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Eirik, We didn't measure that. We were tarmac-space limited so maybe 60-70kph before braking.

Eirik, These were ordinary riders, coming to a traffic safety course like the ones that NMCU does. Not just "splendid" riders. Sure, this was during braking drills in a closed area. We encouraged all riders with bikes equiped with ABS to brake so hard that the ABS engaged, so they got comfortable with how the bike/ABS system reacted. Once they could do that, we encouraged them to back off just enough for the ABS to not engage. I had many students volunteer to me that they were surprised that they got a shorter stopping distance without the ABS engaging. One student told me that his Triumph Owner's Manual claimed that this was "impossible" and the manual encourage the rider to alway rely on the ABS.

With all the ABS generations I've seen student on, we could always get the rider to stop the bike in a shorter distance by not engaging the ABS. Well, assuming that the rider was well trainable, that is

IANAC (I Am Not A Coach), but turning your hips into the corner (so the inside hip is more forward than the outside), is not the way CSS teaches it - you should keep your hips perpendicular to the bike. The Hip Flick is used when you want to move quickly from side to side of the bike, and you have a bit of time to set it up. S-combinations are obvious. You start by hanging out to one side (say, Right), and once your have leaned the bike in, you move your pelvis and lowe body over to the other side (here: left), while keeping the upper body/torso on the right side. When you come to the RP where you want to change to left-side hangout, you only have to transition your torso to the left before making the steering input. This requires some practice and, in my experience, flexibility. I hope I haven't scr*w*d up the drill and explanation too much.

From the camera position, I guess you are mostly looking for critique of your body position. I noticed a couple of things: First, when you transition from one side to the other (like in the S-combinations), you lift your butt off the seat (e.g. @3.35) - try to slide it over the seat instead (I'm guilty of this sin). Secondly, it looks like that you are either hanging too much off, or you are not getting your upper body enough to the inner side, so your body becomes twisted (yeah, I'm guilty of that too). This could be due to the relatively low speed that you're running with on this course. At level 3 there is a drill called the Hip Flick. Do you think it could be useful for you in the S-combos? A third thing I noticed on a couple of occasions is that you only accellerate when you're almost straight up, but this could easily be deliberate due to the amount of traffic and passing rules on the day. It also seems to me that you don't use the full width of the course. From the video, the course seems rather bumpy, so this may be the 'correct' thing to do here. Hope this helps, and let me know if you need further explanations. Kai

Didn't you self-diagnose right there? If you feel rushed, back a bit off like on the CSS drills; build the right technique in at a lower speed and only then increase the speed. What about trying to start down-shifting about 1/2 half through the braking? would this make you feel less rushed? Downshifting before braking (without a slipper) would send the engine into a lot of RPMs, and possibly over-rev it (or lock up the rear wheel). Does this sound right to you? I think that this article by Keith is exactly what you need: Brake/down. Kai

Stroker: have you ever been to the Nordschleife? There are several (compounding) issues: - Lack of runoff - 3-high Armco - Mix of anything from the Ringtaxi (BMW M5 with pro driver for hire; look up Sabine Schmitz) over locals that do 100+ laps per year, sportscars-with-plates to tourist busses going 40kph on the same strip of tarmac. Just the death-accident rate of at the Nordschleife should tell you that it's very very dangerous. Read this warning page from Ben Lovejoy's Nurburgring page: I personally knew Joerund Seim who was killed there - he's the one that was killed in the oil-spill mentioned on the warning page (he slid in oil others had spilled). I had a car in front of me let out an oil mist, which causes the rear tyre to go sideways on me in one of the turns (the one before the carrousel).

Since there is a mix of Levels on the track at the same time, all levels go through the same progression from "No Brakes, 4th gear" to "Full Brakes, All Gears" during a day. CodeRACE, on the other hand, doesn't go through this

I think we went through this some years ago, but I'll have a go anyway: Denmark: Jyllandsringen Ring Djursland Norway: Våler Rudskogen Sweden: Anderstorp Ring Knutstorp Sturup Raceway Gälleråsen Kinnekulle Ring France: Circuit Val de Vienne England: Silverstone South Germany: Eurospeedway Lausitzring Nürburgring Nordschleife (not a racetrack, imho - far too dangerous for that) Czech Republic: Autodrom Most USA: Willow Springs ("Big Willows") Streets of Willow Springs All accumulated over the last 15 years or so.

If you search the R6 forums you will find lots of complaints about the clutches not slipping as easily as they should. There is some kind of simple DIY mod that can fix that. Not sure if this applies to the 2013, but on older R6s it was a really common modification for track use. Do a google search and you will find it easily. I had the same experience with my '08 R6 as noamkrief, and as YellowDuck says - it's a common grief (no pun intended). I even mentioned this to a Yamaha dealer, and said that I should get an aftermarket slipper for racing - which I did. Made a heaven of difference on the slipping action.

Too bad on the exhaust valves, T. From the picture, it looks like there at least two screw receptors (what do you actually call those in English?) that need patching. Kai

I went from Pirelli SuperCorsa SC's (not to be confused with the Superbikes, which is a lower spec tyre) to D211GP's. Yes, the Dunlops have a stiffer carcass. Personally, I didn't change any settings based on this. YMMV. Kai

The third book would be the soft science one... I think its Andy Ibbott's book. Incorrect. The Soft Science of Roadracing Motorcycles is written by Keith. Andy Ibbott's book is called Performance Riding Techniques.

Did Joe break the lap record of the Streets of Willows yet?

CodeRACE is this = http://www.coderace.com/ It doesn't follow the 'normal' Level 1-4 cycle, but you have 2 students per 1 coach and go through a number of 'open practices' where you work with you coach on particular elements of the track, and there's a couple of special drills (downshifting, start practice, passing, ...) Kai (CodeRACE participant last October)

Pushbike, if anything, Cobie. Riding a bike in China is pretty dangerous imho.

Well, the bike refused to start after fourteen months hiatus, so the only thing I can reasonably claim is to keep the rubber side down. Another twelve months of hiatus awaits the bike - and me

Eirik, If you've stopped looking after beautiful girls, I'm gonna be seriously concerned for you </p> Kai</p>

How cool is that

ES mapped for different tyres ... Wow, this is getting too complicated for me. I just wanna ride

Lorenzo definitely did it at Jerez. I finally found a channel here in China that shows MotoGP .. and live too!

http://www.motogp.co...up jerez race 1 Congrats to Joe for 7th position in race #1 - race #2 to follow today Sunday. Please post links for better coverage of the rookies cup - motogp.com's coverage is very scarce.

Thanks for the explanation, Eirik. but I'm still having a hard time understanding how he can change direction without the front wheel on the ground? - moving body mass from side to side doesn't do much for steering. Maybe I've just been away from riding too long

I've been almost lifting the rear wheel under flicks... I don't understand how he can lift the front wheel just from flicking the bike.

Kinda. I think Cobie's point is that Willows sits right on the edge of the Mojave Desert, which means that it very very rarely rains and there are few few/no issues if they run over time (no neighbours!).