Hotfoot
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Posts posted by Hotfoot
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Hmmm. Repeat offender here. I'll give it a guess.
Are you referring to pivot steering?
Yep, that's a good one for locking on the bike for accurate and powerful steering.
What skill(s) could help with the actual transition of the body from one side to the other?
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What tires are you using? Do you have any sort of grip pads on the tank to help you hang on to the bike?
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Ah. The most important thing it to be locked onto the bike solidly so that the quick turn steering input is firm and accurate. There are techniques taught in Level 3 that help with the body position transition and with anchoring on the bike during and after the transition.
Got an repeat-offender students up here that remember what they are?
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Welcome to the forum! What kind of bike do you ride?
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Any idea what boots the other coaches use?
Various AlpineStar models. Some have mentioned that the model with the separate inner boot is super comfortable.
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Reading this article from Keith Code, I wondered what is the physical limit for this technique?
http://forums.superbikeschool.com/index.php?showtopic=109
I would also like learning any subtle tips from the couches.
For example:
1) It is done while still braking or completely off the brakes?
2) More force or more speed while steering, or both?
3) Body position and sight direction before, during and after?
4) How to use it in a chicane?
1) In any given situation you have a certain amout of available traction. If you are on the brakes, you are using some of your a available traction for braking and that leaves less traction available for turning than you'd have if you were not braking. So, to maximize quick turn you'd want to be off the brakes; ideally, you'd be tapering off your braking and releasing at your turn point so that your suspension stays compressed throughout without extending between braking and the turn point.
2) To get the bike to turn quicker you have to push harder (more pressure) not faster.
3) Think this one through - can you be accurate with your quick turn if your body position is not set before your turn point? Could moving around during the steering action affect your steering? For vision: Can you accurately steer the bike if you aren't looking at where you want the bike to go?
4) How to use it in a chicane... let's see, I guess it would go like this: turn the bike quickly, then shortly after that turn it quickly the other direction.
I'm not quite sure what you are asking about how to use it in a chicane, can you be more specific? Certainly quick turn is extremely useful in a chicane, where a fast transition is critical.
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I have a question for the helmet experts. I typically wear an XS helmet, and even with the XS I have to put padding in the crown to keep the helmet from coming down too low on my eyes. Recently I bought a youth helmet for my son, and out of curiosity I tried it on - and it fit me really well!
So now I am wondering - is there any reason why I shouldn't wear a youth size helmet? Is there any actual safety-related difference between a youth size helmet and an adult helmet with XS size padding inserts? The particular helmet he has seems both lighter and smaller than some of the adult XS helmets I have tried. (ALL of my dirtbike gear is in youth sizes, it is easier to find than women's gear and usually priced lower, too.)
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I have the Ladies' Stella boot, which might not be what you had in mind for yourself.
They fit me perfectly which is a novelty since most full protection road race boots do not come in a size small enough for me. I used to wear the smallest Dianese boot they made but they were at least a size too big and I dragged my toes a lot as a result.
I do have a pair of Sidi offroad boots but I had to go to a youth size to find the proper fit.
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It's true, riders are a remarkably generous bunch, an aspect of racing that came as a real surprise to me. The camaraderie has become a really big part of the whole experience for me.
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Another thing you can do is experiment with alternate lines during practice, so that you are comfortable with various line options - that way if you have an opportunity, for example, to pass on the entrance on the inside, you know how you have to ride the corner if you take that line.
Sometimes a rider will hand you a passing opportunity - coming in a little too hot, or missing a shift or something, and riding various lines helps you be prepared to grab those opportunities when they arise!
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I've been very hard on my Alpinestar boots for about 3 years now and they are still in great shape. They are also lightweight and comfortable, I really like them, I've been impressed.
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Holy cow, Rainman, that's a terrific story!!
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Usually the key to getting a pass on a corner exit is to get on the gas earlier in the corner than the other rider. You should definitely try backing off farther and getting more of a gap, so you can carry more speed into and through the corner, then be able to get on the gas without being held up by the other guy. With a torquey bike and early throttle application you should have a good chance to get past. Looking past or through the other rider helps, too - watching the other rider to see what they are going to do can make iit tougher to see where YOU want to go, and leaving a bigger gap when setting up the pass can help that too.
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Wow. While I admit to a certain morbid curiosity about these things, I don't really think we want to start a thread of scary awful crashes on this board - as said above, CSS is a place for riding in a safer environment and learning the art of cornering - not the art of dodging flying motorcycles.
So with that, let's stop here and talk of happier things - here's a question for the crowd/
What is the most helpful / most generous thing anyone has ever done for you at a trackway or school, or out on a street ride? Anyone ever fix your bike or loan you something or bail you out of jail?
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Welcome, glad to hear you've read and gotten benefits from Twist of the Wrist - did you know there is a modern Twist of the Wrist II DVD? It's fun to see those ideas shown on current bikes with some great extra info shown in cool CG graphics.
Thanks for posting and we look toward to your input!
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You're correct about that front wheel, it shouldn't be turned in that far, so in that picture it is already sliding. When you entered that corner, could you have been putting any pressure on the bars? How is your lock-in, when you are braking and going downhill, are you solidly locked on the bike or do you have to brace yourself with your arms to keep from sliding forward?
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I found quite a few places on the web indicating that a 160/60 tire should fit on a 5" wheel. Here is an interesting thread showing actual width measurements for tires mounted on various rim sizes:
http://www.supermotojunkie.com/showthread.php?145216-Actual-Tire-Width!-DOT-and-Race-Slick
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I searched a bit for Q3 width info on the 160 size tire and here is what I found:
Inflated Width/Measuring Rim Width: 6.67 in. / 4.5 in.
Inflated Diameter: 24.97 in.
Acceptable Rim Width: 5.50 in./6.00 in.
Deepest Tread Depth: 7/32 in.
I presume this means it would fit a 5" rim, since I think that tire is made for a 4.5" rim and he info above seems to indicate it can fit on a larger one (5.5/6) - although I find the acceptable rim width info a little confusing, the way it is written.
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First thing to do, if you haven't already, is try to find out the ACTUAL width instead of the nominal width of the tires. I wish I had seen this earlier when I was at the track today, I could have asked some tire vendors! I went through something like this with my SuperSingle - the widest rear tire I can run is a 163mm tire, and I was very surprised to discover that the actual width of some tires labeled as 160 were much wider, up to 168mm wide for example!
Maybe our resident Dunlop answer man can find out the actual width of the Q3.
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Any coach (or any other staff member!) will always try to answer your questions as best they can, time permitting, and if they don't have enough info to help you they'll get you to someone who does.
In regards to drills - for whatever you are looking for, I'd be surprised if there wasn't already a drill for it! There are many, many drills available for a coach or consultant to choose from and it would be unusual to need to go outside those - Keith has been doing this for more than 37 years, there isn't much he hasn't run across before!
There is not a good way to practice starts at a regular school since the track is in constant use, however it is a standard exercise in CodeRACE. It is possible to work on passing, but if you are looking for racing-type close passing, CodeRACE is the more appropriate environment for that also.
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Well, you know, not EVERYTHING gets mentioned in the brochure.
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For Level 4, you don't have the standard classroom briefings. Instead, you work with a Level 4 consultant during that time to work through YOUR specific goals. Your Level 4 consultant (who will also be supporting some other L4 students) will communicate with your on-track coach throughout the day.
Instead of a formal classroom with a seminarist, Level 4 has an informal class with the Level 4 consultant where each student will work on his/her plan for the day. Your drill (the skill you are working on) for your first session of the day will be decided with the L4 consultant at the beginning of the day, based on a L4 survey you will be asked to fill out and a discussion with the consultant. The consultant will communicate with your on-track coach so he/she knows what you are working on. After you ride that session you will debrief with your on-track coach and decide what to do next - which could mean continuing with the same drill or moving on to a different one, depending on how your ride went. After your debrief you will go to your L4 consultant and discuss your ride and your plan, and in working with your consultant you can make that plan more specific, or get more education about a skill, or possibly even change the plan if that L4 discussion ends up finding a different/better way to improve the thing you are working on. You also get the chance to listen in on what other L4 students are working on, which can be very educational too. The rest of the day will work the same - you ride, then debrief with your on-track coach, then go see your L4 consultant, then have a break (if it is a single-day school) or go right back on track (2 day camp).
As far as ride format goes, you DO have more braking and more gears available to you earlier in the day than the other levels - it isn't full-gears/full-brakes in first session (mainly because other riders will be out there that are doing no-brakes) but you do get more flexibility than you did in Level 1 to use more brakes and more gears earlier in the day.
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Fantastic! Glad you had a great two days and are having success (and fun!) applying what you learned, that is what we love to hear!
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Wind drag is the biggest factor at top speed on those bikes, and they are narrow, so every little bit of tucking in helps.
Can Quick Turn Be Overdone?
in Cornering and Techniques
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Yes, exactly. So Pivot Steering can get you locked in properly, Knee to Knee will help you STAY locked in throughout a transition, and Hip Flick makes the transition very quick so you can get it done before having to steer the bike. Of course there is much more to the story and it is all presented in Level 3 but the basic answer to Lnewqban's question is that you transition the body before you steer the bike in a chicane, if possible, and you should have the lower body locked-in so as to get the most powerful and accurate steering input you can.