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Those are good observations on riders with dirt experience; Jeff, as you know, braking principles are opposite on dirt and grass as they are on pavement. On the race track, we tend to not use the rear brake very often as we need the gyroscopic effect of the turning rear wheel for stabilization. At the end of longer, faster straightaways, some guys might use rear brake (and probably do in order to brake later). To my point of dexterity and rear braking…did you know some GP bikes have a thumb brake in lieu of a right pedal? This makes a great deal of sense to me!

Off topic: I’d REALLY like to see Nicky return to world championship form. The Ducati seems to be an absolute bear to ride…Casey being the only guy who really seems to be able to tame it, and then only for several laps (so far this year). Nicky had a GREAT ride and I think we’ll see him get faster. I’d love to see a Nicky/Ben/Collin podium at least once. In any order, how great would that be?

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GIVI…

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Something I don’t think I’ve ever posted before here when discussing 600cc supersports; they really just aren’t that fun to ride on the street, and you have to ring their necks in order to get the performance out of them that they offer…and at a level that’s hyper illegal and usually WELL OVER the capability of 9.3 out of 10 riders.

They have GOBS of HP and caparatively little torque…and that’s not usually available to much higher in the rev band. I really, really enjoy lighter, lower displacement bikes, and especially twins. Torque is LOTS of fun and usually available much lower in the rev range. I say often that one of my favorite bike’s is my wifes Ducati M620. Nice, smooth powerband without tons of HP. Lower than an SV in fact, but with comparable torque, and in my opinion, and sweeter sounding exhaust…AND a factor slipper clutch. Makes for a dang neet package.

You can pick them up cheaply and while they DO require maintenance, it’s not too bad. Good luck finding one without the tank dented on either side from the bar controls…but hey, if it does, you’ll get it cheaper and won’t cry so much should you do the same thing!

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Hey Ben,

Glad you’re OK and that there were no objects in your path when you entered the intersection! Here are some thoughts for you and maybe some things to work on. Some of this *may* run counter to what we teach in the BRC (and the ERC) so these are purely *MY* thoughts and not those of the MSF.

One of the things we teach at the BRC is to cover your clutch the first day, but never your brake (or brakes). The reason we do this is because nearly every new rider is going to have a panic moment and will instinctually grab and or stomp the brakes. In the real world however, the environment is no longer a “low risk learning environment”. It’s for real and treacherous. For this reason I cover my front brake and clutch with one finger always. Never my back brake. Why? Well, at least on my bikes and with my meat hook hands, I can get full if not near full braking ability WITHOUT have the power to instantly lock those powerful brakes. I cover the clutch more for comfort, but with just slight pressure I can shift up and down. Why not cover the rear? Well, we’ve all ridden as a passenger in a car when we’ve experience a situation where we “put the brakes on” on the passenger floor board. Ever noticed how hard you were pressing?

One of the reasons why the front brake isn’t located under your right foot is probably for the same reason most of us don’t sign our names with our feet: we don’t have the same dextarity nor the same “feel” that our fingers and hands have. By applying rear brake AFTER you begin to apply front, you are less likely to over apply the brakes. You will already begin to decelerate and can decide HOW much rear brake you need.

On your fishtail; you probably caused the wider gyrations in your attempt to correct, or over correct as I think you’ve recognized. Remember the rules of braking; head and eyes up, *SQUEEZE* the brakes, if the rear locks up, leave it locked (as you did). There is no turning nor correcting in braking in street applications. Remember that front braking comprises 70% *OR MORE* of your total available braking power. In situations like yours, many riders use 101% of the braking power from the rear, and maybe 50-60% of the braking power available from the front tire.

Find a parking lot and practice your quick stops using the drill you learned from the BRC. This is a GREAT drill and one that should be practiced often. This will help you better understand how much braking power you have available and just how quickly and safely you can stop. I’m betting your next quick stop will be much, much less dramatic!

I hope that helps!

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Online sales can be very, very tempting…but before you do, make sure you can live with the return policy. I’ve found over the years that order less and less online in the way of gear, and more and more from local dealers where I’ve forged relationships and get AWESOME service AND discounts. I don’t even ask for them. I usually end up paying much less than the “tag” price + tax. When they can’t do that on some items with skinny margins? They throw something in the bag for free like high performance socks, or something. One time they “found” a $50 off coupon on a chest protector that they insisted I dropped on the way into the store.

Ok, sorry for the rant. Support your local guys if you have them and can. If really DOES pay off.

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Have fun here. There’s a lot of great stuff. Read up and ride safe.

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But I’m not sure if his Yamaha is up to the pace. Still, I think he’ll have an OUTSTANDING season. Hayden needs some redemption from last year, and looked pretty strong today.

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Great books, and great recommendations. I agree with all, and these are books that are my bookshelf.

I would add a word of caution; Self teaching is only relavant after some sound, basic fundamentals are in place. These books are great for “advancing skills” after a rider is a quasi-competent motorcyclist. I feel strongly that one cannot “self teach” themselves to ride. The statistics support it, and I spend an inordinate amount of time every weekend “un-teaching” the self taught. They generally revert back to their usually “unsound/self taught” skills in during the testing phase because that is what has been locked into their memory banks. New riders generally do better than the old salty self taughts because of this.

But again, excellent must read list!

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Dude…don’t use that. That’s for hanging a ceiling fan, or fixing your grandma’s light switch.

The BEST way is to strip the wires, twist them together, solder them and the close it with heat shrink. A 5 minute job if you know what you’re doing. A house fire if you don’t .

Don’t fear; there are several crimp type connectors that will work… I would go to your local auto parts house and ask for a crimp type connector with shrink tubing on it, or the solderless shrink type connectors. You only need something to crimp with and a lighter. It will look clean and be reliable.

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Glasses = yup…

Radio = you’d better wait on that one for a while. Trust me, you’ll have a lot going on without worrying about who is playing in your head…

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Very good advice. You MUST try it on in the store and wear it for a while to see if you have any pressure points. You really need to find a shop that has a competent person who knows how to fit you properly. More often than not unfortunately, there isn’t anyone there who knows much more than you do about how they should fit.

Go for fit first. I’ve been lucky to own some pretty expensive helmets; Arai’s, Shoei’s and the like. One of THE best fitting helmets I’ve ever owned was an HJC helmet that cost like $150 (still not hyper cheap) It felt great, worked well and was rated just like every high end helmet out there.

And it looked cool, but that was just a bonus…

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Asking how to crash is NOT a stupid question…it’s a beginners question borne out of motorcycle knowledge and myth learned from non-riders. You ARE NOT neccesarily going to crash. That’s the WRONG way to view it. I know MANY people with MANY, MANY miles without ever having an accident. If you prepare properly, have a proper mind set and ride with a strategy, there is no reason to believe that you will crash. Don’t let yourself think you will. If you do, you probably will.

FWIW…I have somewhere approaching 500K miles in 15 short years of riding. I have never had an accident. I have never had a crash at the track either. I’m not Joe Cool motorcycle rider…but I do think I approached it properly; took a safety course, rode the right bikes and became a real student of sound motorcycle operation. You too have the opportunity to start like this: you are brand new. Get the right training, have the right mind set and you’ll be fine.

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Depends on the deal…The difference between new and used, for some, is negligible…for others, and certainly for some bikes, it’s a big difference.

A good friend of mine just bought a Ducati Desmosidici…an $80K bike when outfitted new. He bought it used…for $40K. With 1,000 miles on it. Clearly, that’s a deal.

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I’m not even sure what to say to all of that…

Ummm, yea, well, don’t crash. If you’re about to crash, you probably don’t know enough to recognize it. And if you DO crash, you’re already in full “oh shit, I can’t believe this is happening” mode.

Jeff, you had a high side, twisted in the air, landed on your ass (etc.) and had some type of controlled slide to the point of being able to look for cars? And all you had from a high side were bruises?

And you’ve had more than one high side, this particular one being “faster”?

And you learned from swinging from a rope into a pond?

With all of my formalized training, my experience in teaching both on road and at the track; I think I’ve been cheated. I’ve never been taught how to crash, nor do I know how to teach one how to crash.

I’m not throwing rocks at you…just…I’m kinda at a loss on that one…

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Students who haven’t driven a manual shift car are a near nightmare. I had one last week. He didn’t understand “gear pattern” nor did he understand how the clutch is the link between power and the rear wheel. He must have stopped without the clutch 15 times, killing the motor of course every time. Used the throttle instead of the frictin zone….ARGH!!!!!

Right before he took the skills test, I thought I saw the light go on, and he was doing very well until the curve. He passed, but barely. I felt like I finally got through to him!

When I went to put the bike he was riding into the trailer, I found it was in third gear….

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