Stewal

Hey Stroker, I watched the video and i still have to say working on your anticipation would be the most helpful. You already know that EVERYONE drives like that (cutting people off to cross traffic and make u-turns) so you should def be able to anticipate most of these situations fairly easily when coming up on openings in dividers like the one in the video and seeing people ahead doing it. Yeah, not all of the situations are perfect, but its a start. My biggest tip would be to think about how you drive. All those people in cars and on scooters aren't going to drive much different than you would in their situation. A couple tips: mainly pay attention to the motorists to the sides and in front. Maybe riding so that the motorists to the sides are directly beside you would prevent them from being able to turn in front of you. Also, it may sound like the opposite of what you want to do but, maybe speeding up would actually help your situation. It may give you a little more control of the traffic flow around you. I realize that the highways here prob have a different traffic situation than there but i find that if i am stagnant in traffic, other motorists are more likely to forget i'm there.

To all of your questions, i'd have to bluntly answer...you should have seen it coming/not put yourself in the scenario. In my opinion the best road safety tool isn't your brakes or reaction time, its your anticipation. Being able to spot the aggressive drivers, think 2 or 3 steps ahead of them and recognize that there may be a way to avoid the split-second decision all together is better than having to react to a situation. I hope i'm not overly blunt with my answer to the point that you feel offended. I think you have a VERY useful question, but i also think some motorcyclists(and drivers in general) tend to "cop-out" on the excuse that "the car just pulled out in front of me", and want 6 figure settlements because they weren't observing what was really going on.

Here is a question i've been wondering... How much gas is in the fuel line from pump to nozzle? Is it worth paying 10-20c more per gal trying to get 2-3gal of high octane if half of it is 85oct thats in the line?

Sounds like an awesome idea Cobie! I think it would be great to have a sep Training/Prep section with info from your doc friend pinned as different topics like hydration and physical training.

I'll toss some predictions out there... Rossi: Retirement I think he hangs it up. But, i don't think its his call. I don't think Jeremy Burgess is happy at Ducati either and didn't really want to go in the first place. He wanted to retire back when Rossi moved to Yamaha and i don't see Burgess wanting to make another move. It all comes down to whether Rossi is wiling to race with someone else and he has said many times he won't do it. I could be wrong because it seems like he REALLY wants keep racing(even with the CRTs). Spies: WSBK I'm not sure where he would land in WSBK, or if there are any seats for him, but i think he'll be racing somewhere that is not Yamaha MotoGP. Dovi: Spies seat at Yamaha Crutchlow: Stays with Tech3 - he can't be dumb enough to go to Ducati! MotoGP: CRTs really are the end, I think prototypes are dropped by 2014. Cutting all electronics is not an option, but I def think that to save the prototypes they would need to limit them electronically. This doesn't really solve the cost problem however. And, with how well the CRT system is working in Moto2 and 3 i can see it spreading to GP soon. I won't be too upset with it and the top riders will still be able to prove that they get the wins not the bikes.

I'm a little confused by your description the the "fix" vs the problem, but allow me to make a separate suggestion: Put a bit of foam in the top of your helmet so it doesn't limit your vision. See this thread started by Cobie back in October 2010: Helmet and vision. Kai Thanks Kai, thats exactly the issue i'm having. Turning the shoulders was my fix and i wasn't sure if it would be a proper body position. I also have a shoei so clearly its a recurring issue. I may have bought something else if i had realized it was a problem...I guess maybe i'll go with Arai next time.

My question is: When leaned in a corner, looking through the corner, my helmet seems to get in the way of spotting my exit on longer corners. So, is it alright to turn my shoulders a little to the inside in order to look farther into the corner as long as it doesn't result in any input on the bars?(I'm 6'3" so i have some reach to spare) Or do i have to keep them square to the bars/bike? This scenario arose because I took level 1 at NJMP a few weeks ago and since then have been thinking back through each corner i was having any trouble with and making sure i fixed the issues completely. One corner i struggled with throughout the day was the carousel. I just didn't feel like i was able to go as fast as i could have. My coach and locked it down to not looking and following through with the corner since the entry point for the next turn is quite far to the left and you cant run out your exit to the carousel. In the last 2 sessions i did much better with keeping my vision on the left edge of the track and staying in the corner a little longer and was comfortable going a little faster. I was still having a little trouble seeing though, due to my upper helmet padding being in the way when i turned my head all the way. The back was pushing on my leathers and likewise, the front was being pushed down into my field of vision. When i got back out on my local 2 mile canyon track, i found myself having the same issue on a turn there. Its a long right hand corner (about 120deg) with a slightly downhill, no camber entry and is off camber and uphill mid corner. Now that i'm in the habit of looking farther through the corner i can't see, so i started turning my shoulders a little so that i didn't have to turn my head as much. That eliminated the helmet pushing on the back of my neck and the padding coming down into my vision.

On the topic of clutchless downshifts: It is my preferred method on my Ducati 848 but i would def do this all the time if your bike has a slipper clutch because it will automatically smooth out your shift. I have experienced one instance where it can have a negative effect on the trans; occasionally when i hurry my clutchless downshifts i dont push down hard enough/completely on the shift lever. This causes the transmission to exit the the higher gear but not engage the lower gear (a false neutral). That in itself doesn't harm anything but when putting the bike back into gear (always upshift in this situation if it ever happens to you!!) the engagement is VERY abrupt. Abrupt in that the actual gear engagement is alot more harsh than normal. Similar to when initially shifting into 1st after starting up a bike. I'm not sure if this is doing much harm and i haven't experienced any ill effects yet but it seems like it could harm the gear you're upshifting into by chipping off at the gear teeth. I've checked and the oil level is good and all i've noticed for the cause is that i don't give it a solid enough push on the lever. Has anyone else had a situation similar to this?

Awesome idea Hotfoot!!...and Cobie. I knew moving the brake point could get you into trouble in a hurry, thats why i was curious if anyone used that method. The Release point completely slipped my mind and is a great fix. Personally, i found myself going into corners faster during the no brakes drill than if i had started out with brakes. I think it was a combo of where my attention was and being a little over zealous with the throttle and my roll off considering 4th gear doesn't do much slowing. But if i could have used brakes i prob never would have learned to go into turn 1 at NJMP as hard as i did and because of that Turn 1 was my most comfortable and best corner throughout the day.

Thanks for the feedback Mugget, I've never tried it but as i was thinking about it, moving the BP and keeping all other variables the same (with the exception being turn rate) seemed a very basic way to increase the entry speed especially if the rider was not good at judging his speed visually.

Rossi really is just MAGIC!! Now if Ducati would open their ears and do whatever Rossi says to develop this years bike we may see a little of that next year. Although it may still be for 3rd or forth

I imaging another way would be to change your braking point. Does anyone have an opinion on this technique? It would be similar to increasing your rpm but wouldn't require looking down to see if you're 500rpm higher. Start out with a braking point that results in a comfortable entry speed (braking point x). Keep the same braking pressure and line as best you can. Remember where BPx is to reference back to it. Make another BP 10yards down the track (BPy). With the same pressure this will result in a faster entry speed. Don't make huge jumps moving your BP and leave a little room at the exit each time so that you don't risk going off track once you find your speed. You would only look for when you just start to run wide. Or also if your SR's start to fire off. If you just run wide using BPy, then moving a few yards sooner should be a good speed for that line. Any objections or improvements to this method?

Hey Vorontzov, This really is a great thread. There is a lot of useful advise for new riders, street or track. I've also been doing the same drills you've mentioned...esp the vision drills since they can be done during slow days at work The 2 and 3 step can also be done driving a car. That is excellent advise/wisdom about not beating up on yourself. Positive thinking can really make a difference. Thinking back on what I've done right and improved upon most can remind me of how much I've improved from the very little time on the track doing the drills. This in turn makes me want to practice more off the track and see how fast I could go with a little more improvement. It really is a good cycle. The negative mindset however, leads nowhere. Maybe even backwards! Keith mentions a couple time about negative thinking and not getting into that habit. He mentions it in reference to remembering what you do out on the track that may have caused errors, not your errors themselves. Another piece of advice is to not think too much about your errors while you're out on the track, as this lapse in attention can just cause more errors. Just make a mental note and focus on the current task.

Great reaction Rainman!! Really impressive! Now here's the real question in true CSS style Do you remember what you did that caused the front to wash out? Edit: I ask because i recently did CSS at NJMP(first time there-great track) and know turn 7. It was one of the only turns i had any issues with through the first couple drills. My issue was mainly with not getting a very good drive out. Through the first couple sessions i felt like the corner was over before i had a chance to roll on the throttle and i wasn't able to get a good drive and as a result wasn't able to get around other riders that i knew were slower than me. I'd end up following them all the way to the front straight and it would press me to go into turn 1 harder, which is risky since the first couple sessions in lvl 1 are no brakes. With some coaching help of a better "quick turn" and not cheating in on the turn point i was able to use turn 8 as a good passing point.

What other info do you have on the photo guy BLSJDS? The website doesn't work. And i found an old thread from on here from 05-07 where the website didn't work.