yakaru
-
Posts
117 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
17
Posts posted by yakaru
-
-
Hi Sid!
The first thing I'll say is that if you're looking towards track days you should review the rules for groups in your area. Some orgs require one piece suits which might influence your decision here (I wouldn't advise a one piece for the street, I've done it a few times and it's a lot of trouble).
In my experience higher end gear usually comes with a zipper that goes around the majority of the suit (I've seen it called a 360° zipper but it's more accurately 270° or so). I've only mixed brands once but when I did those two meshed up readily. Obviously, I'd want to try it in person if possible since different zipper designs might not work. Most of the better motorcycle gear shops could install matching zippers for you, though obviously that's an extra cost. I know a few shops that I'd recommend for this but none in the Texas area off hand.
As for boots the only recommendation I can make is to shop around and find something that has the adjustment range for the calves that you'll need. Also, most boots are designed to go over the leg leathers which gives them more room in that region if you can find pants that are large enough at the bottom to invert that relationship (though in that case I'd recommend long socks to make sure you don't chaffe your legs up too much).
-
4 hours ago, Jaybird180 said:
Moving from sitting low to sitting straight, does this not alter one's sense of speed just from the change in perspective? In addition, there's potential for increased wind buffeting, also contributing to sensory noise.
I tend to sit up for certain types of corners too and I also notice that I tend to overslow for those same corners and then chastise myself and promise to fix it on the next lap.
In my case the change of perspective is the goal, and it's most pronounced in slow corners and especially in what I might call 'perspective sensitive' ones (e.g. where the apex is 'hidden around the back' of a hill). It can definitely play with your sense of speed, but that's where I find no brakes and other drills to be the most useful -- just like a late 2 step a late sit up will make you get the information late and not be able to adapt. Maybe I'll chat with Keith/Cobie/etc. about it tomorrow at Vegas and gather some thoughts!
-
1
-
-
6 hours ago, Hotfoot said:
Generally not, no. I don't stay in a full tuck all the way around the track but I do not sit up to brake.
a bit off topic but FWIW I have generally tried to sit up somewhat when I brake, especially in races or "day before race" track days, as a signal for anyone following close behind that I'm slowing down; but I try to not do so to the point I stop having flex in my elbows/tense up. This was actually brought up during novice race licensing a few years back as a best practice.
edit: missed page 2 and I see this was already brought up. Yeah, I've had the same thought about signalling others potentially being used against me, but I've also seen plenty of novices be hot headed and aggressive enough I'd rather give up position than have an incident from someone not paying attention.
edit the 2nd: on further reflection I think I actually probably tend to sit up a bit, if not already done earlier for moving weight a bit farther back/"sailing" to help the front tire under breaking, when I am beginning to transition to my 2 step's... uh, 2nd step
-- it's a bit more subtle in those cases, but gives just that little bit of extra perspective sometimes (I'm having recollections of Keith talking about how humans are not ideally designed for motorcycle riding because of where our eyes are).
-
I find myself agreeing with a lot of what you're saying Coffee -- if it happens most frequently when going too slow then it can probably be attributed at least in part to some form of impatience. I know I've spent time on internalizing that you have to wait for the right time to roll on and if you rush it you just get yourself in trouble, even if you did go in slower than intended. I might still pay attention to the interface but if it's mostly when too slow that would be quite telling to it being a mental process issue.
-
Some of the things you said make me think of potential ergonomic issues. Take a look at this clip -- https://youtu.be/JPvwHgYZx9c?t=628 -- I've set it to start at 628 which should be right where they go over brake ergonomics for the throttle.
-
Some more details would be useful but a few ideas/questions:
How is your throttle grip? Is it comfortable? Tense? Is it focused in the fingers like a screwdriver grip or more of a 'fist'? How is your feel through your gloves?
As an experiment can you initiate a roll on while straight up and down without unsettling/'gunning' or is it only in a corner that this happens?
-
Wow, wonder what sold out so quick -- I'm doing my scheduling and budgeting to see what I can fit in but I'm sure I'll be at the Ridge too unless it's booked out already.
-
13 hours ago, Vic said:
Just out of interest, would you recommend taping over the speedo as well? I know it's covered on the school bikes but was unsure if it's suggested for personal bikes.
The school will tape over it if you don't, for general track days I generally keep mine taped as well -- no reason to look at it.
-
10 hours ago, Blackened said:
Throttle and brake are great. Snappy on the throttle and smooth on the brakes. My gloves go up over the joint of my wrist so hopefully that will do the job.
Under armor type shirt/shorts was what I was planning on using underwear the racing leathers.
Thanks hotfoot. I definitely feel a bit better about my prep work now. I'm likely pulling off the mirrors. Is blue painters tape for the tail light OK? Should I tape the headlights as well?
Painters tape is great since it won't leave much residue when you take it off. I tend to tape over all front and back lights when I bring a street bike. For "bonus points" you can also pull the fuse for the lights, but not strictly required. I went and found some old pictures of when I took my street bike to the track -- I'm pretty meticulous, no need to be this neat if you don't want to be, but here's an example:
-
12 hours ago, Jaybird180 said:
I noticed the DM Tuning app is no longer available in the App Store when I went to update it. I sent him a message, but didn't get a reply.
Glad to know you got good weather at Barber. One of the local guys who I encouraged to do CSS last year was lusting after riding Barber but instead went to ViR due to convenience.
Oh no, not VIR!
Barber and VIR both are among my favorite tracks (and that opinion is shared many of the coaches too, by my understanding). Sad to miss Barber this year, but sadly I have to earn a living and only can afford so many days off and so many school tuitions.
-
On 5/26/2021 at 9:13 AM, BikeSpeedman said:
Thanks.
Same. I was in the slow end of the A group (not the slowest but definitely behind all the racers) but I rarely get passed in CSS classes. It's a lot less intimidating when the action is coming at you from one direction (even better if that direction happens to be in front of you). And there's no wild racers cutting people up in class - just better manners all around.
A bit off topic but on the "wild racers cutting up people" -- I've said on more than one occasion that Trevor runs a tight ship in terms of course control and if there were orgs that followed his standards I'd go to them far more readily than some of the guys who think they need to ride at 110% to make sure they pass everyone even if it means they end up lowsiding or otherwise getting themselves and others in trouble every other track day.
-
Sometimes I find that the camps are easier -- the breaks can be welcome but humans tend to have the ability for endurance to persist as long as needed. Without breaks my body never finds the time to "let itself be tired", whereas with regular schools sometimes the breaks, especially on a hot day, can cause the desire to cat nap. But obviously in the end the actual requirements for the camps are higher and Hotfoot's suggestions are spot on -- ramp up evenly, hydrate, eat rationally and you'll be good; if you work on endurance as well as upper leg and core muscles you'll be golden.
-
34 minutes ago, hwanie2 said:
My question is while maintaining throttle, can lean angle be added by countersteering a bit more? So basically not rolling on anymore, only keeping the throttle maintained.
Would maintainence throttle be an okay instance where I'd be able to countersteer the bike to initiate more lean angle?
If your throttle position is steady then generally you are able to counter steer to change/increase lean. This is particularly relevant on smaller bikes and/or faster series of corners -- there are places where you just pause the roll on without the need to roll off. A related case might be double apex corners, which can often have a point where you pause or slightly roll off to let the bike tighten/repoint, but usually you want to avoid extra steering inputs in a corner if you can. It's better than chopping the throttle, which actually widens the turn for a period, lowers ground clearance, and all sorts of other nastiness.
However you are going to have less available tire load for this action compared to rolling off, and you don't get the benefits of geometry that rolling off/braking can give in terms of handling. But if you've gotten into a corner and realize you've made a mistake, a pause or gentle roll off on the throttle is definitely better than to keep rolling on while adding lean (recipe for a crash) or chopping the throttle and getting thrown wide at the same time you're trying to tighten the turn.
-
1
-
-
For the camp obviously there is the school provided bike. I’ve got my s1000rr and hp4 both already there; and as much as I’d love to bring one of my small bikes I need the trailer space free to bring those back home after. Cobie recommended the s1000 for the tryout.
-
1
-
-
I am! And then right after I have my coach tryout on the 20th so hopefully I'll have the rust knocked off from this winter and my studying will have stayed in my brain!
-
1
-
-
Riding as a student or coaching?
-
As a sort of 'add on' to this topic: back in '19 I was at Barber and was hitting a pretty solid pace and hit the point where for some of the faster sections I found I benefited from both pushing and pulling simultaneously to get a strong enough input in to overcome momentum and get the bike on lean/line without being too abrupt about it; in addition to weighting my outside peg which of course also can help.
-
1
-
-
1 hour ago, Red_Baron said:
Planning my 5th. CSS school. I will be done twice at Barber and twice at Las Vegas by the end of this year, when I do one of the tracks mentioned.
Even though a track is kind of subjective, there is a general consensus as of fun, safety, facilities, location, accessibility, etc.
I need to chose Sonoma or Street of Willow Springs, can you give your opinions?
Thanks for your input.
I haven’t done Sonoma but on streets here’s what I can say: it’s the “home track” for css and it is short and has a ton of different types of technical challenges. That means you get more laps to work on something (and probably more laps with your coach) in the same amount of time.
flipside is that it is in rough shape pavement wise and doesn’t have any great places to “wring out” a literbike (If you want to have fun passing big boys on a 250 though it is the place to do it).
Sonoma I’ve heard good things about, and obviously it’s part of several racing series so I can’t imagine it being a bad choice either. -
On 1/13/2021 at 3:35 PM, Cobie Fair said:
JJ tried some of their products in his car and was quite enthusiastic...bodes well for us. 😁
I saw the lubricant is up on https://superbikeschool.com/sponsors/ but I haven’t seen anything on the new helmet brand. Assume we will hear soon?
-
For what it's worth, I actually had to sort of deal with the opposite problem. My instincts when passed are to back off and give the person room so I don't have to worry about them anymore, and when I started racing this was hard to unlearn; nowadays I struggle more with picking my passes, especially when in 'packs' where I don't want to pass someone then have to change lines or hit my brakes due to someone in front of them while at the same time not staying at the back longer than I have to.
One thing that may help with the urge (over time, not immediately) is moving to a lower displacement bike -- I get passed all the time on 250s and 300s going down straights without any ego involved since they have more than 5 times my horsepower. As I've gotten better it's now a game to pass them back in the corners but that can be quite hard if they have good lines and skill.
-
lubricant it sounds like.
-
1
-
-
I'll admit I haven't watched it yet, but based on just the thumbnail it reminds me of a problem with "Copy the Pros" logic I see from a lot of riders -- If you try to just brake harder you're likely going to outrun your eyes and, in a best case scenario, will end up over slowing. Yes pros brake harder but how they do that with confidence is a bunch of background things that are much more involved to learn.
-
5 hours ago, Red_Baron said:
New to all this, but Hotfoot and Cobie taught me the knee to corner and was one of the most helpful drill for me at Las Vegas.
Already signed up for April in Vegas and will test again my coaches patience. 😉
Knee to curb is a great drill for sure, I'm looking forward to trying the variant Hotfoot suggested to refine my riding even more. I think there's the factors she mentioned as well as the fact I'm not as consistent in terms of my body position either which can move my knee's relative position a bit. I don't quite cross up but my hip rotation isn't always as square as I intend on the BMW, and while I want to work on that as well I don't want to try doing multiple thing at once and spending all my attention dollars.
Enjoy Vegas in April! I'm looking forward to returning to Streets in March myself!
-
34 minutes ago, Jaybird180 said:
@Cobie Fair IIRC when I did L3 and we did Pivot Steering, I tried it at a 2 turn section that can be run as a double apex turn using PS in the second portion. As I recall, we didn't add a second steering input but instead changed the body position to alter the steering geometry.
This sounds like the hook turn more than pivot steering to me.
-- it's a bit more subtle in those cases, but gives just that little bit of extra perspective sometimes (I'm having recollections of Keith talking about how humans are not ideally designed for motorcycle riding because of where our eyes are).
Chasing the Carrot
in Cornering and Techniques
Posted
I've found that chasing mastery of some specific challenge (my line out of this corner, my visuals for that section, the precision of my roll on for that exit) is what I benefit and enjoy most, and then lap times are a confirmation after the fact. If I just chase laptimes I find I don't enjoy myself as much, and often end up making more mistakes and not improving. Laptimes are a result, not a goal nor skill... well, with one exception: for race qualifying they're definitely the goal