jasonbw

Rightio... beautifully put khp, I suspect a crutch it has become for me. Time to drop that crutch and move on. Why do I think this? When I look over my riding of fast open corners I find my vision cannot get to my 3rd step/vanishing point easily.. in fact it's damn near impossible without breaking my neck when executing a good hook turn, so I broke it down further. Physically when I'm "riding" my bike in the garage to simulate this, I find in the hook position head horizontal When I turn my neck into the direction of the turn (eyes stay horizontal), my vision is then down since the more I turn my head horizontally, the less I can lift my chin. ('turn' is defined as the way your move when trying to look over your shoulder) However, if I tilt my head into the turn, I can just lift my chin up to see further up the track, and wow, much easier and much further vision. (tilt is defined as putting my ear towards my shoulder) Further to this point, I always thought on track that I couldn't lift my chin high enough, I thought THAT was my limitation, in the garage I've discovered I can't lift my chin if my head stays horizontal. Try it... turn your head horizontally as far as it can go, then try to lift your chin - doesn't work does it. Now try tilting your head over and lift your chin, see how much easier it is!! I think I might discover in the end that a combination of both turning and tilting might be ideal, but I'll wait and see how I adapt to it before any conclusions. So this morning I gave it a road test - albeit in the car on the morning drive to work, tilting my head at my 2 step, then lifting my vision for the mid point and exit/vanishing point. I became sea sick after a few turns !!!! Nope, not kidding.... but those few turns gave me the idea that if I can get this to work for me it'll be much MUCH better on track in the sweepers.... So I'm now writing a plan of habits and places to try this... morning commute (car or bike) will be one, I've got a couple of days at Phillip Island the week after next which will give me a great opportunity to bed this down, even looking around my desk I'll be tilting - sure I'll look odd but's it's for a good cause. So, what motion sickness tablets does anyone suggest????? Thanks Cobie, great topic.

What a brilliant topic for discussion! Over here in Oz we see this is a common problem for vision. Personally I have to use seat foam to get my vision working for me on all types of helmets so far, and have noticed the jackets/suits 'hump' can cause this same issue in some cases. As a quick fix without foam on the last CSS held at Hampton Downs in NZ I suggested my student grab a bit of cloth rag from the mechanical section, worked in a fix as we didn't have foam. GREAT photo KHP!!!! Nicely found!!!

Mr Wheelie king that is exactly what I have at home. Took the initial 10 minutes to install to the trailer and it's ready forever more... I spend too much time going to and from the track and this makes like a breeze. Ready for it's first 600mi trip from Sydney to Victoria (Phillip Island) in a couple of weeks, but considering this is what is used by Mladin (I hear!) in AMA I'm sure it's perfectly at home doing such a run. P.s. They were cheap to ship to Aus too... surprisingly!

Nice picture MrSlow! I can suggest from your picture that your body position from this angle, on this corner, on this bike, is not something you need to focus on as your first area of improvement. Why would I say this? The levels of the school are a well thought out structure, deviating from the levels to 'fix' a body position that isn't causing issues wouldn't make much sense eh? You biggest gains will come from the Levels in succession, some students might need guidance - from the picture I dont see you needing that. Nice picture again! Jason

Good stuff Carles, welcome to the forum!

...and here I was thinking it was rude to answer a question with a question... my mother was wrong!!! Jason, really nice plan!!! Keep in mind the number of things we get you to work on during each session at the CSS... it totals exactly to ONE.... but that doesn't stop you from pulling in mid session, getting your mind into gear and changing to your next goal. Most importantly... have fun!!!

Great stuff guys! Nice win there Bobby, it's kinda important for a rider to not feel worn out considering the decision making we do at speeds way above what we're designed to do eh Excellent stuff.

MVX.. oh that was a sexy bike!!!! Pity it gave Ducati a run for it's money on failure rates. Waiting for the forum to crash now Great to post that up Aaron keep us posted too on your results this coming year!!!

Hi Bobby, give it a shot buddy If you're locked in on the outside leg then you don't need to hold that calf raise on in the turn. Any slipping towards the inside (from bumps/throttle/lean) will indicate the position in the seat isn't optimal. Might be a good time to ask that question to other major muscle groups... arms, abs, back, neck? Having anything other than a relaxed posture on a bike mid turn should sound an alarm that we need to work out why, and if it's appropriate. Pop a reply back after your next corner caving session, let us know how you go.

Hey Jason I noticed it the most when gripping the tank under braking to turn in, but I guess if you're locked in then surely you're quads are getting used throughout the corner. Great move to exert effort into the quads (calf raise) to jam that knee into the tank prior to your steering input... this'll give you a good basis for a pivot steer.... You may find if your position is right in the seat, once into the turn you can relax a considerable amount of effort in your quads...doing this may even help with relaxing lower into the hook turn position. If you're maintaining maximum quad exertion throughout the turn you will tire quite quickly, that may not be the case, but worth noting as a warning sign in future.

Hey Luke, just want to check something... when is it you need to work your quads for a lock on? Corner Entry, Mid, Exit or all of the above?

Wow, this really is a worldwide forum now! Was a great couple of days eh QB and Luke! QB your amazing corner speed on that Ninja 250 will rise to an even greater level when you do Level 3, can't wait to see you working that part of your riding, and Luke I got to see you hammering everything down beautifully for the 2nd day, great the weather let you get some of those great laps in then even if it wasn't for the full session, great riding, and yep, as Adam said, your comments to me on the morning of day 2 about your legs were right on - you're using the right muscles!

Top stuff Mike, Great you hopped on here!!! There's a wealth of info here so in your digging be sure to ask us about terminology that you haven't yet learnt, that was my pleasure coaching you buddy, was great to see how you took so much from the day! Way to go!!!

Great stuff Slobdog! Mate you can have the best coach on the planet yet you still won't learn a thing unless you're willing to listen and try, so well done, looks like you treated the day exactly as it should have been! P.s. Bullet, don't confuse that statement to mean you are the best coach on the planet:D

My starts are just as bad as ever (see the other videos under my userid), The GPS data is very useful... when sync'd correctly you can see exactly when you get on the gas, how you apply the throttle to particular turns, when you brake, combine that with the visual reference points and you can make it a top training tool. The product I used for GPS is from racelogic, called the 'performanceBox', siming to Greg in that it logs the same data, racechrono2avi does the overlay. And best of all, you can't avoid seeing all the potential improvements (my video - not yours Greg!). 6 months later that track was bulldozed to make way for a housing development...

OUTSTANDING video there Greg, not just the clarity but great footage of the race!!!! I completely understand the fun you have when synchronizing the GPS and video feeds! My first ever race day I did that at a track called Oran Park in Oz: Video/Audio looks like utter ###### compared to your setup! The clarity on yours is like MotoGP broadcast - or better!

Good you replied seeking clarification PJM, we're all different so sometimes it just requires us to understand what you need a little more in order to paint the a picture that works for you. Let's think back to Level 1 for a moment, we know with our Turn point drill, our procedure in getting a bike turned is straightforward: Roll off the gas to set the entry speed, steer, once you're at your desired lean angle and on your chosen line they you stabilise it with the gas. THIS is the ideal situation for traction when cornering - totally independent if the surface is wet or dry. So from the above (and the Throttle Control drill) we know getting on the gas stabilises the bikes line, correct? So what happens if we get on the gas (stabilise the bike) when we haven't yet reached our desired lean angle? The bike is going to run a wider line! What happens to lean angle in the above scenario where you're suddenly running a wider line that you want to? Is a track going to give you the same result as the road if the surface is the same? Absolutely! What applied to our on track training most certainly applies to the road, often our speeds are lower on the road so traction can mask mistakes that would be obvious at track speeds. So next time if the road (or track) is wet, is it then even more critical to use the standard steering procedure underlined above?

Gday Pjm, loading the front in the wet usually leads to a ride on the leather sled.... to explain, the quote alone doesn't give the full picture - for the full info just see the reply earlier in the thread, but in short I'm saying that in slippery conditions you would drop the entry speed, get the bike steered then stabilised asap to get the best traction scenario possible. Pop a reply back if we need to tackle this properly, traction is kinda important to us riders and the last thing I want is my words to be misunderstood

I've noticed the same thing. I have an Alpinestars 1 pc suit for the track, and their "bat pants" for twisty road days. Both materials are the same color and same 1.4mm spec leather, the the suit has little grip and the pants stick like rubber, but to the hand they feel similar. Whatever treatment they have on the riding pants I wish was on the suit! Cheers Stevo, So the bat pants have stayed sticky even after the initial use? If that's the case then my experience of the suits that have bedded due to oil soak might not be the only reason for slippery leather. Any leather experts out here who could chime in with the 'good oil' on the subject (pardon the pun)?

Another Aussie update, we're heading to Eastern Creek Raceway in NSW near Sydney. Ready for two sold out schools back to back, good stuff.

Very welcome, glad to help.

Hi Yogatriathlete, New suits can be extremely slippery due to the oils in the skin from the manufacturer! It's like putting armour-all on a seat!!!! If you can use the one piece for a weeks worth of daily rides that should be enough to work the oils out of the surface and deeper into the leather. If you need a quick fix for a particular trackday/race etc then use a small amount of fabric softener on the leather that would be in contact with the seat. This will remove some of the good oils from the skin without damaging the stitching, but that is a 'last resort' option, it's a good idea that once you've finished with the suit put some good quality leather oil onto that same area and allow it to soak back in.

Patrick, this is the kind of stuff coaches love to read! Your control over your bike is increased which gives you that confidence, you can ride for longer - easier, the wind doesn't effect your bike as it did before, these are MASSIVE improvements in riding and the cool thing to note is it's not just due to the work from Keith and his team, but it comes down to you applying the technology, well done buddy! So, what new technology from the DVD is in your plan for your next ride?

HA hahaha, nice one Red.... I think he was just showing us the pick-up drill.

An update from the Aussies: In the words of Adam, our Chief Ride Coach (Australia/New Zealand)... We're back on. We're assembling at Phillip Island for Monday's school, sold out event as usual... can't wait !