Jasonzilla

Just my opinion, but I'd put Streets on the bottom of that list. It's not a track I'd go out of my way to do. Infineon looks wicked, and Laguna is on just about everyones trackday bucket list.

No "pushing the bike underneath you" here: http://www.youtube.c...feature=related It looks like he's pushing at the time I braking. I'd guess he's doing it to increase compression of the forks to decrease rake and trail so he steers faster.

Gorgeous bike.

It also takes more brain power to focus on using 2 brakes. Riders like Eirik and BLSJDS, who start doing it will get used to it and can incorporate it without taking up as much attention after a while. I haven't used my rear brake on a track, unless I'm testing something like application of rear brakes, so I'd be retarded if I tried to start now. Some riders (yes even the newer ones) think they shouldn't use it because of the rear lifting off the ground under heavy braking. But really: how many of us are going to get the rear tire off the ground when braking? Most local expert racers could still get some effect from using the rear brake, but it all goes back to that attention thing.

CE is required in something like 50 countries.

The benefits of living in a desert. We're full of trackdays right now. I'm going to really have to travel to get to trackdays this summer.

I'm not jealous very often. I am right now.

Poor guy. Those your only choices in bikes? Usually, having to adjust so much on a new bike is because you are tense on the bars and have to get used to the different steering configuration (and how you are fighting the bike while in a corner).

I didn't look at the date, and saw Racer's name. Tripped me out.

What the guy writing the article is misinterpreting is size and force. The law of friction is in regards to two objects causing friction, not their respective size and force applied (as is taken into account when talking about motorcycles and tire size). He's overcomplicating basic rules: the rules of friction. These are related to friction only. It's not force/weight/material/elasticity/angle/etc that these rules are talking about. Once you start talking about force applied to contact size of said objects, you redirect to other laws, or add these laws, regarding physics of friction and application of pressure.

Motorcycles don't really accelerate equally. A 125 can't accelerate near as quickly as a 1,000 cc bike. That's more a power issue. But, a 1,000 cc bike with a 125 tire couldn't accelerate near as hard as a 1,000 with a 190. When they put a 190 tire on a literbike, it's considered the optimum tire for that size engine for what they want the bike to do. The 1,000 cc bike can't have a smaller tire, because that would cause more of a traction problem. Bigger tire, cornering is compromised. Longer swingarm, cornering changes as well. Drag racing bikes don't have such a wide contact patch because they use all the rubber in a drag. It's so they can apply more power for quicker acceleration in relation to the larger contact patch. There's also tire flexion, which the author doesn't take into account. As you stated, they are very light and have less power. That's why the 125's only require the tire size they have. Weight application for a given contact patch size is optimum. If you have that small a contact patch with 2 times the weight, the traction would break.

Great, great points.

I think it's his interpretation and over simplification of these laws that's lacking. He's not taking into account the myriad of variables (as mentioned above) used by motorcycle designers to maximize the use of a given contact patch. You can't apply any more weight (general weight and acceleratory forces) to a 180 tire on a literbike than you can a 600 without loss of traction.

Looks like they (101, at least) may have been holding you up. Looks real good.

In August, we're around 110 in the shade during the day.

It's a fast track that requires a lot of moving and strength to get around the track. I was sweating like crazy keeping pace to work on some new things.

Haha. 66F.

Rockin the CSS sticker on the PB! Nice! Little envy over here, it's 34°F. Don't be. We lose as much time because of the heat as you do because of the cold. We CAN travel to different places, but it's sometimes a long trip to get to a track. It got up to 66 degrees during the day and I was sweating bullets.

Chuckwalla Valley Raceway. Great track.

Very nice.

Wow. That is an awesome pic. Looking good.

Hi Jav and Leesh. Hope you guys stick around the forum. I'm jealous about your bikes.

On the street, I'd take from this that everyone needs to work on transitioning from throttle to brake. For track, though, I'd say this is what you want to take from it: "At the track, reference points are key. It helps here to have a reference point up to which you can hold the throttle open until, rather than a marker at which you pull the brake lever. This will force you to speed up the throttle-off transition as it becomes part of your braking zone, and not let you cheat by closing the throttle and coasting up to your brake marker." Number of fingers is only as important as where you start your braking. Everyone focuses on one belief about riding at a time. That's actually the wrong view to have. It also helped Alpinestar sell those two fingers sewn together gloves. If anyone doesn't believe me, you can be the one to tell Valentino Rossi he's wrong for using all 4 fingers to brake. It's WHERE he does, not HOW he does. Although I'd say that Sportrider does have some fairly good and some really good articles, they left out a very important part to the transitioning process. Placement. Riders personalizing their levers and shifter. It will speed up the comfort and speed with which you can clutch, brake, or shift. How many people have adjusted their shifters or levers? You move the seat and steering wheel in a car, don't you? Why leave everything factory set-up on a bike?

I cover the brake out of habit in traffic when I'm cruising but still take my fingers off the brake when accelerating. I use two fingers to brake, but it's whatever you're more comfortable with. On the track, as soon as I'm done braking, I get my fingers off the brake and on the throttle. If you keep fingers on the brake after braking on the track, you take away from throttle control. There is NO WAY you can get the same quality of throttle control with two fingers on the brake. I'm sure you can still accelerate, but you can get better, more concentrated throttle control with a full hand on the throttle. The No Brake Drill is the "keep your hands OFF the brake" drill.

Great photos, guys.