JeF4y

Amen! People often times switch bikes in hopes of this dramatic change in lap times only to find they are struggling to stay at the times they were at before! It does take time and adjustment. It's part of that whole man/machine relationship thing...

Okay, I'll agree that bone is stronger than muscle, but will still argue that you have more availble force in the arch than you do on the ball. How can this be?!? Simple concept of leverage. The foot is a hinged object on your leg. The further away from that "hinge" (read ankle) you get, the less force is available to apply. This is a fact which really can't be argued... If you can't subscribe to it, take 2 pieces of wood. bolt them together nice and solid in an L shape. Make two of these. Take one and place the end tip of the L on a solid surface, and take the other and place the heel of the L on the solid surface. Start applying pressure or adding weight. Tell me which one breaks first...

Okay, so I haven't read the book so I can't comment directly to the plans of conquering the world as such. But what I can offer is my opinion (dispensed free of charge). Racing is much like the laws of physics. They very rarely change (if ever). However, the way they are applied constantly changes. With that in mind, stop to consider that racing can be broken down into extremely basic elements (such as Keith has done). Master them and you're well on your way to global domination. To master them, one needs to recognize, understand, practice, perfect and ultimately engrain these elements as reaction. From there, a person can build on them based on further understanding of the more complex elements. Now I've done much commenting of basic elements and some of advanced elements. So what are they? Well, ask Keith... I don't know them all (but hope to learn more soon). In my opinion, some of the most basic elements are: Braking Accelleration Cornering Reaction time Response time Truly the top 3 comprise motorcycle racing at is most basic stage. Looking at advanced elements brings us to things like Traction Suspension Geometry Metaphysical awareness So what's my point? Well, the fact is that racing equipment has changed but the concept and result still remain the same. On top of all this is the fact that the largest limiting factor in racing is the rider's mental condition (again, IMHO). Put a nervous, insecure wreck on Hayden's RC211V and he'll get smoked by a confident and comfortable rider on a clapped out EX-500 with flat tires... But hey... that's just my opinion.

I broke in 3 new cbr600rr's in the last year, pushing them from the showroom/warehouse to the dyno and running them in. The cool part is watching the HP go up with EVERY run as the rings seat in. My thoughts on owner manual break in recommendations of "gentle" are that you're not only breaking in the motor, but more importantly the brakes, tires, chain and most importantly, adjusting to a new bike. I buy salvage bikes at insurance auctions. My prize was in 01 when I picked up an R6 with 8 miles on it. Most of the bikes I pick up are very low miles (under 500), and the ones over 500 ALL have fresh, new tires on them. If you have the ability to run the bike in on a dyno, I'd say go for it. I will continue to do this, as to me, it just makes sense. Then again, I don't own a bike that hits street pavement either

You have more available force pushing down than pulling up. Shifting through corners is much easier It's more "natural" of a feel when you're racing Flipping the collar over is the common method although some rearsets have different methods based on the bike... The cbr600rr for example has 3 or 4 different types for accomplishing this. From the simple (flipping the collar) to a complex rod system...

http://www.spyderleatherworks.com/ Talk to Alexa and tell her Jeff Kufalk sent you over

Good stuff as usual Keith. It's funny (and I know some can relate). The fastest laps I've EVER run were also the easiest. I never really thought about it, but you hit the nail on the head about thinking WITH the controls versus about them. These fast laps were laps where I felt smooth and not excessively fast, but reviewing the lap timer showed different. They just "flowed" and came together. It's like there was a lit up line around the track, and things moved in slow motion. I consistantly find areas where I can go SO much faster... It's weird. I'll get into this "state" a couple times a year 2-4. If I could do it every time I was on the track I'd be king of the world.....

hehe... embellishment at its finest I guess I'll say with absolute honesty that the slide and black mark was well over 100 yards. When it started sliding, I guess I did pick it up a bit, but was still dragging knee and feeding gas into it. Smoke? well, yeah, I mean, I looked back and there it was lol... busted Okay, "but it felt that way"...

3 weeks ago all my ice riding this last winter paid off in full when I was in the carousel at Road America, running 5th in an endurance race on a SHOT rear tire with my buddy's brand new 04 GSXR1000. The corner is insane fast, and 1/2 mile long. Perfect in every way... About 2/3 through it, dragging a knee, the rear end lit up and started coming around. Ice instinct and racing habits kicked in and I kept feeding throttle until I was at the exit. I was countersteering like a mother and there was smoke rolling off the rear tire. At the exit, I squared the corner and lifted the bike up. It wheelied out into the new "bend". It was one of the coolest moments of racing in my life and nobody got video of it... On subsequent laps I could see the blackmark and it was about 200 yards long. Absolutely incredible... The bottom line is that you have to keep the rear spinning until you can get the bike upright. You will end up countersteering the slide, but the bike will do this automatically. Just don't fight it...

Yes, this has HUGE advantages. First off, your leverage is about 10x when you have the peg on the arch/middle of the foot versus the ball of the foot. Second, if you have a big hoof like me (US 12), you will twist your outside foot and drag your heel on the tire chewing through your boot (cost me a set of alpinestars one weekend). It's a lot of shifting around for "inside ball - outside arch", but like anything, you get used to it.

Keith/Coby/other CSS staff. I will be attending the 6/2-3 2 day school at Blackhawk Farms. I'm pretty excited and really looking forward to overcoming a few barriers that are keeping me in the 15's when I should be in the 13's or below. Anyhow, a few questions as I prepare. (figured I'd post here versus email so others with similar questions may benefit). Your bike vs mine. The 2 day school is run on your bikes. I will have my racebike (03 cbr600rr) at the track anyhow and would like to do portions of the school on it since this is what I'll be racing anyhow. Will this be a problem? Should I do the whole school on my bike? Areas for improvement. Do you want a list of things I need help with now, later or not at all? Many of them will be addressed, I'm sure (throttle control, braking, positioning, etc). But what about passing? For whatever reason, this year I have this mental issue with passing. I get hung up behind people marginally slower than me because I can't find a place to pass. I'm looking forward to the school & getting through a couple of small issues holding me back. Thanks again for your time. -Jeff

My kids are now 9 & 12, and have been riding for 4 years... My son (9/yo) learned to ride a Z-50 before he could ride a bike... Have respect and you will do fine... Neglect respect and you're in trouble...

hehe... Last year, I had mini-motard tires on the XR-80, and hit my dad's back yard with my brothers. We had a slide-fest. It was awesome fun. I was the king until I went flying down the yard, and went to downshift before the left hander. I meant for one gear, but grabbed two. I dumped the clutch and the next thing I knew, I was eating grass with my shoulder digging into the ground. It was funny as hell... Now? I'm tearing up the frozen tundra (well, the lakes anyhow) of WI on a new CRF-450 ice-bike... I went out ice riding ONCE, and realized that this was a MUST DO for winter fun and practice. It really teaches you a lot about suspension and the effects of throttle on suspension, as well as how to control a slide...

Really, you don't need to go all that fast. Just hang off. The point though, isn't to drag a knee. Dragging a knee/calf/elbow is a by-product of adding speed to a corner, not taking speed away. If you're going slow, you have no need to drag a knee. Hell, most of the times if you're going fast you don't "need" to drag a knee.

There's a quote of Keith's that I've borrowed (without permission, but with credit ) on the mainpage of my old website (www.cbr600f4.com). The quote is: On race day you have to look closely to spot the indications; but everyone is doing something to prep himself for the alluring, enticing and dangerous delights of racing--it's part of that game. The game is embracing forces, barriers and sensations. Forces that you see or don't see; barriers that are real or not real; near overwhelming sensations which can suddenly vaporize; then transform into the sharpest possible focus of oneness with bike and track--the instant the flag drops. The above quote is the reason I race. It's a mental mind-game which pits me against myself before going against anyone or anything else. When I conquer my mind, I am on top of the world. In putting on my "race-face" I take around 30-45 minutes before the race starts. I have my full leathers on and stretch out, continue hydrating myself, etc. About 15-20 mins prior, I will pop in my ear plugs and sit down in front of a fan (or heater on those really cold days). There, with my eyes closed, I will go through a mental routine of relaxing myself, voiding my mind of anything useless, concentrating on being smooth and becoming one with the machine. This "routine" has a profound affect on my races. My laptimes are lower, my overall feel for the bike and track are much better. In all, it simply "works". In my "down-time" of the winter, I spend a LOT of time going through this mental routine, looking for ways to improve it. Finding the things I need to think about and focus on pre-race. My question in all this, comes down to, what else can I do? I read about the pro guys having their mentors or sometimes physicians along with them for mental preparation before the race. At my level, it's not really affordable to do that, so I'm stuck trying to improvise. Do any of you have any hints/suggestions/comments on mental preparation? Obviously, it's the biggest part of racing, and it's something we all know we need to do. It's just how do we do this efficiently/effectively? I'm kicking around the thought of making an audio tape/CD to go through my mental routine, but almost feel goofy for this thought...

I agree, and although I'm not officially registered yet, I've got it on my schedule... It's just a shame that the school wasn't before the race weekend versus right after it! Oh well, at least I'll have everything already set up...

Backing it in definitely has its place. I wouldn't say it's as much of a benefit for speed as it is a mental disruption of other riders. In 2002, I spent the entire season in a heated battle for 1st place with another single rider. The two of us would trade places 10x in any given race, and we knew how the other rode. About 1/2 way through the season, I tried slicks, and found out what happens to a set of dunlop slicks when they wear out. They slide... Now, I'm not a huge fan of sliding. It doesn't bother me, but I don't try to do it. However, on the slicks it was the most controlled slide I've ever been in. They started letting go quite early in a 30 minute GTU race, and I had just gotten in front of my buddy. I would enter a corner with the ass end wagging around, then wick up the gas and kick it out about a foot while counter-steering the front. I would straighten it up and square off the corner. I beat him in that race, and he didn't pass me. After the race we were talking and he said he was afraid to pass me because he was sure I was going to go down and he didn't want to get tangled up in my mess... I just recently started ice racing on 250 2-stroke dirt bikes. This brought back the feeling of that day. While I don't plan on sliding it around intentionally on the pavement, if I do, I know I will be much better equipped for it come spring

MMI eh?

Depending on the classes you run, look at other forks you can use. I've sold several sets of F4 forks to guys using them on SV's. I don't know what all is involved in the conversion, but obviously it's easy/common enough for more than one person to buy forks from me to do this.

Two years ago I finally admitted that since I knew nothing about suspension I should find someone who did. I invested a couple G$$ in forks, shock and repeated setup from a professional tuner (Ed Kwaterski from Trackside Engineering). A funny thing happened... I stopped crashing and started placing consistent top 5. I've learned leaps and bounds from him, and will continue to use his services. Ed does this for a living. He doesn't race, he tunes. I'm to the point where I can and will make small adjustments, but I bounce everything off of Ed to make sure my logic is correct. In the end, I felt I could ride or tune, but not both... Whatever you do, I will recommend that you follow one master (at a time). Taking advice from several sources is not always the best idea. You will get different theories, ideas and methods and it will set you behind.

In most, yes to some small degree. When I first started racing, I was running completely off of knowledge based on 20 years of general "riding" and then TOTW I&II knowledge of how things "really" work. With that, I would do 95-100% of my braking while completely verticle and then get back on the gas while entering the corner. This worked quite well, but went against much of the wisdom which a few of my mentors had. I think that I could likely go just as fast if not faster while doing most of my braking upright. This became evident last year when on my brand new bike I was single-finger braking (another practice I've since broken) and while downshifting/blipping/braking going into T1 at Blackhawk Farms, I blipped for 2nd gear (my final downshift) and my finger slipped off the brake lever. The bike shot forward because it was high in the powerband. All of the input coming to me at the same time was too much to handle, and instinct said "stay on the gas and get THROUGH the corner". I did, and the result was perfect. It proved to me that I was braking WAY too hard, too soon and too much...

That's such a stigma to overcome Naturally we're all lightning fast champions with 18" err... nevermind... and to attend a level 1 just seems wrong

'nuff said! See you in June! I'm sure I'll have many questions in the meanwhile. I'll hang out here & bug Terry Embury on the side Thanks for your time...

Thanks Keith. It's always good to know I'm doing the right things to improve my times. FWIW, I'm a huge advocate of your TOTW books. I've read TOTWII probably 20x over the last 5 years and from day one, it has made a dramatic difference in my racing. I've often said it's the best investment a person can make for their bike. The book is worth its weight in gold. Anyhow, onto my question. I have not been to a CSS school before, and was looking to attend the 1 day school this year at Blackhawk Farms. The concern I have is getting "what I need" out of the school. I've been to a number of schools in the past and have had difficulty in this area. (sucks to pay $250-300 and wind up feeling like you've just attended an overpriced track day) Do you assess students individually through the day and 'teach' accordingly, or is it by a strict set curriculum? The obvious 'fear' is taking a "level I" course and not getting much out of it. I'm assuming this will not be the case, but I've made assumptions before and we all know how they can turn out. Thanks for your time, and I really have to say that your creation of this board is a great idea. It's like a 'brush with greatness'. I can see it doing a LOT for your schools...

I just received the email entitled "NO BRAKES!" from CSS. When I read it, I was thrilled and had goosebumps. I haven't been to a CSS school yet, I am looking forward to going to your school at BHF (bring Terry Embury out there will ya?) this year. The reason this drill struck me as being so cool is because I've done this a couple times before on my own. It brings about a whole new perspective. Another drill which I routinely perform is to ride 3 laps, one on the outside 18" of the track, one on the inside 18" of the track and then a third right down the center. This helps me see areas of the track where there are more room than I'd ever thought available. It also shows me areas that are smooth and rough at corner entrance/exit where I might need to shift my lines. Do you perform any drills similar to this, designed to enhance the riders perspective of how a corner or section of track is viewed? Up until now, I've taken numerous advanced racer schools from my local "club schools". They've helped, but they lack the specific drills which I think are holding me back in areas (braking and corner speeds). I just want to make sure your school will help me out in these areas. Cheers!