ozfireblade

Hi Luke, What everyone has said is all good, I would suggest that you have a look into Crossfit, you have one in Auckland and one in Wellington (http://www.crossfitnewzealand.co.nz/) it is endurance and strength based is very intense and works the major muscle groups we need for riding, legs,core strength and endurance, add riding the old pushbike and some side lunges and you should be Sweet as Bro Dylan

Mate I have no idea what tippy means, must be a yank thing . If it feels like its falling over maybe you are going too slow? This might be the reason that when you get on the gas again and the bike jolts is when it sorts its self out from your input. I think also that you might be confusing getting over to the outside of your tyre profile to falling, as when you first get over onto the edge (depending on type of tyre) it does sorta feel like your falling over. Are you continually pushing the handlebars when turning or push then let the bike steer? Continual pushing will make the bike fall over. Looking at your front tyre means your looking too close and increasing your visual speed, you will get a ground rush feeling making you think your going faster than you are. I personally think you just need to concentrate on one thing at a time and maybe start off with throttle control. I think your trying to do too much at once, getting yourself confused and maybe not understanding the book? Theres a hell of a lot of informatioin in there and it takes a lot of reads to understand it properly, I must have read them 20 odd times and I'm still reading because things are becoming clearer and easier to understand. Bullet said the same to me when I first got into the forum and had things confused. I dont know how long you've been riding, where or with who, But the biggest thing is you need to get youself to a school and just stay safe between now and then. just my 2 c worth hope it helps mate

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 Agrees with Kai. Just a couple of questions. The bike is an 07? so the oil is really 3 years old and the fork seals weren't moving in the box for 2 years? check your fork seals and is there any leaks or puddles under your bike in the morning? Or drop your fork oil may just be old? Initally (cold) does your suspension feel fine then as the day goes on feels like its bottoming out more? This may be because the fork oil is heating up, from riding hard and working the forks more, becoming thinner making your suspension softer causing the bottoming out. If this is the case maybe a half turn off compression may help, when the bike has warmed up or throughout your session. Not a suspension guru may help though Dylan

Could it be Australias Chief Riding Coach????

Nice one Jase, Got the croc wrestling down pat= grab the bugger by the tail and its stuffed, drop bears avoidance= smear vegimate across your forehead, Kangaroo= gum leaves whistleing, Koala hugging after they eat should be ok cause the leaves get them stoned, but you did miss out 'throwing a SHRIMP (its really a prawn yanks!! ) on the barby' I am becoming one with the books, although the minister of war and finance keeps hide them,mind you I dont have soft science yet. I have been doing heaps of research on suspension set up and starting to learn more about tyre compounds. Thanks Guys for the info Dylan

Thanks for the advice Bullet now if I could just find out the grilling questions I may have a chance!!!! And hows the shoulder doing? Dylan

Crash I think you may want to read the Twist books/watch the DVD and/or attend a CSS school because I reckon that theory may change , you may find that we should crack the and roll on the throttle as soon as possible, doesnt matter where the apex is if you can get on the throttle early why wait for an apex? Open the throttle wide open once the bike is coming out of the turn, like you said, otherwise its a bit like being a drag bike racer, straight line speed only no corner speed unless your coming hot Like the good book says if your getting on the gas asap it means less time braking and coasting which means your faster overall, something like that Dylan

Rest rate doesn't have much to say when it comes to max rate. A Norwegian cross-country skier (Harald Gronningen) from many, many decades ago had a rest pulse of 26, but his max was 180. A bloke at the gym rarely exceeds 115 bpm even going at it on the step machine and cannot bring himself over 125, yet his rest pulse is around 65. But I agree - it could simply be that Rossi has a very low max heart rate, although it would be strange for a top rank athlete to max out in the 130-140 range. He can still max it out all the way up to and past 200bpm its just he doesnt have to cause his SRs dont fire and he has a better useage and economy of effort. I'd say your mate at the gym needs to go a bit harder get that HR nice and high

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 Nice Kai!!! guess he's one of the few that naturally has a low heart rate you wouldnt happen to know his resting heart rate? Dylan

Thanks for the hint on 'the push - then release'. It could in fact be that i am still hanging onto the inside bar once I have pushed it to steer into the corner. Thinking about it more, may be the lock on is not to bad (at least for my level :-)) as I know that I can almost leg go of the bars sometimes (when in a corner) if I consciously focus on releasing the grip on the bars. Thought I would provide some feedback having had the opportunity to go for a couple of decent rides on the weekend......Spent a good few hours focussing on throttle control, push/release and two step. As such, I regained a lot of confidence back and could feel the front turning in easily on a tight line and gripping (sensation lost when tense). I was not focussed at all on speed but actually ended up being smoother and faster than expected. However, I did find that once I started to move around on the bike (level 3) tension return throughout my body under braking for most corners. In part, probably some charging of turns (although I was not trying to go fast), but rather I think it is lock on problems under braking. Thinking about it I can feel my arms taking the braking force, then my body becomes tense and out of position, and the front instability gremlins return. Looking back through my notes I could see there was nothing that really addressed braking in the course. I have some questions.....Once your butt is moved across into position as per hip flick drill should both knees be gripping the tank for braking (I think I only have one cause other knee is hanging out) ? If doing successive corners in the same direction (eg two lefts), should the left knee come back into the tank for braking for the second turn? I think I might have me knee out for the corner too early. I had simliar problems with locking on then I bought Tech Spec grips for my tank took heaps of effort off me locking on as hard and no dramas with leaving my leg out, also another brand is called Stomp Grip which probably the one I would go for, for the track. Not sure if anyone will agree with me but try keeping both knees into the tank until your trailing off the brake ie keep knees locked in until the heavy braking is done. This is what I do, set up brakes squeeze shift my butt across, light braking intially then heavy braking as your releasing/easing off let the knee out and fully release the brake (if your not trailing into the turn) tip in at the turning point, implementing the 2 or 3 step drill. For successive corners, depending on how far apart they are, I bring my knee in (as the knee out will act as a sail causing wind drag and loss of speed) keeping my butt in the same spot so I wont upset the bike by shifting it then sticking the knee back out. This is what I do and may not be the perfect advice Hope it helps Dazza Dylan Thanks for this Dylan, I will give this a try. I know one thing that I have found awkward in feeling about the hip flick is that once I have moved my butt across the seat, the hips and torso are facing away from where they need to face for the turn in. They then need to move to move to the inside for turn in which I guess must mean leaning and going with the bike (as opposed to more of a upper body preset position with body facing into turn and trying to use one knee for lock in). Not sure if you have any thoughts on that? If you are say in a right hander a have a left following quickly after (flip flop) the first turn, the right, set up as normal. Once the bike is leaned over to the right commence moving your butt to the left, then as your lean left your already in position and the bike doesnt loose to much stability from rapid movement and weight shift. Not sure but I think I couldve explained it better. Long day and all Cheers

Thanks for the hint on 'the push - then release'. It could in fact be that i am still hanging onto the inside bar once I have pushed it to steer into the corner. Thinking about it more, may be the lock on is not to bad (at least for my level :-)) as I know that I can almost leg go of the bars sometimes (when in a corner) if I consciously focus on releasing the grip on the bars. Thought I would provide some feedback having had the opportunity to go for a couple of decent rides on the weekend......Spent a good few hours focussing on throttle control, push/release and two step. As such, I regained a lot of confidence back and could feel the front turning in easily on a tight line and gripping (sensation lost when tense). I was not focussed at all on speed but actually ended up being smoother and faster than expected. However, I did find that once I started to move around on the bike (level 3) tension return throughout my body under braking for most corners. In part, probably some charging of turns (although I was not trying to go fast), but rather I think it is lock on problems under braking. Thinking about it I can feel my arms taking the braking force, then my body becomes tense and out of position, and the front instability gremlins return. Looking back through my notes I could see there was nothing that really addressed braking in the course. I have some questions.....Once your butt is moved across into position as per hip flick drill should both knees be gripping the tank for braking (I think I only have one cause other knee is hanging out) ? If doing successive corners in the same direction (eg two lefts), should the left knee come back into the tank for braking for the second turn? I think I might have me knee out for the corner too early. I had simliar problems with locking on then I bought Tech Spec grips for my tank took heaps of effort off me locking on as hard and no dramas with leaving my leg out, also another brand is called Stomp Grip which probably the one I would go for, for the track. Not sure if anyone will agree with me but try keeping both knees into the tank until your trailing off the brake ie keep knees locked in until the heavy braking is done. This is what I do, set up brakes squeeze shift my butt across, light braking intially then heavy braking as your releasing/easing off let the knee out and fully release the brake (if your not trailing into the turn) tip in at the turning point, implementing the 2 or 3 step drill. For successive corners, depending on how far apart they are, I bring my knee in (as the knee out will act as a sail causing wind drag and loss of speed) keeping my butt in the same spot so I wont upset the bike by shifting it then sticking the knee back out. This is what I do and may not be the perfect advice Hope it helps Dazza Dylan

Congrats, you probably werent trying to do it

I think its just because he's been doing it so long for him its just like breathing or tying his shoe laces, he's constantly at high speeds, constantly riding, road or dirt, he is 100% confindent in his bikes technologies, thanks to an Australian Jeremy Burgess, and because he's helped developed most of it with yamaha, dont forget he tamed the 500cc beast as well lot more forgiving nowadays on the 800cc with the electronics to help like traction control etc. I wouldnt mind knowing what his heart rate was like riding the 500cc though.

Just read about the crash. Tragic news condolences to the Lenz family and the guys on the forum who knew the little guy, couldnt imagine what life would be like if my little girl left me RIP #45 Dylan

Well reported and same as Rainman said took me back to level 2 aswell Dylan

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 Thanks Kai, positive reinforcement lets me think I sorta know what I'm on about So seeing as we rarely use the rear brake, going off the schools teachings, is it worth changing it to a braided line? Probably about to go off topic but what would be the best braided lines to get? What would be the "Ultimate" brake upgrade? Dylan

I was thinking more about this thread something also to consider is the your brake lines are they braided lines or OEM? Braided lines in my opinion should be fitted, if your upgrading your brake package, as this does help to stop brake fade. If Im getting this wrong someone please pick me up. With the OEM lines when they get hot they expand which in turn causes the brake lines and fluid to loose pressure making the brakes feel like you need to squeeze even harder to get the stopping power you want (which BTW doesnt happen), could be another reason why your getting arm pump maybe not. Plenty more technical people in here that can explain this to us better than I can. Dylan

Looking at a 600 myself, its cheaper than the litre bike and also more people race 600s here so its a really competative. I'm a honda man as well but I do kinda want to try an R6..Y'know just to see....I have looked at the SV650 not too sure how much racing they do here in Australia. The theory I have is when I can ring the bikes neck then I should up the cc's, thinking like that I'd better get a 250cc

Thats what happens when you live in NSW miss out on the all the sites of Victoria, Phillip Island, The great ocean road....I could go on but my finger tips would bleed!!!

I probably didnt use the correct technical description but yeh revving too high and sending metal bits through the head. The sound of a bike dropping down from high revs like a Big V Twin sounds cool!!!

I used to like to engine break beacuse it sounded cool. That was until I killed an engine from overun, wish I'd had a slipper clutch!! Like on the TOTW dvd says its cheaper to replace brake pads rather than engine parts.