csmith12

Got a pic? How aggressive is your BP?

Chapter 13

Do a search here for a thread named "crests", I asked the same question some time ago. To sum it all up though, it goes like this... Get your turn in point, apex, and exit point solidly set. (the exit is the key here, because you can't see the true exit due to the crest) These points define your line through the corner. Check your throttle control through the crest area. Now the answer... If you are pinned? - Check your shift points. Some riders short shift to keep the bike out of peak power band over the crest to keep the front somewhat down and the rear solid. Some riders, change their gearing... I think it's silly because all that does is mostly change the shift points if the crest is the only reason to change gearing. Some even drag the rear brake lol. Not pinned but aggressive? - Some riders pause the throttle roll just at the crest but most likely it's a throttle control or turn in point issue. Could also be a good turn in point but the angle of attack at that point could be somewhat off (track position). Funny that Kevin mentions Mid-Ohio. I am a coach there and I hear this question quite a bit, but more so for the crest at 10a. If your pace is Intermediate or so and the rider has the confidence, they will be heavy on the throttle because then entry speed was too slow. After they work on the turn in point, quick flick, line and throttle control, they enter the corner faster. Which in turn makes their throttle roll smoother over the crest, now the problem isn't as pronounced and it feels more acceptable to the rider. 9 times out of 10... the problem isn't the crest, it's with the corner entry and throttle control but mainly... riders simply overbrake which starts the whole mess... Also, to apex at the top of turn 8, is a pretty good amount off the race pace line at that track and requires lazy steering to hit that line. So ask yourself when coming to terms with a crest and your heavy on the gas. Could the issue be on entry instead? Will the bike automatically crash? Naw... google "The Mountain" Those cats get 2 wheeled air over the crest with a good amount of lean angle. There is a bunch of science that I don't understand but proves the bike steers with the rear. Maybe the CSS coaches can add more here to shed more light. Should your roll out or pause the throttle roll to keep your wheel on the tarmac? Does that adhere to throttle control rule #1?

I myself had this same problem as spike leak back into my street riding and a little bit while on the track. When I got back to the track I went to work straight away to ensure my head was disconnected from my hands (2). After double checking that, the problem was still there. After some real hard thought and the help of another coach, the answer was all too simple... a bad reference point. For example, many riders like to find a turn in point on the tarmac just in front of their bike at the turn in point. But, what if the next reference point requires a head turn so far, that the turn in point goes out of the rider's FOV? Why not simply move the reference point to the other side of the track or another location so it stays in the FOV? And of course as hotfoot noted, you can add another rp if needed. What I am saying is yes, different corners require a rider to turn their head farther than others (sweeper vs bus stop). When you go out on track and play connect the dots with your eyes, ie when a corner just doesn't seen to be "just right", check your references points for location first. This will help solve timing and flow problems as your eyes track from point to point. That is the art and skill of picking good rp's that sync up the rhythms of both the rider and the track. Rp's are not set in stone spike, move them as needed or to what makes good plain common sense to enable the line, throttle control and exit drive.

Good luck! Dew werk!

Couple of thoughts; While your visual skills might be in somewhat good working order, time = space, And as a coach, I can't tell you how many times I hear... "look through the corner as far as you can". Sorry... but what you look at, when you look at it and for how long you look at it, REALLY does matter. If you're visually fixated on your turn in point or so far ahead and don't have a visual lock on the apex, how does one expect to be confident with the amount of steering that needs to be done at a given speed? When would you like to know this info? Before the turn? When you start to release your brakes? How about while your turning? Your subconscious SR's tend to help keep your speed and lean angle in check when you don't have all the information needed to build an action plan to take corner. For example, one might see an approaching corner; Get tight on the bars (SR #2) due to high speed This causes their FOV to narrow because we commonly focus on where we want to turn and where we don't want to go (SR #3) Which causes braking and steering issues (SR #7 & #5) Now the apex is no longer the primary focus (entry speed and your current location on the track is the focus), the visual timing is off and causes visual "hunting" back and forth from where you are vs. where you want to go (SR #3 again + #4) The bike then may feel hard to steer and twitchy, because we are tight on the bars and still under heavy braking to get our entry speed under in check (SR #6 ineffective steering) Now the bike may be running wide due to ineffective steering/braking or entering with too much speed and cause throttle control issues (SR #1) and/or midcorner steering corrections (which commonly causes low sides due to adding lean + throttle at the same time) ect.. ect.. Sound familiar? Classic charging a corner. Let's see... that would be all 7 SR's. ALL of those problems are solved by good throttle control, selecting a good turn in point, good steering skills, staying relaxed and good visual skills,. You will cover ALL of these skills in a level 1 CSS school, in just about that order too.

Ah lapstax... I think I feel the underlying issue here. I will start by asking you a question and make a comment. What is it about SV's and other smaller displacement bikes that makes them a teaching tool for corner speed? And don't make things more complicated than what they are, riding at higher skill levels comes with understanding that the rider does more of the "fineness" and the bike does more of the "hard work". From the riders point of view, keep it simple. You might be inclined to ride the lean bike, but I believe you would benefit more from the steering drill/visual drills and applying those skills on track. Whenever someone asks me about entry speed, lean and carrying speed through corners, I immediately think about steering, turn in points and throttle control. How do you feel about steering your bike? Do you push the bar down? Do you push the bar forward? Maybe you push the bar at some angle? Which way should you push the bar to turn the bike? Basically, if the rider cannot turn the bike quickly enough to make the line, they have to slow down to account for the slower steering input. Yep, it subtle like that. The secret sauce to corner entry speed can be found in your skill and confidence to steer your bike quickly and accurately enough to make the line, at your target entry speed. And following up that steering input with a good, smooth throttle roll, assists the bike in providing you with the feeling of stability throughout the corner that we all look for. Once we have those 3 things in place, the fear of lean angle should decrease all on it's own. Perhaps your lack of mid corner confidence is subtly disguised as "guesswork" or "lack of anything consistent" lap to lap. So let's work on that. Once you have a "constant" then you can start "adjusting" things to match your goals. What is a constant on every corner that you could use to build a line? How bout the apex? Once you have identified the apex, you can begin to work a turn in point that enables you to build and ride a line that obeys rule #1 (a smooth continuous roll on). While that turn in point and entry speed may not warrant a knee drag lean angle, once you have established a baseline with confidence, you will have something to measure your progress by. From there you can start adjusting braking markers and keep working on the speed you steer the bike (quick flick). The faster you can steer... the later and faster you can enter and don't forget to "RELAX"! Pretty simple stuff. Good luck, take a school and let us know how it goes. EDIT: dang it.... hotfoot beat me to the post. lol

Been creepin' on your blog for a while now. Gratz!

Welcome WonBy1! Skip the q2's and go for the q3's. ALL tires should be scuffed in before being pushed hard. How fast can you scuff them will depend on your abilities, the riding surface, temps and so on. We commonly mount up a set of q3's and take it easy for a lap, then go hard (many times, we don't even take the sticker off lol). Bear in mind that some rider's "take it easy" is much, much faster than your average rider. 100 miles is waaaaaayyyyyyy overkill, but do what makes you feel confident.

Most likely between a 42 (tight) and a 48 (long) 5'7 & 210lbs can be hard to fit. You might have to play with back/chest/hip protector thickness to get a "perfect fit". From the range of sizes in the trailer, there should be something that will work and help guide you on sizing to buy your own when the time is right.

Here is another realistic example.. Say your on the front straight pinned at a buck 30. You can pass a rider in upcoming braking zone but it will put you on the inside of the turn. Your normal track position turn entry is more toward the outside, so something is going to have to change to make this pass. How would you apply these 5 skills to this situation? 1. track position 2. braking (entry speed) 3. turn in point 4. throttle control 5. hook turn

Also, if you have ever ridden a track with cones to force a line change on entry or exit, then they are using "track positioning" to help riders put themselves in safer areas of the track. (or force a hook turn lol)

Many tracks have these types of corners. Some are lovingly called carousels and sometimes tighten slightly toward the exit. So you enter kinda hot and lazy, with a little lean, then at turn in point there is a "major" steering action. You might hear this in the paddock masked as "line" talk/chatter, because a faster or safer line through the corner is preferred. The skill of it is identifying them before they surprise the rider, any ideas? EDIT: Welcome!

Me (Chris) and a friend (Kevin) are signed up for the 12th, black and yellow r6 and matte black cbr. See ya'lls there!

gosh... I am so late. Here are some fun and easy ones. I rode on these tires at JenningsGP doing some 1 on 1 coaching and a little bit of playing around in A group, for the new to me bike's first outting to the track. The rear should be an easy diag.

I am currently going with a friend. We have the same idea as you, split the costs. If he cancels, I will take you up on the offer.

North

I am just a sucker for exposed frame and wire wheels on a sportbike, I dunno why.

Loving the return of spoke wheels on so many new bikes.

I will post a front of mine tomorrow and an easy to diag rear. It will be fun for ya'lls to see. I just rode the bike on track for the first time in Feb. and has been in my garage ever since while I try to figger out what to do next aside of ask some questions and get another set of eyes on it at VIR. Stay tuned!

Imho, the q3's are very touchy to the effects of rebound, more so than others I think. And to make matters worse, it changes per track and rider's skills. It's just an opinion and I could be way off. I have been running q2'a q3's for 4yrs now and still don't have a perfect setup despite doing my own suspension, getting help from the semi-pros and pros alike. Once I feel I got it nailed, I go to a different track and my tires look just like yours eric_f. My advice is to figger out what kind of rider you are. Hard on the brakes? Hard on the gas? Something in between and set your bike up as such. Take the small things as the cost of doing business and move on. Nothing in life is perfect 100% of the time. Good luck! .

To me... It's a state of mind before you even get on the bike. A reminder to NOT rush anything, ride beyond my comfort, to relax and flow. ie.. to ride "Gracefully". And fyi... not rushing doesn't mean you can't perform the action quickly. To think of it in a different way... You can only ride as fast as your mind can process what is going on and be able to pre-emptively know for 99% sure what the outcome will be. Once a rider has ran out of that ability to know, they are riding fast to be riding fast vs. riding slow to go fast.

OH OH OH!!! Hotfoot! Let's ask him this... How do you know you have set a good marker for a break release point? Hint... it matches with something.

Depends on your trail braking skill level. It can be either slightly before (no trail) or some time after then turn in point (with trail). Lemme re ask your question in a different way. Do you feel you're getting your entry speed right? Do you feel you're getting your entry speed right prior to turn in or after? How much braking is still in effect at the moment of turn in? What marker(s) can you move to shorten the gap between arriving at the "good" entry speed and the turn in point?