isolter Posted November 17, 2008 Report Posted November 17, 2008 Hi from Finland! First of all, thanks for an excellent forum! There's lot of valuable information here; nice to read your posts pro's. Secondly, please forgive my mistakes in English since I'm writing from abroad... Well, I'd like to share some newbie thoughts and excperiences here. Hope someone learns something from my story... I got my first opportunity to participate a track day this spring 2008 and after that I was totally "hooked up" with this wonderful hobby. Got to get there again, again, again... The result was totally 20 track days at summer 2008. I tried to learn as much I could by myself, also following other guys as well as discussing with them. I think I've learned something, at least lap times were getting better (e.g. lower) and body positioning was also going better and better. By the end of the summer I tried to drive quicker/harder all the time and result was I crashed, of course. After crashing I've had time to think & learn from my mistakes. I bought those excellent books TOTW I & II as well as " The Soft Science of Road Racing Motorcycles" by Mr Code and boy, how much new things I've found from those books. I fully recommend! Btw, after studying these books, I think I know why I crashed; I did all the mistakes the newbie can when he's "going fast": I was charging the turn, noticed I'm going "too fast", rolled off the throttle, crabbed the handlebars too tightly, turned in lazy... - you name it - and result was I lost the front wheel and lowsided. Believe me, it was quite funny to read afterwards those things from the book and notice "That's exactly what I've done (wrong)". Well, the winter has come to Scandinavia so now there is time to think and do the homeworks. Can't wait for next summer and get onto track for testing those right methods which are mentioned at Mr Code's books. I try to post here couple of photos of last summer. Would love to receive some feedback from you pro's... Thanks & wish you all the best! br, -T Direct links unless those IMG-codes won't work: http://i438.photobucket.com/albums/qq106/i...08/080725_1.jpg http://i438.photobucket.com/albums/qq106/i...08/080725_2.jpg Quote
Jaybird180 Posted November 17, 2008 Report Posted November 17, 2008 Very nice F4i (woop woop) Every once in awhile our club prez jumps on track with his streetbike for 2up demo rides. It's awesome (and incredibly humbling) to get passed 2-up. I found it distracting to have his tail light come on in front of me while trying to follow. (noticed your lights) Quote
racer Posted November 17, 2008 Report Posted November 17, 2008 Welcome to the forum, isolter. Nice pictures. Your body position looks pretty good. Maybe try to get your head lower. Good luck with your studies this winter. The books are excellent. However, there is no substitute for real live coaching and CSS does it best. I recommend you skip some track days and use the money to travel to a CSS school near you. Perhaps in the UK? BR, racer PS - What are you looking at in the last picture? Quote
isolter Posted November 18, 2008 Author Report Posted November 18, 2008 Welcome to the forum, isolter. Nice pictures. Your body position looks pretty good. Maybe try to get your head lower. Good luck with your studies this winter. The books are excellent. However, there is no substitute for real live coaching and CSS does it best. I recommend you skip some track days and use the money to travel to a CSS school near you. Perhaps in the UK? BR, racer PS - What are you looking at in the last picture? Hi! Thx for comment! Nice to follow this forum. I noticed last season (2008) there was couple CSS -school at Sweden which is at neighbourhood. However, I have not noticed any CSS trackday in Sweden at 2009 calendar?! Perhaps those dates will be fixed later? (Hope someone from Cornering School could answer this.) br, -T PS: I'm looking toward the main straight where I've supposed to accelerate from this particular corner. Perhaps there is already another guy which I'm trying to follow... Quote
racer Posted November 18, 2008 Report Posted November 18, 2008 PS: I'm looking toward the main straight where I've supposed to accelerate from this particular corner. Perhaps there is already another guy which I'm trying to follow... OK. I see it now. It must have been an optical illusion or my tired eyes last night. It looked to me like your helmet/head was turned to the left, toward the outside of the track, inspecting the hay bales or fence. I see now that your face shield is indeed pointing down the track. Quote
hubbard_28 Posted November 18, 2008 Report Posted November 18, 2008 Good to have you here. You seem to be doing pretty well. I was lucky enough to get in with the racers toward the end of my first year, so they kept hounding me about my body position until I've come up with a fairly good one. Start by getting your chest on the tank. Everyone says "put your head where your rear view mirror would be," but at speed that has meant very little to me, and I can't guage and adjust my position until the pics come out some days later. So get your chest on the tank and slide your body to the inside of the tank. I've come up with trying to put my outside shoulder the inside of the tank, and it's put me in a pretty good position. You're lean angle looks great though. I don't have that. My butt is always farther out than my shoulders. Quote
hubbard_28 Posted November 18, 2008 Report Posted November 18, 2008 Very nice F4i (woop woop)Every once in awhile our club prez jumps on track with his streetbike for 2up demo rides. It's awesome (and incredibly humbling) to get passed 2-up. I found it distracting to have his tail light come on in front of me while trying to follow. (noticed your lights) We have a pro who comes to Firebird, Kane Lasky, who's won every race he's in over the last couple races (sponsored by Kawi). He was trying out to take over the two up bike, and low sided with someone on the bike. Ted, the owner of aztrackday and the bike, was PISSED. Before that, Kane was doing great. The bike wasn't too bad off, but there were some repairs required. Quote
Cobie Fair Posted November 19, 2008 Report Posted November 19, 2008 Hi Isolter, I'll nudge Andy Ibbott (head of the UK school), but you can for sure shoot them an e-mail about the calendar. They can be accessed via the website, but here is the link for handy reference: http://www.superbikeschool.co.uk/ Best, Cobie ps--welcome to the forum! Quote
AndyIbbott Posted November 21, 2008 Report Posted November 21, 2008 Hi there, The nearest schools we have to Finland at the moment are in Sweden and also we should have some schools in Lithuania. The Swedeish dates are on our website. All the best Andy Ibbott School Director Europe, Middle East, South Africa Quote
isolter Posted November 22, 2008 Author Report Posted November 22, 2008 Hi there, The nearest schools we have to Finland at the moment are in Sweden and also we should have some schools in Lithuania. The Swedeish dates are on our website. All the best Andy Ibbott School Director Europe, Middle East, South Africa Hi! Thx for reply, Sir! Perhaps I'm missing something but is there a fault at webpage? When I click superbikeschool.co.uk - Schedules/booking -> there is only South Africa and UK dates available. Can't find anything else?? Best, -T Quote
Cobie Fair Posted November 24, 2008 Report Posted November 24, 2008 Hi there, The nearest schools we have to Finland at the moment are in Sweden and also we should have some schools in Lithuania. The Swedeish dates are on our website. All the best Andy Ibbott School Director Europe, Middle East, South Africa Hi! Thx for reply, Sir! Perhaps I'm missing something but is there a fault at webpage? When I click superbikeschool.co.uk - Schedules/booking -> there is only South Africa and UK dates available. Can't find anything else?? Best, -T I'll go and check, but it is probably the dates that are remaining for this year, and in progress on '09. CF Quote
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