JeF4y

Congrats Doog! Removing normal pressures of competition, whether it's against another rider or against the lap timer you're watching, or for the camera guy, etc, will definitely help with relaxation and the amount of FUN you have. When you're relaxed & having fun, you get into the flow of things and will perform much better (as you see)...

http://www.cbr600rr.com/pages/070305.htm Fairly brutal weekend. Glad it's behind us... Here's the text for anyone who doesn't wanna click the link... 2005 Race Report 5 (damage report 1): 7/1-3/05 - Mid America Motorplex - Pacific Junction, IA Battling old Demons. Some won, Some lost Wow, it seems like just one week ago I was writing one of these. Oh wait, I was! This weekend has really been a season in the making. If you think my previous race reports were long, I'll prepare you now for this one as it will probably drag on longer than most. This was our first time back to MAM since a terrible weekend in 2002 where we just plain had a bad time. I skipped it in 03 & 04, but now in 05 I'm silly enough to be chasing points like I was in 02, so we put it back on the schedule. This was a twin-sprints weekend, so I would be able to double my points standing against those who didn't want to make the long trek out to MAM. Thursday 6/30: Still packed up from the previous Autobahn weekend, we got off to a predicted late start of about 8:30 PM. The plan was to drive at least 1/2 of the 530 miles (roughly 10 hours) on Thurs night, and finish the rest in the morning. About 1/2 way into it, we just kept rolling. We got to the track at 6:00 AM on the dot, and slept till noon. Friday 7/1: This was a practice day put on by Track Addix. Track Addix is a new partner of cbr600rr.com Racing, and they put on a GREAT day. Under normal circumstances, the days are no sessions, and no B.S. Just open track time to practice. Today we had sessions due to the large number of people and the desire by the riders, but it all worked out fine. I went out for the first session, before the late lunch break and when coming off the track, I noticed my right foot slipping off the rearset (we'll call this "Incident #1"). I looked down and my boot was covered with oil. Nice... Looking at the bike, I immediately found that a rubber plug at the top of the clutch cover wasn't seated right after doing some clutch work this last week. No big deal. I seated the plug and cleaned everything up. The rest of the day was uneventful. The track was quite slick, and pretty rough. Just as I remembered! lol... Little did I know, this was the start of a downhill spiral. Incident #2 came while the kids were swimming on Friday night at the track lake. My son stepped on something sharp and put about a 4" gash in his foot. This would be trip 1 to medical. They cleaned & patched him up and we called it a night. Saturday 7/2: Practice went well. Things seemed to be looking up. Middleweight GP. The layout of the track makes launches fairly frightening due to a LONG straight into a fast right-hand T1, followed by a faster left-hand T2. Since starts typically see the first few corners going 3-5 bikes wide, things get interesting. My launch was well, but I was on the outside for T1 which I did not want to be. I tiptoed through T1 & T2 for fear that multiple people would go down, but nobody did. I found myself near the back of the pack and tried to make up ground. Within the 1st lap or two, someone went down requiring the ambulance, so they stopped the race for a full restart. Cool! A second chance. My second start was better than the first. I still ended up on the outside of T1, but that seemed okay. I ran hard through T1, within the top 10 riders. Coming out of T1, I unfortunately met up with the back tire of a guy coming left for T2 in what would become "Incident #3". I had nowhere to go and @$$ packed him HARD. I don't know how many times I flipped before landing on my left side & tumbling off the track luckily without being run over. In my tumbling, I caught a glimpse of my bike tumbling just the same. I jumped up and ran over to see if I could rejoin the race, but no dice. The right clip-on bar was bent too bad to allow me to move the bike. I rode back in the crash truck without really feeling bad about the crash since we had made it a good long 4 weekends without a crash. Damage Assessment: Front fairing stay (had a spare) Right rearset ripped out of frame (had a spare) Clutch case smashed (had a spare) Right swingarm spool ripped off (had a spare, but swingarm damaged too bad to replace) Right clip-on tube (had multiple spares) Brake banjo bolt bent hard (no spare) Brembo master cylinder broken (had rebuild kit, but could not get apart to fix!) Front fender ripped off (no spare, but not needed) Here's where I hit the guy's rear tire: Result: The goal was to get the bike back together to at LEAST let me run heavyweight supersport late in the day as I'm very high in the points (top 3). The repairs were nothing too bad, but they were extremely time consuming. I had to remove the exhaust to pull the dirt out of it, and to get at the oil pan to remove the large hunks of smashed metal from the clutch cover. Ugh. There goes middleweight superbike starting without me (another class I'm top 3 in). Repairs were coming along well when I determined my brakes were beyond repair. The crash was so violent, it bent the banjo bolt and either cracked or bent the lines to the point that they are leaking. UGH! There goes Heavyweight Supersport without me... Feelings of rage, disappointment & frustration clouded my mind as I considered packing up and going home. In the midst of repairs, my son hobbles out to announce Incident #4 "Dad, come quick, Mom pulled her back out!". Great... My wife has a bad back to begin with due to an abnormal spine. She's on the floor of the RV and in terrible pain. After a few hours, we decide a trip to the local E.R. was in order. My racing buddy Johnny Petta was cool enough to (a) loan me his brand new Nissan Titan truck (which is an AWESOME vehicle), and ( continue fixing my bike while we were out. The local ER trip was pretty decent. 2 hrs in & out with a good cocktail of narcotics. We got back to the track in time enough to watch the fireworks display put on by the track for us. This next Incident (#5), didn't involve me directly, but I somehow believe that the track's utter hatred for me caused it to occur. The fireworks display was to remember the 'bombs bursting in air', etc etc. Well, it was all fine and well until a HUGE one went off about 10' above the ground. Sad but comical, we could see the silhouette of the poor guy running away from it as it went off. The laughter stopped when they rolled the ambulance over for him... The show continued a short while later, and low & behold the grand finale went off ON THE GROUND. In an incredible mushroom cloud of smoke, balls of flames peppered by mounds of dirt flying and guys running everywhere. Here's a hot tip. When buying fireworks, look for the 'Made in Taiwan' label! Sunday 7/3: Well, this morning started looking up. A huge thanks goes out to Dean Rumfola, owner of Track Addix, for a loan of a new master cylinder, and to Denny Debuhr for a loan of a set of brake lines. I'm back together enough to race. Heavyweight Supersport: I was gridded on the front row of this race, and a bit nervous about it. I figured I'd just crush everyone into T1 and then I couldn't take anyone out through the T1/T2 combo. The green flag flew and I had a GREAT launch, but it was short lived. Incident #6 was perhaps the most dangerous. About 30' off the line, my bike DIED. This is a racers worst nightmare. Being in FRONT of a large pack of bikes and being stalled. More often than not, it results in getting hit from behind by a bike traveling 40-80 mph faster than you, and a trip to the hospital (if you're lucky). I immediately threw both my hands in the air, waving like mad to warn the riders behind me. They all got around me successfully (thank you GOD!). I moved the bike off the track while the second wave of riders took off, and started it back up to do at least 1 lap to get scored for my last place points. I made my 1 lap, and on the way off of the track, I noticed my right foot again slipping off the rearset becoming "Incident #7". Oh ######, it's covered in oil! In replacing my clutch cover, I failed to check the timing cap, which obviously wasn't tight enough, and it came out, leaving oil to come out in right hand turns. I IMMEDIATELY went to the grid marshall and warned them of possible oil in right hand turns due to this. They called it out, but nobody crashed during this race, so they apparently thought the track was clean. During the next race, 4 people went down which stopped the race. Now, I don't know where or how they went down, but I can't help but thinking it might have been from me. If it was, all I can do is sincerely apologize to everyone, and again, reiterate that I DID inform the officials. We determined that my bike was cutting off due to the way that the bank-angle-sensor was mounted, so we remounted it. We also replaced the timing cap, topped off the oil, and I headed out for the next race. Middleweight Superbike: I started from the back of the grid just to make sure things were all in order for the race. They were, so I finally ran some decent laps at the track. I only picked up a few spots, but at least I got down into the 1:38's, I didn't finish last, and did manage to pick up some points. Middleweight GP: Final race of the weekend, I took my assigned grid spot on row 3, and took off. As we got into T1/T2, I had BAD flashbacks of Saturday AM, so I backed way off and gave everyone else the line. It cost me pretty much the race. I found myself in the back of the pack, running alone. I resigned to just running out my 8 laps and having fun. The grand finale incident #8 would be at almost the last lap of this race, when I came out of the final turn to see the guy I rear-ended the previous day, dead stopped, PERPENDICULAR ACROSS THE TRACK, pushing his bike. He was RIGHT in my line. I stood the bike up, whistled and went around him on the rumble strips at about 80mph. I made it across the line without further incident and called it a weekend. Dean and the Track Addix guys were having another track day on 7/4, I didn't have to work and could have ridden, but like in the Amityville Horror, when the track says "GET OUT!" you really need to listen. Had we stayed another night, I'm sure the track would have claimed one of us. I packed up, mustered enough energy to spit on the God-forsaken asphalt I stood on, gave it a quick final curse and pushed the accelerator down, leaving this comedy of catastrophe behind. We made it about 1/2 way back before sleeping for the night, and finishing the trip on 7/4 without further event. The new deflowered look on the front & right side Wrap-up: Everyone continued to tell me to look on the bright side, and in retrospect, I do see the bright side. I managed to get points for 3 out of 6 races, which is more than those folks who missed the weekend all together. I also managed to leave under my own power, walking & talking, able to race another day. Nobody hit me in my T1/T2 incident, nobody punted me on my starting line incident, Queue didn't need stitches, Jen is getting a little better by the day and the bike will be ready to roll for Blackhawk Farms on 7/16-17. Not to mention that we made it a good long run, with 4 weekends in the books before crashing. That's a definite record for me! This weeks thanks list: * HUGE thanks goes out to Dean Rumfola and the Track Addix crew for putting on a great day on Fri, and the loan of the master cylinder to allow me to race on Sun. * HUGE thanks to Denny for the loan of the brake lines. They worked great. * HUGE thanks out to Johnny & Jessi for loaning me the truck and fixing the bike for me. * HUGE thanks goes out to everyone who avoided me this weekend. * HUGE thanks goes out to Daniel of Solomotoparts.com for a quick turn-around order of new Galfer Superbike lines which will allow us to continue racing in 2 weeks. Race Sponsors... Those of you who paid for races, hang tight and let me run a decent race for you. I just don't feel right in dedicating my weekend's nightmare to any of you. Next race weekend is 7/16-17 at Blackhawk Farms in Rockton, IL.

Indeed Keith. I'm really looking forward to it.

Here's the link: http://www.cbr600rr.com/pages/062605.htm This was a great weekend. A new track, and it was a BLAST. I've noticed something relevant to this board. I managed to do QUITE well at this new track, and I really believe it's because of what I learned in Level I & II last year. Going out, I make a concerted effort to work on PERFECT Throttle Control, Quick Turns, Body positioning and Visual drills. I can't tell you how much this has helped... While I might not be that much faster from last year, I'm doing it MUCH more comfortably than I did before. And (knock on wood) I'm not crashing. Can't wait for level III in Aug. Here's the text for anyone who doesn't want to click the link: 2005 Race Report 4: 6/24-26/05 - Autobahn Country Club (North Course) - Joliet, IL -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "There's Happy. Ridin' the bull, Feelin' the flow." (Happy Gilmore) When the guy in the movie Happy Gilmore whispers that title line to another player, that's exactly what I felt like this weekend. Just a bit more zen in the racing career. Thursday 6/23: We had everything packed up and left a bit late as planned, in an effort to miss the Chicago traffic. We rolled out about 7:00pm, and stopped for supplies along the way. Finding the track proved to be VERY interesting. The directions were not the easiest to follow, and it was pretty much in the middle of nowhere. We rolled in about 11:30, to the PITCH BLACK track (no electricity or lights except to the member buildings) and the gate guard was not going to let us in. I told him that I contacted track staff earlier in the week and they said we would have 24x7 access. He ended up letting us in, but made us stop on the access road instead of pulling all the way in to get setup. No big deal. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday 6/24: We got setup quickly, parking next to my two buddies John & Greg. Fri was just a practice day, and would be much needed as it's a brand new track. The sun began beating down... Today would be a scorcher. One lap around the track: The track is VERY short. 1.46 miles as opposed to the normal 1.9 - 4.0 mile circuits we run. The track is actually broken down into a North & South course which could be joined for a single course of around 4 miles. It's pretty neat. It's also a 'country club' environment where the rich & bored can come and burn tires off their Ferrari's, Porche's and Lamborghini's (yes, we saw all of them on the other course through the weekend) As mentioned, we ran the North course. Here it is. The front straight is not real long, 1237 feet to be exact. My gearing (-1 +4 from stock) had me hitting 5th gear on the straight, dropping 2 gears but no brakes for T1 which is a very slight dip to the left. Coincidentally, T1 is also the braking point for T2 which is a VERY tight decreasing radius roughly 150-degree right hand turn. You have to grab one more downshift between T1&T2. Through T2, downhill grabbing 3rd. Roll off slightly and back on for right hander of T3. Tiny straight, roll off and back on for left hander T4, back on the gas and don't let off for the right hand T5. To the rev-limiter before grabbing the brakes dropping a gear, and going in deep for the next decreasing radius tight right hander of T6. Out of T6 grab 2 gears and then down shift both of them for the left hand T7. A quick shot on the gas followed by a touch of brakes for a tight right hand of T8. At the apex of T8, just open it up and hold it wide through T9, shifting to 3rd in the middle of T9, then through 4th & 5th on the straight before getting back to T1. Practice went well. The gearing choice I made seemed quite well, and I began getting the flow down. It got incredibly hot (95), so I needed to play with tire pressures to regulate heat a bit, and I skipped the last session of the day as I was just too hot. I didn't really know what a good lap time would be. My first session I didn't time, but sessions 2-4, I ran 1:13, 1:11, 1:10 respectively. My goal for race day was to get under the 10's. The fastest guys touched 1:07 in practice. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Saturday 6/25: New tires on. I went out for practice, scrubbed them in and immediately started running 1:08's. Not too bad. I had (yet another) problem with my slipper clutch, so I ended up making some repairs which cost me my 2nd practice, but allowed me to race. HUGE thanks goes out (yet again) to the Lithium Motorsports crew who always seem to have those odd parts you need. Middleweight GP (sponsored by CBRNole): Not sure where my head was, but I was TOTALLY unprepared for the start. The flag flew and I finally woke up and took off. I was gridded on the outside of row 3 and I lost a few spots immediately. Going into T1, that fear in the back of my mind came true. I see out of the corner of my eye, a bike on the inside go down. Its path would be directly into me. I HAMMERED the gas and it missed me. Later, I would find out it was my buddy Ike Anderson (on the bike I built for him), and his bike missed my back wheel by about 3 inches. Head down, I made up a few spots into T2. I immediately went to work and found passing people to be pretty easy! Lap 2 and I'm in 4th place. COOL! Then a couple guys got tangled up and the race was red-flagged. On the restart, my start was JUST as bad. Not sure where my head was here either. Anyhow I began running some very smooth laps for the race, but it turned out not quite good enough to make up the losses. My times were in the mid 1:07's for the entire race. The race was won on a 1:05. I ended up 9th out of about 30 guys. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunday 6/26: Yet another blistering day! Today, the goal was to drop below those 1:07's. Practice went well, running solid 1:07's with room to spare. Heavyweight Supersport: This race was run in memory of the late J.R. Reuland. I work with J.R.'s wife Terry, and J.R. was a fan of racing. He wanted to see me race but our schedules just didn't sync. Late this spring, to the surprise of everyone who knew him and those of us who didn't, J.R. left us. This race was my tribute to him. Going out with a smile on my face, I was gridded on the inside of row 3. Perfect setup for the VERY scary T1. I was now ready for the launch, and my launch showed it. I NAILED the launch and made up a lot of ground into T1 and T2. Head down, I was in 2nd place into T3. I lost a place going through T4, but gained it back when the leader went off in T6. With a slight gap growing between myself and Dan Ortega who now lead the race, Andy Feuersthaler (previous leader who went off in T6) came back on track and got around me again. I tried to hang onto these guys as best I could, but they simply had faster lines which I could not consistently hit. Coming down the front straight on the 3rd or 4th lap, a guy on a 750 (heavyweight bike), blew by my 600 like I was standing still. It was absolutely impressive. I grinned and twisted the throttle giving it everything I could to keep up. I found myself flying faster in the infield than I had ever gone before. Each lap, me smiling more saying 'yeah, we can go faster' and twisting it a bit further. Ultimately, I never did regain that gap on 3rd place and ended up across the line in 4th out of a +20 bike pack. My lap times had now dropped into the low-mid 1:06's. 1 second off the leaders. This race proved to be the most enjoyable of the weekend, held my best finish of the weekend and fastest lap times. J.R., I hope you enjoyed the ride. I sure did. Middleweight Superbike (sponsored by Honiton): With the amount of crashes due to the heat and it being a new track, the races were cut from 8 laps down to 6. This was very welcome change as it was just too hot. However, it brought about an interesting challenge. With 6 laps, there would be fair little time to pass, so the launch was key. My launch was very good. However, I got tangled up in a couple guys who came to a near stand-still in T2. This created a pretty good gap on the leaders. I began running hard and pushing for passes. I ultimately got hung up behind Johnny Moore and Mark Schnettler who are a couple of good guys that I enjoy dicing with. I was faster in the corners, but couldn't make a pass stick without REALLY stuffing them, and I just didn't want to do it and risk taking them out for a single place. Mark was leading Johnny and I could tell he was holding Johnny up. The weakest point was T2 where Mark would slow WAAAAAY down. I figured I could pass between T2 and T3, but I needed a HUGE drive out of T2. I normally ran T2 in 2nd gear, but the drive out just wasn't going to be good enough to make the run on the two of them. I decided to try 1st since I have the slipper clutch to keep things from getting too hairy (right?). Well, I hit 1st and put on quite the show for the crowd. My rear end was wagging back/forth about 2' at a time as I slowed down and tried to get into the corner. I got in the corner and hammered the gas just to have the rear end spin up but provide me NO traction. Zoom-Zoom just like that I lose 2 spots! Doh! Instead of gaining 2, I lost 2. I couldn't make it around the guys who passed me in that final lap, and ended up with 8th place across the line. We packed up pretty quickly, picked up the 4th place wood and headed home, making it home just before dark. Some pics through T1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wrap-up: Another weekend into the record books. I'm really pleased with this weekend. Running a brand new track is tough. New tracks are tough to learn and even tougher to go fast on. I was very pleased to be running VERY close to the fastest times run. It's also nice to have made it through another weekend upright and in tact! Now it's 4 days (3 working nights including the one spent writing this) until we leave for Mid America. I have some clutch work to do on the bike to ensure no further problems occur, and need to change the oil on the RV generator. Never a dull moment I'll tell you :-) This weeks thanks list: Thanks to my sponsors, both individual race sponsors and my full-season sponsors. You make this possible on a recurring basis. Thanks goes out to Rob and the Lithium team for all of your continued support. Without you guys, I'd definitely have missed a few races due to mechanical issues. Big thanks to Jen, Tori & Queue for hanging with me through the heat and being there for me through all this. I also want to thank the leadership and working colleagues of my company, SBC; and my wife's company, Action Powersports for allowing us the flexibility needed for the season. And above all, thanks to God for another fantastic weekend. Sponsoring a race: Many people have asked about sponsoring a race. It's relatively easy and not that expensive. Since the cost of this is absolutely insane, I've made it simple. Donate $20 or more and I'll run a race in your name. If you're up for it, and want a weekend in your name, it's yours for a mere $155. Naturally if you're up for more than that, I'm always willing to work with you and am eternally grateful for your generosity. Donations can be made via cash/check in person or via mail (email me for information), or via paypal to jeff@cbr600rr.com Next race weekend is 7/1-4 at a Mid America Motorplex in Council Bluffs, IA. This will be our first time back since an absolutely miserable weekend of racing in 2002. I look forward to returning and conquering my old demons.

I put in a yoyodyne slipper clutch this year, and have tried both ways. The old, tried and true, one gear at a time, blipping is the absolute best. Dropping 2-3 gears at a time will induce a slide, even with a slipper clutch. However, with a slipper clutch, you can go through the gears MUCH faster, but should still do them one at a time, mating the gears by blipping. If used correctly, you won't even notice the slipper clutch is there. Then at some point when you question why you spent $700-1500 on it, you'll realize that you have NO rear wheel hop, NO rear wheel slide, COMPLETE stability into a corner, and you'll also realize that sometimes you forget what gear you're in as the slipper clutch will really limit the revs to around 10-11k, so you could feasibly shift down into 1st without realizing it (I've done this twice). You need to keep track of shifts

Wrist curls will strengthen your forearms. You want strength in your hands and forearms. As for the legs? Well, anything that exercises them! Start taking the stairs to work instead of the elevator. Park in the back lot, not as close as you can find. Just about anything that exercises the legs. You don't need to get real complicated or have a bunch of machinery to tone up. Simple squats going down & back up with your own weight will work very well, and are probably better for you than weights as it's a lower impact to your knees. People are surprised that when doing simple squats (touch your rear to your heels and then stand back up straight), they can't do as many as they thought. It's a real eye-opener as to how much strength you do/don't have... Oh, I almost forgot a BIG KEY for you here. Before you get on the bike, STRETCH STRETCH AND STRETCH SOME MORE! Legs, arms, neck, fingers, calves, thighs, groin, all of it... You'll feel so much better during the race/practice.

Squid, I ran grattan last year and liked the challenge of it, but hated the surface... THe layout was too great. If it was repaved completely, it would be a fantastic track. Until then, I'll pass... Blind corners are the absolute best. Why? Because they FORCE you to use a reference point, every single time, no cheating, no sneaking. Now if I could just pretend ALL corners were blind.....

I think the list of replies pretty much covers it. Things like trail braking, rear braking, shifting to the apex, backing it in, etc are all pieces which can be used quite effectively, but the overwhelming majority of people aren't even close to mastering the simple basics of Throttle Control, Braking, Turning and body positioning, so this just screws them up. People who try to master a very advanced technique (backing it in for example) before mastering the basics are just asking for trouble. I've never used the rear brake on the track, and would only consider it if my front brake lever fell off or something. But that's just me... The concept of settling the bike by use of the rear brake is a great one. Put a bike on the dyno, give it a handful of gas and watch the rear shock extend to topping out. Touch the rear brake and watch it suck back down. It's VERY interesting and a compelling reason to use the rear brake. However, for most people, it's just too large of a gamble. I've got many more things to master before I move to the rear brake.

I ran into a couple of you guys. Will was the only one I recognized off the bat. I was surprised that he remembered me. "oh yeah, you're the CBR guy"... I'll be at Autobahn, taking class on 8/2, but since I race in Michigan on the 7/29-31 weekend, I'll probably come straight down vice going back home, so I'll be around on 8/1 with nothing to do. If you guys need a corner worker, or whatever, let me know. I can lend a hand... I'm on the 'bump' list to try and get in to 8/1, but no cancelations so far...

If you've ever been to a gym and used a "Mountain Climber" type machine, this is the exact same concept on the bike.

Try this. Find a section of road with some twisties. Don't worry, you're not going to get nailed by the cops as you should be AT or right around the speed limit. Start adjusting your damping settings, one at a time. Suspension is always adjusted from full hard back out, and once you get past about 2 turns, there's no noticeable change. Adjust your compression full hard in the front - ride the twisties Now go full soft (out about 2-3 turns) - ride them again Put it back at the setting it was originally at, and do the same with the rebound. Then do the rear. You should be somewhere around .5 turns out to 1.5 turns out on everything. Any more than that and you really need your suspension worked on. Feeling what happens is far better than me trying to describe it. Again, with this, you're not trying to break any landspeed records, but rather, you're trying to understand and pay attention to exactly what's changing about the bikes handling. Above all, don't be afraid to twist the knobs. Just take a pen and little notebook to write where things were at and how it felt when you changed it. In the end, you'll probably end up setting your damping different from when you started, and your bike will feel better...

Keep working at it. It doesn't come over night and it's not the easiest of things to do, but it is one of the most rewarding things I've found...

I thought it was in TOTWII, but as mentioned by "correct me if I'm wrong", I wasn't sure... If the book says a later entry point, then that's correct. However, there will always be exceptions to it. I've been through MANY decreasing radius turns which you must get through the first turn to execute the second...

You should be able to transfer weight between your legs without using your hands. If you need them, use them. In the gym, I'd recommend using: Recumbent bike - Cardio and leg workout Front leg curls Squats/leg press wrist curls or anything to get your hands/forearms in shape. Seriously, this will make a HUGE difference. I have this hunk of silicone that I got from a local rock climbing place. I've gone through 2 of them in the last 3 years as they break down eventually. It's stiff as hell, and I squeeze it probably 500-1000 times per day per hand (M-F). I do it while at work on conference calls, and in meetings. I also use 10lb ankle weights where I do leg lifts under the desk all day long... Upperbody strength... well, I've found that tricep strength is a HUGE benefit, as is shoulder strength. Really, there's nothing you can really afford to neglect as it all works in a package deal. However, I'd tell you to start with things you can do around the house or all day long at work, such as the hands and legs as mentioned above. Alternatively, a few hours on a good dirt bike will do the trick 2-4x per week...

Level II and III is your answer (and it'll fix that crossed-up body position too!) You are correct in your practice, by 'locking' yourself into the bike using the outside foot/leg/knee.

Re: Fitness. Squat down with your butt about 14" off the floor. Transfer weight from one leg to both legs to the other leg, and back. Repeat 240 times. You've just completed an average 8 lap race. Grab a squishy ball or other medium consistency item. Squeeze it 500x left hand and 250x right hand. There, you've completed an 8 lap race. If you can't make it through either of those, you've got some work to do... An 8 lap race will take about 15 minutes of SOLID exercise from the upper and lower body. A bit of strength, especially in the hands/arms and upper legs are key, as well as moderate endurance abilities. I brake so hard that I blister my hands each season until large callouses form (well, now the callouses are thick enough that I don't blister, but I do wear out the palms of my gloves). There is a LOT of force required for racing.

You're getting lost in the terminology. Countersteering is a fact. If you're steering the bike, you can't 'not' countersteer. If your line is bad due to speed/entry/whatever, you will have no choice but to make some sort of correction. The problem with coming into a corner too hot is that it compounds the errors you're going to make. When people come in too hot, typically they turn WAY too early because their brain tells them to, and they screw up the exit terribly which requires additional lean angle and steering inputs. A decreasing radius turn only makes the situation worse yet. Decreasing radius turns (Keith, correct me if I'm wrong as I don't have the material in front of me, but I'm going off what I personally do) will most often times require 2 turn points. One on the way in, and one at the second 'turn' (the decreasing radius part). There are times when you can ride a line and make one turn out of the 2 turn decreasing radius, but it really depends on the turn setup. To answer your question, no, you should not be making additional steering inputs once you're in a turn. However, there are obviously exceptions to this. If the corner tightens, you will need to adjust. If you blow the entrance or apex, you may need to adjust. Steering changes while leaned are quite possible, but can have very undesirable results when poorly executed (read - no throttle control, too much lean angle, braking, moving around on the bike). I'm not sure if I helped you here or confused you... Let me know...

http://www.cbr600rr.com/pages/052905.htm Although I did not mention it in the race report (just didn't think about it), I'll tell you that if it were NOT for what I learned in Keith's books and schools, I would have never managed a podium in the rain... Be smooth people (here's the text for those too lazy to click) 2005 Race Report 3: 5/28-29/05 - Blackhawk Farms - Rockton, IL On the podium, soaking wet! What a great weekend of racing, this long 3 day holiday weekend. We made it to the track Friday night about 5:30, just to find that someone moved into our favorite pit spot. In the last 6 years of racing, nobody parks on what I term "the island" down by pit out, but since I've been parking there starting late last year, it has become increasingly popular. Oh well, such is life. I drove around for 15 mins or so, trying to find a spot large enough to accommodate the 57' rig, and finally found a suitable spot to get set up just as the rain set in. Setting up in the rain is a beautiful thing as it no longer means getting wet (although I do get soaked once a month when I write the check to pay for this thing, but hey, I'm not complaining). Saturday 5/28: The weather looked 'iffy' at best today with it being very overcast, but still fairly warm. I ran a couple rounds of practice and some sprinkles of rain started coming down. Still not sure what the weather was going to do, I mounted up the rain tires on the spare wheels just in case. Middleweight GP - sponsored by: SolidForce The rain held off, so I went out on DOTs. I was surprised to be gridded back on the 4th row as I had pre-entered 2 weeks prior and hoped for 2nd row. I nailed a pretty good launch and was in the lead pack of 5 out of T1. I held this position for a couple laps and got picked off by a faster guy from the back. Drama-time! Coming into T6 (tight, 2nd gear right hander), I throw the bike in, I'm completely committed to the line, almost to the apex of the corner when I see a bike completely upright bearing down on me. This guy is coming at me with pretty much no hope in hell of making the corner. I pick my bike up to give him a foot of room to figure out what he's gonna do, and then re-turn the bike through the corner, giving him a single finger good-bye wave on the way out of the turn. Later on I found out this fellow was a racer years ago on GP bikes (which weigh about 1/2 that of a 600cc inline four which he was on in this race). Apparently nobody told him that you can't push an inline 4 to the #2 brake marker and throw them into a corner like you can a GP bike. Head down and I continued the race. I held in 6th for about 1/2 the race until I made 2 tiny mistakes, each time costing me 2 spots. I really hate how critical perfection is and how EVERY mistake results in 2 places. I crossed the flag in 10th which was still a few spots better than I started. Sunday 5/29: My Mom & Dad showed up to watch me race, which is always a treat. The added bonus was that we were in for rain today. 2 rounds of semi-dry practice and then the rain set in. We threw on the rain tires and I donned my "crash gear" (old leathers, gloves, etc) and prepared to do battle. I love racing in the rain. It's a comedy of errors, and survival of the fittest. You go out and wait for everyone else to fall down, and hope you're not one of them. Being perfectly smooth is the key to success (well, that and a few other secrets I'll hold close). Heavyweight Supersport - sponsored by: 600DubRizzle This is gonna be fun! I'm surprised that about 20 guys actually show up for this race. Racing against bikes with HIGH horsepower on a wet track, I feel I have such an unfair advantage running my middleweight bike. I head to my grid spot on row 3, and notice it's under a tree and almost perfectly dry. This is good... I NAIL the launch and make it up into T1 where everybody parks on the brakes. Out of T1, the comedy begins with a highside on my left and a front end tuck on my right. Bikes are spinning around the track and riders are everywhere. I manage to avoid the carnage, but lose a few spots in the process. I start picking people back off and working my way up, and the race gets red-flagged for a bike & rider on the track (the non-upright kind). Restart from original grid positions. WHEW! I was praying they wouldn't call the race. In fact, we got 7 laps out of this restart. 2nd start, I nailed it harder than the 1st, and did well. I was 3rd through T1 and right on the 1&2 guys. By T3, another rider slipped in front of me, and I spent a miserable 3 laps trying to get around him. All the while, watching the 1st & 2nd place riders increase the gap. I FINALLY got around him, and really picked up the pace (which was paltry, but hey, you only need to go faster than everybody else, and that's what I was doing). I was closing the gap on the #1&2 guys who were right together, but I ran out of laps before I could completely catch them. WOOHOO!!! 1st podium finish this year! The rain continues on & off through the day, and then stops about 2 races before my last race. Middleweight Superbike - sponsored by: Rjh200 I've still got wets on, and the track is drying rapidly. This is not really good. In the dry, rain tires will shred off in about 1-2 laps. And the half-and-half traction of wet/dry is REALLY miserable (listen to me make excuses). A pretty big grid of +20 bikes, and I'm in the middle of row 4. I launch, still unsure of traction, and through T1, the bikes all start sliding around as people get on the gas. I wait it out to see who will fall. Bad gamble. Nobody falls, so I lose spots. As I pass and get passed, I'm watching people everywhere breaking loose their rear tires as they touch the gas. I get into my full-wet riding mode, but it's just too dry to ride this way. Yet I still don't have the confidence to ride full-dry. Pushing a little harder each lap, I get into a groove, but don't manage any barn-burner laps such as the leaders did. Across the flag in 10th, right where I started. Monday was a holiday that we didn't have to work or do anything, and the track was having a practice day, so we decided to hang out, and maybe ride. I'm not really big on track days, but I stayed to help out if nothing else. My pit buddy Johnny Petta had only one set of wheels and there were rains mounted on them. He was intending to wait until later on Sunday night to have them changed, but that's about the time the tire guys packed up and LEFT. We broke out the irons and went old-school and changed them ourselves in about 30 mins. Monday morning rolled around and the sun was bright without a cloud in the sky. I figured I'd go out and run a few laps, so I signed up. I ended up running 5 sessions out of 6 and had an absolute blast! I worked on a LOT of stuff that has been problematic for me. I didn't break any records, but ran 15's and 16's very comfortably when I was getting on it a bit. I really haven't had that much fun in a LONG time. I didn't get any race shots, but CLICK HERE to see pics from the practice day Wrap-up: 3 weekends in a row on the new bike and I'm still being impressed by it at every corner, straight and spot in between. The bridgestones are turning out to be a fantastic move, as is the slipper clutch, quickshifter, suspension work and just about everything else on the bike. Since the Thanks list gets somewhat routine, I just want to give a HUGE thanks to EVERYONE and EVERYTHING out there who plays a part. Your donations & contributions, words of encouragement, helping hands, enthusiasm & interest all play a HUGE part of our success in this. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Sponsoring a race: Many people have asked about sponsoring a race. It's relatively easy and not that expensive. Since the cost of this is absolutely insane, I've made it simple. Donate $20 or more and I'll run a race in your name. If you're up for it, and want a weekend in your name, it's yours for a mere $155. Naturally if you're up for more than that, I'm always willing to work with you and am eternally grateful for your generosity. Donations can be made via cash/check in person or via mail (email me for information), or via paypal to jeff@cbr600rr.com Next race weekend is 6/24-26 at a BRAND NEW track! Autobahn Country Club - www.autobahncountryclub.net in Joliet, IL. We will be running the North course for the FIRST time. Should be a good time! Come on out and watch!

Just follow the instructions sent to you regarding bike prep. Bring 1-2 5 gal cans of gas, some shade, some snacks & drinks. Relax & have fun... or you could come down with the flu so I could get in! (called late and they were booked so I'm going to Autobahn now)

Switch tires... Enough people do it and the tire mfr will look into the problem...

Talk to your tire vendor and hire a suspension tuner. The newest michelins run on CRAZY low pressures. I don't know what the bar to psi conversion is (and I'm too lazy to seach it out right now), but the new michelins are running on like low 20 PSI's. I don't know exactly what the pressure is as I don't run them, but I race with multiple people who do. They were all shocked as well. Aside from that, look at your suspension. I've never seen a front tire shag. Rear's yes, but never a front... So I don't really know what to tell you... Sorry...

Yes, I've found great improvements as I relax and my confidence increases. It's much easier to do things right at that point. My personal issue is consistently relaxing and having faith/confidence...

I had a similar experience last year going through the 2 day camp. What I'm coming to realize is that I'm using old reference points and old techniques. This is especially present on the tracks I run most often. While I may be doing the right things, I'm not upping the pace to go with it. You really need to relax and stop worrying about times. Cover your lap timer, and ride. Get to FEEL things and be POSITIVE, not focusing on all the negatives of the ride. Faith and Confidence are pieces which you're missing (me too for that matter). You know what to do, you know it is right, you know you can do it all faster, but you still FEEL like something is gonna go wrong. This is based on the past experiences of crashing/sliding/etc which instill the fear inside you/me which limits us. It's a mental game, not physical... work on your head, the rest will follow...

http://www.cbr600rr.com/pages/050805.htm It was a good weekend... Looking forward to many more.

My pleasure. Glad it worked out for you...