RonniB

That should bring your chest closer to the tank and your head a bit forward and to the inside. But some of it could be your fit on the bike, if you feel there is a reach to the bars then it's hard to get a good position. If looking from the front, you should be to the inside of the centerline and along side the bikes CoG.. as shown by Marquez and tried by me..

Your shoulders and arms look tense, try letting the inside fall into the apex.

Then you have to train contracting your abs while relaxing the rest of your body. The key is not absolute strenght, but control. You're not to ride around with permanently tight abs, but to be able to tighten them to resist external forces or to stabilize your own input. This will be done with abs and back in conjunction, you tighten your core, to create a solid base for movement or maintaining your position on the bike. If you have issues with how to do that, then go to a proper weightlifting gym, not just a gym, and have a coach help you learn the basics of olympic weightlifting. The whole concept of core control is paramount in that area of sports

For stability, which is what Hotfoot, JohnCBurkis and I have tried to explain in various forms. Imagine you are to push a heavy wheeled container along a pavement, not lift, just push. Do you think your abs contract?? (They do!!). Why is that, for stability, because upper body movement will ruin the connection between the work your legs are doing and the load/resistance of the container.

I had that bike..., my old trackbike was a VFR400/NC30 heavily modified, lightened and well suspended, with 60 ish hp in a perfectly fuelled easyrevving V4 engine. But it was too fragile and spares harder and harder to get, so had to go a 150 kg ready to ride, 100 hp, race focussed bike is ideal

Think of the muscles in your back and your abs, as ratchet straps that support your torso. If you don't tighten them evenly, one will be overtightened. In most cases the lower back contracts to far leading to pain and loss of strenght.

Both reshaping to a flatter, more horizontal shape, and more grip. Both helps me stay in place and be less likely to put unwanted weight on the bars. I used suede on my seats on top of closed cell foam, which was sanded to shape.

It's the first thing I notice*, the throw of the throttle, and then the angle of the levers. So changing and adjusting the components are vital to my comfort, especially grips. I find that soft thin grip, like the pale grey renthals are the best. *seat and pegs too, I recovered every seat on every bike I ever had

Try filming yourself on the bike from behind, when the bike is on a pitstand (and securely tied down), take your time and get into your cornering position. Then review the footage and make some adjustments, try some stuff out, take notice of your shoulders, foot placement and head/neck angle from side to side. On the side that feels good, take note of your lock in points, and try position yourself in the same exact points (of course opposite) on the weak side. Doing this in the garage, with no stress of braking zones, no fellow trackdayer looking at your silly poses and the comfort of shorts and a tshirt, really makes difference. Then put on all your kit when you're happy and make sure that it still works

Logic doesn't apply to motorcycle related decisions, it's your money and you who will ride it!! But if your goal is to go racing, then look at what will be competitive and what seems to dominate the class you want to race in

We all are, that is the beauty of riding. And given that you are very secure in your riding and seem to know what you want from it (have fun and still be able to go to work on monday), you have a very good base to start from. Reference points helps to keep you consistent and safe on track, and together with throttle control are the main factors in going fast (for me). RPs can help with the apexes, so that nail them time after time. RPs put your mind at ease in the braking zone, because you know that you will be able to make the turn. Personally I have two RPs for braking, one for brakes on, and one of brakes off, I first adjust the brake on point, then the brake off, and if I feel like going faster into the turn (which I know if the apex is easily reached and I have lean to spare) I simply move my brake off RP a little closer to the brake on RP.

Randy Mamola once reveiled that the way to quick flick, like superfast, was to dip the clutch/close the throttle, but only during the transision phase, eliminating all gyro stability from the engine. I wouldn't dare it.. My own expirience tells me that picking/steering the bike up works very well, but it's a consious effort to keep up with your body when doing so. The bike reacts very fast and sometimes I find myself still hanging off to the wrong side. So counter that I lift myself off the seat with my feet just as the bike pass vertical and that kinda drops me into the second part of the corner..

For results and comfort, any new-ish 600cc bike with a decent trackprepped chassis and stock engine. Fast enough but not handfull

Why the short-shifting? I know the S1kRR is a beast, but having tried one, even in full superbike tune, I found that it actually is less beasty when rev'ed out and you can avoid an upshift and resulting downshift on almost every straight. And as others have said, less time spend enginebraking/coasting and nail them apexes. But very stable and secure riding, a joy to watch Ronni

Funny this, the rear stepping out under hard braking/downshifting is why I'm working on an air bleed system and a better slipper clutch at the moment. I never use the rear brake, but have a few corners where the rear steps out as I tip in, it very much feels like I'm twisting it out with the steering input.

Counter question, what limits speed around a bend, if rider is not part of it?

Pardon me, but it seems you have this confused for "the Stoner". Well, Stoner is the fastest thing on two wheels, but that doesn't take away from Pedrosa that he was the first who very visibly did the "stand up and fire away" rutine..

this is a funny question, it could be advice for a new racer or someone new to trackdaying. The advice from me would be the same three things: - Look where you want to go! - Remember to breathe! - Relax your arms and hands! This from the experience that most people don't crash or do something overly stupid on their first trackday. If anything they will just scare themselves a little bit and the solution to their SR is proper training (which they will be much more motivated for if a few SR have been triggered) Recently I coached a friend new to trackdays (his baseline laptime was 1:35.4 (racers and front running fast group is 1:05)) , we startede at the above three, then continued with: - Bodypositioning (do this early before you need to correct bad habits) - Counter steering (quick flick) - The throttle rule Now he felt comfortable on the bike and it behaved predictably due to more steady input from him and laptimes was about 1:27 average. Then we talked: - Lines and where not to go - RP and how you determine and move them - Pick up drill ("the Pedrosa") And in the final two sessions he went quite fast (for a newcommer) at a string of 1:22.x and two 1:20.6 laps.

This is an very annoying part of riding a lower HP bike at open track days. Many riders on 1000cc bikes take an extreme outside entrance to the corner, slow WAY down, tiptoe through the corner, then pin it on the exit, leaving you no easy way to get by them. The BEST thing to do (in my opinion) is take more CSS schools and get faster so you can move up to a level at the track days where inside passing IS allowed, usually the advanced groups are safer to ride in anyway, much more predictable! That may sound flippant, but it is quite sincere, I ride a 250cc bike and you couldn't pay me to go back and ride in the slow group at an open track day, it is REALLY tough to make passes if you can't go inside. +infinity (give and take a few points). The most dangerous group to ride in is usually the lowest group where people are allowed to pass at all. We refer to it affectionately as the "Desperado" group, where the guys (it's always guys) have more balls and bike than driving skills - which is directly reflected in the crash statistics. Usually the crash rate falls with increasing group speed. Kai Funny I usually find it's the medium group, novices are slow and all over the track, but you can pass them everywhere. Medium group are usually novices who find themselves "too fast" for novice group, and it really reflects in crash rate. Fast group is the best group, people know what they are doing, but you need a minimum speed to be there, which can be track dependent. I have the consistent speed to ride in medium/fast, but usually go for novice, because I want to avoid to be taken out by someone outbraking himself. But back to the topic, try following a rider a bit, and choose where you will overtake him/her, I use one or two corners to assess where, then I make a clean but deliberate move, so the rider in front have no doubt about my move. Ronni

Well, @ crash106 apples and bananas..., 20 years old two-stroke without TC, ride by wire and with narrow temprange tires compared to modern day four-stroke with every electronic aid in the world plus multicompound widetemp range tires.... that's why, simple as.. On the subject of a toplevel rider would have/will gone/go slower if they followed Keiths teachings, well the top ten guys would, because they follow no rules, if they want the bike to turn on a plate, they chop the throttle completely (mamola) and don't crash like the rest of us. If they had to adhere to the fairly rigid rules that is CSS, then they would hit a upper limit that you and I don't know exist. But for 99,9% of riders, CSS teachings make them faster, safer and give a better understanding of the bikes reactions. Ronni

just trying to help (in a bit of CSS style). What makes you preceive speed best, going very fast over a long straight, or braking hard from high speed?? In my expirience, late braking often give me a feeling of high speed, even if I am low on entry speed. But I read what you saying as you have much better brakes and therefore have startet to chase the late braking marker, and have lost the ability to clip your apex. Try going on the brakes on your old brakingsmarkers, and find a brake off marker (RP) where you know that you can make the corner at the correct line, then adjust your brake on marker to shorten your brakingzone if needed. If you can't reach your apex, you gone to far.. Ronni

I use an old pair of spidi gloves, carbotech I think they are called. Not to much protection (in the good sense) and has lasted six years of trackdays, racing and streetriding including three crashes. I would buy the same gloves tomorrow if they failed on me, if only they still could be had. so don't overlook spidi (Colin Edwards choice, and he must wear/sweat them out since he rarely crashes) Ronni

Basicly, you want just enough spin to draw a black line but without putting you sideways, well it sounds easy : )

agreeing with both stuman and greg here, track tires that has gone "off" is great for sliding and the same is a dirt bike. Even on tarmac, a dirt bike is far easier to manage, due to the lazy geometry and low weigth, so that would be my first choice for learning to slide (well is was it was since I started out on dirt bikes ten years ago). With track tires, they tend to slide a fair bit when they reach the stage where the sides are blued and it's very easy to control. Find a corner that you comfortable with, go in as usually and just keep increasing the rate of roll-on untill you feel the rear stepping out. The important part is that it's a rate of roll-on exercise more than anything, no chopped throttles, no sudden burst of throttle, just roll-on Ronni

my answer to your posted example, would be, to not increase your entry speed, but the rate of roll on after the apex combined with standing the bike up a little earlier, then you can take advantage of the extra space.. And all while getting a better exit Ronni