JohnCBoukis

"Racing" could refer to racing techniques, but I think it means discussions of races and riders. If so, I would use this opportunity to rename it to something more meaningful like "Racing League", or "Professional & Amateur Racing Leagues", or such. I do not feel strongly about the whole naming list. The Techniques forum is the big one for me to revisit and search. I will be ecstatic with any improvement in research capability.

I do not see the "sort" option until after I do a search. It would be nice to set the sort up front rather than as a second step (I could be missing something here.) If there are choices for the default sorting of search results then I would prefer oldest posts to newest posts. Many searches today prioritize the relevance of the results. However, if you can accurately group posts by topic and return a high percentage of relevant results, the "relevant" part may already be taken care of. Also, the built in forum search engines tend to be terrible. When I search this site today I many times use a search engine, and put in "site:forums.superbikeschool.com TOPIC HERE". That issue might be solved with meta tags or other changes. Otherwise you may be able to insert a search engine plugin or apply a script which does this same thing

Perhaps separate expendable bike hardware such as tires, brakes, and fluids.

Yes it is gone, thanks a lot Hotfoot.

"Welcome to Pages" still shows up for me. Thanks for the effort. If this forum software has the capability of article categories or meta tags, those tools might help group existing articles with minimal effort.

Can you delete or hide the "Welcome to Pages" article? I have no security access to enter it and so it will show in perpetuity to us users as an unread article. As new content appears I navigate via the "unread content" link. So for brand new content, the organization is moot for me. To your point about using the site as a reference, I revisit content just like periodically reading TOTW. I would love to have the entire history of technique articles organized into categories such as throttle, braking steering, road conditions, etc. so that there would be an inherent helpful path, like reading through a book. But since articles tend to wander a bit and cross over to different topics, I understand the reality that online forums do not really lend themselves to that level of organization. In that light I think the current form works just fine.

You must believe me when I say that I was extremely cautious before asking about this, painfully aware of how the topic of steering has generated an infinite volume of counterproductive babble. Jaybird, I do have potential riding conditions. I might even test this today. I have tried the push-pull method. In my initial attempts I inadvertently generated excessive grip/tension in the pulling hand. I find that feeling the pressure of pulling on the throttle was particularly disconcerting and made me question if I was altering the throttle (I do not think I was, I think it was a mental block, but I also shudder to think of potential problems that I may generate with the more sensitive throttle on a race replica.) Also, I read all of Hotfoot's advice with enthusiasm and she provided this: http://forums.superbikeschool.com/topic/2856-countersteering-push-or-pull/ "Having said that, I try to use only pushing when riding hard on the track, because I can get a more consistent input using a push with pivot steering. If I try to pull, I am more inclined to yank on the bar and get a bit of a wobble at the end of the input." Admittedly somewhat uninitiated, but with the above input so far, it seems counterintuitive to me that one would steer more accurately by introducing two hands into the process that a single hand could otherwise accomplish. It is most helpful for me to hang onto what you said Dylan, that you have witnessed every combination of how riders address bar pressure.

Dylan, I have only found fleeting statements in TOTW where Keith writes that one can use pulling of the bar when steering. Can you expound a little on the topic? Is there a need to become skilled at push-pull steering, particularly if pivot steering is working well?

Is there a vacuum synchronization on this bike and has it been performed regularly? An imbalance in vacuum between the two cylinders will exaggerate the V-engine's poor off-idle response.

I did not think much about the fact that you were perfectly attached still, but should have. Here is a scenario: You are turning left but now countersteering up and come across the spring. It nails the outside of the front tire, perhaps lodging underneath, forcing the wheel to go hard left. That would countersteer you into the ground on the right. You would have perceived the sensation of a severe steering jerk methinks. Does this sound plausible? Is there any evidence of impact damage on that front tire or wheel?

I am no expert, just a rider. Since no one has responded as of this writing, I will happily chime in. If the rear slides out and continues sliding unabated, this will result in a relatively slow lowside, the same that you expected. If the rear begins to slide even for a moment, then regains traction, that can generate a rotational torque that flips the bike outward in a couple of milliseconds, resulting in a highside. That event is so fast and powerful that once it is initiated there is no recovery. You pointed out several traction hazards from that day. If too much throttle exceeds the available traction: Once the rear starts spinning, keeping steady on the throttle may keep the tire spinning, allowing one some chance of recovery as the bike sheds forward speed, while countersteering the bike upright. Alternatively once the slide has begun, certain actions like shutting the throttle quickly or using the rear brake can stop the rear tire spin, resulting in the regaining of traction and the bike flipping outward. I think that giant spring could have hit the bike in a couple different ways causing a momentary loss then nearly instantaneous recovery of traction. It could have hit the rear tire or acted like a kickstand hanging due to a band spring launching the bike upward briefly. Is the spring painted? If you could find such paint on the bike, that forensic evidence might be helpful. Here is a video of a highside. After the slide begins we can hear the rider chop the throttle, the tire chirp, the throttle rises then chops, the tire chirps a second time, then the highside. The sound and view of the erratic throttle and the tire gaining traction while moving sideways are the hints of why the bike then violently flips. https://youtu.be/JwlZiArfnYg

The question is difficult because the problems are not obvious to me, some of the riders appear steady on the controls, and also some of these appear to be going uphill (although that could be the camera perspective) which would add helpful load to the rear wheel. This has me thinking about the bicycle coasting question. Are several of these riders coasting from too little throttle? You asked for force nomenclature, the rear would be unloaded, generating less friction than the centripetal force of the turn. The front wheel would have excess weight and thus adequate traction.

1) "Would a unicycle corner better that a bicycle? Why?" A unicycle steers more sharply than a bicycle because of the bicycle's wheelbase. Of note is that the unicycle is countersteering and propelling from the same tire. 2) "Do you believe that a motorcycle doing a wheelie becomes a motorized unicycle? Please, explain." Not exactly. See #1. The wheelied motorcycle at speed, arguably because while it can "wobble" left or right, it cannot be accurately steered. The motorcycle must come back down to be countersteered from the front wheel. 4) "What forces are acting over the contact patches of a bicycle that is cornering and simultaneously coasting?" Jaybird mentioned centripetal force. Then there is the vertical component of the rider & bicycle weight. In this situation the friction on the bicycle tire contact patches is extremely small. I am most curious about this particular question and what we are supposed to understand from it. 5) "Regarding turning a motorcycle along a corner, should the lean angle be considered a consequence or a cause? Please, explain." I am thinking that "corner" in this case refers to a given, fixed path. If yes, for a given path on a given motorcycle at a given speed the lean angle is a consequence. I am not sure if I read this or came up with it in isolation: On a centrifuge I think of the arm that connects the motor and test tubes as the friction of the tires. The angle the tubes will take is a consequence of the motor speed, the arc, and the weight of the test tubes. Just the same I think of the motorcycle lean angle as a consequence of the speed, weight, and corner arc.

1) Why do dirt bikers push the bike beneath them? "Because they can." Why do they not hang off? For what purpose would they do this? Can one flip a road bike side to side merely by shifting their weight? No, but one can do this laying the dirt bike beneath them, so this is actually an advantage in turning for the dirt bike. If you began a 180° from a crawl or a stop as dirt bikers do, this actually necessitates putting the bike underneath you. So I would say slow speeds and extreme turns physically necessitate this. To your point, dirt riders could hang off with their weight still on the outside peg, versus standing vertically on the outside peg like they do. However, that would be more work than merely laying the bike underneath, and their bodies would then be hanging out in traffic, traffic which is close or already colliding with them; more physical effort, with less safety, and for what purpose? There are lessons on this forum on how hanging off gains ground clearance. This is not a core problem on a dirt bike that has suspension travel designed to handle 5-story landings. One simply does not care about keeping a dirt bike more straight up. 2) You exclude the rut from your question but ruts and general degradation that quickly build up after the race start, and steeply banked turns are going to dictate many of the best paths on a given motocross track before other choices come into play. Any single gouge in the track surface is subject to directing the rider to another path that has more traction. A lot of motocross is correct obstacle execution at the correct speed (which is not always the fastest speed.) For the remaining rider path options I am going to make an uneducated guess that on a short motocross track that is only 5-8 meters wide, at speeds that are slow compared to road racing, the obstacle and turn execution will be much more contributory to the race times than an inside-out movement would be. Lastly, many obstacles such as whoops or jumps are approached best at a right angle. If one had to approach the road straightaway at a 90° angle, that limitation would completely throw away the path that clips the apex. Someone here described dirt biking as "point and shoot" and I think that says it concisely. The dirt has stops and starts and right angles but the road dictates a smooth, turn-interconnecting racing line. Thus they each have specific techniques which serve them.