My Major Srs

[faffi]

I have read the TWOT II book, but I will confess that watching the DVD added another dimension. And this from a man who never will watch a movie after first having read the book because it will always be worse

 

I wasn't too keen on the rather childish conversations or amateur, but I shall not deny that the video worked. It also highlighted my 3 typical SRs and showed that I have the others reasonably under control - at my pace.

 

1. Charging the corners. This is the most common when I try to ride fast on the road. The line between charging in the SR sense and charging in the Code sense is a fine one; I have always preferred to turn late and on the brakes, which apparently is charging the corners when it comes to setting good lap times, but has nothing to do with SR. When SR sets in, I know it and I start to panic a bit, screwing up the corner.

 

2. Chopping the throttle or hitting the brakes mid-corner. This is a result of #1 or failing to get the correct turn-in point. A few bikes have made this difficult, namely the ones that stands up abruptly, but usually it doesn't cause any more drama than making me slower through the turn. I don't feel any drama from this, and once I've closed the throttle momentarily the world is once again fine, SR goes away quickly and I can get back on the throttle. Still, there is no denying the inclination to slow down comes from fear.

 

3. Riding tense. After reading TWOT II for the second time and this really working to understand - and accept - what it says, I have mostly eliminated my two primary SRs, not the least because I've slowed down a bit and altered my riding from late on the brakes to early on the throttle. But riding relaxed, although I have become miles better, is still work in progress. Part of it comes from riding bikes with upright riding position, requiring muscle work to stem against the wind. Usuing the legs and torso for this instead of hanging after my hands is still not nearly natural. Still, I have a long way to go until I get my back and shoulders truly relaxed. Not only on the bike, but in daily life as well.

[Jasonzilla]

Hahaha. I worked on relaxing my shoulders and it's a phenomenal way to gauge how relaxed I am. As I was reading your post I payed attention to my shoulders and they were tense. It's incredible, isn't it. It was also helping me turn the bike a little quicker because I was trying to get my shoulders relaxed as quickly as possible.

 

It's great you've figured out this problem. That one thing effects every part of going through the corner. My problem is that I always ensure I'm really comfortable going into a corner. I don't push much to test limits and my slow improvement is proof. I did push a little at the trackday Saturday, and hopefully can build on that a little more on my next trackday.

 

Let us know how everything works out on your next ride.

[Crash106]

For me, the main problems used to be: 1) Overgripping the bars, 2) Chopping the throttle mid-turn, and 3) Sticky vision. What I like to do is try to figure out what key will remind me that I'm doing it WRONG.

 

Overgripping the bars is easy because my hands go numb right away. Chopping the throttle is easy to feel too. After I do it, I ask myself if it was really necessary. It almost always was not. Sticky vision is triiiiiii-Keeeeeey! It seems to make so much sense while I'm doing it. And it kind of does. I NEEDED to take a look at that stick near my turn point, but did I need to KEEP looking at it? I have to constantly ask myself, "Are you looking well ahead?" No? Look up or slow down.

 

Any other suggestion on sticky vision would be appreciated.

[Bart]

I have read both the twist books 1&2 and have also watched the DVD. Actually have read and watched the DVD so many times the books are falling apart and I might have to get a new DVD.....lol. Even after all that the school still made a hudge difference in my riding, I was still making mistakes that I was not aware of. The instructors helpped me identify what I was doing and it was easy to take care of. It seems like you are catching your mistakes but I think if you get the oppurtunity to take the school it will help you that much more and your feeling of charging the corners will disapear; that is what happened with me anyway. I know I am going faster than I use to but the speed in which I travel does not feel as fast or as rushed as it use to.

[Jasonzilla]

 

Any other suggestion on sticky vision would be appreciated.

 

It's tricky and I think takes lots of practice and experimentation. Besides walking out the two-step to show other riders how much it effects their riding, I can only come up with trying new/different points of interest while going into and through a corner. I've been studying the riders from last week, and they're so well trained that they just don't look away from the corner for anything. At one point, Biaggi was shooting into a corner and overcooked his entry. It wasn't until the last possible second that he took his head out of the corner. I have gotten good at it, but not that good.

 

I've also gotten to the point that if I'm starting to feel unsure about getting through I CRANK my head into the turn. It's worked pretty well so far. I can still run off and feel, after I get it back on the track, that almost every time I could have made it if I had just gotten my head into the corner more.

[Cobie Fair]

Somewhat related to this, I recently heard KC say that the best riders have the least eye movement. They move around/flick aroudn the least.

 

Interesting fact, no?

 

CF

[faffi]

I am fully aware that the basis for this forum is a RACING school, but I'm still curious to lear if that's true also for street riding? I find that it is much easier to corner in a calm and relaxed fashion if I keep my eyes steady once I've completed the turn-in and lifted my view. However, on bad, bumpy and dirty roads with usually poor visibility too, I simply cannot allow myself to gamble on the road being clear. Hence I constantly scan the road, varying between looking pretty close and far away to know both where I want to end up, but also to allow me to discover any imminent danger (sand, leaves, potholes, frost heaves etc.) in time to steer around it.

[aredman]

The Superbike school is not a racing school, it is a CORNERING school (as deceptive as the name is) and SRs apply to all riding situations as do the vision (and all other) techniques they teach.

 

IMHO, Vision is the number one most important thing to controlling SRs. Keeping a steady, controlled view of where you are going is the only way to get there fast and in control.

 

Cobie: Their concentration and mental skills to ignore the distractions is amazing and that fact speaks volumes for this.