Kevin Kane

Well, is it only me or picture is missing? -UFI- No, it isn't only you. It was up here when it was first posted but I don't know where it went. BTW, it was a very large image making it difficult to view it but it was up here - now its gone. RM

G; You're probably going to acclimate better to your new ride at a School v. a track day because the level of control the School maintains over the track all day long. If you have done any track days you understand what I mean so you will do just fine IMHO. I'll see you there as I am attending NJMP Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Rain

Bullet; You always keep it lively and more interesting here and we're all the better for having you back. Let me be the first to say Welcome Back! Rain

G; I can not speak for the School but having attended many two day Schools at many different tracks over the past decade or so I can say that without exception that I could and did store my bike (outside of the trailer) safely and securely. At venues like Mid-Ohio, Watkins Glen, Loudon or NJMP it was parked inside a garage. Don't worry about it being secure because it will be - but that's just me talkin' here. You need somebody from the School to officially answer your question/concern. Rainman

TH; If you took all four levels then you need to dig deep to recall what you learned in level III. There you learned how to lock in your OUTSIDE knee against the tank and then you drop your torso down to the inside of the turn with your inside elbow pointed as straight down as you could point it. To do that the majority of your weight is on your outside leg as that's where you have your leverage to manuver your torso because that portion of your body stays static until you have picked up the pike on your drive out (or your transition to turning the other way). As you described in your first post, you place a good deal of your weight on the inside such that your inside calf touches your inside thigh as you "squatted" on the inside peg. I have seen that technique used many times but I don't know how you unload that inside peg when it transitions to an outside peg without upsetting the stability of the bike. Others here will disagree with me but that's what I took from Level III. Rain

TenHut (were you a QB?); I retook all the levels last season and the biggest tool I took away from repeating L's I-III was how badly my body position had digressed on the bike. I used to use the inside peg (to save energy) but now when I catch myself doing it I try even harder to keep my weight loaded outside. It makes the Hook Turn more effective IMHO but it also does demand more from me physically. As a result of that demand, I use a machine at the gym where I am sitting in a device and push a weight stack out from center with my knees on some pads and then after numerous reps I reverse the pads and then squeeze my knees together (moving the weight stack). It uses all of your core muscles and helps me with the muscle group we use for hanging off from the outside. YRMV. Rain

That's a great question Bobby...beyond my pay grade mind you but you framed it very well. BTW, I dunno the answer but do understand the question. Rain

Talan; ...I'm still speechless over your accomplishments... Rain

Its kind of hard to explain. Think of it this way, when you use the front brake all of the motorcycles weight is being pushed onto the front tire. Just like if your trying to push a pencil across a desk by the eraser it can try to turn on its own (which would be washing out the front tire on a motorcycle). If you use the rear brake its pulling the bike to a stop and all of the weight is hanging from the rear tire keeping the bike stable even if the rear tire locks up. Another way to look at this is to recognize that off track surfaces typically do not offer the same amount of grip that asphalt does so when you use the front brake off track, there isn't enought friction available for the tire to take the entire weight of the bike (and you) pushing the smaller contact patch beyond its limits. Once the front contact patch is overwhelmed and it loses traction the bike becomes unstable almost immediately. The rear as Fajita Dave points out is acting more like an anchor holding back (again with limited friction) the gross combined weight but the front can hold traction (if you don't try to turn very much) so the bike is more stable as a result. Rainman

SF; I'm not qualified to comment but I though that you were riding really well up until the 6:38 mark or so. BTW, I was watching the data and couldn't see how you could tell you were trailng the brakes in. How do you decipher that data from the screen if I may ask? Rainman

Kai; I have been fortunate enought to have ridden about a dozen different tracks and picking one would be hard because they are all so different. Some are fast and flowing like Mid-Ohio, Laguna Seca, Thunderbolt and Lightning (both at New Jersey Motorsports Park) or Mosport (Canada) or Watkins Glen where you can really fly around and have a ball (although 6 gear straights tend to make me want to check to see if my relationship with God is all that it should be) while others are quite technical; tracks like the Streets of Willow Springs, Pocono, Loudon or Shannonville (Canada) requiring a lot of work to get around quickly. Then there are tracks that have a some of both like Sears Point (Infineon), VIR, Nelson Ledges or Beaverun. If needed I could put them all in a sequence of preferences but the reality is some days I prefer to fly and some days I prefer to "practice"; it's like I posted to another thread - it's all good! Rain

I have two; the day after I bleed the rear brakes on either bike - they hardly work at all. Rain

AQAJR; This is one of the greatest aspects of our sport IMHO. Especially when you can start breaking down corners of similar type and then applying what you know about this type and how to minimize the time it takes for you to get through it. I think of Carousels at Watkins Glen, Mid-Ohio, Lightning (at NJMP) Sears Point (aka Infineon) or the Streets of Willow Springs and how to approach them or 180 degree tight turns like 11 at Sears or Pocono or the Bowl (6) at Loudon...High speed kinks like VIR, Mid-Ohio, Mosport or Beaverun...esses like VIR, Sears, Bus Stops like Watkins or Mid-Ohio it's all good! Personally, I love learning a new track - but that's just me. Rainman

Amid; Looks like you're tailing it into the Bowl which is cool but where do you think your head and shoulders should be given the position your hips are in and where the bike is in relationship to that 180 degree turn? I'll start the discussion there. Rainman

ITux, I'd stay away from those people. There isn't anything "automatic" about steering a bike, especially at speed that I am aware of but then people say that I am a lot dumber than I look. This is a topic that is covered in depth in Level III but the short answer is hanging off is a literal term. It involves locking yourself onto the bike with your outside knee and not loading the inside foot peg. You still have some contact with the seat but you should not be centered on it. I think what was being demonstrated is (again from Level III), either the Hip Flick or the Knee to Knee which is how you transition from a left to a right in quick succession. These are drills are complimentary to each other but are different drills non the less. Rainman

Hotfoot, Remember that you have to go East from Danville to county road 62. It looks to me like you could go straight up from Raliegh. Take 57 501 up to Milton and you are right there. Hottie; The last time I was there I flew into RDU (Raleigh) and it was a pretty easy drive from there. Rainman

Tweek; I see that there hasn't been any commentary on your post so far so I thought I would kick it off with an unqualified perspective; mainly with questions. You mentioned that the folks at CSS got you off to your start so question no. 1 is: Have you attended a CSS event and if so, how many levels did you complete? The reason for the question is that based upon your own self commentary (by way of the text in your video), you are clearly aware of your missing the apex multiple times, running wide, low lining a corner or two but you never suggest why you do so leading to question no. 2: Do you think you know why? Observing your corner entry and exits, question no. 3 would be do you think that you consistently apply throttle control rule No. 1? No. 4 would be regarding steering inputs? Would you say that you follow the CSS training about steering inputs in a corner? You do get your knee down in many corners but question no. 5 would be did you notice what you do to precipitate the majority of these occurances? Questions no. 6 and 7 would come from your offering an observation your buddies shared about your hanging off style; can you tell us how you attach yourself to the bike when your hanging off and can you describe how you transition back and forth across the bike? Tweek I think its great that you took the time to edit and post this video and I hope we can facilitate some additional dialogue about its contents because as I opened with this post - I am NOT qualified to offer an opinion on what I saw but maybe we can get some folks who are qualified to chime in. After all, that's what this Forum is all about isn't it? Rainman

Fossil; Congratulations on your strong performance and podium at Road Atlanta this past weekend; your hard work and dedication is paying off. This was a fun read but this last section jumped out at me the most. IMHO, it frames your success in a way that is pretty easy to understand, embracing it is what the challenge is all about. Rain

Even though it wasn't on this year's schedule Mid-Ohio is a hoot; but then I'm not a coach so does it still count? It flows, it's got elevation changes, blind corners, high and medium speed corners and a screamin' 6 gear straight with a high speed kink (OK, VIR has one too). Then there's Infineon (nay Sears Point) with all that plus a chicane and a 180 degree bowl plus a 180 degree slow speed corner... Rain

Eirik; Monday was "National Ride your Bike to Work day" in the US so your response also prompted me to weigh in with what's my reason to ride? On Monday I chose to ride an old Meridian Triumph Bonneville that I fully restored (and continue to re-restore) about ten years ago. I was on the Interstate getting lost in the ride and it reminded me of why I love bikes...I was totally living in the moment...the wind buffeting me relentlessly, trying to pull me off the bike - the exhilaration from the sound of the exhaust, the humm of vibration from the vertical twin running as if it's eyeballs were bugging out from the strain of riding it as hard as I was...ah this is what it's all about! I think to myself This is why I love riding motorcycles; but like all great rides, they come to an end and I had to get off the highway. Wait a minute I thought as the exit ramp was rapidly approaching - I'm not on my Ducati 996. I'm riding a forty year old bike with undersized DRUM brakes, a vintage profile Avon Speedmaster ribbed 3.25x19 front tire and a Dunlop vintage Gold Seal universal 4.0x18 rear and I'm going in to this turn WAY TOO HOT!!!! I didn't even think I could get this Triumph to go this fast...what is the maximun entry speed this bike can handle and how do I get my entry speed set with brakes and tires like it has? Will these tires hold if I lean it as far as it feels like I need to lean it to make the turn - but I quickly realize it doesn't matter because if I don't I'm going to run too wide... All I can say is Thank God for my CSS training. ...and now, back to our regular scheduled programming. Rain

Talan; Your initial post was a bit confusing because I hadn't hear the term "wheelie" used as a Proper Noun before but then I am still learning the Kings English; then I saw the "launch/catch" thing and I was totally lost...until I went to your web site. Holy ######! You are one amazing guy and your story is even more amazing. Beyond this I am at a total loss for words... Kevin

Maybe we can get Stuart to tell us more about the weekend? Rain

Hey; Check this out: http://roadracingwor.../?article=40901 Stuart takes a second in 650cc Twins GP; He wins the Supermotard Unlimited race and finishes fourth in the Forumula Twins Lightweight...riding a KX450F Now that's a good weekend eh? RM

...how about the corkscrew?

Hey; Check this out! http://roadracingwor.../?article=40847 RM