- This topic has 82 replies, 18 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 4 months ago by Ixecapade.
Continued challenges for new riders
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December 17, 2009 at 2:40 am #23752eternal05Participant
Well if you want to feel better, at one point in my life I was a music major! Not to say I haven’t used that education around the house on a daily basis, but the opportunities for professional application of 90% of the curriculum are…shall we say, hard to come by…
December 19, 2009 at 4:27 pm #23782IxecapadeParticipantha ha ha yeah I suspect thats pretty limited for around the house applications. Thats pretty much how i narrowed my major to begin with- whats most practical and what can I actually do. I’m constantly suprised at how much I do actually use in random locations (the bike stuff coming into play big at this point is pretty fun)
December 22, 2009 at 5:38 pm #23800IBA270ParticipantI’ve heard it said, and it makes sense…you can have 20,000 miles of riding experience, or you can have one mile of riding experience 20,000 times. I think it’s great that you’re reaching out and saying, “hey, I need more tools in my tool box to feel comfortable!” I think that’s a great attitude.
Here are couple of suggestions;
> Don’t worry about going fast, worry about technique…be fanatical about technique, and understand how to take a proper line. First comes technique, and then comes speed.
> Be very careful with group riding. I can’t emphasize this enough. In my opinion, group riding is one of the most dangerous things a person can do on a motorcycle. There are a BUNCH of reasons for this, not the least of which is you are bound to have people that will ride over their experience level and crash, possibly taking you with them! The other challenge is trying to “wick it up” just a bit to try to stay with another faster rider. This causes crashes every weekend. The person you’re following may be faster, but may or may not have ANY technique at all. Try to avoid too much group riding. I do!
> I encourage new riders to keep a journal about what they learn with every ride. You should learn something each and every time you go out and writing it down is a good way to steepen your learning curve.
> On riding in the rain; smooth inputs are key. Even smoother than in dry conditions. SSSSSqqqqqquuuuuueeeeezzzzz your front brakes and very smmmmooooooottttthhhhly apply your rear brakes. You still have to press to initiate a turn. I see a lot of riders try to keep the bike upright when turning in the rain. Won’t work. Don’t find yourself in a situation where you were concerned there wasn’t enough grip to turn and wind up having to quickly apply the brakes which causes you to crash, especially when there was plenty of traction available to turn!
> On braking….a lot of interesting discussion on brakes in the last several posts. There are many, many variables that go into total stopping distance, not the least of which are contact patch size, vehicle weight, chassis geometry and the ability of the brakes to shed heat.
SOME big touring bikes CAN stop faster, primarily due to contact patch and stearing geometry. But again, we’re talking about stopping in a straight line, and not using a proper trail braking technique where big bikes are down right squireley!
December 22, 2009 at 5:43 pm #23801IBA270ParticipantBrakes on modern bikes of any style are simply incredible. When properly applied, the brakes are far more capable than you could ever imagine. One of the challenges with the rapidly expolding technology in motorcyles and especially in sportbikes, is that 90%+ of the riders couldn’t squeeze 70%+ of the potential out of a sportbike when they first hit the market in the 80’s. Skills have improved generally, but no where near the pace of technology. I see 20 year old sportbikes SPANKING modern sportbikes every weekend at the track in the hands of capable riders. It’s a hoot!
December 22, 2009 at 5:53 pm #23802eonParticipantI would add it’s important to go out and practice. After having this conversation I went out and practiced braking in the wet. Found out that it is very easy to lock up using just the back brake. Still easy but not so much when using just the front. Using both together I had to really work at locking up. Gave me confidence to squeeze harder knowing where the limit was. Also had fun timing the braking to end up in a puddle with leaves. Instant lockup! Also leaning over on wet leaves was a scary moment. Nice to practice these things though in safe environment (an empty MSF practice range).
ps. is it just me or is this thread getting too long for Firefox? Had to go back to IE to read the past few comments.
December 23, 2009 at 12:07 pm #23806eternal05ParticipantThis post is getting too long…for Firefox though (works fine for me)? It’s just getting too long
Wet leaves are terrifying, by the way. Simply terrifying. It’s one aspect of the fall I’ll be glad to be done with!
December 23, 2009 at 12:10 pm #23807eternal05Participant“But again, we’re talking about stopping in a straight line, and not using a proper trail braking technique where big bikes are down right squirrely!”
THAT’s it. That’s why I see sportbikes rock the brakes at the track. Their suspension, build geometry, etc. allow them to carry trail braking safely up to corner apex, giving the appearance of later braking than some other, less-steeply-raked bikes…good call.
December 24, 2009 at 1:42 am #23812IxecapadeParticipant<"But again, we're talking about stopping in a straight line, and not using a proper trail braking technique where big bikes are down right squirrely!" THAT’s it. That’s why I see sportbikes rock the brakes at the track. Their suspension, build geometry, etc. allow them to carry trail braking safely up to corner apex, giving the appearance of later braking than some other, less-steeply-raked bikes…good call.>
yeah you start changing the environment in which braking conditions change then yes each bike will brake differently. And sport bikes will invariably perform better on the track for braking and well all else- they are built for that. The comments I made were/are made under the premis that all circumstances being equal for braking purposes only.
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