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Jasonzilla

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About Jasonzilla

  • Birthday 08/30/1970

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  • Have you attended a California Superbike School school?
    YES!!!

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    Gilbert, Az
  • Interests
    Trackdays, medicine, watching motorcycle racing and Formula 1.

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  1. There is both a magnificent bank and off-camber corner on Chuckwalla in California. The thing to remember about off-camber corners is that before you even turn, you're riding at a lean. If it's, say, a six degree angle and someone is wanting to get on the throttle, when the rider believes they're at a certain spot picking the bike up in regards to the typical horizon, they can easily forget they're actually still more leaned over than normal and be giving too much throttle for their actual amount of lean. Some don't think to adjust for the change in traction limits for where they're at. The same goes for braking into the corner.
  2. For the most part, I agree, but I can't wrap my head around how he doesn't lose balance and go off the track or keep sliding on his head. The brain is doing so much already, and then to change all these other things in tilting the head like this.
  3. It's the tires. Pol's hit the nail on the head. I was talking with a guy I met last night about his '70 Triumph Bonneville. The bikes of that day had a solid steel bar that was welded to the bottom of the bike for footpegs. I showed him that, even on my EX-650, my pegs collapse up in case I get that far over (which I don't on my EX). I told him about the tire advances and how that's the reason for the progression in leaning. The guys standing around were amazed when I told them they're dragging elbows now-a-days. I also showed them what a friend of mine does (see below) and they about lost it.
  4. This could have been used in the TOTW video as the horrible advice you can get from somebody. That's insane! I saw Pridmore in November being interviewed and he was talking about how counter-steering is wrong, it's body steering that effectively turns a bike. I had to walk away. I'm doing research on lack of rider education and accidents, and it's not just that he's wrong, but the advice he's giving is DANGEROUS. It's infuriating. Keith gets a couple of things wrong, but nothing he's getting wrong is potentially dangerous.
  5. Sorry I'm so late to the party, but I'm studying so much I don't have time to come to the site much. Putting the camera up front limits the appropriate feedback we can give. The main thing that was mentioned above is your turning. If I remember correctly, one person said you should change your turn points and learn to turn faster. If you learn to turn faster in the appropriate corners, that will correct your blowing the apex on so many corners, thus negating your need to change your turn points. That'd be my first suggestion. If you're steering as fast as you believe you can, then changing your turn points would be the best option for your level of riding. Either one will allow you to get the bike back up and get back on the throttle faster. This leads into picking the bike up. The pick-up drill would be something I'd recommend you work on. I could be wrong, but judging by the video, you seem to be allowing the bike to pick itself back up. Seconds could be shaved in improving this skill. Improving on that, it is what it is with you being in the beginner group. You could take advantage of this and work on squaring off the corners in order to get that drive coming out of the corners (in this case to pass other riders). I'm 240 lb on an under-maintained 10 year old 600cc bike. When bumping down to the intermediate group to coach friends and want to open the throttle up before the end of the session, I have to do it all the time to keep in front of, or keep up with the other bikes so I can stay close to them on the straights and by them on the brakes. It's a great skill, and it will help you improve on the pick-up aspect of corner exit. From there we go to your braking. You need to do it later. You get your braking done quickly, then seemingly coast to the corner. Picking your favorite corner and pushing your brake markers slowly will make a huge difference in your time. Then add another corner, then another.
  6. That's exactly right. They could be doing this without even knowing it. I also figured that that the ones who think they're making "fine course corrections" are just putting additional steering inputs into the bars as they're shifting around, just as when upright and thinking they're body steering.
  7. I'm thinking as far as when a source, especially in a largely published book by a respected educator, states you can make "fine" adjustments in a corner on the bike. It mentions mid-corner, so it's not turn entry. I'd like to know how much weight I'd have to shift to make an adjustment IN a corner. I'm leaning off, hanging on, looking at my points... I don't know how much they think they can shift to make these adjustments while in a corner. I sometimes still shift around in long corners while working on my BP and have no changes in my steering unless I'm performing the aforementioned hook-turn or putting pressure on the bars. I'm 240 lb, so my body is a huge part of my 600's weight. And it's a lot of upper body, not belly, so I'd think it'd be more noticeable were I shifting around. Wouldn't you think someone writing a book about this would be more specific, maybe MENTION something like hook-turn? I don't think I'm taking what is written out of context. Without bar input, I don't really think there can be significant changes in BP other than the equivalent of "veering," as mentioned in Keith's TOTW2 video, which would have the same effect. Not much. Would that be an incorrect statement?
  8. I've been scolded on this site for mentioning a certain motorcycle school and didn't want to post the actual name of the book. Hahaha. You rabble rouser.
  9. I like what Hotfoot said earlier on. I brake and use my thumb to blip. I think when I was first learning this, someone used an age-old quote: if you want to become great at something, do it 1,000 times. I was practicing it on the way to work every morning. It took a LONG TIME before I noticed I was blipping without any difficulty. It was on my EX-650, which is massively more difficult than on my ZX6. I'm going back to tracks I haven't ridden in years, and am noticing I blip without even doing it consciously. There are some corners I'll let the slipper clutch take control. My issue with this is that it seems to dictate my speed when going into a corner. I can decide how fast I want to be going myself with braking and blipping.
  10. Good clarification, Smith. I was stuck on the term body steering because it was in a couple of books I was reading and getting stuck on why it's wrong and how "body steering" is misleading and why it shouldn't be used. Weight management, or something similar, is more appropriate. You're right as well, Chase. My thing on that is another book I've been reading mentions that moving your body over before a turn helps initiate the turn. It says that you need to do a counter-steer in the opposite direction to maintain the bike upright if you don't intend to turn at that point. My problem with that is that it's going to initiate a turn before one intends to turn unless they shift right at the point of the turn which, as we know, compromises the suspension, or cause utter confusion. The wording in all these books is erroneous or confusing in relation to the other books. Even MSF has a book that says two different things. I know what it means, but that's because I understand counter-steering. A beginner may get confused.
  11. I hate living in Arizona. Unless we travel, our season starts in Sep-Oct and is over Apr-May. We lose as much time due to heat as the northern states lose to snow/cold. I'm back in school, so I'm taking advantage of having to write papers and am writing about motorcycle related topics (currently working on counter-steering) when I get the chance. I'm trying to do 4-5 trackdays a year while in school so I can keep up with my riding. The last trackday I worked on my lines. Playing with and progressing turn-points, apex, exit points. I've started riding a track that I haven't ridden in about 8 years when I first started track riding, so it was interesting to compare it to what I used to to. I keep notes on the tracks I ride. I threw some quick turn practicing in there as well.
  12. I'm writing a paper on counter-steering, so I'm reading a ton and watching video (mostly for the misconceptions of counter-steering) on it. It's mentioned repetitively that once in a corner you can make adjustments with your body. I thought this was incorrect. I know weighing the pegs can help make the tire oversteer for riders to manage the bike through the corners faster (Rabat can be seen to have his outside foot off the pegs quite often in order to get the rear tire loose). An ex-professional racer with a book in publication says you can make "fine course corrections" mid-corner with body position. I thought an effective statement would be "what happens with the bike straight up and down is true while leaned over." This would mean you could cause the bike to "veer," but not steer. Shifting body weight doesn't seem like it would help steer the bike though. I know being off the throttle, or not on the throttle enough, makes the bike tighten it's cornering, and this could cause the misconception. It's not explained definitively anywhere (except possibly in TOTW where it states something along the lines that the only way to make an effective change of direction is through counter-steering). Any help would be appreciated.
  13. I'm writing a paper on counter-steering, so I'm reading a ton and watching video (mostly for the misconceptions of counter-steering) on it. It's mentioned repetitively that once in a corner you can make adjustments with your body. I thought this was incorrect. I know weighing the pegs can help make the tire oversteer for riders to manage the bike through the corners faster (Rabat can be seen to have his outside foot off the pegs quite often in order to get the rear tire loose). An ex-professional racer with a book in publication says you can make "fine course corrections" mid-corner with body position. I thought an effective statement would be "what happens with the bike straight up and down is true while leaned over." This would mean you could cause the bike to "veer," but not steer. Shifting body weight doesn't seem like it would help steer the bike though. I know being off the throttle, or not on the throttle enough, makes the bike tighten it's cornering, and this could cause the misconception. It's not explained definitively anywhere (except possibly in TOTW where it states something along the lines that the only way to make an effective change of direction is through counter-steering). Any help would be appreciated.
  14. This is strange happenings. The first thing I thought of while reading this is that you mentioned knowing the throttle is closed. I found on my EX-650, but not on my ZX6, that in some corners I still somehow have the throttle open while cornering. If I know the type of corner coming up, I'll give myself a little extra braking room to ensure I have the throttle closed. The little it's open causes me to go wide, but not cause the rear to step out. Then again, it's a 650, not a 1,000. Your suspension is being mentioned, but unless you've changed your set-up, I don't see how this could be a factor, UNLESS the tires are different. They sound scrubbed in and are new, but I'd question whether they're a DIFFERENT type of tire than you've been using. Could be something about the new tire. Then there is the question of your experience level. I don't know if you're new to steeper lean angles, but while getting used to this degree of lean, there are different sensations the suspension will give you because you're not straight up and down anymore. Things change once you get past the comfort zone/natural block of 20-25 degrees. I always thought my front end was washing going into sharper corners. You get over it. By the way you're describing what you're doing, I'll bet you're more experienced at it. The pressure differences being mentioned (1-2 psi) aren't going to be much of a factor until you become more aggressive. Keeping your RPMs low and not "attacking the exits," I'd say a small difference in tire pressures wouldn't have an effect. My thing, as with Steven Athas, is what you're riding on, 40 psi! I used to ride to the track for trackdays, and even at an early morning moderate pace I knew when I had forgotten to deflate the tires. I pulled straight into the pits because I knew there was NO WAY to work around that problem. 40 psi is recommended for when you're commuting to work. Getting on the track and into trackdays, going through twisties on the back roads is not what 40 psi is for. Even without throttle, it could become a problem, and does increasingly so as you heat the tire up. At the trackday next month, find a a faster rider and ask him what he keeps his pressures at. I'd also think csmith12 was onto something. Changes in your BP, when you're shifting your weight, will do some fascinating and scary things to your motorcycle. If you've progressed your BP, it'd be worth reflecting on whether it was a change for the better. Otherwise, this probably wouldn't be a factor. Unless an external factor, road conditions (which you've said is good), fluids (no leaks found), or one of the changes mentioned (type of tire, pressure, change in suspension, BP, somehow still on the throttle) you've got yourself one of the more rare problems with corner riding. Good luck.
  15. I'm in school, literally, and am in an advanced writing class. It's probably no surprise that I'm planning on writing about a motorcycle related topic, counter-steering, if allowed by my professor. Every other professor forces me to write about nursing related subjects. I'm going to write on counter-steering, attempt to break it down, talk about the "alternative," and finally, write about the safety aspect of learning the proper way to steer a motorcycle. I am going to use all the published books I can find, whatever I can find on body steering (or body lean), and use the Hurt Report as well as government agencies stats for some of the safety aspect of it. My question is: does anyone know of any other resources I can use? Maybe something that describes the specific physics involved? Academic type papers and physics reference recommendations would be appreciated. I know it's a different question everyone is used to getting, but who else would I ask, and who else would I even think to start with? The smartest people I know in regards to motorcycle riding are on this site.
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