Scraped The Pegs

[spthomas]

I had my 2nd track day since Level I school a year ago; I'm gradually improving and getting faster and generally feeling better about my riding. And having a LOT of fun!

 

One thing that happened this time was I scraped the feeler peg on my foot rest. At first I thought it was my boot but after I got back to the paddock I realized it was the peg. On two different sessions I did the left side and the right side.

 

If I've done this but I'm not dragging my knee puck, is that a good thing or a bad thing? I'm not trying to drag anything as a goal in itself.

[Kevin Kane]

I had my 2nd track day since Level I school a year ago; I'm gradually improving and getting faster and generally feeling better about my riding. And having a LOT of fun!

 

One thing that happened this time was I scraped the feeler peg on my foot rest. At first I thought it was my boot but after I got back to the paddock I realized it was the peg. On two different sessions I did the left side and the right side.

 

If I've done this but I'm not dragging my knee puck, is that a good thing or a bad thing? I'm not trying to drag anything as a goal in itself.

Steve;

 

You didn't tell us what kind of bike that you're dragging the pegs of but as a general rule, you don't want to do that very often - actually, you don't ever want to do that because if one drags too much, it will unload your tires and then...well, it will be "see ya!"

 

It sounds like you may be pushing the bike underneath yourself instead of you hanging off more...

Do you have copies of Twist of the Wrist vol's I & II? There is a ton of information in them that may help you understand why you are dragging hard parts.

 

Kevin

[racer]

I had my 2nd track day since Level I school a year ago; I'm gradually improving and getting faster and generally feeling better about my riding. And having a LOT of fun!

 

One thing that happened this time was I scraped the feeler peg on my foot rest. At first I thought it was my boot but after I got back to the paddock I realized it was the peg. On two different sessions I did the left side and the right side.

 

If I've done this but I'm not dragging my knee puck, is that a good thing or a bad thing? I'm not trying to drag anything as a goal in itself.

 

Depending on details we don't have, I can think of three possible helpful alternatives:

 

1. A deeper turn point combined with 2. A faster flick can decrease the amount of lean angle needed to complete the turn. 3. Hanging off more, or a more properly positioned body, can decrease the overall amount of lean angle necessary.

 

But, like Kevin said, this depends on details we don't have. Perhaps if you post a photo/video we could offer more accurate information for your situation. However, ultimately, reading the Twist of the Wrist books and attending a school is the final answer.

 

r

[stow]

When you say you scraped the "feeler peg", do you mean you are scraping the actual end of the peg where your foot is placed or the aluminum rod that extends below the peg? If you are referring to the rod that extends below the peg, I would just remove them all together. And as mentioned above scraping the pegs isn't usually a good thing. It is usually and indicator that you are using all of your available lean angle. And you shouldn't be using that much lean angle unless you are setting the track record.

[racer]

Or you could just remove the feeler tips from your footpegs...

[spthomas]

I was just scraping the end of the feeler peg; it was a fairly light scrape for just a second, not with a lot of force, but just an indication I was leaned over a lot I guess. My bike is an '02 Honda CBR 600 F4i. My mental block had been leaning, so I guess I'm getting over that and need to focus next on good body positioning.

[racer]

All the racers I know (and I imagine track riders, too) do remove those "feelers".

 

Are you using all of your tire out to the edge with those feelers in place?

[spthomas]

Are you using all of your tire out to the edge with those feelers in place?

 

Yes. I'm running Dunlop Qualifiers and on the back especially the rubber is almost liked it's worked over the edge lip. They did get hot and pick up little pieces of rubber. My front is almost like it has a re-tread. No chicken strips left!

 

I had hoped to get some photos taken; I had brought my own digital SLR with a good 180mm lens and a riding buddy was going to stop by and take some pictures for me but he ended up not coming. I did get some great shots of other guys. I figured my knee would touch- the ground seemed so close, but it didn't, so I may not be far enough off. I'm not the tallest guy either I don't know how much long limbs plays a factor. I did pay attention to my outside knee being against the tank- I could feel my weight pulling down against it for the first time. I also had my upper/outer arm resting lightly on the tank. I wasn't holding on tight to the bars for dear life either. I always think back to the picture Keith showed in class of an ad of Stoner riding, holding onto the bat with almost open hands.

[racer]

Well, you obviously have no problem with lean angle.

 

If you aren't running front of the pack lap times for the local race club and top 10-15 AMA pro times... something is missing.

 

Aside from some top notch coaching, my guess is that it might be a little competition. Perhaps it's time to skip the track day and go race.

[spthomas]

Well, you obviously have no problem with lean angle.

 

If you aren't running front of the pack lap times for the local race club and top 10-15 AMA pro times... something is missing.

 

Aside from some top notch coaching, my guess is that it might be a little competition. Perhaps it's time to skip the track day and go race.

 

The friend I'm riding with (and went to the school with me) has a friend with a helmet cam so next track day we hope to use it for learning and fun. I just need to keep riding, learning, and improving. On one session I was following him on his R1 the whole way around for several laps; at some points I was running up on him maybe a bit too much. Next session he followed me around most of the session; afterwards when we parked the bikes he took his gloves off and shook my hand and said he was proud of me and that I had improved 10x since our track day last May. That felt nice.

 

We were both in the novice group. By the end of the day I was passing some guys so I wasn't the slowest one out there for once. There were a few guys that were faster though. I did do a few passes on both the straightaway and some turns- that was new too.

 

My plan is to do two more track days this year and next year get to Level 2.

 

The day was a lot fun- when it was one or two minutes before the hour when the checkered flag comes out I was thinking "oh no I want to keep going". It was that same feeling I had as a kid in 3rd grade recess not wanting the bell to ring... hadn't felt that way in a long time!

[racer]

For what' it's worth:

 

I rode four track days, and cornerworked a bunch. Then I took second place in my first race, and won my second race.

 

If all you want is to have a picnic at the track, sure, keep up the good work. Bring the wife and kids and grandma too.

 

You obviously have what it takes.

 

What are you waiting for?

[spthomas]

For what' it's worth:

 

I rode four track days, and cornerworked a bunch. Then I took second place in my first race, and won my second race.

 

If all you want is to have a picnic at the track, sure, keep up the good work. Bring the wife and kids and grandma too.

 

You obviously have what it takes.

 

What are you waiting for?

I dunno, hadn't thought about it. I'm not that competitive of a person; I just like winning all the time.

[racer]

 

I have no idea what you mean...

[hubbard_28]

I had the same problem. What I started focusing on more was trying to hold the bike up instead of leaning off so much. I still leaned, but in trying to keep the bike more upright, I found that I was leaning way off the bike all of a sudden right about where I needed to be. After my first couple warmup laps when I first tried this, I had my puck down on the 3rd corner, and the peg shortly after. I've slowly adjusted so that my last trackday I didn't even scrape my peg once. I run stock foot pegs, but have good control over the leaning of the bike.

[spthomas]

I had the same problem. What I started focusing on more was trying to hold the bike up instead of leaning off so much. I still leaned, but in trying to keep the bike more upright, I found that I was leaning way off the bike all of a sudden right about where I needed to be. After my first couple warmup laps when I first tried this, I had my puck down on the 3rd corner, and the peg shortly after. I've slowly adjusted so that my last trackday I didn't even scrape my peg once. I run stock foot pegs, but have good control over the leaning of the bike.

I think what are saying is what is happening with me. I was sitting on my bike in the garage this morning trying to figure out what my body positioning was and maybe what it should be. For discussion, if we are turning left, I think the inner thigh of my right leg was against the tank, my butt centered on the left edge of the seat. I then moved more to the left (than I was at the track) whereby my right calf was against the side of the bike, my thigh was on the back of the tank and the right side of my butt was on the left edge of the seat. It seems like I need to be more off like that if my knee is going to touch before the pegs. Does this sound right?

 

I took some tire pictures this afternoon: front tire, back tire

[hubbard_28]

That's pretty much the idea. It took some rough and unsettling scraping of hard parts and boots before I figured I had to throw my body off the bike more to be able to get my knee down. If I can get the pic posted, you'll see that I still have some work to do with my upper body, and I have my butt more off the seat than just a cheek, although I did start where you are, with my crack on the side of the seat I was leaning toward. I've had to go past that to get my feeler (knee) down to keep me from dragging hard parts, and I've almost stopped dragging parts altogether. I'm not even dragging knee, and I can whip around this corner pretty well. And, like I've said, my focus is keeping the bike up so I can corner faster, and it all comes together.

[spthomas]

For what' it's worth:

 

I rode four track days, and cornerworked a bunch. Then I took second place in my first race, and won my second race.

 

If all you want is to have a picnic at the track, sure, keep up the good work. Bring the wife and kids and grandma too.

 

You obviously have what it takes.

 

What are you waiting for?

OK, I've been thinking about this... what am I waiting for? Mostly confidence in knowing I'm riding right, good body position etc. If you haven't had your knee down are you ready for racing?

 

But assessing strengths and weaknesses... one thing between my buddy and I that surprised me was how easy it was to stay up with him but I got to doing some calculating. It turns out I weigh about 145, he is 220, his bike is 20lbs more, so together he is 95lbs. heavier which must some impact even though he was on a 1000cc and I was on a 600cc. What else? I just did an Olympic distance triathlon last weekend, so I'm in good condition cardio-wise.

 

One funny thing about grandma though- my mother-in-law lives with us now and she loves watching all the motorcycle racing. She knows all the riders, teams, etc. Pretty cool I think.