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Equivalent aviation quote: "Truly superior pilots are those who use their superior judgment to avoid those situations where they might have to use their superior skills."

For me, riders that really ride reveal themselves at traffic lights. 1) How they downshift up to a stop. 2) How they foot-down. 3) How they foot-up. 4) How they make a U-turn. From Keith Code: "New riders quickly gain the sense that forward momentum is their friend. It completely relieves them of the balance problem-the bike does that all on its own once past walking speed. Inevitably, that secure feeling from momentum deteriorates as speed nears zero. Until the rider achieves some sense of body/bike balance coordination, the final 3-to-0 mph is daunting. That is the reality that awaits timid riders every single time they stop. Result? You see the tenseness in their body; both arms holding fast to the bars; torso, shoulders, neck and head rigid. We get over this to some degree-some more than others." Read more: http://www.motorcycl.../#ixzz2eY278CAj

At the physiological level: Breathing and visual techniques. At the mental level: Emptiness and fluidity.....and acceptance of defeat (fall, accident, error, injury, etc.) "Like everyone else you want to learn the way to win. But never to accept the way to lose. To accept defeat — to learn to die — is to be liberated from it. Once you accept, you are free to flow and to harmonize. Fluidity is the way to an empty mind. You must free your ambitious mind and learn the art of dying." - Bruce Lee Street riding in difficult traffic brings the challenge of either trying to survive it in constant terror or accepting the real possibility of a fatal accident. Adopting the second attitude before and during each ride removes all terror or fear and brings the feeling of accepting a challenge just to play at the very best of my abilities. For me, it is just like playing chess: I can lose or I can win, but will enjoy the mental game either way.

Priceless post!

Check these schematics out: http://forums.superb...t=40#entry26802

Thanks to all for your interesting points

Chapter 5 of the ATOTW2 book states that getting the throttle cracked and rolling-on as soon as possible and smoothly should be our basic plan, at every turn. It also explains that by doing so, we are not adding new and unwanted forces; instead, we reduce them all. If that is true, why so many riders wait for the apex to start rolling on? Many published personal videos of experienced track days riders show this pattern. Is that correct for any specific situation or condition or is simply caused by a very strong SR trigger, which forces those riders to stay away from the gas before the apex?

Welcome to the forums! Use this tool to see the effects of any modification as well as to compare your bike with others: http://cycle-ergo.com/

Your bike will try to stay up and rolling forward as long as you don't interfere much.

Sorry about your problem. You mean the peroneal nerve: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_fibular_nerve http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000791.htm It seems that you should adjust the ergonomics to keep your lower back straight (to keep damaged vertebra from pinching the nerve) and to keep lees angle of knee bending (to have back of knee less compressed).

Yes, I believe that noamkrief has been talking about force of braking or deceleration rather than time of application of that force. Although I may be wrong, I have been trying to explain that it has been documented that something like this ______-----------_______ is not the correct way of decelerating a bike before entering a turn at high speed. Each control input resonates onto the field of other controls, engine, steering and suspension. Any abrupt transition (no brake---100% brake---no brake) will upset the suspension and the very important front contact patch and will interfere with achieving the ideal entry speed at the ideal entry point (remember the no-brakes exercise) and even with the quick flick that should follow that point. http://forums.superb...php?showtopic=9 Focusing on the controls, especially on one control at a time is not the best we can do. For bikes of small power, it is faster to decelerate than to accelerate, reason for which, optimizing the acceleration process is more important than slowing down on a dime. These article and graphs are interesting: http://www.sportride..._skills_series/ http://www.sportrider.com/riding_tips/1306_using_the_rear_brake/photo_02.html http://www.sportride...s/photo_02.html http://www.sportride...s/photo_03.html

Noem, This site shows some graphs that may result interesting to you: http://www.datamc.org/ I don't see how the words threshold and braking can go together in motorcycling. Copied from http://www.merriam-w...onary/threshold Definition of THRESHOLD 1: the plank, stone, or piece of timber that lies under a door : sill 2a : gate, door b (1) : end, boundary; specifically : the end of a runway (2) : the place or point of entering or beginning : outset <on the threshold of a new age> 3a : the point at which a physiological or psychological effect begins to be produced <has a high threshold for pain> b : a level, point, or value above which something is true or will take place and below which it is not or will not

Forward this video to 3:20 (same rider):

No, I am saying that maybe you should do all hard braking first (full braking force to reduce a gross amount of speed quickly) and start with downshifting only during the last phase of braking (softer braking force just to adjust the entry speed), which should never be 100%. From Chapter 24 - Efficient Braking of A Twist of the Wrist 2: "Trapping yourself into heavy braking at your turn-point is working against the desired result. The basic product (end result) of braking is to get the speed set accurately for the turn."

Maybe you should do all hard braking first and start with downshifting only during the last phase of braking, which should never be 100%. Two more useful articles: http://forums.superb...p?showtopic=258 http://forums.superb...p?showtopic=310

You should have no problem if you brake with two fingers and throttle with three. With enough practice and proper ergos in the brake lever-your fingers, both inputs can be absolutely independent. The rear tire doesn't lock because the clutch, but because the rpms' of the engine are not high enough to accept the new rate of transmission. T of the T DVD names method #2 the "sloppy way" and clearly shows the proper way and controls' tempo. Copied from: http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/features/columns/122_1212_braking_and_downshifting_keith_code/ "To describe it in sequence is simple enough: The brake is applied. Roughly half way through the braking, the clutch is pulled in and the transmission is shifted down one gear. The rider then blips the gas (a rapid on/off twist of the grip) before releasing the clutch. Throughout this process, the rider also maintains or modulates front brake lever pressure to achieve the degree of braking necessary for the desired corner entry speed. Using this technique, it takes less than half a second to execute a one-gear downshift. And just so it is clear, the throttle blip is done so that the engine revs match the bike’s speed once the clutch is released, making a smooth transition to that next gear down. You're the human slipper clutch. What goes wrong? Commonly, I see riders pulling on the brake, pulling the clutch in, shifting down, and then slowly releasing the clutch. This can take two seconds or more. And that’s not all. There are a number of incorrect variations: over-revving the engine when the throttle is blipped; releasing the clutch lever too early, making the bike surge forward; letting the clutch out too late and losing the engine rpm needed; blipping the throttle before the clutch is disengaged causing a surge; and so on. There are many opportunities for mis-coordination." - Keith Code

Peter, I don't know much, but the pictures show good positions. One thing to consider: the forces related to weight that your legs feel while hanging off are the same while leaning in a turn or when seating in the bike on the rear stand in a vertical position. The reason is that the vector force of your weight leans with the bike, regardless little or extreme lean angle or vertical. What I am trying to say is that the act of cornering does not add any extra stress to the muscles of legs, weightwise. Of course, there are the additional forces of aerodynamic drag on the inside leg, as well as the inertial forces associated to braking and accelerating.

Seldom discussed, but important point.

Actually, your longer legs and arms and your weight should make the technique more effective and save more bike's lean angle. As you feel very awkward, you should not try doing it on the street until you properly learn it at the track. For street riding, I don't hang-off because I don't see a reason to do it within legal speeds. Check out these two videos and note the lack of involuntary input onto the handlebar: Next time to ride the Yamaha, try locking your lower body against the tank with both knees and relax your hands' grip as much as you can. If that is not sufficient, tuck your upper body and you should feel a difference.

Yes, it is a technique that I use in my daily commute for similar reasons. This old threads discuss how it works: http://forums.superb...?showtopic=3498 http://forums.superbikeschool.com/index.php?showtopic=3732 According to other posts, it seems that you are not afraid of flicking your heavy bike; so, you will do just fine.

It seems to me that your options are: -Let it skid that little. -Slowdown on that turn. -Replace a continuos radius curve with two or more quck flicks connected with straight lines that cross those metal expansion joints. You can achieve the same number of degrees of direction chain in less time (due to the quick reduced radius of turn) using the quick flick technique. See schematics of Chapter 15 in A Twist of the Wrist II.

Check out this quote from Hotfoot: http://forums.superb...801 The handlebar is a lever to roll the bike and the front contact patch is your fulcrum or pivot point. The bike has a natural inertia to roll; hence, stronger force is needed to overcome that inertia: the quicker the roll, the greater the needed force (moment of inertia). http://en.wikipedia....ment_of_inertia On top of that, the faster the tires rotate, the greater their resistance to change steering direction and to roll over is (gyroscopic effect). http://en.wikipedia....roscopic_effect Quick flick means rolling the bike over as quick as possible, so you waste the minimum possible time describing the wider circles that correspond to the range of lean angles from zero (vertical) to max. In other words, you have to lean less to negotiate a curve; hence, the suspension will work better. http://forums.superb...498 The angle that the handlebar reaches during counter-steering determines how fast the quick flick is. Why? Because the radius of turn determines the centripetal force, which is the only thing that induces the roll: less turning radius = more centripetal force. Many riders confuse quick flick with a quick punch to the handlebar, and that is wrong: the front contact patch, the suspension and the frame need some little time to adjust and all of them love smooth inputs. Because of all that, the counter-steering input should be smooth, strong and covering as much angle as possible in as little time as possible: the resistance of the bike to that change should be your feed-back. From TT2: "Turning it too quick will shake the bike or wind you up on the inside."

Great point, Hotfoot; thanks!

Thanks, Cobie and Ventodue, Nope, everything is tight: throttle cable play is zero, as well as the sprocket-wheel cushion. The bike has carburetor, so no fuel injection delay. Good point about the shorter sequence of actions for a sharp corner, Ventodue! It must be some bad habit of mine. Thanks for the video, YellowDuck! It is very interesting to see the up and down movements of the dust seal respect to the horizon and how high it becomes during accelerations. That is the real reflection of the pitch changes of the frame and of the changes of the weight distribution. The suspension seems very well adjusted, since the tire follows the irregularities of the track perfectly.