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My previous bike was a '99 R6, the engine ate itself 500 miles from home so I abandoned the bike and got an unfaired Suzi GSXS-1000, going from 100hp to something like 140hp. I did a CSB Level 1 in May on the BMW's and loved the ride but even after just a day on the trackbike I was really surprised by how different getting back onto the Suzi was. The riding postures are profoundly different. I did a lot of core training, planks of all kinds to help hold a good posture on the R6, I could ride about 4hrs before fatigue started getting bad- while I was fresh the bike was great but after a few hours of that I started wondering why I was doing it. The Suzi is way easier out to 6hrs, and less wind noise too even without the fairing. OTOH Suzi had very long handlebars leading to that elbows out thing which the R6 trained me out of, I shortened them 3/4" on both ends I wouldn't mind going further but not enough clearance. That said, I do find I prefer the very clean and subtle steering motion on the R6 and CSB BMW's vs the Suzi. It steers quickly and easily but seems to instantly want to push under, much more than the other bikes so its important to have a firm and ready posture to keep weight inside. I also found the Suzi encourages a disciplined throttle both for acceleration and engine braking- its quite powerful going both ways. The R6 was more relaxed- I wrung it out a number of times which was great fun but its more involved than just whacking open the throttle. Probably the BMW would instantly be scary fast, but I was just level 1 so didn't do any of that.

Whatever cheap motor oil I have on hand when the chain oil reservoir needs refilling, 5W preferred vs 10W. The oil it drips onto the chain may assist with lubrication but I have gained the impression the big win is preventing dirt from accumulating and working into the chain past the o-rings.

I took level 1 in May, it entirely transformed my view of the ToTW material. Playing it out on track, with the coaching puts it in context. I found trying solo practice out of the ToTW 1 and 2 texts led me to overemphasizing things like pivot steering and mixing turning and steering. Knowing the rules about turnpoints and the throttle ahead of time is helpful but defintely not something to presume you understand vs what the coaches instruct. I've been riding for well over 10 yrs but found them accomodating to 1st time CSB riders and disciplined wrt track behavior- its OK even if you're slow. Renting the BMW's and all the gear was great 1st time around. Next time I'll likely bring my own bike, but probably rent their suit and helmet.

lol, might have to try some of that stuff- was out splitting wood earlier today. Pushed too hard with the maul, but it was fun while it lasted. Traps and lats on the left are pretty sore- that being where I broke ribs and scapula when I wrecked the Bandit in 2018. I took some aspirin, will see how things feel by the weekend.

I use it for gradual stops ie during the commute, to augment the front- if for no other reason than to use the front less when its not really important, or if braking needs to be really strong. Maybe by itself if I'm merging in slow traffic, to trim speed for a moment without closing the throttle. I don't use it when cornering, though occasionally instinct will make my foot want to. Its way too easy for the combination of forward weight transfer and rear brake to cause trouble. I replaced the rather indifferent front pads on my bike over last winter, put in some good ones which was a big improvement but I didn't bother replacing the rear- I'll do that when they really are worn out. In other forums I do hear folks talk about using the rear almost exclusively, which I do wonder about.. they talk about skids and ABS triggering and so on as a fairly routine occurance. OTOH some of the primarily dirt folks emphasize use of the rear which does make some sense to me from having ridden on dirt/gravel roads but I don't generally go fast enough on those for it to matter much.

I found the RR's position quite comfy, was easier to ride than my old R6. Probably the only change I'd be inclined to make is to raise the clipons a bit, or maybe go 0 degrees. A more upright ride would be fine though, my current ride is standard posture.

Also borne out by my experience at Level 1 NJMP. By the 3rd session I was getting a bit frustrated by errors compounding on errors and being on all kinds of awkward and scary lines, so just started going slower and slower until I could get to something like a reasonable turnpoint, turn the bike onto a line that I could see and wasn't scary, get to the gas and ride through- which made all the difference. After a session or so of that I started getting the corners more easily, speed increased a little but the track was wet so not much. I contented myself by being visually comfy on exit from one turn and entrance to another, keeping up with others in the corners and letting them go on the straights. Light on the bars was critical- once I started getting weight properly off the bars I found the actual steering motion was quite small and subtle. Very easy to miss that when all bunched up on the bars doing a lot of pushing up and down mixed in with the actual steering movement. In the weeks after I've found my interesting corners are much less scary. Its a commuter route so there isn't a lot of room for more speed, but I'm starting to work on choosing better turnpoints for quicker throttle at least. I'm definitely faster on my slow sharp corners though, lean is less scary too.

Given my recent Level 1 experience I think I'd be working on vision first. Its super-easy for me to be paying lots more attention to the turn-point and where I'm immediately going than it is to note the turnpoint and look thru the apex/protoapex. When I'm not looking as far thru the turn as I can I often find myself on an awkward line or in inconvenient lane position. That short section between turn 1 and turn 2 begs for a quick transition and seems a place where compromise occurs. That turn 1 I'd open with turning in somewhere in the center or right of center to get around enough of the corner to maybe deepen the lean to at least trend towards the middle of the track to set up for turn 2.

Yeah, I like the plan concept vs just going out to try and be fast or "good". I'm inclined to do a second Level 1 with my own bike now that I have a bit of experience being out on track. I definitely need more repetition of the cornering instruction. The current ride is a standard posture bike but subtle quick steer, two-step, gas apply just as much. I didn't find I needed to do anything along the lines of pivot steering, securely but not excessively gripping the tank with the knees and thighs was enough to make projecting the torso inside repeatable. I suppose I wasn't going fast enough to need much braking but I did use them a few times, thankfully as per the Twist recommendation to get the braking done before the steering. Frequently just touching them was enough. I did buy the photo package- its been good to have "hero" shots to send to friends and family

I was looking for another quote to reply to, but this one is immediately relevant. I attended the May 10 NJ Level 1 course, and the above very clearly expressed my feelings at the time. When I first discovered Twist 1 and 2 over 15yrs ago I was an immediate convert and have been more or less practicing them since. BUT, it took maybe the first session to become very aware that I had been misapplying them. Which is to to say, pushing for too much too often. Turns out the application of the turn, the selection of turn point vs apex or "proto apex" is more subtle than what I had been doing. Making that clear took the coaching and instruction CSB provided- having my coach bring me off track for very specific suggestions right in the moment was invaluable. The Twist instructions related to reducing speed to clarify cornering became immediately relevant later in the day; in my last two (wet) sessions I reduced speed a lot- which is to say, I stopped pushing, so as to focus on turnpoint, line, throttle and that made a world of difference. I think it took a controlled track situation to make this clear, despite having a selection of local practice corners on my usual commute. It seems the usual commute ride becomes a bit insidious, the apparently correct responses turn into truth without being tested on the track where I found my responses leading me into a variety of errors. The last few laps of the 5th session were profound in a meditative way. I was behind a slow guy, I realized I could pass but I really wasn't into it. Instead I just let him be up front, and instead found a calm and confident place where I could see the turnpoint come up in my peripherals while I was looking at the apex/protoapex and then putting in that very delicate countersteer and clean well-defined throttle. I found some places used more throttle than others, sometimes it was quite gradual- but not choppy and seldom static. Moving from the "hitch" adjustments of line and throttle based on fear to deepening the lean at the right moment to achieve lane position on exit was very satisfying. I'm inclined to think that the perception of the delicate and nuanced countersteer motion is the most interesting result of the class vs the usual forceful and complicated push I had been doing.

Best wishes for VIR, just got in all my hotel stuff for New Jersey- see you all there on the 10th

Perhaps in the sense of exaggerated and/or abrupt changes in posture to try to make something happen, or prevent it?

IIRC somewhere I saw reference to a "streetfighter" goldwing with knobby tires etc.. a pretty wild rig and a formidable power curve for dirt no doubt. For my part I'm late 50's but don't mind a crotch-rocket. On my old R6 though even in reasonable shape once at 4hrs or in the saddle, core fatigue starts being a difficulty and at 6hrs its a real problem. I do long touring rides so it became a constraint, the cumulative aspect of it particularly so on multiple day rides. I find a standard posture bike leaves me in better shape day-to-day, even on long days 8+ hrs riding. So being a Suzuki guy, I ride a '22 gsx-s1000f. The ~140hp is pretty ridiculous though I do appreciate the torque particularly when going slow. That said, no matter what the bike I do insist on a reasonable if not good suspension; harsh & overdamped makes the ride fatiguing, too soft leaves the bike feeling vague and unstable. The OEM suspension on the gsxs was nearly unrideable, getting decent aftermarket parts in and tuned was job #1 after riding it home from the dealership.

Pushed up in the sense of the inside leg levering the torso inwards so the bike tends to stand up, sure... I guess it depends on how much fiddling around you want to do at turn entry. But using the pivot steer and 2 step to get out of the habit of that sort of thing is part of the benefit of the methods. Since the weather is finally getting civilized I rode to work today, very rusty having only a few good days for the last several months. I noticed a tendency for kinds of random body and leg stuff instead of a clean clamp off the outside peg w/ a slight torso lean in and no pressure on the bars other than the steering motion- so back to the drills. But its not all bad, I had pretty good corner speed on various test corners and my "hot" sweeper up to the highway. OTOH it looks like a reasonable stretch of good weather coming so I should be sharpened up a bit when you all come out to NJ 😀

Generally the pegs are too far forward for much in the way of of pressure by the legs. Some of the point of the pivot steering is to push against the peg, which is far enough back, so there is a more direct line of force from peg through the torso and shoulders. With pegs forward, the feet are not conveniently located- sort of like trying to stand up out of a chair vs standing up out of a crouch. But I would offer that the technique is relevant on any bike in that it gives the outside leg something specific to do relative to the torso, while the bike is being steered. Otherwise, as I found as a newbie rider, the legs and balance can be doing any old random stuff on this turn vs the last; sometimes pushing the bike up with the inside knee for instance, sometimes leaning, sometimes hauling on the bars to change the lean. Even if pressure on the peg isn't especially relevant wrt bike stability, doing well-defined things with the legs and torso makes cornering methodical, which certainly speaks to it.