This weekend I attended kind of an informal riders clinic put on by a few of our local track rats who I've ridden with before. Basically what they did was get a few of us together who have a few things we wanted to work on, pair us up with a rider coach, and have them follow us for a little while and from there, put together some tips and drills. All of us really needed to work on pretty much the same things.
-Body position: The main thing I wanted to work on was my upper body positioning. I know I've been keeping my upper body too upright and getting too tight. I wanted to get some help with how my upper body really was compared to how I thought I was. After some tips and such, I really felt what being down low and to the inside of the bike feels like and how to really anchor myself to the tank using my outside leg and using the outside peg to pivot on. (Read Keith Code's Twist of the Wrist to get a full explanation of pivot steering with your outside foot.) I'm glad I decided to put Stomp Grip on the sides of the tank. I don't think I could have really gripped the tank properly with leather pants without it.
-Stay Loose!! : One of the reasons why my upper body ended up being to high at times was I was too tight. Even though I thought I was staying nice and loose, I realized I was tensing up just enough at full lean angle and that was moving my upper body back toward the middle of the bike instead of low and to the inside like I started before I got to full lean.
-Turn in point, late apexing, and quick counter steering: Turns out although my riding lines and my turn in were OK, they're a bit shallow and slow and the reason my speed has been limited and caused me to run wide a few times when going around a turn at a speed I know is not too fast. I was turning into turns too soon, yet too slow. The main thing we worked on was spotting a turn in point where I could get a good line of sight to a later apex in the corner long before you get there. Then without looking at that turn in point (since you should be looking through the corner, not to the spot to the outside of the turn you chose as your turn point) turning in quickly and really committing to the corner. It took a little work because you really feel like you're waiting too long to turn. And if you turn in slowly like I was and like most people do, you will be turning too late and you'll run wide. But by turning quickly, committing, and getting back on the throttle as soon as you can, you will not only make the turn, but make it properly and considerably faster than before.
Using the tips and all the drills that we went though throughout the day, I was able to run down Banner Grade (nicknamed BRIR, Banner Grade International Raceway
) at the end of the day with my rider coach behind me far faster than ever. In fact he was surprised when we got to the bottom that I didn't have any scuffs on my knee pucks. He thought I had them on the ground a bunch. I was scrapping the pegs on the ground with the feelers removed and scuffed the toe sliders on my boots. Dragging knee isn't exactly a goal of mine, but I know that it'll happen when I get my form and technique correct.
Basically the clinic put the information that we had all read in Keith Codes books into real world use and physically seeing it put into action.
-Body position: The main thing I wanted to work on was my upper body positioning. I know I've been keeping my upper body too upright and getting too tight. I wanted to get some help with how my upper body really was compared to how I thought I was. After some tips and such, I really felt what being down low and to the inside of the bike feels like and how to really anchor myself to the tank using my outside leg and using the outside peg to pivot on. (Read Keith Code's Twist of the Wrist to get a full explanation of pivot steering with your outside foot.) I'm glad I decided to put Stomp Grip on the sides of the tank. I don't think I could have really gripped the tank properly with leather pants without it.
-Stay Loose!! : One of the reasons why my upper body ended up being to high at times was I was too tight. Even though I thought I was staying nice and loose, I realized I was tensing up just enough at full lean angle and that was moving my upper body back toward the middle of the bike instead of low and to the inside like I started before I got to full lean.
-Turn in point, late apexing, and quick counter steering: Turns out although my riding lines and my turn in were OK, they're a bit shallow and slow and the reason my speed has been limited and caused me to run wide a few times when going around a turn at a speed I know is not too fast. I was turning into turns too soon, yet too slow. The main thing we worked on was spotting a turn in point where I could get a good line of sight to a later apex in the corner long before you get there. Then without looking at that turn in point (since you should be looking through the corner, not to the spot to the outside of the turn you chose as your turn point) turning in quickly and really committing to the corner. It took a little work because you really feel like you're waiting too long to turn. And if you turn in slowly like I was and like most people do, you will be turning too late and you'll run wide. But by turning quickly, committing, and getting back on the throttle as soon as you can, you will not only make the turn, but make it properly and considerably faster than before.
Using the tips and all the drills that we went though throughout the day, I was able to run down Banner Grade (nicknamed BRIR, Banner Grade International Raceway
) at the end of the day with my rider coach behind me far faster than ever. In fact he was surprised when we got to the bottom that I didn't have any scuffs on my knee pucks. He thought I had them on the ground a bunch. I was scrapping the pegs on the ground with the feelers removed and scuffed the toe sliders on my boots. Dragging knee isn't exactly a goal of mine, but I know that it'll happen when I get my form and technique correct. Basically the clinic put the information that we had all read in Keith Codes books into real world use and physically seeing it put into action.