RoadRunner

what bike and tyres? estimated ambient temperature?

They come standard with a 6" rim so the 190 is the right size http://www.dunlopmotorcycle.com/fitmentguide.asp I've done a track session on the 208's on a tiumph 600 and they felt good as far as feeback goes - couldn't push the bike to traction limits though as I only had 1 session and it wasn't my bike experience tells me though, that the dunlops will squirm a fair bit before they let go, which for alot of people, is a good thing

They come standard with a 6" rim so the 190 is the right size http://www.dunlopmotorcycle.com/fitmentguide.asp I done a track session on the 208's on a tiumph 600 and they felt good as far as feeback goes - could push the bike to traction limits though as I only had 1 session and it wasn't my bike experience tells me though, that the dunlops will squirm a fair bit before they let go, which for alot of people, is a good thing

http://www.sportrider.com/tech/tires/146_0206_size/ That should answer your questions about the tire size. Personally, I'd be looking for other reasons as to why you feel the tyre slide. Are you using the rear brake? Is it from engine braking?

Reaching the edge of front before you reach the edge of the rear, or visa versa is a tyre brand and profile thing, mixed with the bike. Change brand of tyres and you'll get a different result Having said that, why bother thinking about it? It really makes no difference when your riding. Feel for what's going on

I find the front goes light and can feel like the bars start to sway slightly before it will let go I can understand your dilema, but I'll ask you this... If you practice turning in slowly until you reach max lean angle and eventually find an angle that your comfortable with, how will that practice translate into a fast turn in? It is my thinking that a fast turn in / quick flick, feels completely different to a slow turn in. The bikes suspension reacts differently (you'll be loading up the front alot more when turning in slowly), your line is different, your turn in point is different, where your start to accelerate is different etc..... finding maximum lean angle is all well and good but how does it help lap times? I guess what I am saying is, maybe your attention would be better spent on other things Go back to the basics do the 2 step drill practice your quick flick but most importantly, work on improving your lap times rather than focusing on increasing your lean angle there are other ways to go faster other than leaning it more

Losing the front end while accelerating to me, sounds like setup issues. Sometimes people blame themselves for something that can be addressed in the setup of the bike. (obviously a bike doesn't crash itself, but the problem may not be your technique) Without knowing what setup your bike has, I could not tell you what to change (front rebound might be a rough starting point), but I'm sure if you went to a suspension shop (lindermans, dan kyle etc..) and explained what happened, they would be able to assess what happened along with you current setup and work something out. oh, and get yourself some new tyres

I'm of the same mind set - never give up on the bike. I've had quite a few moments when the front tyre has folded and winding on the throttle has saved it - or even a good yank on the bars to try to straighten the bike a little has worked. It's a choice of let it go and crash now, or fight and try to save it - you may still crash but then again, you may not - I'll take option 2 every time. Hell, I watched a friend go into a 2 wheel drift through a right hand bend. His right knee and elbow were on the road, his left hand came off the bars. I thought he was gone for sure, but he pushed off his elbow and knee and gave it more throttle and saved it. It aint over till the fat lady driving the ambulance sings

Lots of seat time - ride as much as you can - even if you are not working on your riding, it will help to just get used to the sportsbike, which you have found out is a different animal to dirt bikes. Big open car parks are great too as you can go and practice manouvering at slow speeds, which if nothing else, will give you a great sense of balance with your current bike.

I used the rear brake in heavy braking areas to help keep the rear of the bike under control. For my mind it doesn't make sense to correct a throttle problem with the brakes. The simple solution for me would be to work on when and how the throttle is applied. Similar to the front brake - if the problem is the front is suddenly unloading when the front brake is releasec, then doesn't it make sense to work on how the front brakes are released? Maybe even the suspension could do with a look over Adding another control to the mix will just make it more difficult - trying to have balanced control of 2 things is more complicated than controlling one thing.

Think about it from a physics point of view When cornering the tyre isn't completely straight in line with the chassis, it's turned in towards the inside of the turn. Because of the force on the tyre, it naturally wants to turn in on itself, so when the tyre finally lets go, the front wheel is free to turn the way it wants to until the bars hit the stops. Not a good explanation but it's why it happens. I've lost the front end many times and every time, the front folded. I've just been lucky enough to save it every time so far *knocks wood*

High speed compression and rebound are the things to play with, but that involves stripping the forks and playing with the shim stacks. If you don't have experience with this, then it's probably best to talk to a suspension shop about it.

I can't speak for others, but I will go through what I do as it may help to get a better understanding. While braking, I try to keep the weight back a bit as you said, to keep the rear tyre on the ground. As I ease off the brakes, I bring my weight forward by lowering my chest onto the tank. This is to maximise front end grip as I approach the apex. It also helps keep the weight transfer of the bike smooth and to a minimum. As I get on the throttle and start to roll on, I arch my back, so instead of my chest being over the front of the tank, it's over the back of the tank, if that makes sense. What this does is put more weight on the rear tyre so I can roll the throttle on earlier, and harder. So now I'm maximising rear grip. I find it also helps me feel the edge of traction better. It also gives the option of easliy shifting your weight forward again if the front is getting too light, without using the bars to pull yourself foward. It's subtle movements, and mainly the top half of the body, but it makes a positive difference. It also helps to be fit and have strong stomach muscles.

Same as what the others said, and it has been proven. I can't remember which magazine did the test, but they did temperature tests on the tyres (sorry, tires) after a warm up lap. 1st test .... weaving - resulted in very minimal heat. 2nd test .... hard accelerating and braking - resulted in good heat 3rd test .... normal cautious lap - resulted in good heat but not as much as 2nd test Also an interesting thing they noted was that leaving the tyres in direct sunlight (it was a warm day) actually had a better effect than the tyre warmers. They ended up hotter and kept their heat for longer. This is what I do - park my bike in the sun so the tyres get as much direct sunlight as they can before I ride. Works a treat. If it's a cold day you're stuffed though so I too suggest tyre warmers when you can afford them

hahahaha I love sponge bob! I agree with the above. Have fun with your riding and the confidence will pick itself back up again

Try to look as far up the road as possible so you can make a plan as early as possible

Do you have a plan for the corner/s? I ask because I found this to be the biggest help when I was trying to get over the same thing as yourself. I'd say choose a corner that always suckers you into turning in too early and work on that one corner so you can experiment a little. Decide what you want from the corner - ie, where you want to be and what you want to be doing at the end. Choose a point where you want to start getting back on the throttle which will be somewhere near the apex. Now choose a few turn in points. Firstly choose one that you think will compliment the other 2 the best. Now choose one that you normally take - which is too shallow Now choose one that is really deep. Even though you're changing the turn in points, keep the other rp's the same so you can experience the difference beween shallow and deep turn in points. Why work backwards? Well, I found this worked really well for me because the reason I was turning in too early was that I did not know where I wanted to be at the end of the turn, and if you don't know what you want from the turn, how are you supposed to know what to do at the begining. It's like getting into a Taxi Cab and just saying "drive". The Cab driver will ask you where to and if you don't tell him, how will he know which direction to go in? (I know, bad analogy but it makes the point) People told me to look through the corner which is good advice, but I didn't really know what I was look at. Once I had a point at the end of the corner and at the apex, I could then choose an appropriate turn in point which would get me to those points, and I think if you experiment like this, then you may find the results you're looking for. I hope that makes sense.

I don't know about anyone else, but I find if I don't have a RP at the end of the corner (ie - the point where I aim to be at full throttle and pointing at my next braking point), then I lose my other RP's. What's the point of having the begining of a plan if you don't have a result in mind. So that's what I do Choose a RP at the end of the corner and draw a line back to the begining of the corner or is that wrong?

now now lets not be picky but just for you, my post has been edited

It should go hand in hand with where you are, and where you want to go. The smoothness thing is how you get there. Don't be so concerned with the 'how you get there' part that you lose sight of where you are going and why you're going there. I think the important thing to realise when working on a single aspect of your riding, is that you're still working on a complete package. It's necessary to work on individual things to improve your overall riding ability, and it's even more necessary to keep your whole package in sight. You can work on smoothness until the cows come home but if you're on the wrong part of the track at the wrong time, you'll be slow, not matter how seemless you transitions are. I'm not down playing the smoothness thing - it's important, but so are all the other aspects of your riding.

If you want an easy job of it, then use this kit: http://www.traxxion.com/store/detail.asp?p...product_id=SVDR Max at traxxion will do a proper job with your forks

Cartridge emulators do exactly that - emulate a cartridge fork. Racetech make them. It's basically a valve that goes into your fork so you can control the compression damping by preloading the spring on the valve. The beauty of this system is the compression and rebound can be tuned seperately. You tune the rebound by choosing the right weight fork oil, then you tune compression by setting the preload on the valve.

First thing I would do is service the forks. Strip them, give them a good clean, fresh oil - make sure it's the same in both forks and then be very particular how you put the front end back together, checking everything as you go along.

I don't know if this is correct, but I haven't crashed mid corner yet so it must work. I just let the bike react how it wants to and continue with my plan. Most of the time the suspension will soak it up Sometimes the chassis will wobble and I'll sh*t my pants and have my heart in my mouth, but I focus on where I want to be and stick to the plan for that corner and it works outs. Never have I had it go completely out of control. I have found that if you fight the bikes reaction then you can get yourself into all sorts of trouble.

Phillip Island Really fast, flowing and the surface is perfect.