[eternal05]

A clutchless shift is faster, and potentially smoother, than a clutched shift, but that’s only if you do it right. It might be important if you’re trying to shave off some lost time on your local track’s main straight.

I think you could argue that it’s easier to bungle a clutchless shift than it is a clutched shift, and that the consequences are potentially greater. It’s also the subject of a lot of controversy, regardless of what that SR article said. I know a fair number of racers who don’t shift clutchless. The rest have quickshift kits.

Personally, I actually don’t shift clutchless at the track. It’s not because I think using the clutch is better or faster; I just don’t like not using it. Since I’m not trying to shave 0.05 seconds off my lap time, I could care less. What I do, however, is exactly as fast as a clutchless shift, and is exactly the same in every way except that, as I click up, I slip the clutch for just a second. I don’t pull it in all the way. I just use two fingers to pull the clutch into the beginning of the friction zone, just enough to ease up tension on the transmission enough to shift. This way I don’t have to get off the gas quite as much. The reason I can claim its “just as fast” is that the important delay in shifting is the gap between being on power and off. When I shift, the limiting factor for speed is my ability to quickly get on and off the throttle, not my clutch fingers. Whatever. I’m not claiming my way is better.

[eternal05]

It goes like this: premium gas is more stable (i.e., less likely to spontaneously ignite, especially under pressure) than lower fuel grades. This is because it has a higher octane rating, or specifically, its composed of a higher ratio of stable octane vs. unstable heptane. The bottom line? The higher the compression ratio of your engine–in other words, the more your engine compresses the fuel/air mixture before combustion–the riskier a lower octane fuel will be since heptane gets more unstable under pressure. By “risk,” I’m referring to the risk of engine knock, which is when fuel spontaneously ignites at the wrong time in the engine cycle.

If your premium-requiring vehicle runs fine on regular, fine. Lucky you. If you’re less lucky, however, using lower-grade fuel can mean a bunch of knock, especially when certain cars are driven in anger. A turbocharged car’s compression increases proportionally to the amount of exhaust generated, meaning that driven very aggressively, you’re more likely to experience knock than if you’re just puddling around. My car, for instance, is not only turbocharged (a mechanism for increasing compression), but I can increase the boost pressure on the fly. At stock setting, I actually do occasionally get a nice backfire with lower grades of fuel (though it’s not common). At severely increased boost pressure, on the other hand, I actually need higher-than-premium. I don’t ever use that except for the occasional lapping (track) day.

[eternal05]

I think two of the most important points you mentioned are what you called “take inventory” and “be prejudiced.” Not nearly enough people take this extra step in protecting their safety.

One thing implicit in your post that I’d like to add explicitly is that is that you should not only “profile” the passive signs that they may be up to no good (e.g., putting on make-up, busted car, etc.), but also actively try to figure out which drivers to avoid based on their active driving behavior. In other words, as you’re driving along, you should be tracking the cars around you for any irrational behavior (e.g., driving 20 in a 45 with heavy traffic with no signal on, sudden lane changes without signal or head checks, tailgating, any sign that a driver hasn’t noticed or isn’t likely to notice changes in conditions, etc.). This information should help you determine where to ride, and which drivers to get the hell away from.

To make an unwarranted analogy, it’s very easy to get injured in any sort of sport/exercise scenario, but with martial arts you have to be particularly careful. Getting punched unnecessarily hard by a sparring partner is one thing, but my weapon of choice, Brazillian Jiu Jitsu, revolves around moves that aim to dislocate, crack joints, and choke opponents. When I’m on the jiu jitsu mat, I go out of my way to profile all the other guys and try to figure out which ones are either a) too rough, or b) don’t have good “lock-sense” (i.e., don’t have a good sense of when their arm bar or choke starts to really kick in). Once I’ve identified these guys, I stay the hell away and, if asked to roll, politely decline. I learned this the hard way, after being put out of commission for weeks more than once by things like a torn rotator cuff muscle or cracked ribs.

Like IBA said, you should also be keeping track of every vehicle around you, especially ones you’ve identified as potentially hazardous. This is especially important when you have to take evasive action. If the car in front of you slams on its brakes and you KNOW for a fact that the left-most lane can’t have anybody in it, you can swerve away from trouble without hesitation. That extra two seconds to look and think about what you saw could cost you.

[eternal05]

I can’t see how it’d hurt to put better fuel in, but I don’t think compression gets very high in the 250R engine so you shouldn’t need more than regular unleaded.

…anybody know better?

[eternal05]

Man that was a great post. Thanks for taking the time to write that up, Mr. TrialsRider!

[eternal05]

I have a friend who, the first time back skiing in over ten years, decides to try (for the first time, mind you) a Rodeo 540 off a HUGE jump in the park. I certainly wasn’t thinking “man, I wish I had balls that big” when it–SURPRISE–ended in a broken collarbone.

There’s “grit,” and then there’s “stupid.”

[eternal05]

What college do you compete with? I have a couple friends who work on the FSAE effort at UW here in Seattle. I have no idea how well they do, but man that car hauls.

[eternal05]

If this is a beginner bike, chances are that $850 is a ton of extra money. In that case, I say no. Don’t bother.

EFI is definitely better than having carbs in just about every way, but it’s a matter of convenience, not a matter of life or death, and in my opinion it’s certainly not worth $850 on a $3000 motorcycle.

[eternal05]

Are your rechargeables lithium or alkaline? If they’re alkaline they’ll die right away in our current weather. Alkaline battery life dives in the cold, and it doesn’t take too low a temperature to cause this, especially with wind chill from a fast-moving bike. I only had alkalines the first time I took GoPros to the track, and that was in September. It was 50-something degrees and they didn’t even last one 20-minute session. Then again, you’re not exactly getting the same wind chill since you’re not bombing down a track straight at 160mph…

Honestly, I go through batteries like a crazy person. I kept forgetting to try to find lithium rechargeables (still haven’t), and each time I’d have to run out to a 24-hour grocery store and buy some normal lithium batteries…and they’re SUPER expensive. Even with lithiums, I sometimes have to change batteries partway through a track day (and keep in mind, if I were to leave the cameras on 100% of the time I was on the track, that would only be ~2.5 hours).

I’d ask Elwood what his experience is, but I doubt Miami ever gets cold enough for this to matter. Or am I wrong?

[eternal05]

I got my ’08 GSX-R new: $8099 (before tax). MSRP at the time was ~$11,000.

[eternal05]

…definitely use it! It’s a great parking lot for slow-speed practice, though the crappy quality of the pavement (lots of holes/deep cracks/really uneven seams) and its small-ish size start becoming a problem for faster, more complex drills.

As mentioned, however, it’s great because it used to be used for MSF classes and has all the lines painted on it. In fact, its such a staple of my practice routine that its featured in a few upcoming videos. Definitely check it out if you live in the area.

[eternal05]

Oh my goodness…this is the greatest smiley thing ever.

[eternal05]

I’m really curious to know, as I’ve neither read anything of this in any DMV/DOL/DOT literature, nor heard this from police offers I’ve asked. Here are the only definitions of a “stop” that I can find in DOT law:

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.04.565
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.04.566

Nothing in the “Rules of the Road” mentions having to put feet down either.

[eternal05]

http://www.cyclepirates.com/

The site’s down at the moment so I can’t get to the actual product page. The pegs and the peg mounts (you need both) are sold separately, and total somewhere around $120. I can’t remember exactly. Either way, it’s a helluva lot cheaper than the available $350-$500 rearsets.

[eternal05]

Coming to a FULL stop without putting a foot down IS perfectly legal, at least according to all cops I’ve ever asked (in Cali, Oregon, and Washington). If you can balance at full stop, even for a second, more power to ya.

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