vorontzov

khp, I think you're absolutely right. Thank you for saying this. One thing I'd like to add to what you're saying is that in my opinion there's no such thing as "motorcycle safety", but rather "motorcycle risk management" – if we aim to improve our riding, we should develop our ability to appreciate the risks and manage them. In my case, in order to improve my ability to recognize and manage the risks involved in riding a motorcycle on a track I had to make friends with curbing. Obviously, I would never insist that others should do the same, but it did help me. I also want to point out (to prevent a possible misinterpretation in case a beginning street rider whose native language is not English ever stumbles upon this discussion) that by "curbing" I do not mean the curbs on the streets (also spelled sometimes as "kerbs"), the barriers that separate the street from the sidewalk – when I talk about the curbing, I'm implying those striped things on a racetrack, marking the turn entries, apexes and exits.

Hotfoot, thank you very much for pointing out the important reason for a possible pickup error. I'm making a note to check if that's what I tend to do, the next time I ride. And obviously, at this point of my training half a minute improvements are still nothing miraculous – now, if I had made a half a minute improvement having started at your speed, that would have been a different story.

Hi Mika, I'm by no means an expert, but I think your understanding of the Pick-Up technique is correct. In my case, the Pick-Up also happened to be an excellent fix for my tendency to not use the whole width of the track in a corner, but rather to aim through the middle of the track at the exit. Simply by applying the Pick-Up, I was able to end my turns near curbing at the exit. But as it is with anything else in life, there could be too much of a good thing even with the Pick-Up. So, by pushing a little too far on the outside grip, I made the bike actually briefly go past the vertical and lean in the opposite direction, while I was still hanging off on the other side. By the time I got the bike and my body centered, I was bobbing happily right next to the curbing, on the other side. Not that it was much of a problem; I actually kinda enjoyed the experience. I think my brief riding on the other side of curbing happened at turn five at Thunderbolt – but please keep in mind that my turn count can be different from yours, because Thunderbolt offers a few possible configurations (with or without chicanes, with first chicane but without the second, and vice versa). The turn numbering would depend on the specific configuration. This topic actually reminded me of another little recent discovery that I had: IV. Riding on the curbing can be fun. Not that I advocate that as a legitimate line selection, but I experimented with it a bit during a few riding sessions. Being too close to curbing used to bother be somewhat, and affected my ability to reach the selected apex – so I forced myself to take a few rides on the curbing, just to put my mind at ease. The traction is not as good on the curbing, but I'm no longer afraid to ride right on it, if I ever have to. To be continued...

Some of these things will be random, and others I'll try to organize better, if I can. I. Speed results from precision It took a while to sink in during my training, but speed really isn't a problem. It's all individual, but in my case I think speed shouldn't even be the goal. I should aim for maximum precision in my riding, and the increase in speed will come as the natural result of riding well. As I improve my body position, my entries, apexes and exits, my view and of course my throttle control, the increase in speed will come almost as an afterthought. During my most recent training at Thunderbolt, at some point I allowed myself to not worry about going fast – in fact, I slowed down to the proverbial 75% of my ability, and tried to ignore the fact that everyone seemed to be passing me. My goal was performing the drills well. My riding continued to improve, even though my speed was lower than before. Then during the last couple of sessions I let myself loose, and no one was passing me – except for my coach. The lap times showed half a minute improvement. II. Clutchless downshifting is the easiest The important thing I learned about downshifting without the clutch is that the throttle blip should be really tiny, a micro-blip. The stronger is the engine, the smaller should be the blip. Also, there are two ways to downshift without the clutch: I can downshift during the initial split second of the throttle blip, or immediately after. That's how it works on my ancient Kawasaki. School's BMW's make it even easier, it seems that I can really shift down almost anytime at all, even if I neglected the blip. Back home after training, I also practiced it a bit on a 2005 Honda CBR 1000rr – not as easy as on BMW, but not a problem whatsoever with a micro-blip. III. The Pick-Up improves speed – – as well as other important things: the line through the corner (making the turn less sharp and a lot more like a straight line), the motorcycle stability, and safety. It also somehow helps with the 3-step (I found the two techniques closely interconnected). With the Pick-Up out of the corner, I was able to get on the throttle earlier and roll it on harder, while feeling more in control of a motorcycle. What I learned about the Pick-Up technique is that should be a powerful, "epic" move, in which smooth but decisive throttle roll-on coincides with straightening up the bike. The Pick-Up shouldn't be too abrupt. Also, it IS possible to overdo the Pick–Up, as I discovered by riding about a dozen yards alongside the curbing – on the other side of it. To be continued...