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t.
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
PatrickBehar,pages3, 74,75,79,94,95
RichChenet,page82
page17
MushEmmons,
Freud,page42
MaryGrothe,backcoveractionphotograph
Motorcyclist
Magazine,page 14
TomRiles,pages26, 51, 56, 88
JohnUlrich,page109

California SupertrikeSchool, Inc.

800 530-3350

Copyright1983-2002Code Break, Inc.

I S B N :O - 9 1 8 2 2 6 - 0 8 - 2
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
m e a n sw i t h o u t p e r m i s s i o ni 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

Warning: The ridingtechniquescontainedin this book are intendedfor racingpurposes

for anyaccidentsresultingin bodily
only.Theauthorand publisheracceptno responsibility
from
the
increased
speedsand riderabilitythat
property
might
occur
that
damage
harmor
l . h ea u t h o ra n dp u b l i s h edr o n o t g u a r a n t eteh a t
m a yb e g a i n e db y t h e u s eo f t h i sm a t e r i aT
r e a d e rw
s i l l a t t a i nt h e s a m eh i g hd e g r e eo f r i d i n gs k i l l st h a t o t h e r sh a v eb y a p p l y i n gt h e s e
by notedridersthat haveusedthese
notesand endorsements
Supplemental
techniques.
that might be
asto safetyor competency
shouldnot be takenas anyguarantee
techniques
is required,the servicesof a
lf expertassistance
gained,but mprelyas personalexperience.
statelicensedagencyshouldbe sought.
vi

Alwayswearproperprotectiveclothingand observelocalspeedlaws.

Foreword
Eventhough I've only been road racing for two out of the twelve years of my
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 gg 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 i n g d o w n e v e r y t h i n gt h a t I w a s d o i n g o n t h e t r a c k . K e i t h m a d e m e t h i n k b e f o r e
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
You BecomeA Scientist

14

The Product
With Understanding
Precision
Developing

24

What You See

YourComputerThroughthe Eyes
Programming

CHAPTER

CHAPTER

CHAPTER

34

60

SEVEN

EIGHT
CHAPTER
Braking
The Art of RegulatingSpeed
NINE

Steering
It HappensBackwards
CHAPTER

80

SIX

Barriers
Keysto lmprovement

CHAPTER

76

FIVE

Decisions
: e c i p ef o r S k i l l
DecisioM
n a k i n gR
CHAPTER

54

FOUR

Timing
PuttingThingsin Order
CHAPTER

42

THREE

TEN

Slipping and Sliding

Traction:Howto Loselt and Uselt

vill

.-&-.r:

CHAPTER

ELEVEN

Hanging Off
It LooksGoodand lt Works
CHAPTER

90

Passing
Who WasThatlJust Passed?
CHAPTER

96

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

Supervise Yourself
Yes,Homeworkls Necessary
CHAPTER

FOURTEEN

102 Advice
Ask YourBestFriend-You!
CHAPTER

104

FIFTEEN

How to Fall
YourLeathers
Relax-You're
Just Road-Testing
CHAPTER

SIXTEEN

108

Sponsorship
Therels No FreeLunch

1 15
117

A Parting Word
Appendix

trMarginNotesand Comments
by EddieLawson
SpecialNote:
Extrawide marginsareprovidedfor your notes.

Author's Note
The informationcontainedin this bookis intendedto be used
rider
to
and masterthe basicridingskillscoveredin each
by a
investigate
during
chapter.Noneof this informationis magic.lt hasbeendeveloped
morethan six yearsof trainingmorethan 2,5OOridersand gettingresults
This
that eitherimprovedlaptimesor increasedriderconfidence.
information
worksif it is applied.
that is
Thereis a certainmagic,however,in usinginformation
the
it
is
at
a
time.
Go
over
one step
understood,
andthe bestway to do
it, then go out andapplyit, bit by bit.
informationand reallyunderstand
point
Masteringeach
will establisha certaintythat you can do it.

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.
l'venever
just
reallybeenall that interestedin racing-l
wantedto ride.Throughout
my racingcareerI regardedthe otherriderson the trackas mostlyjust a
Manytimestheygot in the way of the observations
nuisance.
I was making
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 em y r i d i n ga n d h o wt h a t
informationcouldbe presented
to my students.l'vealwayshadjust as
m u c hf u n r i d i n ga l o n gb y m y s e l fi n a r a c ea s I h a v ec o m p e t i n g
withother
riders.
M y r e a s o n i nfgo r t h i s i s s i m p l e - n om a t t e rh o w m a n yo t h e r
ridersareon the track,you muststill relyon yourown ability.Thetrackis
t h e e v e r - p r e s e cnht a l l e n g e - n ot ht e o t h e rr i d e r sT. h i si d e ah a sb e e n
strengthened
that the mostsucoverthe yearsthroughmy observation
cessful racerscan go nearlyas fast in practiceas theydo in the race.They
u s et h e i ru n d e r s t a n d i nogn t h e t r a c kw h e nt h e yp l e a s ew, i t h o u t h e
pressureof competitionforcingthemto "go fast."

Play the Game Well

Ridingfast on a motorcycleis a tremendously
exhilarating
and
game.Thisgamehasrulesand barriers.
challenging
There'ssomethingto
win, somethingto lose,and a purposefor eachindividualwho playsthe
game.lt demandsyourattention.Theconsequences
of a majormistake
can be severe-severe
enoughto makethe gameworth playingwell.The
p u r p o s eo f t h i s b o o ki s t o d e s c r i b e
t h e t e c h n o l o gay n dt h e r u l e so f r i d i n g
fast so that everyrideis a "win,"so that you'llapproachthe barrierswith
c o n fi d e n c ea n du n d e r s t a n d i nagn, ds o y o u c a nf u r t h e ry o u rp u r p o s ei n
ridingor racing,whateverit may be.
My overallapproachto riderimprovement
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,andwhereyou spendit whileridinga motorcycle,

is a keyelementin how wellyou willfunction:Attention has its limits.
E a c hp e r s o nh a sa c e d a i na m o u n to f i t ,w h i c hv a r i e sf r o m i n d i v i d u at ol
individual.
Youhavea fixedamountof attentionjust as you havea fixed
amountof money.Let'ssayyou havea ten-dollarbill'sworth of attention.
lf you spendf ivedollarsof it on one aspectof riding,you haveonlyf ive
dollarsleftfor all the otheraspects.Spendnineandyou haveonlyone
dollarleft,and so on.
Whenyou first beganto rideyou probablyspentninedollars
your
of
attentionon how to let out the clutchwithoutstalling.Nowthat
you'veriddenfor yearsandthousandsof miles,you probablyspendonlya
n i c k l eo r d i m eo n i t . R i d e r st e l l m e t h a t s o m ec o m m o nm o v e m e n t sl i,k e
shifting,havebecome"automatic."lt's not true.Theyaresimplyspending

l e s sa t t e n t i o no n i t . R i d i n gi s l i k et h a t .T h em o r eo p e r a t i o nyso u r e d u c et o
t h e c o s to f a n i c k eol r d i m e ,t h e m o r eo f y o u rt e n - d o l l a rw
s o r t ho f a t t e n t i o n
i s l e f tf o r t h e i m p o r t a not p e r a t i o nosf r i d i n go r r a c i n g .
Y o um u s tm a k eh u n d r e d o
s f d e c i s i o nw
s h i l er i d i n gj u s t o n el a p
of a racetrack
or one stretchof road-especially
when ridingfast.Hundreds!lf you understand
enoughaboutridingto havecorrectlydecided
h o wt o h a n d l e2 5 o f t h o s es i t u a t i o n sy ,o ua r ep r o b a b l ya f a i rr i d e rT. h e
things that you do not understand are the things that will take up
most of your attention. Whenevera situationarisesthat you do not
yourattentionwill becomef ixeduponit. Youoftenfeara situnderstand,
uationwhenyou cannotpredictits outcome,and paniccosts$9.99-you
mayevenbecomeoverdrawn.
Thecourseof actionyou havealready
p
o
t
e
n t i apl a n i cs i t u a t i o n
d e c i d e du p o nt o h a n d l ea
c o s t sm u c hl e s st h a n
this and leavesyou plentyof attentionto sortout youroptions.
On the positiveside,sodingout the actionsof ridingbeforehandbuysyouthe time andf reedomto becomecreativewith the activity
of riding,just as havinglotsof changein yourpocketallowsyou a certain
freedomof movement.On the racetrack,that left-overattentionallows
youto experiment
andto improveyour ridingability.
High-performance
ridingand racingdemandnot onlythat you
be ableto performthe necessary
actions,but alsothat you be ableto
observethem.Makingaccurateobservations
of your performance
is the
keyto beingableto improvethem. lf you know what you have doneyou know what can be changed. lf you did not observewhat you were
doing,the changesbecomehaphazard
and inaccurate.
Doyouagree?
ln the nextchapterswe'll lookat the gameand wherethe
attentionis beingfocusedor spent.We'll investigate
the barriersto riding
well and put intoactionthe stepsyou'lltaketo bringhomea "win" every
time.
And finally,let's not losesight of the basicreasonwe started
riding-it'sf un and makesus feelgood.Here'sreadilyavailable
freedom,
and all it takesis A Twist of the Wrist.

What ls a Rider?
Beforelaunchinginto anythingheavy,let'sagreethat the rider
is the personcontrollingthe motorcycle,
not a passenger.
The riderworks
the brakesand clutch,the throttleand steering.He determines
whether
t h e b i k eg o e sa r o u n dt h e t u r nf a s to r s l o w ,s m o o t ho r r o u g h ,u p o r d o w n .

/ 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.

a n d i s t h e o n l yi n d i v i d u awl h o d e c i d e sw h a ta c t i o nt o t a k e ,c a r r i e si t o u t ,
t h e nd e c i d e sh o ww e l li t a l lw o r k e d .
I t a l m o s ts o u n d st 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
what happens; what you don't do-doesn't happen. Motorcycles
Theydon'twin racesor losethem;they
don'tdo anythingby themselves.
d o n ' tm a k em i s t a k e os r d o a n y t h i n gr i g h t .E v e r y t h i ntgh a t h a p p e n sd u r i n g
a r i d ed e p e n d s o l e l yo n t h e r i d e r .
Haveyou everseena new rideron the trackor roadstruggling
l p e r a t i o nt h, e t r a c ka n dw h o h e
t o o p e r a t eh i s m a c h i n eT?h eb a s i cc o n t r o o
He honestlyfeelshe is being
to
him.
mystery
to
these
are
a
is in relation
takenfor a ride.lf you'vehadthosefeelings.fine;evenexpertridershave
felt this way at times.
. e o p l ea r en o t b o r na s
T h e r e ' sa n a c t u atl e c h n o l o gtyo r i d i n g P
A rider is a person who can
goodor bad riders-ridingskillis learned.
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
havetheirfavoritesectionsof road,the parts
Ridersinvariably
into
a dancewhereeverythinghappensjust the way
that flow together
On the streetor track,you knowwhich
it's supposedto with no surprises.
you
How
wantto knowwhy they'reso comfortable.
onestheyare-but
muchshouldyou knowaboutthe roadyou ride?Which aspectsareimportant andwhicharenot?Why aresomesectionsof roadharderto ride
thanothers?
First,somebackground.
Highwaysareconstructedso that
motoristscantravelfrom PointA to PointB veryeasily.The highwayengineersareverythoughtful;theywantto seeyou makeit in one piece.The
turnsareoftengentlybanked.Decreasing-radius
cornersarerare.Seldom
is therea hairpinat the end of a straightstretchof road.Off-camber
turnsareavoidedwheneverpossible.Cornersareconstructedin a
predictable
manner.
and straight-forward

Designed to Fool You

A racetrackis anothersort of beast.Not muchof anythingis
donefor yourconvenience.
Thedesignershavepurposelyconstructeda
c o u r s et h a tw i l l c o n t i n u et o c r e a t ec h a n g i n gs i t u a t i o nfso r t h e r i d e rt,o f o o l
s r ep u t i n t ot h e m o s td i f f i c u l st e c t i o n su, s u a n dc h a l l e n g h
e i m .H a i r p i n a
allyafterthe fasteststraight,and "S" turns,or chicanes.oftenhavea
slowerexitthan entry.Cornersmay baffle you with severalcamberand
r a d i u sc h a n g e tso b r e a ky o u rf l o w a n df o r c ey o u i n t ou n u s u asl i t u a t i o n s .
the moredifficultthey
And always,the fasterthe turnsarenegotiated,
become.Thereare,however,
onlyf ivemajorchangesthat can be designed
into an asphalt road. Haveyounoticedthis?

Types of Road
1 . C h a n g e isn C a m b e r : Ap i e c eo f r o a dc a nh a v ea p o s i t i v e
camber-banking,
or it can have"off,"or negativecamber.Thismeansthe

insideof the roadis higherthanthe outside.Or,the roadcan be f lat.A turn

maybe designedwith anycombinationof thesecambers.
2 . C h a n g e isn R a d i u sA: s i n g l et u r n m a yb e a c o n s t a nrta d i u s ,
as in a perfecthalfcircle.lt maydecreasein radius,tighteningup toward
t h e e n d ,o r i t m a yh a v ea n i n c r e a s i nrga d i u so, p e n i n gu p a t t h e e n d .O r i t
maybe a combination
of all three.
3. Seriesof Turns:ln a seriesof interdependent
turns,the line
y o ut a k et h r o u g ht h e i n i t i a p
a
r
t
l
o f t h et u r nw i l l b e p a r t l yd e t e r m i n ebdy
whereyou wantto exit it to set up for the nextturn.A seriesof turnscan
h a v ea n yo r a l l o f t h e c a m b e ra n d r a d i u sc h a n g e sl i s t e da b o v e .
4. UphillD
, o w n h i lal n dC r e s t e d
T r a c kC h a n g e sE: l e v a t i ocna n
be addedat anypointto anytypeof turn or changein a roador track.
5 . S t r a i g hS
t e c t i o n sT: h e s ea r es e c t i o n w
s h e r el i t t l eo r n ot u r n ing is required.lncreases or decreasesin elevation may be added.
Thesearethe f ivemajorchangesthat can be engineered
into
a pieceof asphalt.With the addit.ion
of bumpysections,whichwerenot
plannedby the designers,
you haveall the possiblesituations.
In orderto
you
must understand
understand
a roadortrack,
its characteristics.
Each
of thesechangeshasa directinfluenceon you andyour bike'sprogress
throughthe corner.In orderto ridequicklyandsafely,you must understandhow thesechangesaffectyou and how you can besthandlethem.
Banked turns are comfortable for most ridersUnderstanding them
allows you to take the
full advantages they offer.

Positive Gamber or Banking

Most everyoneis comfortableridinga sectionof roadthat has
s o m eb a n k i n go r p o s i t i v ec a m b e rT. h eb a n k i n gh a st h e e f f e c to f h o l d i n g
y o u u p b y c r e a t i n ga " w a l l "t o p u s ha g a i n sw
t i t h y o u rt i r e s T
. h eb a n ka l s o
your
you
slows
bikedown evenmorewhen
enterthe turn becauseof the
increased
resistance
createdby this wall.Gravityis workingfor you.pulli n gy o ua n dt h e m a c h i n ed o w nt h e w a l l ,c o u n t e r a c t i nt g
h eo u t w a r d - b o u n d
cornering forces. Someexamples?
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

you rodeit.Onthe high banksat Daytona,afterridingseverallapson the

outsidetri-ovalin a recordattempt,the bankedsectionsactuallyappeared
angle.lt is easyto
f latto me andthe pit arealookedtiltedat a 2O-degree
be deceivedby evena smallamountof bankingbecauseyou'releanedover
and don'thavea straightviewof the road.Also,the bankingbecomesless
yourspeed.
noticeable
as you increase
Alwaysdesignyourapproachso you can usethe bankingto
yourbestadvantage.
Go low in the bank,closeto the insideof the track,at
t h e p o i n tw h e r et h e b a n k i n gb e g i n st o f l a t t e no u t .T h i sg i v e sy o u a n dy o u r
b i k et h e m a x i m u mh o l d i n ga d v a n t a gteh e b a n k i n gh a st o o f f e rb e f o r ey o u r
bikebeginsto swingoutwardon the f lattersectionfrom the forces
generatedby acceleration.
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 ty o u s w i n g
aroundyour headon a rubberband.Thefasteryou swingit,the heavierthe
weightbecomesf rom centrifugalforce,andthe moreit triesto swingto
the outside.Thebanking"holds"you in untilyou moveontothe f latter
sectionof roadthat follows.
Youcan go into bankedturnsfasterthan it seemsyou can
The banking
whenyou sizeup the turn and lookat it f rom pastexperience.
w i l l f o o l y o ui n i t i a l l ya n dy o uw i l l p r o b a b l yg o i n t oi t m u c ht o o s l o w l y .
Also.whenyou areexitinga bankedsectionof roadto a flatter
surface,you muststraightenthe bikesinceit will dragmoreeasilywhen
lf you arein a bankedsectionand areleaned
the bankingis gone.Example:
overto the pegs,you must leanthe bikeoverevenmorein relationto the
tracksurfaceto keepthat degreeof turningradiuswhenthe bankis gone.
you must leanthe bikeoverat leastten more
lf the bankis 1Odegrees,
degreesto keepthat turningradiuson the f latterroadsurface.
than doesa flat
The bankinggivesyou moregroundclearance
sectionof track.I haveknownriderswho couldrun laptimeson racetracks
that wereverycloseto recordtimesandwho had racedthat samecourse
that one sectionof trackwas
3Oor 40 times,who f inallydiscovered
banked-thatwaswhy theycouldgo so fast in that part.Afterknowing,
theywent evenquicker.lf you don't discovertrackangles,you might be
youfeelyou shouldn'tbewithouteven
gettingawaywith ridingmaneuvers
s e h i n dy o u ra b i l i t i e sy,o uc a n
k n o w i n gw h y .O n c ey o ud i s c o v etrh e r e a s o n b
begin to use the track to your advantage. Wittthisimproveyourriding?

Off-Camberor Negative-GamberTurns
as their
I don't knowany riderswho regardoff-camberturns
favorites.
Theseturnsleaveiessroomfor errorand definitelydo not inspire
confidence.
A turnthat beginswith a bankand endsoff-camberdemands
t h e m o s tc h a n g e sa n da d j u s t m e n tisn l e a na n g l e sl.n o r d e r t oc o n t i n u e
aroundit, the bikemustbe leanedoverfarther.Theeffectis muchthe
sameas goingf rom a bankedto a f lat surface.Gravityis now working
a g a i n syt o u ,p u l l i n gy o ua n dy 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
you set up off-camberturnsso that you are in the
Therefore,
clearance.
-camber
the oppositestrategy
off
situationas shorta time as possible-just

''rffil

asfor a bankedturn.Usestraightlineson the partsof the trackthat are

off-camberbecauseyou don'twantto be committedto your maximum
leananglegoinginto an off-cambersection.ldeally,you wouldonlycommit yourselfto the maximumleanangleat the veryendof the section.
An effectivealternative
is to set up so that yourgreatestleaning occursin the middleof the off-cambersection.lt hasbeencalled
"squaringoff" a turn or "goingslow in the slow parts."lt refersto the type
o f t u r nh a n d l i n g
t h a t a l l o w sy o ut o s t r a i g h t eonu t t h e n e g a t i v cea m b e ra s
m u c ha s p o s s i b l eB. a s i c a l l y o
, e nm a k e
, ue n t e ra s v e r t i c a l lays p o s s i b l et h
t h e m a j o rs t e e r i n gc h a n g ea n de x i ta s s t r a i g hat s p o s s i b l e .
Riderstendto seethe basicturn moreclearlybecauseit is
moreobviousthanthe camberchange.This is one of the deceptive
tricks
of the racetrack
designer.
The rideris suckedintothe turn becausehe is
b a s i n gh i s r i d i n gt a c t i c so n w h a tt h e t u r n l o o k sl i k ei n s t e a do f t a k i n gi n t o
a c c o u ntth e c h a n g e si n c a m b e tr h a t c a ns o s e r i o u s layf f e c th i m .H em u s t
r e a l i z teh a tg r a v i t yi s n o w p u l l i n gt h e b i k ei n t h e o p p o s i t ed i r e c t i o no f h i s
i n t e n d e tdu r n ,a n dt h et e n d e n c o
y f t h e b i k et o g o t o w a r dt h e o u t s i d ei n
an off-camberturn is dramatic
. Wittthishetp?

Flat Turns
Turnswith no negativeor positivecamber-flatturns-willnot
increase
or decrease
the leananglenecessary
to negotiatethem at a

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.

constantradiusor constantspeed.TurnTwo at Daytonais a greatexample

of a basically
flat turn with no radiuschanges,and mostfast ridersprefer
to rideit on the inside.In turnsof this kind,the fastestway throughis the
straightestline-it'salsothe shortestdistancearoundthe turn.In a f latturn
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 sa r a d i u sc h a n g ei s p u t i n f o r
v a r i a t i o nT.h e s et u r n sc o m m i t h e r i d e rt o h i s m a x i m u ml e a na n g l ea n d
m a x i m u ms p e e df o r t h e l o n g e spt e r i o do f t i m e .S i n c ey o u ' r eg o i n gt o b e
r r l a t e ry, o u
r i d i n ga r o u n dt h e i n s i d ea t m a xs p e e da n d m a xl e a ns o o n e o
Takinga wide entryintoa flat
mayaswell get downto it at the beginning.
a c h a n c et o p a s sy o u .
t u r no n l yg i v e ss o m e o n e
Constant Radius

Off Camber

,--F1

---=-'-t-

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

'

Positive Camber

Ghangesin Radius
Designers
changethe radiusof a turn to put an additionaltwist
i nt h e a c t i o nH
. e r ea r et h e b a s i ck i n d so f r a d i ia n dh o wt o h a n d l et h e mo n
the track.
(CR)turn neither
Gonstant-RadiusTurn: A constant-radius
(tightens)
(widens)nor decreases
as you go throughit. As menincreases
s R ) t u r nw i t h n o c a m b e r
t i o n e da 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 u( C
c h a n g e sy,o uw i l l e v e n t u a l lwyi n d u p o n t h e i n s i d eo f t h et u r nf o r m o s to f i t .
lf it is a shorthairpin,you may haveotheroptionsas to how to set up the
e n t r ya n de x i t .I n a r e a l l yt i g h t h a i r p i ny o u m u s tm a k ea n a b r u p t u r n i n g
c h a n g e - i st h o u l db 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 h e r ei s n o r u l ea st o h o w i t s h o u l db e d o n e .
t usr n h a sc a m b e cr h a n g e si ,t c a na c ta s a
lf a constant-radiu
s ) t u r nF. o re x a m p l ei ,f
d e c r e a s i n g - r a d i(uDsR )o r a s a n i n c r e a s i n g - r a d i(ul R
the turn is bankedon the entryandf lattensout on the exit it will have
radius.lf it is flat on
exactlythe sameeffecton your bikeas the decreasing
lt is very
the entryand bankedon the exit,it actsas an increasing-radius.
as well-to ridethe turnsthe way
commonfor amateurs-andprofessionals
they appearat speedand not the way they reallyare.lt is veryeasyto have
yourattentionstuckto the radiusof a turn so you don't seethe camber
Thus,knowingthe locationof the camberchangeswill helpyou
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
(DR)turn,the designertriesto
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
turn hasat leasttwo apexes.
Tryto cheat
the turn out of one apexand it will get you backwith the other.In a DRturn
you mustridewhat is there:don'ttry to makethe turn into somethingit
is not.Somemisleading
informationhasbeencirculatingfor yearswhich
saysyou "lateapex"DRturns.Thismaybe true in a verytight DRturn,but
in a largerturn you mustdouble-apex
the turn.
Youcan makethe turn longerfor yourselfby takinga wide
entryline.This keepsyour speedup andcuts down on the abruptness
of
the actualsteeringchange.A DRturn that is f lat on the entranceand
bankedat the exitwill act as an lR or CRturn,dependinguponthe severity
of the banking.lf a turn is constructedso that it forcesyouto go slowat
somepoint,you mustdecidewhereto go slow insteadof lettingthe
designerdecidefor you.By figuringa turn correctly,
you ridethe track-the
trackdoesnot rideyou.lf you makea big mistakein line,you haveprobablyjust beensuckedinto ridingthe trackthe way it looksratherthan
the way it is.
Increasing-Radius(lR) Turns: Thisturn widens-itsangle
becomeslesssevere-asyou go through it. An lR givesyou the safestfeeling becauseyou haveroomat the endto makechangesand corrections.
Youcan easilyrecoverfrom going into an lR turn too fast becauseyou
haveplentyof room.An lR turn can be changeddramatically
by the camberof the road,just as the DRturn can be.lf it is bankedgoingin, andf lat
or off-camberat the exit,it will act as a CRor DRturn,dependingupon
how much negativecamberit has.The radius of the turn is usually
second in importance to its camber. Areyouaware
of this?
Series of Turns: Two or moreturnslinkedtogetherin sucha
way as to influenceeachotherarecalleda seriesof turns.They'reusually
designedto slow you down at a placewhereyou otherwisecould go faster.

Some places you have to use

a real wrde line so you don't
scrub speed off, but not
always.

Forexample.the entryinto a two-turn"S" is fasterthanthe exit' lf the

entryis takenasfast as possible.it will spoilthe exit.lf the entryis
a p p r o a c h ewd i t ht h e e x i ti n m i n d ,t h e r i d e rw i l l s a c r iifc es o m es p e e dg o i n g
in for a moreconstantdriveout of the turn.Oftenthis is a betterstrategy
than havingto backoff and set up againfor the exit.
It is verydistractingto makethis kindof changein the second
turn in a series.KennyRobertshasoftensaidthat you mustgo slow in
someplacein orderto go fast in others-his"slow,"of course,wouldput
mostof us intocardiacarrest.Hereagain,the designersattemptto lull us
i n t ot a k i n ga c t i o ne i t h e tr o o s o o no r t o o l a t e .I n s o m eh i g h - s p e ecdh i c a n e s ,
beingtemperatewith the throttleon the way in and settingup a smooth
suchas thoseat Pocono,
exit is worth overa secondin laptime.Chicanes
this?
Canvouapplv
Daytonaand SearsPointare good examplesUphill, Downhill and Crested Turns: Whena track
it cancreatesomeexcitingchangesin how it must
changesin elevation,
s f a t r a c kd o n ' tp o s ea n yp a r t i c u . p h i l la n dd o w n h i lsl e c t i o n o
b e r i d d e nU
p
r
o
b
l
e
m
i
n
c
o
n
j
u
n
c
t
i ow
n i t h a t r i c k yc a m b e rc h a n g e ,
t
h
e
y
a
r
e
lar
unless
r a d i u sc h a n g eo r b o t h .D i f f i c u l t i eisn u p a n dd o w ns e c t i o n su s u a l l ya r i s e
wherethereis a crestor sharprisefollowedby a downhill.At this pointthe
Brakingover
bikewillfeel lightandwill actuallybe lighton the pavement.
pressure
the
bikeis
of
downward
the
a crestedhill is trickybecause
This resultsin lesstraction.
lessened.
A turn with a crestin the middleis alsotrickybecausethe bike
tendsto standup andgo towardthe outside.Again,thereis a lossof
traction.lt hasthe sameaffectas a short patchof off-camberroad.lt is
bestto go overa crestedroadas verticallyas possible.Anvexamples?
On uphillsectionswhereyou mustbrake,you havethe advantagethat you can stopor slowthe bikefasterthan on f lat or downhill
sections.lf the hillthat you'rebrakingon hasa 15-degreeslope,the force
of gravitypullingyou backanddown givesyou a 27 percent betterstoppingfactor.Youcan usethebrakes27 percent harderwithoutlocking
t h e mu p ,a n dt h a t ' sa l o t !O n a d o w n h i lsl e c t i o nt h e s i t u a t i o ni s r e v e r s e d ;
p r o b l e mw i t h u p h i l l d
, ownt h e b r a k e sl o c km o r ee a s i l yT. h eo t h e rp o s s i b l e
h i l la n dc r e s t e dr o a d si s t h a t b i k e st e n dt o w h e e l i eo v e rt h e m .T h i si s n ' t
reallya problemunlessyou haveto makea turn whilethe f rontwheelis
s t i l li n t h e a i r .
Straight Sections: Thesearestraightportionsof trackwith
area greatplaceto relax
no turnsor changesto affectyou.Straightaways
Riders
for a secondor two. Checkto seethat you are breathingregularly.
their
efficiency.
oftenholdtheirbreathduringintenseriding,which slows
L a c ko f o x y g e ni s o n ec a u s eo f m u s c l ec r a m p sw h i l er i d i n g .
is made
The roadyou ride,whetherit be publicor racetrack,
seriesof turnsand
camber,radius,elevation,
up of the f ivecomponents:
yourapproach
determines
combined
straights.Howthesecomponentsare
t o r i d i n gt h e m .n o t o n l yw h e r es p e e di s t h e c o n s i d e r a t i obnu, tf o r s a f e t y ' s
sakeas well.The purposeof a racetrackis to test and retestyour riding
to be difficult.Yourtask is to unravel
skill;it is intendedby the designers
by
of the construction usingyour knowledgeto youradvanthe mysteries
and no
tage.No amountof braverywill substitutefor understanding,

amountof suspension
changeswill entirelyovercomethe forces
generated
by thesef ivecomponents.
Doyougetit?

Note: Track Surfaces

Most racetracksand canyonroadsare constructedfrom
asphaltcompounds.
Asphaltcan be,andoftenis, mixedwith varioussubstancesto createdifferenttypesof roadsurfaces.Racetracks,for
i n s t a n c eo,f t e nh a v eg r o u n d - u ps e as h e l l so r g r a n i t ec h i p sm i x e di n t ot h e
asphaltto givetiresa bettersurfaceto biteon, andthereforebettertraction.Thecompoundingis oftenverydifferentfrom trackto trackand road
to road,which is one of the reasonstire choicehasbecomea verycritical
e l e m e nitn r a c i n g .
Otherfactors,especially
heat,playa hugerolein determining
whattirewill be the bestthat day.An overcastdaythat doesnot allowthe
tracksurfaceto heatup may requirea differenttire than a sunnyday,even
if airtemperature
is the same.Asphaltsurfacesthat aredarkerin color
heatup morethan lighter-colored
sections.Thisis the caseat SearsPoint
Racewayin Sonoma,California,
wherethe trackis a compositeof threeor
four differentasphaltcompounds.
Tiresthat workverywell in one area
tendto slidearoundin others.And tiresthat work well in the morning,
beforethe trackhasheatedup, sometimes
will not providegoodtraction
in the afternoon-and
viceversa.
Theamountof rubberon the trackalsomakesa differencein
traction.I haveheardit saidthat tractionis betterafteran auto racewhere
a lot of rubberhasbecomeimbeddedin the asphalt;l'vealsoheardriders
say it was not as good. My own observationis that laptimes arefaster
afterthe trackhasa goodlayerof rubberon it, especially
from an automobilerace-providing
therearen'tloosepiecesof rubberon the track
surface.
Tiresandasphaltarean entiretechnologyuntothemselves
and
l w i l l n o tt r y t o d e a l w i t ht h e m i n t h i sw r i t i n g B
y
o
u
. yt h et i m e
r e a dt h i s ,t h e
technologywill alreadyhavechangedandtherewill 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
Therider'sultimateweaponis his abilityto performthe actions
of riding,andto be able to observe and remember what he has
done. This is a keyto improvement.

Don't Badmouth Yourself

about
Manyridershavea bad habitof talkingin negatives
gotten
"l
better
a
"l
have
go
should
theirriding. didn't in hardenough,"
"l
driveoff the corner,""l don't usethe brakesthat well," needto get a
betterlinethroughthis turn."Didn't.Can't.Shouldn'thave,Don't,Too
much,Not enough.Most ridersusethesenegativewordsmuchtoo often.
Howcan informationaboutwhat he didn'tdo right,or thingsthat were
almost-ornot quite-done,everimprovehis riding?lf a personis ridingat
a l l h e i s a l r e a d yd o i n gm o r er i g h tt h a nw r o n g .T h ej o b i s t o a d dt o t h o s e
correctactionsand drop the incorrect.Doyoudothis?

You Gan't Correct What You Didn't Do

10

T h eo n l yw a yt o m a k ec h a n g e si n y o u rr i d i n gi s t o c h a n g ew h a t
done.not what
was done.To do that you haveto knowexactlywhatrye5;
washyour
didn't
last
lap-you
on
that
lot
things
of
Was!:! Youdidn'tdo a
just
else
abouteverything
car.you didn'tgo to church,andyou didn'tdo
i
n
t
o
t
h
e
t
r
a
po f
y
o
u
f
a
l
l
d
i
d
.
D
o
n
'
t
w
h
a
t
t h e r ei s t o d o i n l i f e .Y o uo n l yd i d
tryingto correctyour ridingby lookingat whatyou didn'tdo.Thisleaves
y o u n o t h i n gt o c h a n g e".l d o n ' tb r a k el a t ee n o u g hi n T u r nT w o , "s o u n d s
innocentenough,but what informationdoesit containfor you to improve?
lf you sayinstead,"l startedbrakingat the asphaltpatchjust beforethe
numberthreemarketand now I knowI can brakeevenlaterthanthat"'you
knowwhat was doneand now havesomethingto change.
I t ' ss i m p l e - t h i n o
k f y o u rr i d i n gi n n e g a t i v easn dy o u d o n ' th a v e
it
anythingto change.Lookat the way it was andyou havesomethingto
eh
. a n g i n gs o m e c h a ng e .N e g a t i vteh i n k i n gi s i n c r e di b l yn o n - p r o d u c t i vG

thing you didn't do is impossible. Thinkingnegatively

aboutyour riding putsyou intoa maze.A mirrormazeworkslikethat-it givesyou
nowhereto startyourthinkingfrom,thendisorientsyou by coveringup
whereyou'vebeenandwhereyou cango. Youhaveno reckoningpoint.
The mazetriesto makeyou losea f irm pointof directionby openingup
manypossibilities.
Whenyou havea f irm ideaof whereyou camefrom you
can alwaysgo backto that pointand startover.lt's the sameon a race
track.lf you knowjust what you did.you havea stablebasef romwhichto
makecorrectionson the next lap.Wiltit workforyou?

Riding is One Thing-Riding Plus Being Aware

of What You Are Doing is Ouite Another
You haveonlyso muchattentionto spendon whatyou are
d o i n g y, o u rt e n - d o l l abr 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 ga n d n o n eo n
observingwhat you'redoing,you can go quitefast.But if you spendfive
dollarson ridingandf iveon observingyourselfandwhat you'redoing,you
havesomethingto lookat andchangewhenyou 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 developthis wonderful abilityto rideand observe
whatyou'redoingat the sametime?Yousimplydecideto do it.You make
an effort to look at what you are doing while you are doing it.
Try it. lf you alreadyhavea recordof your laptimeson the track,go out
and makean effortto observeyourself.Thefirstthing you'llnoticewill be
that you went slowerwhiledoingboththe ridingand observing.lt costsa
lot of attentionto do boththingsat once.Youwon't be willingto rideas
hard.Don'tgiveup.You'respendinga lot on lookingand 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 entirepracticesessionon the trackandtry to
you'redoing.Comebackto the pits andthink it over.
observeeverything
Then,takethe nextpracticeandjust ride.You'llnoticeoneof two things:
1) Youwentfaster,or 2) the ridingbecamelessworkthan before.lt's also
possiblethat both things happened-youwent fasterwith lesseffort.
Ridingwith lesseffortmeansthat you'respendingmoreof
yourattentionon what'simportantand lesson just beingreadyfor surprises.lf you don't knowwhat'scomingup in a turn,you will be tense.lf
you havetakensometime to observewhatwas happening,
you 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 observewhatyou're
doing it will cost you a lot of attention.After you becomemorecomfortablewith it youwill spendlessattentionon it. lt maytakea ridera yearor
moreto decideit's okayto slidethe reartire a bit on certainpartsof the
track.He mightpick up oneto five secondsby doingit. But beforecoming
to that decision.which maytakeonlya splitsecondon the track,he might
havebeenspendingalmostall of his attentionin tryingto keepthe rear
w h e e l f r o ms p i n n i n ga n ds l i p p i n g .
Observing
whereandwhat happenedon the trackwill make
partof riding.A rider
somethinglikea littlerearwheelslidea predictable
who observesa drop in laptimes,andalsonoticeswherehe was sliding
andwhat broughtit about,hassomethingto basea decisionupon-hecan
decideif the slidingwas helpfulor if it didn'twork andshouldbe stopped
altogether. Doesit make sense?

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 observedwhatyou did to causeit, you will not be ableto strengthen
the actionsthat worked.Riderswho just rideand don'tobservebelieve
that everything
that happenedon that lap mustbe reproduced
exactlyand
in the sameorderfor themto repeata goodperformance.
Thisis oneof the
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 observingwhat you did and by decidingwhichfactorsworked
best.Observing what you do is the key to learning by your
mistakes.
Youcan easilycheatyourselfout of the knowledgeto be
gainedf rom mistakes.
Let'ssayyou got into a turn a littletoo hardand
your
you wouldtry to get backto that good
wentwide of
line.Normally,
line-towhat worked.That'sf ine,but there'sa twist.lf you "rideout your

mistake,"you will learnhow that differentlineworks.Tryingdesperately

to get backto the idealonceyou'vemadea mistakewon't tell you anything
exceptthat you'vemadea mistake.Ridingout that mistakewill giveyou
valuable
i n f o r m a t i oanb o u th o wt o h a n d l ei t s h o u l di t e v e rh a p p e na g a i n .
you do may be a littlewrong,but at leastyou'll
Everything
knowwhat happens-andthat'sthe startingpointfor change.Ridershave
beenknownto adapta completelynewmethodof ridingaftermakingmistakes.Ride a mistake out and see what happens. lt will costyou
moreattentionto try to keepsomethingfrom happeningthanto go
through with what you have started. Do youthinkit witt work?

By the Time You Notice a Mistake lt ls Too Late

To Gorrect lt
Youmay haveheardthis before-it'strue.Oncea mistake
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
The rootof the mistakeis the controlchangeor decisionsyou
madeandacteduponjust beforethe problemoccurred.
A goodexampleof this is goingintoa turn too witJe.Therider
got therebecauseit waswherehe had pointedthe bikethe lasttime he
had madea steeringchange.Most riderswouldsay,"l didn'tturn soon
enough."Thatisn'ttrue.Actually,he keptit pointingstraighttoo long.lt
will takea lot longerfor the riderto realizewhat happenedif he begins
lookingfor the problemfrom when he noticedit than if he goesbackto the
earlierpointof wherehe was steeringbeforehe beganthe turn.He has to
realize that he was operating from an earlier decision to go
thisapplyto you?
straight, not the later one to turn. Does

lf You Decide Upon the Wrong Explanation for a

Mistake, the Solutions for It Will Also Be Wrong
Thisis anotherbasicreasonfor beinga carefulobseruerof
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 linethroughTurnThree?What is the bestline
throughanycorner?Why is one rider'slineso differentfrom another's?

5O Years of lmprovement
Linesusedto be easierto figureout.A lot of racingtheoryhas
beendevelopedin the last 50 yearsof racing,and that's a lot of historyto
backup the ideasthat still hauntus from the 1950sand earlier.
On a
motorcycle,
it was reckoned,
the straightestlinethroughthe turn was the
fastestway,or "line."Butthingshavechangedtoday.lt was truethen,but
it's not necessarily
true today.
Physicsand naturallawshavenot changed-tiresand suspen'SOs
sionshave.In the
and earlier,riderswerelimitedby the lackof
sophisticatedtechnology.Theyhadto takethe smoothest,straightest,
shortestlinethroughthe turnsbecausethe hard-rubber
tire compounds
and non-compliant
of the earlydaysmadeabruptchangesin
suspensions
over-enthusiastic
braking
direction,brakingon roughor rippledsurfaces.
whileleanedoverand othercurrent-dayridingpossibilities
simplyout of
State of the ail? Good
enough to win laconia
in 1965.. . .

14

t h e q u e s t i o nl .f y o u h a do w n e da s e to f D u n l o pS p o r tE l i t e si n 1 9 5 Oa n d
h a dg o n et o t h e l s l eo f M a no n a 1 9 8 O sK a w a s a kGi P Z5 5 O ,y o u p r o b a b l y
wouldhavewon the race.That'sa streetbikewith streettirestoday.
T i r ea n ds u s p e n s i otne c h n o l o ghy a v em a d ei t p o s s i b l teo r i d e
m o r et h a no n e l i n et h r o u g ha t u r na n dm a k ei t w o r k .R i d i n gs t y l e sh a v e
c h a n g e dv e r yd r a m a t i c a l sl yi n c et h e 19 5 0 s ,b u tt h e o u t d a t e dr i d e ri n f o r mationf romthosedaysstill confusessomeof us in the '80s.A freshlook
at riderinformationandtechnologycan 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 seriesof turnshasa "product."lt is that pointwhere
you can say,"l'm donewith that turn now-here'swhat I did this time,
here'swhat happened.
Now,what can I do to improveit?"
Thesimplestwayto recognize
that spot is to rememberwhere
youwerebraveenoughto think,"l couldgo throughthat one quicker."
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

you did in the turn
is neatlywrappedup;you knowthat whatyou did eitherworkedor it
didn't.Somepartsof the productwereassembled
correctly-maybe
some
t a sa l o c a t i o no n t h e t r a c k w
w e r e n ' tT. h i sp r o d u c h
, h i c hf o r e x a m p l em i g h t
be a pointthreefeetfrom the outsideedgeor 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 sy o uo f e x a c t l yw h e r ey o u ' r e
f i n i s h e dw i t h t h et u r nf o r t h a t l a p .

Other Factors
Otherfactors,besidesyour locationon the track,areimportant
partsof the product:what gearyou'rein,yourspeedat that point,your
b o d yp o s i t i o no n t h e b i k e .U s u a l l ys o m ea m o u n o
t f l e a na n g l eT. h ea m o u n t
you
of control
haveoverthe bike.Thesteeringactionyou are-orarenottaking.Throttleaction.Tiretraction.Yourimpressions
of whatyou did and
how well it workedout.And a comparison
of this passthroughthe turn
with yourearlierpasses.All of these,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
onthis?
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 slightlydifferentfor eachbikeand rider.Your product is a known
destination along a known route. Youaresupposedto knowwhere
y o u ' r eg o i n go n a t r a c k ,a n dt h e p r o d u c t i s t h e p l a c ey o u a r eg o i n g T
. he
guy with the bestproduct wins.Theproduct andsub-products arethe
planof action,basedupon
resultof a pre-determined
and pre-decided
your knowledgeof the partsof that turn,andyourknowledgeof howto get
y o u rm a c h i n ea r o u n di t .
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

16

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 .

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,it is easyto believethat 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
g i l l m a g i c a l ltyu r no u t O Ka n d
your laptimeswill improvebecauseof this knowledge.
lt isn'ttrue.
I onceexperimented
with showingothersthe "right line"
throughthe turnsof a racetrack.I had studentsfollowme lap afterlapat
moderatespeedsas I did preciselythe samething at precisely
the same
placeon the trackeachlap.Thestudentwas thenaskedto repeatthe
procedure
that had beenshownto him. I neverfounda studentwho could
do it exactly.EddieLawsonobservedthis samething while instructing
Galifornia Superbike School studentsat Loudon.Onlyone riderout of
25 was ableto reproducehis lineafterbeingshown.(Actuallytwo riders
wereableto do it. Theotherwas my 12yearold son,who Eddieoffered
to sponsorafterwards.
)
l've placedmyselfin the samesituationand askeda better
riderto showme his "lines" aroundthe course.Thecoursewas Ontario
M o t o rS p e e d w a y3,. 19 m i l e sa n d 2 0 t u r n s ;t h e r i d e rw a st h e n - 2 5 O cU
c .S.
c h a m p i o nD, a v i dE m d ew
, h o w a sa l l b u t u n b e a t a b lteh a tv e a ro n t h e
1/q-liter
machines.
We went aroundthe trackat a good practicepaceas I
carefullyobservedwhat 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'splanwill
be baseduponhis strengthsandweaknesses.
His lineis the resultof how
his strengthsandweaknesses
f it together.
Forexample,riderswho usethe maximumamountof lean
a n g l et h e b i k eh a st o o f f e rw i l l u s u a l l yd e s i g nt h e i r" l i n e " t o u s el e a n
angleto theiradvantage.
Their"line" is oftentight to the insideof the
turn.By contrast,a riderwho doesnot useall of the groundclearance
a v a i l a b lteo h i mw i l l d e s i g nh 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 et o
s p e n ds o m u c ht i m e l e a n e do 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 i n ga s s o o na s p o s s i b l es,t r a i g h t etnh e m a c h i n ea n d m o v ea w a yf r o mt h e
t u r na sv e r t i c a l lays p o s s i b l eA. l l r i d e r sw i l l d e s i g nt h e i rt u r n sa r o u n dt h e
strongpointsthey believethey 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 you can
Followinganotherridercan be veryinstructional
determinehis plan by watchinghim. lf his plan is betterdesignedto
handlea turn thanyours,andyou can seewhy it is better.you mayhave
learnedhow to useyourown abilitiesto betterhandlesometracksituat i o n s .T h ev a l u ei n f o l l o w i n ga n o t h e 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 e f i t . l t ' sn o t
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 dy o u ro w n r i d i n gb e c a u s o
p
l
a
n
c
o
u
n
t
s
.
t
h
a
t
t
h
e
i n l e a r n i n tgh e l i n e ; i t i s l e a r n i n g

Basic Goal
Yourbasicgoalin anyturn is getting through the turn with
increased rnph, decreased time spent in it and adequate control
of the bike. Youare lookingfor drive out of the turn that will carryyou to
the nextturn or downthe straightin the shortestamountof time with the
greatestamountof speed.Of course.you muststill be in controlof the
bike.Youbalancethe factorsof speedandtime to get the bestproduct.
Yet it is possibleto comeout of a turn fasterthan beforeandstill not
d e c r e a syeo u rl a pt i m e .T u r n sc a nS u c ky o u i n t om a k i n gm i s t a k e lsi k et h a t '

Turn Balancing
Gettingthe bestproduct f rom a turn requiresturn baly o u rs p e e do 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 s i s w h e r ey o u b a l a n c e
amountof time it takesyou to get throughit. The mostcommonmistake
ridersmakeis to go intothe turnsfasterandfaster,then comeout of them
at the samespeedor slower.lt's easier to go into a turn faster than it
is to come out faster. Going in too fast can Gost you your drive
coming out. You'vegot to be ableto carrya fasterentrancespeed
throughthe exitof the turn to improveyour laptimes.Goingin too fast,
t h e nf o u l i n gu p i n t h e m i d d l eo f t h e t u r n ,w i l l l o w e ry o u re x i ts p e e d .
Turn balancing is likeyourten dollarsworth of attention.
Figurethat you haveonlyso manymilesper hour(MPH)to spendin a turn
on anyparticularlapfor any particularline.lf you spendyour MPH
g f t h et u r n ,y o ud o n ' th a v et h e ma t t h e e n d .
u n w i s e la
y tthebeginnino
Excessspeedat the wrongtime cancostyou time.Don'tjump at the f irst
speedyou haveaSyou exitone
chanceyou get to go faster.Theincreased
you
all the wayto the next.Don't
that
carry
turn will be addedto the speed
g 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
b u r nu p M P Ha t t h e b e g i n n i n o
yourcorrectproduct: Increased MPH, decreasedtime spent in the
turn and the bike still under control at the turn exit.

Find the Product

18

Howdo youfind the product? Let'sassumeyou haveridden

the trackfor a few lapsand havef iguredout what the designerhasengi-

neeredintothis pieceof tarmac.Youhavestudiedthe radiuschangesand

the camberchanges(seeChapterOne,"TheRoadYou Ride").You'resuspiciousof the turnson a racetrackand knowthey'remeantto challenge
andfool you.With this informationyou havea good ideaof how everyturn
affectsyou andyour bike.Youbecomeawareof what the product is for
you andyour machineby applyingthat informationand experience
from
riding.Nowyou havea startingpoint,a placeon the trackto workwith,
correctand change,to makedecisionsabout.
Having a product in mind for a turn is like having a
road map and a destination for a trip. You'dhavea very hardtime
gettingto your destinationif you didn'tknowwhereit was.Youcan'tget
from NewYorkto KansasCityunlessyou knowwhereKansasCityis!
Obtaininga preciseproduct for a turn is the f irststepin
decidinghowto improvethat product.Having no product is like
having no destination. Doyouagree?
Having your end point
(product) well known,
even in wide open
sweepers, creates
confidence.

'@.

'** %

.-ltt ,|&r,

'."6

End to Beginning
Youmustworkfrom the end backto the beginningof the turn
beforeyou go intothe turn,
to establishyourproduct. Decidein advance,
whereyou aregoingto exit.You mustbe ableto "see"the product of the
turn in your mindas you enterit. Thisenablesyou to keepthe piecesand
partsof the turn workingtowardthat product.Thisoverview allowsyou
to arriveat the productor destination.
to f igureout eachstepnecessary
lost by continuingto "look"at a
Youcan becomehopelessly
turn from beginningto end insteadof 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

Onceyou knowwhereyou'regoing,you can spendyourattentionmore

wiselyon the problemsthat comeup in the turn,suchas tire slippageand
passing.You'llhaveplentyof sparechangeleftto handlethem.Otherwise,
you will alwaysbe spendingtoo much
withouta product and destination,
attentionon what is goingto happenat the endof the turn.Keepingyour
p r o d u c t i n m i n dh e l p sy o u h a n d l et h e u n c e r t a i n t y .
Onceyou havea product, whetherit is perfector not,you can
Any changesyou makein
useit as a yardstickto measureyour progress.
the turnwill changethe productsomewhat.Youwill be ableto tell whether
yourspeedthrougha
thosechangesareworkingor not.As you increase
turn.the product will changeslightly-orperhapsa greatdealif you'rea
ridermaymakea changethat is threefeet back
An experienced
beginner.
product
from his previousproduct and one MPHfaster.A beginner's
maychange1Ofeet,and may be a gearhigherandfive MPHfasterduring
the courseof a dayon the track.A product givesyou somethingto shoot
for-somethingto change.lf you blowthe turn,you canalwaysgo backto
a l e s sa g g r e s s i voer s l o w e rp r o d u c t a n dg e tt h r o u g hi t w e l le n o u g h .

Locate the Product

Where and how you enter a turn is totally decided by
what and where the product is. Onlyrarelywill you go into a turn the
way it looksfrom the approachand haveit work out well in the end.New
riderscommonlybeginthe turn too earlybecausethey
and inexperienced
haveno product in mind.Evenproscan be seendoingit. Thisopensthe
doorto a lot of mistakesand uncertainty.
A product is made in stages, one step at a time. These
aremarkedby sub-products. Sub-products
stagesof its development
a l s oh a v ea l o c a t i o no n t h e t r a c ka n do t h e rf a c t o r st h a ta r es i m i l a tro a n
overallproduct. Leanangle,speed,bodyposition,amountof control,
to tell
steeringand morearethe sub-products you can useas indicators
you how you'reprogressing
towardyourproduct.
turnswill producemore
Medium-speed
and slower-speed
sub-products thanfasterturns.Youdon't havethe time to makea lot of
changesin fasterturns,and you mustmakethem as simpleas possibleto
fastturnsdo not
leaveyourselfenoughattentionto do it right.Usually,
h a v em u l t i p l ec a m b e o
r r e l e v a t i ocnh a n g e s - itfh e yd i dt h e yw o u l d n ' tb e
f a s tt u r n s .S l o wa n dm e d i u m - s p e et u
d r n so f t e nh a v et h e s ek i n d so f
c h a n g e sF. o r y o ut o
c h a n g e sa, n dt h e yo f t e nr e q u i r ed r a m a t i cs t e e r i n g
reachthe desiredproduct, thesechangesmustbe madeat preciseplaces
on the track.Thesearesub-products-places that require a change
in order to reach your product for that turn. Changesin gears,steeri n g ,t h r o t t l eb, r a k i n gb, o d yp o s i t i o na n dt h e p o i n t sw h e r ey o u l o o kf o r
coursemarkersareall sub-products. Anyexamples?

Point of Entry
20

Just as the end product hasa preciselocationon the track,

p o i n t ,t h e p o i n to f e n t r yw h e r et h e m a j o rs t e e r i n g
s o d o e st h e b e g i n n i n g

changefor the turn occurs.Thisis a sub-product. In bankedturns,your

entrypointshouldalwaysbe designedto usethe bankingto bestadvant a g ec o m i n go u t o f t h et u r n .W h a t h a p p e n tso y o u a n dt h e b i k ew h e nt h e
bankingflattensis alwaysa sub-product, a change.Precisely
locatethe
p o i n to f y o u rm a j o rs t e e r i n gc h a n g eg o i n gi n t ot h e t u r ns o y o uc a nh a v e
s o m e t h i n tgo 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 si s t o u s et h e
b a n k i n gt o y o u ra d v a n t a g eY.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 .
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 d
to maximum
speedand leananglefor a greaterportionof the turn,which leavesyou
feweroptionsfor corrections,
andyoufeelyou can'tor shouldn'tmakeany
c h a n g e si n y o u rl i n e .N o wp a s s i n gg, r o u n d i n g
o u t o n b u m p s s, t e e r i n g ,
throttleand gearchangesall becomemattersof greatconcernand
becomemoredifficultto do smoothly.Goingintoturnstoo soonis your
indicatorthat you do not haveyourproduct well defined,that you're
slightlylost.Not knowing where you're going in a turn invites you
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 gt h e t u r nt h e
r a t h e tr 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 .
w a y i t l o o k sa t t h e b e g i n n i n g
Workingout the product andsub-product providesa mapthrough
t h et u r n .

Faster ls Deeper
Here'sanotherway of lookingat it: if you makeyour major
steering
c h a n g ea 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 syeo u r
speedpastthat point-youwill runwideof the pointyou passedon the last
l a pb e c a u s e
o f t h e i n c r e a s ien c e n t r i f u g a l f o r clef t. h e b i k er u n sa b i t t o o
wideat the exit,you maybelieveyou wenttoo fast.Actually,the remedyis
to go in deeperbeforemakingthe steeringchange.The faster you wish
to go through a turn, the deeper you have to enter it to increase
your

speed

at the exit.what will changeif youdo this?

lf you go in deeperandfaster,the steeringchangewill needto

be moreabrupt,andthe bikewill not wantto turn as easilyas before.The
trickto goingin deeperis to go a bit slowerrightat the pointwhereyou
makeyoursteeringchange.Youmust learnto restrainyourself.As Kenny
Robertssays,"Learnto go slowto go fast."lf you do it right,you'llbe able
t o g o f a s t e rf r o mt h a t p o i n to n t h r o u g ht 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
up and down,lesscommittedto maximumleananglesand speed,so you
can adjustyourspeedand set up a product moreeasily.The impoftant
partis knowingwhere you went intothe turn so that you havesomething
t o c h a n g ea 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 not n e .

Old Racer's Tale

Anotherimpoftantpointis the falseideathat you must useup
allthe trackat the exitof a turn,whetheryou haveto or not.Perhaps
this
comesf romthe old corneringtheorythat saysyou beginthe turn wideand
exit it as wide as possible.Whereverit comesfrom, it not onlyisn'talways
true,but it can actuallypreventyou from goingfasterthroughthe turns.

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. Youcanfoolyourselfinto believingit can'tbe done
f a s t e rA. s y o u ' r ef i g u r i n gt h e t u r n sa n dd i a l i n gi n t h e p r o d u c t , y o u u s et h e
informationyou'vestoredup from the lastlapto decideif anychangescan
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 workforvou?

Hold That Line

The remedyfor this commonerroris to hold the bike to the
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 couldsafelyassumeyou can go
faster.lf the nexttime you keepeverything
the samegoingintothe turn,
u s i n gt h e s a m el i n eb u t i n c r e a s i nygo u rs p e e da, n dy o u s t i l lh a v ef i v ef e e t
of trackleft,you can go evenfasteryet.Thepointis,don'tfool yourself
by usingup the trackwhen it isn'tnecessary.
By handlingthe exitsof mostturnsin this way,you can begin
to establisha veryaccurateproduct and good sub-products. you're
e n g i n e e r i nt gh 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
t ,e c i d i n go n a
product, then makingadjustments
to improveuponit. Youarenot being
takenin by the track,makinguselesschangesjust becausethere'san
opportunityto do so.
A goodexampleof beingsuckedin on the entranceof a turn is
the old trapof the decreasing-radius
turn.Yougo in fast becauseyou can,
t h e nh a v et o p l a ys o m es e r i o u sc a t c h - u pa t t h e p o i n ti t b e g i n st o t i g h t e n .
Holdingyour speeddown on the entrancecan giveyouthe exactinformation you needto go faster-ifit's possible.
That'syouthinkingnow,not
suckingyourselfinto makingan error.Where
wiilyoutryit?

Your Results
Theproducts andsub-products giveyou a destination
and
places
accurately
you
markthe
where
canmakechangeson the road.They
areyour way of breakingdown the processinto smallerpartsyou can
understand
and change.Yourconfidenceand smoothness
increase
when
you knowwhereyou'regoingandwhatto do whenyou get there.Your
basicrequirement
as a rideris to observewhereyourproducts andsubproducts are,what to do at thosepointsandto rememberthem 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
Bellshieldhasmuch
What you seethroughyour smoke-tinted
to do with how wellyou ride.Youcan'tcountthe numberof objectsyou
can seeat anyone spoton the track,anymorethanyou cancountwhat
you seejust staringat the backof your hand.The moreyou look,the more
you see.Thisalsoappliesto the racetrack.Youcanstop at anyturn and
lookfor hoursat what'sto be seen.Butwhileyou'reracingor ridingdown
the road,you can'tstopto gaze.
Howdo you decidewhatto lookat,what is impoftantandwhat
is not?And how do you usewhatyou see?Howcanwhat you seehelpor
hinderyour riding?Thischapteris aboutseeingcorrectlyto improveyour
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
lookin f rontof youto obtaininformationaboutwhereyou areso you can
Manyridershavesaid,"Yougo
decidewhat to do with the information.
whereyou look."What theyfailedto sayis,"Youcango whereyou don't
look,but you rolloff the throttlefirst."Let'srestateit so the rideris more
in control:Look where you want to go.

Reference Points

24

You usereference points to find out whereyou areon the

track.This point is a spot or obiect of which you already know the
location. lt is somethingwhichclearlymarksa place.Youcanreferto this
objectfor information.Two reference points presenta betterpictureof
you're
your lOcation.
Threeor moregiveyou yourexactlocation.Example:
one
go
Main
to
Street-that's
lookingfor a storeon MainStreet.You
reference point. Youf ind the right block-that'stwo. Youcheckthe

numbersto seewhichdirectionthey run-that'sthree.Youdecidewhich

sideof the streetthe storeis on-that'sfour.Youfollowthe numberstill
you reachthe store.That'sfive or morereference points that you would
u s ei n f i n d i n ga n a d d r e s sO. 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 et h i n g .
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 speed,andthe situation
Thingshappenfast on a motorcycle
Whereyou areon the roadis veryimportantbecause
changesconstantly.
yourcourseof action.lf you don't know where you ale,
it determines
you also don't know what you're supposed to be doing. Yourlocation on a racetrackor roadcan be plottedin inchesandfeet-not in city
blocks-andthereareno streetsignson the track.lt's up to you to decide
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

An RP givee you information. lt signals where,

and how much, to
change what you do.

,W
l,''

:#
26

l "

l&ir

YourbestReference
Point(RP)is somethingeitheron the track
orverycloseto it: a patchof asphalt,a paintedline,a spot,a crack,curbing,anythingthat doesn'tmove.Objectstoo far f romthe tracksurfacewill
takeyourattentionawayf romthe track.YourRPsmustbe easyto find to
be usable.At timesyou must usethe edgeof the track,but a pointthat'sa
foot in f romthe edgeis betterbecauseit keepsyour attentionon the track.
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
a foot left over.Goingto the edgeof the trackmeansgoingto the limit and
to go to the edgeof
leavingyourselfno marginfor error.lt isn'tnecessary
the trackwheneverpossibleuntilyou feelcomfortabledoingso.The idea
that you must useallthe trackis likethe ideayou must"hangoff" the bike
-only do it when it becomesnecessary
and comfortable.
The RPsyou chooseto lookat shouldbe in your lineof vision
point
and alongyour pathof travel.Don'tchoosesomethingas a reference
just becauseit's thereand easyto see.lt might not be the right RPfor you
becauseit's too far off your lineor it doesn'tworkfor the speedyou're
t r a v e l i n gO. n t h e o t h e rh a n d ,d o n ' tn a r r o wy o u rv i s i o nt o o m u c ho r y o u ' l l
not havea wide enoughviewof the tracksurfaceto f ind whereyou are.
RPsthat aredirectlyon your lineof travelestablishyour locationon the
RPsalongthe sideestablishyour locationin relationto
tracklengthways.
the width of the track.The bottomlinefor an RPis,does it work? lt can
be anywhere-solongas it worksfor you.

How to Use A Reference Point

A reference
point is not merelysomethingyou canseeeasily
on or nearthe track,the reference point must mean something to
you when you see it. Everytime you passor approachit, this point
mustcommunicate
a messageto you,like,"Thisis whereI beginlooking
for my turn marker,"or "lf l'm to the rightof this too much l'll hit a bump,
but to the left of it I'm alright."Or,"Thisis whereI beginmy turn."Reference points are reminders of where you are or of what action you
must

take.

Canyou applythis?

You'llneedtwo or more reference points to accuratelyfind

yourselfon the track.You'vegot to knowwherethe RPsareso you can
r e l a t ey o u ro w n p o s i t i o nt o 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
du
, tif
you narrowyourattentionto oneobject,it becomesyouronly RPandyou
becomea victimof target fixation. Yougo to the RPbecauseyou don't
h a v ea n y t h i n ge l s et o d o .T h i so c c u r si n a p a n i cs i t u a t i o na n dc a n h a p p e n
anywhereon a racetrack.Youmust haveenoughRPsso that target
fixationdoesn'toccur.
Whenyou havesufficientRPsin a turn or on the track,the
scenemovingin f rontof you appearsto movesmoothly,likea wide-screen
70mm movie.Toofew andthe scenelookslikean old-timemovie,bouncing andjerkingalong.Havingonlyone RPis likewatchinga slideshow
frame-nicepicture,but wheredo you go from there?
\

f'

Having too few RPs

causes target fixation.
Enough RPs "open up"
the track, making it
appear larger, and costs
less of your attention.

No doubtyou'veheardthat you must lookdownthe road

need
you're
going,not whereyou are.This is good information-you
where
that secondRPto locateyourselfon the track.Lookingtoo closeto the
bikewon't helpyou find it.

Look Ahead for Reference Points

At 60 mph you'retravelingat 88 feet per second;at 120 mph
you'rehurtlingthroughspaceat 176 feet persecond.Thatsecondticksby
veryquickly,and if you'renot readyfor the nextmove,aheadof time,
you'llmakea mistake.Lookingaheadfor yourreference points and
sub-products givesyou time to preparefor the nextmoveso thereareno
surprisesand so everythinggoessmoothly.
This ideacan be takentoo far,however.l'veseenriderslooking
. h e yw e r e
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 ga t i g h t4 o - m p hc u r v eT
ignoringwhat was to be seenin front of them,likecurbingand holes.Still,
otherridersin the sameturn werelookingat the curbingand holes,but not
untiltheywerejust 2Ofeet in front of them.Bothof theseextremesare
they produceuncertainridingthroughthe turn and slow
unworkable;
cornering.

Where to Look

28

Two factorswill helpyou determinewhereto lookwhileyou're

r i d i n go r r a c i n g .
1. At speed,the f urtheraheadyou look,the sloweryou believe
you'regoing;the closerto yourselfyou look,the fasteryou believeyou're
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?
2. HavingenoughRPshasthe effectof opening up the
track, making it appear larger. When you look too far aheador too
it is
closeto the bike,the trackseemsto narrow.lf this beginshappening,
y o u rs i g n atlo e i t h e rc h a n g eR P so 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
sectionof track.
T h e s ea r eg u i d e l i n e sA.d j u s t h e R P ss o t h e s c e n ei s m o v i n ga t
the rightspeedfor you,and so you can seeenoughto keepthe track
"openedup."
Havingonlyone RPis likehavingonlyonecar.lf it breaksor
lf you haveanotheryou can easily
doesn'twork,you don'tgo anywhere.
usethe onethat works.With onlyonereference point' or car,it
lf youfind that yourattentionis fixed
becomestoo valuableand necessary.
you don't haveanother
point
it's
because
track
road,
or
on the
on one
readyto use.Thatone becomesvery valuableto you andyou over-useit.
Youdependuponit for too muchinformationand mightbeginstaringat it.
Youcan becomeslightlylostwhen it no longerletsyou knowwhereyou
areor whatto do. lf youfind yourattentionbecomingfixedon one RP,you
needto f ind anotherin the areaso the "movie"will smoothout.

Stepping Stones
Reference points areyoursteppingstonesto the products
andsub-products youwill producein a turn or seriesof turns.Theselittle
stepsleadto the majorchangesyou will maketo get the bikearoundturns
f a s t e ro r w i t h m o r ec o n fi d e n c eR
. P ss i g n atl h e p o i n t so n t h e t r a c kw h e r e
y o uw i l l m a k et h e s ec h a n g e s .

It's important to prck up good

RPs.especially on the exrt

Concentration
On the trackor road,concentrationis a smoothflow, or chain
of eventsthat movesfrom one to anotherwithout a break.Reference
points arepartsof that chain,one linkdependinguponthe nextfor
strengthand a continuousflow. lf one linkbreaks,the entirechainstays
brokenuntilit can be repairedor replaced.lf you havea sectionof the
trackwith no,or too few RPs,yourchainof concentration
will break.
Reference points are the building blocks of concentration.
Let'sget backto the ideaof yourattentionand how muchof it
you have,yourten-dollarbill.Whenyourconcentration
is good,you spend
just enoughof it on eachRPso that you knowwhereyou areandwhatto
do.Thiskeepsthat steadyflow going.Whenyou havetoo few RPsin an
area,mostof yourattentionwill be spentin tryingto fix this bad situation.
The points or places on the track that you do not know, or understand, will occupy most of your attention. HavingenoughRPslets
y o us p e n dj u s tt h e r i g h ta m o u n to f t i m ea n da t t e n t i o no n e a c ho n et o g e t
you need.Youhaveenoughleftoverto buy otherthings,
the information
t o m a k es m a l lc h a n g e si n y o u rr i d i n gt 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
or leanoverjust a bit more.Everything you do on the track takes up
some attention. Whenyou don't haveenoughRPsyourattentiongoes
rightto that areaandwill-or can-breakyourconcentration.
Someof the strangestthingshappenwhenyou havea break
in yourconcentration.
Oneridertold me that everytime his concentration
b r e a k sh e b e g i n st h i n k i n go f a l e a k i n gf a u c e th e h a sa t h o m e Y
. o u rm i n d
maynotwanderto a leakingfaucet,but whenyour concentration
breaks
you will noticethat otherthingscomeintoyour mind.Oo
youdothis?

Concentration -The Twist

There'sa twist to this subjectof concentration;when you've
got it, it doesn'tseemto you you'relookingat anythingin particular.
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 reallylookat anything."But is this reallywhatthey
mean?
Whenyourconcentration
is good,you spendjust nickelsand
dimeson the RPsand noneof them capturesyourattention.An exampleof
this is that one majordifferencebetweenridersis theirabilityto learn
tracks.Learninga track meansknowing where you are on the track.
-&**

;. .*,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

Someriderscando it in five laps,otherscan'tdo it in 5OOlaps.Bothguys

haveto learnwheretheyareby reference points; the top ridersjust do it
so fasttheycan beatyou on yourfavoriteroadthe secondtimeyou take
the top ridersf rom the restof the
themthere!!Onefactorthat separates
f i e l di s t h a tt h e yp i c ku p R P sq u i c k l ya n da c c u r a t e ltyo t h e p o i n tt h e yc a n
" i t h o u th a v i n gt o p i c ko u t t h e i n d i v i d u aRl P s .
s e et h e " w h o l es c e n e w

Enough Reference Points

Onceyou haveenoughRPs,you can seethe "wholescene"
This is your
comfortablywithouthavingto stareat the RPsindividually.
g o a l ,a n dt h e i n d i v i d u abl u i l d i n gb l o c k so f t h a t s c e n ea r eR P s l.f y o u rc o n centrationbecomeslostyou will haveto go backand relyon or relocate
y o u r s e lwf i t h t h e R P st h a t a r ef a m i l i atro y o u .
as sool3bspossible:
That'showyou restoreyourconcentration
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
on the trackas you hesitateand roll backthe throttle.

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.
2. Sit down in a comfortablechair.
3. Now,closeyoureyesandthinkof a racetrackyou'refamiliar
with. Startthe watchand runthrougha completelapon the track.Do it
to go throughit exactlyas fast as you did the lasttime
from memory.Try
you rodethere.Youaretimingyour memoryof the trackand how you
rodeit.
4. Now,closeyoureyesandtry it again.

Memory Lap

30

lf you'relikemost riders,your memory"laptime"will be either

muchtoo longor muchtoo short.lf youjust brokethe absolutelap record

by 2Qor 30 seconds,or if you added20 or 30 secondsto youractuallap

times,it meansthe samething-not enoughreference points. Theslowl a pr i d e r ' s" m o v i e "i s i n c o m p l e taen d h ef i n d sh i m s e l sf t a r - g a z i nagt t h e
placeshe hasno RPs.Hisattentionis on the areasof the trackhe does
not know.
ln the veryfast lap situationthe riderstill hasn'tgot enough
RPs,so he flitsfrom oneto the nextveryquicklybecausethosearewhat
he doesknow.Having sufficient RPs gives you a better sense of
time because you now have points to mark your motion around
the track. Yourattentiongoeseitherto the placesyou knowverywell,or
to the placeyou don't knowverywell.Or,it becomessplit betweenthe
two. Thiscostsyou a lot of attentionyou can'tspendon otherthings.

Find the Lost RPs

Here'san easymethodyou can useto find out whereyou don,t
haveenoughRPs.Youcan useit anytime.
1. Closeyoureyes.
2. Carefullyrunthroughyourown "movie"of the trackas if you
wereriding.
3. "Ride"throughone completelap in your memory.
4. Openyour eyesand draw eachturn on a separatesheetof
paper,markingthe reference
pointsyou'resureof in eachturn.
5 . M a k ea n o t eo f w h a te a c hR Pm e a n st o y o u .l i k e :, , B r a k i n g
Point,""SteeringChange,""Locationon the Track.""Bump,,,,,ExitMarker,,,
"Product,"etc.
6. Closeyoureyesagainand go backoveryour,,movie,,,
noticingthe placesyou hesitate.go blank,wherethe scenegetsfoggy,or
whereyou hurrythroughit too fast.Eachof thesesituationsindicatesyou
havetoo few reference points at theselocations.
7. Now makea noteon yourturn drawingsat eachplaceyou
havea blankspotor anyotherproblemsituationfrom No. 6 above.
8. FindmoreRPsfor thoseareasthe nexttime you ridethe
track.
Youcan usethis methodto f ind yourweakspots-andstrong
pointsas well,as it is your memoryof the turnsyou relyon whenyou ride.
This is howyou knowwhereyou'regoing.Knowingwhereyou aregoingis
part of the thread of concentration. Wiuit work?

That's the Twist

Youmustget to the pointwhereyou can seethe wholescene
in front of you withouthavingto spenda lot of attentionon anyone point.
You'rebuildingthat scenewith individualreference points. lf yourconcentrationis lost,go backto the RPsthat 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 gainingconcentration

is you have
to look at something. Youreyeswork by focusingon someobjector
someplane,theneverythingin that planeis in focus,likeon a movie
screen.Youmaybe lookingat onlyoneareaof the screen,but the entire
screenis in focus.
Anotherpoint is that when your eyesmove,they do so in short
Theyflit from one objectto anotherlikea butterfly.
stoppingmovements.
lf you try to sweepyoureyesacrossa scenewithoutstoppingon anything,
the scenebecomesa blur.Try it.
A rider'sproblemis that he wantsto seethe trackin f rontof
him flowingas a wholescene,to maintaina steadyf low of concentration,
but his eyesdon'tworkthat way.lf he staresat one reference point too
. u tb e c a u s e
o f t h ew a yh i s
l o n g ,h e ' l le x p e r i e n caef o r m o f t u n n e vl i s i o n B
eyeswork,he hasto lookat somespecificthing!There'sthe twist.

Good RPs help keep a

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

@
:.

,ilt

-"w rr-rl'
.-,.,.
\\\

1*

'..1*',,-:4:.

q
*:t*-"
i

F-

"ffi

See Fast

32

Howdo the top ridersmanageto rideso fastwithoutexperiencingproblemsin seeing?Here'sa drillthat will helpyou practicethe
properseeingtechniques.
1. Finda wallthat is entirelyvisibleto you.Youcan seeall four
cornersby movingyoureyes,but not your head.
2. Focusyoureyeson a spot in the middleof the wall.
3. Remainfocusedon that spot,then moveyourattention,not
youreyes,to the upperright-handcornerof the wall.
Stillfocusingon that spot, moveyour attentionto different
placeson the wall.Youare lookingat one spotbut areawareof the other
areasof the wall.
5. Stillfocusingon that spot,moveyourattentionto the
objectsbetweenyou andthe wall,andon the wall as well.
.--...--"-.*E

The Whole Picture

You can see the whole scene while still looking at one
place or spot! You probablynoticedthat duringthis experiment
you
wantedto moveyour eyesfrom the spot you werefocusedon to the spot
to whichyour attentionhad gone.Thisexperiment
becomeseasierwith
practice.Youcan practicemovingyourattentionaround,while lookingat
onespotor area,as you'redrivingto the racesor just sittingin a chair.lt's
a skillthat cantaketime to developif you haven'tmasteredit already.
Now,whenyou seethe wholescenein this wayyou haveto
realizethat the pointsin the scenemustbe well knownto you.You need
the reference points in the sceneto makethe scene.lf you don't know
the RPsyoureyeswill huntfor somethingthat is familiarand losethe
wholesceneeffect.
B e i n ga 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
m a k e sr i d i n gm u c he a s i e ar n d b r i n g sy o u rc o n c e n t r a t i obna c ki f i t f a l t e r s .
As you canseein the drillabove,it is whereyourattentionis directed,
y o u rt e n - d o l l abr i l l ,t h a t ' sm u c hm o r ei m p o r t a n t
w h e r ey o u ' r es p e n d i n g
thanwhatyou'relookingat. Yourattentionmustbe spenteconomically,
a n dl o o k i n ga t t h ew h o l es c e n er a t h e trh a na t o n et h i n gi s s p e n d i n gi t v e r y
wisely,and getting interestbackon your investment.Youjust haveto

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

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.

,",..
%
'!

CHAPTER

FIVE

Timing
Putting Things ln Order

The first couple of practice

laps feel fast, too fast. and
then it slows down from
there.

Timing reallyhasnothingto do with yoursenseof time.lt has

to do with taking the correct action at exactly the correct place on
the track. Thewholeideaof timing is to pulltogetheryourreference
points, products andsub-products so they'reusefultoyou on the
track.Doingthe correctthing at the wrongplaceon the trackproduces
poorresults.Knowingwhat to do, but not exactlywhereto do it, can really
foul up a rider.

My Timing Lesson
I
I learnedmy lessonabouttiming from ridingskateboards.
wastryingdesperately
turn
to makea "kick"turn,which is the 18O-degree
you maketo get yourselfbackdown afterridingup a rampor the sideof a
pool.lfell at leasta hundredtimestryingit. Finally,
I discovered
that the
boardwould notturn unlessit was goingat a certainslowspeed.lf I triedit
too fast-too early-lcouldnot makethe turn.Tooslow-toolate-andthe
b o a r dw o u l db e g i ns l i d i n gb a c k w a r djsu s t e n o u g ht o m a k et h e t u r nv i r t u allyimpossible.
Therewas a veryf ine marginof speedthat wouldallowthe
boardto be turned,yet still keepup the momentumso I couldstayon and
c o n t i n u eb a c kd o w n .

How You Let Off

34

Itook a verycloselookat my motorcycleriding,keepingin

and discovered
mindwhat I'd learnedon the skateboard,
someverybasic
mistakesI was makingas a rider.Manyotherridersweremakingthe same
mistakesfor the samereasons.
ln turns whereyou usethe brakes,exactlywhereyou let off
them andwhenyou beginsteeringcan makea greatdifferencein your
Thoughlcould makethat changein manydifferentways,
smoothness.
oneworkedbetterthanthe others.Let'slookat the possibilities:

1. Youcanfinishthe brakingandthenturn,leavingthe
throttleoff.
2. Youcanfinishthe brakingafteryou beginthe turn,with no
th rottle.
3. Youcanfinishthe braking,thenturn and applythe throttle.
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 kt h e t h r o t t l e
slightly.
5. Youcanf inishthe brakingafteryou beginto turn and apply
the throttle.
6. Youcanf inishthe brakingafteryou turn andjust crackthe
throttleon.

What Happens
ln NumberOneabove,the forksarealmostbottomedout from
the braking,thenwhenyou let up on the brakesthe forksextendandthe
" 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
b i k e" s t a n d s u
forcescompressthe forksagain.lf you put it intothe turn hard,the forks
compressveryfar,then comebackup a little.The bikeis goingup and
down,changingtractionand fork angle.Thatchangesthe steeringand
reducesthe stabilityof the bike.
In NumberTwo above,the fork is down,andwhenyouturn
the throttlebackon it comesup,then backdownagainf romthe turning
forces.Here'sthe samesituationagain-lossof tractionand stability.
ln NumberThree,the fork is compressed
from the braking,
thencomesup whenyou releasethe brakes,then down againfrom the
cornering
l o a d st,h e nu p a g a i na s y o ua p p l yt h et h r o t t l eT. h eo t h e r
examplesprovidesimilarpossibilities.
you musttime the brakingand
To get intothe turn correctly,
turningso that the bikestayseven,not goingup or down,at the pointyou
let off the brakes.Youmust let off the brakesat the exactmomentyour
just enoughfor the speedsand corneringloadsit will
fork is compressed
be undergoing
throughthe turn.Applythe throttleso that fork extension
doesn'tchange,or changesthe leastamountpossible.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 nt h a tt h e b i k eh a n d l e sp o o r l yp, o s s i b l tyh i n k i n gt h e
shocksaregone.Some
examples?

Your Timing Target

Yourtarget,or sub-product for anyturn in whichyou brake
andturn in succession,
is timing the braking, steering and throttle
so that fork and shock extension are kept as even as possible.
Fast "esses" and compound turns. When two or more
turnsarestrungtogetherand cannotbe takenwide open,timing is
important.On a quickright/leftor left/rightcombination,
time the steering
changeso that the throttleis rolledoff rightbeforethe transitionfrom side
to side.Rollingoff the gasjust an instantbeforemakingthe steering

changedipsthe f rontend slightly,makingthe steeringeasier(oversteer)

fork angle(rake).Makingthat steeringchange
becauseof the decreased
to its maximumpointfor that turn keeps
the suspension
andcompressing
Whendoneright,evena
the bikef rom bobbingup and down excessively.
b i k ew i t h p o o rs h o c k sw i l l h a n d l ef i n e .W h e nd o n ew r o n g ,t h e b e s t handlingbikein the worldwill handlepoorly.

Roll-Off Time
Thefasteryou ride,the harderthe steeringbecomes,especiallyin high-speed"esses."Rollingthe throttleoff, then steering,then getting backon the gas againin the middleof two turns,can actuallyget you
throughfasterthan if you "push"throughand haveto rolloff at the exitof
t h et w o t u r n s .T h er o l l i n go f f a n db a c ko n a g a i ns h o u l dn o tt a k em o r et h a n
one second,andthe gas is completelyoff for onlya smallf ractionof that
t h e t h r o t t l eo n a n do f f u n t i ly o u rt i m i n g
t i m e ,i f a t a l l .A v o i ds n a p p i n g
is perfect.

Tiredness :

Loss of Timing

When you become tired, the first thing you lose is your
timing. This is anotherreasonit's so importantto haveyourreference
sub-products, the majorsteps
points and products well established.
(POTI.
points
timing
of
are
also
or changesin a turn,
Not all RPsarepoints of timirlg. Someonlytellyouwhere
you are,signalingan upcomingchangeor POT/sub-product. lf you
knowwherethey areandwhatto do there,you won't haveto slowdown
as muchwhenyou becometired.Youprobablywon't be willingto go
toyou?
thisapply
faster,but that canwait untilyou'resharpagain.Does

Timing and the Road You Ride

36

Younot only
changesin the roadaffecttiming dramatically.
haveto workthe controlscorrectly,but you haveto fit that intothe camber
changea
s n d r a d i u sc h a n g e sa s w e l l .F o ri n s t a n c ei f, y o uw e r ec o m i n gu p t o
a bankedturn whereyou would haveto usethe brakesf irst,you should
k n o wt h a tt h e s u s p e n s i owni l l c o m p r e s sm o r ei n t h a tt u r nt h a ni t w i l l o n a
you would let
similarturn that is flat with no banking.To go in perfectly,
is taking
off the brakesas you go intothe bankingjust as the suspension
you
the smoothestentry.
the loadf romthe centrifugalforce.Thiswill give
You back out of the brakes iust as the turn takes over the iob of
compressing the suspension. lf you braketoo hardandthe cornering
speedis down,the bikewill riseup whenyou hit the banking,the suspensionwill unload.lf you get off the brakestoo soonandthen hit the bankThesecondof theseis the betterof the
witl compress.
ing,the suspension
Doingit right,of course,is
evilsas it offersa bettertractionSituation.
bestof all.

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-camberturn it is betterto havethe bikeas lightas
possibleon its wheelsto keepit f rom movingto the outsideof the turn too
much.Youmusttime yourcontroloperations
so you'reon the gasthe least
amountin that partof the turn.Tractiondeteriorates
rapidlyin off-camber
sections,comparedwith f lat or bankedsections.Rollingoff the throttle
veryhardin an off-camberhasan effectsimilarto that of rollingon too
h a r d .l t l o a d so n ew h e e lm o r et h a nt h e o t h e r - i nt h i s c a s et h ef r o n t - a n d
c a nc a u s et 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 reo l l e d
off the throttleand stillthrew it away.Rollingoff usuallyhelpshim get
throughturnswhen he'sbeengoingtoo fast.Keepingthe weightevenon
the wheelsby crackingopenthe throttle,not accelerating
or slowing,gives
-camber
the bikeits besttractionin off
turns.In an off-camber,
set up your
P O Ts o t h e b i k ei s a c c e l e r a t i nogr s l o w i n gt h e l e a s ta m o u n tp o s s i b l eT.h a t
will preventtransferring
too muchweightto eitherwheel.

Ghanging the Track with Timing

In a sectionof trackwherea dip compresses
the suspension,
it is sometimespossibleto time your roll-onfor that point.Groundcleara n c ei n c r e a s ewsh e nt h e b i k ei s a c c e l e r a t i nbge c a u s teh e s u s p e n s i oins
this tacticmaystopsomeof the bobbingup and downthat
extending;
occursin dippedpartsof the track.Timing canchangethe trackconditionsfor betteror worse.lf you get the POTright it canwork-if you don't,
it won't.
,Cl**L*'*a+

Products and Timing

K e e pi n m i n dt h r o u g ha 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
product of the turn.Youstillwantthe maximumspeed,the drivecoming
out,or you wantto be set up for the nextturn. lf you makepartsof the turn
work,but losethe drivecomingout,you'vewon the battlebut lostthe war.
Atlof the RPsand POT/sub-products mustmakethe productbetteror
you havedonea lot of fancyridingthat'sslowriding.Sometimesit's better
to go directlythrougha roughsectionof trackwobblingand out of shape
thanto figurea smoother-butslower-wayaroundit. Yourmeasureof
progressis in whetheror not yourproduct is improving.
Points of timing are sub-products, and this is where
changes are made. Everyplacewhereyoutakeanykindof actionis a
point of timing, especially
whenyou'rein a turn.Upshiftingon the
instance,is a POT,thoughit's lessimportantthanwhere
straight-away,lor
you steerin a turn.Becomingfamiliarwith your POTand products allows
whereyou
youto loafon the restof the trackbecausenow you understand
get
you
facts
on
you
lf
these
down
don't.
haveto work hardandwhere
you won't be sayingthingslike,"l'm having
paper,orwell memorized,
You'll
seewhich POTareworkingand whichare
troublein the esses."
fouling up your product.

Whatwill changeif youdo this?

Timing in Perspective
let'slookat TurnSixat Riverside
To put timing in perspective,
lt's a goodexamplebecausehundredsof
California.
Racewayin Riverside,
it,
it's
the mostcomplexturn I knowof.
by
and
ridersarestill baffled
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

7h
'q//2
iztiziit)

47h
'%t
38

iriii,

Viiti4

Turn Six, Riverside

TurnSix is partof a seriesbeginningwith TurnFive(see
diagram).
Turn Fiveis fasterthan Six,and most ridersbrakeand go down
a gearcominginto Five.lt looksverynarrowon the approach,but as
they'recomingout of it, most ridersfind they'vegonethroughit too slow.
T h eg a sc o m e so n f o r a n i n s t a n at 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 ,
wherethey haveto usethe brakesagain.Most ridersoverusethe brakes
here,find they'regoinga bit too slow,thenjump on the gasagain.Just at
that point,it seemsthe gas is on too muchagain,so they roll it off. Now it
seemstoo slowagain,so they get backon the gas.Nowtheyseethe end
of the turn,but the bike'sheadingto the outsidetoo fast,aimingfor the
dirt andthe Armcobarrier.Here'sanotherroil-off.Nowthe bike'son the
straight-away
and backontothe gas.Thisis a roughwayto go through
aturn!
Here'swhat happened-coming
intoTurnSix,the riderfirst
noticesthat he hasoverbraked
and is goingtoo slowbecausehe hasfailed
to seethat the trackis bankedat this point.Now he hasthe advantage
of
the banking,but just when he beginsto rollon,the trackflattensout and
he losesthe banking.The new roll-onbeginswherethe trackpicksup the
bankingagainabouttwo-thirdsof the waythrough.Thefinalroll-off
beginswherethe bankinggoesawayagainat the exitof the turn.That's
four camberchangesin oneturn!
other factorsaffectthis turn.At the beginning,wherewe lose
the f irstbankingandthe roll-offbegins,thereis a creston the track.Not
onlydoesthe bankingtaperoff, but the bikebecomeslightas it goesover
this crest.Thesuspension
unloads,tractiongoesawayandthe bikewants
to go towardthe wall-veryfast!
The bikesettlesdown at the bankedpartof 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 bankingbeginsto go awayat the exitandthe bikeis goingtoo
fast.The lastroll-offoccurs.Theadditionaltwist to that lastpartof the
t u r n i s t h a t i t t i g h t e n su p a n dg o e sd o w n h i lal b i t .
Thisturn hasfour camberchanges,two radiuschanges,two
e l e v a t i ocnh a n g e sa n da h u m pi n t h e m i d d l eo f t h e f i r s tc a m b e rc h a n g e !
To makeit worse,the pavement's
poor.Thetrackdesignermust have
r e a l l yh a df u n w i t h t h i st u r n .

Find the Timing

Thereis nothingreallywrongwith ridersrollingon and off the
throttle.The problemis they'renot doingit at the rightplaceon the track.
Theirtiming is all wrong.Thisis because,
f irstof all,they havenot looked
at the trackandfoundwhereit changes.Remember;
you cannotseethese
changesverywellwhenyou'reriding.secondly,no points of timing
a r ee s t a b l i s h et d
o s i g n a l t h ec h a n g e sA. s a r e s u l tt,h e b r a k i n ga n dt h r o t t l e
responses
to the trackoccurin the wrongplace.Third,theyestablishno
p l a nt o t a k ea d v a n t a goef 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 ; : *

shouldbe at the lowestpointof the bankingwhen leavingit. Fourth,no

from previousexperience.
overallproduct hasbeendetermined
My descriptionof ridersgoingthroughTurnSix mightsound
likebaddrama,but watchingthem is worse.Theirworriedexpressions
andfrozenattitudestell the wholestory.Theirbikesbob up anddownf rom
the throttlechangesas if theirshockswerebroken.After ridingTurnSix
likethis a while,you can beginto feelverystupid.As a result,manyriders
lineand pretendit's alljust oneturn with no real
choosea constant-radius
c a m b eo
r r r a d i u sc h a n g e s .
Riderstakethis turn manydifferentways,but the fastestones
do threethings:1) Theyusethe banking$oingintothe turn
consistently
2) Ratherthan tryingto fight the middleof the
to maximumadvantage.
theylet the bikedrift out,which allowsthemto
it
flattens
out,
turn,where
of the followingpoint.3) Theyusethe bankingon the exit
takeadvantage
Thislinecouldbasicallybe calleda doubleapex,
to its bestadvantage.
whichis a gooddescriptionof the turn.Keepin mindthat the timingmust
be correctfor it to work right.
Turnswith fewerchangescan be equallybaffling,if the
timing is wrong.Someriders,of course,cango throughth is turnveryfast
by keepingup a feverpitch of concentrationand cat-likereflexes,but they
it. And ridingat,or past,
won't be as fast as someonewho understands
ofthis?
yOU
Areyouaware
OutSOOner.
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
attentionyou'retryingto spendwisely.lf you continuespendingall of it all
the time,you'llsoonuseit up. spendingthe wholeten dollarsto go down
the straightis a waste.Putit in savingsto draw interestin attentionsaving,thenwithdrawit againfor the nextturn.
comeand go; they're
Yourattentionand abilityto concentrate
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
racesI havehearda numberof
coolingit the rest.At six-hourendurance

riderssaytheywere pacingthemselvesto lastthe whole raceby tryingto

relax-andtheywent quickerthanthey had in the sprintraces!Theyforced
themselves
to get smart.lf you can usethis attitudefor sprintraces,you
can be evensharperwhen you haveto be.Just f igurewhereyour pOTare
andwhatyou'resupposedto be doingat eachone.Relaxwhilegoing
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
Riderstalk aboutthe rhythmof a racetrack or pieceof road,
of gettingthe flow of the road.This is timing. The rideris fitting himself
and his equipmentintothe trackand allthe actionshe hasto takeon it.
The basisof timing is understanding-notsuper-fastreflexes.Fast
reflexes are not a substitute for good timing. At the speedsattained
on a road-racetrack,good or evenincrediblereflexesdon't win races.
lf you planto go roadracingbecauseyou havefast reflexes,figureout how
longyou haveto makea changeat 18o mph when you'retravetingat 264
feet per second!Thereis no substitutefor understanding
on a racetrack.
You'vegot to haveRPs, POT, sub-products and products to guideyou
around.Fastreflexeshelp,but timing is the keythat unlocksthe
mysteriesof the asphalt.

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 understandboth the trackand your own actionsso
you'renot fightingeachother.Do this by knowingwhatto do andwhere
to do it. l'm sureyou can lookbackoveryour ridingand recallsituations
where,becauseyourtiming was off,you experienced
uncomfortable
situations.
Thesecondpart is in goingout andactuallydoingit. 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

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.

Theact of ridinga motorcycleamountsto puttinga whole

stringof decisions into motion. Everymovementyou makeon a bike is
basedupona decision you havemadein the past,or are makingas you
ride.You don't do anything automatically or without making a
decision. Forexample,again,someriderssaytheyshiftgears"autowithoutthinkingaboutit.That'snottrue.Theymayspendonlya
matically"
nickelor a dimeof theirattentionon this decision,but they'respending
something.
lf you study it, you'll seethat manylittle decisions go into
makingone gearchange.Youdecide whenthe engineis spinningat the
rightrpm.Youdecide howfastto makethe gearchange.Youmaydecide
that one placeis betterthan anotherto shift,and how muchthrottleto
applywhenyouturn it on again.Noneof thesethingsis "automatic,"but
onceyou havemadea decision, it costsyou lessattentionto 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.

42

You Must Make a Decision

At alltimesyou'reoperatingupondecisions, whetherthey're
lf
you can let out the clutchin severalways.
pastor present.Forexample,
you'refamiliarwith thesedifferentmethods,you still mustdecidewhich
to use.Youstill mustmakea decision.
Youcan arriveat a decision in two ways.One is to work at the
or
problemuntilyou havenarrowedit down by the processof elimination,
this is how we learnto clutch
Trialand Error(T&E). In the aboveexample,
our bikes.The secondmethodof arrivingat a decision is to thinkthrough
the task,then makethe decision. We'llcallthismethodThinkinglt
Through(TlT).

"- Spe@Yojected Speed

-..,s

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.

Force

Traction
Lean Angle

T&E
The first method,Trialand Error,orT&E, dependslessupon
and moreuponpractice.Youdon'tthinkthroughthe probunderstanding
lem,you keepperformingthe actiontill it works.lf you comeup with the
correctmethod,you'realright.Butthe drawbackto makingdecisions by
T&E is that if you changethem,you mustgo throughthe wholeprocess
againto find anotherway.Reallygoodriderswho learnedby T&E have
gonethroughthe manypossiblemethodsof ridinga motorcycleso often
that theycan useanyof them at will.Theyhavean entirementallibraryof
T&E decisionsto drawon.

TIT
MethodTwo,Think lt Through. orTlT, alsohasdrawbacks.
To arrive at a correct decision you must start with correct inforhe hasto reviewthe information. The riderhasto be a goodobserver,
mationfrom the lastride,and it hasto be correctand usefulinformation.
A wild examplewould be to decide to go throughTurnOneat Daytona
wideopenin sixthgear.A personwho learnsby TtrE probablywouldn't
makesucha mistake.The "thinker,"of course,wouldonlymakethat
mistakg orlce. Canyou seeit workingfor you?

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

.:.-

^^

43

A Drawback
The serious drawback to Thinking lt Through is in
making decisions based upon other people's information. One
ridertellsanotherto ridein a certainway,thenthe secondridergoesout
andtriesto fit his ridingstyleintowhat he wastold. lf the informationis
accurateit canwork.Forexample,a ridertold me the reasonmy leftarm
wascrampingwas becauseI was usingthe clutchfor upshifts,which isn't
necessary.
I stoppedusingit to upshiftand my arm no longercramped.
Thiswas great-itworked!
Anotherexampleof this,anda grim one,was whenone rider
told anotherhe couldgo overthe crestof TurnSevenat Riverside
with the
bikeflat out in fifth gear.Actually,it's a 60-mphturn.The riderwent over
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

44

A combination of the two methods, Trial and Error

fT&E) and Thinking lt Through (TlTl, is the best approach to
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
g .n l e s sy o u ' r ea f u l l - t i m ef a c you
tory-contracted
racer
mayf ind it difficultto regularlygo ridingor to
renttime on a racetrack.You'vegot to makeeverytrip to the trackcount,
andthat meansyou must returnfrom everysessionwith informationthat
w i l l b e u s a b l ef o r t h e T I Tm e t h o d L
. a p so n a r a c et r a c kw i l l d o n o t h i n gb u t
wearout yourequipmentif you don'ttakeaccurateinformationhomeso
you'll havea clearpictureof what decisions you have made and what
to do in the tuture.wittthishelp?

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
on how to ridefasterbecausehe doesn'thavethe informationstoredin
Life sometimes throws
himself.T&Eridersfaceanotherdisadvantage.
go
track.
Theseupsetscan
the
with us out on
upsets at us that
consumevastquantitiesof attention-usuallymorethanwe can spare.
WhenT8E ridersareupsetthey havean "off" day.Somethingsthat happencanaffectone'swholelife,includingthe abilityto makedecisions.
TIT-methodridersarelessaffectedby what happensoff the trackbecause
theirdecisions are basedon what they understand.

Real-World Riding
Let'sleavethe world of ideasfor a time and returnto the real
worldof ridingto seehow the decisionswe makecanaffectus on the road
Theoveruseof the rearbrakeis the one
or track.Takebrakingfor example.
brakingdecision that commonlyturnsout the worst.Whenmost riders
learnto ride,they learnthat the rearbrakecan stop the motorcycle.They
decide it will do that.Theyknowthe front brakewill alsostopthe bike,
but whilethey'relearningin a parkinglot or streetit's upsettingwhenthe
front end of the bikedivesdown everytime they usethe front brake.They
decideat that time,rightf romthe start,that the rearbrakeis better.
Now evenaftera rideris told to usethe f ront brake,the rear
will be hisfirst choicebecausehe hasalreadymadethe decisionthe rearis
better.Studiesof motorcycleaccidentshaveconcludedthat in most
cases,whena rideris tryingto avoidan accidenthe usesonlythe rear
brake.He mayknowthe front brakewill stop him muchquicker,but that
that down go the bikeand
originaldecision is so strongin an emergency
rider.ln an emergency, a rider will do what he has already decided
will work. In this case,and possiblymanyothers,what he decidedwas
incorrectfor that situation.Does
thisapply
toyou?

Ghanging Decisions
In orderto changea decision that doesn'twork,andthat has
becomea bad habit,you mustgo back to the original decision and
you'remakinga
un-learn it. Maybe"un-learn"is not correct-actually,
newdecisionafterthe old one hasbeenidentifiedandthrownout.You
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
The riderperformsan actionthat hasappearedto
appliesin emergencies.
work in the pastin similarsituations.
Not knowingcausesand effectscreatesthe oppositeof
decisions-that is, in-decision. In an emergency,indecision can be

verycostly.lf you don't understand

the f ront brake'slimits,you'llspenda
lot of attentionusingit. That'sbecauseyou knowthe f ront brakedoesthe
bestjob of slowingand stopping(thatdecision hasalreadybeenmade),
but you don't knowat what pointit will lock up and causeyouto fall.This
createsindecision. Oncea riderlearnsat what pointthe front brakelocks
up,andwhat to do aboutit, he can makeclear-cutdecisions on how
to useit.
Anotherdecision-making
myth is that a ridercanfigureout his
linesby studyinga trackdiagram.lt's impossible
to decide how to ridea
racetrack or pieceof roadbeforeyou haveactuallyseenit. Studyinga
trackdiagramat that point is useless.
Tryingto fit a trackdiagramintothe
realworldof riding,whileyou'restilltryingto learnthe track,willonlytake
your attentionawayfrom the realjob. Doyouagree?

Make lt Happen
Deciding to do something is the first step to making it
happen. You can makelots of decisions, but makingtoo manyof them
will confuseyou.StartWiththe importantdecisionsfirst.FindReference
Points,Pointsof Timing,Sub-Productsand Products,then decide how
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
of the trackchanges.Thatincludesknowingthe locationof
the camberchangesand radiuschanges.All the informationfrom Chapter
One,"The RoadYou Ride,"must be gatheredfirst. Alwayslook at the track
and rememberthat the manwho designedit was tryingto fool you into
makingpoor decisions.

Deciding How
Deciding how to ride a track by lookingit overdoesnot
alwayswork,especially
if you aren'tridingit. AfterridingCalifornia's
Sears
Pointonce,I walkedthe trackto find out what I couldlearn.I laidon the
groundand lookedat eachturn from the beginning,
then walkedthrough
and lookedat it backwards.
I stoodin the middle.I got up on the hills.I
lookedat everyturn f romthe insideout.As I was doingthis, I wasfiguring
t h e " i d e a l "l i n et h r o u g he a c ht u r n .
DuringpracticeI rodeit just as lhad decidedit shouldbe
ridden.I wentthreesecondsslowerthan I hadthe lasttime at the track.lt
didn'twork.The "ideal"linedoesn'ttakeinto accountbumps,slidingand
speed.
I went backto riding it the way I had decided to from my
earlierride.My laptimeswerenow two secondsfasterthan I had ever
gonebefore,andfivesecondsfasterthan
my "ideal"line.I had learned
that a combinationof T8E andTITis the keyto success.
Youcan'thaveonewithoutthe other,but it's importantto f irst
decide how to do it, thendecide why it did or did not work.lt isn'tjust
blindexperimenting,
but a firm decision to do it oneway,doingit that

way no matter how it feels,then learningthe resultsby looking at the lap

times. Shouldit betried?

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 Reference Points are,thendeciding whatyou'lldo in this practicesession,
then reviewingyour laptimesto decide if it workedor not.Didthese
changesimproveyour laptimes?Didthe laptimesstaythe same,but you
arevaluable.
foundit easiertorideat this level?Bothof theseconclusions
Wren you become comfortable with the decisions at one level
of riding, you can move on to the next level.
Laptimesmust be the basisfor yourdecisions becauseany
othermethodcanfool you too easily.In mostcases,riderswill do what
feelsright,but what feelsright is not alwaysthe quickestway aroundthe
trackor downthe road.I learnedanotherthingfrom my SearsPoint"ideal"
line adventure.You can be going fasterin the entranceand middlesections of a turn, but can sacrificea good driveon the exit becauseof it. Getting out of the turn with a one- or two-mph fasterproduct will makea
greatdifferenceon the nextstraight.A good speedthroughthe centerof
the turn, but a poor drive,will be worsefor lap times.lt's easyto fool yourselfthis way.Herearethreepointsto consider:1) 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
which hasto do with how powerfula decision can be. Sometimesa rider
simplydecides to go faster.Hewill applythis overalldecisionto his riding and-bang!-hislaptimescomedownjust likethat! lt can happenfor
manydifferentreasons.Watchingother ridersgoingfastercan sometimes
changeyour mindabouthow fastyou can ride.Youdecide you cando it,
too. Deciding to beata quickerridercansparknew life intotired lap
times.
Butdeciding to go fasterwithoutgainingenoughexperience
from eitherTbE or TITcan get you intotrouble.Often,aftera day'srace,
you can hearracerstalkingaboutallthe placestheycan makeup time.
"l knowI can go a lot fasterin TurnThreeandTurn Nine."The pit racers
is
arecuttingrecordlapsby the hundreds!Beatingyourown performance
oneof the greatrewardsof racing,but be careful.Decideto go fasteronly
to backit up. Simplydeciding to cut
whenyou'vehad enoughexperience
practice
maynot work if you don't knowwhereyou're
betterlaptimesin
goingto pick up that time.Work out the decisions that will back up
an overall decision to go faster. canyoudoit?
:

47
.:::::+t:5a1;+*=';:;'.k*.*fli

Oftentimes.when a babylearnsto walk,he decides to run

afterhe'stakenhisfirstfew steps.Therun usuallylastsaboutthreesteps;
in a racer'scase,maybethreelaps.Othersweepingdecisions that usually
workout ratherpoorlyare:"l'm goingto out-brakehim,no matterwhat,"
a n d" l ' l l s h u td o w nl a t e rt h a n h e d o e s . "A t 12 0 m p h ,l a t e ri s a l o n gw a y
downthe road.

Past Decisions
you mustdrawon your pastdecisions,
To ridea motorcycle,
andon yourabilityto makedecisions in the present.Thedecisions you
m a k ed e t e r m i n h
e o ww e l ly o u rr i d i n gw i l l g o .T h er i d e r ' sj o b i s t o s o r to u t
t h e d e c i s i o nhs e i s u s i n gt o g e ta r o u n dt h e t r a c k t, o k n o wt h e ma n dt o
Thedecisions can be simpleoneslike
changethemwhen necessary.
usinglessrearbraketo preventwheelhop whilegoinginto a turn,or timingyourentranceto a turn so the bikedoesn'tundergoa lot of up and
Thedecisions can be harderto find and
movement.
downsuspension
going
intoturnstoo soon,a commonerror,might
correct.Havingtrouble
be basedon the decision "not to go in highor wide,"ratherthanthe
decision "to go in low or tight."
Yousee,this can be verytricky.A ridercouldspenda lot of
timetryingto decide how to entera turn,tryingto f igureout anotherway
to do it. He discovershe is alwaysgoingin low,so he thinksthat he has
decidedto go low. His realdecision , way backwhen,was "l don't want to
go in too high becauseit's unsafe."So he now decides to go higher
againstthat earlierdecision notto go higher.When he triesto usethe
l a l l ,t e l l i n gh i m
e .h i c hi s l i k ea m e n t aw
h i g h e rl i n eh e r u n si n t oa r e s i s t a n c w
for him
notto do it. Hisearlierdecision hasmadeit veryuncomfortable
you
it.
don't understand
to change.A decision can be verypowerful if
past
you
these
of
might
discover
one
in
a
while
Everyonce
decisionsandthink,"Hey,I cando that!Whatevermademe think I
couldn't?"Whenyou changeyour earlierdecision, you cansuddenly
in your riding.Youhaveto realizewhenyou
makea greatbreakthrough
havemadea falsedecision, then put a better,moreworkableone in its
place. Someexamples?

Discover Your Decisions

48

Thedecisions you makewhileridingarebaseduponthe past

decisions you'vemade,whethertheyweremaderecentlyor a longtime
ago.Here'sa way to discover your decisions.
1. T h i n ko v e ry o u ra c t i o n so n a p a r t i c u l at ru r no r t r a c ks i t u a t i o n .D ot h i sf o r s e c t i o n tsh 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.
how wellyouractionswork.
2. Evaluate
3. Howclearareallthe stepsinvolvedin this action?
4. What standardtellsyou how wellyou'redoingor going?
5. What decisionshaveyou madeto helpyou reachyourgoals,

or what decisionsarekeepingyoufrom reachingthem?

6 . S h o u l dy o ud e c i d et o :
A. Changethe decision?
B . N o t c h a n g ei t ?
C. Checkagainto seewhat decisions you havealready
made?
D.Or,lookfor moreinformationbeforemakinga new
decision?
In eachitemyou comeup with in 1 through6 above,you may
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'teasyto do, but it will help.Also,it's cheaperthantires
andengines.

Some Decisions About Braking

Thefollowingis a partiallistof decisionsyou couldmake
aboutusingthe brakes.Theyarenot of equalimportance,
but eachof
them involvesa potentialdecision.
Takea lookat eachone.Considereachveryseriouslyby applying it to a situationyou'vebeenin. Or,you canjust lookthem overfor
referenceand be awareof them.
lf you havethe time overthe longwinter months,you mayeven
makeyourown listsof otheraspectsof riding.Takeanother,likesteering
or throttlecontrol,and breakit down intothe decisionsand actionsyou
mustmakewhileriding.
Hereare 104 possibledecisionsthat you havemadeor can
makeconcerning
the useof brakes.some of them aremoreimportant
thanothersand somecoverthe samegroundin a slightlydifferentmanner.Lookthemthroughand reflectbackuponyour ridingwith thesein
mind.Youmay be ableto thinkof otherdecisionsthat applyto the useof
brakes.Just lookingoverthis list andthinkingoverthesedecisionscan
helpimproveyour braking.
How manyf ingersto usefor the front brake
How much leverpressureit takesto lock up the front brake
How much leverpressureit takesto lock up the rearbrake
How hardyou can usethe front brakegoing into slow turns
Howhardyou can useit brakingintofastturns
Howhardyou can useit brakinginto medium-speed
turns
Howhardyou can useit brakingintoa seriesof turns
Howhardyou can usethe brakesin the firstturn of a series
Howhardyou can brakegoingintothe secondturn of a series
Brakingin downhillsections

49

B r a k i n gi n u p h i l ls e c t i o n s
Brakinginto a bankedsection
Brakinginto a flat corner
Brakingintoan off-camberturn
turn
Brakinginto a decreasing-radius
turn
Brakinginto an increasing-radius
turn
Brakinginto a constant-radius
Brakingon a smoothsurface
Brakingon a choppysurface
B r a k i n gi n t or i g h t - h a n tdu r n s
turns
B r a k i n gi n t ol e f t - h a n d
Brakingon crestedroads
Whereyou shouldbe on the trackas you beginto brake
W h e r ey o u s h o u l db e o n t h e t r a c kd u r i n gb r a k i n g
examptes?
Whereyou shouldbe on the trackat the end of the brakingSome

More Decisions
Whatyou lookfor that tellsyouwhento beginbraking(in eachkindof turn)
W h a ty 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
of turn)
(Theabovetwo questionscan be appliedto particular
tracks)
T i m i n gy o u rb r a k i n gg o i n gi n t os l o w t u r n s
turns
Timingyour brakinggoinginto medium-speed
Timingyour brakinggoingintofast turns
Timingyour brakinggoinginto a seriesof turns
Timingyour brakingon downhillsections
T i m i n gy o u rb r a k i n go n u p h i l ls e c t i o n s
T i m i n gy o u rb r a k i n go n b a n k e dt r a c k
T i m i n gy o u rb r a k i n go n f l a tt r a c k
T i m i n gy o u rb r a k i n go n o f f- c a m b etrr a c k
T i m i n gy o u rb r a k i n gi n d e c r e a s i n g - r a d it u sr n s
T i m i n gy o u rb r a k i n gi n i n c r e a s i n g - r a d ituusr n s
t usr n s
T i m i n gy o u rb r a k i n gi n c o n s t a n t - r a d i u
T i m i n gy o u rb r a k i n gi n c o n s t a n t - s p e et udr n s
Timingyour brakingon smoothsurfaces
Timingyour brakingon choppysurfaces

Still More Decisions

50

\Mrat Points of Timing or Reference Points do you useto tell if the

b r a k i n gi s g o i n gw e l l ?
What POT or RP do you useto decidethe locationof your beginning
brakingpoint?
What POT or RP do you useto decidethe locationof yourend braking
point?
What informationdo you useto decideif the brakingbeganearlyenough?
What informationdo you useto decideif the brakingstartedtoo late?
What informationdo you useto decideif the brakingstartedon time?

Decisions With Practice

Brakingoverdiscoloredor changingpavementsurface
Usingthe rearbrakein conjunctionwith the front
Usingthe rearbrakeonly
Usingthe front brakeonly
Whatto do whenthe rearend beginsto hop or slide
Howto correctrear-wheel
hop or slide
Lockingup the f ront brake
Lockingup the front and rearbrakestogether
Otherpeople'sinformationon the useof brakesin general
Otherpeople'sinformationon the front brake
Otherpeople'sinformationon the rearbrake
Otherpeople'sinformationon usingboth brakestogether
you got from watchingotherridersusethe brakes
Information
What is usefultodo with the brakes
What is not usefulto do with the brakes
Brakingwhenthe bikeis straightup
Brakingwhenthe bikeis leanedover
Brakingwith onlythe front brakewhile leanedover
Brakingwith onlythe rearbrakewhileleanedover
Howfar you can be leanedoverand still usethe brakes
Brakingand steeringat the sametime
Howgood is your brakingoverall?
Howmuchtime can be madeup with brakes?
Howmuchdistanceyou can makeon anotherriderby usingyour brakes
Yourseatingpositionwhilebraking
A critical moment of
decision. How much
brake to use while
leaned over?

Useof throttleand brakeat the sametime

Howslowlyor quicklyyou can let off the front brake
Howslowlyor quicklyyou can let off the rearbrake
Howto judgeyourspeedat the end of the brakingaction
Whereto positionthe brakelever
Whereto positionthe brakepedal
Howmuchstoppingforcethe front brakehas
Howmuchstoppingforcethe rearbrakehas
Howmuchstoppingforcethe f ront and rearbrakeshavetogether
H o wm u c ht h e l e v e ra n d p e d a lp r e s s u r cea nb e c h a n g e dw h i l eb r a k i n g

More Decisions With Practice

Whereto put yourweightwhilebraking
P u t t i n gy o u rw e i g h to n t h e h a n d l e b awr h i l eb r a k i n g
Puttingyourweighton the footpegswhilebraking
P u t t i n gy 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
S i t t i n gu p w h i l eb r a k i n g
H a n g i n go f f w h i l eb r a k i n g
B r a k i n ga n dd o w n s h i f t i nagt t h e s a m et i m e
Passing
whileusingthe brakes
What happensto the steeringgeometryduringbraking
What happensto weighttransferduringbraking
duringbraking
What happensto the suspension
Howmuchattentionyou spendbeginningbraking
Howmuchattentionyou spendduringbraking
Howmuchattentionyou spendat the end of braking
middleor end
Which is the most importantpartof braking-beginning,
Howmuchf ront brakecan be usedif the rearis lockedup
Howgoodis yoursenseof tractionwhilebraking
Howgood is yoursenseof speedwhilebraking
n h i l eb r a k i n g
H o wg o o di s y o u rd e p t hp e r c e p t i ow
hetp?
Yourabilityto improveyour brakingwittthis
Phew!!

52

CHAPTER

SEVEN

Barriers
Keys to lmprovement
B a r r i e r : A n y t h i nsge r v i n ga s a l i m i t a t i o n
o r o b s t r u c t i o nA.
r
i
d
i
n
ga n d r a c i n gy, o u ' l lc o n W
h
i
l
e
b a r r i eor b s t r u c t sb u t i s n o t i m p a s s a b l e .
stantlyconfrontbarriersto yourgoingfaster.Yourgoalis to loweryour lap
t i m e sb y r i d i n ga r o u n dt h e t r a c ka t h i g h e rs p e e d sa n dw i t h m o r ec o n t r o l .
andtheycan
Ridershit levelsof laptimesthat act as barriers,however,
becomestuckthere.ldeally,youwould be ableto ridea littlefasterand
improveyour averagelaptime eachtime you returnedto a track.That
wouldbe a goodtargetfor you to consider,and a realgoalto set for
yourself.

Time Barriers
Whenyou begintryingto go faster,you will noticethat things
alsohappena lot faster.Youhavelesstime betweencorners.between
YouhavecrePoints.andthere'slesstime to makedecisions.
Reference
your
situationby addingspeed,and by compressing
atedthis emergency
t i m et o a c t .l f y o u ' r ea 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
improve.But if you haveto put yourselfintopanic reaction time, you
what it feelsliketo panic.
maylearnnothingby the extraspeed-except
H a v i n gl e s st i m et o m a k ey o u rd e c i s i o n iss n o t n e c e s s a r ibl ya d ,
yourspeed.Whenever
for it is one of the indicatorsthat you'veincreased
you reachoneof thesetime barriers you'reknockingon the doorof your
nextareato conquer.A ridingbarrier is usefulbecauseit's tellingyou that
you needto makenewdecisionsfaster.lt is your automatic instructor.
Y o ud o n ' tn e e dt o f i n d a n e w l i n et h r o u g ha t u r n - y o un e e dt o f i g u r eo u t
w h a tf a c t o r sa r eb r i n g i n gy o u n e a rp a n i c t, h e nc o n t r o l t h e mT. h e s eb a r r i e r s a r el i k ew a r n i n gl i g h t so n t h e d a s h b o a rodf y o u rc a r .l f y o u h a n d l e
doesthisapply?
eachone as it appears,you'll avoida catastrophelater.where

A Riding Barrier Signals an Area That

Needs lmprovement

54

You can recognizethese problemareasin severalways.The

you're
beingpressedto reacta littlebeyondyourabilities.
first is that

You'renot beingpushedcompletelybeyondyour ability,but enoughthat

yourattentionis fixeduponthe problem.An exampleis that you'reenteri n ga t u r na n dt h e b r a k i n ga n dd o w n s h i f t i nagr ec r o w d e ds o c l o s et o t h e
picka goodPoint of
steeringactionthat you'reunableto accurately
Timing to act withoutbeingabsolutely
f rantic.lf you'resnappingand
g r a b b i n ga t t h e c o n t r o l sl i k ea s h a r ka t f e e d i n gt i m e ,y o u k n o ws o m e t h i n g
isn'tright.
In this example,manyproblemscouldbe affectingyour
approach.Herearesomepossibilities.
A lackof goodReference Points
cancausethat kindof panicthat occurswhenyou'reslightlylost.Or you
maysimplybe downshiftingtoo lateand crowdingit intoyourother
actions.Youmaybe goingdown one geartoo manyand haveyouratten-

ii

*.s'

i,
r:r';,

Track 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.

''t Y

*,*5',,ffi

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

t i o ns t u c kt o a n e n g i n es p i n n i n ga t 1 3 , O O rOp mw h e ni t s h o u l db e o n
turning.Youmaybe brakingso latethat you'relosingsightof yourentry
speed,resultingin a panicsituation.Thecontrolson your bikemay be set
l en g l et h a ty o uc a n ' tr e a c ht h e mq u i c k l y .
a t s u c ha n u n c o m f o r t a b a
T h et r a c kc o n s t r u c t i oint s e l fm a yc o n t r i b u t teo y o u rd i s t r e s s .
Forexample,
the entrancemaybe off camberor downhill,andoffersless
potentialbrakingthan a f lat surface.Youmaynot havea product for the
turn andthat will botheryou.Youmay not knowwhereyou'regoing.Of
a turn,thesearejust a few.
the manypossibleproblemsin approaching

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

Mistakes
Anothergreatindicatorthat all is not well is whenyou make
mistakeson the track.when you makea mistake,find out whereyour
Lookat the decisionleadattentionwas focusedjust beforeit happened.
you do that getsyou into
last
thing
the
it's
always
as
ing up to the mistake,
a mistake is a result, not a cause. This is why you
trouble.Remember,
mustalwaysknowwhat you do and be ableto rememberit in detail.
what you did to bring
Mistakesaren'tall that valuable-it'sin remembering
themaboutthat will helpyou correctthem.A mistake isn't to be

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

Feeling Like You Gan't Do lt

This is veryfrustratingto a rider,and it createstroublefor him.
Thishelplessfeelingoftenresultsfrom not knowingthe tracklayoutwell
enough,or f rom not beingin full controlof the bikein somesituations.lf
y o uc a n ' th a n d l ec o u n t e r - s t e e r i n
i nga t u r n ,y o u m i g h tb e g i nt o b e l i e v ei t
be
way
it
looks.
can't donethe
Theworstproblemwith this feelingis that
you maydecideit can be donebecausesomeoneelseis doingit, thenyou
try to do it beforeyou havethe skillnecessary.
You berserkit. Thisdangerousconditionresultsfrom frustration,
and it's anotherindicatorof a
b a r r i e r t o y o u rr i d i n g .
your barriersis not impossible-itjust takessome
Overcoming
work.Youcando the work at the track,in betweenridingsessionsor
races.First,drawyourselfpicturesof eachturn,then go throughthem,
markingdownthe spotswhereyou'rehavingdifficultyor makingmistakes.Closeyour eyesand go overthe turnsin your mind as you try to find
the problemareas(seeChapterFour-"WhatYou See").As you'restudying
the trackf rom memory,somepartswill be foggy,unclearor just not there.
Markdownthesespotson yourturn diagrams.Go overthe entiretrackby
memoryand markall the placesthat arebarriersto you,whetherthey're
rushedtime,mistakesor otherproblems.
causedby uncertainty,

The Barriers Ghange

go backoverthem and
Onceyou havelistedyour barriers,
decidehow you canchangeyour ridingto overcomethem.Remember,
the barriers will change as you go faster. Thereis a twist to barriers.
D o n ' to v e r l o o tkh e p o s s i b i l i ttyh a tt h e s a m ep r o b l e m sc a no c c u ra g a i n ,
evenin the sameturn,as you increase
your speed.
Overall,barriers aregoodthings.Theytell you automatically
whereyourproblemslie.Theyaresaying,"Thisis your nextareato expand
into,your nextlevelof improvement."
Welcomeit whenyou noticethat
something'snot goingright.Onceyou recognize
your barriers,
you won't
haveto guesswhat'skeepingyour laptimesdown-theywill pointto your
problems.ft's free instructionlWittyou
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
Motorcyclebrakeshaveundergonemanymajortechnical
sincethe adventof the disc brake,andthey havebecome
breakthroughs
mostothertechnoloefficient.Braketechnologyhassurpassed
extremely
Youcan buy a set of brakesthat
gies,suchas suspension,
for instance.
y
o
u rb i k ei n a n a f t e r n o o nT.u n i n g
o
n
a
n
d
i
n
s
t
a
l
t
l
h
e
m
w o u l ds t o pa c a r ,
task.This
yoursuspension,
however,
can be an endlessand painstaking
ridingand
chapterwill discussthe purposeof brakesin high-performance
racing.their limits,andwhatyou shouldknowaboutthe businessof
braking.

The Most lmportant Factor

Thesinglemost importantfactorto be awareof in brakingis
the weighttransferthat occurswhenthe brakesareapplied.Let'ssayyou
r i d e ra, n dt h e i rw e i g h ti s d i s h a v ea 4 5 o - p o u n db i k ea n da 15 O - p o u n d
tributed50 percentf rontand 50 percentrearat rest.Thismeansthe f ront
stopand rearwheelseachcarrya 300-poundload.At a normalboulevard
ping pace,the weighttransferamountsto about75 percenton the f ront
wheeland 25 percenton the rear.Thefront end nowweighsthreetimes
whatthe reardoes.
A t r a c i n gs p e e d st h e s t o p p i n gf o r c ei s g r e a t esr t i l l .U s i n gt h e
f igures,90 percentof the weightor
static(orstopped)weight-transfer
moremaytransferto the f ront,and 1Oper centor lesswill remainon the
rear.Therearend nowweighs60 poundsor less,andthe rearbrakemust
stoponly60 poundsof the bike'sweight,plusthe momentumof the rear
w h e e l a n de n g i n e .

Rear Brake Overuse

60

the rearbrakeis so commonas to be almosta fact

Overusing
of life.Many riders and racers have given up using the rear brake
for hard braking. lt requirestoo much attentionto usecorrectly,and can
causethe rearend to hop or slidewhen usedincorrectly.Both slidingand

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
750loFront 25o/oRear

Weight Transfer
l OOo/o
Front OoloRear

hoppingrenderthe bikeout of controlto somedegree.Youcan'tfeelgood

aboutleaninga bikeintoa turn if it's basicallyout of control.Youhave
onlytwo smallcontactpatcheson the ground,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 gi ne t r a c t i o n - o n o
e f y o u rm a i nc o n c e r n s
d u r i n gc o r n e r i n g .
In a panicor race-speed
brakingmaneuver,
almostanycontrol
will helpyou morethan a lockedrearbrake.lt'd causeyou lessharmto use
the high-beamswitchor chokelever.Thefront is wherethe weightand
stoppingpowerare-notthe rear.
The useof the rearbrakerequiressomebackwardslogic.lt
seemslogicalto usethe brakesthe hardestat the beginningof the braking action,whenyou'regoingthe fastest.Thisis truefor the front brakeInthe back,however,usethe lightestrearbrakeat the beginningof the
brakingactionwhenthe forksaremostcompressed
andthe weighttransfer is the greatest.
As the f ront brakeis released,
someof the weight
transfersbackto the rearwheelandthe rearbrakecan-if it's goingto be
usedat all-do moreof the work of stoppingor slowingat this time.You
haveto get smartwith your rightfoot if you wantto makeanyuseat all of
the rearbrakeunderheavystopping.
havesuchhugedisc
LightGrandPrixbikesor Superbikes
tires
rear
wheel
lift
brakesand sticky
that the
can off the groundunder
heavybraking.Lesserstreetand racebikesdo the samething.but for a
differentreason.Hardbrakingoverripplingpavementor bumpscan
launchthe rearend of the bikeoff the groundbecauseof its unweighted
condition.Theshocks,which aresetto operateunderheavierloadconditions,contributeto this by not allowingthe rearwheelto followthe road.
Thenet resultis air betweenthetire andthe road-averypoortraction
situation. Haveyou experiencedthis?

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 can be with the throttle;comingout of a turn
Youknowhow sensitive
you canadjustyourspeedin tenthsof a mileper hourby workingthe twist
grip.Goinginto a turn you can makechangesjust as accurately
with the
brakes.
Most ridershavethe ideathat brakesaresomekindof on/off
switch.Reacha brakemarkerand pullthemon-get downto another
markerand letthem off.This isn'ttrue.Youcan'tusebrakeslikethat and
expectto improveyour riding.You'reaskingtoo muchof yourself.The
purposeof brakesis to adjustthe speeddownward;the overallpurposein
racingis to get aroundthe trackor downthe roadquicker.takingseconds
off laptimes.

One Second Faster

62

Let'sinvestigate
what partbrakesplayin goingonesecond
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.Youwon't go fasterdownthe straightsif
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 bikepitchingforwardand
bouncingoverthe ripplesas you try to compensate
for brakefade,and a
full tankof gasor an emptyone?lt's too muchto ask.Youmusttreat
yourselfmorekindlyand makethat one mph easierto find.
Thinkof the brakeas a reversethrottle.Insteadof turningthe
controlyou pull or pressit to startthe brakingactionand downwardspeed
change.The speed that remains when you release the brakes is
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
tryit?
late braking often does
more harm to lap times
and corner speeds than
good. Set comfortable
brake points for yourself.

Speedadjustments
cost attention.

Endbraking
at 60 mph.

Speedcorrectly
adjusted.

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 setsyourcorneringspeed.Youcandive
intoa 120-mphturn 25 feet deeperthanthe lasttime and reduceyour lap
times aboutone-tenthof a second.Goingin 50 feet deeperwould improve
it twiceas much.lf your brakingwasfineto beginwith,you might pick
up two-tenthsto three-tenths
of a secondon mosttracks.But goingin
just
that muchdeeper
might permanently
enlargeyoureyeballs,
and it
wouldcertainlyincrease
the possibilityof errorsandtakeup a considerable amountof attention-your
ten-dollarbill-thatmight be betterspent
elsewhere.
By beginningthe brakingactionat a comfortablelocationand
settingthe speedfor the turn correctly,
you can pick up a secondor more

everytime you usethe brakes!By goingin too deepand upsettingyourself,you'llonlymakeit moredifficultto judgeyourspeed.lt is better to
back off on your initial braking marker and allow yourself more
time to set your speed right than to panic with late braking.
Resistthe temptationto latebrakein turnswhen it won't be an advanyou must latebrakegoingintoturns.lt won't
tage.Forpassingpurposes,
y
o
u
r
l a pt i m e s ,b u t y o uc a np i c ku p a p l a c ei n t h e
u s u a l l yi m p r o v e
standings.
Tryforyour absolutelatestbrakingpointin practiceso you'll
k n o w w h e r ey 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 gi s r e q u i r e di n a
p a s s i n gs i t u a t i o nd u r i n gt h e r a c e .
Lookat latebrakingfrom the standpointof time,laptimesand
yourpositionin the racerelativeto the otherriders.lf you'rewithina secin
ond of the fastestrideron the trackandcan makea lot of improvement
gained
really
a
can
three-tenths
of
second
braking,thenthe two-tenthsor
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 dt o g e t i n t ow i n n i n gl a p
times,don't lookfor it with the brakesalone;you'vegot to get your
sense?
averagespeedup in turns.Does
it make

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'sone extraoperationthat will taketime
haveto increase
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.
Whenyourspeedis set by adjustingit correctlywith the brakes,gradually,
youwon't haveto makeanycorrections
andyour attentionwill be freeto
r i d et h et u r n .
Point(RP)to markthe spotyou will
Establish
a Reference
and it involvesat leasttwo Points
beginbraking.Brakingis a Sub-Product
(
P
O
T
)
:
y
o
u
b e g i nt h e b r a k i n ga c t i o na n do n e
o n ea t t h e p o i n t
ofTiming
whereyou havecompletedit. lt is just as important to establish a
marker for the end of the braking as it is to have one for the
markerallowsyou to seein
beginning. Havinga goodend-braking
advancewhereyou'llbe f inishedwith the brakesand allowsyouto adjust
yourspeedmoreeasily.Thereis no guarantee
that the bikewill slowdown
exactlythe sameamounteachlap,evenif you brakeat the sameplacethingschange.But 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.
but it's llke lwasn't
really there I get tnto that
frame of concentration and
rf I go 1l4 mph slower or
faster. / know rt.

mustknowwhat fasteris. I calculatethat a world-classroadracermust be

ableto judgehis speedto withinone-halfof one milean hour-andpossibly evenf inerthanthat.Plusor minusone-halfmph givesthe ridera oneof f ivemph allowsyou
A plusor minussensitivity
mph rangeof sensitivity.
up to a 1O-mphrangein yoursenseof speed.Thatmight be too much.Five
mph fasterin a turn is reallya greatdeal-enoughto put you down if you do
i t a l l a to n c e .
By usingthe brakesas a dialyoucaneliminateradicalchanges
in the bike'sbehaviorand makeit easierto developyourown senseof
speed.Usingthe brakesas an on/off switch,however,createsdramatic
changesin the bike'sweighttransferand attitude,which makesthe sensing of speeddifficult.Usingthe brakesas a reversespeeddialallowsyou
to reachthe speedmore graduallyand becomemore sensitiveto speed
Themoreyou areableto sensespeed,the easierand quicker
adjustments.
accurately.
it becomesfor youto makethesespeedadjustments

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.

&
{'

&
l

Another Twist to Braking

I let it coast a little tn the turn

after braking to get everythtng
settled and ready for the exrt

Anothertwist to brakingis that you can effectivelyincrease

your speedby lettingoff the brakes.lf you use a comfortablebrakingpoint
as you enterthe turn, then sense you may be goingtoo slow, let off the
brakesand maintaina speedthat will be correct25 or morefeet down the
road.lf yourspeedis set right-a littlefasterthanthe lastlap,you probablywon't loseas muchtime as you mightby latebrakingand upsetting
yourself,and leavingthe dooropenfor a mistake.
to f ine-tuningyour senseof speed
There'sa greateradvantage
withoutpanic,usingthe brakesas an
by goingintothe turnscomfortably,
and bringingthe corneringspeedup a littleat a time.Control
adjustment,
and confidencecan be developedfrom this skill.Doyouthinkit willwork?

The Braking Drills

While it is truethat you willfind the rearbrakeof littleuse
underhardbraking,it's a good ideato find out exactlywhat happenswhen
it is lockedup and sliding.Thesimplestmethodis to ridealongthe track
at a comfortablespeed,then lock up the rearbrake.

Observeone importantcautionwhilemakingthis test;if the

rearendof the machineslidesout of linewith the front andyou let up on
the rearbrake,it will-or can-snapbackinto linewith the frontwheel.lf the
front and rearareseverely
out of line,this actionmay be so abruptit could
you
throw
and the motorcycledown.
Somemotorcyclesafetyinstructorssuggestyou can avoidthe
abovesituationby leavingthe rearbrakelockeduntilthemachineis
stopped,or nearlystopped.Thismay not alwaysbe a practicalsolution,
especial
ly whileracing.
It is possible,with practice,to guidethe wheelsbackinto
alignmentwith bodyEnglishand pressureon the handlebars,
then let up
on the brakeand continue.The bestsituationis to not havelockedit up
to beginwith. Hereis a drillyou can practiceto learnthe lock-uppointand
the sensitivity
of your rearbrake.
Step 1. Ridealongat a comfortable
speedin an areawith no
traffic or d istractions.
Step 2: Applythe front brakeat a steadyand evenrate.
Step3: Applythe rearbrakegraduallyto learnhow muchpedal
pressureit reallytakesto lock it up.
Step4: Repeatsteps1 through3 untilyouknow whenthe
brakewill lock.Do it at variousspeedsand brakingforces,remembering
that the harderyou usethe front,the lighterthe rearwill be.

1 Om p h

lOO mph

The Front Brake Drill

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

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.

keepthe brakelocked.Thesimpleandonlysolutionis to let off the lever

u n t i l t h es 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 un p i m m e d i a t e lTy h. e s a m e
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
mistakeyou can makewith a lockedf rontwheelis not letting off the
brake lever soon enough.
At 100 mph the stripof rubberyou put downon the pavement
w i l l b e l o n g e tr h a nt h e o n ea t 1 Om p h .l f y o u l e a v et h ew h e e l o c k e df o r
1 / 1 O t ho f a s e c o n da t 1O m p ht h e w h e e lw i l l s l i d ef o r 1. 5 f e e t .A t 1O Om p h
it will slidefor nearly15 feet.The bikeof coursehasmoreforceskeeping
i t u p r i g h ta t 1 O Om p h ,b u t i t f e e l st h e s a m ea s i t d o e sa t 1 0 m p h .

Cutting Costs
The purposeof theseexercises
is to f ind the pointwherethe
brakeslock,andto becomeaccustomed
to that feelingso you'llknow
whatto do if the brakeslockwhileyou'reriding.Thatkindof surprisecan
costyou $9.00.lf you'refamiliarwith it, it costs250 or less.
Step3: RepeatSteps1 and2 aboveat higherand higher
speedsuntilyou arecertainwhat happens,and arecertainyou cancontrol
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
is closelyassociated
with brakingbecausethe
it appears
two almostalwaysoccurat the sametime.Fromobservation,
is
or
stopthe
most
riders
the
engine
supposed
to
help
slow
that
believe
bikeW
. h e ny o u h e a ra n e n g i n es p i n n i n gu p t o w a r dr e d l i n eg o i n gi n t oa
you
toyou?
knowthe rideris tryingto useit as a brake.Doesthisapply
turn,

The Engine ls Not A Brake!

68

It'ssupposedto increase
the speedof the machine-not
it. At anyplacewhereyou haveto usethe brakesand downshift
decrease
at the sametime,it is not efficientor correctto usethe engineto slowyou.
T h e r ei s n ' tm u c hw e i g h to n t h e r e a rw h e e tl o b e g i nw i t h ,a n du s i n gt h e
t h e c r a n ka n dp i s t o n s
e n g i n em e a n sy o u ' r eg o i n gt o h a v et o r e p l a c e
sooner.lf you wishto slowdownthe rearwheela bit, usethe rearbrake.
it's not
Secondly,
It'scheaperto replacebrakepadsthan crankshafts.
correctto usethe engineas a brakebecausethat'snot the purposeof
downshifting.The purpose of downshifting is to bring the engine

rpm
7,5OO-1O,5OO

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)

&Ew

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"

into the right rpm range as you begin to accelerate out of a turn.
to downshiftas soonas
Most ridersseemto feel it's necessary
there
isn'ttime for a
possibleafterthey beginto brake.In somecases
But if
approach-thedownshiftingmust be doneimmediately.
leisurely
you
leisurely.
gears
it
more
when
can
do
thereis time to wait,change

The Bike Doesn't Gare

Goingintoa turn,the bikedoesn'tcarewhat gearit's in.The
lf you havea thirdrightgearmattersonlywhenyou beginto accelerate.
gearturn at the end of a sixth-gearstraight,and partof the turn requires
c o n s t a n t - s p e er udn n i n gt,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
that partof the turn.Of courseit's impoftantto makethe correctnumberof downshiftsat the properlocation.Thisusuallyisn'tat the first
o p p o r t u n i t yj u, 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 eu s u a l l yi s n o tw h e n
you'rein the turn leanedover-thatupsetsthe bikesomewhatwhenthe
gearchangesaremade.Changinggearsin a turn maycausethe biketo
bob up and down,as the shiftswill affecttractionand steering.
The bestplaceto makethe gearchangesis towardthe end of
the brakingbut beforethe bikeis actuallyput intothe turn at a steeplean
angle.
You'llsavea lot of attentionby knowinghow manygear
changesto makebeforecominginto a turn.lf you don't knowthis,you'll
in caseyou makea misfeelyou haveto startdownshiftingimmediately
take-thisis why manyridersbeginthe downshiftingtoo soon.You don't
have to know what gear you're in, so long as you know how
many gears you have to go down. lt's amazinghow muchattention
it betried?
can be f reedup by simplyknowingthis, and doing it. Shoutd

Tallest Gear Possible

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.

To decidehow manygearsto go downfor a turn,use the

possible that still allows the bike to pull the turn in
gear
tallest
its powerband. lf you go downtoo manygearsand run the turn with the
e n g i n es p i n n i n gu p t o r e d l i n ey, o u a r ea l m o s tg u a r a n t e eadg e a rc h a n g e
whilethe bikeis still leanedoverall the way.Youwill haveto makethat
changein the middleof yourdriveout of the turn-a placewhereyou need
of course,you mightnot
on otherthings.Sometimes,
to be concentrating
havea choicewith the gearingthat is on the bike,andyou'llhaveto change
you canchangethis situationwith the
gearswhileleanedover.Sometimes
the
infieldturnsand overrevsor under
gearing
for
so it's correct
overall
revsa littleon the straight.lf it resultsin betterlaptimes-andit canthen sacrificinga little top end is worth it.anvexamptes?

Second Problem
Thesecondproblemwith goingdowntoo manygearsand redof
l i n i n gt h e e n g i n ei n a t u r n i s t h a t e n g i n ev i b r a t i o nc a nh i d et h e v i b r a t i o 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 vibrationto tell you yourtraction situation.Thereis a vibrationwhenthe tiresaregrippingwell and not
slidingbecausethey aretakingthe maximumload.Whenthe tiresbeginto
slidethe vibrationis differentand muchfiner.A high-rewing engine
can' in a turn, cause the rider to believe his tires are sliding.
Yoursenseof tractionallowsyouto knowwhat conditionsyour
corneringspeedsand leananglesarecreatingfor the tires-howwellthey
arebitingintothe asphalt.Thevibrationfrom this carriesup throughthe
frameandyou senseit at the handlebars,
seatand footpegs.The
changes in that vibration give you a picture of the traction at
every moment. lf the enginevibrationis "drowningout,,orsmothering
that information,
it becomesdifficultto senseexactlywhatthe tiresare
dOing. nre you aware of this?

Goast Racing
"Canyonracers"havea greatpastimecalled,,CoastRacing.,'
s e v e r a l r i d e rl si n 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
t h e i re n g i n e sa n db e g i nc o a s t i n gd o w n .T h er i d e rw h o u s e sh i s b r a k e st h e
leastwins.Goodridershavenoticedtheyweregoingfasteron the same
t u r n sw h i l ec o a s t i n gt h a nw h e nt h e yw e r er i d i n gt h r o u g ht h e mw i t h t h e
e n g i n eo n .T h i sd o e sn o t m e a ny o u s h o u l dc o a s t h r o u g ht u r n so n a r a c e
trackor anywhereelse-youshouldhavethe bikein gearso you cancontrol
the exitof the turn.Thisexampleillustrates
that you can ,,read',
tiretraction muchbetterwhenthe enginevibrationisn'tdrowningit out. Note:
I don't recommendcoast RacingbecauseI haveseena numberof people
get hurt doingit.

Rider's Job
The rider'sjob is to be abreto separate the engine vibration from the tire traction vibration so he can constantly sense
traction. Yoursense of traction is somethingyou should be spending

I like to use earplugs. The

quieter lt is the faster I go.

a lot of attentionon. The combination of your sense of traction and

your sense of speed will help you determine the cornering speed
you are willing to use. No matterwhat lineor RPsor Productyou use
for a turn,thereis a maximumspeedfor that approach.Youwon't be able
to get that maximumspeedif you can'tsensethe tractionof the tires.
and
Youcan'tignorethe otherbasicsof downshifting:Throttle
gears.
Downshifting
clutchactionmust be correctlytimedwhenchanging
at the rightplaceon the track is important,but failureto revthe engineto
matchthe roadspeedof the bikewill lockup the rearwheelormakeit
chatter.Alwaysrevthe engineto the rightspeedbetweendownshifts.

Front Brake * Throttle

Most experienced riders have mastered the technique
of using the front brake and throttle at the same time. lt comes
from practice.The purposeof this techniqueis to allowyou to usethe
front brakeas hardas possibleandstill be ableto twistthe throttleenough
to revthe enginebetweendownshifts.Thetrick is to be ableto keepthe
while
brakeleverpressureconstant,or to changeit when necessary
workingthe throttle.
Howyou let the clutchout afterrewingthe enginecan makea
Goodriderslet the
differencebetweena smoothor a roughgearchange.
least
affecton the bike.
has
the
the
shift
clutchout smoothlyandevenlyso
Evenif you don't revthe engineenough,lettingthe clutchout slowlycan
savethe downshiftfrom beingrough.
It mayseemfar-fetchedthat how andwhereyou downshift
can improveyourcorneringspeeds,but I urgeyou to usethe methodsin
this sectionto improveyouroverallridingand senseof traction,aswell as
to f ree up more of your attention. Will thisimproveyourriding?

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.

3. While still maintainingbrake feverpressure,

rotate the throttle on and off to bring the revs
up for your downshift.

4. Repeat step thrce for each downshift.

5. Releasethe brake for the corner.

a{

i:';

Wr

%W

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.

'1':

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

CHAPTER

NINE

Steering
It Happens Backwards

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

Manyridershavelearnedto steera motorcyclewithoutunderstandingthe process.The purposeof steeringis to controlthemotorcycle'sdirectionof travel.ln racingor in any ridingsituation,you mustfeel
that the steeringand the directionof the bikeare underyourcontrol.The
fasteryou go,the moreyou wantto be certainthat the machinewill do
whatyouwant it to.

Counter Steering
Steeringis simpleenough-youpushthe barsin the opposite
directionof the directionyou wishto travel.Thatbeginsthe turn,andthe
bikeleansas it turns.Deliberately
turningthe barsin the oppositedirection of travelis knownas counter steering. Countermeans"against,"
andto steermeansto "guideor direct."To go rightyou mustturn the bars
left-to go left,turn the barsright.Gounter steering is the only way
you can direct a motorcycle to steer accurately.
This,in fact,is how you'vebeensteeringyour motorcycleall
the time,whetheryou knewit or not.Youcannotsteera motorcyclesimply
by leaningit. Youcan get it to veeroff in eitherdirectionby leaningyour
weightoff to onesideat low speeds,but that isn'tsteering.We aretalking
aboutcontrollingthe bike,andthat methodis somethinglessthancontrol.
Youcanonlyguesswherethe bikewill go.At speedyou can'tdo muchof
a n y t h i n gi f y o u ' r en o t h o l d i n go n t ot h e h a n d l e b a r s .
Let'stakea lookat what happenswhenyou steer.Youare
a p p r o a c h i nagr i g h t - h a n tdu 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 st o g o
right.Sinceyou areholdingontothe barsand movingoverto the right
yourleftarm is pullingthe left sideof the bartowardsyou,whichturns
the barsto the left.lf you leanleftto go arounda leftturn,you pullon the
rightbar.Thismust happenif you'reholdingontothe bars.lf you'renot
holdingthe bars.the bikewill not beginto turn whereyou lean.Youmay
b e p u s h i n go n t h e o t h e rb a ra sw e l la s p u l l i n g - i td e p e n d so n h o wy o u h o l d
76

the bars. ls it explained?

ii

ilii iiiiixffi

ffi

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

r
-

.i.lrri:tir:i..

,',,'.'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 easethe pressureon the bars,the bikewill stayat the leanangleyou
reachedwhenyou easedup the pressure.
Youdon't haveto holdthe bike
intothe turn with anygreatamountof force,if at all.On most bikes,once
you havethe machineat the desiredleanangle,you no longerneedto hold
ontothe bars.Actually,if you wereriding60 mph on most bikeswith a
c r u i s ec o n t r o il n a h u g eo p e np a r k i n gl o t w i t h n o b u m p s y, o uc o u l dt a k e
your handsoff the barsonceyou had it leanedoverandthe bikewould
c o n t i n u eg o i n ga r o u n di n a c i r c l ea 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 .
W h e ny o uf i n dy o u r s e lhf o l d i n go n v e r yt i g h t l yi n t u r n s ,y o u ' r e
doinga wholelot of unnecessary
work.Bumpsand othersurfaceirregularitiescanchangethe situationof course,so you do haveto holdon to
makesteeringcorrections.
Doyoudothis?

Tighten the Turn

To tighten up a turn and increase your lean angte, you
must counter steer again. You'rein a right-handturn,but it's a
decreasing-rada
i unsdy o u n e e dt o t i g h t e ni t u p .N o wy o u m u s tp u l lt h e
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 ht h e d e s i r e dl e a na n g l eT. h es a m e
a p p l i e si n a l e f t - h a n d
t u 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
t i g h t e nt h e t u r n .
T o s t r a i g h t etnh e b i k eu p a f t e rf i n i s h i n gt h e t u r n ,p u s ht h e b a r s
i n t ot h e d i r e c t i o no f t h et u r n .E x a m p l eY: o u ' r ei n a r i g h t - h a n tdu r na n d
wantto go straight-turnthe barsto the rightuntilthe bikestraightens
out.
Ridershaveproblemswith this especially
on fast,decreasingradiusturns.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. Youcanactuallysee
ridersclimbingontothe tank,exertinga lot of pressureon the barstrying
@f#Biffie{ffi+*

The faster you go, the

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

to makethe turn.Theybecomerigidas the bikegoesfurtherto the outside

of the turn and makesthem believethey'regoingtoo fast.you can seethe
effortand hearthe throttlebeingrolledoff.
Mostturnscan't be madewithoutcorrectingfor mistakes,
camberor radiuschangesor surfaceirregularities.
Also,to holda constant
radiuslinethrougha turn which haschanges(camber,bumps,etc.),steering adjustments
must be made.Most of your steeringoccurswith the
originalsteeringactiongoingintothe turn,but you mustbe ableto correct
the biketo compensate
for sliding,changesin camber,in radius,or other
changes.lf you can't corlect the steering in a turn, it will limit
you to a "one line through the turn" approach. your speedand
progresscan be limitedby how well or poorlyyou cancorrectthe bike's
d i r e c t i o nA. n y l i n eh a sa m a x i m u ms p e e dt h a t i t c a nb e r i d d e nb y a
particularrideron a particularbikeon a particularday.Anythoushts
on this?

Steering Backwards
In essence,
motorcyclesteeringis backwards
from mostother
formsof transportation.
An automobilegoesin the directionyou turn the
wheel,as do mostothervehicles.one problemwe havein learningto ride
stemsfrom a crueltrickplayedon us by our parents.Theygaveus a
tricycleto pedalaround.A tricycleturnsin the directionyou steerit. when
we rodea bicyclefor the firsttime,we fell down,and everyone
saidit was
because
we didn'thavegood balance.
Actually,it was becausebicycles
alsocountersteer.
Balance
h a dn o t h i n gt o d o w i t h i t l T h ec o n f u s i o n
iscaused
because
the childexpectsthe biketo go rightwhen he turnsto the right.
Eventually,
out of sheersurvivalinstincts,he goesthroughthe steering
m o t i o n sw i t h o u tu n d e r s t a n d i nt hge ma n dw i n d su p o n a m o t o r c y c l 1
e5
yearslaternot knowingwhat he hasbeendoingto go aroundturns.
Practicecountersteeringand becomeawareof it. Beawareof
how muchattentionit costsyouto starta turn.Seeif you can remember
what happenedwhenyou sawan unexpected
pot holeor rockon the road
andtriedto go aroundit. Most riders, in an emergency, try to turn
the bike in the direction they want to go. lt doesn'twork andthey
f i n dt h e m s e l v edso i n gs o m er e a l l ys t r a n g et h i n g st o m a k et h e b i k et u r n .
Racing,becauseof the speed,is a self-created
emergency.
Bythinking
and practice,you can lowerthe amouqtof time and attentionnecessary
to
countersteerdownto an acceptable
level.
I haveknownpeoplewho haveriddenfor 30 yearswithout
havingto facean emergency
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 scaredand quit riding.Theyrealizethat the controlthey
alwaysthoughtwas there-wasn't.Understanding
how a bikesteerscan
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 et o g o r i d i n ga g a i n .
I h a v eh e a r dv a r y i n ge x p l a n a t i o nasb o u tw h a t i s h a p p e n i n g
duringcountersteering,but I haveneverheardanytwo engineers
agree
totallyon the physicsof it. Despitethis,everyoneagreesthat counter
steeringis necessary
for goodcontrolof a motorcycle.
Startpracticingand
78

appfying it to your riding. Wilt thisimproveyourriding?

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
V e r yl i t t l ew i n n i n gi 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
aroundon the tires.lf you wantto win,you'llhaveto learnto do it, too.
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
see its purpose. Slidingis a tool,andthat tool shouldbecomea useful
partof your riding.Thef irststepis the hardest-deciding
that it is OKto
s l i d e l.f y o u a r e n ' tu 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
m a k ea w i l d d e c i s i o n
t o r u n i n t oa t u r nt o o f a s ti n h o p e sy o uw i l l b e a b l et o
. o r ku p t o i t b y i n c r e a s i nygo u rs p e e d
h a n d l et h e e x c e s s p e e db y s l i d i n gW
t h r o u g ht h e t u r n su n t i ly o u b e g i nt o s l i d e T
. h i su s u a l l yf i r s to c c u r sw h e n
r i d e r sg e to n t h e g a sc o m i n go u t o f s l o w e tr u r n s .
Sliding on asphalt can be
distracting when overdone, but is a useful riding tool when used in
moderation.

80

Three Kinds of Sliding

Threekindsof slidingcommonlyoccurunderracing
conditions:
1. The rearwheelbeginsto spinon acceleration
andthe rear
"comes
around,"or goesout morethanthe front end.
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.
3. Bothwheelsaresliding,or the bikeis in a sidewayshopmotion.
and-slide
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
this?
breaking traction. Haveyounoticed

Exceeding the Limits

'

Slidingoccursbecauseyou haveexceeded
the limitsof tire
Too muchspeedor throttlearenot the
adhesionfor thosecircumstances.
onlyreasonsthat slidingcan occur-roughpavementor roughridingcan
alsocauseit, as can a poorsuspension
system.
The backend can "comearound"all by itselfin a turn,which
maybe regardedas the fourth kindof sliding.Manytimesthis and other
k i n d so f s l i d i n ga r ed u et o t h e r i d e r ' so w n h a n d l i n go f t h e t u r n ,s u c ha s
whenweighttransferto the f rontor rearcausesthat endto breakaway.
Forexample,if you wereto comeintoa turn with just a littletoo much
speedand then roll off the gas suddenly,the front end would become
heavierthanthe rearand couldstartthe f ronttire sliding.Thesimpleremedy is to crackthe gasopenslightlyto helpeventhe weighton the f ront
and rear.Somebikesareheavieron oneendthanthe other.and havea
b u i l t - i nt e n d e n c tyo s l i d et h a t e n d .T h er o a ds u r f a c ec a nd e t e r m i nw
e hich
endof the bikeslides.Goingovera crest,for rnstance,
the lighterend-or
bothwheelsbecausethe downwardforceis lessened-slides.
Usually,
however,
the wheelwith too muchweightwill breaktractionfirst.

Another Decision
A n o t h e rd e c i s i o nm u s tb e m a d et o u s et h e s l i d i n gt o y o u r
advantage.
A good drive coming off a turn usually involves some
rear-wheel slippage. The harderyou accelerate,
the morerubberyou
haveto accelerate
with as the weighttransfergeneratedby the acceleration flattensout the tire and enlargesthe contactpatch.Thisholdstrue
o n l yt o a p o i n t ,o f c o u r s el.f t h e w h e e lb e g i n ss p i n n i n gt o o m u c hf o r e f f e c tivetireadhesion,it will heatup rapidlyand 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 ea c c e l e r a t i nagn d
maintainenoughtractionso it won't slideout completely.
Youcaneven
steerthe biketo your advantage
with the rearend slightlylooseby pointing
t h e b i k et o t h e i n s i d eo 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 es t e e r i n g . "
The nextstepfor the riderwho feelshe hasreachedthat 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 et h e s l i d eh a sb e c o m ea l i m i t i n gf a c t o ri n h i s r i d i n gi s t o u s et h e
s l i d et 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 ry o u m u s t
d e c i d ew h e r ea n dw h e nt h a t s l i p p i n ga r o u n dc a nb e u s e dt o y o u ra d v a n t a g er a t h e trh a nj u s t " w o r r y i n gt"h e b i k ea r o u n dt h e t u r na n db e i n gl i m i t e d
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 fyi n d ,c o s t sa f a i ra m o u n o
t f your
worth
to
the
then
begin
attention.
Get
used
sliding
and
of
$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
Slidingis a veryeffectivetool to usewhen you haveentered
a turn a littletoo fast.Leaningthe bikeovera littlemorejust at that point
will allowthe biketo slideand "scruboff" the extraspeed.Youdon't have
to usethe brakesandchancesomethingwill upsetthe bike,you simply
turn it in a littlemore,scruboff the extraspeedand continue.Traction
amountof
becomesanothermatterin fastturnsbecauseof the increased
attentionbeingspent.Mediumspeedturnsarelessof a threatto the rider,
h e r a p i d l yl e a r n st h a t a l i t t l es l i d i n ga r o u n dc a nw o r ko u t .R i d e r st e n dt o b e
moretimid of tractionin fasterturns.Also,in mediumspeedbankedturns,
s u c ha s L o u d o ns, l i d i n gi s m o r ep r e d i c t a b laen d l e s sd r a m a t i cT. h er i d e r
canbalanceoff his useof throttlesteeringagainstthe downwardpullof
the banking"holding"him in the turn.Losing traction can sometimes
be more of an advantage than keeping it. wittit workforyou?

Built-ln Safety Valves

82

Tire sliding and slippage are built-in safety valves.

T h e y ' r et 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
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-

pery.The"oils"that areusedto keepit resilienthavebeen"cooked"out

of that top layerof rubber,but the layerstill clingsto the tire.lf you'renot
l e t t i n gy o u rr a c i n gt i r e ss l i p ,y o u ' r er e a l l yr i d i n gu n d e rt h e a b i l i t yo f t h e
ti res.
purpose,I suggestusinga tire and
Foryourown instructional
rim combination
that will allowyou to slidethe bikearoundat your levelof
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 hs l i d ev e r yp r e d i c t a b l yf i)t t e dt o t h e i rY a m a h aT Z 2 S O s
thantheywill by mountinga set of state-of-the-artslicks.Thatgoesfor
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 .
Theothertypesof slidingshouldbe approached
in the same
way.Findout what slidingis likeso it won't surpriseyou when it happens.
T h i sw i l l i m p r o v ey o u rr i d i n g a
, s s l i d i n gc a nc o s tt o o m u c ho f y o u ra t t e n tion if you aren'tcomfortablewith it. once you haveslidingundercontrol
as just anotherpartof racing,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

It doesn't look hke you're

going fast when Vou are.

Nothinghaschangedroad-racingphotography
morein the
lasteightyearsthanthe practiceandtechniqueof hangingoff. Kneedragging is the mostdramaticposeracersof anykind haveeverindulgedin.
Spectators
arein aweof it, and ridersaren'tsatisfied untilthey'vemasteredit. Bothcanyonand caferacersarelikelyto castin plastictheirf irst
pairof designerjeanstheytouchto the tarmacwhilehangingoff.
JarnoSaarinenwas the first riderto exhibitdramaticknee-out
riding.He had beenan ice racerbeforecomingto roadracing,andthere
kneedraggingis both partof the styleandthe onlywayto be seriously
competitive.
Saarinenpioneeredit, KennyRobertsrefinedit and most
haspickedup kneedraggingfor himself.
everyone
who racessuccessfully

Real Reasons

84

Asidefrom the greatphotographypossibilities,

therearereal
reasonsfor hangingout a bodypartthat is cappedby a pieceof boneweak
enoughto be brokenby a 4o-poundblow.The first and most useful
reason for hanging off is: you are movingyour bodyweightfrom
t h et o p o f t h e b i k et o a p o s i t i o nt h a t i s l o w e ra n dt o t h e i n s i d eT. h i s
changeshow yourweightinfluencesthe bikewhencentrifugalforce
beginspushingit towardthe outsideof the turn.Whenyourweightis
higheron the bike,it givesthe corneringforcesa leverto workwith.To
overcomecentrifugalforce,
the bikemust be leanedoverin the turn.The
greaterthe force,the moreyou must leanto overcomeit. By hangingoff,
you moveyourweightto the insideof the bikeand lowerto the ground,
presenting
lessof a leverfor the forcesto act upon.Thisdoesnot weaken
the force,it simplylessensits effect.Nowthe bikedoesnot haveto be
leanedoveras far to makethe sameradiusof turn,andcan go faster
. v e ni f y o ug o t h r o u g ht h e t u r n
w i t h o u th a v i n gt o i n c r e a steh e l e a na n g l e E
t n h i s m a c h i n ey,o uc a n
a t t h e s a m es p e e da s a r i d e rs i t t i n gu p r i g h o
y
o
u
r
pi k e
begin
a c c e l e r a t i osno o n e trh a nh e c a nb e c a u s yeo u rs t r a i g h t - u b
hasmorerubberon the road.Thiscanbe a tremendousadvantage.

Remember,increasing your speed in a turn effectively decreases

the radius of the turn.
Note:Othersuggestions
havebeenmadeas to why hanging
off works.The lawsof physicsmust havesomethingto do with it but my
understanding
of thosephysicsis limited.Someevenarguethat it is no
realadvantage
and siteriderexamplesof the pastsuchas MikeHailwood,
who did not hangoff. You musttry it for yourselfandf ind out if thereis
an advantage
or not.
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 createwhen it is hung
out to the sideof a motorcycleat 1bo mph?At 1oo mph,or even60 mph?
with this additional"sail"on one side,it's easierto turn in that direction.
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 noticedthis effectof hangingoff at Daytonawhile
attemptingto set a 24-hourspeedrecordfor 7Soccmachinesin 1g77.
we wereridingKawasaki
Kzoso streetbikeswith largegastanksand racing tiresaroundand aroundthe outerbankedtri-ovalat Daytona.coming
off the bankingontothe levelstraightswas a steeringchorebecausethe
centrifugal
forcewastryingto sendthe bikeout to the wall.we wererunn i n ga t a c o n s t a nst p e e do 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
q u i t eb o r i n gr i d i n ga r o u n df o r h o u r sa t a t i m ea l m o s ft l a to u t ,w i t h t h e w i n d
tuggingat you andtryingto lift your helmetoff. I still havepermanent
groovesin my jaw from that chin strap.out of boredomI beganexperi-

85

mentingandfoundthat poppinga kneeout just as I madea fairlysharp

steeringchangecomingoff the banksmadethe steeringdramatically
was
easier-byaboutone-third.Therecordswereset,the champagne
greatand I had learneda newtool.
An extended knee offers
enough air drag to make
steering easier, especially in high speed
sectaonsof the track.

Second Advantage
of havinga kneeoff is that steering
So,the secondadvantage
is easier when the bike and rider pivot around the resistance
offered by the extended leg. Flickingthe bikefrom sideto sidein
essesor anyseriesof turnsis mucheasierwhen it is timedwith the knee
. h i sh o l d st r u ef o r
c h a n g ei s m a d e T
c o m i n go u tj u s t b e f o r et h e s t e e r i n g
s i n g l et u r n sa s w e l l .T h el i a b i l i t yi s o b v i o u s - y o u ' rcer e a t i n gm o r ew i n d
usethis
andthe bikewill slowdown somewhat.Remember,
resistance
techniqueas a tool; pull it out whenyou needit and put it awaywhenyou
d o n ' t .T h i sw o u l db e e s p e c i a l lt yr u ew i t h s m a l l e or r u n d e r p o w e r e d
to makethe steeringeasier.
use it onlywhen necessary
machines.

Third Advantage
. ean
A t h i r dr e a s o nf o r h a n g i n go f f h a st o d o w i t h l e a na n g l e L
g
o
y
o
u
can and
a n g l ei s o n eo f t h e i n d i c a t o ryso uc a nu s et o t e l l h o wf a s t
how muchtractionto expectf rom the tires.lt letsyou knowwhereyou are
. our
o f l e a na n g l e s, t e e r i n gt r, a c t i o na n ds p e e dY
balance
i nt h ed e l i c a t e
you must makeit your businessto
kneeis a delicateand costlyinstrument;
pavement.
the
of
knowhow far it is f romthe surface

The Knee Gauge

86

e a u g eo f l e a na n g l e s - iyf o u
T h ek n e ei s a n i n c r e d i b layc c u r a t g
p u t i t i n t h e s a m ep o s i t i o ne a c ht 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

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 db 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 tr u r n . T h e n
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.Doyouthinkit wittwork?

How You Look and Feel

Therearethreegood reasonsto masterthe skill of hanging
off-four if you countthe greatphotopossibilities.
Nowwe get to the fifth
reason:knee dragging gives you a sense of security. lt is strange
how this works,and I don'ttotallyunderstand
it, but somehowbeingin
c l o s ep r o x i m i t tyo t h e p a v e m e nm
t a k e sf a l l i n go f f s e e ml e s sd a n g e r o u s .
Perhapsit is becauseyou havealreadycontactedthe enemyand know
w h e r eh e i s .l t d o e s n ' h
t u r tt o f a l lw h e ny o u ' r eo n l ya n i n c ha b o v et h e
ground.Of course,I'm not takingthe speedintoaccount-justthe fall.
A fall from the top of the seatis a muchlongerfall,andthat
extradistancecouldbe the startof a painfulbouncing.Most slide-outs
d o n ' tr e s u l ti n i n j u r yw h e nn o b o u n c i n ga n df l i p p i n go c c u r y. o u j u d g ef o r
yourselfwhetheror not is is any"safer,"but it feelsmoresecure.

Sixth Advantage
Youmay not believethis,but ridershavesavedthemselves
f r o mf a l l i n gb e c a u s teh 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
k n e ea f t e ri t h a db e g u nt o s l i d eo u t .A f r i e n do f m i n eo n c ea c t u a l l y
b o u n c e da b i k eb a c ku p o n t oi t sw h e e l sw i t h h i se l b o wa n dc o n t i n u e d
racing.

how this mightwork if you considerthe

Youcan understand
amouno
t 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 o n t h e
g r o u n da n d p u s h i n gu p .A t a n yr a t e ,t h i st a c t i ch a sw o r k e d - a n dw i l l n o
Superbike
doubtwork again.At an advancedsessionof the California
he
was
askedto
guest
instructor,
the
Lawson
was
where
Eddie
School
"How
oftendo you usethis technique?",
commenton this.Whenasked,
"About
lap."
Theremay be a measureof heroics
a
once
Lawson'sreplywas
andcertainlyf iveor morelayersof ducttapewill helpkeepyour
involved,
leathersand kneelookingsmart.
Usingthe kneeas an anti-slidedevice,or an aid to sliding'
t h e r et h e s l i d eo c c u r si n a p a r t i c u l at ru r n .A
t
a
m u s ta l s o k ei n t oa c c o u nw
r e c u r r i n sgl i d eb e c o m e sa p o i n to f t i m i n g( P O Ti)n a p a r t i c u l at ru r n ." O K ,
the bikeis goingto slidehereeverytime becausethereis a crestthat
u n l o a d st h 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
it partof your planfor that turn.Now,if you keepyourkneef irmlyplanted
intothe asphaltfor everyturn on everylapof a 20 lap race,you aregoing
Thatwon't work.
to run out of ducttapeand startintoyourkneeor leathers.
w
e l lk n o w n y, o u r
r
e
a
l
l
y
t
h
e
t
r
a
c
k
W h a tw i l l w o r ki s : Y o ug e tt h a t l o c a t i o no n
POT,andyou dip the old kneedown.iustbeforethe slidehappens.when
t h e s l i d ea r e ai s p a s s e dy,o u u n w e i g htth e k n e ea n dS a v et h e t a p e 'O n t h e
otherhand,if you wait for the biketo slideeverylapandthen put the knee
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 ht i m e i t h a p p e n sP. a n i c s
cost a lot.
Hereis what you'vedoneto handlethe situation'
l.You'vefoundan RPto tell you that the slideareais
approaching.
2. You'vef iguredout whereto put your kneedown' That's
your POT.
3. You'vef iguredout whereto pick up the knee,at the end of
the slidearea.That'sanotherPOT'
part
turnedthe driftingor slidinginto a predictable
4. You',ve
of the turn.
The knee is extended in
readinessto correct for
sliding, should it occur'

5. You'vesavedmanydollarsworth of attentionthat can be

usedfor judgingspeed,adjustingyour line,passing,throttlecontrol,figuringout a betterplan,gettinga betterdrive,etc.,etc.Canit bedone?

Hang Loose
Never become rigid while hanging off. Be relaxedand
s e t t l ei n t ot h e p o s i t i o ny o u n o r m a l l tya k ew h i l ei n t h i s m a n e u v e Y
r .o u ' v e
got to be as relaxedas possibleso that you don't becomea bobbing
weighton the bikethat actslikea passenger
who doesn'tknowhow to
relax.lf you encounterany krndof roughpavementor handlethe bike
roughly,it will moveup and down.lf you'reloose,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 ga w o b b l e .
D o n ' tu s et h e h a n d l e b a rt so s u p p o ryt o u rw e i g h tw h e ny o u
hangoff.Thissendsinputsto the steeringand can starta wobbleas well.
Useyour legsto get f rom one sideof the biketo the other.and hordon
with youroutsideleg.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 workrorvou?

Be comfortableratherthan
sultsn.

Note:
lf you don'tfeelcomfortablehangingoff, don,tdo it. you can
wastea lot of time and efforttryingto work out somethingyou don't need
t o d o . U s eh a n g i n go f f a s a t o o l .w h e n y o u b e g i nt o h a v eg r o u n dc l e a r s h i l ec o r n e r i n go,r a n yo t h e rp r o b l e m tsh a t c o u l db e h e l p e d
a n c ep r o b l e m w
by hangingoff,then do it.
A rider'sstyleincludeshow weil he accomplishes
eachof the
partsof riding.lt is all of what he understands
and all of what he doesn't
feelgoodaboutrolledinto his own package.Hangingoff maybe partof
your ridingpackage,
or it maynot be,rightnow.
A ridertellsa greatdealabouthimselfby his styre.Forexample,a riderwho canstaytuckeddown behindthe bubbleand low on the
bikein fast or trickysectionsknowsthe track.He hasRps.pointsof rimi n ga n do t h e rf a c t o r sw e l lu n d e r s t o o dT.h er i d e rw h o d o e s n ' w
t i l l b es i t t i n g
up tryingto seewherehe is going.
s t y l ei s b a s e do n w h e r et h e r i d e ri s s p e n d i n gh i s $ 1 o w o d h o f
attention.Fittingyourselfinto a stylefor no reasoncancostyou a lot.

Don't hang off if you don't

need to.

CHAPTER

TWELVE

Passing
Who Was That I Just Passed?

|tissometimeseasiertopassarideryouareracingwith'
passlapped
someonewith equalor similarabilityto yourown,than it is to
you
or slowerriders.Theotherraceron your levelis therelongenoughfor
new
to makeout someaspectof his ridingstyle,wherethe slowerrideris a
commodity.Manytimesyouwill becomewaryof these
and unobserved
you
ridersjust f romthe fact that theyarea lap down on you.lt makes
wonderif they knowwhat'sgoingon.
lt is definitely
Passingcomesup oftenin new-riderdiscussions.
few,
evenof
oneof the craftsinvolvedin racingand somethingthat onlya
the top riders,havemastered'
Thegroundru|esinpassingandfo||owingwi||increaseyou
u n d e r s t a n d i nogf t h e a c t i o n si n v o l v e d :

Ground Rules of Passing

1. Motorcycles go to the outside of the track when
they fall, and so do riders. lf you aredirectlybehinda riderand he loses
you get
c o n t r oal n df a l l s ,i t i s a l m o s ti m p o s s i b lteo h i t h i m .B y t h e t i m e
to the place he fell he witl no longer be there. Aluminumsidecovers
andfairingsofferlittletraction,so oncethe bikeis over,it will rapidly
travelto the outside.
lf you'repositionedto the insideof anotherriderand he falls,
to this is in high,banked
it is not possibleto hit him.The onlyexception
t u r n ss u c ha s a t D a y t o n aT.h e r et h e b a n k i n gi s s o s t e e pt h a tt h e s l i d i n g
m a c h i n ea n d r i d e rw 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 et ,h e nb e g i na
downwardcourseto the insideof the turn.Bikeand riderliterallyfall down
t h e h i l lb e c a u s teh e c o r n e r i n fgo r c ei s n o l o n g e rh o l d i n gt h e mu p o n t h e
r u t s o m e w h alte s sd r a m a t i c
b a n k i n gL. e s s ebr a n k e dt u r n sh a v ea s i m i l a b
t e n d e n c tyo d o t h e s a m et h i n g .
Passino
g n t h e o u t s i d eh a si n c r e a s eldi a b i l i t i ebse c a u s teh i s
maneuvermakesit possibleto intersectthe pathof a fallenrideror
machineon 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 concreteexamplesof the old axiom,"Yougo where
you look."
It is veryupsettingto havesomeonefall off in f rontof you and
i t c a np o s s i b l yb e d a n g e r o utso y o u .A l l t o o o f t e n t, h e t r a i l i n gr i d e rw i l l
watchthe fallenone and go down with him.Perhapsit is becausethe fallen
r i d e ri s n o w h a v i n ga m o r ei n t e r e s t i nrgi d e ,p e r h a p si t i s t h e d a n g e rl.t m a y
b ej u s t m o r b i dc u r i o s i t yW
. h a t e v etrh e r e a s o nt,h e s i m p l es o l u t i o ni s t o n o t
g o i n gw h e r ey o u h a do r i g i n a l l iyn t e n d e d
. ontinue
l o o ka t t h ef a l l e nr i d e r C
andthereis littlepossibilityof becomingentangledwith him.
3. lf you become involved with watching the rider in
front of you, passing becomes very difficult. Spendyourattention
on that riderandyou arenot spendingit on whereyou aregoing-your
$ 1O bill hasnot expanded.
Also.if you are lookingat anotherrideryou areusinghim for
a RPand not lookingat the RPsthat you knowwill get you throughthe
turn.Youbecomelost.
Here'ssomeadvice.and an exampfe,of ridingin traffic from
threeAmericanmasters:KennyRoberts,EddieLawsonand MikeBaldwin.
I haveseeneachof them run near-perfect
laps,onlytenthsof a second
slowerthan their best racelaps,in very heavytraffic.
Baldwinsayshe treatsslowerridersliketreesin the woods.He
considers
them stationaryobjectshe is goingby.
Lawsonsuggeststhe correctprocedureis in not lookingat the
leadingrider.
After KennyRoberts'incredible
openinglapat SearsPoint,
wherehe wentf rom 32ndto sixthon a trackthat doesn'treallyhavea
straightaway,
nobodyevenbotheredto ask him. Heobviouslydidn't
considertherewas anyoneelsethere.
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. Followingtoo closecan be a liability,
but followingat a comfortabledistancecan improveyourown masteryof
a turn.Whena rideris out in f rontof you he createsa "rollingRp."
Let'ssayanotherrideris aheadof you by 25 to 1OOfeet.lf the
tracksurfaceis hardto seebecauseof elevationchangesor radius
changesyou can knowwherethe trackis goingby locatingthe otherrider.
So longas he stayson the track,his presenceletsyou knowthereis
asphaltaheadof you.lt givesyou a betterpictureof what you can'tsee.As
y o ud r a wc l o s e ry o u m u s tt h e na b a n d o nh i m a s a n R P ,k e e p i n gy o u r
attentionon your Product,Sub-Product
or RPs.Does
it makesense?

Passing Signals
In California
it is legaltosplitlanes-toridebetweenthe lines
of carson the f reeway.Fromthis practice,California
ridershavelearned
that the autodriveralwaysdoessomethingbeforehe changeslanes.lt
maybe a lookin the mirror,a twitch of the head,shouldermovement,a
g l a n c et o t h e r e a ro r a c h a n g eo f h a n dp o s i t i o no n t h e s t e e r i n g
w h e e l .I n
racing,a rideroftenmakesa movement,usuallyof the head,just before
changingdirections.lt isn'talwaystrue and it isn't 100 percenteffective
as it seemsto be with cardrivers,but it doeshappenandyou can useit if
you seeit.
Yourabilityto "read"the otherrider'slineandwhereit will put
him hasa lot to do with passing.A riderwho is leanedoverthe the maxim u m l i m i t so f h i sm a c h i n ei s n o t l i k e l yt o m a k ea n yr a d i c am
l o v e st o w a r d
the insideof the track.Hislineof travelis prettywell set.You mustbe able
t o s i z eu p h i s l i n e ,d e t e r m i n w
e h e r ei t w i l l t a k eh i m ,a n dd e c i d ei f y o uc a n
m a k et h e p a s s .
Judgingthe amountof spacethat you needfor a passisn'tall
that difficult.lt only takes a little more space than the width of a
doorway to pass another rider. lf you can seethat amountof space,
you can get through.wittthis
hetp?

Basics Apply
I n p a s s i n gt ,h e b a s i c so f r i d i n gs t i l la p p l y Y
. o um u s ts p e n dy o u r
attentionon gettingaroundthe track.not on otherriders.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 gf a c t o r si n w h o c r o s s e tsh e f i n i s hl i n ef i r s t .

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.

94

J.

ot&*.,

CHAPTER

THIRTEEN

SuperuiseYourself
Yes, Homework ls Necessary

I go into a race. on the starting line, with the attitude that

I'm gonna get beat-these
guys are gonna smoke me.

your racingprogram,keepaccuraterecords
To helpsupervise
and be workingon someaspectof it eachtime you go to the track.This
tracktime and
way,you'llbe makingthe bestuseof yourtime,expensive
of your bike.

Record Your Lap Times

The first absolutelynecessaryrecordto keepis of lap times.
lap times indicate your overall base-line improvement from lap
to lap and race to race. Laptimestell you directlywhat youreffortsare
Whenyoutry somethingnew,the lap
bringingin termsof improvement.
timesarea sure-fireway of weedingout what is workingfrom what is not.
Keepingaccuraterecordsis nothingmorethan keepinga diary
your
riding.Decidewhatyou aregoingto work on and makea noteof it
of
i n t h e b o o k .G 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 di n c l u d ea l l o f
you havegatheredthereon previouslaps.lf you haven't
the information
riddenthe trackbefore,startfromthe beginning,learningthe courseand
Youmightalsostartat the beginningof this bookand
all its peculiarities.
go throughthe track,workingon the pointsmentionedin eachchapter.
of the track itself,what products you are likely
Noticethe construction
to havefor eachturn or sectionof the track,notewhatyou aredoingin
to use,how
each,what reference points you'reusing,or haveavailable
you're
operatingon,
yourtimingis workingin eachsection,what decisions
wherethe barriersareandwhatto do aboutthem.Seewhatyou cando to
could
s l i c ku p y o u rb r a k i n ga 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
makeyourway aroundthe courseeasier.Doyouagree?

lmprove Problem Areas

96

Pick up your problem areas and try to better them;

leave your strong points alone for now. A good way to checkyour

progresson the trackwill requiretwo goodstopwatches

anda personto
you're
you
workingon
the
areas
This
will
help
narrow
down
act as timer.
s o t h a ty o uc a ns e ei f y o u ' r eg a i n i n go r l o s i n gt i m e i n a p a r t i c u l asre c t i o n .
Thetimershouldbe in a positionto seethe wholetrack,or at leastmost
of it. Thestopwatchesshouldbe the varietythat can recordeverylap,or
you mayusetwo or threesinglelaptimers.

Break the Track

Break the track into sections and time each one
the start/
separately. Youmighthaveyourtimerclockfrom,for example,
finishlineto TurnThree;TurnThreeto TurnSix,thenTurnSixto the
start/finishline.Thetimerwill recordyourtimesfor eachsection,then
you
recordthe overalllap time besideit. Now you'll know exactlyr4q@Ie
needwork. I haveseen,for example,WayneRainey-formerlya ClassC dirt
l<Zl50througha tight sectionat Willow
tracker-runa box-stockKawasaki
SpringsRaceway(fromTurnThreethroughTurnSix)fasterthan nationRainey'sbikewas equippedwith
riderson theirSuperbikes!
ally-ranked
ranslickson wide rimsplusthey had
streetDunlops,andthe Superbikes
moregroundclearance.
considerably
lf you can alsotime your competition,you mayfind wherethey
are pickingup time on you and whereyou needto get your times down.
Youronly limit is the numberof watchesyou haveand the peopleyou have
you canwork and
to runthem.This is valuable,bottom-lineinformation
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,go out intendingto improveone
Whenyou supervise
turn or oneaspectof allthe turns,likebraking,reference
pointsor points
of timing.Whenyou do this,don'tchangeanythingelse.Keepthe restof
the trackandwhat you'redoingtherethe same.Thiswill giveyou a better
pictureof the results.
Youcanthinkof endless'things
to do whileyou'reout on the
just
track,but stickto your planand
work on what you had intendedto
from the start.

I like the big sweepers,fast

corners.Somettmesthe guys
l'm lappinggo through the
slow ones fasterthan me.

97

Youcanalsotry to do nothing.Homeworkisn'tfun allthe time,

so takea few lapswhenyou canandjust ride.Don'tconcentrate
on any
improvements.
At the most,try to relaxmoreand concentrateon your
breathing.Often,I haveseengreatforwardsurgesin lap times by riders
who wereinstructedto just takea few lapsfor fun.Thisis the time when
you can integrateall the thingsyou wereworkingon into a smoothand
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 wholedecisionin itselfthat shouldbe reserved
for racingandfor
you
when
havedonea good amountof thinkingaboutthe track.Once
you'vegonethroughthe boringpartsof lookingand experimenting
to see
you
whatworks,
arearmedwith enoughknowledgeto makeyourdecision
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
producesthe bestlaptimes.Setyourplanthen addthe speed.That'syour
starting pface.Canvouapplythis?
Use practiceto your bestadvantage.lf you'reone of the fastest
ridersthat day,go out in front of the practicesessionso you won't haveto
cut througha lot of traffic.lf you'reone of the slowerriders,go out
towardsthe end of the group and stayout of the distractingtraffic.

Practice :

lnformation

'= Think

Come back from each practice session with informayou

tion
can use to think with. Whetheryou areworkingon some
aspectof your racingor just takinga relaxedride,havea solidideaof what
went on duringthe lapsyou havejust run.lf you have a hard time
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 happensmorethanwe like,and it makesit difficultto
yourprecioustenoperatewith understanding.
Whenyou can'tremember,
to
a
degree
attention
is
being
spent
such
on something
dollar'sworth of
elsethat you only havetime to operate.Thiswill leaveyou shofton understandingand makesit difficultto tell whatworksandwhat doesn't.

Waste Paper, Not Track Time

98

Paperis cheap-useit to makedrawingsof the turnsandto

showyourselfwhatyou'redoingin them-makeX's and O's on the drawingsto indicatethe RPs,POT,Productsandyour planof attackto get
aroundthe coursefaster.Drawoneturn at a time unlessyou havesome
esses.

What
Makeyourown drawings-don'tusetrackdiagramscounts is how the turn looks to you. Trackdiagramsaref inefor helpbut theydon't include
find theirway to the grandstands,
ing spectators
camberchanges,roughspots,exactlocationsof uphillsanddownhills,etc.

Track Drawings
Make your track drawings as exact as possible, Anyone
who canridea motorcyclecan makea simplelinedrawingof a turn' lt
doesn'ttakeaftisticability.lf you find it difficultto makea turn drawing
afteryou'veriddenthe track,sleepingthroughart classwasn'tthe problem,you just don't know the turn. Partsof it arestill unclearto you.
A drawing makes your thoughts one step closer to the real thing.
Paperisn'tasphalt,but it is closerto it thanthe stuffthat thoughtsare
madeof. Drawingsget you involvedin a verydirectway with what is going
on whileyou'reriding.

TT{g BIKE uINIDADS

TOO MUCH WHEN E
HOI-Dlr OrJ OvgR-

,or,
I

THE CR.EST Airlltg

Exr-r 6

*3.

CHANGE PqI

Drawings bring your

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

btr
SO

THAT THE. BTKE ISN'T

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

ENTRANeE Tn

/-JJ4f*\

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

uNCLEAR ) Mt\KlN&
t.AE, RDLL ir oxr
,

AND OFtr IN

D . S.,b- Frodurcts

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 differencethan a littlefasterin the slow ones.
Youcovermoredistancein the fastturns,which bringsup youroverall
average
it takesonlyaboutone mph higheraverageto
faster.Remember,
go onesecondfasterper 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 whichyouraveragecan be higher.

Racer's Tools
(1) Lookat your ridingfrom the standpointthat you intendto
(2)
improve. Setyourselflap-timetargetsfor the day.(3) Makesureyou
comeoff the trackwith informationyou can use.(4) Makeeverypractice
sessioncountevenmoreby workingon a pafticularpointwhileyou're
(6) Readoverthe materialin this
riding.(5) Don'tbecomediscouraged.
you
haveridden.lt will makemoresenseto you then.
bookagainafter
Can you see it working
for you?

100

A pagefrom Wayne
Rainey's
notebook.

Jilt?
g
ffiP-.s"sN
"dx,?Eoop
:iiiii EFFoRE rHe-NE^gEl,{
Do\N'N SH\ FT
"ff' THEN :L N\Y-eenr
Rep Cor'oe
ovER
r THEN s-rARTtlovirla

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AND"G\N
Lr=trT
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it 151N\RD=
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iiii
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AND
GRADu\LLY
li+ T\it* Bo*lo 'tHF sHoRT sHurE INTD TURNT1AJO
fii As s APPROAC\{TUR\r TWb x: sTART-ro LEAN

iiii cN

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
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oF THF TURN AtrotlT s/q THRDTTLE '
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ELT{rIEI<THE

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

,\

a.,\

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.

Oneword of adviceaboutpeoplegivingyou adviceabout

your riding-you are your best advisor. You'rethe one sittingin the saddle and riding.No one hasbetterinformationaboutwhat 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 someoneelse's.

Sort lt Out for Yourself

Theway your ridinglooksto someonebesidethe trackhas
nothingto do with how you arethinkingaboutit. In the endyou haveto
sort it out for yourself.Anotherrider'sline,evenif he goesfasterthanyou,
mightnot be the correctonefor you.Informationcan be valuable,but you
haveto watchwhereit's comingf rom andwho'sgivingit. Otherridersare
,cftenoperatingfrom theirown falseinformation.
Pickit up andyou will try
to makeit work,too. lt canwasteyourtime and energy.
I havetriednot to giveyou adviceaboutridingin this materialinstead,I'vetriedto explainwhat happenswhileyou'reon a motorcycle,
andwhat a ridermustthinkof whenspeedand precisionareimportant.
lt's your job to decide how they apply to you.Howdoyoufeelaboutit?
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
are:Whatyou do whenthe time comesto unload-Howyou keepthis bad
situationfrom gettingworse-andHowyou feelaboutthe businessof
fallingoff.

Be Willing to Fall Off

Let'sconsiderthe third factorfirst. As a racer,you shouldbe
Wt!.!ngto fall off. You don't haveto Wan!to, but beingwilling to is very
different,and it hasto do with yourattitudeaboutfalling.lf you ridea
if you raceone-fallingis an activityyou're
especially
motorcycle-and
likelyto becomeinvolvedwith. lt goeswith the territoryof riding.lf you
resist falling, you are more likely to fall. This is the key-it worksvery
similarlyto a targetf ixation.That'swhereyou lookat an objectyou don't
wantto hit,then becomeso f ixatedon the threatthat you don't lookfor a
way out and hit it anyway.Fallingis similarin that the moreyou resistit-or
fixateon the ideaof not falling-themoreit will takeyourattentionaway
from your riding.Youcan spendyour entireten-dollar'sworth of attention
resistingfalling,then becauseyou haveno attentionleft to operatethe
machine,fallfrom a mistake.
Hereagainis the magicof the decision. Yousimplydecide
that you mightfall off andacceptthat it can happen.at anytime.anywhere.
Youhaveto lookat it and say,"okay,I canfall off oneof thesethings.I
, r l j u s t m i g h td i ed o i n gi t . "
m i g h tb r e a ka b o n eo r h a v ea h e l lo f a s l i d e o
All of thesethingscan and do happento motorcycleriders.So,get it out
of the way by takinga lookat it andthen makingyourdecisionf romthere.
I wouldn'tadviseracingto anyonewho wasn'twillingto fall down.

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

comesout alright,fallingisn'tas fearsomeanymore.Your best

insurance against falling is to not resist it.
lf you do fall, however,here'show to comeout of it with the
leastamountof damageto your body:

Let Go
1. Let go of the bike: lt is muchlargerand heavierthanyou
andverylikelyto travelfurtherdownthe roadthanyou will. lf you'reholding onto it, you'regoingalongfor the ride.Youwantto minimizeyour
motionso your new leathersdon'tget holesgroundthroughthem.Motorcycleshavehardthingsstickingout theirsidesthat cancatchon the
groundandsendthem rollingand doingendos.lf you'restill attachedto
the bike,you'll do the same.When you let go, the differencebetweenyour
dropyou off at someotherplace.
weightandthe bike'swill generally
just
you
relax.Don'tdo anything.Theact of
it,
2. Relax: lf
lose
relaxingwill usuallygetyou awayfrom the bike.lf you extendyourarmsor
legsto try to breakyourfall,you will be providingyourselfwith a pivotthat
can sendyou flyingor tumbling.Whenyour body'srigidit's easierto break
things.lf you'rerelaxed,skiddingalonglikea ragdoll,it's moredifficult
to breakbones.
-:Gl

,61

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.

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

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**

Relaxingalsoputsmoresurfaceareaontothe groundand
spreadsthe impactovera largerarea.Forexample,if you weigh 150
poundsandfall on your palm,that threesquareinchesof yourpalmwill
takea forceof about50 poundsper squareinchfrom the fall alone-the
forceof that impactwill increasegreatlywith the speed.lf you landon
your back,armsand legsinstead,you'refallingonto a couplesquarefeet
which bringsthe loadper squareinchdown belowone pound.A pound
droppedon your handwill hurt a littlebit. Fiftypoundsdroppedon your
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
oneof the techniquesusedby stuntmenand martialartspeopleto lessen
the possibilities
of painand damageto theirbodies.
hasheardof exceptional
situationswhere
Probablyeveryone
the riderslidesout,then climbson top of the bikeandwaitsfor it to stop.
He nevertouchesthe groundand is unhurt.Youdecideif you wantto try
that the worst kindof fall is whenthe bikeis sliding
this,but understand
alongand somethingcatcheswhichf lipsit overon the otherside.lf you're
s t i l lh a n g i n go n - y o ug e t l a u n c h e dT.h i si s c a l l e d" h i g h - s i d i n gw" h e n
you'rethrownoverthe high sideof a bikein a turn."Low-siding"is when
the bikeis leaningoverandthe tireswashout,droppingit straightdown.

Stop Before Standing

Oneotherimportantaspectof fallingis that sometimesyou
can'ttell when you'vestopped.Strangeas this may seem,it's true.When
you fall,it upsetsthe inner-ear
fluid that governsyoursenseof balance
and motion.You can think you are actually stopped while still
sliding along at 1OOmph. lt can makefor an excitingtime if you decide
to standup beforethe slidinghasstopped.lt hashappenedto me and
l'veseenit happento otherriders.Youwind up taking15-footstrides
down the track,and you look likea kangaroo.To avoidthis, countto three
whenyouthinkyou havestopped,then lookaroundto seeif the skyand
examples?
groundarewherethey'resupposedto be.Some

Practice Falls

106

As I mentioned,you preparefor the possibilityof falling by

relaxing.Here'san exerciseto helpyou do that:
1. Standup in the middleof a carpetedroom,or use a
gym that'sequippedwith wrestlingmats.
2. Extendbothyourarmsto the sidesto shoulderheight'
3. Commandthemto relaxandjust let themfall.lf you notice
in your musclesafteryou havemadethe command,do it
any resistance
overuntilyour armsjust flop downto yoursides.
4 . S t a n di n t h e m i d d l eo f t h e r o o ma n dc o m m a n dy o u rw h o l e
bodyto relax.Just let go of it and let it fall. lf you do it honestlyyour legs
will bucklefirst andyou won't fall straightforwardor straightbackwardsyou'llcrumpleto a heapon the floor.Do it untilyou cancompletelyrelax

your bodyon command.

lf you wantto be creativewith this drillyou cando it on soft
m a t sw h i l ew a l k i n go 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 eT.h e
importantthing is to relaxthe bodyon commandso it willfall relaxedand
spreadthe impactovera largearea.I haveroad-testedthis techniqueat
over 130 mph and can personallytestifythat for most motorcycleaccidentsyou'llhavea muchbetterchanceof avoidinginjuryif you hit the
groundrelaxed.Doyouagree?

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
they havea chanceto avoidyou if you stayin one spot.lf you'reup and
movingin a panic,they don't knowwhichwayyou'llrun.lf you'restopped,
they havesomethingto avoid.Also,it's muchbetterto havea leg run over
by anothermotorcyclethanto be hit by onewhileyou'restandingup.
A planof action,suchas relaxingwhenyou fall off, is likewearing a helmet.Youdon't needit untilyouhit the road,thenyou reallyneed
it. Beingwillingto fall off will helpkeepyou off the ground;knowinghow
to do it can minimizeyour injuries.

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
l'll get to the nittyof sponsorship
right away:you needone of
threethings-orall three-toget sponsorship
support.
1. Knowsomeonewho is in a positionto sponsoryou.
2. Work hardpromotingyourselfand covereverypossible
sponsor.
3. Be so goodat racingthat otherpeoplewantyou on their
teamcarryingtheirstickersand leathers.

A P.R. World
In most cases,peoplewant to sponsorridersthey like.
Sometimes,
that'smoreimportantthanyourabilityto ride,but usuallyit
just helpsa lot.Yourpotentialsponsormaypictureyou on the winner's
standat Daytonasayinggreatthingsabouthim. He mayjust pictureyou at
the club racessayinggoodthingsabouthis productto others.Are you the
kindof personthat othersbelieve?
Yoursponsor-orpotentialsponsormustunderstand
We live in a
onething if he is to be at all successful.
P.R. (public relationsl world and good P.R. helps. lf you just expect
to be a club racerand nothingfurther,this doesn'texcludeyou f romthe
fruitsof sponsorship.
Localracinghasbeenthe spawninggroundfor
younoticed
this?
someof the most successful productlinesevar.Have

His Honor, The Racer

108

Racersareopinionleadersin theirfields.Thatfield is motorcycling.Throughoutracinghistory,the majorityof productsthat aresporthaveshown up on the racetrack,then on many

or performance-related
streetbikes.
lf you haveracedand havefrienos,you will noticethat your
amongthem.Yourfriendsandtheirfriendsare
credibilityhasincreased
partsand even
dependingon youto givethemthe hot tip on performance
You,as a
on what biketo buy.An opinionleaderis somewhatof a celebrity.
racer,mustfulfillthe requirements
of a celebrity.lf you haveanysuccessin

Your
racing,be willingto answerendlessquestionsaboutmotorcycles.
products.
promote
you
his
willing
to
are
that
understand
sponsorshould
Whenyou area greatracer,nobodywill expectyou to do anyof this
becauseyou will havebecomeoverpaidand cocky.Not really-butthe
winningwill be first priority.
whetheryou area good raceror not,
The basisfor sponsorship,
is the exchangeyou can makewith the sponsor.What canyou do for him
andwhat is he goingto do for you?
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
sponsorsthe exactplanyou havefor gettinghis nameout intothe world in
the bestpossiblelight.Planfor activitiessuchas arrangingfor articles,
makingyour pit areaintoa soft of minitradeshowfor his products,showpointingout that racingising him that you havea sphereof influence,
and hasbeen-goodpromotion,and anythingelseyou candreamup to
show him how it will benefithim.Thendo itt
Keepyour sponsorinformedof what you'redoing,or propose
that you will informhim.Takepictures,write lettersand keephim up
to date. Canyou do it?

Proposals
shouldbe well-organized
lf
Proposals
and lookprofessional.
you outlinea greatseasonof promotionand show up with a dirtyor disorganizedproposal,he will seethroughit from the start.Hewon't be confipersonhe needsto do
well-organized
dentthat you arethe conscientious,
job.
yourself
the
as an employeeof a
Youmust beginto think of
companyin which you own sharesof stock.
Don't promiseanythingyou can't deliver.Thinr out the year

aheadandwrite up a planyou canactuallycarryout.The numberof companiesthat will payyou to run stickersat the amateurlevelis dwindling
and hasalmostdisappeared.
Don'tbasea sponsorship
packageon the fact
you will run his stickerson your bike.Too manyriderswill run stickersfor
a quartof oil or just for fun. Designyour packageso it will standon its own
whetheryou havestickerson the bikeor not.Proposeto makeyourself
availabf
e for promotionalactivities.enythoughts
onthis?

The Year Ahead

The most importantpart of any sponsorshippackageis one
that you and yoursponsormustboth be well awareof. I haveseenit overlookedcountlesstimeswith unfortunate
results.At the beginningof the
yearcompaniesarelookingaroundto seehow theywill spendtheir promotiondollars.Theyareenthusiastic
andexpectthat the comingyearwill
good.
be
Theyhavedollarsthat theyfeelcompelledto spend.Theadvert i s i n gp e o p l ea r ep u m p i n gt h e mu p f o r t h e c o m i n gs e a s o nl.t i s w i n t e ra n d
the grasswill be greenerin the spring.Yougo in with a good proposaland
looksright.You'repumped,the companyis goingto giveyou
everything
and
all
the productyou can use.lt will be a help.
$5OO
Theseasonbeginsand you go aboutpromotingthe product
as yousaidyou would.Whenthe seasonends,you go backto yoursponsor to seeabout nextyearand he says,"What did you do for me this year?"
Youtalkedup the productand spenta lot of time keepingup yourcommitment,but now it all slipsawayf romyou and it seemspettyto mention
eachtime you talkedto a groupof riderson the Sundayrideto pump his
product,eachtime you carefullyplacedstickerson the john walls,every
timeyou got someoneto believeyou aboutit.

Here's the Deal

110

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 somethingfor nothingand neitherdoes
he.lt takesan efforton both of your partsto get the word out.On the club
levelhe shouldbe supplyingyou with bannersand pinsand stickersto
giveaway,and maybean ad in QycteftletyS
to commemorateyour good
performance.
A raceprogramad,for instance,helpshim get his nameout
and alsomakesyou betterknownat the sametime.Thesponsorbuildshis
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 sponsorwon't backyou in this way,find anothersponguy
sor.Your
doesn'tunderstand
you for in the first
what he is sponsoring
place,andyou will losehim when he loseshis initialenthusiasm.
At the
end of the year,if he hasusedhis resources
to put you and his productout
there,he won't askyou what you did for him-he will know.As riders,we
haveto eliminatethis ideathat thereis somekindof magicthat goesalong

with racing.A win-or lots of wins-will not do anythingfor the sponsor.

lt wilf be his follow-upthat getsthe word out.Doyousetit?

Your P.R.Program
Evenwithout a bunchof first placesyou can still do plentyto
makeyourselfknown.Racingis stillsuchan unknownquantity-inthe U.S.
you can promoteyourselfon late-nightradiotalk shows,
especially-that
public-access
TV andtakingpartin civic-minded
activitiesduringthe offseasonsuchas talkingto boys'clubs.Starta "Getracingoff the streets
and ontothe track"programthat mightsavea life or makea racerof
someone.
Youcan evenplugyoursponsorhere.Localnewspapers
are
alwayshungryto fill spacewith storiesaboutlocalpeople.Youcan go into
one of themwith the samecivic-minded
approachand it wouldbe difficult
for themto turn you down.Urgeotherridersto do the same.lt mayseem
you'resharingthe spotlight,but in the end it makesracingmorepopular,
which givessponsorsa betterreasonto participate.Any
examptes?

Satellite Sponsorship
Yourkeytargetis onewell-knownsponsor.Thisallowsyour
othersponsorssomethingto identifywith, somethinglargerto be connectedwith thanjust Joe Smith,racer.Theyrevolvearoundand baskin
the lightof the better-known
centralsponsoring
company.The possible
advantages
of beinga satellitelinkedto a largecompanywith a multimillion-dollar
advertising
budgetis veryappealingto the smallerbusinessman.Youaredoinghim a favorby linkinghim with yourcentralsponsor.
Forexample,
when a new man is signedonto a factoryteam,
in manycaseshe is stillan unprovenrider-highpotentialobviously,
but
he hasnot yet won anyraces.still, a newteamriderfor anyfactoryhas
littledifficultyin findingsponsorsthat will pay handsomely
for a patchon
the leathers.
Thesponsoris now connectedto the factoryteamandthe
factoryadvertising
campaigns.
The rider,in this case,is of secondary
importance.
Thesponsormaypaythe rider$b,ooofor pracingthe patchor
stickers,but the factorymay usephotosin millionsof dollarsworth of ads,
postersand promotionalitems.Some
examples?

Big Fish
Landinga big sponsorcan be usefulin helpingyou gather
satellitesponsors.Goingto a big companywith a small,but effectiveplan
that will not drainthe promotionalbudgetcan be of morevalueto you than
is goingin with an expensive
programthat maybe turneddown.lt is still
the sameideaas above.Largecompaniesliketo get bargains,
too, andthe
smallercompanyfeelsconnected.Remember,
yourcontracttermsmay be
keptconfidentialif you chooseso the othersponsorsyou approachdon't
knowwhetheryou are getting$1O,OOO
or $100. Keepit that way.
,;,.;a+oj.- -

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

Where To Fish
Thesizeof the pondyou fish in for sponsorsis important.A
factoryis a largef ish in a largepond,worldwide.Theyhavethe moneyto
buythe best.lf you arenot the best-yet-startf ishingin a smallerpondto
beginwith.Youmayonlyget a set of shocksfrom your localaccessory
store,but that now makesyou appearconnectedto somethinglarger.You
area satelliteand revolvearoundyoursponsoras well.lf you cando a
greatjob of promotingthe shockstheremightbe somegas moneythe
you
nexttime you talkto the sponsor.Plastertheirnameovereverything
can,andevenspendmoneyon yourown to primethe pump.(lt makesyou
looklikeyou'regettingmorefrom yoursponsor,and a newsponsorwill
expectto paymorefrom what he hasseenin the past.)Moveup the sponsor ladderone sizepondat a time.Youmayevenstartin a largepuddle,
but at least it is wet. Does
thisapplytoyou?

Over the Limit

Onceyou beginto catchsponsors,don'tgo overthe limitthrow backthe smallones.lf you comeout on racedaywith 30 stickerson
your sponsormayhaveto askwherehis nameis.
your bikeand leathers,
Pickthe bestsponsorand makehim the centralfigure,then don'tcrowd
your space.A few sponsors,threeto f ive,still allow everyoneto get his
shareof exposurewithoutfeelinglost.Thinkof yourown time also.You
won't be ableto do as gooda job promoting10 productsas you will with
onlythree.

That's Show Biz

is the businessend of the racinggame.lt has
Sponsorship
littleor nothingto do with the ridingitselfexceptfor oneveryimportant
thing: having enough money to operate your program buys you
time to concentrate on yourself as a rider. Spendingallyourtime
doingyourjob to makemoneyfor racingcanget veryold,veryfast.lf you
c o u l ds p e n de i g h th o u r se a c hd a yo n y o u rr i d i n gs k i l l sr a t h e tr h a nw o r k i n g
on your bikeor at the job,you wouldseesomedramaticimprovements.
was to let skilledartOneof the originalideasof sponsorship
istsandcraftsmenhavethe timeto createtheirwork.Useyoursponsorship to createyourselfas a betterrider.
and friendlymanner.
Treatsponsorsin a business-like
from your
Increased
salesis theirbottomline.Keepthe businessseparate
riding,but don'tforgetthat it is partof the threemainfactorsfor success.
Theyare:Goodriding,goodequipmentand good sponsors.

112

Factory Rides
Sponsorship
alsobringsaboutthe possibilityof a factoryride.
Thefactories,andthe peoplethey listento, areverygoodat spottingwho
hasthe potentialtobe a top-notchrider.
A word of caution:eventhoughit hasbecomeevermore
popularto takedrugsin this society,this is somethingthat smartteam
managersare on the lookoutfor. Riderswho havea reputationfor partying
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 subjectof sponsorship,
a writtenagreement
is alwaysin order.lf you obtainsponsorship,
get the termsin writing-at
leastuntilyou seehow eachotheroperates.
Sometimesit's betterto pay
for suppliesthanto get themwith invisiblestringsattached.Hereinliesa
greattruth: lt often costs more to get things free than it does to
pay for them. Keepup youragreed-upon
exchangewith 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.

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.

sFffi

9{tstof
$ovgord

d^6

stt$s$s\s\\
113

A Parting Word
Manythingshavenot beenincludedin this bookbecausethey
do not haveto do with the actualridingof a motorcycle.
Tracksafety
information,
machinepreparation
and othervaluabledataarenot in my
area.Muchof this hasalreadybeencoveredin the publication"Howto
Fly"by Joe Ziegler,who runsthe PenguinRacingSchoolat Loudon,New
Hampshire
and Bridgehampton,
NewYork.
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 ts i n c l u d e di s w o r k a b l ea n dw i l l i m p r o v e
your ridingif it's applied.lt is meantto be appliedandto 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
RearB. Hot PressuresFront
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
(Forksshouldnot bottomout or top out)
12. Shock Travel Correct
but shouldusemost of the shock
(Shocksshouldnot bottomout excessively
travel.)
13. Throttle OPeratesSmoothlY
free play.)
(Doesn'tstick,no excessive
14. Brakes Work Well
A. Padsare makinggoodcontacton disc.
B. Padsarenot bindingdisc.
C. EnoughPadmaterial.
15. Tires Have Enough Rubber
wornor steppedtirescancausehandlingdifficulties'
A. Unevenly
B. Old racingtiresdry out and become"greasy'"
plenty
c. Racetireswork bestwhenthey havejust beenscrubbedin and have
of rubber.
16. Enough Fuel
17. Master Link in Place
(Masterlink shouldbe safetywired unlessit is an endlesschain.)
18. Someone to Record l-aPTimes
Mostof theseitemsare not thingsthat a technicalinspectorlooksat.Theyare
itemsthat directlyaffectyour abilityto put your equipmentto useas a racer'
Theyensurethatyou canmakeit aroundthe trackwithoutmajormishaps
(enough
fuel,etc.).

(Usetheseandmake
copiesfor your notes.)

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

Numberof Turns
WeatherConditions
AmbientTemperature
Elevation

Classes
to be Run
TiresRun:Brand
Compound/Number

Front-

Tire Pressure:
Front-Cold

Rear-Cold

Front-Hot

Rear-Hot

Tire Mileage:Front

Rear

Rear

Jetting
Mains

Pilot

Air Correction
-Air

Needle

Slide

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

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

lgnitionTiming
Spark Plug Heat Range
C a m T i m i n g :I n t a k e

Exhaust

Valve Adjustment: Intake

Exhaust

Gearing
Countershaft

RearSprocket-

OverallRatio

ShockDampening
- Rebound
Front-Compression

Rear-CompressionRebound

SpringSettings
Front- Pre-Load

Rear-Pre-Load

Lap Times
Practice

Races

PositionEachLap
PointsEarned
Prize Money Won

Comments

Screws

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
(Forksshouldnot bottomout ortop out)
12. ShockTravel Correct
but shouldusemost of the shock
(Shocksshouldnot bottomout excessively
travel.)
13. Throttle OPeratesSmoothlY
free play')
(Doesn'tstick,no excessive
14. Brakes Work Well
A. Padsare makinggoodcontacton disc'
B. Padsare not bindingdisc.
C. EnoughPadmaterial'
15. Tires Have Enough Rubber
A. Unevenlyworn or steppedtirescancausehandlingdifficulties'
B. Old racingtiresdry out and become"greasy"'
plenty
C. Racetireswork bestwhenthey havejust beenscrubbedin and have
of rubber'
16. Enough Fuel
17. Master Link in Place
(Master|inkshou|dbesafetywiredun|essitisanend|esschain.)
18. Someone to Record l-aPTimes
Theyare
Mostof theseitemsarenot thingsthat a technicalinspectorlooksat'
racer'
a
as
use
to
your
put
equipment
itemsthat directlyaffectyour abilityto
Theyensurethatyoucanmakeitaroundthetrackwithoutmajormishaps
(enoughfuel,etc.).

(Usetheseandmake
copiesfor your notes.)

Race Day Record @

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

Lengthof Track
Numberof Turns
Weather Conditions
Ambient Temperature
Elevation

Classes
to be Run
TiresRun:Brand
Compound/Number

Front-

Tire Pressure:
Front-Cold

Rear-Cold

Front-Hot

Rear-Hot

Tire Mileage:Front

Rear

Rear

Jetting
Mains

Pilot

Air Correction
-Air

Needle

Slide

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

ValveAdjustment:Intake

Exhaust

Gearing
Countershaft

RearSprocket-

OverallRatio

ShockDampening
Front-Compression-Rebound

Rear-Compression - Rebound

SpringSettings
Front- Pre-Load

Rear-Pre-Load

Lap Times

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

Comments

Races

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
(Forksshouldnot bottomout ortop out)
12. Shock Travel Correct
(Shocksshouldnot bottomout excessively
but shouldusemost of the shock
travel.)
13. Throttle Operates SmoothlY
(Doesn'tstick,no excessive
free play.)
14. Brakes Work Well
A. Padsare makinggoodcontacton disc.
B. Padsarenot bindingdisc.
C. Enoughpad material.
15. Tires Have Enough Rubber
wornor steppedtirescancausehandlingdifficulties.
A. Unevenly
B. Oldracingtiresdry out andbecome"greasy."
C. Racetireswork bestwhen they havejust beenscrubbedin and haveplenty
of rubber.
16. Enough Fuel
17. Master Link in Place
(Masterlinkshouldbe safetywiredunlessit is an endlesschain.)
18. Someone to Record l-aPTimes
Mostof theseitemsare not thingsthat a technicalinspectorlooksat. Theyare
itemsthat directlyaffectyour abilityto put your equipmentto useas a racer.
Theyensurethat youcanmakeit aroundthe trackwithoutmajormishaps
(enoughfuel,etc.).

(Usetheseand make
copiesfor your notes.)

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

Numberof Turns
WeatherConditions
AmbientTemPerature
Elevation
Classesto be Run

TiresRun:Brand
Compound/Number

Front-

Front-Cold
Tire Pressure:

Rear-Cold

Front-Hot

Rear-Hot

Rear

Tire Mileage: Front

Jetting
Mains

Pilot

Air Correction-Air

Needle

Slide

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

CamTiming:Intake

Exhaust

Valve Adjustment: Intake

Exhaust

Gearing
Countershaft
ShockDampening
Front-Com pression- Rebound

RearSprocket-

OverallRatio
- Rebound
Rear-Compression

Spring Settings

Front- Pre-Loao
LapTimes
Practice
P o s i t i o nE a c hL a P

PointsEarned
Prize Money Won

Comments

Rear-Pre-Load

Races

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. ColdPressuresFrontB. Hot PressuresFrontRear6. 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
(Forksshouldnot bottomout or top out)
12. ShockTravel Gorrect
(Shocksshouldnot bottomout excessively
but shouldusemostof the shock
travel.)
13. Throttle Operates Smoothly
(Doesn'tstick,no excessive
free play.)
14. Brakes Work Well
A. Padsare makinggoodcontacton disc.
B. Padsare not bindingdisc.
C. Enoughpad material.
15. Tires Have Enough Rubber
A. Unevenly
wornor steppedtirescancausehandlingdifficulties.
B. Old racingtiresdry out and become"greasy."
C. Racetireswork bestwhen they havejust beenscrubbedin and haveplenty
of rubber.
1 6 . E n o u g hF u e l
17. Master Link in Place
(Masterlink shouldbe safetywired unlessit is an endlesschain.)
18. Someone to Record lap Times
Mostof theseitemsare not thingsthat a technicalinspectorlooksat. Theyare
itemsthat directlyaffectyour abilityto put yourequipmentto useas a racer.
Theyensurethat you can makeit aroundthe trackwithout majormishaps
(enough
fuel,etc.).

(Usetheseand make
copiesfor your notes.)

Race Day Record 4

Date
Track
RacingOrganization
Lengthof Track
Numberof Turns
Weather Conditions
Ambient TemPerature
Elevation

to be Run
Classes
TiresRun:Brand
Compound/Number

Front-

Tire Pressure:Front-Cold

Rear-Cold

Front-Hot

Rear-Hot

Rear

T i r e M i l e a g e :F r o n t
Jetting

Mains

Pilot

Air Correction-Air

Needle

Slide

FloatLevel

Screws
Other

G a s o l i n eT y p e
G a s / O i lR a t i o
l g n i t i o nT i m i n g

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

Exhaust

ValveAdjustment: Intake

Exhaust

Gearing
Countershaft

ShockDampening
Rebound
Front-Compression-

RearSprocket

Overall Ratio
Rear-Compression-Rebound

SpringSettings
Front- Pre-load

Rear-Pre-Load

Lap Times

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

PointsEarned
Prize Money Won

Comments

Races

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. ColdPressuresFrontB. Hot PressuresFront-

RearRear-

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
(Forksshouldnot bottomout or top out)

1 2 . Shock Travel Correct

(Shocksshouldnot bottomout excessively
but shouldusemost of the shock
travel.)

1 3 . Throttle Operates Smoothly

(Doesn'tstick,no excessive
free play.)
1 4 . Brakes Work Well
A. Padsare makinggoodcontacton disc.
B. Padsarenot bindingdisc.
C. Enoughpadmaterial.
1 5 . Tires Have Enough Rubber
worn or steppedtirescancausehandlingdifficulties.
A. Unevenly
B. Old racingtiresdry out and become"greasy."
C. Racetireswork bestwhenthey havejust beenscrubbedin and haveplenty
of rubber.
1 6 . Enough Fuel
1 7 . Master Link in Place
(Masterlink shouldbe safetywired unlessit is an endlesschain.)
1 8 . Someone to Record lap Times
Mostof theseitemsare not thingsthat a technicalinspectorlooksat. Theyare
itemsthat directlyaffectyour abilityto put your equipmentto useas a racer.
Theyensurethat you can makeit aroundthe trackwithout majormishaps
(enoughfuel,etc.).

(Usetheseand make
copresfor your notes.)

Race Day Record @

Date
Track
RacingOrganization
Lengthof Track
Numberof Turns
Weather C o n d i t i o n s
A m b i e n t Temperature
Elevation

to be Run
Classes
TiresRun:Brand
Compound/Number

Front-

Tire Pressure:Front-Cold

Rear-Cold

Front-Hot

Rear-Hot

Tire Mileage:Front

Rear

Rear

Jetting
Mains

Pilot

Air Correction
-Air

Needle

Slide

FloatLevel

Screws
Other

GasolineType
Gas/Oil Ratio
l g n i t i o nT i m i n g
S p a r kP l u gH e a tR a n g e

CamTiming:Intake

Exhaust

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

Exhaust

Gearing
Countershaft

RearSprocket

O v e r a l lR a t i o

ShockDampening
Rebound
Front-Compression-

- Rebound
Rear-Compression

SpringSettings
Front- Pre-Load

Rear-Pre-Load

LapTimes
Practice

Races

Position Each Lap

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

DISC<3VER

THE

ART

CORhIERING
$CHOOL
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is thefun...andthefear
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RIDER.

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