JeF4y

Recumbent bike, Excercise equipment (looking at some more today) and RIDING... I went out again yesterday and I'm so sore I can barely move today... Ice racing on GOOD tires with a strong 4 stroke is extremely close to being on pavement with an inline 4 600... hehe... here's where I crashed. That cloud of snow would be from me... 8) I'm 2nd from the left.

Jack, regardless of the status, if you ride with the mindset that you'll *NEVER* give up on the bike, the bike can and WILL amaze you time and time again. If you slide the front and say "well, game over" and go down, you miss the possibility that you could have saved the bike and yourself from an expensive and painful experience. Standing the bike up and running off a corner is the same concept. There are times when you simply have to do it as there's nothing left to do, but this should be a 'crash' option. Stand the bike up figuring you're going to crash and that it might be less damage/pain. If you try to make it through a corner and crash, you know you exceeded the limits. If you stand it up and crash, you have no idea what you exceeded other than your own mental capacity to process the situation you were in. If you haven't read it already, pick up TOTW-II and read it. It can change your whole perspective on things. Also, if your track buddies get in that scenario, their chances of saving it either way may be very slim based on experience. It takes a lot of time, experience and some crashing to get reactions engrained into one's brain...

I say 'never give up on the bike'. I've saved a large number of potential lowsides. Of course, when both wheels are off the ground, there's fair little that can be done, and you call it a race at that point. But still. I also understand your logic/reasoning on the highside. One extremely memorable event which I actually made it through was at Blackhawk farms a couple years ago. I was in 2nd place, coming into the last turn right on the tail of the leader. I backed off to get a better run through the corner than him and beat him to the line. In the corner, I started sliding the front, so I got on the gas hard and the rear started sliding. At this point, I was low enough that I had both wheels sliding and I hit the footpeg. When I did, the whole bike basically highsided, but stood STRAIGHT up. I looked up and was pointed at the finish line, so head down I ran in for 2nd. Had I given up on the bike, I'd have been down in 7 with no chance. But with some luck and an attempt at keeping the thing moving, I made it across the line in 2nd place... If that's the scenario you wouldn't save, I'd say you're giving up too soon. However, as mentioned, when you AND the bike are sliding, there's not much left to do but calculate the repair bill IMHO...

Keith, From a racer's perspective only... This topic lends me to the question on the use/validity/necessity of a slipper clutch. On corners where I have to go through 2+ downshifts, I feel that I'm losing time because it takes me too long to get through the downshifts. Perhaps it's that I'm not braking aggressively enough to get through multiple downshifts quicker without rear-end chatter, but that's what I'm experiencing and want to resolve. In these such corners, I end up with the feeling that if I were to push my brake marker further into the corner, I could not get through the 2-3 (or sometimes 4) downshifts quick enough to have the bike settled by the time I execute the turn. A slipper clutch would provide me the ability to bang down 2,3 or 4 gears in a single manuever, which in my logical thinking would save me some time (hey, we're seeking tenths & hundredths of a second here). Any thoughts or comments?

I'll read the braking thread after I comment on this (and then probably change my opinion LOL). Trail braking is simply 'trailing' the brake INTO the corner. Staying on the brakes while turning is trail braking. The concept of braking while on the gas from my perspective is EXTREMELY dangerous. I've done it accidentally a number of times and it leads to extremely undesirable results. Like, "I'd rather have my front wheel fall off at speed" type undesirable... The rear end climbs WAY high, while the front end compresses too far. When either hits the limits, you fall, or come damned close to it. There is no positive result I could imagine in holding on the throttle while braking... (these are my opinions.. from a guy who does not touch the rear brake, and has been racing for a good number of years.)

Reprinted without permission (but since it's Keith's text on Keith's forum I'm hoping it's okay)... The Fine Art of Braking By survey 100% of over 10,000 riders agree on this point: they know that if they possessed the ability and skill to get their turn entry speeds consistently right, their confidence would soar; they would feel more in control; they would be faster and they would be smoother. Here is more on why you might want to master that ability. Coasting Races In the mid ?70's I was introduced to an amazing form of ?racing?. Four or five of us would get together at the top of one of our favorite So Cal canyon descents; turn off the engines; line up across the road; heckle each other; count to three; pick up our feet without pushing off any more than was necessary to get moving and laugh and yell out insults to one another all the way down to the bottom. Most of the runs were a couple of miles long with lots of turns. That?s a coasting race. The rider who coasted the farthest and fastest (they were usually the same rider) ?won?. There weren?t any tricks, equipment mattered little, it was all you. Well, I did have one little trick--pushing the pads back into my front caliper to eliminate the pad drag. The camaraderie was elevated enormously by the fact that, unlike our usual canyon rides we could, for the most part, communicate throughout the descent. It was such a delight. Even when it went wrong and someone crashed (like me) I still have fond memories and get a warm sensation when recalling it. Strategy of Coasting Races On the technical side of things: I was immediately impressed with several aspects of this form of entertainment and a couple of those points were indelibly printed in my memory and became a part of the school over 20 years ago. The simple trick to winning a coasting race is the obvious, the rider who could maintain his momentum by using his brakes the least generally would prevail. Doing an entire run down some of the steeper roads with little or no braking took as much or more mental grip than doing it with them, this became immediately apparent in the first semi tight corner you came to. Unwilling to give up the momentum yet afraid of the speed which had accumulated, your focus and interest became laser sharp. Sure your hand would be poised over the lever and sure it took some supreme acts of willpower to keep from using brakes and sure you would make errors and have to use them but you also paid closer attention to the speeds than you normally would. The reduction of distractions like engine noise and gear changes and throttle and charging the corners with hard braking were all eliminated and it allowed you to make much finer estimates of your corner entry speeds and maintain that precious momentum. Low Noise, High Speeds After my first coasting race I realized I never would have gone through those turns as fast as I had done with no engine running, no charging and, for the most part, no brakes. It made me realize just how distracting those things really were and just how much of my attention they absorbed. One of the things I continually notice when I watch students is how erratic their turn entry speeds are. It comes from the idea they have to charge the corners and brake hard but they tend to over-brake and foul up their entry and corner speed momentum. Has this ever happened to you?. Low Speeds, Quick Times As I was driving up to Laguna Seca to do a school one day I realized that if anyone was going to overcome this self generated confusion from over-braking, the quickest route to that was riding no brakes. Once I got to the track I tried it out and rediscovered what I?d already figured out before from the coasting races, I went faster into the turns, my speed sense and judgement became sharper, I worried less about my entry speed and found that getting back to the throttle earlier was significantly easier. I thought it would be worthwhile to have the students try it out. While it is true that some tracks lend themselves to this form of sharpening your riding skills better than others, I did begin to notice a trend at different tracks. The riders who stuck with the no brakes, even after we officially switched back to using them, made more improvement in their speed and confidence than those who were ?testing? our brake pad material by charging the turns. Ignore the Instincts It?s almost as if riders feel obligated to charge turns. It?s the idea that you will go faster because of it and seems such a simple and direct route to that end but rarely works. The instinct to brake late and hard is like clubbing a female and taking her for your wife. Great plan but it isn?t going to work. I have observed many truly diligent riders who ignored the instinct and stayed with the No Brakes format knocking off seconds from their lap times even compared to when they were using the brakes. To top it off they were achieving their quicker times with only one or two gears instead of the usual thrashing through the gear box. They might be going 20 mph slower on the straights but one should pay attention to the results (improved lap times and corner speed) not your impulse to go fast on the straights. As I have said a thousand times, the brakes become more of a crutch than a tool for most riders. Someone always whines about the no-brakes riding format at school. Well, crutches are notoriously hard to put down aren?t they? Riders claim it is difficult (of course it is), that they could go faster with them (faster down the straight away, yes); that they ?had? to use them (the crutch again) and on and on. What these riders don?t realize is how satisfying it is to persevere at the exercise until you really get it, so you really can judge your entry speeds and really know you can do it. Very, very satisfying. Very, very big contribution to your riding confidence. Very! The Basic Idea The logic is flawless. Using or not using the brakes is irrelevant to the intended result of getting into the corner at the exact right speed. One either knows what that right speed is and can achieve it or they are guessing. If they are guessing they are paying more attention to it than they should have to. Guessing brings about inaccurate braking, inaccurate braking brings about rough and uncertain turn entries. Trail Braking Trail braking is a valid and useful tool for any rider at any level of riding. The warning is this: when used too often, or as a crutch to calm the fear brought on by the inability to sense speeds accurately, it not only doesn?t solve the source of the problem it makes it worse. As the pilot you must make the decision on when to let off of the brake(s). It is a complicated little piece of work with all of the other usual distractions you encounter at the turn?s entry, e.g., setting the lean, getting the line and feeling the traction. Bottom line?if you are trailing the brakes towards a well known, accurately understood speed it is a tool. Otherwise it tends to become a crutch and invites riders to ?charge? the turns, low line them, leave the throttle till late and make tricky and sometimes dangerous mid-corner steering corrections all of which could be avoided with accurate turn entry speed sensing and setting. Panic Crutch In contrast to that I see many riders who feel compelled to stab at their brakes in the last moments before entering a corner. While watching them do it, the only conclusion you can come to is that the speed was a big surprise; all of a sudden they become aware of it and it seemed too fast. This is an obvious error. They aren?t using the brake to adjust anything except their fear. In either of the above cases, an accurate sense of speed opens the door to confidence. Results Then and Now The essence and final result of any brake release for cornering remains what I said in 1980 in my first Superbike School lecture and on page 64 of the first ?A Twist fo the Wrist? book in 1982: To set the speed of the bike correctly for that place on the track (or road) so that no further changes are necessary. In other words, you get it right. Not too fast, not too slow. Braking itself is an art within the art of cornering. Your sense-of-speed is the underlying resource you have to get it right. As an exercise, no brakes riding will help improve your sense-of-speed. Do no-brakes whenever you have the opportunity and see what happens to your sense of speed and see what happens to your riding. The best part is that once you have combined a good sense of speed with the other basic skills of cornering it all begins to come together. I hope we get the chance to help sometime this year.

It's pushing, plain and simple. Leaning is a by-product, and should be done, but the push is needed to initiate the turn. No push, no turn... As for riding with others and the thought that you can't learn if you can't see the guy, that's not really true. You learn more going slow than you do going fast. If you're going fast, you have too much on your mind and there are too many things to process at once and you'll get in trouble. Additionally, going slower builds understanding and confidence which also carries into the amount of fun you'll have and the amount of speed you'll build up to. Read Keith's article about 'no-brakes' (just looked for it and I can't find it. Keith, help me out here! - or I'll find it tomorrow in my archives). Pick up TOTW-II, read it and practice it. Read it again... Once more... You'll gain speed, confidence and be safer all along... Then go to one of the schools!

absolutely true (this will not heat up tires). If you want to get heat in your tires, accellerate HARD, brake HARD. Weaving does absolutely nothing to heat up your tires. When you see people on TV doing it, they're cleaning the rubber balls off the mid section of the tire. Used tire warmers are around $200-250. A set of new PDI tirewarmers (www.tirewarmers.com - tell Jim I sent you over) is $300. Tire warmers were something I "couldn't afford" when I started racing... Race weekend 1 I crashed on cold tires. $300 for tire warmers + $450 in crash damage... Expensive lesson don't you think?

I believe there is some school out there (not sure which one) that REALLY works braking. I brought this up to Keith and had discussions on braking many times with him and others. The bottom line is that if you don't understand your cornering capabilities and know the corner speed which can be carried, braking will do you fine little good (same as HP). Braking will change from lap to lap, corner to corner, based on surface, surroundings, fatigue, etc. What is key though is knowing how much is enough. There are many times when I will find myself incorrectly braking too early. When I do, I will LET OFF early too, and accellerate THROUGH the corner, making note of where I started braking and pushing that point up further and further until I get it right. The throttle is the most abused input on the bike. Learn throttle control, and braking will follow. Just my $.02 based on 25 years of riding, 5 years of racing and well over $100k invested in "going faster".

Been there, done that (multiple times)... Most recently, this last year, 4 days before I was to take the 2-day camp at my home track, I washed the front end in a turn and went head first into a tire wall at about 60mph. I thought I broke my neck for a while, but only compressed C4-C5 vertebrae in my neck. In the course of the school, I understood more and more about why I crashed which raised my confidence a lot. In the end, time and understanding will be the key to overcoming your barrier. There is no quick answer. Fear is a killer here and does MANY bad things. Fear will slow your lap times down while increasing your errors and can easily attribute to MORE crashes. Classic instance/mistake. A person crashes in corner X. They come back out and going into corner X from then on, they start turning earlier because it "feels safer". Well, it's not safer and in fact is MORE DANGEROUS since it screws up your exit and requires more lean angle and mid-corner corrections. I am no professional instructor, but understand enough to see MANY mistakes with my fellow racers. I see them and do my best not to repeat them myself. What I do to overcome some of it is literally speak outloud to myself on the track. "DO NOT TURN IN EARLY - WATCH YOUR ENTRY POINT - WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, TURN - RELAX RELAX RELAX" Above ALL, you need to relax and get back to having fun. I get on the track and sing stupid Spongebob Squarepants songs which make me laugh. My lap times drop... Understand that it's counter-logic you're working with. The harder you try, the slower you will go, and this I will guarantee you.....

I went through some of the same, and overcame it when my buddy came up to me, slapped me in the back of the head and said "dude, you need to relax, have fun and stop trying so damned hard". I went back out with NO expectations and LITERALLY dropped 4 seconds.

Link: http://www.cbr600rr.com/pages/080104.htm Text: Race Report 6: 07/31 - 08/01 - Gingerman Raceway - South Haven, MI Stop thinking so much, Have FUN! These simple words were worth an unbelievable 6 seconds on Saturday. With much anticipation, high expectations, and a touch of nerves, we headed up to Gingerman Raceway in South Haven, MI. Gingerman is my absolute favorite track. I've always liked it, and every single race I've ever entered at Gingerman, I've gotten wood in (5th place or better). We got to the track around 9:30 EDT (losing an hour coming from CDT). We set up, and I changed the rear tire on the bike for an older (practice only) tire. Gingerman chews up tires easily, so I wanted to conserve the best rubber for race day on Sunday. In changing tires, I realized that my rear Vortex sprocket was looking really bad. Knowing that Gingerman is a much slower, more technical track, I had a lot of room to change gearing. I went with a rather aggressive 15:46 combination. We turned in around 1:00am, but for whatever reason I just couldn't sleep. I managed a few hours of light sleep before getting up at 7:00 for practice. Sat 7/31: Today was nothing but practice. I went out in the first 2 sessions with no expectations other than to get back on the track, try out the new gearing and pick up my reference points again. I was VERY surprised to see that I was running consistent 1:34's. This is surprising since my official lap record was in the 1:30's, and I really wasn't trying to be fast. During the 3rd session, my teammate Anthony Connor wanted to follow me around. With that in mind, I figured I'd wick it up and run some 31's. Well, the harder I tried, the slower I went! I was mentally shot, running HARD and with much effort, I was clicking off horrific 36's & 37's. Unreal... I came back in and met up with my buddy Ike who came up to pit for me this weekend. I talked to him and explained my frustrations. He sat me down and got my head screwed on straight. "Stop thinking about everything so much, and just go out and ride! Have fun! You love this track, and the bike is perfect. Go ride it". I went back out and immediately started running 32's & 31's. The truth continues to be that 90% of racing is between the ears... I know what I'm doing, and how to do it. I just needed to stop trying and go ride. After wrapping up a good day of practice, I had Ike put on a different rear tire for Sunday races, and we had dinner & turned in early. Sunday 8/1: I was quite surprised to see as many people as I did at the track, and as many BIG names. Then I found out that it was a Yamaha money weekend, so all the high-end cherry-pickers showed up for payday. Placing this weekend will be difficult... Race 1 - Heavyweight Supersport. I was on the outside of the second row for this race, which is a good starting spot. It lined me up perfect for the left hand turn 1. My launch was great. The gearing selected for this track had me with my front tire about 2' off the ground all the way until I dropped off the gas for T1. I don't like to wheelie off the start as it's not very efficient, but so long as I didn't have to chop the throttle to bring it down, I was okay with it. Head down, I was running hard. The first few guys disappeared within a couple laps. I found myself surprisingly, running right on the tail of my fellow cbr600rr racer, Stumpy. Stumpy has been faster than me all year, so I was surprised to be this close, and realize I could get around him with any mistake he'd make. Around lap 4, I saw his mistake coming. He chose an outside line around a lapper, and got hung up. I took the inside around the both of them, head down and tried to run away the best I could. I knew he was right on my tail and any mistake I'd make would cost me a spot. I ran hard and smooth. Then coming up on the white flag, I repeated Stumpy's mistake by taking a bad line around a lapper. As soon as I committed to the line, I realize I was going to lose a place. I was cussing in my helmet as Stumpy came around us on the inside. Although I couldn't see, I know he was grinning as he went around me. I got past the lapper and back on Stumpy's tail. Through the white flag, I ran into turn 1, and my teammate Anthony Connor came flying past me into T1 like he lost his brakes. God only knows how he made those tires stick through the turn, but they held, and I was close on him trying desperately to find a place to pass. In T2, the large uphill sweeping right, I tried, but couldn't get past. I then went after him in T3. Coming in hot, I was RIGHT on top of him. I got on the gas early to get him on the exit, and the power came on a little too much, too soon. Giving the crowd something to gasp about, I slide the rear end out by about 2 feet. I thought I was going off the high-side for a moment, but managed to stand the bike up just enough to regain traction. It was momentum lost though, which cost me a couple tenths of a second, putting 4-5 bike lengths between Stumpy, Anto & Myself. Head down, I did my best to close the gap, but simply couldn't. Across the finish line, I wasn't sure where I ended up, but was surprised to hear I finished 5th. This was cool, since it meant I had run a majority of this race in 3rd place! It was also the first wood of the weekend, and first wood of the SEASON for that matter! Off the bike, I took a look at the rear tire and realized that it would last one more race, but not two. Being as how my next two races were only separated by about 10 minutes, I opted to change the rear early versus between the two races. Ike grabbed the tools, and swapped tires yet again. Race 2 - Unlimited Supersport: Starting again on Row 2, I ended up in the middle of a melee in T1 which put a couple of riders in the grass and a slowed EVERYONE down. This REALLY stunk because it gapped the first group of riders from the rest of us. I started running really good lap times, and began dicing with #690 Simon Kowalski on his GSXR-750. I could get around him pretty easily through the turn 8-9 combo, but he would get back around me in either T11 or T1. We traded places for a few laps. Late in the race, he held a VERY tight line through the inside of turn 9 which was one of my favorite passing spots. His line though was TOO tight, to the point that his knee clipped an orange cone which promptly flipped up and smacked right into my face shield. In turn, I filled my shorts and gave up a few bike lengths while getting reoriented. I managed a 9th place in this race, which wasn't great, but all things considered, it was okay by me. Race 3 - Middleweight Supersport: This class is the most competitive of them all, and the fastest of the bunch were out to land the substantial purses for this race. The launch was about all I saw of the leaders. They were FLYING (within a few tenths of a second from the lap record). In this race, I began having problems with my lines in turn 2. The exit of this turn can be REAL rough if you don't get the line right, and once you screw it up, you begin thinking about what you're doing which has this whole domino effect on everything you do in the turn on the subsequent laps. A little more than 1/2 way through the race, I was coming through T2 and blew it. On the exit, my team mate Anto Connor came by the inside of me, but his line had 2 of us on the same pavement at the same time. Here's the dilemma... If I let off the gas, I crash. If I don't, I hit him and we both crash... Well, I figured, there might be a slight chance one of us would stay up, so I stayed hammered on the gas and clenched my teeth waiting for impact. His rear tire came out in front of mine, and I don't know HOW we didn't touch. We had to have been within 1-2 inches. When we were both upright, he gave that little wave of "sorry dude" which I accepted and we continued the race. I returned the favor, showing him wheel in a couple corners throughout the rest of the race, but I couldn't make it stick to the point of getting around him, and I didn't want to take us both out so I settled in behind him for the finish in 10th place. Wrap-up: I relearned a lot this weekend, and I feel very good about it. Racing is this huge roller-coaster where you're up and down repeatedly. I'm on the upswing now and look forward to continuing it. It just took the "reset" of remembering that I'm doing this because I LOVE it and it is FUN. Not for anything else. My goal for the weekend was to run consistent 29's, and I was pretty close, running consistent 30's, and occasional 29's. However, my laps were fast and consistent, so I'll take them as success. Plus, for ONCE, I made it through a weekend without crashing. Yet another success story! I landed my first wood of the season this year, and although I didn't land wood in all 3 classes, I still managed one and held top 10 for the other two races. In all, this was my best and most enjoyable weekend this season. I look forward to the remaining 3 weekends to be just as exhilarating. This week, I need to give out a special thanks to: Ike Anderson - Thanks for coming out to lend a hand, it was really appreciated. My wife Jennifer - Thanks for keeping my tires warm & helping out with everything! Mitch the Dunlop guy - Thanks for the quick change of the rear tire when I least expected it. And again, thanks to YOU, the fans, friends & family who cheer me on whether I'm doing good or bad.

Well, first off I'd say if you're fearing this speed on the street, you SHOULD be scared. Now, if you're taking it to the track, you should have your speedo taped over so that you have no concept of your speed. From there, it's just a matter of forgetting the speed and looking at what you are doing. You go through a corner. You have plenty of time to do everything and it goes effortlessly. Perhaps you could carry a bit more speed, so you do so next time. And so on and so on... Again, if you're balls out on the public roadways, you have much to fear. Fear police, fear sand, fear oil, fear little old ladies backing out of a driveway, fear the curbs, fear the telephone poles, fear the guardrails, fear the fact that you're doing something stupid.

Ugh... I just went through 5 pages of this exact topic on my forum... http://www.cbr600rr.com/forum/index.php?bo...y;threadid=5154

I'll still say that if your quick turning ability exceeds your throttle control ability OR body position, you will crash... Just my $.02...

Thanks. Yep, I packed it up and skipped the races that weekend, but was back for 2 days with Keith the following week and have been racing since...

If you don't have throttle control, the other 2 don't matter... From there, you need at least some amount of body positioning to successfully quick turn or you'll quick-crash (my perfect example is here: http://www.cbr600rr.com/pages/052904.htm ) But again, above all good throttle control is the absolute foundation for riding.

I am SO jealous...

Let me explain my observation and results of lazy turning in racing. First off, I have been a lazy turn person. It has cost me many times... Now, I am trying to turn correctly and here is what I find. I will follow people into a corner. While I am staying at the edge of the track, looking through the corner, continuing to head straight towards my turn in point, many other riders drift inward and actually end up starting their turn from about 1/2way across the track. The lazy rider will be THROUGH the corner by the time I turn in, but I nail it in as I should, and roll on immediately. This puts me on the correct line while the lazy guy has MUCH more lean angle than I do, and he's running wide. My mid-corner and exit speed are significantly higher than the lazy turner, and I make the pass on the exit of the turn. In one race weekend since my 2 day camp, I did this probably a dozen times.... Am I perfect? No. Am I working on it? You bet!

On my cbr600rr and past F4's, I use the stock 1/4 turn throttle. This is actually quite a long turn. What I do for this is keep a very loose grip, rock my hand WAY forward with my grip, and end up basically rolling the throttle back with my finger tips. I don't twist the throttle as much as I "roll" it, like as if I were rolling a pencil backwards across a table with my palm/fingers. Once you're pinned, adjust your hand as appropriate.

AMEN! All a liter bike will do is get you in trouble quicker. A 600 is extremely forgiving, and on most tracks is more than competitive against a 1000. And if you're on the street, there's nothing better than sailing past some boob on his 180BHP bike who throws anchor for every corner... All straights are is time spent between the corners... And for picking a first bike, consider this which I wrote a few years back after receiving the question for the millionth time. http://www.cbr600f4.com/secondary_pages/what_bike.htm

So a real quick follow-up to the class. My first race weekend after the class was at Grattan in Belding, MI. Grattan is a roller-coaster track which almost all of the corners are blind, decreasing/increasing radius, and are ALL on the crest or the bottom of a hill. The place is nuts. But in a fun sort of way. Anyhow, the track surface was far less than ideal in my opinion, so I was disappointed in it. I was running 1:30.01's (repeatedly!) which the locals said was quite good for a 1st timer at the track. I was only beat by the locals, so I don't feel too bad. Here's the link to my whole race report: http://www.cbr600rr.com/pages/061204.htm

Just a comment on the heat cycle issue. I don't know of any tire commercially available that is only good for ONE heat cycle. Unless of course, you were to use that single heat cycle to chew it off in a 6hr endurance or something. Certain tires, compounds and types are more succeptable to heat cycles than others, but in general, any race tire should last you numerous days on an SV. A good comparison on the effect of heat cycles is that tires are much like cookies. You heat them, they get soft. They cool, they harden. You reheat, they soften again. But you can only heat them so many times before they start becoming brick-like. With the SV being such a competitive bike, I would think that most of the big rubber MFRs would have something for you (dunlop/metzler-pirelli/michelin). If I recall correctly, most of the SV's I see are running michelins. (I'm not a tire expert, but I did stay at a holiday inn express last night )

You won't be disappointed... (well, unless it snows or something...)

http://www.cbr600rr.com/pages/reviews/code.htm Here's the text of it: Riding with Gods - My 2 day California Superbike School experience. I've been riding in one shape or another for 25+ years now, and have been racing for 5 years. About 7 years ago, I got real serious about sport riding, and in seeking more knowledge, I picked up a copy of Keith Code's "A Twist of the Wrist II" (henceforth referred to as TOTWII) (review - purchase). This book completely changed the way I rode and looked at things, and in my humble opinion, is one of the BEST things that a new rider can add to his bike. Well before a new exhaust, jet kit, power commander, etc, buy this book and read it. To date I've probably read it 50 times, but I digress. One of my sponsors (Terry Embury - Hi-Side Racing) is a retired CSS instructor, and has talked to me many times about going through the school. Earlier this year, I talked to Keith about doing the one day class, and after some discussion, I took his recommendation on the 2 day course. The class was held at Blackhawk Farms in Rockton, IL. This is my "home track" which I've put on better than 10,000 laps over the last few years. I could probably run the track in my sleep. My personal best lap time there was a 1:15.2, and I really should be in the low 1:13 range. Consistently, I run high 15's, low 16's. Going into the class, I kept an open mind. I wanted to understand what I was doing wrong and what barriers were preventing me from going faster, and riding more comfortably. I had a number of goals about increasing corner speeds and dropping lap times as well. Tuesday 6/1 - I got my bike about 90% back together from a pretty nasty crash on 5/28 which kept me from racing on the 5/29-30 weekend. I made it to the track around 10 pm and finished off the bike, retiring around 11pm. Wednesday 6/2 Day 1 - Registration at 7:00, immediately followed by a nice hot breakfast provided by Mrs. Judy Code in the CSS hospitality trailer. I have to pause to recognize what a class-act the food presentation was for the entire weekend. Everything was laid out in a gourmet style. Nothing was 'thrown together', it was all laid neatly on fresh leaves of lettuce, or other baskets, etc. The selection of food was also more than what would ever be expected at a race track. On both days, the format was the same. Short classroom discussion which broke down and explained one single aspect of cornering. From there, we were sent out onto the track to work on just that. For the two days, you were assigned a bike, and each day you were assigned a specific instructor. The instructor was responsible for two students only, and was with you more than enough time. Leading and following was the mode of instruction. Each drill had hand instructions associated with it which the instructors used to communicate with the students. The name of the game is exactly as advertised. Cornering. Stress was placed continually on nothing but cornering. Each day, the rides were started out running the track in 4th gear with no brakes. This is such a cool drill which takes some getting used to, but after some work, you realize that your corner speed gets incredibly fast, and you get really comfortable in the corners. It's neat because your corner speed is really high, but you don't have a million things to concentrate on since you're not flying into the corner on the brakes coming down from Mach-1. Most of the drills are performed in 1 or 2 gears with little or no brakes. This is extremely effective since you are able to concentrate on the corner, and nothing else is distracting you. Day 1 was level 1 stuff which perfected: Throttle Control Turn Points Quick Turning Rider Input Two-Step turning There was also an off-track drill in steering which proved points learned in the class and on the track. During the day, we discussed/broke down 1 single point in the class room, got the drill and went out for it. 5 objectives (one each), 5 track sessions, and at the end of the day were 2 open sessions. Through it all, the instructors were right there to nail you on everything you did wrong, and praise you for getting it right. I ran each day starting out on Keith's ZX-6, and ran through most of the drills on his bike until after I rode the camera bike, then I switched to my own bike. I was far more comfortable on my bike, due to not wanting to pitch his bike away, but since the drills concentrated on technique not speed anyway, his bikes were perfect. Early on in day 1, the CSS staff found a good number of problems which were killing my cornering ability, and gave me real-world solutions to fix them. Riding correctly, I felt more comfortable and smooth than ever, and riding was far LESS WORK than it had previously been! I once again felt that whole Man/Bike relationship again which I've been longing to feel. On day 1, I never did run a super HOT lap (speed wise), but was told by a cornerworker that they had me running 14's (which I'm not sure if I really believe since most of the time I was running without brakes). Thursday 6/3 Day 2 - On day 2, we were now level 2, and ran through the same format of classroom/track/free sessions at the end of the day. Level 2 concentrates specifically on perfecting visual skills. The simple fact is that you can only ride as good as your visual skills allow. Your eyes are programmed to look for danger, and will always find it and affect how the rest of your mind/body react. This will put up an artificial barrier until you train your eyes and mind different. Drills of the day were: Reference Points Changing Lines Vanishing Points Wide View Pickup The first 4 of the drills are exclusively visual, and the final drill of "pickup" works on more of the bike aspect, introducing you to level 3 stuff. On this second day, the playing field changed. It was announced that we would run the track backwards! 10,000 laps on this track couldn't possibly prepare me for running it backwards, and I really got an opportunity to work on level 1 stuff as well as integrating all of the new visual drills/skills in mastering the "new" track. Blackhawk backwards is awesome, except there are a couple of areas with NO run-off. That being the case, there was no room for error, just ride and do what you learned. By the end of the day, I was running my bike on the track, riding it in the backwards direction, and running 1:25's using brakes for only 1 turn. This is quite acceptable in my opinion since the "unofficial" track record backwards is a 1:18.5. Each day, we had the opportunity to ride the camera bike which was very interesting. It gave you the opportunity to put everything into action that you learned, and then be critiqued on it. Each video session was immediately reviewed with an instructor who pointed out areas you were performing good on, and those that you needed improvement. It was interesting to see the result of failing to execute a task correctly (i.e., failing to quick turn throws off a line REALLY bad). You were then given a task card which you took back to your instructor to work on. The thing that sucked about the camera bike is that the camera doesn't lie :-) It shows your faults, period! So, what did the California Superbike School do for me? To name a few things: Increased confidence in the bike and myself Much more in-depth knowledge of what the bike requires of me Perfect throttle control Identified and corrected several key errors I was making that were holding me back Cleared up confusion and debunked myths over braking and body positioning What did I like about the school: Complete focus and attention of Keith Code and a personal dedicated instructor each day The simple means of breaking processes down to understandable and workable elements The drills were perfect, and really served to provide a lesson and experience with what was being taught Being able to go as fast or slow as I wanted. This was interesting since the instructors didn't care, but DID force people to do the drills regardless of how fast they were going. Video bike & review really helped to point out repeated problems All of the instructors knew the drills and how they were to be executed perfectly. They all led by example through the sessions. Completely professional and perfect presentation of everything from Classroom to Bikes to Meals. What would I change about the school: It would have been nice to run the whole school on my own bike, but in discussion, Keith does have valid reasons for wanting students on his bikes during the drills. More time. You'd think that 2 days would be enough to learn 10 procedures. But afterwards you find yourself just wanting MORE AND MORE, and wanting more time to work on the stuff. The time provided was ample, but like a perfect date, you just don't want it to end. I could spend weeks with Keith & his crew. Audio communication would be a cool addition Wrap-up: In the end, I guess the proof will be in the pudding when I start turning lap times comfortably lower than 1:15.2 at Blackhawk. That time won't be until mid-July, but in the meanwhile, I will get to put the stuff to use within 1.5 weeks of the school when I go to Grattan Raceway which is a completely new track to me. I can't wait. I can honestly say these 2 days were WELL worth my time and money. I feel I got a LOT out of this time, and don't believe that there was anything lacking. The format is tried and true, and it works. The CSS team really lived up to their stellar reputation. I look forward to going back to level III-IV and the CodeRACE schools. It's cool that I can recommend this school to both the brand new rider as well as the veteran racer, and know that BOTH WILL LEARN from it! It's funny how it all leads back to the basics. Master them and you will master riding. Is it worth the money? Well, when you begin making friends with corners and fly through them with ease, comfort and FUN versus going through them just hoping you will stay upright, the class value shows itself.