Kevin Kane

Don't all of us brake with our right foot? Kevin

Cobie; I think it is: "If I Recall Correctly". Kevin

Having seen your question I reread Stuman's response. I beleive his advice was in his last sentence: "I think he might be better off thinking about his riding then just buying new tires." Kevin

Hub; I would submit that a rider's acquired knowledge about corner types is what you (we) rely upon when we ride a road for the first time. You (we) may not be conscious of using reference points but I believe we substitute what's on that new road with similar points from previously ridden roads to get us through this new experience... (I think...) Kevin

Check this out...another Forum discussion on FT Leathers. http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/s...d.php?p=3714675 Kevin

My helmet bounced off the track twice in a lowside...I was stunned by how hard it hit and one of corner workers told me after that I was down for quite awhile...BTW, I am grateful that I had a very good helmet. I won't go into brand names here because I don't want to start a thread on that topic but I was impressed how well it did its job. Kevin

Bones and Ace et al; Guys, I don't take issue with the idea of running at 85% to insure that our focus is on all of the drills that day. I honestly never heard it before. I first took Levels I, 2 & 3 in 2001/2 but did a bunch of Level 4's since then. I decided to retake all four levels and re-did 1 at Infineon in November and will retake 2 and 3 at Infineon in March but back in November, I still didn't hear it...but it's OK...honest. It's me who is hard of hearing. BTW, if you have been away for a few years, it is eye opening to revisit the program. My regret was waiting too long to return. Kevin

JB; That's not been my experience at the School EXCEPT when riding their video (mast arm) bike. Do you remember what Level this was taught at? Kevin

I've lowsided three times (so far) and not once did I feel it before I was on the track... Kevin

Which Club? Kevin

So far it is 7 for the lead and 3 to chase....

I waited a year after I bought my first Superbike (a Ducati 996) to attend my first School and it was a mistake. I had to unlearn what I tried to teach myself or what I learned from on-line forums... The School is going to be at Infineon (Sears Point), Laguna Seca and the Streets of Willow Springs this year - don't wait. The cost is about the same as buying and mounting a set of good track tires but will return you a bigger dividend on your investment. Also; order the two Twist of the Wrist books if you can so you can begin the background educational process now while you (and the rest of us) await the track riding season to begin again. Kevin

I like to chase, especially if the rider in front is faster than I am...I push to close the gap and let my "training" work without thinking about it; but I am in the minority in this thinking so far... Kevin

Google his products...you might find your answer there. Kevin

Ace; What's that diet all about? Kevin Hi Kevin, sorry I never responded to this sooner, I must have missed it! Firstly looking at the abs diet site it appears as just another wonder diet, loosing loads of weight in a ridiculously short amount of time which is basically not good for your health. When I did it before I did loose alot of weight and a high percentage of body fat but it was over a long period of time, and changed my eating habbits to suit. It is easy to maintain and the reason I came off it was that I quit smoking and struggled to maintain the diet and not smoke at the same time as I was replacing my nicotine cravings with junk food. I have now been off cigarettes for a year I am happy to say and though slightly overweight I feel alot better than when I smoked! I am planning on getting back on the abs diet after new year, and will be keeping fit by training at the gym and going jogging! Ace; No problem; Steve Thomas responded the day I posted and included a link to their web site so it's all good! Thanks; Kevin

Steph; I have been to Mosport and Shannonville many times...Calabogie is on my To Do list for '09. As for Tracks in the US, depending on what part of Canada you're in I would recommend Mid-Ohio in Lexington, Ohio (center state); NJMP in southern New Jersey (below Philadelphia); VIR in Southern Virginia/north North Carolina (about an hours drive north of Raleigh, NC). Out west there are plenty but my references are only tracks I have been on so it would be Infineon (Sears Point) about an hour north of San Francisco; Laguna Seca in Monterey (almost 2 hours south of San Francisco) and the Streets of Willow Springs (about 2 hours north of Los Angeles). Tracks I wouldn't struggle to get to are Pocono which is alot like Shannonville except they use part of the NASCAR Tri-Oval in all of their set ups (north central Pennsylvania), BeaveRun (near Pittsburgh and a lot of people will disagree with me over this one) and Loudon, NH. It's about 90 minutes north of Boston). You can race at Loudon but it uses alot of the NASCAR oval and is a tortured layout IMHO. My other To-Do in '09 locations are Barber in Leeds Alabama and maybe a return to Nelson Ledges in Garretsville, Ohio if the new owners finish their reconstruction. Kevin

If you are comfortable on your bike and how it's set up, then riding your bike might be the best choice. I have attended the School many times and when it was close enough for me to trailer my bike, I did; if not, I used theirs. The School's Zx-6R's are amazing and are obviously set up with fresh tires so you cannot go wrong on their bike either. I finished the season at Infineon with them in November on their bike. I was reminded of how much "work" is involved when you ride your own bike and putting aside the time and energy to load and haul the bike, pack up your tools, gas cans, wheel stands and all the rest, you also lose time at school. Whether it is the time you lose for refueling or tinkering with a lever or a setting or what ever, I didn't have to do any of that. As a result, I had more time to rest, to talk with the Coaches and staff not to mention other riders and to me that added real value. If you want to focus purely on maximizing the learning opportunity, I would throw that thought into your decision matrix next to the financial cost. Kevin

Hub; You still can get wheel hop with one...that was a real wake up call for me after putting one in my track bike. Kevin

I still do both. Kevin

You might be on to something with that one. That nut is a real ###### to tighten correctly.

JB; Have you attended a School yet? If so, I would encourage you to review your notes from Level I because some of the classroom sessions deal with the forces on and the reaction of the bike's suspension system. Beyond that, I can't think of any level that deals with the set up of a student's bike per se. If you haven't attended I recommend that you sign up for the earliest school you can find in 2009. The School will sort this out for you in short order. You mention that your reaction creates seven separate steps you take to alleviate your concern with the bike's front so you are halfway home in overcoming the issue - you have acknowledged it. Now the trick is how to put these regressive steps out of your riding repertoire so you can ride with greater confidence. I have some suggestions but you will be better served with advice from an experienced CSS Coach (Hint-hint Cobie, Stuman, Mike Isbill&...). I do not mean to disuade you from the belief that your suspension is a problem; it could be the cause of all of your anxiety - One season as my speed and confidence began to grow I started having trouble with front end chatter under heavy braking and it did affect my confidence. I swapped out the fork springs and it changed everything freeing me to look for other areas to improve - so in fairness to your comment it could be all in the forks. YRMV. Kevin

Jay; Your tranny won't quit because you swapped out your rearsets; my guess is that your recalcitrant transmission had more to do with your adjustments. If you're having trouble shifting, put your bike on a rear stand and experiment until you have good reach and range of motion. Once you find "your set-up" you can move your attention to another area to improve. I also went through this process with the springs in my forks and rear shock (previous owner was 50+ pounds heavier than me) so it does take some time, energy and $ to dial in your bike...but it is also fun. YRMV. Kevin

Jay; I'm not sure if these measurements are coincidentally similar or not but to you question of why have adjustability, my rearset mounting brackets can be adjusted vertically while the footpegs and toe pieces can all be rotated as they are offset from the stem that goes into the anchor bracket (for the pegs) or the brake/shift lever arms. The amount of available adjustment is significant (to me) and it took awhile to dial in what was comfortable. The resulting measurement from the front axle is irrelevant (to me anyway) because this is where I am most consistently attached to the motorcycle; the position of each point of contact (foot peg; shift and brake toe pieces) is critical to work the foot controls effectively. Once I experienced adjustable rear sets on my track bike, I quickly followed with a set for my street bike. Kevin

Check this out: http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/wsb...-in-the-desert/ Kevin

Stu; I had responded earlier to this but to your current question I found at Sears last month that entering turns like 7A and especially 9A, I found that as I moved my brake markers closer and closer to my turn point that I would literally release the lever simultaneous with turning it in. The advantage seemed to be that with the front loaded from braking the transition to turning seemed easier. Maybe it was because the wheelbase was shortened and with the forks compressed that the trail was reduced making turning easier but the more I did it the better the bike seemed to respond to the steering input. Kevin