Need to get one like yours, then I could deploy as an Air brake at corners, as long as the servo worked
I can just imagine that, steaming into a corner, attempting to deploy the tea tray and feeling like i have massive brake fade :fail:
Forget keith code and get this MotoVudu: The Dark Art of Performance Simon crafer, top guy, bloody great DVD and book. Met simon and he's a top chap, would love to book one of his euro trainign track days one day Well worth the £££ and yes I have twist of the wrist 1 and 2 and DVD's but Motovudu I found was better
Great video to explain the use of StompGrip or other tank pads How to corner and brake on a sport bike. - YouTube
As above, practice and practice, entry speed, correct gear, bike placement, most common problem is rider locking arms and being to stiff in upper body, easy way around that is talk to yourself....yeah jokes to come... cos your more relaxed it you ain't holding your breath, and if you are nattering to yourself, its impossible to stop breathing, as that's what happens to many novices as the going gets faster, they start to hold their breath then the upper body freezes and arms then lock, and lastly look towards where you want to end up not where you think you are going to crash, every single track day you will see riders lose faith and crash where they started looking at, rather than where they wanted to go, 99 times out of a 100 the bike can go lower and harder than the rider, and if it all goes tits up, at least the most likely and least painful scenario will be a low side...........speaking from lots of aerial experiences
So I just spent the past hour and a bit watching that TOTW2 video and apart from the bloody awful acting (and the fact that I'd never get tired of trying to slap off that stupid permanent grimace on the Repsol owners face) I enjoyed it. It made me really think about what it is that I don't do when I ride: Blipping the throttle - nope (sounds too scary to try); having my arms on the horizontal for turning the bike - Not as far as I'm aware (although after advice from this very forum I do try to get them quite flat); Quickly dropping into turns rather than slow sweeping - nope as I thought that a smooth curve starting early would be safer; that'll do for now, but there were other things too. It just goes to show how much you aren't taught when you learn how to ride. It also shows that I need to pop to Donington to do a Ron Haslam school day. In an ideal world I'd love a one to one session with someone to teach me all the finer points. Any volunteers?
Well I got the DVD and apart from the cheesy overacting its very informative, nice to see a Repsol in there!
Having the arms parallel to the road was a piece of advice I picked up on here and it made a MASSIVE difference. The bike suddenly felt incredibly flickable. Like I could just make it do what I want when I want. That in combination with the countersteering that I was already doing and quickly dropping into turns transformed my riding. I don't think I've been unnerved by a corner since and feel immeasurably better controlled.
Buy a copy of Roadcraft the police motorcyclists manual and book yourself on the next available Advanced Motorcyclists Course, I guarantee you that it will be the best investment in motorcycling you've ever made, in fact you'll kick yourself for not doing it years ago.
Watched the TOTW video - I'm trying to blip on downshifts, but I'll openly admit that it does not feel natural. I also realised that I often don't manage 'spine inline' - I think that this stems from poor road position (ie being RH side of lane on a RH bend and not wanting my head to be over the line).
Move to the left side of lane for right hand bends, increases your vision around the bend and keeps your bonce on the good Side of the road, move to the right side of your lane for left handers for the same reasons, either approach gives you more thinking/reaction time with the benefit of more road available to you if the bend tightens (ever decreasing radius) Remember that track focused DVDs etc don't have to deal with morons in cars, drains, street furniture etc. If it feels like your going real fast your doing something wrong, when your in total control that horrible feeling in your stomach stops happening and so does that panic braking and the need for new undies !!!!! I'll say it again, IAM course, worth every penny !!
