vio

...did I hear the throttle come on a millisecond before he loses it? Rainman I think he is beginning to accelerate, but it doesn't seem to me as though he does it too much and it seems smooth.

This is a video I found on Youtube the other day, and the way he crashes is strange to me. It doesn't really seem like a normal lowside or a highside. My best guess is that he was too hard on the brakes and was off the gas for too long, overloading the front tire. It doesn't seem like he went in too hot, or got too throttle happy. It could also have been a tire temp problem or geometry problem as well. I was just curious as to whether you guys had any other thoughts one what could have caused it. The crash happens at around the 2:05 mark, and there is an interesting bobble at the 1:05 mark which is also strange.

Firebeast, I get your answers, wouldn't mind a little more specific, but makes sense. Vio--you mention hanging orr, but below you say it allows you to focus on the important aspects of a corner--is one of those things more critical than hanging off? CF Good question. I wouldn't say they are more important than hanging off, but to me if I am not comfortable with my body position when entering, completing and exiting a turn it really throws me off and keeps me from focusing on the other aspects of the turn as i should.

To me, it is being able to hang off while being securely 'fastened' to the bike but still being completely comfortable OK, why would this be the #1 skill for you? What do you get from this that so important? This is the #1 skill for me because it allows me to focus on the important aspects of a corner (braking marks, correct lines, smooth throttle transition, etc).

To me, it is being able to hang off while being securely 'fastened' to the bike but still being completely comfortable

Depends on how cramped you are on your bike (my pegs are placed a bit higher) and how flexible you are. I am not flexible whatsoever, i'll tell you that. I dont know how those MotoGP riders stick there leg out perpendicular to the bike, my leg just doesn't bend like that

Also, could have a lot to do with flexibility. I, myself, am not very flexible and have longer legs so i am a bit cramped on my bike. My buddy who is more flexible and has shorter legs got his knee down at the track much more than i did. He actually went through his entire left knee puck in one day where as mine still have plenty of meat left on them.

Is this on the street or at the track? I personally have never touched my knee down on the street. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that on the street you are confined to a narrower segment of road than you are on the track (where you can use a lot more space) and you probably aren't going 'all out' like you might at the track. However, at the track i did not ride all that differently than i do on the street and was able to touch my knee with relative ease and without really trying.

It actually was pretty gently each time. It just seemed to skim the pavement throughout the turns. Felt great!

Do you have any pictures of yourself riding that you could post? Honestly, i wasn't trying to touch my knee when it happened. I've never touched my knee on the street, only at my trackday. I know people who race who hardly ever get a knee down and are not affected by that fact at all. Shawna Aron who retired two years ago from WCC and Am600 in Canada has posted on other Forums that she rarely touches a knee. YRMV. Kevin Also, like i said, there were quite a lot people who were riding a slower pace than I was who were dragging their knee constantly, waaay more often than i was. I think they may have been focusing too much on dragging the knee and leaning the bike way over than on what was really important.

Do you have any pictures of yourself riding that you could post? Honestly, i wasn't trying to touch my knee when it happened. I've never touched my knee on the street, only at my trackday.

Lol it wasn't open toe but it definitely could use a new toe slider! Thanks for the feedback though, i really appreciate it.

Thanks for the compliments Hubbard, i appreciate it! You nailed it though, i definitely need to pull my foot in more. I noticed that my foot position is decent in most turns, but on turns where i have to switch directions i lazily hang my foot off more than I should, causing it to scrape probably more than it should. I got better at this during the day, but still need to improve I tried to be very consistent with my knee. Kept myself from reaching with my knee in an attempt to touch the ground. It worked well for me, as I would consistently touch my knee down in the same spot in many of the turns throughout the day. I am not the most flexible of guys so my knee may not stick out quite as far as some

The usual answer is that usually that the riders body position isn't quite right. Most riders that first learn to hang off in an attempt to knee down have a tendency to a) lean off the bike to far or they rotate around the tank. When you do the latter, it actually turns your knee downwards and into the bike rather down at the floor. I'd put reasonable money on the former being the cause myself, though without seeing, its hard to really tell. Bullet Honestly it just felt more comfortable for me to hang off 'tighter" to the bike in that turn because of its speed. I am not sure if that is the proper technique or not though, it just felt best for me in that particular turn to keep everything tucked in. do you normally knee down, but didn't here? I'd buy that by the way, not everyone does, or needs to. The more important to knee down is really what it's used for, apart from looking absolutely fab in those pictures on your desktop or Wall to impress all your non biking mates about how cool you are! Bullet I had my knee down consistently all throughout the day, just never in that turn. Was actually quite proud of myself, got to where i was using it as a gauge in the turns and would expect it to touch down at the same spot each lap. (it was my 1st track day )

My knee touched down pretty regularly throughout the day. I began to use it as my gauge as to whether or not i was doing the corner 'correctly'. I knew if i didn't touch my knee in some of the corners that I wasn't doing them as well as i had been consistently. Scared me the first time my knee hit the ground! it didn't feel as smooth as I thought it would You will. And it will just happen when it does. Then you'll probably yank your knee up like i did and think "what in the world was that!" Then you'll realize it was your knee and its supposed to be like that

The usual answer is that usually that the riders body position isn't quite right. Most riders that first learn to hang off in an attempt to knee down have a tendency to a) lean off the bike to far or they rotate around the tank. When you do the latter, it actually turns your knee downwards and into the bike rather down at the floor. I'd put reasonable money on the former being the cause myself, though without seeing, its hard to really tell. Bullet Honestly it just felt more comfortable for me to hang off 'tighter" to the bike in that turn because of its speed. I am not sure if that is the proper technique or not though, it just felt best for me in that particular turn to keep everything tucked in.

My knee touched down pretty regularly throughout the day. I began to use it as my gauge as to whether or not i was doing the corner 'correctly'. I knew if i didn't touch my knee in some of the corners that I wasn't doing them as well as i had been consistently. Scared me the first time my knee hit the ground! it didn't feel as smooth as I thought it would

I tended to stay more tucked in on that turn because it is quite a fast turn taken at full throttle so that could be the reason for my knee not touching. Not really sure though. I noticed that a lot of the guys i was passing quite easily were dragging their knees much more often than i did. Maybe they were too concerned with dragging their knee and not concerned enough with everything else?

######! Didn't see that forum Could one of the ops move this thread for me or delete it and i'll re-post it?

Here's some pictures from my trackday at Jennings GP on 6/8/09. It was my first track day and it was a ball! I know that i need to get my inside foot tucked in more, I didn't realize i stuck it out so bad until i saw the pictures. I was scraping it a lot more than i thought I should be and now i know why Looking forward to seeing what advise you guys could give me regarding my body positioning.

Thanks for taking the time to explain the chart. I really appreciate it! Rode the bike for the first time today and the shock feels great so far. Can't wait to take it to the track

I could barely even read it. I'll see if Mike or Will want to (or have the time) to look at this. CF Thanks. I am just curious to know what it all means Although i think it roughly translates to "your shock works better now".

I recently sent out my OEM 2006 Kawasaki ZX-10R rear shock to Traxxion Dynamics to get it re-valved and re-sprung. I received it back yesterday and they did an excellent job cleaning it up and making it look brand new. Hopefully i'll be able to get it installed this weekend. They also included a Shock Dyno chart and I was hoping someone on here may be able to translate this thing for me because it makes no sense to me Here is the link to the dyno chart: http://employees.demosales.net/shockdyno.jpg

I do hope we get you to one, sooner rather than later There is a skill that Keith is training now (in Level 2) that is not in any of the books yet, and totally sorted out blind turns for me, like night and day. Good point you brought up though, not everyone nails down what they do and don't do well, w/out some real help. Best, CF Reading through these forums has helped me a great deal with my riding capabilities. Easily the best forum I have found for those serious about improving their abilities and skills

Biggest thing i need to work on is entry speed on blind corners. I sometimes have a tendency to 'freeze up' before dropping into a blind turn, which doesn't do anything but cause more problems Blind turns, quite a challenge. Did we get you into Level 2 yet? C Unfortunately I haven't even done Level 1 yet Just love this forum for it's technical approach to problems that actually matter