johnnyrod

I had a chance to talk to Leon Camier last summer, at the school when Keith came over here. For those over the pond, he's one of our better riders from the UK. He said it's the level 2 stuff that he's constantly working on, the physical side of body position and all that he was comfortable with.

There are a few ways to go with the front end, depends how much fiddling you're into. A complete GSXR front end will go on, it's a bit easier with the later SV but also doable with the earlier one (pre-2003), although I think it might be a better match for earlier GSXRs e.g. SRAD which have RWU forks but they're cartridge and have 4-pot brake calipers unlike the SV's sliding 2-pots and damper rod forks. USDs with raidla mount calipers are of course the best but really anything will be an improvement. If you want or need to retain the standard forks (depends on racing rules), then stiffer linear springs are a must. You can also add emulators, which take over the compression damping, these are good but the springs are the biggest weakness. All the stock stuff (springs aside) is adequate, although on bumpy bits the forks do get a bit confused, this is where the emulators (or cartridge forks) really show their mettle. Plenty of info on svrider.com and sv650.org forums, write-ups, photos etc. The rear shock isn't too bad but doesn't seem to have much of a long life. Various options there but watch out for spring weights, the SV needs a heavy rear spring and most GSXR shocks are far too soft so you can't just whack one of those in.

Enjoy! When it starts to feel a bit slow, look up the cam swap mod, or PM me for info, gives you a bit more top end where you need it and only costs a couple of hundred.

It's a basic (but therefore important) thing, so now I find I'm questioning myself too... What exactly do you mean "after the bike's turned in"? because (esp. on the road) my lean angle increases towards the apex then decreases as I head out the exit, safe but slow. Fastest way on the track would be to tip the bike over quickly to the lean angle you want rather than doing it slower (quick turns drill) but what's the right point to pick up the throttle? Once the bike is at the lean angle you want and not before? (wouldn't this mean the front is well loaded up so more likely to slide?) just as it's reaching it? (I think this is what I do) Am I splitting hairs?

I'm really bad at the 2-step, Ijust hang on to the first RP too long I think. Still getting my head around wide view and the other level 2 stuff. Am looking forward to level 3 hopefully next year, although I think I've got the hang of pivot steering

I find soft sand a real nightmare, sit on the front and you get no drive, sit on the back and you can't steer. In general I try to point the front in the right direction and keep the drive on at the back, even if it fishtails around, the front tells the bike whre to go and the back will follow in the end! Sitting well froward helps, you can't do all this from half way back along the seat (if your nuts aren't almost on the filler cap, you're not far enough forward). As Fajita says, some jumps point you up, some down, but for all you can modify this. I find 2-strokes easier to jump, the 4-strokes often fly nose-down (I thik the negine braking cust in so quickly, I'm shutting off too early, overall first impressions are that they always go nose-down). Anyway have fun on it, for all the pointers in the world, you really just need to ride it and get the hang of flapping around and bouncing a lot.

Interesting one. Turn 2 looks tighter than turn 1 but both are fairly simple (to my eyes) bends. They're far enough apart that you'll want to drift right out to the left of the track between turns. I'd reckon if they were isolated then you'd have to take turn 2 slower than turn 1, so i'm not sure that better speed of turn-in (time to get the bike over) would really help you out in turn 2 anyway. Also looks like if it helps you keep the bike more stable (it's more comfortable to you) then a late apex from turn 1 (or maybe a wider apex then the inside kerb at the half-way round point) would send you into turn 2 with almost no break between the turns, at about the right radius/lean angle/speed. To put it another way, slightly slower through turn 1 would set you up for turn 2 with little or no extra inputs required (they become one long bend), and maybe this would be a faster thing for you to do; once the bike is on its side, you can't tell it to do much more to go around a bend faster, if you're already hanging off the inside and using all the track. Either that or go through turn 1 as fast as you can (you're not dragging anything yet so I presume you can go a bit quicker) and try to lose a little speed before entering turn 2. In a race you'd probably rather do that as a late apex into turn 1 is probably asking to get passed a lot on the brakes. Would be very intersted to know what the proper guys have to say, this sort of thing cooks my noodle at many a track.

Hi Bobby MXers are great, it took me for ever to learn how to ride one, having only ridden on the road for many years before that. What bike did you get? 2 stroke or 4 stroke? I'm not sure it's done anything for my tarmac riding other than make me worry (a bit) less when the bike starts to move around, although this is one of those things I'm not comfortable with anyway. Various schools around, my favourite is Geoff Mayes but he's in southern UK (furthest north he goes is Doncaster). Yep you don't have to muscle the bars too mcuh if you sit far enough forward and tip the bike a lot under you. As for jumps, you'll get the hang of it, bascially you can control your height for any given approach speed with your knees, the firmer you keep them up the jump, the higher you'll go. Tabletops are good to practise as the drop out of the sky isn't so far as pointy jumps, so you can hit them pretty hard before you start getting into trouble.

Troy, don't worry about the unused bit of back tyre, it doesn't mean you're not riding hard enough. I can deck out my toes and still have a little strip of rubber left on the back, but nothing on the front. It's just one of those things.

Which track were you at? Are you running both bends together like one big one of decreasing radius? Is that the best line, or better to treat them as two separate turns? How many apices, and whereabouts on the track?

Hi Ton, I think if you find the combination of actions for road cornering a bit of a handful, then yes start by practising slowly. One of the things they tell you at the school is that you can't go at 100% speed because it leaves 0% concentration for learning. Can you go too slow? Only reall ywhen you're getting onto the learning points that help you go fast. for example, learning throttle control, or how to spot a reference point, you can do at any speed. Quick-turning you can do at any speed, but to reallylearn how to use it, you need to get faster (reference points also change whenyou get faster, but you need to be able to find them at any speed). Wide view etc. works all the time. So no, you can't really go too slow until you feel like you have the confidence to speed things up without getting them wrong. Not sure how you managed a big slide at low speed? Maybe you're fighting with the bars a bit. A school would help you out though, the coaches are very good at helping you with your individual problems, and a big part of level 1 is about keeping the bike stable while turning, whicih it sounds like you want to work on.

Opinion over here seems to be on Halvarssons as (one of) the best. Sorry not much help on maintenance though, but I'm currently using Wolf fabric gloves, they're waterproof which would probably be wrecked if you washed them in the machine, but otherwise maybe fabric would be one way as they're more washable than leather?

I'd say go for the SV, you need to spend a bit on suspensiosn upgrades really, but unless you're on really fast tracks then it can cut the mustard. Some say the 99 model has the better frame, but the 06 will be easier to do the GSXR fork swap if you want to go that route. If the front end is stock, then I would if I were you, much better forks and brakes, sell your old bits off, and almost break even.

The only thing I have to add is that it may be either front or rear rebound damping that is a bit soft. I'd say maybe the front, but sometimes one end can feel like the other end, if you see what I mean. Check out all the basics first though.

As Kiwi says, if that's the only damage then best to just leave it alone. not sure which fork protectors you mean? Some of these things are a waste of money, like the little carbon fibre shields that go on the front edge of the can.

I would argue that you can quick-turn too fast in the wet - see Keith's comments to someone above about cold tyres. Both situations are reduced grip. You have more or less the same weight (downware force) on the front tyre, but less grip available ergo yes you could slide it if you're brutal enough.

For me the keys to getting increased turn-in speed (and corner speed) were a combination of countersteering but also reference points - mainly the run in point but I was probably aiming for the same apex most of the time as I built up speed. So yes, also the 2-step because I'm looking for one RP then the next. The learning points in the school are something that you have to go around a number of times, maybe they needed to make it clearer how some of them go together, but some people interpret explanations very diffferently to others. Sometims you just have to have a go and make a fist of it, which is usually where the coaches come in because they'll spot you trying one thing at the expense of another.

Crash, as I read your first post it sounds like you're going into the turn with the throttle off, then trying to open it from nothing mid-turn, usually at the biggest lean angle. Have you tried setting your entry speed, then picking up a trailing throttle as you're gettign turned in, then you're ready to drive it through the bend and open it up as you exit? Deffo right about using bars instead of throttle to adjust lean angle - in this case it does sound like you should have been using the steering instead to do the job.

They're braking at 10/10ths so little or no weight left on the back wheel, but does that mean they haven't used it as they're progressing from nothing to full braking?

I like pic no.1, in my mind these are the sort of lean angles I can achieve!

I'd say that if your bike has a lot of engine braking (e.g. big twin) then downshift at a lower engine speed to reduce the effects, especially if you don't like how it feels. Personally I'm against block-shifting on a bike, I find I can downshift and blip the throttle and do it all pretty quickly (using the clutch), and the back stays planted, plus it's not the sort of thing you'd do with much lean angle if you can help it.

The oil will be pretty bad by now I should think, so yes do change it at the start of the season. Before you start on damping, check the spring weight is correct for you (typically the stock springs are good for up to around 200lb rider),and also check the sag (preload) is set right. There are various ways to do this but the simplest check is that it compresses by just over an inch with you sat on it (from fully extended). If this is more or less right then you can start worrying about damping but really unless you brake hard then odds are the spring side (spring weight and preload) needs checking first.

Can you post somehting abotu what Camier actually said? I did a quick search and all I could find was one reference to trying to set the bike up to balance engine braking and rear chatter (into turns I guess, on the brakes) from Brno WSB I think.

I'd say a well-ridden 600 will kick total ass on more or less any track. It's fast enough for the serious stuff and nimble enough for everything. You have to keep them on the boil though, the GSXR I think is a bit more flexible whereas the R6 is a bit more two-stroke, but it depends more on which one you feel most at home on than worrying about a few details on paper. The SV650 is a great bike but for the track you need to spend some cash on the suspension - GSXR front end is ideal but at least stiffer springs and a proper back shock. Great for twisty tracks because of the midrange but on faster tracks you'll have to put up with getting eaten by the big boys. The fastest I've had mine on track is about 125mph/200kph, on tracks like that you can keep with the 600/4s (just about) if you ride like your hair is on fire and use the extra drive out of bends.

On the road I use engine braking a lot, my style developed from riding ###### old bikes with rubbish brakes and needing to be sent into corners smoothly, and lots of pillions. Didn't exactly set me up ideally for the track though! I do use the back brake a lot though which is more or less the same, but I don't change down early - some people insist on crashing down the box and bouncing it off the redline. For me that's not the way to go, plus on a twin you'd probably leave a dotted black line off the back tyre. Interesting to watch Rossi changing down a handful of gears at a time and letting the slipper clutch work overtime.