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No responses so far, but I think I have located some local (ie: Danish) potential sources of Starlane Athon logfiles - people that I've actually met and 'raced' (read: met a trackdays) with previously. Googling on Starlane GPS laptimers brought up a user name of one Dylan Code. Do you know if he have one? Kai

Hi richinio, I'm not Steve, but he has previously explained that there are different tyres available in different parts of the world. But judging from the contents of the links, the tyre in the first link (Sportmax Q2) is a US tyre, while the second tyre (Qualifier II) is available in UK/Europe. Hope this helps, Kai

Apparently, guys like Matt Mladin and Niel Hodgson don't think that TC has made racing easier for them - but then again, they're getting paid to find those tenths and hundreds that we loose every other second ;-) Andy Ibbott told about him almost binning the S1000RR first time he was on track with it, because the ABS system wouldn't let him brake anywhere near the limits of traction on dry pavement, but in rain mode, coming up to a corner. Kai

Sorry, here's the link. Thanks. I've seen it "live" and while it looks very convincing, it seems like it's taking a lot of space up, even when disassembled for transport. Besides the ultra-cheap manual "machines" (like this), there's this one by GP503 in Germany (sorry, webpage is only available in german), with a nylon "head" that touches the wheel. Kai

Sorta Off-topic, but here goes: I have a Starlane Stealth GPS-2 laptimer, and I'm trying to unravel the contents of the DatiRx.bin and gps.gps files (so far Starlane won't tell me) - I'm mostly there with getting Longitude, Latitude, Speed, Bearing, lap/intermediate times and several other things figured out. If anyone else out there on the forum has a Starlane laptimer and are willing to email me a set of DatiRx.bin/gps.gps files please shoot me a PM. I'm especially interested in getting hold of data from a Athon GPS-RW/PRO system where the tacho is hooked up, so I can get the RPM /gear datafields sorted out. My hope is to be able to do an alternative visualization program, over the DigiraceMMX that Starlane delivers. Thanks, Kai

First: Link, please? The only reason I can come up with is that you either don't want to get your hands dirty with it (yes, brake dust and the chain is dirty) or you don't change tires very often. The club I am a member of bought a second-hand professional electro/pneumatic tire-changing machine 7 years ago, and we've been using it since then (it needs repairs/replacements from the use). Using it requires minimal training (1-time demo/instruction) and once you have the knack of it, it is easy and fairly quick to do. I have recently bought a manual machine for doing it at track days. I am waiting to buy a balancing stand for the spring season so I can change tires when I want it Kai, itching to go to the workshop and do stuff after watching too many OnTheThrottle.TV videos lately.

Gotta try it on one of these marvellous bikes one day. What did say the parts deposit was on the bike was? Kai

For us less mechanically verbose... What is a "snatch?" I presume that Cobie is talking about that some bikes have a very rough on/off-throttle action (some call it "jerky"), which makes smooth nice throttle action when going on/off the gas a near impossibility. Many of the first-generation fuel-injection bikes were like this, and some "2nd generation" FI bikes have a CV valve to get the smooth off/on-throttle behaviour [like my 2003 R1]. Kai

Bobby, The Stowe circuit looks (from the Silverstone circuit maps) like the best option for you. The South circuit version that I rode in 2009 was pretty open, and from the new map it looks even more open now (they've removed the section with Becketts and the chicane between Club and Farm). Bullet and The Office can probably also provide some good info here. Kai

To me, this sounds like that you have to hide or hold back a part of the real, authentic you when he's around - not the ideal recipe for a great relationship. Although my parents aren't over-joying for me riding, they are pretty relaxed about it. As my mum pointed out, continuing to oppose that I was riding was very unlikely to make me change my mind about it. Kai

There are at least two ways a tire can heat up: heating up from the deformation (internal heating) and heating from the tire spinning (if you don't believe this, go and find any video of Gary McCoy riding the RedBull Yamaha GP500's from around 2002-2003 - he would spin the rear tire so much it would literally lay down a blue smoke!). Steve is the expert here, but my understanding is that the primary heating action is from the tire deformation - not the abrasion against the surface. Kai

Its hard to compare tires from one continent to another. Some tires are manufactured and supplied to certain regions. where are you racing/riding? what tracks? Hi Steve, I'm primarily riding in Sweden, on the tracks Sturup Raceway, Ring Knutstorp, and Anderstorp (a former GP/F1 circuit). For the past two seasons, I've been going to the Eurospeedway Lausitzring during Easter for a Spring training camp. I may go to Most in the Czech Republic for the training camp (organizer has decided to go for Most this time). Most of our tracks are pretty small and technical - Anderstorp is the antithesis to that statement (4025m, average speed of 140kph+). Regards, Kai

Awesome, thanks. BTW: Will we meet in Sweden this time around? If not, I'm sure that Spidey, JET and the guys can tell stories about me anyways Kai

Cobie, Bullet, Any news on the non-uk European schedule? The UK website says "in the following weeks", but it's been 5 long ardeous cold snowy wintery weeks since that, and I sure need something to cheer on these days. Thanks, Kai

The D211GPA is NOT the same tire as the "D211GP Racer" So is that an entirely different tire, or is it equivalent to one of the US tires? Thanks, Kai (I'll be stepping outside while I rant over tires not being the same across the world).

Ouch, that hurts! Good to hear that you're in one piece and with high spirits. Get well soon, Kai

I don't recall "getting the bug" - I've always wanted to ride motorcycles. Maybe it's a boys thing, since both the 3-year old kids on each side of me are totally excited about my bikes. Oh, that goes for my little nephews too. That my mother was very much against it, didn't make it go away either Kai

R6 for track days. Intermediate group, or Advanced group: 3 tire choices - D211GPA D211GP N-Tec slicks. (snip explanation) Awesome Steve. I'll give the D211GPA's a try in the spring (no need to ride around in the snow these days). As for pricing, I have found that the US and EU have seriously different pricing structures. Is the GP-A the same as the ones known as "D211GP Racer" here in Europe? Germany pricing & naming Thanks, again, Kai

Why don't you try me instead Being 6'6" and wearing 38" pants is more than enough to get me into trouble. But I can ride a Polini DB911 dreambike --Kai

Dunlop, as all other motorcycle tire brands, have several options available to the racer/track day rider. If you're running close to the lap record, trying to break it or competing at the (inter)national level, your choice for tires is probably fairly simple: you want the best, stickiest tires - regardless of cost. But the hapless trackday riders like myself, who are 15+ seconds off the race pace, we probably don't need the super-sticky stuff. I recall that Keith actually argues in Twist-2 that it would be detrimental to have too sticky tires and you'd be picking up debris from the track instead. So how do we choose a good tire? We could probably live just fine with a not quite so sticky tire, which is less expensive. But how do we strike a good compromise? As an example, I have personally been running Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa SC's for the past two years (they don't come much stickier than that from Pirelli), simply because they were on the bike when I bought them and I got a nice deal on those tires from the guy I bought the bike from. But they're not cheap. Instead I could go for Pirelli's Diablo Superbike Pro, which is a slick, less expensive, but also has less grip than the Supercorsa SC's, according to Pirelli's website. Edit: as a price comparison, a set of Superbike Pro is $343, while the Supercorsa SC's are $458 (€259 and €346 for this side of the pond), in Germany. Also, why should we choose a slick tire over a tire with (minimal) sipes (like the Dunlop D211GP-A)? Steve: I'm pretty clueless when it comes to Dunlop's offering, but feel free to use Dunlop examples if you will (but please explain the "pecking order" for Dunlop tires if you do). Thanks, Kai

Steve, Thanks for your very elaborate and enlightening answer. You didn't mention the effect of pressure/temperature on tire wear. I've watched Dave Moss' Unsprung show where he discusses tire wear (warning: 1h45m - not for those in a hurry or the faint of heart) and cold/hot tears. Would you change pressure to "fix" cold/hot tears? - do you agree to what Dave is saying? I'll stick my other questions in separate threads. Thanks again, Kai

What the 'right' tire pressure is, surely depends upon the tire, the bike, and the rider. But are there any good rules of thumb as to what pressure you should run - and how would you know? is it: * an absolute pressure? * a certain pressure change from cold to hot? * an absolute temperature or change in temperature when the tire is ridden hard (e.g. on a track)? Oh, and how do you go and figure these things out for yourself, if you don't have a tire expert for your particular brand on a string? Personally, I have not found the information provided on the manufacturers websites very good in this respect, and it is exceedingly seldom that I meet a tire dealer or representative at the track side, there to offer insight and help, here in Europe. Thanks, Kai

Hi nobody, Very nice track. Is that the Reem track in Saudi Arabia? I'm going to label the turns as they appear in the video and with timestamps, i.e. the first corner on the video is T1 at 0:00, which is the final corner on the track before the straight. T1 (0:00) - you don't seem to sue the full width of the track here. You should be able to add more throttle and use the last couple of meters. T2 (0:23) - How many gears are you dropping down here and when? - I'm getting the feeling that you're quite busy at braking and don't get set gear settled properly as the rpms sounds fairly low for an inline-4. Have you tried dropping an extra gear down? T3 (0:32) - the angle from the camera (on the right side of the bike?) may cheat, but I an unsure of whether you are making it all the way to the inside of the track at the apex. T4 (0:36) - here you are clearly not using all of the track. Also notice that the engine pitch is constant - a tell-tale sign of a constant throttle. What does that Throttle Control Rule #1 say again? T5 (0:45) - Again the downshift: sounds like you're engine braking going into the turn. Where's the throttle blip? Again you are very wide out from the inside curb, making your path unnecessarily long around the track. T6 (0:55) - you are totally blowing the inside apex here. you're probably dropping 1/3 of the track width on the inside. T7 (1:03) - again, the apex is missed. T8 (1:08) - good tight apex. T9 (1:15) - Missing the apex. Also, the throttle is constant in the middle of the turn. T10 (1:20) - Apex again. Constant throttle for a large part of the turn (could be for a good reason, though, as the following straight is very short) T11 (1:25) - same turn as the first "T1" turn. Here you are using the track to the edge, but you start out too wide, so you're again not utilizing the full width of the track from inside to outside. Since this turn is leading out to the longest straight, this is the most important turn to get right in order to lower your laptimes. Dave and Razor have talked about how quickly you're leaning, so I'll leave that to those gentlemen. I hope that you find my comments useful. Regards, Kai

Luis, If you knew how to do all the right things on the bike, would there be much gained by going to the school - not really, huh? I'll stick my neck out and claim that jumping in and starting racing at this point would probably be closer to trying to run before you can walk, than taking the school would be. If you feel that you're struggling with getting the reference point locked in (don't we all, at some personal level?) it would probably help you to take just Level 1 and 2, since level 2 attacks the RP's in particular*. Racing with someone a notch (or couple of notches) better than yourself can improve your laptimes. It can also lead you into some stupid crashes if you just riding someone else's lines and not your own, causing you to getting "lost" on the track (or simply riding too fast). Hope this helps, Kai *) General motorcyclists warning: attending CSS courses may cause serious dents in your wallet, since you want to attend even more CSS courses.

Sure looks like it's working, Cobie Kai