yakaru

When I am at the track discussing technique one of the things I hear from a lot of people when I discuss holding your position by squeezing the tank while on the brakes is that the 'Rossi Leg Dangle' is somehow demonstrative that this is in error. I've not really found this convincing myself, but it is certainly at least getting popular in a lot of circles if for no reason except imitation. I've read up on a few theories (extra drag, for example) but nothing that sounded really grounded in data. Has anyone done some real analysis on the technique to see what value there is to doing it or if it might just be some psychological benefit?

oh interesting. I watched this a bit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5Q7Fsawf7o and he just runs through grass et al to seemingly no ill effect.

I've considered picking these up (I'm actually a game designer/engineer) but have a sort of feeling that they're, at best, just specialized driving sims -- I'm not sure they'll encourage proper technique or skills in any notable way (can anyone check if you go down by adding throttle and lean?)

My mother rides horses (Dressage) and, after my first track down [as well as my first non-fault down], she reminded me a rule within that community is if you fall "get back on the horse" ASAP. I was pretty shaken and the rest of my day was shot pretty bad. But getting back on and riding was the right call, since I wasn't injured. Unfortunately your accident was 2 years ago so that advice is a bit late. Here's the best advice I can manage: start with evening trips, work your way into the darker hours. Shorter trips. Just ride 'around the block' a time or two or something similar, every night just to get used to it again. If this were a track day I'd say your session 'goal' would be: "smooth and relaxed" and to down your pace until you hit that. Practice some mindfulness. If you notice you're scared, pull over and clear your head (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindfulness).

Best race oriented pad I'm aware of is https://ebcbrakes.com/product/gpfa-brake-pads/ EBC's GPFAX, but I'm not sure they'll give you better feel per say, as that's much more based on the master/lines/rotor interaction... For your information, though, sometimes it can be that simple. e.g.:

Had fun riding together at Willow! Hope you had a great time yourself!

The story was entertaining the first time but I will admit that I got the Premiere file that re-builds the DVD without those scenes for subsequent viewings.

As a sort of aside on this issue: This year Keith has been talking about, during the no brakes session, how you should set your entry speed not for your turn in point but for later (I believe he's mostly advising for when you reach max lean but in my experience it's a mix of max lean and when you can start the throttle). It's great advice, but for some reason I find that when I am trail braking it is easier for me to set that later point as my target (especially since trail brake ends shortly before I reach max lean more often than not); may be useful to you as well -- but don't let it distract you from proper technique since you can easily try to do 'too much at once' while you build up certain skills.

The rule I tended to follow was to integrate the drills but to not let a previous one distract from the current one. I mean, throttle control and turn points are obvious in this regard but some more challenging drills (for me) sometimes required I not overwhelm myself by trying to do everything. If hipflick hurts my turn point accuracy (within reason) for the hipflick drill then I note it and let it go but try to clean it up later.

2013 willow 2014 ridge 2015 3 days ridge 2016 3 ridge 2 Vegas 2017 4 days ridge 3 days cota 2018 5 days ridge 2 laguna 4 jersey 4 vir 3 laguna 2019 2 willow 4 vir 2 corvette 5 barber 2 thunder hill 6 ridge 2 ridge 2 thunder hill 5 streets the included pic is maybe half?

Q4s have been amazing every time I've ridden them. What impressed me most was at The Ridge when it got wet I decided to swap from my S1000 (Q4s) to the school's on Q3s (It was a camp so I had one assigned) and, after some ramp up, almost immediately started [mildly] sliding at a pace I had felt 'rock solid' on my bike. I switched back next session and it was great again. I'm sure real wets would have been even better, but it caught me off guard that a tire that is basically "as close to a slick as you can be for street" was that capable.

Don't want to impede on Hotfoot's wisdom but some thoughts: Not saying it's correct for your situation but there are definitely turns where it feels like you should be back on the throttle simply because it's "been so long" e.g. Turn 6 at Vegas (9 clockwise). It's maybe... 150 degrees? Just the top result I found, so not judging their technique beyond this purpose, but going counter clockwise - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swAYYP1rQZ0 -- look at around 55 seconds. There's a solid 3 seconds there the rider is having to be patient; and even then the line never gets down to the apex curbing. Look at the next lap -- probably a hair before 3:00 -- same thing (and getting down to the apex better). Next lap -- 4:53 or so. If it's got more "middle space", a double apex approach with a throttle pause or roll off and maybe releaning can be vital (the Twist II DVD demonstrates double apex as one of two exceptions to Throttle Control Rule #1)

Racing certainly has ways to help you with this, but it's not quite what I'm getting at -- to be clear lap times are simply the best metric I have at hand, not the ideal. What I guess I mean is two things: How can I evaluate my improvement other than 'gut feel'? Sometimes the improvement is stark and notable, but outside those leaps how can I evaluate my actual progress in becoming a better rider? Past a certain point it becomes hard to judge (for me hitting an apex within, say, 2 feet might feel accurate but after more riding/coaching it could be much less; and it can be hard to tell you've changed your own standards) Does this change based upon track? I know The Ridge because I've run it so much, but I've only been to Jersey once; without a baseline for Jersey how can I tell if I'm improving or riding 'well' (relative to the track, and beyond the aforementioned 'gut feel').

This isn’t entirely true; or the hook turn wouldn’t work and body position would be far less important. Rake and wheel base can change line fairly notably at the same speed and lean. To a lesser extent, moving the center of gravity to the inside helps too but I think it’s mostly overwhelmed by the other factors (especially on a heavier bike)

Figured I might as well introduce myself, even after doing over 60 schools if my count is right. I'm Yakaru, though lots of people at the track call me Violet since it's easier to remember and pronounce. I'm a video game developer currently based out of the Seattle area and motorcycle track addict. I have a bunch of bikes (highlights are my Ninja 300, S1000RR, and HP4Race) and I've been getting more serious about my riding this year and made some notable gains thanks to my coaches at California Superbike. I've got a few "regular" coaches, including Misti and Lyle as well as the Australians Chook and Stef.

The Ridge is a great track that's technical but not 'hyper technical', and July is usually pretty dry. Willow Springs is for sure technical, and has lots of schools. If you want to head east I'd suggest Corvette Museum. I prefer VIR, but technically I think Corvette is probably more challenging. Vegas has a number of challenging corners, but it's flat and often quite dusty which some people don't care for. Thunder Hill is also a fun tight technical track, it's especially hard to pass and thus improved my passing skill notably.

Something that's popped up for me a few times is wanting to be able to evaluate my skill level at different tracks as I attend more CSS locations; but this can be difficult to do (e.g. students at CSS can vary widely in skill, so that can be an inconsistent metric). The only thing I've come up with is to use is lap times -- so long as my technique is on point, which my coaches make sure of, it seems at least a rational place to start. But many tracks I can't find the general expectations (e.g. lap times for track day groups). There's also times CSS modifies things, such as the 'slalom' for Laguna Seca. I always think of my competition as myself but it is nice to have benchmarks (I'm running with a fast track day group, I could potentially club race this track, etc.), so I was wondering if anyone else does this or has a solution.