AITTI$I|FIHE TTRIST

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IHEMI|IIIRITGI.E RI|AII RAGER$ HAilDB00t(
lGith by Gode

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Acknowledgements Editorial Assistance BillStermer MichaelChurch Help and Encouragement Cort Sutton Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A. MotorcycIist Magazine Cycle World Magazine California Superbike School Design and Ill ustrat io n CameronAshby Associates,Inc. Jeff Skrimstad lmportant Lessonsand Friends Bob West Mel Dinesen Pierre Des Roches R i c h a r dD a v i s GriffithPark L. Ron Hubbard Judy Code

Photography KevinAshby,page80 pages 74,75,79,94,95 Behar, Patrick 3, page82 RichChenet, page17 MushEmmons, Freud,page42 MaryGrothe,backcoveractionphotograph page 14 Motorcyclist Magazine, pages26, 51, 56, 88 TomRiles, page109 JohnUlrich,

California SupertrikeSchool, Inc. 800 530-3350

Copyright1983-2002Code Break, Inc.

ISBN: -918226-08-2 O Library of Congress C a t a l o gC a r d N u m b e r 82-73771 All rights reserved.No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any i m e a n sw i t h o u t p e r m i s s i o n n w r i t i n g f r o m t h e a u t h o r .

Printed in the United States of America

containedin this book are intendedfor racingpurposes Warning: The ridingtechniques in resulting bodily for publisher acceptno responsibility anyaccidents only.Theauthorand and riderabilitythat speeds property that mightoccurfrom the increased damage harmor r h a l. b m a yb e g a i n e d y t h e u s eo f t h i sm a t e r i aT h ea u t h o r n dp u b l i s h ed o n o t g u a r a n t ete a t t h t o s h t r e a d e rw i l l a t t a i n h e s a m e i g hd e g r e e f r i d i n g k i l l s h a t o t h e r s a v eb y a p p l y i n gh e s e s that haveusedthese by notesand endorsements notedriders Supplemental techniques. that as shouldnot be takenas anyguarantee to safetyor competency might be techniques of the is lf gained, mprely personal experience. expertassistance required, services a as but agency shouldbe sought. statelicensed vi localspeedlaws. and observe clothing wearproperprotective Always

Foreword
Eventhough I've only been road racing for two out of the twelve years of my g c a r e e r .i t s e e m sa s t h o u g h I ' v e b e e n d o i n g i t a l l a l o n g .E v e r y t h i n g o e s s o s m o o t h l yn o w . l f t h e r e ' sa p r o b l e m ,I h a n d l ei t r i g h t a w a y .T h i n g s a r e g o i n g r i g h t they must be. I find myself in the winner's circle at almost every race. Of course my dirt track racing helped, but believe me, it wasn't always this easy. My first time on the asphalt-for more than a couple of laps-was at the California Superbike School. lt was really a good experience.I wasn't the fastest guy out there but it gave me the idea of what to do and, more importantly,that I did want to do it. Kawasakihad been helping me with my short track program. There are some great people down there who believed I had some promise, so they gave me a box stock racer and hired Keith Code to work with me for one year. Here is the part that really surprised me: We spent days going over stuff that Keith h a d w r i t t e n d o w n a b o u t r a c i n g .I t h o u g h t w e w e r e g o i n g s t r a i g h tt o t h e t r a c k , b u t h e r e I w a s a c t u a l l yl o o k i n gu p w o r d s i n t h e d i c t i o n a r ya n d t a l k i n g a b o u t r i d i n g . A f t e r w e d i d g e t t o t h e t r a c k t h e w h o l e t h i n g t u r n e d a r o u n da n d t h e r e I w a s , w r i t ing down everything hat I was doing on the track.Keithmade me think before t we got to the track. while I was on the track, and after I got off the bike. I don't know if everyonecan get into the winner's circle as fast as I did, but I know n o w t h a t b e i n g a b l e t o t h i n k a b o u t y o u r r i d i n g i s i m p o r t a n t .G e t t h a t p a r t d o n e f i r s t . This is where I started. I hope it works for you. Wayne Rainey

vil

Gontents
Foreword Author's Note lntroduction ONI CHAPTER The Road You Ride The Mysteriesof Asphalt Revealed
CHAPTER TWO

10

What You Do A You Become Scientist

CHAPTER THREE

14

The Product With Understanding Precision Developing

CHAPTER FOUR

24

What You See Through the Eyes YourComputer Programming

CHAPTER FIVE

34

Timing Putting Thingsin Order

CHAPTER SIX

42

Decisions f : D e c i s i o M a k i n g R e c i p eo r S k i l l n
CHAPTER SEVEN

54

Barriers to Keys lmprovement

EIGHT CHAPTER Braking The Art of RegulatingSpeed
CHAPTER NINE

60

76

Steering It HappensBackwards
CHAPTER TEN

80
vill

Slipping and Sliding Traction: Howto Loselt and Uselt

.-&-.r:

CHAPTER

ELEVEN

Hanging Off It Looks Goodand lt Works

CHAPTER TWELVE

90

Passing Who WasThatlJust Passed?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

96

Supervise Yourself ls Yes,Homework Necessary

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

102 Advice
Ask YourBestFriend-You!
CHAPTER FIFTEEN

104

How to Fall Your Relax-You're Just Road-Testing Leathers

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

108

Sponsorship Lunch Therels No Free A Parting Word Appendix

1 15 117

trMarginNotesand Comments by EddieLawson Note: Special are for Extra wide margins provided your notes.

Author's Note
to The information in contained this bookis intended be used in riderto investigate master basicridingskillscovered each and the by a during is Noneof this information magic.lt hasbeendeveloped chapter. riders morethan 2,5OO and gettingresults morethan six yearsof training This riderconfidence. that eitherimproved timesor increased lap information worksif it is applied. that is magic,however, usinginformation in Thereis a certain it is one stepat a time.Gooverthe understood, the bestway to do and it, understand then go out andapplyit, bit by bit. information really and pointwill establish certainty that you can do it. Mastering a each
The things that Keith goes over in hls semrnars and book are things I do all the time. You can learn the same thtngs.

lntroduction
I'm goingto beginthis bookwith a littleconfession. never l've just wantedto ride.Throughout really beenall that interested racing-l in just a my racing career regarded otherriderson the trackas mostly I the Manytimestheygot in the way of the observations nuisance. I was making , m a b o u tm y r i d i n g a b o u th o w I c o u l di m p r o v e y r i d i n ga n d h o wt h a t l've information couldbe presented my students. always to hadjust as m u c hf u n r i d i n g l o n gb y m y s e l f n a r a c ea s I h a v e o m p e t i n g i t h o t h e r i w a c riders. M y r e a s o n i nfg r t h i s i s s i m p l e - n o a t t e r o w m a n yo t h e r m o h you muststill relyon yourown ability. riders on the track, are Thetrackis t h e e v e r - p r e s e c h a l l e n g e - n oh e o t h e rr i d e r sT h i si d e ah a sb e e n nt . tt strengthened the years throughmy observation the mostsucthat over ul as They cessf racers can go nearly fast in practice theydo in the race. as p l e a s ew i t h o u t h e , u s et h e i ru n d e r s t a n d i n g t h e t r a c kw h e nt h e y on pressure competition of forcingthemto "go fast."

Play the Game Well

Riding fast on a motorcycle a tremendously is exhilarating and game. challenging Thisgamehasrulesand barriers. There's to something win, something lose,and a purpose eachindividual for to who plays the game.lt demands yourattention. consequences a majormistake The of can be severe-severe enough makethe gameworth playing to well.The p u r p o s e f t h i s b o o ki s t o d e s c r i b eh e t e c h n o l o ga n dt h e r u l e s f r i d i n g o y t o fast so that everyrideis a "win,"so that you'llapproach barriers with the y i c o n f d e n c e n du n d e r s t a n d i na n ds o y o u c a nf u r t h e r o u rp u r p o s en a g, i ridingor racing, whatever may be. it My overall approach riderimprovement to is:To simplify the actions of riding by defining the basics, and by investigating the decisions you must make to ride well.

What'll lt Cost?
lf your face shield leaks air, tape it up. The alr won't come through and get your attention.

xrl

Attention, whereyou spendit whileridinga motorcycle, and is a keyelement how wellyou willfunction: in Attention has its limits. p E a c h e r s o n a sa c e d a i na m o u n t f i t ,w h i c hv a r i e sr o m i n d i v i d u a o h o f tl just as you havea fixed individual. havea fixedamountof attention You amount money. of Let'ssayyou havea ten-dollar bill'sworth of attention. lf you spendf ivedollars it on one aspect riding, you haveonlyf ive of of dollars for all the otheraspects. left Spendnineandyou haveonlyone dollarleft,and so on. Whenyou first began rideyou probably to spentninedollars yourattention how to let out the clutchwithoutstalling. of on Nowthat you'veridden yearsandthousands miles, for you probably of spendonlya n i c k l e r d i m eo n i t . R i d e r se l l m e t h a t s o m ec o m m o n o v e m e n t si,k e o t l m "automatic." not true.Theyaresimplyspending havebecome shifting, lt's

l e s s t t e n t i o n n i t . R i d i n g s l i k et h a t .T h em o r eo p e r a t i o ny o u r e d u c eo a o i s t t h e c o s to f a n i c k eo r d i m e , h e m o r eo f y o u rt e n - d o l l a rw o r t ho f a t t e n t i o n l t s i s l e f tf o r t h e i m p o r t a no p e r a t i o no f r i d i n g r r a c i n g . t s o j Y o um u s tm a k eh u n d r e d o f d e c i s i o nw h i l er i d i n g u s t o n el a p s s of a racetrack one stretchof road-especially or when ridingfast.Hundreds!lf you understand enoughaboutridingto havecorrectly decided h a n d l e 5 o f t h o s es i t u a t i o n s , ua r ep r o b a b l y f a i rr i d e rT h e yo h o wt o 2 . a things that you do not understand are the things that will take up most of your attention. Whenever situation a arises that you do not yourattention become ixeduponit. Youoftenfeara situnderstand, will f uation whenyou cannotpredictits outcome, and paniccosts$9.99-you mayevenbecome overdrawn. course actionyou havealready The of p o t e n t i ap a n i c i t u a t i o n o s t sm u c hl e s st h a n l d e c i d e d p o nt o h a n d l e u a s c you this and leaves plentyof attention sortout youroptions. to On the positive side,sodingout the actions ridingbeforeof handbuysyouthe time andf reedom become to creative with the activity just as havinglotsof changein yourpocketallows of riding, you a certain freedom movement. the racetrack,that left-over of On attention allows youto experiment to improve your ridingability. and High-performance ridingand racing demandnot onlythat you be ableto perform necessary the actions, alsothat you be ableto but observe them.Makingaccurate observations your performance the of is keyto beingableto improvethem. lf you know what you have doneyou know what can be changed. lf you did not observe what you were doing,the changes become haphazard inaccurate. you and Do agree? ln the nextchapters we'll lookat the gameand wherethe attention beingfocused spent. is or We'll investigate barriers riding the to well and put intoactionthe stepsyou'lltaketo bringhomea "win" every time. And finally,let's not losesight of the basicreason started we riding-it'sf un and makesus feelgood.Here's readily available freedom, and all it takesis A Twist of the Wrist.

/ might only use one-tenth of a cent on some thtngs that cost another nder $5 00, but you spend something on everythtng You do on a race track. The better you get the lessmost thrngs cost.

What ls a Rider?
Before launching into anything heavy, let'sagree that the rider is the person controlling motorcycle, a passenger. riderworks the not The the brakes and clutch, throttleand steering. determines the He whether t h e b i k eg o e sa r o u n d h e t u r nf a s to r s l o w ,s m o o t h r r o u g h , p o r d o w n . t o u

i t w c w a n d i s t h e o n l yi n d i v i d u a l h o d e c i d e s h a ta c t i o n o t a k e , a r r i e st o u t , t h e nd e c i d e s o ww e l li t a l lw o r k e d . h t , I t a l m o s t o u n d s o o s i m p l e b u t i t ' st r u e : W h a ty o u d o i s s what happens; what you don't do-doesn't happen. Motorcycles Theydon'twin races losethem;they or by don'tdo anything themselves. d r h s d o n ' tm a k em i s t a k e o r d o a n y t h i n g i g h t .E v e r y t h i ntg a t h a p p e n s u r i n g o a r i d ed e p e n d s o l e l y n t h e r i d e r . you everseena new rideron the trackor roadstruggling Have t, c l h ? t o o p e r a t e i s m a c h i n eT h eb a s i c o n t r o o p e r a t i o n h e t r a c ka n dw h o h e feelshe is being to to thesearea mystery him. He honestly is in relation fine;evenexpertridershave takenfor a ride.lf you'vehadthosefeelings. felt this way at times. . o a T h e r e ' s n a c t u atl e c h n o l o gty r i d i n g P e o p l e r en o t b o r na s a A goodor bad riders-riding skillis learned. rider is a person who can lap a race track or ride down the road, fast or slow, and know what he did and how to change it.

AITilI$OTIHE IilRI$I

CHAPTER

ONE

The Road You Ride

The Mysteries of Asphalt Revealed
havetheirfavorite of the Riders invariably sections road, parts just into a dancewhereeverything happens the way that flow together On it's supposed with no surprises. the streetor track,you knowwhich to you wantto knowwhy they'reso comfortable. How onestheyare-but Which aspects imporare muchshouldyou knowaboutthe roadyou ride? of to tant andwhicharenot?Why aresomesections roadharder ride thanothers? First, Highways constructed that are so somebackground. The motorists travelfrom PointA to PointB veryeasily. highway engican you makeit in one piece. The neers verythoughtful; are theywantto see turnsareoftengentlybanked. Decreasing-radius corners rare.Seldom are is therea hairpin the end of a straight at stretchof road.Off-camber possible. whenever Corners constructed a are in turnsareavoided predictable straight-forward manner. and

Designed to Fool You

A racetrack another is Not muchof anything sort of beast. is purposely have donefor yourconvenience. designers The a constructed o t t c s c o u r s eh a tw i l l c o n t i n u eo c r e a t e h a n g i n g i t u a t i o nfs r t h e r i d e rt,o f o o l s t u a n dc h a l l e n g h i m .H a i r p i n a r ep u t i n t ot h e m o s td i f f i c u l s e c t i o n s , s u e and "S" turns,or chicanes. allyafterthe fastest straight, oftenhavea may baffle you with several slower Corners camber and exitthan entry. y l r a d i u s h a n g e t o b r e a k o u rf l o w a n df o r c ey o u i n t ou n u s u as i t u a t i o n s . c s the And always, fasterthe turnsarenegotiated, moredifficultthey the that can be designed become. Thereare,however, onlyf ivemajorchanges
into an asphalt road. Haveyounoticed this?

Types of Road
p 1 . C h a n g e is C a m b e r : A i e c e f r o a dc a nh a v e p o s i t i v e n o a camber. Thismeans the camber-banking, it can have"off,"or negative or

inside the roadis higherthanthe outside. the roadcan be f lat.A turn of Or, maybe designed with anycombination thesecambers. of : t 2 . C h a n g e is R a d i u sA s i n g l e u r n m a yb e a c o n s t a nrta d i u s , n in as in a perfect halfcircle.lt maydecrease radius, up tightening toward a , t h e e n d ,o r i t m a yh a v e n i n c r e a s i nrg d i u so p e n i n g p a t t h e e n d .O r i t a u maybe a combination all three. of 3. Series Turns:ln a series interdependent of of turns,the line y o ut a k et h r o u g h h e i n i t i a p a r to f t h et u r nw i l l b e p a r t l y e t e r m i n eb y t l d d whereyou wantto exit it to set up for the nextturn.A series turnscan of h a v e n yo r a l l o f t h e c a m b e r n d r a d i u s h a n g e si s t e d b o v e . a a c l a 4 . U p h i l l D o w n h i la n dC r e s t e d r a c k h a n g e s : l e v a t i oc a n , l T C E n be addedat anypointto anytypeof turn or changein a roador track. T 5 . S t r a i g hS e c t i o n s : h e s e r es e c t i o n w h e r el i t t l eo r n ot u r n a t s ing is required. lncreases or decreasesin elevation may be added. These the f ivemajorchanges are that can be engineered into a pieceof asphalt. With the addit.ion bumpysections, of whichwerenot planned the designers, haveall the possible you by In situations. orderto you must understand characteristics. understand roadortrack, a its Each of thesechanges a directinfluence you andyour bike'sprogress has on you throughthe corner. orderto ridequicklyandsafely, must underIn standhow thesechanges affectyou and how you can besthandle them.
Banked turns are comfortable for most ridersUnderstanding them allows you to take the full advantages they offer.

Positive Gamber or Banking

Most everyone comfortable is ridinga section roadthat has of p o s i t i v e a m b e rT h eb a n k i n g a st h e e f f e c t f h o l d i n g s o m eb a n k i n g r o h c . o y o u u p b y c r e a t i n g " w a l l "t o p u s ha g a i n sw i t h y o u rt i r e s T h eb a n ka l s o t a . slowsyour bikedown evenmorewhenyou enterthe turn because the of increased resistance by is created this wall.Gravity workingfor you.pulli n gy o ua n dt h e m a c h i n e o w nt h e w a l l ,c o u n t e r a c t i n g e o u t w a r d - b o u n d d th
cornering forces. Some examples? I t i s v e r y d i f fi c u l tt o s e et h e b a n k i n gw h i l e y o u ' r er i d i n go n i t . You may not notice a slight bank at all, unlessyou looked at the turn before

On bankedlrackyou don't enter low and come out htgh

lapson the you rodeit.Onthe high banksat Daytona, afterridingseveral appeared the actually sections outside tri-ovalin a recordattempt, banked angle.lt is easyto tiltedat a 2O-degree f latto me andthe pit arealooked you'releaned over because be deceived evena smallamountof banking by less becomes viewof the road.Also,the banking and don'thavea straight yourspeed. noticeable you increase as to so Alwaysdesignyourapproach you can usethe banking yourbestadvantage. low in the bank,closeto the insideof the track,at Go y t b o t h e p o i n tw h e r e h e b a n k i n g e g i n s o f l a t t e n u t .T h i sg i v e s o u a n dy o u r t y h h a b i k et h e m a x i m u m o l d i n g d v a n t a gte e b a n k i n g a st o o f f e rb e f o r e o u r h from the forces bikebegins swingoutwardon the f lattersection to generated acceleration. by y I n a t u r n .y o u rb i k ea n dy o ua r ej u s t l i k et h e w e i g h t o u s w i n g you swingit,the heavier the your headon a rubberband. Thefaster around f ugalforce,andthe moreit triesto swingto weightbecomesrom centrif "holds"you in untilyou moveontothe f latter the outside. Thebanking section roadthat follows. of you can turnsfasterthan it seems Youcan go into banked The whenyou sizeup the turn and lookat it f rom pastexperience. banking g w i l l f o o l y o ui n i t i a l l y n dy o uw i l l p r o b a b l y o i n t oi t m u c ht o o s l o w l y . a of section roadto a flatter Also.whenyou areexitinga banked when you the surface, muststraighten bikesinceit will dragmoreeasily and areleaned lf section the banking gone.Example: you arein a banked is to you must leanthe bikeoverevenmorein relation the overto the pegs, whenthe bankis gone. of tracksurface keepthat degree turningradius to you ten lf the bankis 1Odegrees, must leanthe bikeoverat least more on degrees keepthat turningradius the f latterroadsurface. to givesyou moregroundclearance than doesa flat The banking who couldrun laptimeson racetracks section track.I haveknownriders of that samecourse timesandwho had raced that wereverycloseto record that of 3Oor 40 times,who f inallydiscovered one section trackwas banked-that waswhy theycouldgo so fast in that part.Afterknowing, you lf trackangles, might be theywent evenquicker. you don't discover you be gettingawaywith ridingmaneuvers feelyou shouldn't withouteven y y y s k n o w i n g h y .O n c e o ud i s c o v etrh e r e a s o n b e h i n d o u ra b i l i t i e s ,o uc a n w
yourriding? begin to use the track to your advantage. Wittthisimprove

Turns Off-Camberor Negative-Gamber

as who regard off-camberturns their I don't knowany riders do iessroomfor errorand definitely not inspire favorites. These turnsleave confidence. demands with a bankand endsoff-camber A turnthat begins n t h e m o s tc h a n g e s n da d j u s t m e n tis l e a na n g l e sl.n o r d e r t oc o n t i n u e a Theeffectis muchthe overfarther. aroundit, the bikemustbe leaned is to sameas goingf rom a banked a f lat surface.Gravity now working y o u rb i k et o t h e o u t s i d eY o ul o s eg r o u n d y . a g a i n sy o u ,p u l l i n g o ua n d t you turnsso that you are in the Therefore, set up off-camber clearance. strategy the as off-camber situation shorta time as possible-just opposite

''rffil

asfor a banked turn.Usestraight lineson the partsof the trackthat are you don'twantto be committed your maximum off-camber because to leananglegoinginto an off-camber you ldeally, wouldonlycomsection. mit yourself the maximum to leanangleat the veryendof the section. An effective alternative to set up so that yourgreatest is leaning occursin the middleof the off-camber lt section. hasbeencalled "squaring a turn or "goingslow in the slow parts."lt refers the type off" to y o f t u r n h a n d l i n gh a t a l l o w s o ut o s t r a i g h t eo u t t h e n e g a t i v c a m b e r s t n e a . m u c ha s p o s s i b l eB a s i c a l l y o ue n t e r s v e r t i c a l la s p o s s i b l e h e nm a k e , y a t, t h e m a j o r t e e r i n g h a n g e n de x i ta s s t r a i g ha s p o s s i b l e . s c a t Riders tendto seethe basicturn moreclearly it because is moreobvious thanthe camber This is one of the deceptive change. tricks of the racetrack designer. rideris sucked The intothe turn because is he b a s i n g i s r i d i n g a c t i c s n w h a tt h e t u r n l o o k sl i k ei n s t e a d f t a k i n g n t o h t o i o a c c o u ntth e c h a n g e sn c a m b e t h a t c a ns o s e r i o u s la f f e c th i m .H em u s t i r y r e a l i z t h a tg r a v i t ys n o w p u l l i n g h e b i k ei n t h e o p p o s i t e i r e c t i o n f h i s e i t d o i n t e n d e t u r n ,a n dt h et e n d e n c o f t h e b i k et o g o t o w a r d h e o u t s i d en d y t i an off-camber turn is dramaticWitt hetp? . this

As speed increases, centrif ugal forces genefated by the bike/rider combination widen the cornering arc. The line must change as the speed goes up.

Flat Turns
Turnswith no negative positive or camber-flat turns-willnot increase decrease leananglenecessary negotiate or the to them at a

is TurnTwo at Daytona a greatexample radius constant speed. constant or and changes, mostfast ridersprefer of a basically turn with no radius flat way throughis the In to rideit on the inside. turnsof this kind,the fastest around turn.In a f latturn the distance line-it'salsothe shortest straightest r a d i u s h a n g es p u t i n f o r i a c t h e r ei s n o a t t e m p t o f o o l t h er i d e ru n l e s s l a t v a r i a t i o n .h e s eu r n sc o m m i t h e r i d e r o h i s m a x i m u me a na n g l e n d T t y g p e r i o d f t i m e .S i n c e o u ' r e o i n gt o b e o maximum peedorthelongest f s , a r a r i d i n g r o u n d h e i n s i d e t m a xs p e e d n d m a xl e a ns o o n e o r l a t e ry o u t a intoa flat Taking wide entry a mayaswell get downto it at the beginning. y t a t u r no n l yg i v e s o m e o n e c h a n c eo p a s s o u . s
Constant Radius

Off Camber

,--F1 Gamber changes dramatically aff ect how a turn can be ridden.

---=-'-t-

'

H
Ghangesin Radius

Positive Camber

twist the of Designers change radius a turn to put an additional t i n t h e a c t i o n H e r e r et h e b a s i c i n d so f r a d i ia n dh o wt o h a n d l eh e mo n k a . the track. (CR) Gonstant-RadiusTurn: A constant-radius turn neither (tightens) you go throughit. As men(widens) decreases as increases nor (s w t i o n e d b o v ei,f i t i s a f a i r l yl o n gc o n s t a n t - r a d i uC R ) t u r n i t h n o c a m b e r a y w o c h a n g e s ,o uw i l l e v e n t u a l l yi n d u p o n t h e i n s i d e f t h et u r nf o r m o s to f i t . you may haveotheroptionsas to how to set up the lf it is a shorthairpin, y e n t r ya n de x i t .I n a r e a l l yi g h t h a i r p i n o u m u s tm a k ea n a b r u p t u r n i n g t b c h a n g e - i s h o u l d e d o n ea t t h e p o i n ta t w h i c hy o uf e e lm o s tc o n f i d e n t . t b T h e r e s n o r u l ea st o h o w i t s h o u l d e d o n e . i t r ts l f a c o n s t a n t - r a d i uu r n h a sc a m b e c h a n g e si , c a na c ta s a (uR ) t u r nF o re x a m p l e , ls . D o if d e c r e a s i n g - r a d i(u sR ) r a s a n i n c r e a s i n g - r a d i out the turn is banked the entryandf lattens on the exit it will have on lf radius. it is flat on the exactly sameeffecton your bikeas the decreasing lt is the entryand banked the exit,it actsas an increasing-radius. very on professionals well-to ridethe turnsthe way as common amateurs-and for they appearat speedand not the way they reallyare.lt is veryeasyto have yourattention of stuckto the radius a turn so you don't seethe camber will of changes helpyou Thus,knowing location the camber the changes.
greatly in a turn. Wheredoesthisapply?

The notorious decreasing radius turn. Designed to invite you in faster than it lets you out-

Usually oasy to rlde, the increasing radius turn can be made difficult with camber changes. Increasing Radius

Decreasing-RadiusTurns: Thisis a turn that tightensup as you go throughit. ln a decreasing-radius turn,the designer (DR) triesto trickyou intotreatingit as a constant-radius, single-apex turn. lf youfall for that,you mustdo one of threethings:1) Runwide at the exit,2) Lean the bikeovermoreat the endof the turn,or 3) Backoff the gasso that oneandtwo abovedon't happen. A decreasing-radius hasat leasttwo apexes. to cheat turn Try the turn out of one apexand it will get you backwith the other. a DRturn In you mustridewhat is there:don'ttry to makethe turn into something it is not.Somemisleading information beencirculating years has for which saysyou "lateapex"DRturns.Thismaybe true in a verytight DRturn,but in a larger turn you mustdouble-apex turn. the Youcan makethe turn longer yourself takinga wide for by your speedup andcuts down on the abruptness entryline.This keeps of the actualsteering A change. DRturn that is f lat on the entrance and banked the exitwill act as an lR or CRturn,depending at uponthe severity of the banking. a turn is constructed that it forcesyouto go slowat lf so somepoint,you mustdecidewhereto go slow instead letting of the you.By figuringa turn correctly, ridethe track-the designer decide for you trackdoesnot rideyou.lf you makea big mistake line,you haveprobin ablyjust beensuckedinto ridingthe trackthe way it looksrather than the way it is. Increasing-Radius(lR) Turns: Thisturn widens-itsangle you go through it. An lR givesyou the safestfeelbecomes lesssevere-as you ing because haveroomat the endto makechanges and corrections. Youcan easilyrecover from going into an lR turn too fast because you haveplenty room.An lR turn can be changed of dramatically the camby just as the DRturn can be.lf it is banked berof the road, goingin, andf lat or off-camber the exit,it will act as a CRor DRturn,depending at upon how much negative camberit has.The radius of the turn is usually second in importance to its camber. Areyou aware this? of Series of Turns: Two or moreturnslinked together sucha in way as to influence eachotherarecalleda series turns.They're of usually designed slow you down at a placewhereyou otherwise to could go faster.

Some places you have to use a real wrde line so you don't scrub speed off, but not always.

the Forexample. entryinto a two-turn"S" is fasterthanthe exit' lf the it entryis takenasfast as possible. will spoilthe exit.lf the entryis g w a p p r o a c h ew i t ht h e e x i ti n m i n d ,t h e r i d e r i l l s a c r iifc es o m es p e e d o i n g d driveout of the turn.Oftenthis is a betterstrategy in for a moreconstant to than having backoff and set up againfor the exit. in to It is verydistracting makethis kindof change the second you mustgo slow in has Roberts oftensaidthat Kenny turn in a series. wouldput placein orderto go fast in others-his"slow,"of course, some attemptto lull us the Hereagain, designers arrest. mostof us intocardiac d I e r a i n t ot a k i n g c t i o n i t h e t o o s o o no r t o o l a t e . n s o m eh i g h - s p e ec h i c a n e s , with the throttleon the way in and settingup a smooth beingtemperate suchas thoseat Pocono, worth overa secondin laptime.Chicanes exit is this? Can applv Daytona and SearsPointare good examples- vou Uphill, Downhill and Crested Turns: Whena track in changes how it must it someexciting in changes elevation, cancreate l s a . b e r i d d e nU p h i l l n dd o w n h i ls e c t i o n o f a t r a c kd o n ' tp o s ea n yp a r t i c u c p r o b l e m n l e s sh e ya r ei n c o n j u n c t i ow i t h a t r i c k yc a m b e r h a n g e , n t lar u u a n r a d i u s h a n g e r b o t h .D i f f i c u l t i eis u p a n dd o w ns e c t i o n s s u a l l y r i s e c o At risefollowedby a downhill. this pointthe wherethereis a crestor sharp Braking over be bikewillfeel lightandwill actually lighton the pavement. pressure the bikeis of the downward hill a crested is trickybecause in This results lesstraction. lessened. the with a crestin the middleis alsotrickybecause bike A turn Again, thereis a lossof tendsto standup andgo towardthe outside. affectas a short patchof off-camberroad.lt is traction.lt hasthe same Anv as bestto go overa crestedroadas vertically possible. examples? you havethe advanyou mustbrake, where On uphillsections tagethat you can stopor slowthe bikefasterthan on f lat or downhill the slope, force on lf sections. the hillthat you'rebraking hasa 15-degree you backanddown givesyou a 27 percent betterstoppulling of gravity locking 27 pingfactor. Youcan usethebrakes percent harderwithout t i l t h e mu p ,a n dt h a t ' sa l o t !O n a d o w n h i ls e c t i o nh e s i t u a t i o ns r e v e r s e d ; p w , T h eo t h e rp o s s i b l e r o b l e m i t h u p h i l l d o w n l t h e b r a k e so c km o r ee a s i l y . o t r i h i l la n dc r e s t e d o a d s s t h a t b i k e s e n dt o w h e e l i e v e rt h e m .T h i si s n ' t you haveto makea turn whilethe f rontwheelis problem unless really a s t i l li n t h e a i r . portions trackwith of are Straight Sections: These straight to you.Straightaways a greatplace relax are to no turnsor changes affect regularly. Riders to or for a second two. Check seethat you are breathing theirefficiency. riding, which slows oftenholdtheirbreathduringintense w c o i L a c k f o x y g e n s o n ec a u s e f m u s c l e r a m p s h i l er i d i n g . o publicor racetrack, made is The roadyou ride,whetherit be series turnsand of radius, elevation, camber, up of the f ivecomponents: yourapproach determines combined are Howthesecomponents straights. i n, t t o r i d i n g h e m .n o t o n l yw h e r es p e e d s t h e c o n s i d e r a t i ob u tf o r s a f e t y ' s your riding is of The purpose a racetrack to test and retest sakeas well. to by skill;it is intended the designers be difficult.Yourtask is to unravel to by usingyour knowledge youradvanof the mysteries the construction and for will tage.No amountof bravery substitute understanding, no

amountof suspension changes entirely will overcome forces the generated thesef ivecomponents. you it? by Do get

Note: Track Surfaces

Most racetracksand canyonroadsare constructed from asphalt compounds. Asphaltcan be,andoftenis, mixedwith various substances createdifferenttypesof roadsurfaces. to Racetracks,for g i n s t a n c e ,f t e nh a v e r o u n d - u p e as h e l l s r g r a n i t e h i p sm i x e di n t ot h e o s o c asphalt givetiresa bettersurface biteon, andtherefore to to better traction.Thecompounding oftenverydifferent is from trackto trackand road to road,which is one of the reasons choicehasbecome verycritical tire a e l e m e nitn r a c i n g . Otherfactors, heat,playa hugerolein determining especially whattirewill be the bestthat day.An overcast that doesnot allowthe day tracksurface heatup may require different than a sunnyday,even to a tire if airtemperature the same. is Asphaltsurfaces that aredarkerin color heatup morethan lighter-colored sections. Thisis the caseat Sears Point Raceway Sonoma, in California, wherethe trackis a composite threeor of four different asphalt compounds. Tiresthat workverywell in one area tendto slidearoundin others. And tiresthat work well in the morning, before trackhasheated sometimes not provide the goodtraction up, will in the afternoon-and versa. vice Theamountof rubber the trackalsomakes difference on a in traction.I haveheardit saidthat tractionis betterafteran auto racewhere a lot of rubberhasbecome imbedded the asphalt; alsoheardriders in l've say it was not as good. My own observation that laptimes arefaster is afterthe trackhasa goodlayer rubber it, especially of on from an automobilerace-providing therearen'tloosepieces rubber the track of on surface. Tiresandasphalt an entire are technology untothemselves and l w i l l n o tt r y t o d e a l w i t h h e m i n t h i sw r i t i n g B y t h et i m ey o u r e a d h i s ,t h e t . t technology already will havechanged andtherewill be newtire compounds-better thanwhatwe now have.

You've got to be able to "read" pavement. I can tell whether I want to push ritor not. There are a lot of klnds of pavement. Sometrmes the ones that look lrke they are really gorng to be strcky are lust the oppostte.

CHAPTER

TWO

What You Do
You Become A Scientist
the weaponis his abilityto perform actions Therider'sultimate andto be able to observe and remember what he has of riding, done. This is a keyto improvement.

Don't Badmouth Yourself

about Manyridershavea bad habitof talkingin negatives "l "l didn'tgo in hardenough," shouldhavegottena better theirriding. "l that well,""l needto get a driveoff the corner," don't usethe brakes Too have,Don't, Shouldn't betterlinethroughthis turn."Didn't.Can't. wordsmuchtoo often. Most ridersusethesenegative much,Not enough. aboutwhat he didn'tdo right,or thingsthat were Howcan information lf his everimprove riding? a personis ridingat almost-ornot quite-done, T m o r er i g h tt h a nw r o n g . h ej o b i s t o a d dt o t h o s e d a l lh e i s a l r e a d y o i n g Do do correctactionsand drop the incorrect. you this?

You Gan't Correct What You Didn't Do

w i T h eo n l yw a yt o m a k ec h a n g e sn y o u rr i d i n gi s t o c h a n g e h a t done.not what whatrye5; To was done. do that you haveto knowexactly lot of thingson that lastlap-youdidn'twashyour Was!:! Youdidn'tdo a else andyou didn'tdo just abouteverything car.you didn'tgo to church, w h a ty o ud i d .D o n ' tf a l l i n t ot h e t r a po f Y t h e r ei s t o d o i n l i f e . o uo n l yd i d your ridingby looking whatyou didn'tdo.Thisleaves at tryingto correct i l y o u n o t h i n g o c h a n g e".l d o n ' tb r a k e a t ee n o u g h n T u r nT w o , "s o u n d s t for doesit contain you to improve? but enough, what information innocent patchjust before "l the at lf you sayinstead, startedbraking the asphalt laterthanthat"'you even threemarketand now I knowI can brake number to what was doneand now havesomething change. know s I t ' ss i m p l e - t h i n o f y o u rr i d i n gi n n e g a t i v ea n dy o u d o n ' th a v e k to it the way it was andyou havesomething Lookat to anything change. e. i i g h c h a n e .N e g a t i vte i n k i n g s i n c r e db l yn o n - p r o d u c t i vG h a n g i n gs o m e -

10

thing you didn't do is impossible. Thinking negatively aboutyour riding putsyou intoa maze. mirrormaze A workslikethat-it givesyou you nowhere startyourthinkingfrom,thendisorients by covering to up point. whereyou'vebeenandwhereyou cango. Youhaveno reckoning The maze triesto makeyou losea f irm pointof direction opening by up manypossibilities. Whenyou havea f irm ideaof whereyou camefrom you go can always backto that pointand startover.lt's the sameon a race track.lf you knowjust what you did.you havea stablebasef romwhichto makecorrections the next lap.Wilt work you? on it for

Riding is One Thing-Riding Plus Being Aware of What You Are Doing is Ouite Another
You haveonlyso muchattention spendon whatyou are to d o i n g y o u rt e n - d o l l ab i l l .l f y o u s p e n di t a l lo n j u s t r i d i n g n d n o n eo n , r a observing what you'redoing,you can go quitefast.But if you spendfive yourself dollars ridingandf iveon observing on andwhat you'redoing,you havesomething lookat andchange to whenyou returnto the pits.You don't haveto hopeyou can work yourselfinto a feverpitch to go fasteryou can go fasterby figuringout how to do it better. Howdo you develop this wonderf abilityto rideand observe ul whatyou'redoingat the sametime?Yousimplydecide do it.You make to an effort to look at what you are doing while you are doing it. Try it. lf you already havea record your laptimeson the track,go out of yourself. firstthing you'llnoticewill be and makean effortto observe The that you went slower whiledoingboththe ridingand observing. costsa lt lot of attention do boththingsat once.Youwon't be willingto rideas to hard.Don'tgiveup.You're spending lot on looking a and a littleless ondoing.

/ know what I look lrke gotng through the turns lt might look ugly, but it works

I go slow tn the first practrce. look at the track and get the ieel of the btke.

An accurate mental recording of what you do on the track is invaluable.

Take lt as a Whole
Now,takean entirepractice session the trackandtry to on you'redoing.Comebackto the pits andthink it over. observe everything Then, takethe nextpractice andjust ride.You'llnoticeoneof two things: 1) Youwentfaster, 2) the ridingbecame or lessworkthan before. also lt's possible that both things happened-you went fasterwith lesseffort. Riding with lesseffortmeans that you'respending moreof yourattention what'simportant on and lesson just beingready surfor prises. you don't knowwhat'scomingup in a turn,you will be tense.lf lf you havetakensometime to observe you whatwas happening, havespent lessattentionon possiblesurprises.

It Costs More Attention to Keep Something From Happening Than lt Does to Make Something Happen
As in anything, whenyou first beginto observe whatyou're doing it will cost you a lot of attention. After you becomemorecomfortablewith it youwill spendlessattention it. lt maytakea ridera yearor on partsof the moreto decideit's okayto slidethe reartire a bit on certain track.He mightpick up oneto five seconds doingit. But before by coming to that decision. which maytakeonlya splitsecond the track,he might on havebeenspending almostall of his attention tryingto keepthe rear in w h e e l f r o m p i n n i n g n ds l i p p i n g . s a Observing whereandwhat happened the trackwill make on part something a littlerearwheelslidea predictable of riding. rider like A who observes drop in laptimes,andalsonotices a wherehe was sliding andwhat broughtit about,hassomething basea decision to upon-hecan decideif the sliding was helpfulor if it didn'twork andshouldbe stopped
altogether. Does make sense? it

Observing ls the Basis for Change

Wheneverythingis rightyou can tell exactlywhich laps were good.

12

lf you go out on the trackand run a betterlaptime,but have not observed whatyou did to causeit, you will not be ableto strengthen the actions that worked. Riders who just rideand don'tobserve believe that everything happened that lap mustbe reproduced that on exactly and in the sameorderfor themto repeat goodperformance. is oneof the This a waysridersbecomesuperstitious. Because they don't know what helped, riders go about trying to keep all factors the same as they were at the time they rode well. You can keepthingsthe same,but onlyby observing what you did and by deciding whichfactorsworked best.Observing what you do is the key to learning by your mistakes. Youcan easily cheatyourself of the knowledge be out to gained rom mistakes. f Let'ssayyou got into a turn a littletoo hardand you wentwide of your line.Normally, wouldtry to get backto that good line-towhat worked. That'sf ine,but there'sa twist.lf you "rideout your

you line mistake," will learnhow that different works.Tryingdesperately you'vemadea mistake won't tell you anything to get backto the idealonce will Riding that mistake giveyou out that you'vemadea mistake. except a h o wt o h a n d l et s h o u l di t e v e rh a p p e n g a i n . i v a l u a b l e f o r m a t i oa b o u t in n you Everything do may be a littlewrong,but at leastyou'll pointfor change. have Riders that'sthe starting knowwhat happens-and newmethodof ridingaftermakingmisbeenknownto adapta completely takes. Ride a mistake out and see what happens. lt will costyou thanto go from happening moreattention try to keepsomething to
through with what you have started. Do youthinkit witt work?

By the Time You Notice a Mistake lt ls Too Late To Gorrect lt

true.Oncea mistake this before-it's Youmay haveheard occurson any lapor in anyturn,you can'troll backthe clockor the asphalt to correctit. You'lljust haveto makethe bestof it. Figureout what went wrongand correctit on the nextlap.

It ls the Last Thing You Did That Got You lnto Trouble
you or is The rootof the mistake the controlchange decisions the occurred. madeandacteduponjust before problem goingintoa turn too witJe. Therider A goodexample this is of the got therebecause waswherehe had pointed bikethe lasttime he it wouldsay,"l didn'tturn soon Most riders change. had madea steering too he straight long.lt Thatisn'ttrue.Actually, keptit pointing enough." what happened he begins if for will takea lot longer the riderto realize it for from when he noticed than if he goesbackto the looking the problem pointof wherehe was steering the beforehe began turn.He has to earlier realize that he was operating from an earlier decision to go to this straight, not the later one to turn. Does apply you?

lf You Decide Upon the Wrong Explanation for a Mistake, the Solutions for It Will Also Be Wrong
of for obseruer basicreason beinga careful Thisis another what you do. Being able to ride is impottant, but riding and observing leads to understanding.

13

CHAPTER

THREE

The Product
Developing Precision with Understanding
What is the bestline What is the linethroughTurnThree? from another's? throughanycorner? Why is one rider'slineso different

5O Years of lmprovement
theoryhas Linesusedto be easier figureout.A lot of racing to beendeveloped the last 50 yearsof racing,and that's a lot of historyto in backup the ideas that still hauntus from the 1950sand earlier. a On motorcycle, was reckoned, straightest throughthe turn was the it line the fastest way,or "line."Butthingshavechanged today.lt was truethen,but it's not necessarily today. true Physics natural and lawshavenot changed-tires suspenand 'SOs In riders werelimitedby the lackof sionshave. the and earlier, technology. Theyhadto takethe smoothest, sophisticated straightest, line the shortest throughthe turnsbecause hard-rubber compounds tire in and non-compliant of suspensions the earlydaysmadeabruptchanges over-enthusiastic braking direction, braking roughor rippled on surfaces. ridingpossibilities whileleaned overand othercurrent-day simplyout of
State of the ail? Good enough to win laconia in 1965.. . .

14

i t h e q u e s t i o nl . y o u h a do w n e da s e to f D u n l o p p o r tE l i t e sn 1 9 5 Oa n d f S y K G h a dg o n et o t h e l s l eo f M a no n a 1 9 8 O s a w a s a k i P Z5 5 O , o u p r o b a b l y wouldhavewon the race. That'sa streetbikewith street tirestoday. e T i r ea n ds u s p e n s i otn c h n o l o gh a v e a d ei t p o s s i b l t o r i d e e y m h m o r et h a no n e l i n et h r o u g h t u r na n dm a k ei t w o r k .R i d i n g t y l e s a v e a s v t r li c h a n g e d e r yd r a m a t i c a l sy n c e h e 19 5 0 s ,b u tt h e o u t d a t e di d e ri n f o r mationf romthosedaysstill confusessomeof us in the '80s.A freshlook and can at riderinformation technology helpyou ridebetternow. Definition: A product is something that is produced; it is the end result when all the work is done. A product is what you can hold in your hand-or in your mind. You can turn it over to see if it can be produced better or differently, corrected or left alone.

Product of the Turn

A turn or series turnshasa "product." is that pointwhere of lt you can say,"l'm donewith that turn now-here's what I did this time, here's what happened. Now,what can I do to improve it?" Thesimplest wayto recognize spot is to remember that where youwerebraveenough think,"l couldgo throughthat one quicker." to Wlren you have enough attention left to reviewyour progress, and the turn is no longer affecting you, !hg! is when you're done
with it. Haveyou experienced this?

At that point,the sumtotal of everything did in the turn you is neatly wrappedup;you knowthat whatyou did eitherworkedor it didn't.Somepartsof the productwereassembled correctly-maybe some t w e r e n ' tT h i sp r o d u c h a sa l o c a t i o n n t h e t r a c k w h i c hf o r e x a m p l e i g h t . o , m be a pointthreefeetfrom the outside edgeor just nextto "that patch"of a s p h a l tT h i sp o i n to n t h e t r a c kn o w r e m i n d s o uo f e x a c t l y h e r e o u ' r e . y y w f i n i s h e d i t h t h e t u r nf o r t h a t l a p . w

Other Factors
your location the track,areimportant Otherfactors, besides on partsof the product: what gearyou'rein,yourspeedat that point,your b o d yp o s i t i o n n t h e b i k e .U s u a l l y o m ea m o u n o f l e a n n g l eT h ea m o u n t o s t a . you haveoverthe bike.Thesteering of control actionyou are-orarenottaking. Throttle Tiretraction. action. Yourimpressions whatyou did and of how well it workedout.And a comparison this passthroughthe turn of passes. of these, with yourearlier All and more,arepartof yeqr product for that turn.The quality of your product is determined by all of what happened and how it worked.Any thoughts this? on Note: You use that product to develop a set of known circumstances that can be thought over and changed when necessary. A sub-product is a definite set of known circumstances that lead to the product for that turn. Bothyourproducts andsub-products havean exactloca-

15

product or sub-product-they will tion on the track. Thereis no universal be slightlydifferent eachbikeand rider. for Your product is a known destination along a known route. Youaresupposed knowwhere to y o u ' r e o i n go n a t r a c k , n dt h e p r o d u c t i s t h e p l a c e o u a r eg o i n g T h e g y . a guy with the bestproduct wins.Theproduct andsub-products arethe planof action,basedupon resultof a pre-determined pre-decided and your knowledge the partsof that turn,andyourknowledge howto get of of y o u rm a c h i n e r o u n d t . a i
End back to beginning.

Pavementpatch

The Product is where you are done with the t u r n . l t i s a p l a c ey o u k n o w .

A Sub-Productalerts you that you are on the right track to your Product.You see it.

Roughspot

You locate another Sub-Productor Refere n c e P o i n tt o g u i d ey o u t h r o u g h t h e t u r n .

Each new RP leads to another that you k n o w i s g o i n gt o b e t h e r e .

16

Y o u b u i l d c o n f i d e n c eb y k n o w i n g w h e r e you areon the trackwith the RPs.

You become able to "see" the turn before y o u e v e n b e g i nt o g o t h r o u g h i t .

David Emde performing miracles on 25occ GP bike. At 185 pounds and 6'3" tall, his "plan" is different than yours.

Your Line ls Your Plan

Fromtalkingto most riders, is easyto believe it that onceyou f i n dt h e " r i g h t l i n e " f o r a t u r n .e v e r y t h i nw i l l m a g i c a l lty r no u t O Ka n d g u your laptimeswill improve because this knowledge. isn'ttrue. of lt I onceexperimented showingothersthe "right line" with throughthe turnsof a racetrack.I had students followme lap afterlapat moderate as speeds I did precisely samething at precisely same the the placeon the trackeachlap.Thestudent was thenasked repeat to the procedure that had beenshownto him. I never founda student who could do it exactly. Lawson Eddie observed samething while instructing this Galifornia Superbike School students Loudon. at Onlyone riderout of 25 was ableto reproduce lineafterbeingshown.(Actually riders his two wereableto do it. Theotherwas my 12yearold son,who Eddie offered to sponsorafterwards. ) l've placedmyselfin the samesituationand askeda better riderto showme his "lines" around course. the Thecourse was Ontario M o t o rS p e e d w a y ,. 19 m i l e s n d 2 0 t u r n s ; h e r i d e r a st h e n - 2 5 O cU . S . 3 a t w c c h a m p i o nD a v i d m d ew h o w a sa l l b u t u n b e a t a b lte a tv e a ro n t h e , E , h 1/q-liter machines. went around trackat a good practice We the paceas I caref observed ully what he was doingin hopesof f indingout somedeep, darkridingsecrets. I did find out. I foundout that a rider's line is his plan for going through a turn. Hisplanis baseduponwhat he doeswell and what he doesn'tdo well.I observed, thenand now,that a rider's planwill be baseduponhis strengths weaknesses. lineis the resultof how and His his strengths weaknesses together. and f it Forexample, riders who usethe maximum amountof lean a n g l e h e b i k eh a st o o f f e rw i l l u s u a l l y e s i g n h e i r" l i n e " t o u s el e a n t d t angleto theiradvantage. Their"line" is oftentight to the insideof the turn.By contrast, riderwho doesnot useall of the groundclearance a a v a i l a b lte h i mw i l l d e s i g n i s " l i n e " ( p l a n )s o t h a t h e d o e sn o t h a v e o o h t s p e n d o m u c ht i m e l e a n e d v e rt o t h e m a x i m u mH ew i l l f i n i s hh i s s t e e r s o . i n ga s s o o na s p o s s i b l e ,t r a i g h t etn e m a c h i n e n d m o v ea w a yf r o mt h e s h a t u r na sv e r t i c a l la s p o s s i b l e . l l r i d e r s i l l d e s i g n h e i rt u r n sa r o u n d h e y A w t t pointsthey believe strong they have.
:q + * *L- t*' .i' -.r' . .

When the Superbike School was at Loudon I let 24 riders follow me around the track so they could see my line. Then /followed them to frnd out how they were dotng. Twentythree of them got it wrong from what I could see.

The thing about riding on the back of a motorcyc/e wr:th someone else drivrng rs that thev never do it exactly like I would and it scares me.

17

lf someone pulls me I change my line tn that turn and see if it works / have films of me racing wrth rrders and I'll pull them five bike lengths off a turn and still they lust keep on doing the same thrng lf the other guy's plan rs better you can fit it rnto yours and beat him

Learning a Line
if ridercan be veryinstructional you can Following another to his determine plan by watchinghim. lf his plan is betterdesigned you mayhave yours,andyou can seewhy it is better. handle turn than a sometracksituato learned how to useyourown abilities betterhandle r i d e r - i ft h e r ei s a n y - i si n u n d e r s t a n d i a T t i o n s . h ev a l u e n f o l l o w i n g n o t h e y e i n g h i s p l a na n db e i n ga b l e t oe x p a n d o u ro w n r i d i n gb e c a u s o f i t . l t ' s n o t t h e p l a n t h a tc o u n t s . i n l e a r n i n t h el i n e ; i t i s l e a r n i n g g

Basic Goal
Yourbasicgoalin anyturn is getting through the turn with increased rnph, decreased time spent in it and adequate control for of the bike. Youare looking drive out of the turn that will carryyou to amountof time with the in the nextturn or downthe straight the shortest you muststill be in controlof the greatest Of amountof speed. course. the factorsof speedandtime to get the bestproduct. bike.Youbalance to Yet it is possible comeout of a turn fasterthan beforeandstill not y m s y o u rl a pt i m e .T u r n sc a nS u c k o u i n t om a k i n g i s t a k e l i k et h a t ' decrease

Turn Balancing
turn balthe Getting bestproduct f rom a turn requires y y o w h e r e o u b a l a n c e o u rs p e e d u t o f t h e t u r na g a i n stth e a n c i n g : t h i si s amountof time it takesyou to get throughit. The mostcommonmistake then comeout of them ridersmakeis to go intothe turnsfasterandfaster, lt's easier to go into a turn faster than it at the samespeedor slower. is to come out faster. Going in too fast can Gost you your drive speed got coming out. You've to be ableto carrya fasterentrance your laptimes.Goingin too fast, to improve throughthe exitof the turn y o t h e nf o u l i n gu p i n t h e m i d d l e f t h e t u r n ,w i l l l o w e r o u re x i ts p e e d . worth of attention. Turn balancing is likeyourten dollars to Figure that you haveonlyso manymilesper hour(MPH) spendin a turn you spendyour MPH particular line.lf lap on anyparticular for any t g u n w i s e l a t t h e b e g i n n i n o f t h et u r n ,y o ud o n ' th a v e h e ma t t h e e n d . y you time.Don'tjump at the f irst Excess speedat the wrongtime cancost you haveaSyou exitone speed you get to go faster. Theincreased chance that you carryall the wayto the next.Don't to turn will be added the speed g b u r nu p M P Ha t t h e b e g i n n i n o f t h et u r n ;u s et u r n b a l a n c i n g t o p r o d u c e product: Increased MPH, decreasedtime spent in the yourcorrect turn and the bike still under control at the turn exit.

Find the Product

18

you haveridden Howdo youfind the product? Let'sassume has f out the trackfor a few lapsand have igured what the designer engi-

intothis pieceof tarmac. neered Youhavestudied radius the and changes (seeChapter the camber One,"TheRoadYou Ride"). You're changes suspicious the turnson a racetrackand knowthey'remeantto challenge of you turn andfool you.With this information havea good ideaof how every you andyour bike.Youbecome affects awareof what the product is for you andyour machine applying by that information experience and from point,a placeon the trackto workwith, riding.Nowyou havea starting to correct and change, makedecisions about. product in mind for a turn is like having a Having a road map and a destination for a trip. You'dhavea very hardtime gettingto your destination you didn'tknowwhereit was.Youcan'tget if you knowwhereKansas from NewYorkto Kansas Cityunless Cityis! product for a turn is the f irststepin Obtaining precise a howto improve that product. Having no product is like deciding having no destination. Doyou agree?
Having your end point (product) well known, even in wide open sweepers, creates confidence.

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End to Beginning
of Youmustworkfrom the end backto the beginning the turn you go intothe turn, yourproduct. Decide advance, in before to establish whereyou aregoingto exit.You mustbe ableto "see"the product of the you and turn in your mindas you enterit. Thisenables to keepthe pieces you partsof the turn workingtowardthat product. Thisoverview allows productor destination. to at to f igureout eachstepnecessary arrive the lost to hopelessly by continuing "look"at a Youcan become to of turn from beginning end instead from the end backto the beginning.

19

I go out and set my plan and a lot of trmes the ftrst one ts the best. lf lt doesn't feel rrght I change rt. maybe every lap

more Onceyou knowwhereyou'regoing,you can spendyourattention and tire slippage that comeup in the turn,suchas wiselyon the problems them.Otherwise, left passing. change to handle You'llhaveplentyof spare you too be product and destination, will always spending much withouta your at attention what is goingto happen the endof the turn.Keeping on y p r o d u c t i n m i n dh e l p s o u h a n d l eh e u n c e r t a i n t y . t or Onceyou havea product, whetherit is perfect not,you can you makein your progress. changes Any to useit as a yardstick measure You the the turnwill change productsomewhat. will be ableto tell whether yourspeed you increase througha are thosechanges workingor not.As a slightly-orperhaps greatdealif you'rea turn.the product will change that is threefeet back ridermaymakea change An beginner. experienced product A product and one MPHfaster. beginner's from his previous maychange1Ofeet,and may be a gearhigherandfive MPHfasterduring to the course a dayon the track.A product givesyou something shoot of go lf for-something change. you blowthe turn,you canalways backto to p i a l e s sa g g r e s s i vo r s l o w e r r o d u c t a n dg e tt h r o u g h t w e l le n o u g h . e

Locate the Product

Where and how you enter a turn is totally decided by will what and where the product is. Onlyrarely you go into a turn the way it looksfrom the approach and haveit work out well in the end.New they riderscommonly beginthe turn too earlybecause and inexperienced proscan be seendoingit. Thisopensthe haveno product in mind.Even doorto a lot of mistakes and uncertainty. A product is made in stages, one step at a time. These by are stages its development marked sub-products. Sub-products of t r a l s oh a v e l o c a t i o n n t h e t r a c ka n do t h e rf a c t o r s h a ta r es i m i l a t o a n a o product. Leanangle, bodyposition, amountof control, overall speed, to steering and morearethe sub-products you can useas indicators tell you how you'reprogressing towardyourproduct. turnswill produce more Medium-speed slower-speed and sub-products thanfasterturns.Youdon't havethe time to makea lot of to in changes fasterturns,and you mustmakethem as simpleas possible yourself fast leave to enoughattention do it right.Usually, turnsdo not b h a v em u l t i p l e a m b e o r e l e v a t i oc h a n g e s - itfh e yd i dt h e yw o u l d n ' t e c r n td t f a s tt u r n s . l o wa n dm e d i u m - s p e e u r n so f t e nh a v e h e s ek i n d so f S t d s c . c h a n g e s , n dt h e yo f t e nr e q u i r e r a m a t i c t e e r i n g h a n g e sF o r y o u o a places product, thesechanges mustbe madeat precise reach desired the on the track.These sub-products-places that require a change are in steerin order to reach your product for that turn. Changes gears, p o s i t i o n n dt h e p o i n t s h e r e o u l o o kf o r y a w i n g ,t h r o t t l eb r a k i n gb o d y , , are coursemarkers all sub-products. Anyexamples?

Point of Entry
20

location the track, on Just as the end product hasa precise p o i n to f e n t r y h e r e h e m a j o rs t e e r i n g p w t t s o d o e st h e b e g i n n i n g o i n t , h e

for Thisis a sub-product. In banked change the turn occurs. turns,your entrypointshouldalways designed usethe banking bestadvanbe to to t a g ec o m i n g u t o f t h et u r n .W h a t h a p p e n t o y o u a n dt h e b i k ew h e nt h e s o banking flattens always sub-product, a change. is a Precisely locate the p o i n to f y o u rm a j o r t e e r i n g h a n g e o i n gi n t ot h e t u r ns o y o uc a nh a v e g c s i s o m e t h i n t o a d j u s ta p o i n tt o t h i n kf r o m .T h ee m p h a s i ss t o u s et h e g , Y b a n k i n go y o u ra d v a n t a g e .o uc a nt h i n ko f i t a s " c o n n e c t - a - d orti"d i n g . t l f y o u " g o i n t o "t u r n st o o s o o n y o ua r ec o m m i t t e do m a x i m u m t , portionof the turn,which leaves you speed and leananglefor a greater feweroptions corrections, youfeelyou can'tor shouldn't for and makeany , i c h a n g e sn y o u rl i n e .N o wp a s s i n gg r o u n d i n g u t o n b u m p s s t e e r i n g , o , throttleand gearchanges become all matters greatconcern and of Goingintoturnstoo soonis your become moredifficultto do smoothly. indicator that you do not haveyourproduct well defined,that you're slightlylost.Not knowing where you're going in a turn invites you t t o g o i n t o o s o o n . T h et r a c kd e s i g n efro o l sy o u i n t or i d i n g h e t u r nt h e r r w a y i t l o o k s t t h e b e g i n n i n ga t h e t h a nt h ew a y i t w i l l w o r ko u t i n t h e e n d . a Workingout the product andsub-product provides mapthrough a t h et u r n .

Faster ls Deeper
way of looking it: if you makeyour major Here's at another e s t e e r i n g h a n g e t t h e s a m ep o i n tg o i n gi n t oa t u r n - a n di n c r e a sy o u r c a on speedpastthat point-youwill runwideof the pointyou passed the last n f. l a pb e c a u s e f t h e i n c r e a s ie c e n t r i f u g a l f o r cle t h e b i k er u n sa b i t t o o o you the is wideat the exit,you maybelieve wenttoo fast.Actually, remedy the beforemaking steering change. The faster you wish to go in deeper to go through a turn, the deeper you have to enter it to increase
your speed at the exit.what will changeif youdo this?

the lf you go in deeper andfaster, steering will needto change The be moreabrupt, andthe bikewill not wantto turn as easily before. as is trickto goingin deeper to go a bit slowerrightat the pointwhereyou yourself. Kenny Youmust learn restrain makeyoursteering to As change. "Learn go slowto go fast."lf you do it right,you'llbe able Roberts says, to t t o g o f a s t e r r o mt h a t p o i n to n t h r o u g h h e t u r n .T h eb i k ec a nb e s t r a i g h t e r f to up and down,lesscommitted maximum leanangles and speed, you so yourspeedand set up a product moreeasily. impoftant The can adjust partis knowing where you went intothe turn so that you havesomething t o c h a n g e n da d j u s tT h i si s a s u b - p r o d u c t , a n da n i m p o r t a no n e . t a .

Old Racer's Tale

pointis the falseideathat you must useup Anotherimpoftant you haveto or not.Perhaps allthe trackat the exitof a turn,whether this theorythat saysyou beginthe turn wideand comesf romthe old cornering exit it as wide as possible. Wherever comesfrom, it not onlyisn'talways it you prevent from goingfasterthroughthe turns. true,but it can actually

How?lf you let the bike go wide at the exit, iust because there is track left over, it can give you a false impression you're going as fast as you can. Youcanfoolyourself into believing can'tbe done it f a s t e rA s y o u ' r e i g u r i n gh e t u r n sa n dd i a l i n g n t h e p r o d u c t , y o u u s et h e . f t i you'vestoredup from the lastlapto decideif anychanges information can be made.lf your information says you went all the way to the edge of the track the last time through, it makes it diffieult to decide to go faster this time. You knowthe bikewill go widerif you go faster, andyou'llrun out of track.Yourproduct will change. Youwon't feelas confidentthat it can be done.wiilit work vou? for

Hold That Line

The remedy this commonerroris to hold the bike to the for tightest line possible on the exit so you can get an accurate idea of where that speed takes you on the track. Wherethe product of that speedputsyou. lf you holdyour linedown at the end of a turn and thereis still eightfeetof trackleft,you couldsafely you assume can go faster. the nexttime you keepeverything samegoingintothe turn, lf the u s i n g h e s a m el i n eb u t i n c r e a s i ny o u rs p e e da n dy o u s t i l lh a v e i v ef e e t t g , f of trackleft,you can go evenfasteryet.Thepointis,don'tfool yourself by usingup the trackwhen it isn'tnecessary. By handling exitsof mostturnsin this way,you can begin the to establish veryaccurate product and good sub-products. you're a e n g i n e e r i n g et u r nt o f i t y o u rr i d i n ga n de q u i p m e n d,e c i d i n g n a th t o product, then makingadjustments improve to uponit. Youarenot being just because takenin by the track,makinguseless changes there'san opportunity do so. to A goodexample beingsuckedin on the entrance a turn is of of the old trapof the decreasing-radius Yougo in fast because can, turn. you t h e nh a v e o p l a ys o m es e r i o u s a t c h - u p t t h e p o i n ti t b e g i n s o t i g h t e n . t c a t your speed Holding down on the entrance giveyouthe exactinformacan tion you needto go faster-ifit's possible. That'syouthinkingnow,not suckingyourselfinto makingan error. Where you it? wiil try

Your Results
Theproducts andsub-products giveyou a destination and places accurately you canmakechanges the road. markthe where on They areyour way of breaking down the processinto smallerpartsyou can understand change. and Yourconfidence and smoothness increase when you knowwhereyou'regoingandwhatto do whenyou get there. Your basicrequirement a rideris to observe as whereyourproducts andsubproducts are,what to do at thosepointsandto remember them so you can makeuseof them.

22

O Most riders use the whole track upon exiting turns.

I Holding a tight line, and still having track left over, lets you know it can be done even faster.

23

CHAPTER

FOUR

WhatYou See
Programming Your ComPuter Through the Eyes
Bell What you seethroughyour smoke-tinted shieldhasmuch you of to do with how wellyou ride.Youcan'tcountthe number objects can seeat anyone spoton the track,anymorethanyou cancountwhat The moreyou look,the more you seejust staring the backof your hand. at you see. to the racetrack.Youcanstop at anyturn and Thisalsoapplies lookfor hoursat what'sto be seen.Butwhileyou'reracingor ridingdown you can'tstopto gaze. the road, andwhat whatto lookat,what is impoftant Howdo you decide Howcanwhat you seehelpor is not?And how do you usewhatyou see? your to correctly improve your riding? Thischapter aboutseeing is hinder riding.

Where Are You?

The reason you look at points on the track is to learn where you are and where you are going' On any pieceof roadyou aboutwhereyou areso you can lookin f rontof youto obtaininformation Manyridershavesaid,"Yougo what to do with the information. decide whereyou look."What theyfailedto sayis,"Youcango whereyou don't it look,but you rolloff the throttlefirst."Let'srestate so the rideris more Look where you want to go. in control:

Reference Points
You usereference points to find out whereyou areon the track.This point is a spot or obiect of which you already know the Youcanreferto this marksa place. whichclearly location. lt is something points presenta betterpictureof Two reference objectfor information. you're Example: your lOcation. Threeor moregiveyou yourexactlocation. one go to Main Street-that's You for looking a storeon MainStreet. two. Youcheckthe reference point. Youf ind the right block-that's

24

numbers seewhichdirection to they run-that'sthree. which Youdecide sideof the street storeis on-that'sfour.Youfollowthe numbers the till you reach store. the That'sfive or morereference points that you would u s ei n f i n d i n g n a d d r e s s . n a r a c et r a c ko r r o a dy o u d o t h e s a m e h i n g . a O t lf you don't have enough reference points to know where you
are-you're lost! Any examptes?

Reference Points {RPs)a certain reminder of where you are; basic building blocks for your plan.

"{

25

Reference p o t nts-yea h. you might not thtnk about them but You'vegot to use them. Just little things on the track I remember-rt helps to put it all together.

at andthe situation fast on a motorcycle speed, Thingshappen because Whereyou areon the roadis veryimportant changes constantly. yourcourse action. you don't know where you ale, lf it determines of you also don't know what you're supposed to be doing. Yourlocaandfeet-not in city tion on a racetrackor roadcan be plottedin inches thereareno streetsignson the track.lt's up to you to decide blocks-and what reference points to useand what to do when you reachthem. Youmustdecide.

Familiar RPs allow you to look "around" the turn, well ahead of yourself .

What to Use as Reference Points

is YourbestReference Point(RP) something eitheron the track line,a spot,a crack, curborverycloseto it: a patchof asphalt, painted a will ing,anything that doesn'tmove.Objects far f romthe tracksurface too awayf romthe track.YourRPsmustbe easyto find to takeyourattention At be usable. timesyou must usethe edgeof the track,but a pointthat'sa your attention the track. it foot in f romthe edgeis betterbecause keeps on l f y o ug o t o t h e l i m i tw i t ha n R Pt h a t ' so n ef o o tf r o mt h e e d g e y o u s t i l lh a v e , goingto the limit and to a foot left over.Going the edgeof the trackmeans yourself marginfor error.lt isn'tnecessary go to the edgeof no to leaving possible the trackwhenever untilyou feelcomfortable doingso.The idea that you must useallthe trackis likethe ideayou must"hangoff" the bike -only do it when it becomes and necessary comfortable. you choose lookat shouldbe in your lineof vision The RPs to point Don'tchoose something a reference as and alongyour pathof travel. just because thereand easyto see.lt might not be the right RPfor you it's you're workfor the speed it's because too far off your lineor it doesn't y t t r a v e l i n g . n t h e o t h e rh a n d , o n ' tn a r r o w o u rv i s i o n o o m u c ho r y o u ' l l O d not havea wide enough viewof the tracksurface f ind whereyou are. to your location the RPs on on that aredirectly your lineof travelestablish your location relation in to RPs tracklengthways. alongthe sideestablish the width of the track.The bottomlinefor an RPis,does it work? lt can longas it worksfor you. be anywhere-so

An RP givee you information. lt signals where, and how much, to change what you do.

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26

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How to Use A Reference Point

A reference point is not merely you something canseeeasily on or nearthe track,the reference point must mean something to you when you see it. Every time you passor approach this point it, mustcommunicate message you,like,"Thisis whereI beginlooking a to for my turn marker," "lf l'm to the rightof this too much l'll hit a bump, or but to the left of it I'm alright." "Thisis whereI beginmy turn."ReferOr, ence points are reminders of where you are or of what action you
must take. Canyou applythis?

You'llneedtwo or more reference points to accurately find yourself the track.You've to knowwherethe RPsareso you can got on y r e l a t e o u ro w n p o s i t i o no t h e m .T h i sm a ys o u n ds i m p l e - m i n d e b u t i f t d, you narrow yourattention oneobject,it becomes to youronly RPandyou become victimof target fixation. Yougo to the RPbecause don't a you h a v e n y t h i n g l s et o d o .T h i so c c u r s n a p a n i c i t u a t i o n n dc a n h a p p e n a e i s a anywhere a racetrack.Youmust haveenoughRPsso that target on fixation doesn'toccur. Whenyou havesufficient RPsin a turn or on the track,the scene movingin f rontof you appears movesmoothly, a wide-screen to like 70mm movie. Toofew andthe scenelookslikean old-timemovie, bouncing andjerkingalong.Having onlyone RPis likewatchinga slideshow frame-nicepicture,but wheredo you go from there?
\
Having too few RPs causes target fixation. Enough RPs "open up" the track, making it appear larger, and costs less of your attention.

f'

that you must lookdownthe road No doubtyou'veheard need you'regoing,not whereyou are.This is good information-you where too yourself the track.Looking closeto the on that secondRPto locate you find it. bikewon't help

Look Ahead for Reference Points

At 60 mph you'retravelingat 88 feet per second;at 120 mph ticksby Thatsecond at you'rehurtling throughspace 176 feet persecond. of for veryquickly, and if you'renot ready the nextmove,ahead time, yourreference points and for you'llmakea mistake. ahead Looking for givesyou time to prepare the nextmoveso thereareno sub-products goessmoothly. and surprises so everything l've This ideacan be takentoo far,however. seenriderslooking 4 o - m p hc u r v eT h e yw e r e . a 1 5 0 f e e td o w nt h e r o a dw h i l er o u n d i n g t i g h t Still, what was to be seenin front of them,likecurbingand holes. ignoring but the curbingand holes, not at otherridersin the sameturn werelooking are untiltheywerejust 2Ofeet in front of them.Bothof theseextremes the turn and slow ridingthrough uncertain they produce unworkable; cornering.

Where to Look
whereto lookwhileyou're will helpyou determine Two factors riding r racing. o you believe you look,the slower the 1. At speed, f urtherahead you're you look,the fasteryou believe yourself you'regoing;the closer to going.Look far enough ahead to avoid accelerating the scene, but not so far that you lose your feel for where you are on the track. Wath RPs you have a choice of where tolook.wittyou trvit? enoughRPshasthe effectof opening up the 2. Having track, making it appear larger. When you look too far aheador too it lf to closeto the bike,the trackseems narrow. this beginshappening, is y o u rs i g n atlo e i t h e r h a n g e P s r t o f i n d m o r eo f t h e mi n t h a tt u r n o r R o c section track. of a i s A T h e s e r eg u i d e l i n e s .d j u s t h e R P s o t h e s c e n e s m o v i n g t a to you,and so you can seeenough keepthe track the rightspeedfor "opened up." or onlyone RPis likehavingonlyonecar.lf it breaks Having you can easily lf work,you don'tgo anywhere. you haveanother doesn't point' or car,it usethe onethat works.With onlyonereference is lf and necessary.youfind that yourattention fixed too becomes valuable you pointon the trackor road,it's because don't haveanother on one it. to very valuable you andyou over-use ready use.Thatone becomes to at and Youdependuponit for too muchinformation mightbeginstaring it. Youcan become slightlylostwhen it no longerletsyou knowwhereyou you fixedon one RP, becoming areor whatto do. lf youfind yourattention needto f ind anotherin the areaso the "movie"will smoothout.

28

Stepping Stones
Reference points areyourstepping stones the products to andsub-products youwill produce a turn or series turns. in These of little you will maketo get the bikearound stepsleadto the majorchanges turns f a s t e r r w i t h m o r ec o n fi d e n c eR P s i g n atl h e p o i n t s n t h e t r a c kw h e r e . s o o y o uw i l l m a k e h e s ec h a n g e s . t
It's important to prck up good RPs.especially on the exrt

Concentration
On the trackor road,concentration a smoothflow, or chain is of events that movesfrom one to anotherwithout a break.Reference points arepartsof that chain,one linkdepending uponthe nextfor strength and a continuous flow. lf one linkbreaks, entirechainstays the brokenuntilit can be repaired replaced. you havea section the or lf of yourchainof concentration break. trackwith no,or too few RPs, will Reference points are the building blocks of concentration. Let'sget backto the ideaof yourattention and how muchof it yourten-dollar Whenyourconcentration good,you spend you have, bill. is just enough it on eachRPso that you knowwhereyou areandwhatto of do.Thiskeeps that steady flow going.Whenyou havetoo few RPsin an yourattention be spentin tryingto fix this bad situation. mostof area, will The points or places on the track that you do not know, or understand, will occupy most of your attention. Having enoughRPslets j y o us p e n du s tt h e r i g h ta m o u n t f t i m ea n da t t e n t i o n n e a c ho n et o g e t o o you the information need. Youhaveenoughleftoverto buy otherthings, t o m a k es m a l lc h a n g e sn y o u rr i d i n g h a tw i l l h e l py o ug o j u s t a b i t f a s t e r i t just a bit more.Everything you do on the track takes up or leanover yourattention some attention. Whenyou don't haveenoughRPs goes yourconcentration. rightto that areaandwill-or can-break Someof the strangest thingshappen whenyou havea break in yourconcentration. ridertold me that every One time his concentration h b r e a k s e b e g i n s h i n k i n g f a l e a k i n ga u c e t e h a sa t h o m e Y o u rm i n d t o f h . your concentration maynotwander a leaking to faucet,but when breaks you will notice that otherthings comeintoyour mind.Oo dothis? you

Concentration -The Twist

There'sa twist to this subjectof concentration; when you've got it, it doesn't you you'relooking anything particular. seemto at in The reference points just blendintothe scenein front of you.When asked, "Whatdo you lookat in turns?" two or threeof the top ridersin the world havesaid,"l don't really lookat anything." is this really But whatthey mean? Whenyourconcentration good,you spendjust nickels is and yourattention. example dimeson the RPs and noneof them captures An of this is that one majordifference between ridersis theirabilityto learn tracks.Learning track meansknowing where you are on the track. a
-&** ,, ;. .*,a-;t;,

29

I like to go ta new tracks-rt's fun. The firstyear I raced we went to the tracks that everybody raced and ljust drd OK At the new tracks though. I was right there frrst or second

laps.Bothguys cando it in five laps,otherscan'tdo it in 5OO Someriders just do it by reference points; the top riders wheretheyare haveto learn roadthe second timeyou take so fasttheycan beatyou on yourfavorite f the Onefactorthat separates top riders rom the restof the themthere!! q o a f i e l di s t h a tt h e yp i c ku p R P s u i c k l y n da c c u r a t e lty t h e p o i n tt h e yc a n R t s " s e et h e " w h o l e c e n e w i t h o u th a v i n go p i c ko u t t h e i n d i v i d u a l P s .

Enough Reference Points

you can seethe "wholescene" Onceyou haveenoughRPs, This withouthaving stareat the RPsindividually. is your to comfortably a g o a l , n dt h e i n d i v i d u a l u i l d i n g l o c k s f t h a t s c e n e r eR P s l.f y o u rc o n b a b o you will haveto go backand relyon or relocate lost becomes centration y o u r s e lw i t h t h e R P s h a t a r ef a m i l i atro y o u . f t possible: yourconcentration sool3bs as howyou restore That's Go back to the reference points you know and pick up the thread of concentration. lf you don't haveany RPsin the area,it'll cost you time and roll backthe throttle. on the trackas you hesitate

Do Not Read Past This Next Paragraph Until You Have Completed the ExPeriment
Find a stopwatch or wall clock with a second hand and try this eye-opening experiment. Do it again after you have ridden the track looking for RPs.

1. Geta stopwatch. chair. 2. Sit down in a comfortable familiar 3. Now,closeyoureyesandthinkof a racetrackyou're Do it lap with. Startthe watchand runthrougha complete on the track. as to memory.Try go throughit exactly fast as you did the lasttime from of you rodethere. Youaretimingyour memory the trackand how you it. rode 4. Now,closeyoureyesandtry it again.

Memory Lap
your memory"laptime"will be either lf you'relikemost riders, lap muchtoo longor muchtoo short.lf youjust brokethe absolute record

30

by 2Qor 30 seconds, if you added20 or 30 seconds youractuallap or to it means samething-not enoughreference points. Theslowtimes, the " l a pr i d e r ' s m o v i e " s i n c o m p l e ta n d h ef i n d sh i m s e l s t a r - g a z i na t t h e i e f g places hasno RPs. attention on the areas the trackhe does he His is of not know. ln the veryfast lap situation riderstill hasn'tgot enough the RPs, he flitsfrom oneto the nextveryquicklybecause so thosearewhat he doesknow.Having sufficient RPs gives you a better sense of time because you now have points to mark your motion around the track. Yourattention goeseitherto the places you knowverywell,or you don't knowverywell.Or,it becomes to the place split between the you a lot of attention two. Thiscosts you can'tspendon otherthings.

Find the Lost RPs

Here's easymethodyou can useto find out whereyou don,t an haveenoughRPs. Youcan useit anytime. youreyes. 1. Close 2. Caref runthroughyourown "movie"of the trackas if you ully wereriding. 3. "Ride"throughone complete in your memory. lap 4. Openyour eyesand draw eachturn on a separate sheetof paper, marking reference pointsyou'resureof in eachturn. the , 5 . M a k ea n o t eo f w h a te a c hR Pm e a n s o y o u .l i k e : , B r a k i n g t ,,Exit "Steering "Location the Track." Point," Change," "Bump,,, on Marker,,, "Product," etc. youreyesagainand go backoveryour,,movie,,, 6. Close noticing places you hesitate. blank, the go wherethe scene getsfoggy,or you hurrythroughit too fast.Each thesesituations where of you indicates havetoo few reference points at theselocations. 7. Now makea noteon yourturn drawings eachplace you at havea blankspotor anyotherproblem situation from No. 6 above. 8. FindmoreRPs thoseareas nexttime you ridethe for the track. Youcan usethis methodto f ind yourweakspots-andstrong pointsas well,as it is your memory the turnsyou relyon whenyou ride. of This is howyou knowwhereyou'regoing.Knowing whereyou aregoingis
part of the thread of concentration. Wiuit work?

That's the Twist

Youmustget to the pointwhereyou can seethe wholescene in front of you withouthaving spenda lot of attention anyone point. to on You're building that scene with individual reference points. lf yourconcentration lost,go backto the RPs is that you knowand buildthe scene again.

31

The Big Twist to Goncentrationand ReferencePoints

A lot of guys I see out there seem to forget about the whole rest of the track. They are paytng too much attention to that one line.

Thetrickto usingRPsand gaining is concentration you have to look at something. Youreyeswork by focusing someobjector on in someplane, theneverything that planeis in focus,likeon a movie Youmaybe looking onlyoneareaof the screen, the entire but screen. at is screen in focus. Anotherpoint is that when your eyesmove,they do so in short like movements. Theyflit from one objectto another a butterfly. stopping youreyesacross scene lf you try to sweep withoutstopping anything, on a the scene becomes blur.Try it. a problemis that he wantsto seethe trackin f rontof A rider's a f to him flowingas a wholescene, maintain steady low of concentration, at but his eyesdon'tworkthat way.lf he stares one reference point too . o l l o n g ,h e ' l le x p e r i e n ca f o r m o f t u n n e v i s i o n B u tb e c a u s e f t h e w a y h i s e thing!There's twist. the eyeswork,he hasto lookat somespecific

Good RPs help keep a steady flow of concentration for a rider. You spend (use) RPs to save attention.

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See Fast
to Howdo the top ridersmanage rideso fastwithoutexperithe in Here's drillthat will helpyou practice a encingproblems seeing? proper techniques. seeing visible you.Youcan seeall four to 1. Finda wallthat is entirely but by corners movingyoureyes, not your head. youreyeson a spot in the middleof the wall. 2. Focus not focused that spot,then moveyourattention, on 3. Remain youreyes, the upperright-hand cornerof the wall. to Stillfocusingon that spot, moveyour attentionto different places the wall.Youare looking one spotbut areawareof the other at on areas the wall. of to 5. Stillfocusing that spot,moveyourattention the on you andthe wall,andon the wall as well. between objects
.--...--"-.*E

32

The Whole Picture

You can see the whole scene while still looking at one place or spot! You probably noticed that duringthis experiment you wantedto moveyour eyesfrom the spot you werefocusedon to the spot to whichyour attention had gone.Thisexperiment becomes easier with practice. can practice You movingyourattention around, while looking at onespotor area, you'redriving the races just sittingin a chair.lt's as to or a skillthat cantaketime to develop you haven't if mastered already. it you seethe wholescenein this wayyou haveto Now,when realize that the pointsin the scenemustbe well knownto you.You need the reference points in the scene makethe scene. you don't know to lf youreyeswill huntfor something the RPs that is familiar and losethe wholescene effect. B e i n g b l et o s e et h e t r a c ki n f r o n to f y o ua s a w h o l es c e n e a m a k e s i d i n gm u c he a s i e a n d b r i n g s o u rc o n c e n t r a t i o n c ki f i t f a l t e r s . y r r ba As you canseein the drillabove, is whereyourattention directed, it is y o u ' r e p e n d i n g o u rt e n - d o l l ab i l l ,t h a t ' sm u c hm o r ei m p o r t a n t y where s r thanwhatyou'relooking Yourattention at. mustbe spenteconomically, a n dl o o k i n g t t h ew h o l es c e n e a t h e t h a na t o n et h i n gi s s p e n d i n gt v e r y a r r i wisely,and getting interestbackon your investment. just haveto You
practice. Will you try it?
You begin to understand a turn with RPs. Then pieces of the turn become clearer. Finally, the whole scene is viewed as a steady flow of action. You spend the least and get the most. This is the way I see lt most of the time-the overall scene That's when things are gorng nght everything is worktng nght

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CHAPTER

FIVE

Timing
Putting Things ln Order
Timing really hasnothing do with yoursense time.lt has to of to do with taking the correct action at exactly the correct place on yourreference the track. Thewholeideaof timing is to pulltogether points, products andsub-products so they'reusefultoyou on the track.Doingthe correct thing at the wrongplaceon the trackproduces poorresults. Knowing what to do, but not exactly whereto do it, can really foul up a rider.

The first couple of practice laps feel fast, too fast. and then it slows down from there.

My Timing Lesson
my I I learned lesson abouttiming from ridingskateboards. wastryingdesperately makea "kick"turn,which is the 18O-degree turn to you maketo get yourself backdown afterridingup a rampor the sideof a pool.lfell at leasta hundred timestryingit. Finally,discovered the I that lf boardwould notturn unless was goingat a certain it slowspeed. I triedit fast-too early-lcouldnot makethe turn.Tooslow-toolate-andthe too u t t b o a r d o u l db e g i ns l i d i n g a c k w a r djs s t e n o u g h o m a k e h e t u r nv i r t u w b that wouldallowthe allyimpossible. There was a veryf ine marginof speed yet boardto be turned, still keepup the momentum I couldstayon and so b a c kd o w n . continue

How You Let Off

in riding,keeping Itook a verycloselookat my motorcycle and mindwhat I'd learned the skateboard, discovered someverybasic on the Manyotherriders weremaking same mistakeswas makingas a rider. I mistakes the samereasons. for whereyou let off exactly ln turns whereyou usethe brakes, greatdifference your in them andwhenyou beginsteering can makea ways, Thoughlcould makethat changein manydifferent smoothness. possibilities: Let'slookat the thanthe others. oneworkedbetter

34

1. Youcanfinishthe braking andthenturn,leaving the throttleoff. afteryou beginthe turn,with no 2. Youcanfinishthe braking th rottle. thenturn and applythe throttle. 3. Youcanfinishthe braking, 4 . Y o uc a nf i n i s ht h e b r a k i n ga n dt h e nc r a c k h e t h r o t t l e , t slightly. 5. Youcanf inishthe braking afteryou beginto turn and apply the throttle. 6. Youcanf inishthe braking afteryou turn andjust crackthe throttleon.

What Happens
ln NumberOneabove, forksarealmostbottomed from the out the braking, thenwhenyou let up on the brakes forksextend the andthe " b i k e" s t a n d s u p .Y o ut h e np u tt h e b i k ei n t ot h e t u r n ,a n dt h e c o r n e r i n g forcescompress forksagain.lf you put it intothe turn hard,the forks the veryfar,then comebackup a little. compress The bikeis goingup and down,changing Thatchanges steering tractionand fork angle. the and reduces stabilityof the bike. the In Number Two above, fork is down,andwhenyouturn the the throttlebackon it comesup,then backdownagainf romthe turning forces. Here's samesituation the again-loss tractionand stability. of ln Number Three, fork is compressed the from the braking, thencomesup whenyou release brakes, the then down againfrom the c o r n e r i n g a d st,h e nu p a g a i n s y o ua p p l y h et h r o t t l eT h eo t h e r lo a t . provide possibilities. examples similar you To get intothe turn correctly, musttime the braking and turningso that the bikestayseven,not goingup or down,at the pointyou let off the brakes. Youmust let off the brakesat the exactmomentyour just fork is compressed enoughfor the speeds and cornering loadsit will be undergoing throughthe turn.Applythe throttleso that fork extension doesn't change, changes leastamountpossible. or the Thiswill allowyou to go intothe turn withoutanyup and down motion.lf yourtiming'soff, y o u m a yc o m p l a i nh a tt h e b i k eh a n d l e s o o r l yp o s s i b l t h i n k i n g h e p , t y t shocksaregone.Some examples?

Your Timing Target

Yourtarget, sub-product for anyturn in whichyou brake or andturn in succession, timing the braking, steering and throttle is so that fork and shock extension are kept as even as possible. Fast "esses" and compound turns. When two or more turnsarestrungtogether and cannotbe takenwide open,timing is important. a quickright/left left/right On or combination, time the steering change that the throttleis rolledoff rightbefore transition so the from side just an instant to side.Rolling the gas beforemaking steering off the

(oversteer) easier the making steering change dipsthe f rontend slightly, (rake). change Makingthat steering fork because the decreased angle of pointfor that turn keeps to the andcompressing suspension its maximum Whendoneright,evena the bikef rom bobbingup and down excessively. t f w b i k ew i t h p o o rs h o c k s i l l h a n d l e i n e .W h e nd o n ew r o n g , h e b e s t poorly. bikein the worldwill handle handling

Roll-Off Time
especibecomes, the Thefasteryou ride,the harder steering then get"esses." then steering, the Rolling throttleoff, allyin high-speed get ting backon the gas againin the middleof two turns,can actually you "push"throughand haveto rolloff at the exitof throughfasterthan if you n s T o t h et w o t u r n s . h er o l l i n g f f a n db a c ko n a g a i n h o u l d o tt a k em o r et h a n of for onlya smallf raction that off and one second, the gas is completely o t t i m e ,i f a t a l l .A v o i ds n a p p i n gh e t h r o t t l e n a n do f f u n t i ly o u rt i m i n g is perfect.

Tiredness :

Loss of Timing

When you become tired, the first thing you lose is your to it's reason so important haveyourreference timing. This is another sub-products, the majorsteps points and products well established. arealsopoints of timing (POTI. in or changes a turn, Not all RPsarepoints of timirlg. Someonlytellyouwhere or change POT/sub-product. lf you you are,signaling upcoming an you won't haveto slowdown knowwherethey areandwhatto do there, won't be willingto go you become tired.Youprobably as muchwhen to this Does apply you? faster, that canwait untilyou'resharpagain. but

Timing and the Road You Ride

You in changes the roadaffecttiming dramatically. not only but correctly, you haveto fit that intothe camber have workthe controls to u i, a s w e l l .F o ri n s t a n c e f y o uw e r ec o m i n g p t o c c h a n g e a n dr a d i u s h a n g e s s you should f to turn whereyou would have usethe brakes irst, a banked m w i l l c o m p r e s s o r ei n t h a tt u r nt h a ni t w i l l o n a k n o wt h a tt h e s u s p e n s i o n you To turn that is flat with no banking. go in perfectly, would let similar just as the suspension taking is as off the brakes you go intothe banking entry. you the smoothest force.Thiswill give the loadf romthe centrifugal You back out of the brakes iust as the turn takes over the iob of too hardandthe cornering compressing the suspension. lf you brake the speedis down,the bikewill riseup whenyou hit the banking, suspentoo soonandthen hit the banklf sionwill unload. you get off the brakes of The witl ing,the suspension compress. second theseis the betterof the is Doingit right,of course, Situation. evilsas it offersa bettertraction bestof all.

36

ln off-camber turns: 1. Spend as little time in them as possible. 2. Design your plan around the forces pulling you to the outside of the turn.

Off-Gamber Timing
In an off-camber turn it is better havethe bikeas lightas to possible its wheels keepit f rom moving the outside the turn too to on to of much.Youmusttime yourcontroloperations you'reon the gasthe least so amountin that partof the turn.Traction deteriorates rapidly off-camber in with f lat or banked sections, compared sections. Rolling the throttle off veryhardin an off-camber an effectsimilar that of rollingon too has to h a r d . t l o a d s n ew h e e lm o r et h a nt h e o t h e r - i n h i s c a s et h ef r o n t - a n d l o t e c a nc a u s e h e f r o n te n dt o s l i d eo u t .T h er i d e rm i g h tb e p u z z l e d - h r o l l e d t off the throttleand stillthrew it away. Rolling usually off helpshim get throughturnswhen he'sbeengoingtoo fast.Keeping weightevenon the the wheelsby cracking openthe throttle, accelerating slowing, not gives or -camber the bikeits besttractionin off turns.In an off-camber, up your set P O T o t h e b i k ei s a c c e l e r a t i n g s l o w i n g h e l e a s t m o u n t o s s i b l e .h a t s p t or a T prevent will transferring muchweightto eitherwheel. too

Ghanging the Track with Timing

In a section trackwherea dip compresses suspension, of the possible time your roll-on that point.Ground it is sometimes to for cleara n c ei n c r e a s e sh e nt h e b i k ei s a c c e l e r a t i n g c a u s t h e s u s p e n s i oin w be e s this extending; tacticmaystopsomeof the bobbingup and downthat occursin dippedpartsof the track. Timing canchange trackcondithe you get the POTright it canwork-if you don't, tionsfor betteror worse.lf it won't. ,Cl**L*'*a+

Products and Timing

K e e p n m i n dt h r o u g h l lt h i st h a ty o u rg o a li s s t i l lt h e o v e r a l l i a product of the turn.Youstillwantthe maximum the speed, drivecoming out,or you wantto be set up for the nextturn. lf you makepartsof the turn won the battlebut lostthe war. work,but losethe drivecomingout,you've Atlof the RPsand POT/sub-products mustmakethe productbetteror you havedonea lot of fancyridingthat'sslowriding.Sometimes better it's to go directly througha roughsection trackwobblingand out of shape of aroundit. Yourmeasure of thanto figurea smoother-but slower-way progress in whether not yourproduct is improving. is or Points of timing are sub-products, and this is where place whereyoutakeanykindof actionis a changes are made. Every point of timing, especially on whenyou'rein a turn.Upshifting the thanwhere thoughit's lessimportant is instance, a POT, straight-away,lor products allows your POT you steerin a turn.Becoming with and familiar whereyou youto loafon the restof the trackbecause now you understand you don't.lf you get thesefactsdown on have work hardandwhere to you thingslike,"l'm having paper, orwell memorized, won't be saying You'llseewhich POTareworkingand whichare troublein the esses."
fouling up your product. if Whatwill change youdo this?

Timing in Perspective
let's To put timing in perspective, lookat TurnSixat Riverside hundreds of because lt's California. a goodexample Raceway Riverside, in turn I knowof. by it, and it's the mostcomplex riders still baffled are
Each change in the track requires the rider to adjust his bike at exactly the right place. lf not, the bike will seem to handle poorly,

TurnSix

47h
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38

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Turn Six, Riverside

TurnSix is partof a series beginning with TurnFive(see diagram). Turn Fiveis fasterthan Six,and most ridersbrakeand go down a gearcominginto Five. looksverynarrow the approach, as lt on but they're comingout of it, most riders find they've gonethroughit too slow. T h eg a sc o m e s n f o r a n i n s t a n a s t h e yr i d eu p t h e h i l l i n t oT u r ns i x , o t wherethey have usethe brakes to again. Most riders overuse brakes the here, find they'regoinga bit too slow,thenjump on the gasagain. Just at that point,it seems gas is on too muchagain, they roll it off. Now it the so seems slowagain, they get backon the gas.Nowtheyseethe end too so of the turn,but the bike'sheading the outside fast,aimingfor the to too dirt andthe Armcobarrier. Here's another roil-off.Nowthe bike'son the straight-away backontothe gas.Thisis a roughwayto go through and aturn! Here's what happened-coming TurnSix,the riderfirst into notices that he hasoverbraked is goingtoo slowbecause hasfailed and he to seethat the trackis banked this point.Now he hasthe advantage at of the banking, just when he begins rollon,the trackflattens and but to out he loses banking. the The new roll-onbegins wherethe trackpicksup the banking againabouttwo-thirds the waythrough. of Thefinalroll-off begins wherethe banking goesawayagainat the exitof the turn.That's four camber changes oneturn! in other factorsaffectthis turn.At the beginning, wherewe lose the f irstbanking andthe roll-offbegins, thereis a creston the track.Not onlydoesthe banking taperoff, but the bikebecomes lightas it goesover this crest. Thesuspension unloads, traction goesawayandthe bikewants to go towardthe wall-veryfast! The bikesettles down at the banked partof the exitandthe riderfeelshe is goingtoo slowagain.Now it takestime for him to notice that the tractionis betterhereandtime to get backon the gasagain. By then,the banking begins go awayat the exitandthe bikeis goingtoo to fast.The lastroll-offoccurs. Theadditional twist to that lastpartof the t u r n i s t h a t i t t i g h t e n s p a n dg o e sd o w n h i la b i t . u l Thisturn hasfour camber changes, radius two changes, two e l e v a t i oc h a n g e s n da h u m pi n t h e m i d d l e f t h e f i r s tc a m b e r h a n g e ! n a o c To makeit worse, pavement's the poor. Thetrackdesigner must have r e a l l y a df u n w i t h t h i st u r n . h

Find the Timing

Thereis nothingreally wrongwith ridersrollingon and off the throttle. The problem they'renot doingit at the rightplaceon the track. is Theirtiming is all wrong.Thisis because,irstof all,they havenot looked f at the trackandfoundwhereit changes. you Remember; cannotseethese changes verywellwhenyou'reriding.secondly, points of timing no a r ee s t a b l i s h e d s i g n a l t h e h a n g e s . s a r e s u l tt,h e b r a k i n g n dt h r o t t l e to c A a responses the trackoccurin the wrongplace. to Third,theyestablish no p l a nt o t a k ea d v a n t a go f t h e b a n k i n gU s et h e r u l eo f t h u m bt h a tt h e b i k e e .
. : , , E ; : *

no it. when leaving Fourth, shouldbe at the lowestpointof the banking experience. from previous product hasbeendetermined overall goingthroughTurnSix mightsound My description riders of Theirworriedexpressions them is worse. but likebaddrama, watching Theirbikesbob up anddownf rom tell attitudes the wholestory. frozen and After ridingTurnSix werebroken. as the throttlechanges if theirshocks manyriders As likethis a while,you can beginto feelverystupid. a result, it's line a choose constant-radius and pretend alljust oneturn with no real radius hanges. c c a m b eo r r Riders takethis turn manydifferentways,but the fastestones do consistently threethings:1) Theyusethe banking $oingintothe turn 2) than tryingto fight the middleof the advantage. Rather to maximum themto it flattens out,theylet the bikedrift out,which allows turn,where on the exit of takeadvantage the followingpoint.3) Theyusethe banking be This to its bestadvantage. linecouldbasically calleda doubleapex, of whichis a gooddescription the turn.Keepin mindthat the timingmust for it to work right. be correct if baffling, the can Turnswith fewerchanges be equally can of timing is wrong.Someriders, course, go throughth is turnveryfast but and by keepingup a feverpitch of concentration cat-likereflexes, they it. who understands And ridingat,or past, won't be as fast as someone of yOU SOOner. you Are aware this? Out your CgngentratiOn redlinewears

Shaving the Track

You don't have to keep up a razor edge of concentration everywhere on the track. You'vestill got that ten dollarsworth of all lf spending of it all you'retryingto spendwisely. you continue attention to dollars go down the the time,you'llsoonuseit up. spending wholeten in to is a waste.Putit in savings draw interest attentionthe straight thenwithdrawit againfor the nextturn. saving, comeand go; they're and abilityto concentrate Yourattention betterat sometimes than at others.By spending your attention only when necessary, it will be there when you need it. This is another whereyou haveto do the trghtwork,and partof timing, recognizing of racesI havehearda number endurance coolingit the rest.At six-hour

riderssaytheywere pacingthemselves lastthe whole raceby tryingto to relax-and theywent quicker thanthey had in the sprintraces! Theyforced themselves get smart.lf you can usethis attitude sprintraces, to you for pOTare can be evensharper when you haveto be.Just f igurewhereyour andwhatyou'resupposed be doingat eachone.Relax to whilegoing down the straight-it'sfun to go fast. set up a reference point to tell you whento start payingattention.Makeit work for you.Youcan alwaysset up a RPto signalyouthat a POTis coming, andthis will helpyou relax. Get readywhen you see it, not before.
Spend attention when necessary but save it where you can.

Rhythm : Timing
Riders talk aboutthe rhythmof a racetrack or pieceof road, of gettingthe flow of the road. This is timing. The rideris fitting himself and his equipment intothe trackand allthe actionshe hasto takeon it. The basisof timing is understanding-not super-fast reflexes. Fast reflexes are not a substitute for good timing. At the speedsattained on a road-race track,good or evenincredible lexesdon't win races. ref lf you planto go roadracingbecause you havefast reflexes, figureout how longyou haveto makea changeat 18o mph when you'retraveting 264 at feet per second! Thereis no substitute understanding a racetrack. for on You've to haveRPs, POT, sub-products and products to guideyou got around. Fastreflexes help,but timing is the keythat unlocks the mysteries the asphalt. of

Note: Some of the problems of timing that a?e part of going into a turn have been helped by the various anti-dive devices now available on stroet bikes and more widely applied to GP racing machines and superbiker.

Timing Involves Both an ldea and an Action

You must understand both the trackand your own actionsso you'renot fightingeachother.Do this by knowing whatto do andwhere to do it. l'm sureyou can lookbackoveryour ridingand recall situations where,because yourtiming was off,you experienced uncomfortable situations. secondpart is in goingout andactually The doingit. Getthe timing rightfirst,thenadd speed.
lf your timing is right you can make tt smooth. lf I make a change lust before the matn event and tt doesn't work out. lJust have to make it work wtth good timing.

41

CHAPTER

SIX

Decisions
Decision-Making: ReciPe for Skill
to amounts puttinga whole Theact of ridinga motorcycle you makeon a bike is movement motion. Every stringof decisions into as basedupona decision you havemadein the past,or are making you or without making a ride.You don't do anything automatically someriderssaytheyshiftgears"autoagain, decision. Forexample, withoutthinkingaboutit.That'snottrue.Theymayspendonlya matically" but on or nickel a dimeof theirattention this decision, they'respending something. lf you study it, you'll seethat manylittle decisions go into at Youdecide whenthe engineis spinning the one gearchange. making gearchange. Youmaydecide rightrpm.Youdecide howfastto makethe to than another shift,and how muchthrottleto that one placeis better but applywhenyouturn it on again.Noneof thesethingsis "automatic," to onceyou havemadea decision, it costsyou lessattention do it. That's the magicof decisions.
Decisions in motion. Eddie Lawson's f lawless style is the result of hundreds of correctly made decisions. Making decisions puts you in control.

I'm always talktn'to mvself outthere on the track. I can get outside of mYself and look at what l'm dorng and sometlmes, if what is going on rsn'1;ust right, I get mad at myself.

42

You Must Make a Decision

they're upondecisions, whether At alltimesyou'reoperating lf you pastor present. example, can let out the clutchin severalways. For you which methods, still mustdecide you'refamiliar with thesedifferent to use.Youstill mustmakea decision. Youcan arriveat a decision in two ways.One is to work at the or of it problem untilyou havenarrowed down by the process elimination, (T&E). In the above to this example, is how we learn clutch Trialand Error at methodof arriving a decision is to thinkthrough The second our bikes. lt the task,then makethe decision. We'llcallthismethodThinking (TlT). Through

"- Spe@Yojected Speed

Decisionr are the detaals of your overall "plan.' Making a decision gives you a place to start, and something to change, or stop, if it doesn't work out.

-..,s
$
T&E

Force Lean Angle

Traction

The first method,Trialand Error, orT&E, dependslessupon You and understanding moreuponpractice. don'tthinkthroughthe problem,you keepperforming actiontill it works.lf you comeup with the the you'realright. the drawback making to But decisions by correct method, you mustgo throughthe wholeprocess you change them, T&E is that if goodriders againto find another way.Really who learned T&E have by gonethroughthe manypossible methods ridinga motorcycle often so of of that theycan useanyof them at will.Theyhavean entirementallibrary T&E decisions drawon. to

TIT
MethodTwo,Think lt Through. orTlT, alsohasdrawbacks. To arrive at a correct decision you must start with correct inforthe he mation. The riderhasto be a goodobserver, hasto review information from the lastride,and it hasto be correctand usefulinformation. A wild example would be to decide to go throughTurnOneat Daytona wouldn't A who learns TtrE probably by wideopenin sixthgear. person "thinker," course, The wouldonlymakethat makesucha mistake. of
mistakg orlce. Canyou seeit workingfor you?

43

.-''*zt*a*;ijdipt*At:f.'.,.

.:.-

^^

A Drawback
The serious drawback to Thinking lt Through is in making decisions based upon other people's information. One ridertellsanother ridein a certain to way,thenthe second ridergoesout andtriesto fit his ridingstyleintowhat he wastold. lf the information is accurate canwork.Forexample, ridertold me the reason leftarm it a my wascramping I was because was usingthe clutchfor upshifts, which isn't necessary. I stoppedusingit to upshiftand my arm no longer cramped. Thiswas great-itworked! Anotherexample this,anda grim one,was whenone rider of told another couldgo overthe crestof TurnSeven Riverside he at with the bikeflat out in fifth gear. Actually, a 60-mphturn.The riderwent over it's the crestat morethan 100 mph on his f irst lap.. . . NeedI saywhat happened?

A proper balance of "Thinking lt Through" (TlTf and "Trial and Error" (T e E) can eliminate many mistakes.

The Best Approach

A combination of the two methods, Trial and Error fT&E) and Thinking lt Through (TlTl, is the best approach to y a f d e c i s i o n m a k i n g . T E Ei s t i m e - c o n s u m i n U.n l e s s o u ' r e f u l l - t i m ea c g go you mayf ind it difficultto regularly ridingor to tory-contracted racer got trip renttime on a racetrack.You've to makeevery to the trackcount, you must returnfrom everysession with information that andthat means b w i l l b e u s a b l eo r t h e T I Tm e t h o d L a p s n a r a c e r a c kw i l l d o n o t h i n g u t . o t f information if homeso wearout yourequipment you don'ttakeaccurate you'll havea clearpictureof what decisions you have made and what to do in the tuture.wittthishelp?

44

T&EOnly
A rider who uses the T&E method only cannot work on his riding when he is off the track. Hecan'twork out newdecisions storedin he on how to ridefasterbecause doesn'thavethe information Life faceanother disadvantage. sometimes throws T&Eriders himself. go with us out on the track. Theseupsets can upsets at us that vastquantities attention-usuallymorethanwe can spare. of consume WhenT8E ridersareupsetthey havean "off" day.Somethingsthat hapthe pencanaffectone'swholelife,including abilityto makedecisions. by off ridersarelessaffected what happens the trackbecause TIT-method on theirdecisions are based what they understand.

Real-World Riding
Let'sleave world of ideasfor a time and returnto the real the we worldof ridingto seehow the decisions makecanaffectus on the road The of for or track.Takebraking example. overuse the rearbrakeis the one turnsout the worst.Whenmost riders braking decision that commonly They learnto ride,they learnthat the rearbrakecan stop the motorcycle. will alsostopthe bike, decide it will do that.Theyknowthe front brake whenthe lot in but whilethey'relearning a parking or streetit's upsetting They front end of the bikedivesdown everytime they usethe front brake. decide that time,rightf romthe start,that the rearbrakeis better. at Now evenaftera rideris told to usethe f ront brake, rear the will be hisfirst choicebecause hasalready he madethe decision rearis the haveconcluded that in most better. Studies motorcycle of accidents he whena rideris tryingto avoidan accident usesonlythe rear cases, He but brake. mayknowthe front brake will stop him muchquicker, that that original decision is so strongin an emergency down go the bikeand rider.ln an emergency, a rider will do what he has already decided was will work. In this case, and possibly manyothers, what he decided you? for incorrect that situation. Does apply this to

Ghanging Decisions
In orderto change decision that doesn't a work,andthat has become bad habit,you mustgo back to the original decision and a you'remakinga un-learn it. Maybe"un-learn" not correct-actually, is newdecision afterthe old one hasbeenidentified thrownout.You and don't make a new decision over the old one, you erase the first decision before making another. In racing, you are creating an almost continuous emergency situation by pushing to your limits. Thesamesort of thing in The to applies emergencies. riderperforms actionthat hasappeared an work in the pastin similar situations. Not knowingcausesand effectscreates oppositeof the decisions-that is, in-decision. In an emergency, indecision can be

you'llspenda verycostly. you don't understand f ront brake's lf the limits, you lot of attention usingit. That'sbecause knowthe f ront brake doesthe job of slowingand stopping(thatdecision hasalready best beenmade), youto fall.This but you don't knowat what pointit will lock up and cause creates indecision. Oncea riderlearns what pointthe front brakelocks at up,andwhat to do aboutit, he can makeclear-cut decisions on how to useit. Anotherdecision-making myth is that a ridercanfigureout his linesby studying trackdiagram. impossible decide how to ridea a lt's to racetrack or pieceof roadbeforeyou haveactuallyseenit. Studyinga trackdiagram that point is useless. at Trying fit a trackdiagram to intothe realworld riding, whileyou'restilltryingto learnthe track,willonlytake of your attentionawayfrom the realjob. Doyou agree?

Make lt Happen
Deciding to do something is the first step to making it happen. You can makelots of decisions, but makingtoo manyof them you.StartWiththe important will confuse decisions first.FindReference Points, Timing,Sub-Products Pointsof then decide how and Products, theyfit togetherwith the track.You put it togetherby deciding how it's goingto be done,then you do it. Of course, you must havea veryaccurate understanding the trackchanges. Thatincludes of knowing location the of the camber All and radius from Chapter changes changes. the information One,"The RoadYou Ride,"must be gathered first. Alwayslook at the track that the manwho designed was tryingto fool you into it and remember makingpoor decisions.

Deciding How
Deciding how to ride a track by lookingit overdoesnot always work,especially you aren'tridingit. AfterridingCalifornia's if Sears Pointonce,I walkedthe trackto find out what I couldlearn. laidon the I groundand looked eachturn from the beginning, at through then walked and lookedat it backwards.stoodin the middle.I got up on the hills.I I looked every at turn f romthe inside out.As I was doingthis, I wasfiguring " i d e a l " i n et h r o u g h a c ht u r n . the l e Duringpractice rodeit just as lhad decided shouldbe I it ridden. wentthreeseconds I than I hadthe lasttime at the track.lt slower takeinto account didn'twork.The "ideal"linedoesn't bumps,slidingand speed. I went backto riding it the way I had decided to from my ride.My laptimeswerenow two seconds fasterthan I had ever earlier gonebefore, my andfivesecondsfasterthan "ideal"line.I had learned that a combination T8E andTITis the keyto success. of Youcan'thaveonewithoutthe other,but it's important f irst to decide how to do it, thendecide why it did or did not work.lt isn'tjust blindexperimenting, a firm decision to do it oneway,doingit that but

way no matter how it feels,then learningthe resultsby looking at the lap times. Should betried? it

lap Times
lap times are your most reliable method of deciding what works. Yousimplydecide whatto do,then go out and do it. This meansdeciding whereyour Points of Timing, Products and Refersession, ence Points are,thendeciding whatyou'lldo in this practice your laptimesto decide if it workedor not.Didthese then reviewing your laptimes?Didthe laptimesstaythe same,but you improve changes Bothof theseconclusions valuable. are foundit easiertorideat this level? Wren you become comfortable with the decisions at one level of riding, you can move on to the next level. any Laptimesmust be the basisfor yourdecisions because what you too easily. mostcases, riders In will do othermethodcanfool the the way around feelsright,but what feelsright is not always quickest Point"ideal" thingfrom my Sears another trackor downthe road.I learned and middlesecYou can be going fasterin the entrance line adventure. good driveon the exit because it. Getof a tions of a turn, but can sacrifice ting out of the turn with a one- or two-mph fasterproduct will makea greatdifference the nextstraight.A good speedthroughthe centerof on the turn, but a poor drive,will be worsefor lap times.lt's easyto fool your1) selfthis way.Herearethreepointsto consider: Good decisions result in good lap times. 2l Good lap times are those that improve and can be done consistently. 3l Lap times are a reflection of the quaf ity of the rider's decisions. Anynotes?

Go Faster
Thereis, of course,a twist to the decision-making game a which hasto do with how powerfula decision can be. Sometimes rider go faster.Hewill applythis overalldecisionto his ridsimplydecides to for lap ing and-bang!-his timescomedownjust likethat! lt can happen goingfastercan sometimes Watchingother riders manydifferentreasons. your mindabouthow fastyou can ride.Youdecide you cando it, change too. Deciding to beata quickerridercansparknew life intotired lap times. Butdeciding to go fasterwithoutgaining enoughexperience Often,aftera day'srace, TbE or TITcan get you intotrouble. from either you can hearracers theycan makeup time. talkingaboutallthe places "l knowI can go a lot fasterin TurnThreeandTurn Nine." The pit racers yourown performance is Beating arecuttingrecordlapsby the hundreds! Decide go fasteronly but to of oneof the greatrewards racing, be careful. to whenyou'vehad enoughexperience backit up. Simplydeciding to cut maynot work if you don't knowwhereyou're betterlaptimesin practice goingto pick up that time.Work out the decisions that will back up do an overall decision to go faster. canyou it?
: .:::::+t:5a1;+*=';:;'.k*.*fli

47

to when a babylearns walk,he decides to run Oftentimes. lastsaboutthreesteps; Therun usually afterhe'stakenhisfirstfew steps. decisions that usually threelaps.Othersweeping maybe in a racer's case, him,no matterwhat," workout ratherpoorlyare:"l'm goingto out-brake A t a n d" l ' l l s h u td o w nl a t e r h a n h e d o e s . " t 12 0 m p h ,l a t e ri s a l o n gw a y downthe road.

Past Decisions
you To ridea motorcycle, mustdrawon your pastdecisions, The andon yourabilityto makedecisions in the present. decisions you j y o u rr i d i n g i l l g o .T h er i d e r ' so b i s t o s o r to u t w m a k e e t e r m i n h o ww e l l d e , t t t h e d e c i s i o nh e i s u s i n g o g e ta r o u n d h e t r a c k t o k n o wt h e ma n dt o s Thedecisions can be simpleoneslike themwhen necessary. change wheelhop whilegoinginto a turn,or timto usinglessrearbrake prevent a ingyourentrance a turn so the bikedoesn'tundergo lot of up and to to The movement. decisions can be harder find and downsuspension might goingintoturnstoo soon,a commonerror, Having trouble correct. thanthe be based the decision "not to go in highor wide,"rather on "to go in low or tight." decision A Yousee,this can be verytricky. ridercouldspenda lot of way timetryingto decide how to entera turn,tryingto f igureout another goingin low,so he thinksthat he has he to do it. He discovers is always to go low. His realdecision , way backwhen,was "l don't want to decided go in too high because unsafe." he now decides to go higher So it's When he triesto usethe that earlier decision notto go higher. against h l e h i g h e r i n eh e r u n si n t oa r e s i s t a n c w.h i c hi s l i k ea m e n t aw a l l ,t e l l i n g i m l for decision hasmadeit veryuncomfortable him notto do it. Hisearlier it. ul A to change. decision can be verypowerf if you don't understand one in a whileyou mightdiscover of thesepast Every once mademe think I decisions think,"Hey,I cando that!Whatever and you change your earlier decision, you cansuddenly When couldn't?" Youhaveto realize whenyou in makea greatbreakthrough your riding. moreworkable one in its then put a better, havemadea falsedecision,
place. Someexamples?

Discover Your Decisions

Thedecisions you makewhileridingarebaseduponthe past or theyweremaderecently a longtime whether decisions you'vemade, ago.Here'sa way to discover your decisions. tu o 1. T h i n ko v e ry o u ra c t i o n s n a p a r t i c u l a r r no r t r a c ks i t u a s t i o n .D ot h i sf o r s e c t i o n t h a t a r eg o i n gw e l l ,a n df o r t h o s et h a ta r eg i v i n g youtrouble. work. how wellyouractions 2. Evaluate in 3. Howclearareallthe stepsinvolved this action? tellsyou how wellyou'redoingor going? 4. What standard yourgoals, you madeto helpyou reach have 5. What decisions

48

you or what decisions keeping from reaching are them? y o ud e c i d e o : 6. Should t A. Change decision? the B . N o t c h a n g et ? i C. Checkagainto seewhat decisions you havealready made? D.Or,lookfor moreinformation beforemakinga new decision? you may In eachitemyou comeup with in 1 through6 above, a l s oa s k : 1 . H o wi s m y t i m i n g ? 2. What are my Points of Timing? 3. What Reference Points do I use? 4. What is my Product? 5. How muchattention am lspending? Youcan do this for eachturn of the track.lt will takeyou a long time,and it isn'teasy do, but it will help.Also,it's cheaper to thantires andengines.

Some Decisions About Braking

Thefollowingis a partiallistof decisions couldmake you aboutusingthe brakes. Theyarenot of equalimportance, eachof but them involves potential a decision. Takea lookat eachone.Consider eachveryseriously applyby you'vebeenin. Or,you canjust lookthem overfor ing it to a situation reference be awareof them. and lf you havethe time overthe longwinter months,you mayeven makeyourown listsof otheraspects riding. of Takeanother, steering like or throttlecontrol, and breakit down intothe decisions actions you and mustmakewhileriding. Hereare 104 possible decisions that you havemadeor can makeconcerning useof brakes. the some of them aremoreimportant thanothersand somecoverthe samegroundin a slightlydifferent manner.Lookthemthroughand reflectbackuponyour ridingwith thesein mind.Youmay be ableto thinkof otherdecisions that applyto the useof brakes. Just looking overthis list andthinkingoverthesedecisions can your braking. helpimprove How manyf ingersto usefor the front brake How much leverpressure takesto lock up the front brake it How much leverpressure takesto lock up the rearbrake it How hardyou can usethe front brakegoing into slow turns Howhardyou can useit braking intofastturns Howhardyou can useit braking into medium-speed turns Howhardyou can useit braking intoa series turns of Howhardyou can usethe brakes the firstturn of a series in Howhardyou can brake goingintothe second turn of a series Braking downhillsections in

49

B r a k i n gn u p h i l ls e c t i o n s i into a banked Braking section Braking into a flat corner intoan off-camber turn Braking turn Braking into a decreasing-radius turn Braking into an increasing-radius turn into a constant-radius Braking Braking a smoothsurface on Braking a choppysurface on B r a k i n gn t or i g h t - h a n t u r n s i d i t B r a k i n gn t ol e f t - h a n du r n s Braking crested roads on Whereyou shouldbe on the trackas you beginto brake y b W h e r e o u s h o u l d e o n t h e t r a c kd u r i n g r a k i n g b Some examptes? Whereyou shouldbe on the trackat the end of the braking

More Decisions
(in Whatyou lookfor that tellsyouwhento beginbraking eachkindof turn) ( y o u l o o kf o r t h a tt e l l sy o uw h e nt o e n dt h e b r a k i n g i ne a c hk i n d What of turn) (Theabove tracks) to two questions be applied particular can y g T i m i n g o u rb r a k i n g o i n gi n t os l o w t u r n s goinginto medium-speed turns Timingyour braking goingintofast turns Timingyour braking goinginto a series turns Timingyour braking of Timingyour braking downhillsections on y T i m i n g o u rb r a k i n g n u p h i l ls e c t i o n s o y T i m i n g o u rb r a k i n g n b a n k e dr a c k t o y o u rb r a k i n g n f l a tt r a c k Timing o y T i m i n g o u rb r a k i n g n o f f- c a m b etrr a c k o y t r T i m i n g o u rb r a k i n gn d e c r e a s i n g - r a d i u sn s i y ur T i m i n g o u rb r a k i n gn i n c r e a s i n g - r a d itu s n s i y i ts T i m i n g o u rb r a k i n gn c o n s t a n t - r a d i uu r n s y td T i m i n g o u rb r a k i n gn c o n s t a n t - s p e eu r n s i Timingyour braking smoothsurfaces on Timingyour braking choppysurfaces on

Still More Decisions

\Mrat Points of Timing or Reference Points do you useto tell if the i b r a k i n gs g o i n gw e l l ? the of What POT or RP do you useto decide location your beginning point? braking the of What POT or RP do you useto decide location yourend braking point? beganearlyenough? What information you useto decideif the braking do you useto decideif the braking too started late? do What information on started time? do What information you useto decideif the braking

50

Decisions With Practice

pavement Braking overdiscolored changing or surface Usingthe rearbrakein conjunction with the front Usingthe rearbrake only Usingthe front brake only Whatto do whenthe rearend begins hop or slide to Howto correctrear-wheel or slide hop Locking the f ront brake up Locking the front and rearbrakes up together in Otherpeople's information the useof brakes general on people's information the front brake on Other information the rearbrake Otherpeople's on people's information usingboth brakes together Other on you Information got from watchingotherridersusethe brakes What is usefultodo with the brakes What is not usefulto do with the brakes Braking up whenthe bikeis straight Braking whenthe bikeis leaned over with onlythe front brake while leaned Braking over Braking with onlythe rearbrake whileleaned over Howfar you can be leaned overand still usethe brakes Braking and steering the sametime at Howgood is your braking overall? Howmuchtime can be madeup with brakes? you Howmuchdistance can makeon another riderby usingyour brakes position Yourseating whilebraking
A critical moment of decision. How much brake to use while leaned over?

Useof throttleand brakeat the sametime you can let off the front brake Howslowlyor quickly you can let off the rearbrake Howslowlyor quickly action Howto judgeyourspeedat the end of the braking the Whereto position brakelever the Whereto position brakepedal forcethe front brakehas Howmuchstopping forcethe rearbrakehas muchstopping How havetogether forcethe f ront and rearbrakes Howmuchstopping p e w m u c ht h e l e v e r n d p e d a l r e s s u r c a nb e c h a n g e d h i l eb r a k i n g a How

More Decisions With Practice

Whereto put yourweightwhilebraking y w P u t t i n g o u rw e i g h to n t h e h a n d l e b a r h i l eb r a k i n g yourweighton the footpegs whilebraking Putting y P u t t i n g o u rw e i g h to n t h e t a n kw h i l eb r a k i n g u S i t t i n g p w h i l eb r a k i n g H a n g i n g f f w h i l eb r a k i n g o t B r a k i n g n dd o w n s h i f t i na t t h e s a m e i m e a g Passing whileusingthe brakes geometry duringbraking What happens the steering to duringbraking to What happens weighttransfer duringbraking What happens the suspension to you spendbeginning braking Howmuchattention you spendduringbraking Howmuchattention you Howmuchattention spendat the end of braking partof braking-beginning, middleor end Which is the most important Howmuchf ront brake can be usedif the rearis lockedup whilebraking Howgoodis yoursense traction of whilebraking of Howgood is yoursense speed n g o o di s y o u rd e p t hp e r c e p t i ow h i l eb r a k i n g How your brakingwittthis hetp? Yourability improve to Phew!!

52

CHAPTER

SEVEN

Barriers
Keys to lmprovement
a A B a r r i e r : A n y t h i n g r v i n g sa l i m i t a t i o n r o b s t r u c t i o n . se o W h i l er i d i n g n d r a c i n gy o u ' l lc o n , a b a r r i eo b s t r u c t s u t i s n o t i m p a s s a b l e . r b Yourgoalis to loweryour lap to stantly confrontbarriers yourgoingfaster. t s a t i m e sb y r i d i n g r o u n d h e t r a c ka t h i g h e r p e e d s n dw i t h m o r ec o n t r o l . a however, theycan and Riders levels laptimesthat act as barriers, hit of you become stuckthere.ldeally, would be ableto ridea littlefasterand your average time eachtime you returned a track.That to improve lap goodtargetfor you to consider, a realgoalto set for and wouldbe a yourself.

Time Barriers
you will notice that things Whenyou begintryingto go faster, between Youhavelesstime between corners. alsohappen lot faster. a You Points. there'slesstime to makedecisions. havecreReference and your and by compressing situation addingspeed, by atedthis emergency , a t i m et o a c t .l f y o u ' r e b l et o c o p ew i t h t h i sc h a n g ey o u rl a pt i m e sw i l l intopanic reaction time, you improve. if you haveto put yourself But what it feelsliketo panic. by the extraspeed-except maylearnnothing y s la H a v i n ge s s i m et o m a k e o u rd e c i s i o n is n o t n e c e s s a r iby d , l t you'veincreased yourspeed. Whenever that for it is one of the indicators you reachoneof thesetime barriers you'reknocking the doorof your on it's A nextareato conquer. ridingbarrier is usefulbecause tellingyou that you needto makenewdecisions faster. is your automatic instructor. lt a t t Y o ud o n ' tn e e d o f i n d a n e w l i n et h r o u g h t u r n - y o un e e d o f i g u r eo u t , y T b a w h a tf a c t o r s r eb r i n g i n g o u n e a rp a n i c t h e nc o n t r o l t h e m . h e s e a r l d r i e r s a r el i k ew a r n i n g i g h t so n t h e d a s h b o a ro f y o u rc a r .l f y o u h a n d l e you'll avoida catastrophe does apply? later.where this eachone as it appears,

A Riding Barrier Signals an Area That Needs lmprovement

ways.The these problemareasin several You can recognize yourabilities. you'rebeingpressed reacta littlebeyond to first is that

54

You'renot beingpushedcompletely beyondyour ability,but enoughthat yourattention fixeduponthe problem. example that you'reenterAn is is i n ga t u r na n dt h e b r a k i n g n dd o w n s h i f t i na r ec r o w d e d o c l o s e o t h e a g t s picka goodPoint of actionthat you'reunable accurately to steering Timing to act withoutbeingabsolutelyrantic. you'resnapping f lf and g r a b b i n g t t h e c o n t r o l si k ea s h a r k t f e e d i n g i m e ,y o u k n o ws o m e t h i n g a l t a isn'tright. your In this example, manyproblems couldbe affecting approach. Herearesomepossibilities. lackof goodReference Points A that kindof panicthat occurswhenyou'reslightlylost.Or you cancause maysimplybe downshifting lateand crowdingit intoyourother too actions. Youmaybe goingdown one geartoo manyand haveyourattenTrack barriers, or problem areas, are places where your riding is "soft." You are either Iate and have to panic, or are waiting for something to happen. What you are doing is definitely unclear.

ii

*.s'
''t Y

i, r:r';,

*,*5',,ffi

u--!6tnt#;r:x,i,;.:..

b O a t i o ns t u c kt o a n e n g i n e p i n n i n g t 1 3 , O O r p mw h e ni t s h o u l d e o n s so turning. Youmaybe braking latethat you'relosingsightof yourentry The on resulting a panicsituation. controls your bikemay be set in speed, t l n t a t s u c ha n u n c o m f o r t a b ae g l e h a ty o uc a n ' tr e a c h h e mq u i c k l y . m t e T h et r a c kc o n s t r u c t i oins e l f a yc o n t r i b u t t o y o u rd i s t r e s s . andoffersless maybe off camber downhill, or Forexample, entrance the potential Youmaynot havea product for the f lat surface. than a braking turn andthat will botheryou.Youmay not knowwhereyou'regoing.Of problems approaching turn,thesearejust a few. a in the manypossible

Other Glues
w f B e s i d e b e i n gp r e s s e do r t i m et o a c t ,o t h e rc l u e s i l l t e l ly o u s you'renot on top of the situation. feelingof uncertainty A comesfrom not yo t f u l l yu n d e r s t a n d i n g u rs i t u a t i o nl . c o u l ds t e mf r o mo n eo f t h e a b o v e will the the Whatever reason, uncertainty eat reasons f rom manyothers. or for that up yourattention-attention couldwell be spentelsewhere a higher This is another barrier. return.
Go over your decisions. First year road racer, Wayne Rainey, thinking it through iust moments before his first National Superbike win at Loudon.

Mistakes
greatindicator that all is not well is whenyou make Another find out whereyour on mistakes the track.when you makea mistake, leadjust beforeit happened. Lookat the decision was focused attention the as it's always lastthing you do that getsyou into ing up to the mistake, a Remember, mistake is a result, not a cause. This is why you trouble. it knowwhat you do and be ableto remember in detail. mustalways what you did to bring in aren'tall that valuable-it's remembering Mistakes them.A mistake isn't to be themaboutthat will helpyou correct

ignored in the hope it will disappear with practice-it is something to be studied and figured out. lt is a barrier to improvement, andtherefore keyto improvement handled a if correctly.

Feeling Like You Gan't Do lt

This is veryfrustratingto a rider,and it creates troublefor him. Thishelpless feelingoftenresults from not knowing tracklayout the well enough, f rom not beingin full controlof the bikein somesituations. or lf y o uc a n ' th a n d l e o u n t e r - s t e e r i nn a t u r n ,y o u m i g h tb e g i n o b e l i e v et i g c t i can'tbe donethe way it looks. Theworstproblem with this feelingis that you maydecideit can be donebecause someone elseis doingit, thenyou you havethe skillnecessary. berserk Thisdangertry to do it before You it. results from frustration, it's another ouscondition and indicator a of b a r r i e r t o y o u rr i d i n g . just your barriers not impossible-it takessome Overcoming is work.Youcando the work at the track,in between ridingsessions or pictures eachturn,then go throughthem, races. First, drawyourself of marking downthe spotswhereyou'rehaving difficulty makingmisor your eyesand go overthe turnsin your mind as you try to find takes. Close (seeChapter the problem areas Four-"What You See"). you'restudying As the trackf rom memory, somepartswill be foggy,unclear just not there. or Markdownthesespotson yourturn diagrams. overthe entire Go trackby memory and markall the places that arebarriers you,whether to they're by rushed caused uncertainty, time,mistakes otherproblems. or

The Barriers Ghange

go Onceyou havelistedyour barriers, backoverthem and your ridingto overcome decidehow you canchange them.Remember, you go faster. Thereis a twist to barriers. the barriers will change as D o n ' to v e r l o o t h e p o s s i b i l i tty a tt h e s a m ep r o b l e m s a no c c u ra g a i n , k h c evenin the sameturn,as you increase your speed. Overall, barriers aregoodthings.Theytell you automatically "Thisis your nextareato expand whereyourproblems Theyaresaying, lie. into,your nextlevelof improvement." Welcome whenyou noticethat it not something's goingright.Onceyou recognize your barriers, won't you your laptimesdown-theywill pointto your have guess to what'skeeping problems. free instructionlWittyou ft's remember this?

57

l-ook for the other indicators that there is some riding barrier slowing your pfogress. 1. Mistakes. 2. Feeling helpless or like you can't do it. 3. Pressed for time to act. 4. Doing nothing, waiting for something to happen. 5. Can't get a clear picture of some turn or area. 6. Attention stuck on some part of the track.

Remember, the track is what you have to beat. You don't beat other racers, you beat the track better than they did. ',*aiWr

Break the track i tions-turns, or J a turn. Pay partir attention to the you are unsure o

Handling your riding barriers is another way to save, and wisely spend your $1O worth of attention.

59

CHAPTER

EIGHT

Braking
The Art of Regulating Speed
manymajortechnical haveundergone Motorcycle brakes andthey havebecome of sincethe advent the disc brake, breakthroughs mostothertechnolohas Brake eff technology surpassed extremely icient. that You gies,suchas suspension, instance. can buy a set of brakes for T a n d i n s t a ltlh e mo n y o u rb i k ei n a n a f t e r n o o n .u n i n g w o u l ds t o pa c a r , task.This yoursuspension, and painstaking however, be an endless can ridingand in of the will chapter discuss purpose brakes high-performance of racing. their limits,andwhatyou shouldknowaboutthe business braking.

The Most lmportant Factor

is of factorto be aware in braking Thesinglemost important Let'ssayyou are that occurswhenthe brakes applied. the weighttransfer r i d e ra n dt h e i rw e i g h ti s d i s , h a v e 4 5 o - p o u n d i k ea n da 15 O - p o u n d b a the tributed50 percentf rontand 50 percentrearat rest.Thismeans f ront stopboulevard eachcarrya 300-poundload.At a normal and rearwheels to ping pace, weighttransfer amounts about75 percenton the f ront the Thefront end nowweighsthreetimes wheeland 25 percenton the rear. whatthe reardoes. r t f t A t r a c i n g p e e d sh e s t o p p i n go r c ei s g r e a t es t i l l .U s i n g h e s f igures, percentof the weightor 90 weight-transfer static(orstopped) on 1Oper centor lesswill remain the to moremaytransfer the f ront,and andthe rearbrakemust or rear. Therearend nowweighs60 pounds less, of weight,plusthe momentum the rear poundsof the bike's stoponly60 wheeland ngine. e

Rear Brake Overuse

the Overusing rearbrakeis so commonas to be almosta fact of life.Many riders and racers have given up using the rear brake and can too for hard braking. lt requires much attentionto usecorrectly, Both slidingand when usedincorrectly. causethe rearend to hop or slide

60

Braking forces erc awesome. The acceleration of a 15O hp racebike will get it through the 1/4 maleat 145 mph. But the brakes will bring it from 145 mph to O in much less distance!

,"v.Ei

Weight Transfer 5oo/oFront 5oo/oRear

,#,;

Weight Transfer Front 25o/oRear 750lo

Weight Transfer l OOo/o Front Oolo Rear

hoppingrender bikeout of controlto somedegree. the Youcan'tfeelgood aboutleaning bikeintoa turn if it's basically of control. a Youhave out onlytwo smallcontactpatches the ground, on andwhenoneof them is g o n ei t ' sa d e fi n i t ed i s a d v a n t a g n t r a c t i o n - o n o f y o u rm a i nc o n c e r n s ie e during ornering. c In a panicor race-speed braking maneuver, almostanycontrol you lessharmto use will helpyou morethan a lockedrearbrake. cause lt'd the high-beam Thefront is wherethe weightand switchor chokelever. powerare-notthe rear. stopping The useof the rearbrakerequires logic.lt somebackwards logical usethe brakes hardest the beginning the brakto seems the at of ing action, whenyou'regoingthe fastest. Thisis truefor the front brakeInthe back,however, the lightest use rearbrakeat the beginning the of braking actionwhenthe forksaremostcompressed the weighttransand fer is the greatest. the f ront brakeis released, As someof the weight transfers backto the rearwheelandthe rearbrakecan-if it's goingto be usedat all-do moreof the work of stopping slowingat this time.You or have get smartwith your rightfoot if you wantto makeanyuseat all of to the rearbrakeunderheavy stopping. havesuchhugedisc LightGrandPrixbikesor Superbikes tiresthat the rearwheelcan lift off the groundunder brakes and sticky heavy Lesser braking. streetand racebikesdo the samething.but for a reason. Hardbraking or different overripplingpavement bumpscan launch rearend of the bikeoff the groundbecause its unweighted the of loadcondiThe underheavier condition. shocks, which aresetto operate tions,contribute this by not allowing rearwheelto followthe road. to the Thenet resultis air between thetire andthe road-averypoortraction
situation. Haveyou experienced this?

Purpose of Braking
A lot of rlders don't pay enough attention to the smooth use of their brakeseven experts.

The purposeof the brakesis to adjust and correct the speed of the motorcycle downward, controlling deceleration. you Youknowhow sensitive can be with the throttle; comingout of a turn you canadjustyourspeedin tenthsof a mileper hourby workingthe twist just as accurately grip.Goinginto a turn you can makechanges with the brakes. Most ridershavethe ideathat brakes somekindof on/off are switch.Reach brakemarker a and pullthemon-get downto another like marker and letthem off.This isn'ttrue.Youcan'tusebrakes that and your riding. The You're asking muchof yourself. too to expect improve purpose purpose brakes to adjustthe speeddownward; overall in the is of takingseconds racingis to get around trackor downthe roadquicker. the off laptimes.

One Second Faster

62 playin goingonesecond Let'sinvestigate what partbrakes fasterper lap. On most American tracks you must average about

one mph faster around the trackfor a one-second better lap time. To do this you mustgo throughthe turnsonemph faster, then holdthat advantage downthe straights. won't go fasterdownthe straights You if you don't get out of the turns faster. You have to adjust the speed of your bike accurately to go around the turns one mph faster. How canyoujudgethat one mph accurately with the bikepitching forwardand you try to compensate brake bouncing overthe ripples as for fade,and a full tankof gasor an emptyone?lt's too muchto ask.Youmusttreat yourself morekindlyand makethat one mph easier find. to Thinkof the brakeas a reverse throttle.Instead turningthe of controlyou pull or pressit to startthe brakingactionand downwardspeed The speed that remains when you release the brakes is change. the speed you will enter the turn with. lf you want to go one mph fasterthanthe lastlap.you must be ableto go intothe turn that much faster. Youcan'thopeto makeup the speedlaterin the turn-you must set it up right in the beginning.Where wittyou it? try
late braking often does more harm to lap times and corner speeds than good. Set comfortable brake points for yourself.

Speed adjustments cost attention.

Speedcorrectly adjusted.

Endbraking at 60 mph.

Endbraking at 61 mph.

Si gn if icant I mprovements
You can't make significant time improvements by using the brakes harder or going in deeper. You can make time with the brakes by adjusting the cornering speeds accurately. Whereand how you let off the brakesis much more important thanwhereyou pullthem on, as it setsyourcornering Youcandive speed. intoa 120-mphturn 25 feet deeper thanthe lasttime and reduce your lap times aboutone-tenthof a second. Goingin 50 feet deeper would improve it twiceas much.lf your braking wasfineto beginwith,you might pick up two-tenths three-tenths a second mosttracks. to of on But goingin just might permanently that muchdeeper youreyeballs, it enlarge and wouldcertainly increase possibility errors the of andtakeup a considerable amountof attention-your ten-dollar bill-thatmight be betterspent elsewhere. By beginning braking the actionat a comfortable location and setting speed the turn correctly, can pick up a second more the for you or

yourBy time you usethe brakes! goingin too deepand upsetting every lt self,you'llonlymakeit moredifficultto judgeyourspeed. is better to yourself more back off on your initial braking marker and allow time to set your speed right than to panic with late braking. to Resist temptation latebrakein turnswhen it won't be an advanthe purposes, must latebrakegoingintoturns.lt won't you tage.Forpassing i y o u rl a pt i m e s , u t y o uc a np i c ku p a p l a c e n t h e b i u s u a l l ym p r o v e standings. pointin practice you'll so Tryforyour absolute latestbraking i i y k n o w w h e r e o u ' l lw i n d u p o n t h e t r a c ki f l a t eb r a k i n gs r e q u i r e dn a passingituation uring herace. t s d from the standpoint time,laptimesand of Lookat latebraking lf yourposition the racerelative the otherriders. you'rewithina secto in in ond of the fastestrideron the trackandcan makea lot of improvement gained can really three-tenths a second of or braking, thenthe two-tenths l t d o y o u s o m eg o o d .l f y o u n e e dm o r et h a na s e c o n do g e t i n t ow i n n i n g a p you'vegot to get your alone; times,don't lookfor it with the brakes sense? average speedup in turns.Does make it

The Product of Braking

The realproductof brakingis:To set the speed of the bike for that place on the track so that no further changes correctly are necessary. lf you go in too fast and requiremore brakingwhen you shouldbe turning,it canthrowyourtimingoff. lf you go in too slowlyand yourspeed, that will taketime that'sone extraoperation have increase to and effortto correct.lt takes time to realize when something is not right, time to figure out what it should be and time to correct it. gradually, with the brakes, it Whenyourspeedis set by adjusting correctly will youwon't haveto makeanycorrections your attention be freeto and r i d et h et u r n . to Point(RP) markthe spotyou will Establish Reference a at two Points and is Braking a Sub-Product it involves least beginbraking. ( P O T ) : n ea t t h e p o i n ty o u b e g i n h e b r a k i n g c t i o n n do n e a a t o ofTiming it. whereyou havecompleted lt is just as important to establish a marker for the end of the braking as it is to have one for the you to seein marker allows a beginning. Having goodend-braking and allowsyouto adjust with the brakes whereyou'llbe f inished advance yourspeedmoreeasily. that Thereis no guarantee the bikewill slowdown at the exactly sameamounteachlap,evenif you brake the sameplaceBut thingschange. an End-of-Braking Marker will giveyou a constant
to work f rom.witt it work for you?

Braking and Your Sense of Speed

Your sense of speed is your ability to iudge whether you are riding faster or slower than you were during previous trips through a turn or section of road. ln orderto go fasteryou

The brake is used to correctly adjust the speed forthatturn. Beableto get it right each tame and then work on late braking to compress the amount of time it takes.

65

When mV concentratton is good I know I dtd everything Trtght. it's llke lwasn't but really there I get tnto that frame of concentration and rf I go 1l4 mph slower or faster. / know rt.

roadracermust be that a world-class mustknowwhat fasteris. I calculate of to ableto judgehis speed withinone-half one milean hour-andpossimph givesthe ridera onebly evenf inerthanthat.Plusor minusone-half of A plusor minussensitivity f ivemph allowsyou of mph range sensitivity. Thatmight be too much.Five of rangein yoursense speed. up to a 1O-mph to a mph fasterin a turn is really greatdeal-enough put you down if you do i t a l l a to n c e . radicalchanges as By usingthe brakes a dialyoucaneliminate yourown sense of to and in the bike'sbehavior makeit easier develop dramatic creates Usingthe brakesas an on/off switch,however, speed. the which makes sensand attitude, in weighttransfer changes the bike's you speeddialallows as Usingthe brakes a reverse ing of speeddifficult. to speed and becomemore sensitive to reachthe speedmore gradually and quicker the speed, easier The adjustments. moreyou areableto sense accurately. youto makethesespeedadjustments for it becomes

You can make accurate speed adjustments. There are two results from this: 1. You develop a better senae of speed. 2. You can spend your attention on riding the turn when you get it right the f irst time.

&
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& l

Another Twist to Braking

increase Anothertwist to brakingis that you can effectively brakingpoint lf your speedby lettingoff the brakes. you use a comfortable as you enterthe turn, then sense you may be goingtoo slow, let off the brakes and maintaina speedthat will be correct25 or morefeet down the road.lf yourspeedis set right-a littlefasterthanthe lastlap,you proband upsetting ablywon't loseas muchtime as you mightby latebraking yourself, leaving dooropenfor a mistake. the and your sense speed of to advantage f ine-tuning There's greater a as panic,usingthe brakes an without by goingintothe turnscomfortably, speedup a littleat a time.Control the and adjustment, bringing cornering it think willwork? from this skill.Doyou and confidencecan be developed

I let it coast a little tn the turn after braking to get everythtng settled and ready for the exrt

The Braking Drills

While it is truethat you willfind the rearbrakeof littleuse when what happens it's underhardbraking, a good ideato find out exactly methodis to ridealongthe track Thesimplest it is lockedup and sliding. up the rearbrake. speed,then lock at a comfortable

Observe important one caution whilemaking this test;if the rearendof the machine slidesout of linewith the front andyou let up on the rearbrake, will-or can-snapbackinto linewith the frontwheel.lf the it front and rearareseverely of line,this actionmay be so abruptit could out you and the motorcycle throw down. Somemotorcycle safetyinstructors suggestyou can avoidthe abovesituation leaving rearbrakelockeduntilthemachine by the is stopped, nearly or stopped. Thismay not always a practical be solution, especial whileracing. ly It is possible, with practice, guidethe wheelsbackinto to alignment with bodyEnglish and pressure the handlebars, on then let up on the brake and continue. The bestsituation to not havelockedit up is to beginwith. Hereis a drillyou can practice learnthe lock-uppointand to the sensitivity your rearbrake. of Step 1. Ridealongat a comfortable speedin an areawith no traffic or d istractions. Step 2: Applythe front brakeat a steadyand evenrate. Step3: Applythe rearbrake gradually learnhow muchpedal to pressure reallytakesto lock it up. it Step4: Repeat steps1 through3 untilyouknow whenthe brake will lock.Do it at various speeds and braking forces, remembering you usethe front,the lighter rearwill be. that the harder the
In rtralght llne braklng, a locked-up front wheel feels the same at l OO mph as it does going 1O mph, but the skid mark is longer.

1 Om p h

lOO mph

The Front Brake Drill

The purpose this drill is to find out how muchleverpressure of is required lockup the f rontwheel,andwhat happens the bikewhen to to the wheelis locked. without this information you'llalways afraidof the be front braketo somedegree. Step 1: Ridealongat f iveto ten mph. Step2: Lockup the front wheel,usingonlythe front brake. Youwill notice that the f rontwheelturnsunderor turnsin when it is locked, andthe bikefeelsas thoughit is goingto fall over.lt will-if you

keepthe brakelocked. Thesimpleandonlysolution to let off the lever is y. u n t i l t h e l i d ee n d s T h eb i k ew i l l s t r a i g h t e u p i m m e d i a t e lT h e s a m e . s n t h i n g t h a t h a p p e n sa t 1 O m p h w i l l h a p p e n a t 1 O Om p h . T h eo n l y you mistake can makewith a locked rontwheelis not letting off the f brake lever soon enough. you put downon the pavement At 100 mph the stripof rubber r w i l l b e l o n g e t h a nt h e o n ea t 1 Om p h .l f y o u l e a v eh ew h e e l o c k e do r t f 1 / 1 O t h f a s e c o n d t 1O m p ht h e w h e e l i l l s l i d e o r 1. 5 f e e t . t 1O O p h o a w f A m it will slidefor nearly15 feet.The bikeof coursehasmoreforceskeeping i t u p r i g h t t 1 O O p h ,b u t i t f e e l s h e s a m ea s i t d o e sa t 1 0 m p h . a m t

Cutting Costs
The purpose theseexercises to f ind the pointwherethe is of lock,andto become brakes accustomed that feelingso you'llknow to whatto do if the brakes lockwhileyou'reriding. Thatkindof surprise can costyou $9.00.lf you'refamiliar with it, it costs250 or less. Step3: Repeat Steps1 and2 aboveat higherand higher you cancontrol untilyou arecertain what happens, arecertain and speeds themachine.
You figure out your brakes, make your decisions on what can be done, and spend that attention on the turn coming up.

Braking and Downshifting

Downshifting closely is because the associated with braking it two almostalways occurat the sametime.Fromobservation, appears mostridersbelieve engineis supposed helpslowor stopthe the to that g u s b i k e W h e ny o u h e a ra n e n g i n e p i n n i n g p t o w a r dr e d l i n e o i n gi n t oa . you knowthe rideris tryingto useit as a brake. Does apply you? this to turn,

The Engine ls Not A Brake!

It'ssupposed increase speedof the machine-not to the and downshift it. decrease At anyplacewhereyou haveto usethe brakes to to at the sametime,it is not efficientor correct usethe engine slowyou. t i l T h e r e s n ' tm u c hw e i g h to n t h e r e a rw h e e t o b e g i nw i t h ,a n du s i n g h e y g t m t e n g i n e e a n s o u ' r e o i n gt o h a v e o r e p l a c eh e c r a n ka n dp i s t o n s lf sooner. you wishto slowdownthe rearwheela bit, usethe rearbrake. it's Secondly, not It'scheaper replace to brakepadsthan crankshafts. that'snot the purpose of to as correct usethe engine a brakebecause purpose of downshifting is to bring the engine The downshifting.

68

r 7 , 5 O O - 1 O , 5 O Op m

The purpose of downshifting is to have the engine in the power when you begin to accelerate. You could leave it in sixth gear right up to the point of acceleration and the bike wouldn't care,

Begin acceleration. Must shift while leaned over.

At redline. Up-shifting while still leaned over costs a lot because it must be perfect.

Below redline (in powerband)

Shift point with bike straighter, c r e a t i n ge a s i e r d r i v eo u t .

With the bike pulling strong off the turn {without up-shifting), you can spend your attention on speed, traction, RPs, etc"

&Ew

into the right rpm range as you begin to accelerate out of a turn. as to Most riders seemto feel it's necessary downshift soonas thereisn'ttime for a In possible afterthey beginto brake. somecases But must be doneimmediately. if approach-the downshifting leisurely gears whenyou can do it moreleisurely. thereis time to wait,change

The Bike Doesn't Gare

carewhat gearit's in.The Goingintoa turn,the bikedoesn't you beginto accelerate. you havea thirdlf onlywhen rightgearmatters and partof the turn requires straight, gearturn at the end of a sixth-gear t,h e b i k ew i l l n o t m i n di f i t ' s i n s i x t hg e a rt h r o u g h rd c o n s t a n t - s p e eu n n i n g to that partof the turn.Of courseit's impoftant makethe correctnumisn'tat the first Thisusually the properlocation. at berof downshifts i j, u . o p p o r t u n i t yu s t a sy o u b e g i nb r a k i n gT h eb e s tp l a c e s u a l l ys n o tw h e n whenthe the you'rein the turn leaned over-thatupsets bikesomewhat the gearsin a turn maycause biketo Changing gearchanges made. are as the shiftswill affecttractionand steering. bob up and down, is The bestplaceto makethe gearchanges towardthe end of put the but before bikeis actually intothe turn at a steeplean the braking angle. You'llsavea lot of attentionby knowinghow manygear to cominginto a turn.lf you don't knowthis,you'll changes makebefore in immediately caseyou makea misyou haveto startdownshifting feel too take-thisis why manyridersbeginthe downshifting soon.You don't gear you're in, so long as you know how have to know what how muchattention many gears you have to go down. lt's amazing it f reedup by simplyknowingthis, and doing it. Shoutdbetried? can be

Tallest Gear Possible

to To decidehow manygears go downfor a turn,use the gear possible that still allows the bike to pull the turn in tallest its powerband. lf you go downtoo manygearsand run the turn with the g d , u s e n g i n e p i n n i n g p t o r e d l i n ey o u a r ea l m o s t u a r a n t e ea g e a rc h a n g e overall the way.Youwill haveto makethat whilethe bikeis still leaned in the middleof yourdriveout of the turn-a placewhereyou need change you mightnot of on to be concentrating otherthings.Sometimes, course, that is on the bike,andyou'llhaveto change havea choicewith the gearing with the you this situation gears whileleaned over.Sometimes canchange or turnsand overrevs under gearing it's correct the infield for so overall in lf revsa littleon the straight. it results betterlaptimes-andit canicinga little top end is worth it.anvexamptes? then sacrif

ln blg sweepers I don't let the bike bog down offthe power -it seems to slrde easrer I keep it spinning up tn the power band.

Second Problem
and redwith goingdowntoo manygears Thesecondproblem o c v i s t h a t e n g i n e i b r a t i o n a nh i d et h e v i b r a t i o n f t i l i n i n g h e e n g i n en a t u r n

Redlining the engine in a turn gets your attention, doesn't it? Cut that cost. It also smothers your sense of traction.

=)

the tiresbitingintothe road.Youneedthis vibration tell you yourtracto tion situation. Thereis a vibration whenthe tiresaregripping well and not slidingbecause they aretakingthe maximum load.Whenthe tiresbeginto slidethe vibration different is and muchfiner. high-rewing engine A can' in a turn, cause the rider to believe his tires are sliding. Yoursense traction of youto knowwhat conditions allows your cornering speeds and leanangles creating the tires-howwellthey are for arebitingintothe asphalt. Thevibration from this carries throughthe up frameandyou sense at the handlebars, and footpegs. it seat The changes in that vibration give you a picture of the traction at every moment. lf the engine vibration "drowning is out,,orsmothering that information, becomes it difficultto sense exactly whatthe tiresare
dOing. nre you aware of this?

Goast Racing
"Canyon racers"havea greatpastimecalled,,Coast Racing.,' s e v e r a l r i d e rl sn eu p a t t h e t o p o f a l o n gh i l l w i t hl o t so f t u r n si n i t ,s h u to f f i t h e i re n g i n e s n db e g i nc o a s t i n g o w n . h er i d e r h o u s e sh i s b r a k e sh e a d T w t leastwins.Goodridershavenoticed theyweregoingfasteron the same t u r n sw h i l ec o a s t i n gh a nw h e nt h e yw e r er i d i n g h r o u g h h e mw i t h t h e t t t e n g i n e n .T h i sd o e sn o t m e a n o u s h o u l d o a s t h r o u g h u r n so n a r a c e o y c t trackor anywhere else-you shouldhave bikein gearso you cancontrol the the exitof the turn.Thisexample illustrates you can ,,read', tracthat tire tion muchbetter whenthe engine vibration isn'tdrowningit out. Note: I don't recommend coast Racing because haveseena number people I of get hurt doingit.

I like to use earplugs. The quieter lt is the faster I go.

Rider's Job
job The rider's is to be abre separate the engine vibrato tion from the tire traction vibration so he can constantly sense traction. Yoursense of traction is something should be spending you

a lot of attentionon. The combination of your sense of traction and your sense of speed will help you determine the cornering speed you use you are willing to use. No matter what lineor RPsor Product You for speed that approach. won't be able for a turn,thereis a maximum the of speedif you can'tsense traction the tires. to get that maximum and of the Youcan'tignore otherbasics downshifting:Throttle gears. Downshifting timedwhenchanging clutchactionmust be correctly to to but at the rightplaceon the track is important, failure revthe engine bikewill lockup the rearwheelormakeit matchthe roadspeedof the downshifts. to Alwaysrevthe engine the rightspeedbetween chatter.

Front Brake * Throttle

Most experienced riders have mastered the technique of using the front brake and throttle at the same time. lt comes is of The from practice. purpose this technique to allowyou to usethe possible be ableto twistthe throttleenough andstill as front brake hardas The downshifts. trick is to be ableto keepthe to revthe enginebetween while it or constant, to change when necessary brakeleverpressure working throttle. the can makea Howyou let the clutchout afterrewingthe engine Goodriderslet the betweena smoothor a roughgearchange. difference the shift hasthe leastaffecton the bike. so andevenly clutchout smoothly letting the clutchout slowlycan enough, Even you don't revthe engine if beingrough. from the save downshift that how andwhereyou downshift It mayseemfar-fetched in but yourcornering speeds, I urgeyou to usethe methods can improve as of youroverall ridingand sense traction, well as to this section improve
yourriding? to f ree up more of your attention. Will thisimprove

Using the brake and throttle together is an important technique. Performing hno things at once cuts costs, whenever possible.

1. Get the gas off and then the brake on.

,%
2. Do as much braking as possible before you start to downshift.

pressure, 3. While still maintainingbrake fever rotate the throttle on and off to bring the revs up for your downshift.

(
I

Wr

4. Repeat step thrce for each downshift.

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5. Releasethe brake for the corner.

a{

i:';

Eddie demonstrates entering the corkscrew, the correct way to end the braking and begin a turn.

1.
Notice the almost unchanged fork extension from beginning to end. That's what is ealled smooth.

&

2.
j,

74

4. Just as the bike is entoring the banked pavement, he begins to accelerate iust enough to ke6p the bike from bobbing up and down.

'1':

CHAPTER

NINE

Steering
It Happens Backwards
Manyridershavelearned steera motorcycle to withoutunderstanding process. purpose steering to controlthemotorthe The of is cycle's direction travel. racing in any ridingsituation, mustfeel ln you of or that the steering and the direction the bikeare underyourcontrol. of The you go,the moreyou wantto be certain faster that the machine do will whatyouwant it to.

I use countersteering and it lust gets right over wrth very little effort. After I get the brke over then I use the throttle to steer it. l'm drlfttng both wheels. Let off and tt wtll quit driftlng

Counter Steering
pushthe barsin the opposite is Steering simpleenough-you you direction the direction wishto travel. of Thatbegins turn,andthe the bikeleans it turns.Deliberately as turningthe barsin the opposite direc"against," tion of travelis knownas counter steering. Counter means andto steermeans "guideor direct." go rightyou mustturn the bars To to left-to go left,turn the barsright.Gounter steering is the only way you can direct a motorcycle to steer accurately. your motorcycle This,in fact,is how you'vebeensteering all you knewit or not.Youcannotsteera motorcycle the time,whether simply your by leaning Youcan get it to veeroff in eitherdirection leaning it. by weightoff to onesideat low speeds, that isn'tsteering. aretalking but We aboutcontrolling bike,andthat methodis something the lessthancontrol. you can'tdo muchof Youcanonlyguess wherethe bikewill go.At speed n a n y t h i n gf y o u ' r e o t h o l d i n g n t ot h e h a n d l e b a r s . i o Let'stakea lookat what happens whenyou steer. Youare d a p p r o a c h i na r i g h t - h a n t u r n .Y o ul e a nr i g h t ,a n dt h e b i k eb e g i n s o g o g t right.Sinceyou areholdingontothe barsand movingoverto the right yourleftarm is pulling you,whichturns the left sideof the bartowards you leanleftto go around leftturn,you pullon the the barsto the left.lf a rightbar.Thismust happenif you'reholdingontothe bars.lf you'renot holding bars. bikewill not beginto turn whereyou lean. the the Youmay b e p u s h i n g n t h e o t h e rb a ra sw e l la s p u l l i n g - i t e p e n d s n h o wy o u h o l d o d o
76
the bars. ls it explained?

ii

ffi

ilii iiiiixffi
1

The faster you go, the more precise your steering must be, Products, RPS, Sub-Products, Points of Timing-all become usable with accurate steering.

ffi ffi , ' ,

:a;r.l: ii:.i ':::i.it::i:.'r:,1 .i.lrri:tir:i..

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,',,'.'itl

Push/Pull
As long asyou continue pushing or pulling on the bars, the bike will continue to lean over and turn more sharply. When you ease pressure the bars, bikewill stayat the leanangleyou the the on you eased the pressure. don't have holdthe bike reached when up You to intothe turn with anygreatamountof force,if at all.On most bikes, once you have you no longerneedto hold the machine the desired at leanangle, ontothe bars.Actually, you wereriding60 mph on most bikeswith a if c r u i s e o n t r o il n a h u g eo p e np a r k i n go t w i t h n o b u m p s y o uc o u l dt a k e c l , your handsoff the barsonceyou had it leaned overandthe bikewould g c o n t i n u e o i n ga r o u n d n a c i r c l e t t h a t l e a na n g l eu n t i li t r a no u t o f g a s . i a f W h e ny o uf i n dy o u r s e lh o l d i n g n v e r yt i g h t l yi n t u r n s , o u ' r e y o doinga wholelot of unnecessary work.Bumpsand othersurface irregularities change situation course, you do haveto holdon to can the of so makesteering corrections. you this? Do do

Tighten the Turn

To tighten up a turn and increase your lean angte, you must counter steer again. You're a right-hand in turn,but it's a d e c r e a s i n g - r a d a n dy o u n e e d o t i g h t e n t u p .N o wy o u m u s tp u l lt h e ius i t b a r st o t h e l e f ta g a i nu n t i ly o u r e a c h h e d e s i r e de a na n g l eT h es a m e t l . a p p l i e sn a l e f t - h a n du r n ;y o u m u s tp u l lr i g h ta n d l e a no v e rm o r et o i t t i g h t e nh et u r n . t T o s t r a i g h t etn e b i k eu p a f t e r i n i s h i n gh e t u r n ,p u s ht h e b a r s h f t i n t ot h e d i r e c t i o n f t h et u r n .E x a m p l e : o u ' r en a r i g h t - h a n t u r na n d o Y i d go straight-turn barsto the rightuntilthe bikestraightens wantto the out. Riders haveproblems with this especially fast,decreasingon radius turns.Theyget intotrouble, thentry to forcethe barsin the direction of the turn.The major trouble riders have with decreasingradius turns is in not knowing how to steer. Youcanactually see riders climbingontothe tank,exerting lot of pressure the barstrying a on
@f#Biffie{ffi+*

to makethe turn.Theybecome rigidas the bikegoesfurtherto the outside of the turn and makes them believe they'regoingtoo fast.you can seethe effortand hearthe throttlebeingrolledoff. Mostturnscan't be madewithoutcorrecting mistakes, for camber radius or changes surface or irregularities. to holda constant Also, radius linethrougha turn which haschanges (camber, bumps, etc.), steering adjustments must be made.Most of your steering occurswith the original steering actiongoingintothe turn,but you mustbe ableto correct the biketo compensate sliding, for changes camber, radius, other in in or changes. you can't corlect the steering in a turn, it will limit lf you to a "one line through the turn" approach. your speedand progress be limitedby how well or poorly can you cancorrect bike's the d i r e c t i o n . n y l i n eh a sa m a x i m u m p e e d h a t i t c a nb e r i d d e n y a A s t b particular rideron a particular bikeon a particular day. thoushts this? Any on

Steering Backwards
In essence, motorcycle steering backwards is from mostother formsof transportation. automobile goesin the direction turn the An you wheel, do mostothervehicles. as problem havein learning ride one we to stems from a crueltrickplayed us by our parents. on Theygaveus a tricycle pedalaround. tricycle to A turnsin the direction you steerit. when we rodea bicycle the firsttime,we fell down,and everyone for saidit was because didn'thavegood balance. we Actually, was because it bicycles alsocounter steer. B a l a n c e a dn o t h i n g o d o w i t h i t l T h ec o n f u s i o ns c a u s e d h t i because childexpects biketo go rightwhen he turnsto the right. the the Eventually, of sheersurvival out instincts, goesthroughthe steering he m o t i o n s i t h o u tu n d e r s t a n d i nh e ma n dw i n d su p o n a m o t o r c y c l 15 w tg e yearslaternot knowing what he hasbeendoingto go around turns. Practice countersteering and become awareof it. Beawareof how muchattention costsyouto starta turn.Seeif you can remember it what happened whenyou sawan unexpected holeor rockon the road pot andtriedto go aroundit. Most riders, in an emergency, try to turn the bike in the direction they want to go. lt doesn't work andthey f i n dt h e m s e l v ed o i n gs o m er e a l l y t r a n g eh i n g st o m a k e h e b i k et u r n . s s t t Racing, because the speed, a self-created of is emergency. thinking By you and practice, can lowerthe amouqtof time and attention necessary to counter steerdownto an acceptable level. I haveknownpeople who haveridden 30 years for without having facean emergency to situation. Then,one daya car pullsout in front of them.Theytry to avoid it but the bikewon't do what they want it to. So they get scared and quit riding. Theyrealize that the controlthey always thoughtwas there-wasn't. Understanding a bikesteers how can h e l pa f o r m e rr i d e rl i k et h i s t o d e c i d e o g o r i d i n g g a i n . t a I h a v eh e a r d a r y i n g x p l a n a t i o n s o u tw h a t i s h a p p e n i n g v e ab duringcounter steering, I haveneverheardanytwo engineers but agree totallyon the physics it. Despite of this,everyone agrees that counter steering necessary goodcontrolof a motorcycle. is for Startpracticing and
78
yourriding? appfying it to your riding. Wilt thisimprove

Kenny Roberts, the master of fast and precise steering, sets up for the right hander in the corkscrew. Notice the wheel sharply countersteered to the left.

79

CHAPTER

TEN

Slipping and Sfiding

Traction: How to Use lt and Lose lt
Slipping and Sliding Your Way to Victory
i V e r yl i t t l e i n n i n g s d o n et h e s ed a y sw i t h o u ts o m es l i d i n g w you wantto win,you'llhave learnto do it, too. on to around the tires.lf The biggest single breakthrough for most riders occurs when they find out that sliding around doesn't always mean they'll fall. The biggest single drawback is when riders become fascinated with sliding and think it is an end in itself. They must a see its purpose. Slidingis a tool,andthat tool shouldbecome useful your riding. it is OKto partof that Thef irststepis the hardest-deciding s l i d e l.f y o u a r e n ' t s e dt o s l i d i n gw o r ku p t o i t a l i t t l ea t a t i m e .D o n ' t u , y m a k ea w i l d d e c i s i o no r u n i n t oa t u r nt o o f a s ti n h o p e s o uw i l l b e a b l et o t g b . h a n d l eh e e x c e s s p e e d y s l i d i n gW o r ku p t o i t b y i n c r e a s i ny o u rs p e e d t f w t t h r o u g h h e t u r n su n t i ly o u b e g i n o s l i d e T h i su s u a l l yi r s to c c u r s h e n t . g r i d e r s e to n t h e g a sc o m i n g u t o f s l o w e t u r n s . o r
Sliding on asphalt can be distracting when overdone, but is a useful riding tool when used in moderation.

80

Three Kinds of Sliding

Threekindsof slidingcommonly occurunderracing conditions: 1. The rearwheelbegins spinon acceleration the rear to and "comesaround," goesout morethanthe front end. or end " 2 . T h ef r o n tt i r eb e g i n s p u s h i n g " - iits s l i d i n gb u tt h e b a c k , is not. hop3. Bothwheels sliding, the bikeis in a sideways are or m and-slide otion.
N o n e o f t h e s ek i n d s o f s l i d i n gi s c a u s e dby braking;they are from going into or through the turn too fast or f rom u s i n gt h e t h r o t t l ea n d you this? breaking traction. Have noticed

Exceeding the Limits

you Slidingoccursbecause haveexceeded limitsof tire the for Too adhesion thosecircumstances. muchspeedor throttlearenot the pavement roughridingcan that slidingcan occur-rough onlyreasons or alsocause as can a poorsuspension it, system. The backend can "comearound" by itselfin a turn,which all maybe regarded the fourth kindof sliding. as Manytimesthis and other k i n d s f s l i d i n g r ed u et o t h e r i d e r ' s w n h a n d l i n g f t h e t u r n ,s u c ha s o a o o whenweighttransfer the f rontor rearcauses to that endto breakaway. Forexample, you wereto comeintoa turn with just a littletoo much if speedand then roll off the gas suddenly, front end would become the heavier thanthe rearand couldstartthe f ronttire sliding. Thesimpleremedy is to crackthe gasopenslightly helpeventhe weighton the f ront to and rear. Somebikesareheavier oneendthanthe other.and havea on b u i l t - i n e n d e n c t o s l i d e h a t e n d .T h er o a ds u r f a c e a nd e t e r m i nw h i c h t y t c e endof the bikeslides. Goingovera crest, rnstance, lighterend-or for the bothwheelsbecause downward the forceis lessened-slides. Usually, however, wheelwith too muchweightwill break the traction first. '

Another Decision
A n o t h e r e c i s i o n u s tb e m a d e o u s et h e s l i d i n g o y o u r d m t t advantage. good drive coming off a turn usually involves some A you accelerate, morerubber rear-wheel slippage. The harder you the have accelerate to with as the weighttransfer generated the acceleraby tion flattens the tire and enlarges contactpatch. out the Thisholdstrue o n l yt o a p o i n t , f c o u r s el.f t h e w h e e lb e g i n s p i n n i n go o m u c hf o r e f f e c o t s tivetireadhesion, will heatup rapidly it and offerverylittletraction. Allowi n g i t t o s p i nj u s t a b i t w i l l a l l o wt h e b i k et o c o n t i n u e c c e l e r a t i n g d a an maintain enough tractionso it won't slideout completely. caneven You steer the biketo your advantage with the rearend slightlylooseby pointing " t h e b i k et o t h e i n s i d e f t h e t u r n .T h i si s c a l l e d t h r o t t l e t e e r i n g . " o s The nextstepfor the riderwho feelshe hasreached that point
l've only high sided once. Itry to keep it slidrng and bring it up with the steerrng. then it quits. especially with a superbike.

81

w h e r e h e s l i d eh a sb e c o m e l i m i t i n ga c t o ri n h i s r i d i n gi s t o u s et h e t f a y s l i d e o g u i d et h e b i k ew h e r eh ew a n t si t t o g o .A s t h e r i d e r o u m u s t t d e c i d e h e r ea n dw h e nt h a t s l i p p i n g r o u n d a nb e u s e d o y o u ra d v a n w a t c r t a g er a t h e t h a nj u s t " w o r r y i n gt"h e b i k ea r o u n d h e t u r na n db e i n gl i m i t e d t y b y t h et r a c t i o nS l i d i n gy o uw i l l p r o b a b l f i n d ,c o s t sa f a i ra m o u n o f y o u r . t , worthof attention. Get used to the sliding and then begin $10 directing the bike with it.
A moderate and effective slide smoothly done. The slide is obvious because the front wheel is not turned in enough to track at that amount of lean. Note: The slide is being corrected with Kenny's knee. This technique is covered in the following chapter-

Brake Slide
tool to usewhen you haveentered Slidingis a veryeffective the a turn a littletoo fast.Leaning bikeovera littlemorejust at that point Youdon't have will allowthe biketo slideand "scruboff" the extraspeed. will something upsetthe bike,you simply to usethe brakes andchance Traction turn it in a littlemore,scruboff the extraspeedand continue. amountof in fastturnsbecause the increased of matter becomes another turnsarelessof a threatto the rider, attention beingspent.Mediumspeed t a r o u n d a nw o r ko u t .R i d e r se n dt o b e c h e r a p i d l ye a r n sh a t a l i t t l es l i d i n g l t turns, moretimid of tractionin fasterturns.Also,in mediumspeedbanked p r e d i c t a b la n d l e s sd r a m a t i c . h er i d e r e T i , s u c ha s L o u d o ns l i d i n g s m o r e pullof the against downward canbalance his useof throttlesteering off "holding"him in the turn.Losing traction can sometimes the banking for be more of an advantage than keeping it. wittit work you?

Built-ln Safety Valves

Tire sliding and slippage are built-in safety valves. T h e y ' r e e l l i n gy o u t h e t i r e i s r e a c h i n gi t s l i m i t s .P r e m i u ms t r e e tt i r e s a n d t racingtires are designedto operate in this area of friction and heat.The used-up rubber "balls up" and goes away,exposinga fresh rubber surface to the pavement.A standardstreettire usuallywill not give up the used and unresilientrubber fast enough, so itb top layersbecome dry and slip-

82

pery. The"oils"that areusedto keepit resilient havebeen"cooked" out of that top layer rubber, the layer of but still clingsto the tire.lf you'renot y l e t t i n g o u rr a c i n g i r e ss l i p ,y o u ' r e e a l l y i d i n gu n d e r h e a b i l i t y f t h e t r r t o ti res. purpose, suggest Foryourown instructional I usinga tire and rim combination will allowyou to slidethe bikearound your level that at of riding. Buying racing tires that are beyond your capabilities as a rider will not allow you to experience how tires perform at their limits. Most new riderscanfind out moreaboutridingwith a set of Dunl o p K - 8 1 s( w h i c h l i d e e r yp r e d i c t a b l yi)t t e dt o t h e i rY a m a h a Z 2 S O s s v f T -the-art thantheywill by mounting set of state-of a Thatgoesfor slicks. otherbikesas well.lf you areusedto ridingon stickytires,but haven't f o u n dt h e i rl i m i t s m o u n ta s e to f t i r e sy o u ' l lb e a b l et o s l i d ea r o u n d . , Theothertypes slidingshouldbe approached the same of in way.Findout what slidingis likeso it won't surprise when it happens. you y T h i sw i l l i m p r o v e o u rr i d i n g a s s l i d i n g a nc o s tt o o m u c ho f y o u ra t t e n , c tion if you aren'tcomfortable with it. once you haveslidingundercontrol just another partof racing, as you will be ableto useit as a tool.wilit work?

You can get away with a lot of sliding on small GP blkes that you can't on a superbike

CHAPTER

ELEVEN

Hanging Off
It Looks Good and lt Works
photography Nothinghaschanged road-racing morein the lasteightyears thanthe practice technique hanging Knee and of off. dragging is the mostdramatic poseracers anykind haveeverindulged of in. Spectators in aweof it, and riders are ied masaren'tsatisf untilthey've teredit. Bothcanyon are theirf irst and caferacers likely castin plastic to jeanstheytouchto the tarmacwhilehanging pairof designer off. was knee-out JarnoSaarinen the first riderto exhibit dramatic riding.He had beenan ice racerbeforecomingto roadracing, andthere kneedragging both partof the styleandthe onlywayto be seriously is pioneered Kenny it, Roberts refined and most it competitive. Saarinen has for everyone who races successfully pickedup kneedragging himself.

It doesn't look hke you're going fast when Vou are.

Real Reasons
possibilities, Asidefrom the greatphotography therearereal reasons hanging a bodypartthat is cappedby a pieceof boneweak for out enough be brokenby a 4o-poundblow.The first and most useful to your bodyweightfrom reason for hanging off is: you are moving t h et o p o f t h e b i k et o a p o s i t i o nh a t i s l o w e ra n dt o t h e i n s i d eT h i s t . how yourweightinfluences bikewhencentrif ugalforce changes the beginspushing towardthe outside the turn.Whenyourweightis it of higher the bike,it givesthe cornering forcesa lever workwith.To to on overcome the overin the turn.The centrifugalforce, bikemust be leaned greater force,the moreyou must leanto overcome By hangingoff, it. the you moveyourweightto the insideof the bikeand lowerto the ground, presenting of a lever the forcesto act upon.Thisdoesnot weaken for less its the force,it simplylessens effect.Nowthe bikedoesnot haveto be leaned of overas far to makethe sameradius turn,andcan go faster t h . i w i t h o u th a v i n go i n c r e a ste e l e a na n g l e E v e n f y o ug o t h r o u g h h e t u r n t y t a t t h e s a m es p e e d s a r i d e rs i t t i n gu p r i g h o n h i s m a c h i n e ,o uc a n a y o u ra c c e l e r a t i o n o n e t h a nh e c a nb e c a u s y o u rs t r a i g h t - u b i k e p begin e so r advantage. hasmorerubber the road.Thiscanbe a tremendous on

84

Remember, increasing your speed in a turn effectively decreases the radius of the turn. Note:Othersuggestions havebeenmadeas to why hanging off works. The lawsof physics must havesomething do with it but my to understanding thosephysics limited. of is Someevenargue that it is no realadvantage siteriderexamples the pastsuchas MikeHailwood, and of who did not hangoff. You musttry it for yourself andf ind out if thereis an advantage not. or
The leverage theory. A tall mass would tend to heve a wider arc than a shorterone, in a turn, at the same speed. Right or wrong, everyone who is currently com petitive is hanging off. Have you ever tried it?

Another Advantage
How muchwind resistance doesa leg create when it is hung out to the sideof a motorcycle 1bo mph?At 1oo mph,or even60 mph? at with this additional "sail"on one side,it's easier turn in that direction. to You can make a quicker and easier steering change with a knee out because the bike and you will pivot around the point of resistance that it offers.

For the Records

lfirst noticed this effectof hanging at Daytona off while attempting set a 24-hourspeedrecord 7Soccmachines 1g77 to for in . we wereridingKawasaki Kzoso streetbikeswith largegastanksand racing tiresaround and around outerbanked the tri-ovalat Daytona. coming off the banking ontothe levelstraights was a steering chorebecause the centrifugal forcewastryingto sendthe bikeout to the wall.we wererunn i n ga t a c o n s t a ns p e e d f a b o u t1 2 0 m p h .A s y o u m i g h ti m a g i n ei,t w a s t o q u i t eb o r i n g i d i n ga r o u n d o r h o u r sa t a t i m ea l m o s f l a to u t ,w i t h t h e w i n d r f t tuggingat you andtryingto lift your helmet off. I still havepermanent grooves my jaw from that chin strap. in out of boredom beganexperiI

85

menting andfoundthat poppinga kneeout just as I madea fairlysharp dramatically change comingoff the banksmadethe steering steering was Therecords wereset,the champagne aboutone-third. easier-by greatand I had learned newtool. a
An extended knee offers enough air drag to make steering easier, especially in high speed sectaonsof the track.

Second Advantage
a of advantage having kneeoff is that steering So,the second is easier when the bike and rider pivot around the resistance the offered by the extended leg. Flicking bikefrom sideto sidein when it is timedwith the knee of or esses anyseries turnsis mucheasier t . j u s t b e f o r e h e s t e e r i n g h a n g e s m a d e T h i sh o l d s r u ef o r i c t o coming ut m r i t s i n g l e u r n sa s w e l l .T h el i a b i l i t ys o b v i o u s - y o u ' rce e a t i n g o r ew i n d use Remember, this down somewhat. and resistance the bikewill slow as technique a tool; pull it out whenyou needit and put it awaywhenyou r tr T d o n ' t . h i sw o u l db e e s p e c i a l l yu ew i t h s m a l l e o r u n d e r p o w e r e d easier. to use machines. it onlywhen necessary makethe steering

Third Advantage
. o f A t h i r dr e a s o no r h a n g i n g f f h a st o d o w i t h l e a na n g l e L e a n y o u c a ng o a n d s i a n g l e s o n eo f t h e i n d i c a t o ry o uc a nu s et o t e l l h o wf a s t f expect rom the tires.lt letsyou knowwhereyou are to how muchtraction . a t, , o b i n t h e d e l i c a t e a l a n c e f l e a na n g l e s t e e r i n g r a c t i o n n ds p e e dY o u r to you and costlyinstrument; must makeit your business kneeis a delicate of the pavement. knowhow far it is f romthe surface

The Knee Gauge

f o e y T h ek n e ei s a n i n c r e d i b la c c u r a t g a u g e f l e a na n g l e s - iy o u t p o s i t i o n a c h i m e .T o d o t h i sy o u rb o d ym u s tb e i n t h e e p u ti t i nt h es a m e

86

The knee dragging technique is an excellent "curb feeler," or gauge, that is used to determine your lean angle from lap to lap.

s a m e p o s i t i o no n t h e b i k e e a c ht i m e . l t s p o s i t i o nc a n c h a n g ef r o m t u r n t o t u r n , b u t i t s h o u l d b e t h e s a m e e a c ht i m e t h r o u g h a p a r t i c u l a t u r n . T h e n r you can use the distancefrom the ground to measure:"l was over this far on the first lap and it was oK, so next time around this turn I can go a little faster."The knee doesn't haveto drag the whole way around a turn; you can drop it now and then to "sample" your lean angle.Doyouthink wittwork? it

How You Look and Feel

Therearethreegood reasons masterthe skill of hanging to off-four if you countthe greatphotopossibilities. we get to the fifth Now reason: gives you a sense of security. lt is strange knee dragging how this works,and I don'ttotallyunderstand but somehow it, beingin y c l o s ep r o x i m i t t o t h e p a v e m e n t a k e s a l l i n g f f s e e ml e s sd a n g e r o u s . m f o Perhaps is because havealready you it contacted enemyand know the w h e r eh e i s .l t d o e s n ' h u r tt o f a l lw h e ny o u ' r e n l ya n i n c ha b o v e h e t o t ground. course, not takingthe speedintoaccount-just fall. Of I'm the A fall from the top of the seatis a muchlonger fall,andthat extradistance couldbe the startof a painfulbouncing. Most slide-outs d o n ' tr e s u l t n i n j u r y h e nn o b o u n c i n g n df l i p p i n g c c u r y o u j u d g ef o r i w a o . yourself whether not is is any"safer," it feelsmoresecure. or but

Sixth Advantage Youmay not believe this,but ridershavesaved themselves f r o mf a l l i n g e c a u s t h e yw e r ea b l et o h e l pt h e b i k eb a c ku p w i t h t h e i r b e k n e e f t e ri t h a db e g u n o s l i d e u t .A f r i e n d f m i n eo n c ea c t u a l l y a t o o b o u n c e d b i k eb a c ku p o n t oi t sw h e e l s i t h h i se l b o wa n dc o n t i n u e d a w racing.

the how this mightwork if you consider Youcan understand onthe a m o u n o f w e i g h t h a t i s t a k e no f f t h e b i k et h e m o m e n t h e k n e ei s t w t u g r o u n d n d p u s h i n g p .A t a n yr a t e , h i st a c t i ch a sw o r k e d - a n d i l l n o a Superbike of At session the California doubtwork again. an advanced to he Lawson wasthe guestinstructor, was asked whereEddie School "Howoftendo you usethis technique?", on comment this.Whenasked, of replywas "Aboutoncea lap."Theremay be a measure heroics Lawson's of f and involved, certainlyiveor morelayers ducttapewill helpkeepyour smart. and leathers kneelooking device, an aid to sliding' or Usingthe kneeas an anti-slide tu i t t t a k ei n t oa c c o u nw h e r e h e s l i d eo c c u r s n a p a r t i c u l a r r n .A m u s ta l s o ( P O Ti)n a p a r t i c u l a r r n ." O K , tu a r e c u r r i n s l i d eb e c o m e s p o i n to f t i m i n g g thereis a crestthat time because is goingto slidehereevery the bike , t u n l o a d sh e b i k ew h e nI g e t o n t h e g a s . "F i n e i,t ' s n o b i g d e a l y o u m a k e partof your planfor that turn.Now,if you keepyourkneef irmlyplanted it you aregoing turn on everylapof a 20 lap race, for intothe asphalt every Thatwon't work. to run out of ducttapeand startintoyourkneeor leathers. , w t h e t r a c kr e a l l y e l lk n o w n y o u r g o W h a tw i l l w o r ki s : Y o u e tt h a t l o c a t i o n n when the before slidehappens. POT, andyou dip the old kneedown.iust t k n e e n dS a v eh e t a p e 'O n t h e a y t h e s l i d ea r e ai s p a s s e d ,o u u n w e i g htth e hand,if you wait for the biketo slideeverylapandthen put the knee other P t d o w n ,i t w i l l p u ty o u i n t oa m i n o rp a n i ce a c h i m e i t h a p p e n s . a n i c s cost a lot. the Hereis what you'vedoneto handle situation' l.You'vefoundan RPto tell you that the slideareais approaching. 2. You'vef iguredout whereto put your kneedown' That's your POT. at f 3. You've iguredout whereto pick up the knee, the end of POT' That'sanother the slidearea. part turnedthe driftingor slidinginto a predictable 4. You',ve of the turn.
The knee is extended in readinessto correct for sliding, should it occur'

that can be worth of attention manydollars saved 5. You've

your line,passing, usedfor judgingspeed, adjusting throttlecontrol, figplan,gettinga betterdrive,etc.,etc.Can bedone? uringout a better it

Hang Loose
Never become rigid while hanging off. Be relaxed and i y s e t t l e n t ot h e p o s i t i o n o u n o r m a l l t a k ew h i l ei n t h i s m a n e u v e Y.o u ' v e y r got to be as relaxed possible that you don't become bobbing as so a weighton the bikethat actslikea passenger who doesn'tknowhow to relax. you encounter krndof roughpavement handle bike lf any or the roughly, will moveup and down.lf you'reloose, it you willflex up and downwith it. lf you'rerigid,the bikewill go into its motion, thenyou will, t h e nt h e b i k ew i l l m o v ea g a i n c r e a t i n g w o b b l e . , a D o n ' tu s et h e h a n d l e b a r s s u p p o ry o u rw e i g h t h e ny o u to t w hangoff.Thissendsinputsto the steering and can starta wobbleas well. Useyour legsto get f rom one sideof the biketo the other.and hordon with youroutside leg.Thenrelax. l ' l l s e ey o u i n t h e p h o t o s . Note:Manyridershavefoundthat a littletalcumpowderon the seatis helpfulwhen changingfrom sideto side.wit it work vou? ror
Be comfortableratherthan sultsn.

Note:
lf you don'tfeelcomfortable hanging don,tdo it. you can off, wastea lot of time and efforttryingto work out something don't need you t o d o . U s eh a n g i n g f f a s a t o o l .w h e n y o u b e g i n o h a v e r o u n d l e a r o t g c s a n c ep r o b l e m w h i l ec o r n e r i n g ,r a n yo t h e rp r o b l e m t h a t c o u l db e h e l p e d s o by hanging then do it. off, A rider's styleincludes how weil he accomplishes eachof the partsof riding.lt is all of what he understands all of what he doesn't and feelgoodaboutrolledinto his own package. Hanging maybe partof off your ridingpackage, it maynot be,rightnow. or A ridertellsa greatdealabouthimselfby his styre. examFor ple,a riderwho canstaytuckeddown behind the bubbleand low on the bikein fast or trickysections knowsthe track.He hasRps.pointsof rimi n ga n do t h e rf a c t o r s e l lu n d e r s t o o d .h er i d e r h o d o e s n ' w i l l b e s i t t i n g w T w t up tryingto seewherehe is going. s t y l ei s b a s e d n w h e r e h e r i d e ri s s p e n d i n g i s $ 1 o w o d h o f o t h attention. Fitting yourself into a stylefor no reason cancostyou a lot.

Don't hang off if you don't need to.

CHAPTER

TWELVE

Passing
Who Was That I Just Passed?

|tissometimeseasiertopassarideryouareracingwith' to ability yourown,than it is to passlapped with equalor similar someone for on otherracer your levelis therelongenough you The or slowerriders. the slowerrideris a new where of to makeout someaspect his ridingstyle, waryof these Manytimesyouwill become commodity. and unobserved you down on you.lt makes just f romthe fact that theyarea lap riders wonderif they knowwhat'sgoingon. lt discussions. is definitely comesup oftenin new-rider Passing few,evenof that onlya in oneof the craftsinvolved racingand something havemastered' the top riders, Thegroundru|esinpassingandfo||owingwi||increaseyou i of u n d e r s t a n d i n g t h e a c t i o n sn v o l v e d :

Ground Rules of Passing

1. Motorcycles go to the outside of the track when behinda riderand he loses they fall, and so do riders. lf you aredirectly you get o i i c o n t r oa n df a l l s , t i s a l m o s t m p o s s i b lte h i t h i m .B y t h e t i m e l sidecovers to the place he fell he witl no longer be there. Aluminum it will rapidly so offerlittletraction, oncethe bikeis over, andfairings travelto the outside. riderand he falls, to lf you'repositioned the insideof another to to it is not possible hit him.The onlyexception this is in high,banked t i t T t u r n ss u c ha s a t D a y t o n a .h e r e h e b a n k i n gs s o s t e e p h a tt h e s l i d i n g th w a m a c h i n e n d r i d e r i l l t r a v efl a i r l ys t r a i g hfto r s o m ed i s t a n c e , e nb e g i na fall and riderliterally down to course the insideof the turn.Bike downward t h g e t h e h i l lb e c a u s t h e c o r n e r i n f o r c ei s n o l o n g e r o l d i n g h e mu p o n t h e b u t s o m e w h alte s sd r a m a t i c a t r b a n k i n gL e s s eb a n k e du r n sh a v e s i m i l a r . t d o t h es a m e h i n g . t e n d e n ct o y e i s h P a s s i n o n t h e o u t s i d e a si n c r e a s elda b i l i t i eb e c a u s t h i s g the to makesit possible intersect pathof a fallenrideror maneuver on machine its outwardswing.

2. Often, two-rider accidents are the result of the rider following the lead rider, the first to fall, off the trailing track. Oneof the concrete examples the old axiom,"Yougo where of you look." to fall It is veryupsetting havesomeone off in f rontof you and o r w i t c a np o s s i b l y e d a n g e r o uts y o u .A l l t o o o f t e n t h e t r a i l i n g i d e r i l l b , it the watchthe fallenone and go down with him.Perhaps is because fallen i p r i d e ri s n o w h a v i n g m o r ei n t e r e s t i nrg d e , e r h a p st i s t h e d a n g e rl.t m a y a i W i b ej u s t m o r b i d u r i o s i t y . h a t e v etrh e r e a s o nt,h e s i m p l e o l u t i o ns t o n o t c s g y r . l o o ka t t h ef a l l e n i d e r C o n t i n u e o i n gw h e r e o u h a do r i g i n a l l iy t e n d e d n with him. andthereis littlepossibility becoming of entangled 3. lf you become involved with watching the rider in front of you, passing becomes very difficult. Spendyourattention it on that riderandyou arenot spending on whereyou aregoing-your $ 1O bill hasnot expanded. Also.if you are looking another at rideryou areusinghim for a RPand not looking the RPs at that you knowwill get you throughthe turn.Youbecome lost. Here'ssomeadvice. and an exampfe, ridingin traffic from of threeAmerican masters: Kenny Roberts, Eddie Lawson and MikeBaldwin. I haveseeneachof them run near-perfect laps,onlytenthsof a second slowerthan their best racelaps,in very heavy traffic. Baldwinsayshe treatsslowerridersliketreesin the woods.He considers them stationary objects is goingby. he Lawson suggests correctprocedure in not looking the the is at leading rider. After Kenny Roberts'incredible opening at Sears lap Point, wherehe wentf rom 32ndto sixthon a trackthat doesn'treally havea straightaway, nobody evenbothered ask him. Heobviously to didn't consider therewas anyone elsethere.
rysww$i.rn!|ffit

Guys get ln trouble watching the rlder in front. You're aware that they're there, but you look at the track

Look where you want to go, not at the rider you are about to pass. The attention spent on him is the amount you need to get by.

91
.:-. -;i-,..-ri:J. .. t'+.:--"

4. Following other riders can help you learn the track layout when it isn't clear to you. Following closecan be a liability, too but following a comfortable at distance improve yourown mastery can of a turn.Whena rideris out in f rontof you he creates "rollingRp." a Let'ssayanother rideris ahead you by 25 to 1OO of feet.lf the tracksurface hardto seebecause elevation is of changes radius or you changes can knowwherethe trackis goingby locating otherrider. the So longas he stayson the track,his presence you knowthereis lets asphalt ahead you.lt givesyou a betterpicture what you can'tsee.As of of y o ud r a wc l o s e r o u m u s tt h e na b a n d o n i m a s a n R P , e e p i n g o u r y h y k attention your Product, on Sub-Product RPs. or Doesmake it sense?

Passing Signals
In California is legaltosplitlanes-toridebetween lines it the of carson the f reeway. Fromthis practice, California ridershavelearned that the autodriveralways doessomething beforehe changes lanes. lt maybe a lookin the mirror, twitch of the head, a shoulder movement, a g l a n c eo t h e r e a ro r a c h a n g e f h a n dp o s i t i o n n t h e s t e e r i n g h e e l . n t o o w I just before racing, rideroftenmakes movement, a a usually the head, of changing directions. isn'talways lt true and it isn't 100 percenteffective as it seems be with cardrivers, it doeshappen to but andyou can useit if you seeit. Yourabilityto "read"the otherrider'slineandwhereit will put him hasa lot to do with passing. riderwho is leaned A overthe the maxim u m l i m i t s f h i sm a c h i n es n o t l i k e l y o m a k ea n yr a d i c am o v e s o w a r d o i t l t the inside the track.Hislineof travelis prettywell set.You mustbe able of t o s i z eu p h i s l i n e , e t e r m i n w h e r ei t w i l l t a k eh i m ,a n dd e c i d e f y o uc a n d e i make hepass. t Judgingthe amountof space that you needfor a passisn'tall that difficult. only takes a little more space than the width of a lt doorway to pass another rider. lf you can seethat amountof space, you can get through.wittthis hetp?

Basics Apply
y I n p a s s i n g , e b a s i c s f r i d i n g t i l la p p l y Y o um u s ts p e n d o u r th . o s attention gettingaround track.not on otherriders. on the YourRPs, SubProducts, Products, what you do,timingandthe abilityto concentrate on t h et r a c kw i l l b et h e d e c i d i n ga c t o r s n w h o c r o s s e t h e f i n i s hl i n ef i r s t . f i s

92

The width of a common doorway is all the track that is necessary to pass.

*l\

;i

Th is sequence represents two seconds of time. A well-executed pass from the set-up through to completion.

.l

1.

$
2.

ot&*.,

94

J.

CHAPTER

THIRTEEN

SuperuiseYourself
Yes, Homework ls Necessary
your racingprogram, records keepaccurate To helpsupervise of and be workingon someaspect it eachtime you go to the track.This you'llbe making bestuseof yourtime,expensive tracktime and the way, of your bike.

I go into a race. on the starting line, with the attitude that I'm gonna get beat-these guys are gonna smoke me.

Record Your Lap Times

necessary recordto keepis of lap times. The first absolutely lap times indicate your overall base-line improvement from lap what youreffortsare to lap and race to race. Laptimestell you directly new,the lap Whenyoutry something in bringing termsof improvement. what is workingfrom what is not. out way of weeding timesarea sure-fire a is records nothingmorethan keeping diary Keeping accurate you aregoingto work on and makea noteof it yourriding.Decide what of i a i n t h e b o o k . o t o t h e t r a c k w i t h a p l a n . T h a tp l a ns h o u l d n c l u d e l l o f G laps.lf you haven't you thereon previous the information havegathered and learning course the startfromthe beginning, ridden trackbefore, the of You its peculiarities. mightalsostartat the beginning this bookand all in go throughthe track,workingon the pointsmentioned eachchapter. what products you are likely the track itself, of Notice construction the of to have eachturn or section the track,notewhatyou aredoingin for to or what reference points you'reusing, haveavailable use,how each, you'reoperating on, what decisions yourtimingis workingin eachsection, are wherethe barriers andwhatto do aboutthem.Seewhatyou cando to c a , s l i c ku p y o u rb r a k i n g n ds h i f t i n go r h o w m o r ec o n s c i o u s t e e r i n g o u l d Do agree? makeyourway aroundthe courseeasier. you

lmprove Problem Areas

Pick up your problem areas and try to better them; leave your strong points alone for now. A good way to checkyour

96

to progress the trackwill require two goodstopwatches a person and on you'reworkingon Thiswill helpyou narrowdownthe areas act as timer. g s o t s o t h a ty o uc a ns e ei f y o u ' r e a i n i n g r l o s i n g i m e i n a p a r t i c u l a re c t i o n . in a position seethe wholetrack,or at leastmost to Thetimershouldbe that can recordeverylap,or of it. Thestopwatches shouldbe the variety you mayusetwo or threesinglelaptimers.

Break the Track

Break the track into sections and time each one the separately. Youmighthaveyourtimerclockfrom,for example, start/ TurnThree TurnSix,thenTurnSixto the to finishlineto TurnThree; yourtimesfor eachsection, then inishline.Thetimerwill record start/f r4q@Ie you recordthe overalllap time besideit. Now you'll know exactly WayneRainey-formerly ClassC dirt needwork. I haveseen,for example, a Kawasaki l<Zl50througha tight section Willow tracker-run box-stock a at (fromTurnThree Raceway throughTurnSix)fasterthan nationSprings Rainey's riders theirSuperbikes! bikewas equipped with ally-ranked on and ran streetDunlops, the Superbikes slickson wide rimsplusthey had moregroundcleara nce. considerably you mayfind wherethey lf you can alsotime your competition, are pickingup time on you and whereyou needto get your times down. Youronly limit is the numberof watchesyou haveand the peopleyou have you to runthem.This is valuable, bottom-line information canwork and
think with. Shouldit be tried? Breaking the track into threo or more timed sections pinpoints your improvement.

Work On One Thing At A Time

yourself, out intending improve Whenyou supervise go to one turn or oneaspect allthe turns,likebraking, pointsor points of reference of timing.Whenyou do this,don'tchange anything else.Keep restof the the trackandwhat you'redoingtherethe same. Thiswill giveyou a better picture the results. of Youcanthinkof endless'things do whileyou'reout on the to just work on what you had intended track,but stickto your planand to from the start.
I like the big sweepers,fast corners.Somettmes guys the l'm lappinggo through the slow ones fasterthan me.

97

Youcanalsotry to do nothing. Homework isn'tfun allthe time, so takea few lapswhenyou canandjust ride.Don'tconcentrate any on improvements. the most,try to relaxmoreand concentrate your At on breathing. Often,I haveseengreatforwardsurgesin lap times by riders who wereinstructed just takea few lapsfor fun.Thisis the time when to you can integrate the thingsyou wereworkingon into a smoothand all flowingride.Yougo out and ridejust likeyou knowwhatyou'redoing.

Go Faster
Freddie (Spencer) is fearless coming out of slow turns.

Most riders try to go faster each time on the track. Thatis a wholedecision itselfthat shouldbe reserved racingandfor in for you havedonea good amountof thinkingaboutthe track.Once when you've gonethroughthe boringpartsof looking and experimenting see to you arearmedwith enoughknowledge makeyourdecision whatworks, to to go faster reallywork.Without solving some of your barriers and rough spots on the track, you just make mistakes at a higher speed. lt has beensaid manytimes by manygood riders:First do it right, then add the speed. "Right" is what works bestfor you and produces bestlaptimes.Setyourplanthen addthe speed. the That'syour pface.Can apply starting this? vou Use practice your bestadvantage. you'reone of the fastest to lf ridersthat day,go out in front of the practicesession you won't haveto so cut througha lot of traffic.lf you'reone of the slowerriders,go out towardsthe end of the group and stayout of the distracting traffic.

Practice :

lnformation

'= Think

Come back from each practice session with informayou can use to think with. Whetheryou areworkingon some tion aspect your racingor just takinga relaxed of ride,havea solidideaof what just run.lf you have a hard time you have went on duringthe laps remembering what you have just done, your attention is so stuck on something that you don't have enough of it left to observe yourself. This happens morethanwe like,and it makesit difficultto yourprecious operate with understanding. Whenyou can'tremember, tenattention beingspentto sucha degree something is on dollar's worth of you shofton underThiswill leave elsethat you only have time to operate. whatworksandwhat doesn't. and makesit difficultto tell standing

Waste Paper, Not Track Time

Paper cheap-use to makedrawings the turnsandto is it of showyourself whatyou'redoingin them-make and O's on the drawX's ingsto indicate RPs, the POT, Products your planof attack get and to around course faster. you havesome the Drawoneturn at a time unless esses.

98

What use Makeyourown drawings-don't trackdiagramsare counts is how the turn looks to you. Trackdiagrams f inefor helpbut theirway to the grandstands, theydon't include find ing spectators etc. of roughspots,exactlocations uphillsanddownhills, changes, camber

Track Drawings
Make your track drawings as exact as possible, Anyone of can who canridea motorcycle makea simplelinedrawing a turn' lt lf takeaftisticability. you find it difficultto makea turn drawing doesn't throughart classwasn'tthe probthe afteryou'veridden track,sleeping to of lem,you just don't know the turn. Parts it arestill unclear you. real thing. A drawing makes your thoughts one step closer to the to but Paper isn'tasphalt, it is closer it thanthe stuffthat thoughtsare you involved a verydirectway with what is going get in madeof. Drawings on whileyou'reriding.

TT{g BIKE uINIDADS TOO MUCH WHEN E HOI-Dlr OrJ OvgRTHE CR.EST Airlltg

,or,
I I

Drawings bring your thoughts one step closer to the track. Work out problem turns on paper. Have you ever tried it?

Exr-r 6

*3.

btr
SO

CHANGE PqI

THAT THE. BTKE ISN'T

AccetsennrNG qu\TE
So H,\RD oVER..THE

/ TuRN**4 rs"A V5 Ll TTt-g B\T ut{cLErS<'

OVERATL PRDDtrCT \S AND OFtr IN
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ENTRANeE Tn

/-JJ4f*\

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O: POr
99
' .': =r1.- =i.;A;*J:*:i,

Fast : Fast
You gain more time in the fast turns than you do in slow ones. Youwill find, as everyriderhas,that a littlefasterin the fast turns makesmuch more difference than a littlefasterin the slow ones. Youcovermoredistance the fastturns,which bringsup youroverall in average Remember, takesonlyaboutone mph higheraverage it faster. to go onesecond fasterper lap.A typicalslowturn maybe 1O0-150 feet in length, whilea fastone may be 300 to 900 feet or more.Thatis a larger partof the trackin whichyouraverage be higher. can

Racer's Tools
(1) Lookat your ridingfrom the standpoint that you intendto (3) Makesureyou (2) Setyourself for improve. lap-time targets the day. you comeoff the trackwith information can use.(4) Makeeverypractice pointwhileyou're session countevenmoreby workingon a pafticular (6) (5) in overthe material this riding. Don'tbecome discouraged. Read you haveridden. will makemoresense you then. to lt bookagainafter
Can you see it working for you?

100

A pagefrom Wayne Rainey's notebook.

g"dx,?Eoop "ffTHEN :L Do\N'N SH\ FT ffiP-.s"sN Jilt? :i EFFoRE rHe-NE^gEl,{ Rep Cor'oe ' iiii N\Y-eenr ovER
iiii cN tlovirla r THEN s-rART

5riHE Lr=trT AND"G\N LEF- ' TF\EN -niE. \N it 151N\RD= t\rRorn:= BA.K oN LEtrt i* 3TART Rcuur\JQ THE cENTER cF'fir coR\rER/s-rn.rl-|,ENtts& iiii NA iiii AND GRADu\LLY RN\S\ rft grg t-tP>-fR\lGHr' li+ T\it* Bo*lo 'tHF sHoRT sHurE INTD TURNT1AJO TUR\r TWb x: sTART-ro LEAN fii As s APPROAC\{

iu Rrc*Ht \Bcur trlVE F.=gr FRoMTHE c!"rrslDE' i:r SDGE OF THE TRACK, RouurNeThE fHRDTTI-E -rHRu
:;i;i;i;

r$rz \/a cFF/ LEANTIsGRrei-l-r AND Gor\lG i . ce'uree oF THF TURN AtrotlT s/q THRDTTLE ' ROL\AS 1i1+En-reN sfARrS T0 T\GI-trE\r yPr: 1OWAKDS -11*R,DT11-F uelsl\N& T!\E- B\K-E otJ THg STgqlq*t'
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s A{'\ GolNq'
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BNxn<rsG-SV I H'J;H16' {i.-"ii ON T1*E At{D RDt.tQg,qg gg6g.Es, LEN) LEtrT -THE LI]SES \T5 BACI< 6N AS TT+ROTTI. -lrhEN

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I AM T\.1RN, ROuursG THE q5S BAo' CN, FNEreE{pSoMTHg-0\^TSlDEi coRxlE-R" EDGE otr TFtg cE''fiEtc. oF Trtg AxlO f*exr :tr AM LEANIINQ rf OVgR \+AR>
I=oe, THE- Ex tT OF I_HE \1JRN} .
liii::::ii:ii:

INS\DE

ELT{rIEI<THE

CHAPTER

FOURTEEN

Advice
Ask Your Best Friend: You
l'm not one for giving out advice.I don't want to give it away.especiallyat the track or raceoaYwnen someone has a particularquestron. But I wont screwa guy up and give him wrong or dangerous advrce.

givingyou advice Oneword of advice aboutpeople about your riding-you are your best advisor. You're one sittingin the sadthe dle and riding.No one hasbetterinformation aboutwhat is goingon in your headthan you. Dealwith yeg! own decisions, y9!rr barriers, ysgf products and reference points, yggg points of timing and attention-not someone else's.

Sort lt Out for Yourself

the Theway your ridinglooksto someone beside trackhas nothing do with how you arethinkingaboutit. In the endyou have to to goesfasterthanyou, yourself. sort it out for Anotherrider'sline,evenif he mightnot be the correctonefor you.Information be valuable, you but can givingit. Otherriders have watchwhereit's comingf rom andwho's are to ,cften from theirown falseinformation. Pickit up andyou will try operating to makeit work,too. lt canwasteyourtime and energy. I havetriednot to giveyou advice aboutridingin this materialwhileyou'reon a motorcycle, instead, triedto explain I've what happens are andwhat a ridermustthinkof whenspeedand precision important. lt's your job to decide how they apply to you.How you about it? do feel
You are tho one who hae to ride the track. A nickel's worth of bad advice could cost a lot more ($1Ol on the track.

102

Behind the race face, the glare of concentration. Pumping up the adrenalin or going over his plan?

"w w
:t

CHAPTER

FIFTEEN

How to Fall
Relax-You're J ust Road-Testing Your Leathers
Threereallyimportantfactorsaboutfallingoff a motorcycle you keepthis bad are:Whatyou do whenthe time comesto unload-How of from gettingworse-andHowyou feelaboutthe business situation fallingoff.

Be Willing to Fall Off

you shouldbe the Let'sconsider third factorfirst. As a racer, willing to is very to Wt!.!ng fall off. You don't haveto Wan!to, but being aboutfalling.lf you ridea and different, it hasto do with yourattitude you're is you raceone-falling an activity if especially motorcycle-and of with. lt goeswith the territory riding.lf you to involved likely become likely to fall. This is the key-it worksvery resist falling, you are more That'swhereyou lookat an objectyou don't to similarly a targetf ixation. on so wantto hit,then become f ixated the threatthat you don't lookfor a is Falling similarin that the moreyou resistit-or way out and hit it anyway. away fixateon the ideaof not falling-themoreit will takeyourattention worth of attention from your riding.Youcan spendyour entireten-dollar's the you haveno attentionleft to operate falling,then because resisting fallfrom a mistake. machine, Hereagainis the magicof the decision. Yousimplydecide at that it can happen. anytime.anywhere. that you mightfall off andaccept "okay,I canfall off oneof thesethings.I Youhaveto lookat it and say, , a a m i g h tb r e a k b o n eo r h a v e h e l lo f a s l i d e o r l j u s t m i g h td i ed o i n gi t . " So, riders. get it out to can and do happen motorcycle All of thesethings yourdecision romthere. f of the way by takinga lookat it andthen making who wasn'twillingto fall down. to racing anyone I wouldn'tadvise

FallingInsurance
No onewantsto fall down,but onceyou'vedoneit and it

any fallingisn'tas fearsome more.Your best comesout alright, falling is to not resist it. insurance against here'show to comeout of it with the lf you do fall, however, damage your body: to leastamountof

Let Go
thanyou and heavier 1. Let go of the bike: lt is muchlarger to andverylikely travelfurtherdownthe roadthanyou will. lf you'reholdyour ing onto it, you'regoingalongfor the ride.Youwantto minimize don'tget holesgroundthroughthem.Motormotionso your new leathers out cycleshavehardthingssticking theirsidesthat cancatchon the groundandsendthem rollingand doingendos. you'restill attached to lf your you let go, the difference between the bike,you'll do the same.When dropyou off at someotherplace. weightandthe bike'swill generally The Don'tdo anything. act of 2. Relax: lf you loseit,just relax. yourarmsor get relaxing usually you awayfrom the bike.lf you extend will yourfall,you will be providing yourself with a pivotthat legsto try to break Whenyour body'srigidit's easier break to can sendyou flyingor tumbling. you'rerelaxed, likea ragdoll,it's moredifficult along things.lf skidding to breakbones. -:Gl

,61

.." ri. '!. ..1" r: '$,,i' tu.,' t*'$js

In a fall, let go. Motorcycles are out of your control once they begin to slide on the sidecovers. Holding on will extend your trip.

lfl,*,,'**

Relaxing completely will spread out any impact and help protect against broken bones. Scuff up a lot of the leatherc a lattle bit, not scuff a little part a lot.

xh*

t!*fwl$xx*"";

;i$sii*c$$1ffi*Sa**

Relaxing alsoputsmoresurface areaontothe groundand area. example, you weigh 150 For if the spreads impactovera larger pounds inches yourpalmwill of andfall on your palm,that threesquare per square inchfrom the fall alone-the takea forceof about50 pounds greatly lf with the speed. you landon forceof that impactwill increase you'refallingonto a couplesquare your back, feet armsand legsinstead, A inchdown belowone pound. pound which bringsthe loadper square your handwill hurt a littlebit. Fiftypoundsdropped your on dropped on h a n dw i l l h u r tl i k eh e l l . Relaxing spreads the impact over a larger area. This is to usedby stuntmenand martial artspeople lessen oneof the techniques to the possibilities painand damage theirbodies. of where has situations Probably everyone heardof exceptional the riderslidesout,then climbson top of the bikeandwaitsfor it to stop. Youdecideif you wantto try the He never touches groundand is unhurt. that but understand the worst kindof fall is whenthe bikeis sliding this, whichf lipsit overon the otherside.lf you're alongand something catches " w T s t i l lh a n g i n g n - y o ug e t l a u n c h e d .h i si s c a l l e d h i g h - s i d i n g " h e n o "Low-siding" when is you'rethrownoverthe high sideof a bikein a turn. down. the bikeis leaning overandthe tireswashout,droppingit straight

Stop Before Standing

you aspect fallingis that sometimes of Oneotherimportant can'ttell when you'vestopped.Strangeas this may seem,it's true.When yoursense balance of you fall,it upsets inner-ear fluid that governs the and motion.You can think you are actually stopped while still time if you decide sliding along at 1OOmph. lt can makefor an exciting to lt the to standup before slidinghasstopped. hashappened me and 15-footstrides Youwind up taking to l'veseenit happen otherriders. To down the track,and you look likea kangaroo. avoidthis, countto three around seeif the skyand to then look whenyouthinkyou havestopped, examples? to groundarewherethey'resupposed be.Some

Practice Falls
you prepare the possibility falling by of for As I mentioned, Here's exercise helpyou do that: to an relaxing. room,or use a up in the middleof a carpeted 1. Stand mats. gym that'sequipped with wrestling height' bothyourarmsto the sidesto shoulder 2. Extend just let themfall.lf you notice themto relaxand 3. Command do afteryou havemadethe command, it in any resistance your muscles just flop downto yoursides. overuntilyour arms y o 4 . S t a n di n t h e m i d d l e f t h e r o o ma n dc o m m a n d o u rw h o l e your legs Just let go of it and let it fall. lf you do it honestly bodyto relax. backwardsforwardor straight first andyou won't fall straight will buckle relax you'llcrumple a heapon the floor.Do it untilyou cancompletely to

106

your bodyon command. with this drillyou cando it on soft lf you wantto be creative T . o m a t sw h i l ew a l k i n g r r u n n i n gY o uc a na l s od o i t o n a t r a m p o l i n e .h e relaxed and so the thing is to relax bodyon command it willfall important this techniqueat spreadthe impactovera largearea.I haveroad-tested accitestifythat for most motorcycle over 130 mph and can personally injuryif you hit the of dentsyou'llhavea muchbetterchance avoiding groundrelaxed. you Do agree?

After A Fall
lf you try to dodge oncoming traffic, there is a greater you'll be hit. Lookat it from the point of view of the other riderschance to they havea chance avoidyou if you stayin one spot.lf you'reup and panic, they don't knowwhichwayyou'llrun.lf you'restopped, movingin a Also,it's muchbetterto havea leg run over to they havesomething avoid. up. thanto be hit by onewhileyou'restanding motorcycle by another whenyou fall off, is likewearA planof action, suchas relaxing need thenyou really Youdon't needit untilyouhit the road, ing a helmet. willingto fall off will helpkeepyou off the ground;knowinghow it. Being your injuries. it can minimize to do

A motorcycle and rider will widen their arc of travel after a craeh, except in heavily banked turns.

107

CHAPTER

SIXTEEN

Sponsorship
There ls No Free Lunch
you needone of l'll get to the nittyof sponsorship right away: threethings-orall three-toget sponsorship support. 1. Knowsomeone who is in a position sponsoryou. to yourself 2. Work hardpromoting and covereverypossible sponsor. 3. Be so goodat racingthat otherpeople wantyou on their teamcarrying theirstickers and leathers.

A P.R. World
In most cases,peoplewant to sponsorridersthey like. Sometimes, that'smoreimportant thanyourabilityto ride,but usually it just helpsa lot.Yourpotential you on the winner's maypicture sponsor you at greatthingsabouthim. He mayjust picture standat Daytona saying goodthingsabouthis productto others. you the Are the club races saying potential kindof person Yoursponsor-or that othersbelieve? sponsormustunderstand thing if he is to be at all successful. live in a We one P.R. (public relationsl world and good P.R. helps. lf you just expect you this doesn'texclude f romthe to be a club racerand nothing further, groundfor fruitsof sponsorship. Localracinghasbeenthe spawning you ul this? someof the most successf productlinesevar.Have noticed

His Honor, The Racer

in Thatfield is motorRacers opinionleaders theirfields. are the cycling.Throughoutracinghistory, majorityof productsthat aresportperformance-related shown up on the racetrack,then on many have or streetbikes. lf you haveracedand havefrienos,you will noticethat your has amongthem.Yourfriendsandtheirfriendsare credibility increased partsand even depending youto givethemthe hot tip on performance on You,as a is of on what biketo buy.An opinionleader somewhat a celebrity. in lf racer, of mustfulfillthe requirements a celebrity. you haveanysuccess

108

Your questions aboutmotorcycles. endless be racing, willingto answer that understand you arewillingto promotehis products. sponsor should you to do anyof this nobody will expect Whenyou area greatracer, the Not really-but and cocky. you will havebecome overpaid because winningwill be first priority. you area good raceror not, whether The basisfor sponsorship, What canyou do for him you is the exchange can makewith the sponsor. what is he goingto do for you? and
Step One is ge(tlng the sponsor. Step Two is spreading his name around. Step Three is win, win, win.

Decide, Plan and Do!

It's up to you to decideuponand sellto your potential sponsors exactplanyou havefor gettinghis nameout intothe world in the for for the bestpossible light.Plan activities suchas arranging articles, your pit areaintoa soft of minitradeshowfor his products, showmaking pointing that racingising him that you havea sphere influence, of out and elseyou candreamup to and hasbeen-goodpromotion, anything him.Thendo itt show him how it will benefit Keepyour sponsorinformedof what you'redoing,or propose write letters that you will informhim.Takepictures, and keephim up
to date. Canyou do it?

Proposals
shouldbe well-organized lookprofessional. lf Proposals and you outline greatseason promotion of and show up with a dirtyor disora proposal, will seethroughit from the start.Hewon't be configanized he person needs do well-organized he to dentthat you arethe conscientious, job. Youmust beginto think of yourself an employee a the as of companyin which you own sharesof stock. Thinr out the year Don't promiseanythingyou can't deliver.

ahead andwrite up a planyou canactually carryout.The number comof panies that will payyou to run stickers the amateur at levelis dwindling and hasalmostdisappeared. Don'tbasea sponsorship package the fact on you will run his stickers your bike.Too manyriders on will run stickers for quartof oil or just for fun. Design your package it will standon its own a so you havestickers the bikeor not.Propose makeyourself whether on to availabf for promotional e activities. thoughts this? eny on

The Year Ahead

The most importantpart of any sponsorship package one is that you and yoursponsor mustboth be well awareof. I haveseenit overlooked countless timeswith unfortunate results. the beginning the At of yearcompanies looking are around seehow theywill spendtheir proto motiondollars. Theyareenthusiastic expect and that the comingyearwill good.Theyhavedollars be that theyfeelcompelled spend. Theadverto t i s i n gp e o p l e r ep u m p i n g h e mu p f o r t h e c o m i n g e a s o nl.t i s w i n t e ra n d a t s the grasswill be greener the spring. in Yougo in with a good proposal and looksright.You're pumped, company goingto giveyou everything the is you can use.lt will be a help. and all the product $5OO Theseason begins and you go aboutpromoting product the as yousaidyou would.Whenthe season ends,you go backto yoursponsor to seeabout nextyearand he says,"What did you do for me this year?" Youtalkedup the productand spenta lot of time keeping yourcommitup ment,but now it all slipsawayf romyou and it seemspettyto mention eachtime you talkedto a groupof riders the Sunday on rideto pump his product, placed eachtime you carefully stickers the john walls,every on timeyou got someone believe aboutit. you to

Here's the Deal

lf the sponsor spends money on you, he had better be willing to spend more money telling people about it. Sponsorship is a two-waystreet. Youdon't get something nothingand neither for does he.lt takesan efforton both of your partsto get the word out.On the club you levelhe shouldbe supplying with banners and pinsand stickers to giveaway,and maybean ad in QycteftletyS commemorate your good to performance. raceprogram for instance, A ad, helpshim get his nameout you betterknownat the sametime.Thesponsor and alsomakes buildshis riderand his productat the sametime.lt's a P.R. world,andthe morethey seeof you and the product,the betterP.R.it is.You'vegot to haveyour sponsoragreeto backyou throughoutthe year-win,loseor draw. lf the sponsor won't backyou in this way,find another sponguy doesn'tunderstand sor.Your you what he is sponsoring for in the first place, andyou will losehim when he loseshis initialenthusiasm. the At end of the year, he hasusedhis resources put you and his productout if to there,he won't askyou what you did for him-he will know.As riders, we haveto eliminate this ideathat thereis somekindof magicthat goesalong

110

with racing. win-or lots of wins-will not do anythingfor the sponsor. A lt wilf be his follow-upthat getsthe word out.Doyou it? set

Your P.R.Program
Even you can still do plentyto without a bunchof first places makeyourself known.Racing stillsuchan unknown is quantity-in U.S. the you yourself late-night especially-that can promote on radiotalk shows, public-access andtakingpartin civic-minded TV activities duringthe offseason suchas talkingto boys'clubs.Starta "Getracingoff the streets and ontothe track"program that mightsavea life or makea racerof someone. can evenplugyoursponsor You here.Localnewspapers are always hungry fill space to with stories aboutlocalpeople. Youcan go into one of themwith the samecivic-minded approach and it wouldbe difficult for themto turn you down.Urgeotherriders do the same.lt mayseem to you'resharing spotlight, in the end it makesracingmorepopular, the but which givessponsors betterreason participate.Any a to examptes?

Satellite Sponsorship
Yourkeytargetis onewell-known sponsor. Thisallowsyour othersponsors something identify to with, something larger be conto nected with thanjust Joe Smith,racer. Theyrevolve aroundand baskin the lightof the better-known central sponsoring company. possible The advantages beinga satellite of linked a largecompany to with a multimillion-dollar advertising budgetis veryappealing the smaller to businessman.Youaredoinghim a favorby linkinghim with yourcentral sponsor. Forexample, when a new man is signedonto a factoryteam, in manycaseshe is stillan unproven rider-highpotential obviously, but he hasnot yet won anyraces. still, a newteamriderfor anyfactoryhas littledifficulty findingsponsors in that will pay handsomely a patchon for the leathers. sponsor now connected the factoryteamandthe The is to factoryadvertising campaigns. rider, this case,is of secondary The in importance. sponsor The maypaythe rider$b,ooofor pracing patchor the stickers, the factorymay usephotosin millions dollars but of worth of ads, postersand promotional items. Some examples?

Big Fish
Landing big sponsor a can be usefulin helping you gather satellite sponsors. Goingto a big company with a small,but effective plan that will not drainthe promotional budgetcan be of morevalue you than to is goingin with an expensive program that maybe turneddown.lt is still the sameideaas above. Large companies to get bargains, andthe like too, smaller company feelsconnected. your Remember, contract termsmay be keptconfidential you chooseso the othersponsors approach if you don't knowwhetheryou are getting$1O,OOO $100. Keepit that way. or ,;,.;a+oj. -

111
-,; - -!,+Ae:,:.,

Where To Fish
is A Thesizeof the pondyou fish in for sponsors important. to Theyhave the money factoryis a largef ish in a largepond,worldwide. pondto f buythe best.lf you arenot the best-yet-start ishingin a smaller from your localaccessory beginwith.Youmayonlyget a set of shocks You to store,but that now makesyou appearconnected somethinglarger. as aroundyoursponsor well.lf you cando a area satellite and revolve the greatjob of promoting shocks theremightbe somegas money the you theirnameovereverything Plaster nexttime you talkto the sponsor. you can,andevenspendmoneyon yourown to primethe pump.(lt makes will and looklikeyou'regettingmorefrom yoursponsor, a newsponsor Moveup the sponexpect paymorefrom what he hasseenin the past.) to sor ladder one sizepondat a time.Youmayevenstartin a largepuddle, to but at least it is wet. Does apply you? this

Over the Limit

don'tgo overthe limitOnceyou beginto catchsponsors, on throw backthe smallones.lf you comeout on racedaywith 30 stickers your sponsor your bikeand leathers, mayhaveto askwherehis nameis. then don'tcrowd figure, and makehim the central Pickthe bestsponsor to your space. few sponsors, to f ive,still allow everyone get his three A withoutfeelinglost.Thinkof yourown time also.You share exposure of as 10 won't be ableto do as gooda job promoting products you will with onlythree.

That's Show Biz

is end Sponsorship the business of the racinggame.lt has for littleor nothingto do with the ridingitselfexcept oneveryimportant thing: having enough money to operate your program buys you allyourtime time to concentrate on yourself as a rider. Spending job to makemoney racingcanget veryold,veryfast.lf you for doingyour r r s c o u l ds p e n d i g h th o u r se a c hd a yo n y o u rr i d i n g k i l l s a t h e t h a nw o r k i n g e improvements. your bikeor at the job,you wouldseesomedramatic on artwas ideas sponsorship to let skilled of Oneof the original yoursponsortheirwork.Use have timeto create the istsandcraftsmen ship to createyourselfas a betterrider. manner. in and Treatsponsors a business-like friendly from your separate the Increased salesis theirbottomline.Keep business riding,but don'tforgetthat it is partof the threemainfactorsfor success. and Theyare:Goodriding,goodequipment good sponsors.

112

Factory Rides
Sponsorship alsobringsaboutthe possibility a factoryride. of Thefactories, the people and they listen areverygoodat spotting to, who potentialto a top-notchrider. hasthe be A word of caution: eventhoughit hasbecome evermore popular takedrugsin this society, is something to this that smartteam managers on the lookoutfor. Riders are who havea reputation partying for arenot beinglookedon with favor.Drugsarelikea decreasing-radius turn -they fool you into goingin too fast,then makeit veryhardfor you to get out. In closingon the subject sponsorship,writtenagreement of a is always order.lf you obtainsponsorship, the termsin writing-at in get leastuntilyou seehow eachotheroperates. Sometimes better pay it's to for supplies thanto get themwith invisible stringsattached. Herein a lies greattruth: lt often costs more to get things free than it does to pay for them. Keepup youragreed-upon exchange with yoursponsor and it shouldwork out fine.

Taking drugs and racing is crazy. I don't want to nde with those guys and usually I don't have to.

d
9{tstof
$ovgord

sFffi

From your sponaor you get mon6y and stickers, etc. Money is payment for how well you expose the stickers and his name. Magazine photos really pump-up sponsors.

d^6

stt$s$s\s\\
113

A Parting Word
Manythingshavenot beenincluded this bookbecause in they do not have do with the actualridingof a motorcycle. to Tracksafety preparation othervaluable information, machine and dataarenot in my "Howto area. Muchof this hasalready beencovered the publication in Fly"by Joe Ziegler, who runsthe Penguin Racing New Schoolat Loudon, Hampshire Bridgehampton, York. and New By the sametoken,allthereis to sayaboutridingis not in . t h e s ep a g e sT h em a t e r i a l t h ai t i n c l u d e ds w o r k a b l e n dw i l l i m p r o v e s i a your ridingif it's applied. is meantto be applied lt andto be used. Spend your $1O wisely, and most of all, have fun riding!

Rider Checklist
1. Oil at Proper Level A. Engine B.Transmission C. Chain D. Forks 2. Wheels Are In Line 3. Forks Don't Bind 4. Chain Adiusted 5. Tire Pressures Are Gorrect RearFrontA. ColdPressures RearFront B. Hot Pressures 6. Steering Head Bearings Tight 7. Front Axle CaP Bolts Tight 8. Axles Tight 9. Wheels Are Balanced 1O. Gontrols Are Comfortable and Usable 1 1. Fork Travel Correct (Forks shouldnot bottomout or top out) 12. Shock Travel Correct but (Shocks shouldnot bottomout excessively shouldusemost of the shock travel.) 13. Throttle OPeratesSmoothlY free (Doesn't stick,no excessive play.) 14. Brakes Work Well A. Padsare makinggoodcontacton disc. disc. are B. Pads not binding material. C. Enough Pad 15. Tires Have Enough Rubber difficulties' handling tirescancause wornor stepped A. Unevenly out and become"greasy'" tiresdry B. Old racing in tireswork bestwhenthey havejust beenscrubbed and haveplenty c. Race of rubber. 16. Enough Fuel 17. Master Link in Place chain.) it (Master shouldbe safetywired unless is an endless link 18. Someone to Record l-aPTimes looksat.Theyare inspector Mostof theseitemsare not thingsthat a technical to affectyour abilityto put your equipment useas a racer' itemsthat directly the it around trackwithoutmajormishaps thatyou canmake Theyensure (enough fuel,etc.).

Race Day Record O

Date
Track R a c i n gO r g a n i z a t i o n Length of Track

(Use theseandmake copies your notes.) for

Number Turns of Weather Conditions AmbientTemperature

Elevation

Classes be Run to Tires Run:Brand Compound/Number Tire Pressure: Front-Cold

Front-Hot

FrontRear-Cold
Rear-Hot

Rear

Tire Mileage: Front Jetting Mains

Needle

Rear Pilot Slide Air Correction -Air

F l o a tL e v e l - O t h e r

Screws

Gasoline Type
G a s / O i lR a t i o

lgnition Timing
Spark Plug Heat Range C a m T i m i n g :I n t a k e Valve Adjustment: Intake Gearing Countershaft

Exhaust Exhaust RearSprocket Overall Ratio Rea r-CompressionRebou nd

Rear-Pre-Load Races

ShockDampening - Rebound Front-Compression SpringSettings Front- Pre-Load

Lap Times Practice

Position EachLap Points Earned

Prize Money Won

Comments

Rider Ghecklist
1. Oil at Proper Level A. Engine B.Transmission C.Chain D. Forks 2. Wheels Are ln Line 3. Forks Don't Bind 4. Chain Adiusted 5. Tire Pressures Are Correct RearFrontA. ColdPressures RearFrontB. Hot Pressures 6. Steering Head Bearings Tight 7. Front Axle GaPBolts Tight 8. Axles Tight 9. Wheels Are Batanced 10. Controls Are Comfortable and Usable 1 1. Fork Travel Correct (Forks shouldnot bottomout ortop out) 12. ShockTravel Correct but (Shocks shouldnot bottomout excessively shouldusemost of the shock travel.) 13. Throttle OPeratesSmoothlY free (Doesn't stick,no excessive play') 14. Brakes Work Well A. Padsare makinggoodcontacton disc' B. Padsare not bindingdisc. C. Enough Padmaterial' 15. Tires Have Enough Rubber difficulties' tirescancausehandling worn or stepped A. Unevenly "greasy"' B. Old racingtiresdry out and become plenty in tireswork bestwhenthey havejust beenscrubbed and have C. Race of rubber' 16. Enough Fuel 17. Master Link in Place (Master|inkshou|dbesafetywiredun|essitisanend|esschain.) 18. Someone to Record l-aPTimes looksat' Theyare inspector Mostof theseitemsarenot thingsthat a technical to put your equipment useas a racer' itemsthat directlyaffectyour abilityto Theyensurethatyoucanmakeitaroundthetrackwithoutmajormishaps fuel,etc.). (enough

Race Day Record @

Date Track R a c i n gO r g a n i z a t i o n

(Use theseandmake copies your notes.) for

Lengthof Track Number Turns of

Weather Conditions Ambient Temperature Elevation

Classes be Run to TiresRun:Brand Compound/Number Tire Pressure: Front-Cold

Front-Hot FrontRear

Rear-Cold
Rear-Hot

Tire Mileage: Front Jetting Mains

Needle

Rear Pilot Slide Air Correction -Air

Float Level

Screws Other

Gasoline Type
Gas/Oil Ratio l g n i t i o nT i m i n g S p a r k P l u gH e a t R a n g e C a m T i m i n g :I n t a k e

Exhaust Exhaust RearSprocket Overall Ratio

Rear-Compression - Rebound

ValveAdjustment:ntake I Gearing Countershaft

ShockDampening Front-Compression-Rebound

Spring Settings Front- Pre-Load

Lap Times

Rear-Pre-Load Races

Practice
Position Each Lap P o i n t sE a r n e d Prize Money Won

Comments

Rider Ghecklist
1. Oil at Proper Level A. Engine B.Transmission C .C h a i n D. Forks 2. Wheels Are In Line 3. Forks Don't Bind 4. Chain Adjusted 5. Tire Pressures Are Gorrect RearFrontA. ColdPressures RearPressures FrontB. Hot 6. Steering Head BearingsTight 7. Front Axle Cap Bolts Tight 8. AxlesTight 9. Wheels Are Balanced 1O. Gontrols Are Gomfortable and Usable 1 1. Fork Travel Gorrect (Forks shouldnot bottomout ortop out) 12. Shock Travel Correct (Shocks but shouldnot bottomout excessively shouldusemost of the shock travel.) 13. Throttle Operates SmoothlY (Doesn't free stick,no excessive play.) 14. Brakes Work Well A. Padsare makinggoodcontacton disc. disc. B. Pads not binding are pad material. C. Enough 15. Tires Have Enough Rubber handling difficulties. tirescancause wornor stepped A. Unevenly "greasy." tiresdry out andbecome B. Oldracing in tireswork bestwhen they havejust beenscrubbed and haveplenty C. Race of rubber. 16. Enough Fuel 17. Master Link in Place chain.) it wiredunless is an endless (Master should safety be link 18. Someone to Record l-aPTimes inspector looksat. Theyare Mostof theseitemsare not thingsthat a technical to affectyour abilityto put your equipment useas a racer. itemsthat directly the that youcanmakeit around trackwithoutmajormishaps Theyensure (enough fuel,etc.).

Race Day Record @

Date Track R a c i n gO r g a n i z a t i o n Length of Track

(Usetheseand make for copies your notes.)

Number Turns of WeatherConditions AmbientTemPerature

Elevation Classesto be Run

TiresRun:Brand Compound/Number Front-Cold Tire Pressure:

Front-Hot Tire Mileage: Front Jetting Mains Needle

FrontRear-Cold
Rear-Hot

Rear

Pilot Slide

-Air Air Correction

Float Level

Screws Other

Type Gasoline
G a s / O i lR a t i o l g n i t i o nT i m i n g S p a r k P l u gH e a t R a n g e

Intake CamTiming:
Valve Adjustment: Intake

Exhaust Exhaust RearSprocketRatio Overall Rea r-CompressionRebound

Rear-Pre-Load

Gearing Countershaft
ShockDampening Front-Com pression Rebound Spring Settings

Front- Pre-Loao LapTimes

Practice P o s i t i o nE a c hL a P

Races

PointsEarned
Prize Money Won

Comments

Rider Ghecklist
1. Oil at Proper Level A. Engine B.Transmission C.Chain D. Forks 2. Wheels Are In Line 3. Forks Don't Bind 4. Ghain Adjusted 5. Tire Pressures Are Gorrect RearA. ColdPressures FrontB. Hot Pressures FrontRear6. Steering Head Bearings Tight 7. Front Axle Gap Bolts Tight 8. Axles Tight 9. Wheels Are Balanced 1O. Controls Are Gomfortable and Usable 1 1. Fork Travel Gorrect (Forks shouldnot bottomout or top out) 12. ShockTravel Gorrect (Shocks shouldnot bottomout excessively shouldusemostof the shock but travel.) 13. Throttle Operates Smoothly (Doesn't free stick,no excessive play.) 14. Brakes Work Well A. Padsare makinggoodcontacton disc. B. Padsare not bindingdisc. pad material. C. Enough 15. Tires Have Enough Rubber tirescancause handling A. Unevenly wornor stepped difficulties. "greasy." become B. Old racingtiresdry out and in C. Race tireswork bestwhen they havejust beenscrubbed and haveplenty of rubber. 1 6 . E n o u g hF u e l 17. Master Link in Place (Master shouldbe safetywired unless is an endless it link chain.) 18. Someone to Record lap Times inspector looksat. Theyare Mostof theseitemsare not thingsthat a technical itemsthat directlyaffectyour abilityto put yourequipment useas a racer. to that you can makeit aroundthe trackwithout majormishaps Theyensure (enough fuel,etc.).

Race Day Record 4

Date Track Organization Racing Lengthof Track of Number Turns
Weather Conditions Ambient TemPerature Elevation

(Usetheseand make for copies your notes.)

to Classes be Run TiresRun:Brand Compound/Number

Tire Pressure:Front-Cold Front-Hot T i r e M i l e a g e :F r o n t Jetting

FrontRear-Cold Rear-Hot

Rear

Mains Needle
T Gasoline ype G a s / O i lR a t i o l g n i t i o nT i m i n g

Pilot Slide

-Air Air Correction FloatLevel

Screws Other

SparkPlugHeatRange
C a mT i m i n g :l n t a k e

Exhaust Exhaust RearSprocket

Overall Ratio Rear-Compression-Rebound Rear-Pre-Load Races

: ValveAdjustmentIntake
Gearing Countershaft

ShockDampening pressionRebound Front-Com SpringSettings

Front- Pre-load Lap Times

Practice
P o s i t i o nE a c hL a p

PointsEarned
Prize Money Won

Comments

Rider Ghecklist
1 . Oil at Proper Level A. Engine B.Transmission C. Chain D. Forks

2 . Wheels Are ln Line 3 . Forks Don't Bind 4 . Chain Adjusted 5 . Tire Pressures Aro Gorract
A. ColdPressures FrontB. Hot Pressures FrontRearRear-

6 . Steering Head Bearings Tight 7 . Front Axle Cap Bolts Tight 8 . Axles Tight 9 . Wheels Are Balanced 1 0 . Gontrols Are Gomfortable and Usable 1 1 . Fork Travel Gorrect (Forks shouldnot bottomout or top out)

1 2 . Shock Travel Correct

(Shocks shouldnot bottomout excessively shouldusemost of the shock but travel.)

1 3 . Throttle Operates Smoothly

(Doesn't free stick,no excessive play.) 1 4 . Brakes Work Well A. Padsare makinggoodcontacton disc. B. Pads not binding disc. are pad C. Enough material. 1 5 . Tires Have Enough Rubber worn or stepped tirescancause handling difficulties. A. Unevenly B. Old racingtiresdry out and become"greasy." in tireswork bestwhenthey havejust beenscrubbed and haveplenty C. Race of rubber. 1 6 . Enough Fuel 1 7 . Master Link in Place (Master shouldbe safetywired unless is an endless it chain.) link 1 8 . Someone to Record lap Times inspector looksat. Theyare Mostof theseitemsare not thingsthat a technical to itemsthat directlyaffectyour abilityto put your equipment useas a racer. Theyensure that you can makeit aroundthe trackwithout majormishaps (enough fuel,etc.).

Race Day Record @

Date Track Racing Organization Length Track of Number Turns of
Weather C o n d i t i o n s A m b i e n t Temperature Elevation

(Usetheseand make for copres your notes.)

to Classes be Run TiresRun:Brand

Compound/Number Tire Pressure:Front-Cold Front-Hot

FrontRear-Cold Rear-Hot Rear Pilot Slide

Rear

Front Tire Mileage: Jetting Mains Needle

GasolineType Gas/Oil Ratio T lgnition iming S p a r kP l u gH e a tR a n g e

Air Correction -Air FloatLevel

Screws Other

Intake CamTiming:
V a l v e A d j u s t m e n t :I n t a k e Gearing Countershaft

Exhaust Exhaust RearSprocket

O v e r a l lR a t i o

ShockDampening pressionRebou nd Front-Com Spring Settings Front- Pre-Load LapTimes Practice

Position Each Lap P o i n t sE a r n e d Prize Money Won Comments

- Rebound Rear-Compression Rear-Pre-Load Races

DISC<3VER

THE

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CORhIERING $CHOOL
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:TR.AIT\TII\TG
CIASSICS
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