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I was browsing through the Zupin Moto-Sport catalogue ("Ihr zuverlässiger Partner im Motosport") and noticed that they quote BM888 as the part number for the S1000RR rear shock. They also quote FGRT811 for the FG43 Road & Track front fork and FGK212 for the Cartridge Kit. Kai

Move along, move along. Nothing to see here.

Hi David, Welcome to the forum and congrats on the bikes. As for the Beemer, Will (the chief CSS mechanic) is probably a good source of info on the bike. What kind of equipment are you looking for, and how much "rigging" are you looking to do? Regards, Kai

The Wikipedia article seems not to agree with this: (my bold)

Didn't Soft Science come out between Twist I & II ? I cant be 100% certain of when SS was released Kai but order I read them in was twist, twist 2, then SS! regardless off their order of release though the next book will still be the 4th! Funny. I read them in reverse order: Twist-2, Soft Science, and finally Twist(-1). I just checked in my bookcase: Twist-I: Copyright says "1983, 2002" Soft Science: copyright says "1986, 1998" Twist-II: my dogeared version just says "Copyright 1993" :-D So while a future book will be a "version 4" regardless the order of the first thrree books, SS came in between the twisties. Kai

Didn't Soft Science come out between Twist I & II ? Cobie/Keith: please chip in here. Kai

Wheelying over the crest will sometimes make the bike more stable, since you don't get disturbances into the bike from the front wheel. "It's only a matter of balls" - erh, right. What is the purpose of Throttle Control rule #1? - and given the elevation changes, would that require us to modify the roll-on of the throttle when going over a crest? Indeed for the long corners - actually, I'll start a separate topic for that in a moment. Kai

Ouch fossil, not the proper way to start a racing career now is it? You guys got all the "interesting" painkillers, so I wont even try to send you some of ours. How many ribs did the track break, and how many did the wife break when she found out you've crashed? Speedy recovery! Kai

I must have an agricultural interest, since my list of bikes only include Yamaha's*: XT600Z '88 95-98: got stolen from a parking cellar, only to be found a couple of km's away near Akerselva in Oslo, stripped of rear wheel and most parts, but not the new WP rear shock. Sold it to a friend who turned it into a true offroad bike [think woods]) YZF600R '98: 98. Sold it when moving back to Denmark from Norway (Oslo). Almost totalled it on Rudskogen, but was rebuilt by the insurance. YZF600R '99: 99-01. Added Öhlins fork springs and rear shock. Lovely. Sold it when moving to Sweden YZF-R1 '02: 02-03. Got stolen from another parking cellar, after 1 year and 5 days Never recovered. YZF-R6 '01: 03-09. My first trackbike. Eventually I missed having those extra ponies (it had just 95bhp) and a more modern bike, so I sold it. YZF-R1 '03: '04--. Current streetbike. Öhlins springs and rear suspension, PPtuning rearsets w/race shift pattern ( to match the R6 '08). YZF-R6 '08: '09--. Current trackbike. Öhlins cartridge kit, rear shock and steering damper. PPtuning handlebars & rearsets. Does around 115bhp. Nice Oh, and I still have that Polini 911DB "DreamBike", though I haven't been riding it since 2004 *) In case you wonder about agriculture == Yamaha. Think Gearbox. Enough said. Kai

According to Dave Moss of On The Throttle, we're trying to reach a specific temperature range. Dave explains tyre wear and how it's affected by temperature/pressure and suspension setup in this episode of On The Throttle Live: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/6516891 I'm not in a position to argue for or against what he is saying, but I do find it very interesting. Kai Edit: fixed link to the show (105 minutes!) and not the youtube teaser (21 sec )

+1 on the Helds. I have a pair of Held Galaxy's that is due for replacement, but only because the thread is failing. They were bought for the 2002 season, and has carried be through two minor spills on the track that killed my Dainese suit. I absolutely love the Helds. Kangaroo leather, soft and good feeling for the levers, and still built like a tank. The Galaxy was replaced by the Phantom (link), but their top-of-the-line is now the Titan. Downside: it ain't cheap! - and from the Held homepage it looks like they're not imported to the USA. Kai

We aim to please (it did take quite some time to find, as Rossi usually has the visor down so you can't see his eyes). I was given the advice to level my eyes when banked over, while doing my first cornering school more than 10 years ago (Wobble MC in Norway, who were inspired by CSS at least). The explanation given at the time (which makes perfectly sense to me) is that the brain is wired from nature to see the world from a horizontal perspective, so leveling your eyes would reduce the feeling of "hey this isn't right" and thereby reducing the risk of triggering your SR's. When talking/training other riders (mostly newcomers to cornering), I've found that asking them to level their eyes (on top of the usual TOTW-2 rules) have helped them enormously in improving their cornering. While taking the CSS classes over the last two years, I've ran into the "don't level your eyes" argument. I've been mulling over it since last year, and my conclusion on the subject so far is that leveling your eyes is like using a crutch in order to walk after breaking a leg, and a damn fine crutch at first I might add. But like a real crutch, it should be thrown away when it becomes an obstacle to improving your cornering. That is, if the leveling of your eyes has become a limit to how far you want or can lean your bike, when it is obviously possible to use more lean angle, then the "tool" has gone from being an asset to being a liability and should be discarded. I suspect myself of being afflicted by this, and I'm currently trying to teach myself not to level my eyes all the time and to be relaxed about it, so it doesn't become a barrier to leaning far over. Well, enough rambling from me (this time) Kai

Take a look at a picture of Rossi with a helmet on, but with the visor up - I've always been mildly puzzled why his helmet seemed to be sit so high up on his head (this is the best I could find in a rush): Cobie's post explains it all. Personally, I've found that my Shoei helmets have always been sitting fairly low on my head/brow, whereas my new Arai sits much higher up, making it easier to look where I'm going. I've found that the most important thing for me is to turn not only my eyes/vision towards the next RP, but also my head (thanks to JET, Spidey and Nemo this July). I keep my eyes mostly horizontal (I guess this is what CF is referring to as "twisting the head sideways") - this works much better for me than trying to yank my head (even) further back. Kai

Jason, I'm scratching my head here for you, buddy. If the bikes are identical, they should definitely work identical. So, make sure that they really ARE identical Go over all the hydraulic fluids and replace them: brakes, clutch (if it's hydraulic), front fork and possibly the rear shock. As an added benefit, you will be able to ensure that the oil levels are the same as your road bike and the former owner hasn't played trick with shims in the rear end or dropping the front end without you noticing. Also, make sure to set the suspension back to either stock or the same you have on the commuter (pick yer poison). Could be that the front rebound is way too hard so it stays down too much. If your commuter is completely stock, it's likely to be a good tad heavier than the trackbike - that is, if the trackbike has had all the lights removed and had to plastics replaced with fibreglass fairings. Congrats on your new tracktool, Kai

Beemergirl, I'm with Eirik on this one. Try practising in an empty parking lot. You need to bend your mental limits cautiously, not break them. I don't know curriculum of the MSF safety courses, but if they practice counter steering it might be just the right thing for you! If you had lived here in Denmark, I would have said that you were a prime candidate for our safety courses. But over to CSS: I've seen all types of bikes at the 6 days of CSS I've done over the last two years (well, except for bikes with sidecars), so no worries there. The coaches should be well positioned to help you, but I think that practising on your own prior to taking Level 1 would be beneficial to your learning on the day. All the best, Kai

You have PM. Kai (thankful for not having a wifey sometimes)

It means what it reads - that my handlebars suddenly decided to do a waving motion in a 270 degree right hand turn. I've detailed it in a post called "Thank You CSS, for not crashing". Kai

Guess the relaxing thing is part of the mental stamina aspect, huh Surely it's about mental stamina, but also about NOT spending all of your mental capacity, so you have time to notice that you're tensing up, how the bike likes to wiggle, and the handlebars like to "wave" to you. Kai

We do lower the tyre pressures for track work. That, and possibly also changing to a different compound. If it's very cold (like 45F/7C), some of the softer compound tyres like to tear themselves apart from the abuse. Regards, Kai

Gonzo, I'd give the Öhlins distributor a call. The S1000RR is quite popular in Germany for superbike racing, and I'm quite certain that Öhlins has made some parts for it, even though they aren't on the ohlins website. If it all boils down to a new set of fork springs and a spring for the rear suspension, they should be able to take a few measurements and either find a suitable part or make one for you. Oh, and they should also be able to recommend a (relatively) local shop for you. Here's the contact details for Öhlins USA: USA Öhlins USA Inc. 703-C S. Grove St. Hendersonville, N.C. 28792 Tel. +1 828 692 4525 Fax. +1 828 692 0595 E-mail: info@ohlinsusa.comGood luck, Kai

If I remember correctly, I read Keith writing that you had lowered the crash statistics last year (or was it the year before?) by 50% simply by changing some of the drills. And now a further 60% extra down! When are you going to have to count in fractional crashes to get to the proper statistics? Kai (impressed as well)

When I had Level 1 & 2 , the first session was using the "one gear, no brakes", while the second & third sessions we were allowed to use two gears. But Rainman's point still stands: your shifting will be limited during the day. IIRC, I only used 3rd/4th gear all day on my R1. Kai

Razor, There are amble room for questions here - first, what did the shop do to tune up the suspension? Are we talking road or track riding here? Also, how have your riding style or speed changed since you had the tune-up done? What is the current setting of the front fork compression (how many clicks out from maximum damping)? Do you know why you're bottoming out the fork? (harder braking or simply riding harder everywhere?) There are at least two venues of changes: adding compression damping, and adding oil to the front fork. Adding a couple of clicks of compression damping will make the front fork dive less under all situations where the weight it transferred forward. This could be detrimental to what you want/need in the mid-stroke. If you want to keep the damping profile in the mid-stroke, adding a bit of oil (say, 10mm) will make the force required to compress the front fork more progressive. Regards, Kai

Congrats Dan, I'm sure you'll have an an absolute blast on the tracks with the 600RR, it's a great bike! Kai

My heart goes out to Peter's family in sympathy and I cannot say more. Rest in peace. Kai