yakaru
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Posts posted by yakaru
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Welcome to the forums neighbor!
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2 hours ago, Hotfoot said:
One drill we commonly use in Level 4 is "knee over curb". The idea is to find a point of reference other than your head/eyes to use, to judge distance to the inside edge of the corner. If you approach the corner with the idea that you are going to try to put your knee over the curb instead of positioning your head over it, you can see (looking at your photo) that your tires would be at least a foot closer to the inside, probably more. Another advantage of using your knee as your reference is that most riders can SEE their knee in their peripheral vision, which helps to judge position over the curb.
Having said that, I personally am pretty short so my knee doesn't stick out very far (so it is harder to see) and my knee position is not super consistent because on my small, lightweight low HP racebike I sometimes keep my knee tucked in for faster corners to reduce wind drag and/or lock on more solidly. So, per a suggestion from my Level 4 consultant, I started using the gas tank as my reference. I try to put the gas tank over the curb. It helps mainly because I can know with CERTAINTY that when I am leaned over, I can safely get the tank over the curb without worrying about hitting it (or the dirt, or ragged edge of track) that I DON'T want to hit at full lean. It gets me a lot closer without having any attention on worrying about hitting the curb. Since your height is, I think, similar to mine and I know you sometimes ride a lightweight bike, using the tank might be something to try.
Yep, we're about the same stature and I love the low displacement bikes as well so that's always useful! I've done knee over curb many times, for many reasons, but have always had trouble keeping my knee in my visual range due to my visor position. Tank over curb sounds like an interesting modification of it to try though, thanks @Hotfoot.
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So I've heard this discussed a number of times at the school, both for myself and other students: as you lean the head/eyes will be farther inside the corner than the tires. Intellectually I understand this pretty well but as my pace increases and being able to hit the apex tightly becomes more important I'm finding it's hard to accomplish in practice.
While I could try and just slowly move my apex target point farther inside, it feels like this could end badly. For example, a corner without curbing to give feedback you've reached the final part of the usable pavement would mean risking hitting dirt at high lean. It also feels like something hard to convince your brain to do ("I want to go one foot into the dirt at the apex"). Finally, slowing down too much would lower the lean angle required substantially, thus making the delta smaller and thus harder to work out a good methodology.
I glanced through Twist II and didn't see anything that seemed to address this specific issue, though it's obviously possible I missed it.
I'm enclosing a picture from Streets this last October which I think demonstrates it for anyone unfamiliar -- if I mentally had the right tech and awareness I'd probably move the tires a good foot or two closer to the apex, but that would put my head over the grass and the questionable pavement.
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5 hours ago, mugget said:
I will have to search the forum when I have a chance, pretty sure it was discussed but that would be years ago...
At the track right now, felt so much better even in the first session. At this track it feels like I’ve come home. 🙂 Working through some drills, feeling more comfortable with the tyres moving around over all the bumps and creases I know in the track.
Looking through my notes on the pickup drill - think they could be wrong somehow... I wrote “How: straighten inside arm”. But that would be the same as pushing the bar to counter steer? It should be straighten the outside arm? It was the last session of the Level 2 day so I could have easily got it backwards.
Obviously HotFoot or another coach can correct me, this is an 'off the top of my head' description but: The trick with the pick up drill is the relationship between the steering and your body position. By keeping your body over and extending the outside arm then you counter steer the bike back up while keeping the balance of your weight inside; this lets the bike come up sooner/faster/etc. which lets you get back to the throttle sooner/harder.
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10 hours ago, mugget said:
As for the higher seat requiring more lean angle... honestly that’s just something that I remember reading (higher CoG?). 😅 It was kind of a shock to me at the time because I wondered why racers would want to have to lean more... made sense when it was explained tho (can’t remember details unfortunately - would appreciate a refresher or summary). I’ve been out of it for so long now, I should probably go back and read all my old posts - feels like I could teach myself a thing or two. 😝
I'll have to dig out my physics books and work this out to be sure, but, usually the center of gravity is most important in terms of being inside/outside the direction of the turn -- I don't recall the height of the center of gravity impacting required lean as an important variable (now it IS important in terms of the forces required to get the bike to get onto a line/lean, but that's a different matter)
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I had a similar thing happen to me to a lesser extent in 2017/2018. Here are my suggestions, they mostly link together:
Take your time. As much as you 'know' you can go faster, don't let ego come into play.
It can be a breakthrough process. I was making small improvements through 2018 and then, towards the end of the year, suddenly started dropping seconds per session as the old habits reasserted themselves.
Have a plan and work on one thing at a time, just like CSS lessons. In fact, if you still have your little notebooks from CSS you could even try explicitly repeating the drills at a track day.
One last question: why do you think a higher seat would require more lean angle all other things being equal?
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I'm guessing no chance the school will start running these next year? 🤪
Will be interesting to see how they compare to the S series and what price point they come in at for sure.
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That map looks like the west side to me, which as Hotfoot said is what CSS runs. It's a challenging course, especially makes you pick passes with care. I went a few times last year and really enjoyed it!
You can see the other layouts here: https://www.thunderhill.com/track-info/track-maps though I've never run east or the combined configurations.
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Well, not my area but to give a bit of quick feedback: "The Q3s' recommended (cold) pressures of 32 psi front, 30 psi rear still apply to the Q3+" (source: https://ultimatemotorcycling.com/2017/03/31/dunlop-sportmax-q3-test-13-fast-facts/ ) -- your pressures seem high and usually you run the front higher than the rear, whereas you're doing the opposite (I tend to run the same pressures on both tires for Perellis on my Ninja 250, otherwise it's always lower in the rear).
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On 6/19/2019 at 5:14 PM, Cobie Fair said:
If you ride a street bike, interested in what you think: Of the following skills/abilities (or another not listed) what do you rank as the highest priority as a rider?
- Ability to steer quickly
- Brave
- Visual skill, lack of target fixation
- Quick reflexes
- Physical condition, strength
Interested in all skill levels response to this short survey, so if you ride a motorcycle, you can answer.
Best,
Cobie
Street (as requested) in order:
3, 4, 1, 5, 2
Track (in addition) in order:
3, 1, 4, 5, 2 -- though a tighter spread in places (Physical condition is 4th in both, but "more important" for track, at least for a full day/multiple days) -
They have full gear, so the same undersuit suggestion applies to women as men.
as for school vs camp: I get a lot more from the camps, personally, and favor them for the increased time per day on the track to refine things. But it’s something I can see others wanting more “processing time” for the lessons or not physically prepared for two full days of riding having the opposite opinion. In the end though I’d say it’s probably not a drastic difference either way — both will be effective so pick the one that you think sounds more appealing or fits your schedule better.-
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The image I posted is from Superbike school's website, so yes it's included.
( https://superbikeschool.com/the-curriculum/track-specific-data/ )
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It used to be that the first day was one way and the second the other, but more recently the track has consistently been run counter clockwise.
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For the 2 day camps basically everything is provided including helmet. Bring a well rested body and an undersuit and you're set.
Obviously any gear of your own that you brought is open for you to use but you don't need it.
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3 hours ago, Cobie Fair said:
I was thinking of the horsey thing to be honest, but not in my regular program. And yes, Stuman did have a Thighmaster...not sure if those are still around...maybe some old decroded one in a basement somewhere?
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3 hours ago, Cobie Fair said:
Yakaru, that does look like good stretching and I'm doing more in general. Do you do anything for strength, that's another part and one I'm also curious about.
thigh master type resistance work is good. There's also good exercises here: https://weighttraining.guide/tag/pectineus/ as well as https://barbend.com/adductor-exercises-for-strength/ and the Strong Curves program by Brett Contreras, while directed towards women, has a strong focus on glutes and legs and I use elements of that as I can. My biggest issue is consistency, it's so easy to stop doing it for way too long.
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On the flipside from strength is flexability and fascia treatment, you don't want to be 'yoga stretching' as Lyle puts it but this still helps keep everything loose and relaxed. Here's my favorite pre/post track prep:
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On 7/9/2020 at 9:43 PM, Motorbiker said:
Just finished up the July 2020 two day camp at The Ridge. (Levels 1 and 2). I had a great time and learned some new things too. Thank you to the entire staff, without your hard work it wouldn't be the success it has become. Particular thanks to Chris as my on track coach. I look forward to riding with the school again. Jim
You mean Charis
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So the bit about the old pairing needing active counter steering or it would stand itself up in a corner really strikes me as odd as it violates some core physics of 2 wheeled vehicles. I'm curious if something like the rear tire not quite being aligned or similar was causing that and swapping the tires corrected the problem indirectly. Just spit balling.
Glad you're having positive results after the change though!
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7 hours ago, bashir0505 said:
Anyway, as a side note, I came across this video from 2010 of Will doing clutchless downshifts on the first gen S1000RR, and way before auto blipper.
Off topic but Keith is still chastising me for using my clutch on my smaller bikes (without any electronics past fuel injection); I've done clutchless up and down on them a few but I've missed enough that I still haven't gotten confident doing it by default. I may also be biased because my transmission ended up needing work done on the subsequent track day after spending a school attempting to get used to being clutchless.
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20 hours ago, Motorbiker said:
Thanks Cobie. I will. I have ridden PIR, Seattle Raceway, and the Ridge. I'm looking forward to whoever, whatever assignments you decide. Looking forward to meeting you.
Jim
Didn’t know which day(s) you are/were here but I’ll be on the lookout too if not yesterday
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16 hours ago, Cobie Fair said:
I'll ask! I'm so old school, I personally don't want to read any more than I do from an electronic screen...I know, dinasour.
I'd rather read from an electronic screen than not have access to it at all
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by the by, @Cobie Fair / @Keith Code -- any consideration to putting Twist and Twist II on Kindle? I have two paperback copies already but one that I could keep on my phone or kindle so I don't ever forget it for a track day as well as the ability to search for terms would be excellent.
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I didn't know it was Will, but I remember that frame -- huge distortion, if my memory serves it was shifted around half it's width over to the side.
Tire vs Eye Position at the Apex
in Cornering and Techniques
Posted
Yep, I'll keep my eyes on my 3-step as much as possible, no need for adding saccades, but my sense of where the tank is probably has more accuracy than where my knee is -- my arm is on it and I'm betting I have a more accurate proprioception of it than my knee, as counter intuitive as that might seem.
I might ask my consultant to try this drill at my first 2021 school, since accuracy is one of my "themes" every time the pace goes up or I warm my skills back up after a winter of only commuting.