rchase

It's a done deal. Signed the paperwork during my lunch break and should be picking the bike up tomorrow after they PDI the bike and put the tires on it. The dealer put Q3's on it for next to free. Probably the MOST easy vehicle purchase ever. The dealer that I'm working with is very familiar with track oriented motorcycles and is regularly visited by Nate Kern one of the BMW test riders. Nate was actually in the showroom while I was filling out my paperwork. http://www.bmwma.com/we-prepare-Nate-race-bike-for-the-track--race_bike I'm going to get my 600 miles in as quickly as I can and go ahead and start picking out accessories such as frame sliders and other stuff and get them on order so when the service comes around I can get everything taken care of in one shot.

Just an update here. I called the school's office about the discount and it was a limited time thing that had expired. My guy at the dealership is getting in contact with BMW directly to see if there's anything else out there discount wise for school students. I'll post any information I get in my purchase process to the forum. I'm still waiting to hear back from the dealership but if things go well I may be taking delivery this week.

Hey, Keith did an article about trail braking that's kind of interesting. http://forums.superbikeschool.com/index.php?showtopic=4034&hl=%2Btrail+%2Bbraking A lot of the "advice" that you might be getting might just come down to an element of riding people hyper focus on. The article is a great read.

Completely forgot about the frame sliders and case savers. Thanks for the reminder Hotfoot and PittsDriver! As for keeping it under 9k that's probably true. You could stay in 3rd gear and still be faster than what I'm used to riding.

Hey. Thanks for the info on the tires. I can't see BMW sticking such a powerful bike on bad tires but.... In all reality I "could" run the bike right off the showroom floor. That may be what I end up doing. The most important thing of course is to get it in for the 600 mile service.

Somebody gets it! Thank you Stroker! I recognize the activity as a risk. I also recognize that's my attraction to it and finally figured out what makes me tick as a result of Keith's article. Thank you again Keith! I ride well within my abilities and SR limits but I have decided to embrace the risk to help my confidence. In fact when I do level 4 again in less than 20 days that's one of the big things I'll be working on. My intention is to embrace the risk and get my confidence up. The only real limitation that I have right now is that little voice in the back of my head telling me "be careful you might crash". In Level 1 and 2 that little voice was screaming at me as I followed Laura through turns at speeds I honestly did not think were possible. I trusted her and my training and made it through every time. Thinking about it afterwards I realized that Laura was probably not going very fast at all because she was watching a jittery student behind her in her rear view mirrors who had never been on a track before. She safely helped me stretch my SR limits. While it might sound like I'm wanting to ride way above my head I'm not. I'm slowly stretching my personal limits so I can improve my skills. Stretching those limits for me requires me to embrace the risk involved. Like many of you guys crashing is not something I want to experience if I can avoid it. To me embracing the risk is the acknowledgement of the inherent danger in what you are doing and turning that into a positive energy and loving it rather than letting it turn into fear that ultimately affects your ability to reach new levels of riding ability. While with the speed the danger increases you can still get into a massive accident when someone slams into the back of you regardless of how cautious you are riding. Just being out there is a risk in it's own when the bikes around you are traveling in triple digit territory.

The salesman I talked to was telling me that heat cycles were good for the engine. If I end up picking up one I'll probably try to do a lot of heat cycles. I took the week of the school off so I have more than enough time to get 600 miles in. I could probably do 600 miles in one day get it serviced and then get some heat cycles in under 9k after they turn off the rev limiter. I'll have to give the school a call and see if they have any info on the discount. The dealer does not seem to know much about it yet. I remember getting something in the mail about it. I'll have to dig that out.

Oh. One other thing. The dealer is checking into this for me but how does the "student discount" work with BMW? Anybody taken advantage of it?

I have run older bikes for quite some time and never had any issues. All of a sudden out of nowhere I have managed to run into horrid luck with 5 of them all at once. The end of May is coming really fast and i don't want to miss an opportunity to get some learning done. And I don't want to be learning about how quickly the floorboards on my Harley wear out. I called my local BMW dealer and they have 2 S1000RR's in stock. I got pre approved for financing and all I would have to do is sign on the dotted line and have a bike that afternoon. Then I started thinking and realized it's not quite that easy. There's the 600 mile service where the bike does not rev over 9K. That mileage needs to be in short cycles rather than all at once to break in the engine. There's tires, rear sets and suspension setup. So my questions. 1. Do you think I'm crazy trying to accomplish this all in less than 20 days? 2. Whats a decent pair of rearsets for the S1000RR compatible with the quick shifter? 3. Should I bother running the stock Metzler Tracktec's tires on the S1000RR on the track or just go straight to Q3's? 4. Anything else I should consider? I'm stubborn and hard headed and do plan to keep the old bikes around. The BMW will be the bike I can ride anywhere and always count on. With Heated grips and all the bells and whistles it seems to do everything well.

One thing to consider with 250's is "how much do I weigh". Lighter smaller riders do well on 250's. Heavier riders won't be able to get the same level of "fun" out of a 250. I had similar thoughts picking a Yamaha FZR400 that is more powerful than a 250. I'm 6ft and 220#. I learned a lot from riding the FZR but overall it was not the experience I expected. A lot of that had to do with my weight. 250's are awesome bikes and a lot of fun to ride on the track but it's important to consider your weight if you choose to go that route.

Normally in the dry I get my braking and downshifting done before my turn point and then flick the bike into the turn. Standard CSS stuff. In the wet for some reason I do things slightly differently. I get my downshifting and the majority of my braking done before the turn point and then gradually trail off the brakes in the turn. My turn in is a slower pace than the quick flick that the school teaches because of the reduced traction. My logic is to stretch the time on the brakes so that I can use them longer at with less pressure. This might be the wrong way. But with no "wet" training I was flying by the seat of my pants. If anybody has some tips please share as I would love to improve my wet track riding. Some of the most fun I have ever had was on a wet track. I would be uneasy doing the no brakes drill in the rain. In my opinion using the brakes produces a more predictable entry speed than rolling off the throttle. With the limited traction entry speed is more critical and sudden last minute braking to correct entry speed is more of a traction risk than light brakes.

The no brakes drill is one of my favorites at the school and is the one that's helped me the most. Heading into a turn faster than you "want" to and getting past the mild panic and stress related with that is a bit of a rush. It's also quite amazing to watch your hand reach out for the brakes by itself when you occasionally get into the SR zone. After a while you regain control of that automatic hand.

Interesting topic. I'll share my limited experience. The first time I went to the Superbike School I had never been on a track. All of my riding was street riding and I never had the need to hang off the bike. The idea of hanging off actually terrified me because of the potential of my weight shift upsetting the bike. I rode level 1 and 2 without hanging off. As my speeds increased I felt the g forces in the turn working against me and I started moving my head and upper body towards the inside of the turn and could feel the improvement instantly. I got to the lean bike late in the day and shared with the instructor my apprehension and they spent a lot of time showing me the "right" way to hang off. After I left the school I took my R6 straight to a parking lot and reproduced the lean bike drill without the outriggers and practiced for an entire afternoon. I then started practicing on the road and started noticing some interesting things. I went through a few turns with the bike nearly straight up and down by hanging off. I saw a realistic demonstration that by hanging off I was effectively reducing the lean angle required to turn the bike. I also have noticed some other interesting things pertaining to hang off riding an older track bike. I obtusely chose an 1989 Yamaha FZR400 as a track bike after riding a friends on the street. The older bikes ergonomics are very different than some of the newer machines. The tiny fiberglass fuel tank cover on the FZR was next to impossible to lock onto. The bar setup on the FZR was also not good for low hang off. If you want my opinion on why the riders of years ago did not hang off "as much" the simple truth is the machines were not optimized for it. While you can do it and it helps you can't really safely do any of the "super low" stuff without the risk of falling off because you just don't have a good solid base to grip onto. If you look at vintage photos the riders are hanging off but just not as much as riders on more modern machinery. The ergonomics of the FZR frustrated me for quite some time and I thought it was me. I could not figure out why when riding the BMW at the school I was able to make good progress towards developing a good body position in level 3 and 4 but when I rode my bike on track days it was all wonky and awful. I looked at some photos of some of the vintage racers and saw some similarities between their body position and my wonky awful body position and then realized the machine itself might be part of my problem. I hang off regularly at the track. It really helps me. The thing I have learned the hard way is that there's no "one size fits all" when it comes to style, hang off and body position. Heavier riders don't need to hang off as much to achieve the same weight shift. Different bikes and their shapes and weights can effect body position. There are just too many variables in play for a one size fits all solution. As for the experiment. Essentially I have already done it. In level 1 and 2 I did not hang off at all and in level 3 and 4 I did. While not very scientific with a year delay between experiments I have concluded that hanging off works well and makes me faster as a result.

The BMW is a spectacular bike. It's very fast and it's lighter than what you would expect for a 1000cc. The power modes, abs and TC make it extremely versatile. The 600's have some advantages though. Popularity and price being one of those advantages. Popularity gets you lots more aftermarket parts at a lower price, people in the paddock with spare parts when you break something and a number of other advantages of it's ubiquitous such as mechanics that know them inside out. Price is also an advantage. A brand new 2014 R6 is 10K and in the used market you can get them cheaper. It's a lot less of an investment to potentially loose if you crash. There's also huge choice in used track bikes for 600's. If your willing to buy something that's not the current generation you can pick up a safety wired, fully prepped track bike with a lot of goodies on it from $2500-4000 depending on your budget and needs. If it were my choice to make and I owned an S1000RR street bike, I would run the BMW for a while in rain mode and focus on the corners. Once I started getting more experience and started running faster I would move to a dedicated 600 track bike. Most likely used for the whole "what if" factor.

Just wanted to make a comment about this thread. Some really great information here! I started a topic called "Hang Off For Heavy Folks" and while there was a lot of great information there the comparison of body type and strengths and weaknesses in this topic has been even more helpful. I have had several "AH HA!" moments figuring out some of the quirks of my own work in progress riding style. While I'll never be 90lb without a hacksaw having a better understanding about how my body interfaces with the machine and affects the physics is amazingly useful. Thank you guys!

I can't say I would want to use that remedy either. Eeek!

That's an interesting factoid. I have noticed this myself but I did not realize it was physics helping me out.

Very interesting articles. Those are some tight regulations in F1 where a water bottle makes that much difference! Context is important though. MotoGP and F1 are the extreme end of the spectrum. In my opinion trying to make a connection between extremes and the real world is like trying to compare a Cessna with the Space Shuttle. Both still have wings but they are very different. I do agree that less weight is always better (no beating physics). At the same time it's not the end all be all to speed. It's just another piece of the puzzle. Nobody get's all the pieces. Some of us just have more of them and some are better at putting their pieces together.

In higher end racing it probably does make a difference but at the same time you don't see "stick figure" riders. There's a balance of strength, endurance and other factors. A 90lb rider with no muscle mass would have a weight and acceleration advantage but be at a disadvantage in the strength department. It really depends on where that weight really is. Fat serves very little purpose but it weighs less than muscle. Muscle weighs more but gives a rider more strength. A balance between strength and weight probably makes the optimal form. While it's interesting to consider the physical form of the rider I think the biggest advantage riders have is their minds. A rider regardless of their physical form factor who's able to spot opportunities to go faster and who understands their strengths and is able to exploit them and minimize their weaknesses at the same time is able to pull away from the other riders somehow. That understanding is a bigger advantage in my opinion and is something I am working towards myself. Overall. I don't think it matters. Something else to consider is perception. Racers with company sponsors have to maintain a certain outward appearance. While there are virtually no overweight riders do you see many with Tattoo's and outrageous personal appearance? Food for thought.

As a habitual foot dragger this video is quite helpful to me! Judging by the effortless riding and smoothness is that you on the bike Dylan? Some awesome riding.

Sorry to hear about the crash. Hope you and the bike made it out of the crash mostly unscathed. Do you have a link to your blog? I'm always interested in reading about other people's experiences.

That really sucks! It's happening other places as well. I work with people who are across the country and there have been quite a few "late" snowstorms. Kind of crazy.

Anybody know other than the Active Suspension what you get with the HP4? I do think it's the most beautiful of the S1000's of course. When I was looking at specs it's similarly powered to the stock S1000RR.

Exactly. I just want to find that good base. Hearing the strengths and weaknesses that other people see is helpful. For example the guys that work on my Yamaha's hate them because of how much has to come off of a Yamaha to service them. That's interesting to know and consider. I would love to further understand some of the "why" involved between people's choices. I found the S1000RR to be quite comfy. The only ergonomic issues I had were with the rear sets and those can be changed in under 10 minutes. You do make a good point about ability as well. It's doubtful I'll be finding the outer limits on any 2014 model bike for the time being.

The BMW is super impressive and is certainly on my list. I have a friend with an RSV4 Factory and he loves it on the street. Eirik tangent or not that's kind of what I am looking for. I'm looking for insight beyond the performance specs and numbers as they don't tell the whole story. An example of this is one of the bikes on my list. A 2014 R6. Not the fastest. Not loaded with lots of new tech but it's ubiquitous with tons of aftermarket support. On top of that it's a great value.