benhamf15

There were two keys for me in learning to blip the throttle while on the brakes: 1) Using just my forefinger and middle finger on the lever, leaving my other two fingers and the palm of my hand in contact with the throttle grip, allowing me to twist it with good feel/control. 2) Grabbing the lever as close to the tips of my fingers as possible while still being able to get the necessary brake pressure. This gives you more freedom of motion to twist the rest of your hand. If you grab the lever near the base of your fingers it makes it much more difficult to twist the throttle for the blip. I also felt it was much more difficult to get an accurate blip at slower speeds/RPMs (say, 4-6K RPM range) than when doing it at higher revs. It can certainly be done, it's was just more difficult to get it right. Hopefully this can help some of you. Cheers, Benny

Going through coach training I've learned a lot about how set-up affects bikes differently. I've been surprised by just how different the different coach bikes can feel/handle. They're exactly the same bikes but the full-time coaches who ride them most often set them up for their own preferences. It can make a huge difference, especially if your size and/or riding style is different from the coach who set up the bike. There are a couple I feel incredibly comfortable and confident on, and that makes it easy to run really fast laps or focus on the student. Then there are a couple others I prefer to avoid. I have to try to adapt my riding style to make the bike work for me. For example, one is set up in a manner that makes it want to keep leaning in to a corner after I've finished steering it, forcing me to hold a little pressure on the outside bar when I'm riding at a slower pace. The other solution for that bike when I'm riding it is to trail brake in then get on the throttle much harder, but that's not always an option depending on my student. It works great for the coach who set it up, but not so much for me. I've also learned that tire profiles can play a significant part in this. If a tire has gotten flat on a side from being at that same lean angle a lot, it can make a bike feel like it wants to stand up or fall in to the corner at other lean angles, even with good throttle control and being relaxed on the bars. If you have a bike that does this, the first thing I recommend doing is checking/changing the tire(s). You could chase a lot of adjustments in your suspension without being able to fix that problem and ending up really frustrated. Cheers, Benny

Hey... I resemble that remark! Benny

Congrats Hotfoot! I saw that too. I'm way impressed, especially the no crashing part. Very inspiring for all of us but I think especially for other female riders out there. Good luck for even better success next season! Cheers, Benny

Hi Moe! Welcome to the forum. I'm glad to hear Cobie and I were able to have such a big impact on your riding and thanks for the great feedback. Congratulations on your success so far! There's no better feeling for a coach than to know you've made a positive impact, especially if what you've taught your student helped save their bacon. Hopefully I'll be at whatever school you choose to attend. It would be fun to see how your riding has improved first-hand, even if you have a different coach. In the meantime, you'll find tons of great info here to get you through 'til then. Good luck and start posting up your questions! Cheers, Benny

Is there anything other than American? Didn't you know we're so good that we can have world championships without having to invite anyone else? ? Benny

It's sold in generous amounts at every corner by the California Superbike School. Pass the word! Benny

Nice improvement Robert! It's good to hear you're making such good progress combining your experiences at the school with the great info here on the forum to continue improving. Impressive! Keep up the great work and keep us all in the loop. Now tape that friggin' speedometer! At 161 MPH, you're travelling at 236 feet per second. Can you recall from school academics how long it takes you to look down at the speedo, focus on it, read and interpret it, look back up and focus on the track again? How long is a football field? Benny

Asterix, I wanted to address this as it is a common misconception. How could accelerating "push" the front contact patch. Is there more or less weight on that front contact patch when you're accelerating? If you say less, why would that put more force on it to cause a steering input that brings the bike upright? The bottom line is that accelerating will not change your lean angle, only a steering input will. Keith addresses this in his book but I don't have it handy to give you the chapter number, but as I recall it is called "Steer With the Rear" or something along those lines. However, going faster with the same lean angle will affect your line. So the question to you is: how will that affect your line... will it be tighter or wider as a result? Could going wider be perceived as the bike "coming up" out of the corner? Benny

"Thanks BENHAMF15, that helps a lot." You're welcome! I'm glad you found it helpful. Any chance you can make it to a school? I think it would help you a lot, especially if you're going to be doing regular track days. Benny

Mazur, Sorry to hear about the crash but I'm glad you're ok. Let me start by asking if you have read "A Twist of the Wrist 2"? It addresses many common rider errors that can reduce a bike's traction due to improper rider inputs (i.e. slide before hitting hard parts or even getting your knee down). Being stiff on the bars is one of several of those errors. In your case, if you were stiff/tight on one or both of the bars you will have reduced the traction of the front tire. Maybe not enough to fully CAUSE the crash but certainly enough to contribute to it. As for the crash, I need a bit more info to help. First, could you tell which tire gave way... front or rear? Also, as you were adding your lean angle, were you rolling on the throttle at the same time or did you stop rolling on before you steered the bike into a steeper lean? What specifically were you doing with the throttle relative to your steering inputs in the corner? Also, on what lap did it occur? Were you using tire warmers? Was the lean angle you were at when you crashed significantly more than it had been in the previous lap or two (i.e. a sudden leap in speed in that corner)? Finally, have you had your suspension set up for your weight (i.e. set the sag)? Cheers, Benny

cincydiavel, It's normal to be nervous, everyone is. However, the CSS crew are true pros and you will quickly find yourself at ease, having fun and learning a ton. Don't think of it as a race track, but as a laboratory for riding. No cars/traffic, no big hazards like guardrails if you run wide. There is never any pressure to go faster than you are comfortable. The coaches are highly trained, especially to spot potentially dangerous riding habits immediately and they will work very hard to ensure you stay upright. It only doesn't work if you don't listen to them or suddenly try to ride well above your current skill level. As far as preparation goes, it sounds like you've done it. TOTW 2 is the best prep. The classes and the coaches will clear up any confusion you have on the material. If they don't, then ASK. Just show up with an open mind, listen and do your best to apply the drill you learned in the preceding class. A lot of students are super anxious to learn everything all at once. Of course, nobody can actually do that so just concentrate on doing THE ONE drill per session you are given to do as well as you can. They will build on each other to create a significant improvement in your overall riding. Just be patient, especially with yourself. Your concern/confusion about your line will be addressed in the second drill in level 1. Welcome and enjoy your experience! Benny

And the ability to time sync all of this data to a video camera with the ability to select what data you want to actively display during playback.

Makes good sense to me. Maybe we can talk Cobie into putting one on a coach bike and gather some data to see if it is really usable. If so, it may help prevent coach cold tire crashes. Benny

I'd offer up my services for experimentation, but I wasn't average... Benny

Very cool, but I wonder how useful it really is in a practical application sense. For example, I'm guessing it probably only tells you the surface temperature of the tire and not the temperature of the carcass which is what really matters. You could do a burn out on a cold tire and make the surface hot, but try to rail it through a corner and it would barely grip better than a fully cold tire so I wonder if you could possibly get a false sense of security. Another thing I learned the hard way is that one side of the tire can be a very different temperature than the other which will affect your grip on right vs. left handers. If you get it telling you the middle is hot and it turns out an edge is barely warm, you may be too confident throwing it into a corner. I wonder if you can get a separate reading somehow on right vs. left side. I'd be surprised if you could get that kind of fidelity but it would be a really awesome tool if you could. Benny

Cruise control would definitely make it easier to wave students by on the right side without having them run up on you... Or high five you opponents with your right hand after crushing them in a race.

I wonder if you can set it for a smooth, even constant roll on throughout the remainder of the turn. We might have to implement a no cruise control drill in addition to no brakes to ensure good training results...

That relax immediately after you complete your steering is absolutely critical and that would help diminish any wobble very quickly. That's absolutely the correct thing to do when you complete your steering. I can't explain the lack of wobble if you are truly punching the bar. I suspect that either you're not truly "punching" the bar in the way I envision, or perhaps you're using only a little lean angle. Punching the bar to a higher lean angle compresses the fork very quickly and causes it to rebound excessively, causing a wiggle. I wish I could observe what is going on. Nonetheless, congrats on your discoveries! Cheers, Benny

Maybe we can get Keith to add a level 4 drill for this, although we won't be able to call it the "Pick-Up" drill... Benny

Test

Eirik, "Punching" the bar (i.e. moving it quickly) will make the bike lean quickly, but also adds instability. I expect your bike shakes a little before settling down? That may be why it doesn't feel natural to you. The proper technique for quick turning the bike is to apply MORE PRESSURE to the bar (i.e. smoothly push harder, not faster). The harder you press, the quicker the bike leans over. The instant it is at the lean angle you want, simply stop pressing on the bar, relax and begin your throttle roll on. It's ok to be rough with your technique in the beginning like you described, but now I recommend you try this and see if you get an even better result. Let me know how it goes. Cheers, Benny

Eirik, Congratulations on your discovery! I know it's a great feeling to make progress like that. Based on what you said above though, I want to ensure you have the technical points of quick steering exactly right. You spoke of using sharp, brief steering inputs. Are you "punching" the bar to quick turn, or are you using a harder pressure to get the bike to quick turn? Cheers, Benny

Cobie, I'm guessing you're not gonna let me "borrow" one of the school helmets for my own personal track day next month, so it looks like I'm gonna have to throw down and buy my own to replace my old Shoei. Not only is it over 5 years old now, but with the more agressive, lower on the bike riding position I've developed in my CSS training I just can't see around the corners in it like I can with the Schuberth. The Shoei effectively has a "visor" that limits my vision, even with padding in it to raise it up. The Schuberth doesn't and it makes it much easier to get low on the bike but still be able to see. Not to mention it's a lot lighter, quieter, better ventilated... It's just a spectacular helmet. I've really enjoyed riding with it at the schools and I look forward to having one for myself. Even better that the Schuberth folks will be there to help me get the fit exactly right. Benny