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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

Thanks for the glimse of life on the coaching side, Bullet. I got the impression from JET that there were quite a bit of "homework" to do as well. Although I'm not a CSS coach, I am pretty sure that most of, if not all, the students that attend the school are pretty motivated to learn to ride better. And working with highly motivated students is a great privilege and deeply motivating for a coach. It sure is for me, when I coach on the safety riding programme here in DK. Kai

In the film "Faster" (highly recommended, BTW), Doctor Costa explains that he had fitted Biaggi and Rossi with heart rate monitors, and Rossi's heart rate never went above 130 bpm, whereas Biaggi would go up to 190bpm. And that was in the 500cc era. Kai

Dylan, I don't think it's worth changing to a braided line for the rear brake, unless you're going to change it anyway. Case at hand: my Yamaha R6 2008 has braided front brake lines, but the rear brake line is stock. I'm going to replace it with a braided line this winter: not for performance, but because the PP Tuning rearsets moves the brake attachment point 10-15cm back, so the stock brake line is ridiculously long. As for which are "best" - I don't know. They're all good enough to me not to bother with getting the "best" Kai

All brake lines (OEM or aftermarket, braided or not) should be replaced at least every four years, due to the UV radiation causing the plastics to deteriorate. The brake fluid itself should be at least every second year. I will second Dylan in recommending braided lines, since they flex less. Also, they are often less expensive than the OEM brake lines Try squeezing a brake line with your hand, while operating the brake with the other hand - you should feel a clear flexing with non-braided lines. Kai

Razor, Level 2 is on the visuals - "smooth flow of information in through the eyes" was Andy's mantra for the L2 day. I'm sure that your on-track coach will grab you if you do something really silly with your body positioning, but otherwise it's left to Level 3. Kai

Hi Dan, I can vouch for the R6 '08s high marks. Damn, I love that thing (just a pity I can't ride it anywhere it's limits). On the street, you might take a look at BMW's F800R. A fellow track-nutter of mine swapped his K1200RS roadbike to a F800R, and his wife actually prefers being a pillion on the F800R! Regards, Kai

I am not able to grip the tank well with just one knee (probably an issue of technique here), so what I do is I drive the inside knee into the tank when I'm braking, before flipping it out at the Turn Point. Since the heavy braking is done while the bike is mostly upright, the inside knee won't be anywhere close to the pavement to make use as a lean angle gauge, and conversely, when I get the to the Turn Point most of the braking is done, so I don't need the extra support from the inner knee to stop me from throwing my weight forward. It's a classic case of "works for me", but try it out and see if you can make it work for yourself. Anyway, let us all know how it worked out for you. Best regards, Kai

So that is really generating the fatigue here? pushing the braking lever? holding on to the handlebars? - or holding your body weight back while braking? As Dylan is writing, you need to be using your legs to push into the tank to stabilize your body and take the weight away from the handlebars. Simultaneously, your need to use your abdominal and back muscles to reduce the amount of weight thrown onto the handlebars. Oh, and this will have the positive side effect of having less unplanned steering input; pushing on the handlebars to keep your weight back will generate an unplanned and undesired steering input, which could affect the bike's stability and trajectory. As a motorcycle safety course instructor, I regularly see riders give uneven input to the handlebars while braking, causing the bike to get slightly out of vertical and thereby increasing the risk of crashing, should the front wheel lock up. Regards, Kai

I agree with Eirik, severe vibrations under braking should only happen if something is wrong. If you have a front lifter, get the front wheel off the ground and rotate the wheel to see if the disc is warped. You can also use a black marker to test for warpage - simply place the filt pen a couple of hundreds from the outside of the disc and rotate the wheel. Any change in gap (or even ink on the braking disc) will reveal a warped disc. Oh, and do check both discs. Anyways, getting fatigue in your hand and forearm from braking is plain wrong. Kai

Awesome road. I remember riding up the Lysebotn road about ten years ago - I tried to count the number of hairpins, but lost count at least twice. The hairpin inside the mountain is - ahem - "interesting". Especially when you meet a tourist bus going the other direction. If I should pick a number of "favourite" roads in Norway, Lysebotn would definitely be high on that list, along with going up/down to Geiranger (both sides) and Valdresflya (the pass over Valdres - quite a different type of road). Trollstigen as failed to impress me the couple of times I rode it. Eirik, since you live in the neighbourhood, have you ever tried the road from E133 to Sauda (Rv 520)? Not as steep as Lysebotn, but plenty of elevation changes and turns over a distance of 40km! I would love to try the Tail of the Dragon, but that will require a bit of logistics, since "bring your own" is really not an option (can you even rent a sports bike in the US? - [rhetorical question]). Kai

Makes a lot of sense. I can recommend the 2008+ YZF-R6 too "How good is that?" :D Kai

This brings up an excellent point that I noticed recently, during latest wet track day: when in the wet, you need to re-evaluate all of your RPs, since it's very likely you cannot see them on the wet asphalt! So not only are you running a slower speed, you are (hopefully!) turning in slower, taking different lines, but your "normal" RP's are visually no longer there. I guess the smart racers make sure to pick a couple of RPs per corner that are highly visible, even when it's wet or the corner has been resurfaced (e.g. curbing). Kai

The clutchless downshift was explained in this thread: Clutchless Down Shifting? Basically it's the same as with a clutchless upshift, with directions reversed: close the throttle, load the gear lever for a downshift, blip the throttle UP - and you're done. I've found that it wors best at low rpm and between the taller gears (since they are closer in ratio). Hope this helps, Kai