Kevin Kane

Baileys; Welcome to the Forum. Have you been on a track yet? If not, you will probably find that your street boredom will rise exponentially after you do. Have you decided which School location you are considering attending? Also, which tracks are available to you now? Kevin

qzrlsd; The School has a Lean/Slide bike that is used to teach you to break the rear tire loose at lean in a controlled manner. It has hydraulic outriggers on both sides to offer some stability and having been on it a few times, I can tell you that is an amazing tool that really does show you where the traction limit is. Kevin

What about short shifting? Select a higher gear into the corner and use that bikes' impressive torque to carry you through; your drive out will be pretty seamless if you hit it correctly. I learned this from one of the Penguin instructors at Loudon when I was struggling through the bowl there...it required an upshift at mid corner and he told me to avoid the last downshift and just drive it out and he was absolutely right. It works like a charm ...but I would be a bit more delicate with a liter bike's throttle. Kevin Kevin

fossilfuel; It's tough when you use an anology that includes Nicki because most of us ride or race in circumstances that don't allow internal mods to the transmission box ergo my sending you an external gearing matrix. That said, there is a combination that will allow you to maximize the time you are in the Gixer's power band at Barber... If we are talking about downshifting, I can't tell you that it is better to be shifting to 4th rather than 2nd because I find that I do shift more into 2nd than 4th; I know I have more experience making that change plus if I am going down to 4th for a corner entry, then I am freakin' flying. I can only think of a handful of corners where I actually do that (T11 at Mosport, T6 at Mid-Ohio, T1 at VIR). If I am upshifting, I can't think of too many places (actually any) where I would corner in first gear but I do everything I can to avoid shifting while cornering. Kevin Kevin

fossilfuel; A very knowledgable friend of mine offered me this chart for understanding gearing. It is based upon a Ducati 748 set up with sprockets that I have but you can deduct the logic and apply it to your bike; the ratios listed are derived from dividing # of rear teeth by the # of front teeth. 14F/39R = 2.7857 (lowest top speed, quickest acceleration) 14F/38R = 2.7143 14F/37R = 2.6428 15F/39R = 2.600 14F/36R = 2.5714 15F/38R = 2.533 15F/37R = 2.4667 15F/36R = 2.400 (highest top speed, slowest acceleration) There is an entire section on breaking down a track to determine where to use which ratios but this is a good jumping off point for your question. Maybe Stuman or others who race can add some perspective. Kevin

R1 v. R6 :: 454lbs. v. 414 lbs. Zx10R v. Zx6R :: 458.6 lbs. v. 421 lbs. GSXR1000 v. GSXR600 :: 448 lbs. v. 432 lbs. I am not aware of any liter bikes that are lighter than any middleweights, at least within the same model year. Kevin

YNOT; IMHO, depending on your familiarity with your Suzuki, a 600 is a bit more forgiving on the track because the rear wheel won't spin up as easily as it will on your liter bike. The 600's do not have the same top speed as your bike although they are very very quick now. The 600's have less weight but if you are comfortable on your bike, you will do fine on it...possibly better because of your not needing to acclimate to someone else's bike. Kevin

Ace; I was trying to seat a new set of front pads one rainy morning in the paddock at a local track by straight line riding and braking. On each pass I increased my speed and my brake lever pressure until the front just washed out without any warning... I was stunned by how fast my leg came off the peg and I caught the bike at the last instant but I thought that if I were on track and had used too much front brake like that, there would be no way I could have saved it. I would like to have both ABS and TC...I'm not too proud to accept help. Kevin

Nobody; Everybody starts at Level I, even the Pros. The three groups (White Yellow Green) are utilized so that there can be a rotation of students from the classroom then the track and then rest. Kevin

I'm with Fire on this. Kevin

The current issue of Sport Rider magazine tests 42 different street/track tires. Interesting read and scoring... Kevin

FlipDriver; There have been a number of posts here about "the requirements" for any attendee but suffice it to say that you need to be proficient at operating a motorcycle; not an expert but someone who is comfortable with the controls and operation of a bike. Assuming that you are OK with that, the next step is to find a School. I Don't know where you are located but there are three tabs above the messages that you can click on to find the School location best suited for where you are (or where you can get to); they are in the US, Australia and the UK. Choose a location and then click on the tab and it will bring you to the home page for the respective school. You should find what you need to learn more about the School, the Cirriculum and their schedules. Kevin

When someone shutters or wrecks in front of me ...and he shuttered the bike Hub; What does "shuttering" a bike mean? Kevin

bpez; What I noticed is that he didn't let go of the bar once the bike was down...he's lucky he didn't get tossed over the high side. I don't remember where or in which one of the three books Keith wrote but I do remember the section on crashing; I follow it every time I find myself on the tarmac and from my experience, it works extremely well. Kevin

good question, I don't. I'll shoot a note to the webmaster. C We should move this question to another Forum section because it is going to get lost here but to answer it; Go to the Forum Home page and click on the topic(s) you want to subscribe to [there are eleven in total]. Once opened, go to the "Forum Options" tab in the upper right hand corner and activate the drop down tool bar. "Subscribe to this Forum" is the third option. Kevin

Dexxx; Excellent Post...and I totally agree with your statement that "the track is the place...(where) it was designed to be ridden." Since you have some time before Barber, I would suggest that you get the Twist of the Wrist vol.s 1 & 2 so you can build a good foundation before you get there. Kevin

Tweek; Good to have you back. As one of the Mods here, I know I didn't see your post before but more importantly, sorry to hear of your mishaps. You are surprised by your lack of confidence...why? You had two MAJOR crashes in a year! Crashing sets me back a lot and I was surprised the first time by how much of it (confidence) was misplaced and that it took time to rebuild it but it does come back...just not in one track day or even two. You haven't lost any ability, just some belief in your ability but if you stick with it and are patient with yourself, you'll be back. Kevin

I did...but it just went away. It's all good now. K

Hotfoot; I usually follow someone out and take it easy for the first session or two until I can find enough reference points to feel comfortable; only then do I consider increasing my pace or adjusting any brake markers. The "no brakes" approach in the first session is also an excellent way to aclimatize if circumstances warrant [if your running in an advanced group with people who use tire warmers, this might not be practical. DAMHIK]. Kevin

Hub; IIRC, the first step I take in cornering is to locate my turn point RP; once I have it I get off the seat...a move that has been pounded into my head by Stuman, Lonnie and Tim. These steps happen almost simultaneously and once I am set up, all of my attention goes into 2 (&3) stepping. I can't say that I spend that much time on this part of cornering unless it is a series of connected corners where you have to be dead nuts on to get them all right. The corkscrew at Laguna comes to mind. At least that's how I remember it months removed from the saddle. Kevin

Hey Hub; When was that...like last week sometime? In NY, we haven't ridden since October ; ) Kevin

JustJeremey; Have attended a bunch of Schools on my bike and a bunch on the Schools' you will be fine either way. The advantage of your bike is that it is familiar; you know both the braking capability and the acceleration rate not to mention how quickly it can be turned etc., etc. The advantage of their bike is that they are so properly set up that they are a dream to ride on the track. Also, when you ride their bike you don't have to worry about tire wear, refueling or tinkering with it in any way. Keith Code started the Superbike School fourteen years before the '92 Ninja was available so you should be comfortable that riding a '92 will not be an impediment to your learning. Good luck with it when you attend and by all means let us know how it went. Kevin

Sean; Great write up and congratulations on your successful weekend at Firebird! Kevin

Hey check these out! http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=35427 http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=35433 Peter Lenz is off to an excellent start for the '09 racing season.

I second Sleeper's comment. Kevin