Bullet

Very normal here I'm afraid. Clutchless up always, regardless of speed, and sometimes down, though only when going moderately quickly. When racing or when undertaking some enthusiastic riding, I use the clutch for downshifts. Bullet

Thanks very much for the warm (worldwide welcome), especially from the once conquered colonies. I wonder if I leave the wife for a period of time, she'll invite me back with such open arms? Worth a shot...? Who am I kidding. Great to be back. Bullet

Jason, Ace lives in Scotland. At trackdays there, they provide you with sleeping bags and thermal blankets after each sessions to keep you warm. The only fear he has of loosing any water is because he's freezing his nuts off, you know that feeling (well you probably don't with living in Oz), where you get so cold you just can't stop peeing, then, and only then will that be a big part of his problem. When you come down to warmer climates Bobby, then you really need to give this some consideration. Bullet

I think this is a stunning plan, and one I see so often at trackdays and racing practice sessions. Often seems to end in crashes though for some reason, can't for the life of me think why. Bullet

"But most funny was that i woke up in the middle of the night actually hanging off of my bed!" That's awesome, even I've never done that, and I've done some odd stuff in the night. Bullet

So, quick couple of observations. (for the original poster and others). Do you find your knees (on the inside of the turn ache)? If you carry all/most of the weight on the inside peg, your knees are way past where they're effective, and if you have ever tried to squat weights, you try to never go past 90degrees. Imagine squatting down on one leg, all that weight down on your leg, then extend yourself back up from that position, is it easy? How much effort does it take? Is that any different than what you're suggesting on the bike? Second point, if you recognise that your not very effective/efficient doing this, imagine the scenario where you need to quickly transition from one corner to the next, how are you going to leverage that weight across the bike? Your legs don't work to well, so what levers will you use instead? If your leaned off so far that you thigh is leaning against your calf muscles, is it possible you have too much of your body of to the inside of the bike? How much of your ass is on the seat? Final point, if more of the weight is on the outside peg (you cannot carry all of it on your outside leg), what benefit might that have with respect to traction and feeling for traction limits? ever ridden an off road bike? Bullet

Hi guys, So, I've been away, had lots of stuff going on at work, and just been too busy to coach at school or spend much time on here. Anyway, boring as that all was, I'm over the very worst of it now so I'm back. I'll be about on the forum much more, will be answering your questions/posts about general bits and pieces, helping out in my usual manner, and will be back at schools in the UK, (though I'll only be doing the last couple of the year). Missed all the banter, fun, and posts, even though I've popped by now and again. Just wanted to say, it's "Great" to be back. Bullet

Just popped on the forum for a visit, and saw this, couldn't help myself. Well, my list goes like this: - Ascari resort Spain, (incredible place, bit dangerous, and very challenging. Is very long, but incredible. Nurburgring, great circuit, poor surface, and way too dangerous to go mental at, but still amazing that it's even allowed. Brands Hatch GP, stunning circuit, great mix of fast and flowing cicuit. Oulton Park, my local circuit, (we race here), stunningly fast and very technically challenging fast circuit. I'd probably have Portimao on my list, as Adam said, it really does look incredible, unfortunately I only got spectate due to my shattered shoulder. (How gutted). It really does look like nothing else though. Never ridden in US, (will fix that one day soon with luck). Scarriest circuit goes without doubt to Kacergine (neumo zidas), in lithunia, poorest surface I ever rode, and near to zero run off. Check out this video, and see the telegraph pole in the barrier at exit of turn 3, (i kid you not), (around 46 seconds in) and the run off at the hairpin (i.e. none, at 1:10), then just to finish you off, look at the speed in the final uphill turn, flat out, 4th gear (zero run off, nice link fence to fall into. That aside, it really is a great track. Bullet

Guys, Just a quick note, as I'm on here quite a bit answering your threads and posts, that I've got to take sometime out for a while. I've got a lot going on in my personal life at the moment so I'm going to be taking some down time for a little while, but I assure you all "I'll be back". So in the meantime, if you have any UK questions on schools, if you post and don't get an answer from others in the forums, just ring into the office and ask. See you all soon, stay safe, smiley and keep practising. Bullet

Kai has an excellent reason on why to use tyre warmers really, and I agree with his point entirely. If you buy very sticky track tyres or you race, you really just don't want to warm them up and down (heat cycle them), as it is this heating up and cooling back down and not wear that ruins the tyres. The other point on lost time per session is also relevant and if you work out the cost of those laps lets say for example 2 laps x 1:30 mins (per lap) = 3:00 mins per session. x 6 sessions = 18 minutes. Your total tracktime is 6 x 20 minutes = 120mins. so basically you're wasting almost an entire session of your day warming your tyres up. £150 pounds per trackday / 6 is the equivalent of 25 pounds. doesn't take many trackdays to warrant the cost of your tyre warmers does it..? Bullet

What about my line and my big darkies from the R1.. LOL... I do have a question though. In 2 corners that string together, where the second starts and changes direction as the first ends (like the 'S' bends before the last corner at stow), what's the best throttle control technique at the transition between the two? Russ The same rules apply. As this sequence of corners doesn't actually need any brakes in most cases you just need to roll out of the throttle, turn and apply the rule. Bullet

Hi Bobby, I'd say as long as you have 4 inches of movement in either direction, that's about enough. The reason they do is to try and stop the bars smashing into the tanks in a fall, (should such a thing ever happen).. Bullet

Ha Ha.... What can I say mate, It was one of those lucky days...... wind blowing in the right direction, I had my lucky heather with me, and I'd pray to the rain gods. Cheers for the comments, whilst I'm not in the best physical shape of my life at the mo, I'm riding ok it seems.. We're racing there again next weekend, hoping for a good result, and oddly, rain. As I go ok in the rain, and everyone's scared. Hope life's well with ya brother? Bullet

All different types of tyres have different operating temperatures, i.e. where they're desinged to operate. Tyre warmers (certainly mid range and lower run at a pre-set temperature, and regulate this up and down a little, so they heat up and cool down a little. You'd need to check your tyre warmers to check what they operate at to be honest. Do full on race tyres have full grip straight of warmers, (they kind you're likely to buy), no, but it still plentiful. If you then take this point onto road/track based tyres without warmers you've got to get them to their operating range and pressures, so you can expect that to take more than a couple of corners to get full grip. Different tyres warm at different rates basically, but it's a reasonable good rule of thumb to build up your speed over 2-3 laps, (more perhaps if the ambient is very low like it can be in the UK from time to time. ) Bullet

What about my line and my big darkies from the R1.. LOL... Seriously though guys, really glad you had a great time, was nice to meet you, see everyone improve so much, and for my personal enjoyment of working with you chris, was a pleasure mate. Keep working on your drills guys, and of course, if you have any questions, just ask. Bullet

No, not without warmers on tyres before, and even then, they're never quite the same operating temperature as really running. 2 laps is ok if your gradually build up your speed, but first corner max lean/cold tyres = crash typically. Bullet

Thanks very much, they've proved very useful for being able to review. On a modern 1000, well, it would depend i guess on suspension, tyres, etc, etc. As you can see from the video, the biggest difference apart from the couple of superbike race bikes that blow past is that 1000's just fire of the turns, so probably wouldn't be able to drive as early as that, but once driving, you'd easily pull out a lot of distance on a 1000 as you're talking about 60hp more at the back wheel than my 600, and they're much lighter and stiffer (so they feel a bit sharper). In essence the same principles apply much the same to be honest, it's about the gas that's the main difference. Bullet

Hi Dan, Nice bike, and welcome to the forum. What's your story my friend? Been riding long? What's your riding history? Ride on track, if so, which tracks? What's the bike like, it's beautiful thing, and sounds incredible with race pipes on it. feel free to ask questions, share your experiences, I'm sure others will pipe in, share their own too! Bullet

Nothing to worry about here my friend. In most cases you'll use more of the rear tyre than a front. It does depend on the tyre, what it's designed to do, for example some race tyres are very sharp profiled, and you can get to the sides, some road tyres are generally a little more rounder in profile, better suited to rolling into turns, etc, etc. Hope that allieviates your fears on that one? The only strips that anyone seems to care about is the rear, and as Elrik says correctly, technique can vastly affect that as well, so really don't worry about it.. Bullet

Hi Andy, Great to hear about your journey and what's brought you to consider learning a bit more about what makes a bike go around corners. You're right though, many think they don't need to learn, it's easy and what could they possibly need to keep working on when they've been riding for years right...? Well, as I'm sure you're already learning, riding a bike is complicated, very technical, and gets more and more complicated the faster you go, which is the attraction and the challenge right.. ? Now you're officially a member of the clan, feel free to share your problems, questions, we're a friendly lot, some are even quite knowledgable too! If you've any questions about schools, please do ask. Bullet

Amen to that ! Life is no dress rehersal. Bullet

Well, it was dry when I did Level 3, but not the day after, when I did (my first) Level 4. Are you coming to Sweden (Gälleråsen) this year? I'm in for two days of Level 4 on July 9th-10th. My photo-trigger-happy friend who took 5000+ pics in two days will take Level 1 & 2 on the same days. The plan is to hang around and just shoot pictures on the last day (11th). Cheers, Kai My friend I would love to be coming to Sweden, but I only get so many holidays from work and cannot out. I look forward to seeing your onboard vid and pics, and hearing about your improvement and breakthroughs. Bullet

very well spotted chris. you'll also see that if i am doing several corners in a row that go in the same direction i just remian hanging off to that side. again, most noticable inthe corners after the chicane. It's all about stability. :-) Bullet

hi chris, You must consider that your tyres will get worked much, much harder than they ever would on the road and basically you can expect the pressures to rise by around 4-5 psi in the front and more in the rear, thus why we suggest you lower them. don't do ths till you get to school though as these pressures are to low for the road, We have prssure gauges and compressor to do this at the track.. Will it damage your tyres, nope, not at all, its the extra work and loads you put on them that destorys them. you won't destory a set of tyres in 1 day either! Any other questions, please do ask, if not, see ya Monday. Bullet

it's not always wet in the uk KHP, just when you visit. my friend hasn't done the school, he's someone i've met over the years on trackdays and without doubt his lines are much worse when he isn't right behind me following, his throttle control also isn't great at times too. perhaps watching these may convince him to come? lol chris, good observations. my lines are all about drive off the corners really, so that i ensure i don't compromise my drive. this requires a good quick turn and a consistent apex for sure. you should also notice how close i get my wheels to the white lines, not my knee on the lines, as it makes for an even better line. second observation, again very good. it almost looks like i don't hang off the bike, but if you look very closely you'll see that i do but when do i move? the back of the race bike is old and is very wide, so it masks the hangoff more so than a slimmer modern bike. i do though make sure i keep my back parallel with the bike, ensures weight through legs and not in bars. i will be going through with the guys next week, looking for refinement and improvements. am about 2-3 seconds of lap record pace for my class at mo. Bullet