ScrmnDuc

I was told by FBF that the fueling issues were straightened out. But that was not Eraldo, and was towards the end of last year. If it is not, then one would hope they get it straight soon. Looks like it could be a sweet ride. @ Eirik. Thanks for the link on the BMW clutch issues. i sent that link on to a few friends that ride newer BMW's.

I really like the grunt of the Duc's and the sound, even the Harley riders at work wish their bikes would make the pictures in the office rattle . But my heart is still with the 2 strokes. When in the power they just have a sound of purpose! An I4, well, hmm, maybe I just haven't experienced the right one yet. I will say that the MV saddle is the most comfortable that I have sat in yet, just haven't rode one. That goes for the F3 also. Now for a really odd one. Suzuki RE5 with a custom made header. It sounds like a WW1 Biplane while on the throttle, and ring a dings down like a 2 stroke when off throttle. ( I really wish my friend would get that bike back on the road. If for no other reason, just the fact that there is no mirror vibration whatsoever!!!!! Smoothest bike I have ever road.

@ Stroker. What would be your opinion on why most of the crashes in India are low side? Would you apply your skills in the same manner on the same bike if it had 2X the power with all else being the same? Or would you modify your thoughts to compensate for the extra power? @ Hotfoot. I think I know the answer but let's let others chime in.

thanks ktk

Well I'm at a point in which I need rear pads for my Ducati Sport Classic GT1000. What I am looking for are pads that have very little initial bite, aka teflon would be nice . I very rarely use the rear, due to the amount of rear tire slides that I have had over the years from using them. I still use the rear brakes at slow speeds, aka parking lots etc... But they are now worn out 27K miles/ 43K Km. Any suggestions?

Thanks for starting this Alfred. My thoughts are from my point of view which may have a lot to do with the bikes I ride. Most of the bikes I ride at present are dry clutch bikes. Dry clutches do not like to be slipped. They heat up and wear very quickly. As a general rule for my bikes, I may have 3/8" (~10mm) of lever travel between disengaged and engaged. That is not very much room to modulate clutch slippage and work the throttle at the same time. Depending on what type of riding I am at the moment I will clutch up shift and downshift. Other times I will only use the clutch for starts and stops. Normally once my fingers are off the clutch lever they stay off the clutch lever. Exception: When I ride a 2 stroke I always keep 2 fingers on the clutch. I have experienced many, many rear wheel slides due to engine heat seizures, to include having the rear wheel slide for a moment or two after the clutch was disengaged. One learns to listen to the sound of a motor and be prepared. If you miss a shift coming into a corner you have blown the turn. How do you know many, if any gears you have just downshifted? What should you do if you find yourself between gears (false neutral) while downshifting? I did that at CSS last year while passing a slower rider. Blown turn, wave hand signaling that I had a problem. Regroup and carry on. At the end of the session I apologized to the rider and coach that I screwed up in front of then asked the coach. What is the best thing to do when in a false neutral? I'll wait for your answer first. To me slipping the clutch to modulate traction while in a turn just does not make sense. There are too many chances that things could go wrong. Too little clutch slippage = motor has more drive than you want. Too much clutch slippage = motor revs too much for you. 1. You let off the throttle to return to the same revs you had before slipping the clutch = You lose drive and upset the suspension. 2. You leave the throttle where it is and lunge forward when you release the clutch = You could lose rear wheel traction, invoke a wheelie (at the wrong time). If either of those happen will you stay on the track? If so where will you be? Or will you continue to pull, release, pull, release until you have exited the turn? Upset the suspension, etc... ktk_ace lightly covers it in his reply: "screwing up the turn point ALONE makes 11 things go haywire then theres the suspension not in compliance , SR's , screwing up the steering rate etc.." As with many things there is always a twist. If you are riding a low powered bike then there are times when slipping the clutch is a needed tool. After you have crossed the apex and are driving off the turn you find that you are below the power band you may need to slip the clutch a little to get the motor back into the power then it is acceptable. If you are having to do this exiting almost all the turns then you should look for solutions. 1. Downshift a gear 2. Gear the bike so you are not slipping the clutch off the turns 3. Go faster into the turns But only after you are ready and confident with you riding skills. 4. Tune the bike so the power comes in at a lower rpm. How is this for a start?

1984

you got me by a tooth. 14/40 for me. At least you can tuck on yours. I'm just a sail going down the track on mine. I'm not even sure there is a track near the house where I would even use 6th. Most times I can clutch-less downshift without incident. While braking normally all it takes is just a slight blip. 3rd to 2nd can be entertaining when done wrong though. @ Alfred I think we may going off topic with the clutch in the turns. Maybe a new thread?

@ Alfred. having to play with the clutch while in a turn would use almost if not all of you $10.00 of concentration. From the scenario you mentioned you have just blown the turn. It would be better to regroup and try not to do that again.

It can be done on the SC's but it is a task that has to be worked on. I have found that it is easier to do at higher RPM's 4K+. Even better at 6K+. Be very careful in the lower gears though. What gearing are you using atm? When it works right it is a beautiful Duc, When done wrong it is an ugly Duc

Stoker, it has already been mentioned by others here that they try not to grind hard parts. I do not have any wish to grind hard parts on any of my bikes. Once you start grinding hard parts you are on the razor's edge and have no options left, no room for error! This is not the way to ride on the street and hope to live very long. If you want to do this because of peer pressure form the group you ride with, then maybe you need to find another group or just ride by yourself! If you are curious about how it feels to grind hard parts is one thing, but being pressured into doing it is another. And being the another is not being very safe. If it is a pressure thing then let them do it. Work on becoming a better rider.Being a better rider does not mean tearing up your equipment. Being a better rider is being able to do what they are doing faster and easier and not tearing up yourself and equipment at the same time. You, will then win in the long run.

Lnewqban, just curious, where did you learn about amgrass? I ride a standard most of the time and I have yet to grind any hard parts. If I grind hard parts on that bike I will probably shortly afterwards stress test the quality of the leathers I am wearing. I don't have chicken strips on the rear and have scraped my right foot going less than 15 mph, being lazy, not raising my foot on the peg, and not realizing how much lean I had dialed in. Needless to say that startled me and I snatched the bike up quick.

I have wanted to respond to this thread for a while now so it may be a long reply. I am not a doctor but I have over 30 years experience between military and heavy industrial maintenance. My work area extends from near Arctic to Tropical environments. This includes working from sea level to altitudes over 8000 feet/ 2400 meters in temps from -35F to over 115F ambient work areas. Worker and supervisor. As a supervisor I have to watch my men and I also watch other workers in the area I work. At least for those of us in North America riding season is amongst us. The following links are from University of California. They are pretty straight forward dealing with heat illness. There are plenty of other sites that cover this. http://ucanr.edu/New..._and_first_aid/ http://ucanr.edu/New...fects_the_body/ http://ucanr.edu/New...ut_heat_stress/ Wiki for the Wiki folks http://en.wikipedia....ki/Heat_illness One thing that is not mentioned is the amount of proper fluid intake. Cobie, I would say that for you and all the on track coaches it would be a quart/liter per hour. Maybe not as much for the off track staff but on the right days it could also be that much. With students that can vary one one end of the spectrum to the other. They do need fluids though they may think they don't. Urine. A subject within itself. Urine color is a very easy way to tell if your hydrated or not. The color of the urine can be very a useful guide. If you don't pay attention to the color during non active times how will you know what you are looking at during active or very active times. You need a starting point, if you do not have at least an idea you may not recognize when you are on the down hill slide to dehydration. Yes there are medications, vitamins, supplements etc... that will affect the color. http://www.urinecolo...dehydration.php The left side bar covers a lot of possible colors with descriptions. One thing that bothers me about that site is not knowing where the information was derived from. @ Pepsi Drinker Starting 24 hours early may not be soon enough. There are situations where you may need to slowly work up your water storage, this could take several days. Trying to build up a reserve in a short amount time can cause other health risk. You also mention that you are trying to loss weight so getting extra fluids stored should upset you scale readings for a few days. When you stop and urinate, do you empty your bladder or are you just letting a little out? If you are emptying your bladder you may be hydrated. If you are just letting a little out you should start asking yourself more questions. These are the questions I would start with. Replace you with I. How do you feel? How much have you drank lately? Why so little ( water, "Gatorade: I'm using Gatorade as a cover all for proper re-hydration drinks", or both)? How much longer do you think you will last by drinking so little? If I'm not sure I like the answers that I get. I start asking more questions to ensure that I'm not dealing with a more serious heat problem. Being from the south eastern US heat and humidity is one thing we have plenty of. So seeing folks sweat is normally not an issue. Seeing people soaked with sweat and having salt stains on their shirt is generally the one of the first signs to start asking questions. One of the major problems we have is when we go work in drier area's such as Arizona, Utah, Nevada, etc during the warmer months. Most southern folks do not realize that they are sweating because the sweat evaporates as soon as it reaches the outer layers of skin. Therefore they think " I don't see sweat, so I must not be sweating and I don't need to drink!" How wrong that is and what kind of problems can that lead to? Just because it may be cold outside doesn't mean that you do not need to drink as much either! Altitude and hydration (acclimation) If you are from an area that is close to sea level and go to Denver you know that you have to get acclimated to the altitude. We know that the air is thinner, its harder to breathe, you get winded easy, motorcycles aren't as fast, etc.... and it will take more than a few days to get adjusted. You need to drink more water until you get acclimated. If you get frequent head aches drink more water. When you travel you should always have an idea of the altitude that you are at. If you are at the beach then it should be obvious Working around the Salt Lake area for me in the summer can provide a double whammy. Not only is it a dry climate but ground elevation is 4000+ ft. So I have to drill into my guys drink water, drink water, drink water. How many of you were aware that Miller Motorsports Park is at 5000 ft? I'm sure I had more to add. I just can't remember right now.

I myself would use my own gear. Remember that you only have $10.00 of attention. How much of that attention will you use by using unknown fitting gear. If you must rent gear then rent everything except the helmet and gloves, unless you wear the very same helmet the school rents.... I will use my own gear no mater what, but to each his/her own. I am assuming that you and your buddies are flying, if so I would strongly urge each of you to carry on your helmets. You will be in control of your helmets at all times and not have to worry about how the baggage handlers treat them. If you can not carry on your helmets then make for sure that they are padded better than an egg that you would drop out of a 10 story building that you intend on cracking yourself for an omelet. I fly a lot more than I want to and have seen the results of baggage handlers and TSA, along with the answers the Airlines give after the fact. Enjoy the school!!!

Congrats on the decision Shaka, You and your friend will have a blast and should learn a lot. It would be cheaper renting a S1000 than saving up to buy one . You could consider it a 2 day test ride and not have to worry about putting all the extra's on it too, that includes gas and tires. Please give us a ride update after you attend CSS, Unfortunately Keith does not attend all of the schools.

Here Here! Its just too small and I myself would have to put my glasses on!

Thanks, I can understand not looking at them. I rarely pay attention to the one near where I ride, but I tend to look a lot closer to those that I cross during my travels. I have read some neat stuff and other boring stuff like the altitude of the peak that I just crossed.

nice pictures Eirik. Sweet looking Z1. What is writen on the plaque?

That is someone I do not want to be near on a track or street. Bad Throttle control and lack of respect for fellow riders

1972 Suzuki Trail Hopper 50cc. my brothers bike but the first non human powered bike I rode. 1979 Yamaha RD400F Daytona Special (First bike and now the gal is waiting on me to finish a couple of BMW's for her turn in line to get a long awaited makeover) 1967 Kawasaki A7 Avenger (Thank you uncle for cleaning out the barn, not yours, and throwing it away........) 1975 Yamaha RD350 (sold) 1978 BMW R100/7 (gave to one of my best friends and is now in process of becoming a cafe bike, or track bike) 1980 Yamaha 650 Special (sold) 2007 Ducati GT1000 (main mistress) 1970 BMW R50/5 (in many many pieces atm waiting on me to finish the paint work and reassemble) 1973 BMW R60/6 (next) 1987 BMW R80RT (abandoned bike left at a repair shop.right price.) 1981 Suzuki GS850G (bought to resale. %^&*$ broken exhaust studs. Is looking like a money pit) 1995 Ducati 916 (new mistress) Off road 1980 Suzuki PE400 (sold) 1986 Honda ATC250R 2 smoke 3 wheeler (sold) wish I still had it. not mine but many miles on the dirt in and around what is now Barbers 1985 Honda ATC200X 3 wheeler 1985 Honda CR500

Jake, welcome to the forum. What you ride really doesn't matter, you ride. All the skills for proper cornering should be the same. So your problem is hugging the yellow line in left hand turns. Now think for just a minute or two, what is a left hand flat turn on a crowned road? Off Camber! Is what it is. Long story short, you have an SR kicking in. Which one is it? If this is a road that you travel a lot then you know the road and know what is on the other side. Why do you end up hugging the Yellow line? Because you can't see what's ahead of you and it is human instinct to take the safe proceived route. You have mentioned reading Twist II several times but have you ever read TOTW? If not, that may be a good starting point. It starts with Chapter 1 The Road you Ride. Pg 4 is off camber. Chapter 6 is Decisions. Some of the decisions learned need to be un-learned to proceed in a correct manner. Read pg 48, it deals with past decisions. TOTW II continues on from TOTW and covers different material and as far as I am concered TOTW should be the starting point, not TOTW II. Twist II builds upon things learned in Twist, just like taking CSS classes. To me it sounds like you need to untrain your brain/eyes from looking at the yellow line and train your brain/eyes to look at a point that is 2-4 feet to the right of the yellow line, or train your eyes to follow the vanishing point. That my friend will be a hard task to do. Practice, pracitce, practice every day on your bike or in your car.

Myabe he will have the success that John Surtees had.

crb600kid, I had the opportunity last June at Barbers to observe the "camp" after taking 2 normal class days proir to the camp. The atmosphere during the camp was much more relaxed than the normal class days. The training is much more personal with each student. Either Cobie or Dylan ( sorry guys I don't remember which one of you said this to me) " CSS camps are almost semi private events." Cost vs reality: Yes the camp cost more. You will get more from a camp. You may even have access to offtrack bikes that are not availble during regular class days. 30% less students which means more time with your coach during and after each session. 30% less students means the price goes up at least 30% if not more. The track, CSS staff and medics all cost the same reguardless of how many students there are attending. If you can do the camp I would recommend taking that path. But you may want to take a regular class day or two proir to taking the camp. It won't cost as much and when you take one or more camps you will already have a very good feel of how the CSS training flows.

I'm curious about your thoughts about the track. I've seen part of it but not all of it. Jeff

Congrats. sweet bike. Question: Are the 2010 models affected by the rod bolt recall? Jeff