back in the seat, and getting very low with my chest on the tank was best, this put my arms on the tank in a relaxed position, it seemed very easy to move around the bike, the bike felt very stable, and I had very little weight on my wrists. Again looking at the AMA riders I noticed some of them put thier weight over the front of the tank well forward, but I cannot do that, and keep my arms low. With my wieght back would that not reduce the turn in, and the grip on the front end? Thanks. tfc600 Good obseravation--different riders look different on the bikes. Just as each of us walks a little different we tend to sit on the bike the way it feels best to us. Some riders do lots of stretching exercises, some look stiff, some relaxed. 5'11" isn't too tall at all to ride a 600 so don't worry about that part of it. One thing you want to be aware of is the basic idea of why riders hang off and when you look at someone you can make a simple decision based on that. The basic idea is to lower the combined center of gravity of the bik and the riders body mass which can only be done by bringing the body off the inside of the bike, this, among other things allows for less lean in the corners. If they have their butts way off the seat but their upper body is countering that by being across the tank in the opposite direction they are not getting the full benefits of hanging off. Instead of getting their weight to the inside of the bike their torso mass is countering that and they may be worse off than if they just sat up straight on the bike. Use that as your guide and you can't go wrong if you are trying to learn hanging off. Ben Spies "Elbows" rides like that because it is comfortable. try it yourself and see what it feels like. Try other body positions as well to see what they feel like, it is quite fun to mimic what a pro rider does on the bike and you can learn something about different body positions. All of our Level III is based on this but we start setting you up at Level II on the "Lean Bike" which is when we work out the basics of how to do it best and fit you onto the bike. Keith

When I see the top riders at every level in particular I thinking about AMA, I see very different body positions on the bike from rider to rider, several riders have very different body positions, and are very fast, The rider that comes to mind is the one who has elbows out, not down. Mr S. I see some riders with the lower body hanging off with the upper body centered more over the tank. It seems to me that many different body positions will work. From my own experience being on the tall side 5 11, I find some of the riding positions to be impossible to get into on my 600RR. How does one find the best body position for one's size?