lwarner

First off, let me just say: Hell of a first post! Actually many of the ideas you mentioned at the end of your post are utilized by coaches. Also, Cobie mentioned being able to observe, but what I have seen specifically in good coaches is that they have a very complete picture of what SHOULD BE and so they are very good at seeing any departures from that, no matter how small. Also they have been doing it, talking about it and studying it long enough that know exactly what types of errors to look for in any given situation.

So true, that's definitely how it's been for me.

Re: "maintenance throttle", you should check out Chapter 2 section one of Twist 2, especially the section on "light touch" and "Rule number one" of throttle control (page 7 in my copy). The book also mentions in chapter 4 Throttle Control "Other Exceptions", some exceptions to the Rule (page 22 in my copy). Level 1 has a drill to help with this but even if you just pay particular attention in Twist 2 to the basic rule of Throttle Control and then "say it to yourself 1000 or 2000 times" it will make a huge difference. I laughed when I first heard that: "hahah 1000 or 2000 times, yeah right!" but then one day I went "Oh!!!" he's serious.

No way, keep thread alive!!!!!!!!! I thought Lex was on a 250cc four stroke, not a 150? Either way though, it didn't sound right coming onto the front straight... definitely bogging. P.S. Peter used the drafts of several 1000rr riders to suck himself up to the front. I think only by a couple hundredths of a second, but it was neat to see what a difference the draft made!

Not to pile on here, but what Stuman, Oz and Cobie said: +1.

Welcome. You picked the best forum on the web!

Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. I haven't ridden once on the street since I found my way to the track. I've been thinking of putting all the DOT stuff back on my bike though so that might change this year... we'll see.

Wow, the timing on that pic couldn't have been better!

Great write up and a cool pic too. I agree, Streets is a really fun track.

Hello, welcome to the forum. What are you riding these days?

Don't believe it. He has to have some RP's or he'd ride straight off the track (if he could even find the track without 1 RP) every time he started his bike up. Oh yeah, cool pic and welcome to the forum!

Sent you a message, if that didn't answer your questions you should check with Cobie, he may have some good observations for you as well!

Good points all. My bottom line is that I wouldn't send my wife or kids (if I had 'em) to a track day but I'd demand that they rode with CSS if they were to ride a motorcycle at all.

Hmmmm, I think Bullet pretty much covered everything except perhaps some method of teasing/torture to inflict upon his fellow U.K. coach "Flash" who ought to be at Willow this week. Any tips Bullet?

Hey A.J. glad you enjoyed yourself at Sears! I was training with Cobie that day, so I got to ride with you too. It's cool to hear about your first ride after you took the levels, I remember mine was awesome too! Anyway, the forum is a great way to keep in touch, I'll let Cobie know that you posted. He's pretty hip to the forum so I'm sure he'll post on your thread. Cheers!

I actually really enjoyed reading the material AFTER hearing Keith give the lectures... of course I'd already read the material "once upon a time" but re-reading Twist 2 right after attending the levels was awesome. Just to be clear though, I think you're smart to study, I just didn't happen to and I enjoyed my experience too.

Amen brother.

Hey man, welcome to the site! There's a couple of things that make this forum one of the best on the web: A, everyone is pretty civil. It doesn't hurt that there's a very good chance you'll end up riding with many of the people you "speak" with on this forum. And B, if you have any questions you can usually get them answered by one of the instructors (if they haven't been answered already in another post!) and not by some dot-net-genius out to prove he's not a squid but everybody else is.

Totally awesome man, congratulations! Sounds like you're gonna do it right too, homework and all... I remember during one of Keith's lectures he asked a question that had been covered in Twist2 and I said, "well I feel a little like I cheated, but it said in the book..." and he said something along the lines of, "Nope, that's not cheating!".

Very cool. I want to race now too, hahaha!

Very cool article. This actually makes me want to ride on the street a bit more, whereas lately I've just been riding at the track. The actions suggested put the rider in a more causative position instead of the traditional "leave yourself enough time to wait and see" theory. Cool!

Hmmmmm... I was about to run out and buy a couple Honda's but then I thought, "If something sounds too good to be true it usually is." and decided to watch MotoGP DVDs instead. I confess: I do own a Honda, and I love it, but if I could envision it to go faster I'd be racing GP instead of watching it on the tube. By the way Lazarus, I picked up on a bit of sarcasm (I think) and it inspired me to answer in kind, so thanks man!

I love when people give that kind of attention to detail! A bicycle component maker recently came up with a similar concept, and I just thought, "Geez, that should've been obvious! Why didn't I think of that?". Engineering is cool.

Cool topic! It would seem that a bike could get far enough over that the tires would no longer contact the ground... if the rider could then push it up far enough for the tires to regain contact it might improve the chance of a recovery? I think this is one of those situations where an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure though, hahah.

So, are you saying the ninja 250 is too slow to run track days? He's just saying that the GP is a two-stroke engine and makes roughly twice the power of a four stroke (ninja) for it's displacement. The ninja is still a fine track day bike, it just won't go super fast in the straights so you won't be able to hide it if you're slow (haha, just kidding)... you may get stuck behind riders who you are cornering faster than, just because they out drive you in the straights, but you shouldn't be in anybody's way if they're actually faster than you because they'll have an easy time passing you on any straight. Get the bike if you can afford it, I'd certainly like to have one and I hear they're a blast.