Crash106

Great Job Austin DeHaven! My son is 16 and excited about getting his car license so he can take the local MSF motorcycle class. You're an inspiration.

I think Acebobby and Jason are onto a couple of good ideas. While strength training is specific (so motorcycle riding is the best conditioning for motorcycle riding), riding a bicycle is probably the next closest thing. It also gives your heart a good workout and a strong heart is supposed to make racing less stressful. On the other hand, when do you HAVE to tense your legs? I ride a maxi-scooter at the posted speed limit and only tense up my legs for heavy braking. While I CAN lock into the seat (by pushing my bottom back against the seat pad), I CAN'T lock into the tank because their simply is no tank. I get around the corners fine by relaxing my legs and arms as soon as I get off the brakes. It seems like the more I relax, the better my vision, steering and throttle control become. The centrifugal force keeps me planted in my seat.

Didn't Formula 1 car racing just have a big bruhaha about team mates backing off and letting other team mates win (taking one for the team)? The officials said that was some kind of cheating. So, now, these MotoGP team mates are actually racing and that's a problem? Jeez!

Sears Point is not too far from the Pacific North West. Throw some bags on that Raider and scoot on down.

Thanks for all the great feedback everyone. I took all your suggestions and went for a couple of nice long rides. From what I can tell on my own, I seem to have TWO problems. 1) First Problem. Doing the One Step: Finding a turn point, then looking at the turn point too long and entering the corner slower than I intended. My mind thinks I need more lean angle than I really do because I THOUGHT I was going to enter the turn a bit faster. I feel like I'm falling in because I am adding more lean angle than the speed of the turn requires. I need a sudden burst of throttle just to keep from falling over. Duh! Solution? Two Step. 2) Second Problem. I was trying to arrest the lean angle with the throttle instead of the handlebars. Solution? I found that if I use my vision correctly (Two Step) and enter the turn at the proper speed (not too slowly), then I am completely comfortable leaning the bike in off the throttle and off the brakes. When I set my final lean angle with the handlebars (not the throttle), I found I could easily add throttle and apply TCR#1 through the remainder of the turn. Problems? In too slow and throttle on too soon! Solutions: Two Step and TCR#1. Thanks so much for all your help. I tried this with my Burgman and a demo Goldwing and it worked great on both bikes. You are the best!

I just LOVE the BMW R1200R. To my eye, and to my arms, naked standards are just the best looking, most comfortable bikes out there. I like touring bikes, but LOVE standards. Yours, by the way, looks great in black. So, if you're like me and love to ride, CSS is a great place to learn more about riding. I have the books and video and those help a lot. So does the feedback from the forum. On the other hand, I am very much looking forward to riding with CSS in 2011 at VIR. A good coach can watch you ride one lap and find areas for improvement you didn't even know you had! I think you would really enjoy a day (or three) with the good people at CSS.

Dear Superbike Riders, I have something weird that happens on corner entrances--this is on the street, riding my 650cc Burgman with an automatic clutch, but I have felt the same things on my 1200. This is tough to describe, but I'll do my best. Here goes. I feel confident on the bike when I enter a turn dragging a little front brake--trail braking. I feel good on the bike when I've set my speed BEFORE my turn point, and I enter the turn with maintenance throttle already on (NOT accelerating--just holding the throttle steady). I feel scared and tippy when I enter a corner off the throttle and off the brakes. The bike feels more like it is falling over than tipping in under my control. I'm also afraid of the JOLT I'll get when I try to get back on the throttle. This jolt is really just a little jerk, and I'm trying hard to be smooth, but that drive-line-lash/off-on-throttle thing is very uncomfortable. It doesn't help that I try to get back on the throttle to arrest my lean, so the jolt happens just as I'm at my lowest lean angle. Strangely enough, I seem to have better throttle control when I'm easing off the brake and onto the gas. (I wonder if the turning forces mask the feelings of acceleration.) Sometimes I think this happens when I'm just turning in too darned slowly, or when my eyes are too close to the front tire (also causing the entrance speed to be very slow), but even when I try to get it right, entering the turn off the throttle and the brakes feels uncomfortable. Am I doing it wrong? Do I HAVE to be off brakes and throttle to make a good entrance (certainly not necessary at the posted speed limit)? Does anyone else get this scary "falling in" feeling?

Dear Greg, After watching you fly around that the Barber track, peaking at 130+mph and entering some turns at 90 mph, I'm starting to understand why I'm such a fan of WATCHING motorcycle racing. Oooo, boy! That's all too fast for me, but it looks like great fun for you. How can you even see your entrance points? I'm watching the readout on the GPS and I'm still lost about which way to turn at the end of the straights. Some of those corners seem to be double apex turns. That looks tricky to keep track of, and, jeez Greg, do you have to replace your elbow pads every few laps? Seriously, I enjoyed the video. Great work. So nice to see it with such clarity and the GPS readout makes it much more lively and amazing. Thank you.

I hope to attend CSS in 2011--almost certainly at VIR. One of my concerns is with the shifting. I've had trouble with my left hand (carpal tunnel syndrome) and besides that, my muscles fatigue easily--especially when I'm excited (darned genetics). At home, my solution is a 650 maxi-scooter with an automatic transmission (three power modes by the way). With all the power the S1000RR makes, would it be possible to use the clutch but skip gears, or will the electric shifting allow me click up and down through the gears without using my hands at all? Thanks.

Hello Patrick, It sounds like you got a lot out of the DVD. I did too. If you get a chance, watch it again but don't listen to the narrator as much. Instead, listen to what the rider is doing with the throttle in the corners. I learned a lot by listening to what the engine was doing--especially in the on-track sections where they do several alternative lines and options through the corner. These make more sense when you hear what the rider is doing (and so, what WE should be doing) with the gas.

Well, I'll have to think about my sense of speed a bit more, but I do know there is one corner that I take almost every day that is posted as 35 mph, but everyone in a car takes about about 20 mph. If I take it on my bike and it feels fine, normal, effortless I'll look down and be exiting at 32 mph. If I go in and suddenly everything feels too freaking fast, dangerous and stressful, I'll look down and find I'm going (did you guess?) 33 or 34 mph. Gosh! That's fast. Darned fast! So, in that sense, my sense of speed knows within 1 or 2 mph what feels okay and what feel Scary Fast. The best way I know for me to go faster in that turn would be to use my whole lane and accelerate harder once I see the exit. Can I do that on the street? Nope. Every time I look for my darned flag man, he's on a break! With the real world sight lines and traffic, 32-34 mph is plenty fast enough.

You are right, of course, Dylan: Throttle Rule Number One. Then, as the narrator in the "Twist II" DVD says, "... at some point, you can PIN IT!"

Hello Slowest1, Good for you to know so well who you are and what you feel comfortable doing. If you are already safe and already understand and can run a good line on demand, the next "race" skill might be accelerating out of the turns. This could be the safest, most fun way to have a good time on a motorcycle! After all, you've already made the turn, all you need to do is learn to twist the throttle a bit harder AFTER the apex. Those acceleration Gs sure feel nice. Since the bike is coming up as you are adding throttle, this is fairly safe. Some people get carried away and slam the throttle open too early, but that probably won't be you. (I saw a YouTube video of a guy riding his brand new Kawasaki Z1000 on a mountain road. He snapped open the throttle, hit the apex and ran over a patch of sand all at the same time. The result wasn't pretty.) By working on accelerating a little harder AFTER the apex, you can still enter the turns at your same, safe, comfortable speed, ease on some throttle to stabilize the bike, and take the same wide, safe, comfortable line are used to riding. I don't think maximizing acceleration out of corners is something that's covered in Level I, but you can certainly ask to your CSS instructor about it. They'll look at your riding and have a much better idea of what you need than my Wild-As-Guesses. Good luck. Maybe I'll see you at CSS in 2011.

Horrible news. The story about Peter Lenz is so sad. I know that he was well trained and wearing the best protective gear money could buy. I don't know what anyone else could do to stay safe and enjoy the freedom of riding. My heart goes out to the Lenz and Zayat families. At the same time, I am glad that I got to see Peter in the "Twist II" video. I hope seeing his joyful face on the screen will be some comfort to his family in the days to come.

So, if Rossi's greatest secret is a Zenlike calmness (and it very well may be a big part of it), what does he do to get there? I certainly see that knowledge, training and experience can control SRs. So can looking well down the track. So can consciously noticing when you are tense, breathing steadily and making an effort to relax. What ELSE can we do to be calm, cool and collected at speed?

I try not to use engine braking under the theory that brake pads are easier to replace than piston rings. Don't much like having the rear tire chirp and lock when all I wanted to do was shift gears. Also, when I want to use rear braking, I have better control by actually using the rear brake. I try to match my gear, engine speed and clutch release so I'm smoothly into gear and able to accelerate through the corner, or after the apex. On the other hand, with a big twin, you can just roll off the throttle to set your entry speed, then roll on the throttle to power through the corner. Torque rules! (I want a 400 pound Triumph Rocket Roadster!)

I've never been to a track day--and won't go to one until I've been through all the CSS levels. What would happen if you just took your sighting lap at your own pace? How do you know what group is right for you?

Welcome! Thanks for posting. I'm glad to hear from someone else who likes the big scooters. I commute most days on a Suzuki Burgman 650 maxi-scooter and enjoy every minute (I call it my Halfabusa). I find the big scooter very easy to ride, but have enjoyed the effortless quality on most of the bikes I've owned. You said the Ducati was scary fast. What did you like, or dislike, about your maxi-scooter and Shiver? How much does what you learned in CSS apply to riding a regular bike, instead of a super powerful sport bike?

Try Meetup.com and if they don't have anything, you can start a group, or sign up for an e-mail alert when someone else starts a motorcycle, touring, travel, riding group in your area.

I've seen Valentino Rossi do some crazy stuff on the track. As I was reading "Speed Secrets: Professional Race Driving Techniques," I came across this bit that sounds like it might be one of Rossi's secret weapons. "Remember, anytime you slow slightly while trying to pass another car, you are not at the limit anymore. Therefore, you can probably alter your line to almost anywhere on the track without being concerned about spinning." What do you think?

Hello Ace, Welcome to the group. If you like to ride and want to learn more from a great group of people, you're in the right place. What kind of scooter did you/do you ride? I ride a Burgman 650 and find most everything about riding a regular motorcycle applies Except--you can't lock in with you knees--I have to lock in my lower body by using my legs to push my seat against the seat back. I also wonder about the Brammo Empulse electric bike. You have chosen two interesting alternatives to a regular motorcycle. Is there a story there? I don't mean to pry--just wondering.

It's not nice, but your story made me chuckle. Thanks. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do, and if that means "parking" it in the gravel, well ...

One thing I did not read in "Twist II" or see in the video, is "working up a track." I guess that topic is, and probably kind of HAS to be something for Level 3 or 4, but for people that want to go faster on a race track, I should think it would be very important. I'm not a racer, but from what I've read, one way to work up a track is by measuring all the straight, then working to make sure you have the bike accelerating strongly through the last corner before the longest straight. Then they work on the line for the corner leading to the next longest straight and so on. The theory is that these top 3 or 4 corners have the most potential for high speeds and fast lap times. Sometimes working up a track means grading the corners as 1) Corners that lead into straights 2) Corners at the end of straights 3) Corners that lead into other corners On the street, I think of corners as 1) Open (I can see the entrance, apex and exit and so can take any line I want), 2) Blind (where I'll usually need to slow down and stay on a outside line), and 3) Compromised (by a truck or kids walking, which means I almost certainly need to slow down, abandon MY line, and take the SAFEST line based on the actual situation as it develops). I just seems to me that having a plan and working on a few corners at a time would be a better idea than trying to follow riders who are too far above your level. (Of course, it's easy to say "ride your own ride" when typing at a keyboard and harder to do when it feels like everybody is passing you by.)

Yes, Dave. I DID mean HP2. Thought I had typed that. Darned oil company must be taking over my brain! And you know what, I'd probably buy an HP2 also. The reviews I read said the bike was very light but very stable at all speeds, not that it was hard to turn, but that it just felt solid, light and very comfortable. Comfort is important to me. If they made a Goldwing race bike, I'd probably put that in my dream garage too!

I just try to keep my body a bit on the INSIDE of the turn and look where I want to go. Usually that means I lean a bit forward and in. So, yup, that's toward the inside mirror. For me, the less weight on my hands the better. Trying to go fast and be aggressive definitely makes the bike feel awkward and sluggish. I believe this is because my arms get stiff at the elbows, and then I over-control the bike which makes the everything from the tires up wobble and weave in the wrong directions. When I trust the bike to do more, it usually takes over and shows me a good time.