Riding Skills Questions

[funsizeracing]

fast guys dont coast!

I have the hardest time not coasting, I just get into riding, relax and forget that I'm racing.

[benprobst]

I have the hardest time not coasting, I just get into riding, relax and forget that I'm racing.

fast guys and GIRLS dont coast. you didnt seem to be coasting to much this season Becka, though it must be hard to trail brake when you only weigh 89 lbs. the bike doesnt even know you there, at least you got ride of the 190lb. rider shock.

[Court Jester]

i coast from my turn in point to about the apex. give or take. depends on the turn. if it's a long turn i may have the throttle open just enough to keep steady speed.

[JBraun]

...fast guys dont coast!

No, they don't. But charging corners is as bad as coasting. You wind up asking too much from the front tire, and usually carry too much lean angle late in the corner.

[benprobst]

i coast from my turn in point to about the apex. give or take. depends on the turn. if it's a long turn i may have the throttle open just enough to keep steady speed.

How can you be getting any front end feel as you enter the corner if you are coasting? I normally have recieved most of my front end feedback and made neccesary changes by the time I get to the apex, it sounds like you are just starting to use the front tire at the apex. When someone passes you, where are they normally doing it, and how much faster are they going than you? I remember being at Barber for the national 4 hour with WERA, I was coming down the hill torwards the double apex left hander on my sv (last couple corners 11 or 13 or somthing?) thinking I was carrying enough speed when I realized i had the throttle shut and off the brakes at the apex, right then my friend Jeff Kramer came smoking past me on the outside by about 25 mph on his ZX10, from there on out I never went through that corner without input on the throttle/brake, and was able to pick up about a half second just due to the momentum it forced me to carry into the next section.

[benprobst]

No, they don't. But charging corners is as bad as coasting. You wind up asking too much from the front tire, and usually carry too much lean angle late in the corner.

Thats why i said fast guys dont coast, not fast guys charge corners.


Also, charging a corner isnt always a bad thing, especially at a club riders level (which is generally far below the motorcycles and tires abilities). I can count more than a couple of times where I got into a corner thinking I was way to hot and wouldnt make it, next thing you know im carrying 10mph more corner speed and I make it right through the damn corner, then i go faster the next lap. So while I strongly support the idea of riding at 75 - 85 % to learn quicker rather than scaring the shit out of yourself all of the time, most of my enormous gains in speed have come from scaring the crap out of myself once, then realizing I just need to go faster through that corner next time.

[Super_KC124]

+1.
I remember accidently using my 600's braking point on my 750 going into turn 1 at MAM. Holy shit! I not gonna make it! Wrong. I scared the crap out of myself but realized that thats how the fast guys do it every time. (I'm still not willing to do that on purpose. I'm comfortable with my 8/10 speed.)

[Court Jester]

How can you be getting any front end feel as you enter the corner if you are coasting? I normally have recieved most of my front end feedback and made neccesary changes by the time I get to the apex, it sounds like you are just starting to use the front tire at the apex. When someone passes you, where are they normally doing it, and how much faster are they going than you? I remember being at Barber for the national 4 hour with WERA, I was coming down the hill torwards the double apex left hander on my sv (last couple corners 11 or 13 or somthing?) thinking I was carrying enough speed when I realized i had the throttle shut and off the brakes at the apex, right then my friend Jeff Kramer came smoking past me on the outside by about 25 mph on his ZX10, from there on out I never went through that corner without input on the throttle/brake, and was able to pick up about a half second just due to the momentum it forced me to carry into the next section.

i'm still learning. that's why i'm here. but my balls have gotten considerably smaller after a few surgeries and a couple of broken bones, and a much lower level of balance my balls have gotten a good bit smaller.
i get passed from time to time. the top guys leave me, but i can hang well in the middle. i've been watching a few of my video's and i can see plain as day that my biggest issue bar none is where i put my weight and my head/shoulders.
i'll have a few schools next spring and with hall's bikes i should be able to step it up quite a bit. (knock on wood)

[benprobst]

Im right there with ya man, still new to the sport and learning at a rapid pace at this point. im in a lucky position to have my dad and uncle who have in the neighborhood of 30 years of roadracing experience helping me, esentially allowing me to start out with a far larger tool box of knowledge than most, just trying to pass it on. 

[Court Jester]

well pass it on this way man. i need it

[eeky]

It sounds like Farrell likes to trail brake really deep into corners, and he's fast.
Ed Key appears to be completely out of the brakes before he turns in, and he's also fast.

Appearances can sometimes be deceiving. I always trail brake. When teaching others I always stress the importance of trail braking.

The trick to using this technique is not to get in so deep as to hurt the drive off the turn.

Ed Key

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

Appearances can sometimes be deceiving. I always trail brake. When teaching others I always stress the importance of trail braking.

The trick to using this technique is not to get in so deep as to hurt the drive off the turn.

Ed Key

Ahhh....  Whadda YOU know?