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Mikey777

Back to School 9/9

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I try to get to track school at least once a year.    Riding with a coach who can watch what you are doing right and wrong and make fine adjustments goes a long way.  This year, I spent a lot of time working on consistent timing points for braking and downshifting before going into a corner, which becomes critical as you start moving faster and faster around the track.  In additon to working on braking points, I spent a lot of time trying to relax that inside arm which will bring my upper body position lower and bring the center of gravity down.

California Superbike School gets a new fleet on BMW S1000 RR's every year.  They are phenominal machines.

Going intoTurn 2 @ Streets of Willow.

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Every time you post these updates I get so pumped. Cant wait to do this. Just a matter of time. 

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That looks super cool Mikey, just wondering... how much of that skill set and technical understanding appropriately transfers to the ability to go into a sharp right-hander....  at maximum speed, ....in the dirt....    on a 350...... loaded with gear.......  while chasing 2 top notch riders.........  when they are on 500's  ?   smiles.  It can be considered a rhetorical question, just imagining how hard that might have been keeping up with those dudes who can simply haul a __  __   on the street and in the dirt.  Good to see you treating yourself to higher levels of learning!  

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Leading through a turn with your head/eyes does translate onto dirt as it prevents target fixation.  I possibly could have made it through the turn if I continued focusing on the corner and not on the stump/cluster of trees ahead of me.  But sometimes you have to make snap decisions and the best decision was bleeding off speed by dumping it to avoid injury.

On the way home, we spent a lot of time talking about right turns in dirt.  We all agreed that we are less comfortable making right turns then left turns and talked about the reasons why.  For me, I cannot put my right foot down (motocross style) and trail brake with my right foot at the same time while in the corner.  It is one or the other, but not so in a left hand turn.  You could use front brake while in a right hand turn, but that is usually a recipe for disaster in the dirt.  We also discussed whether or not being right handed could impact our perception/sense of balance going into a right hand corner versus left hand corner, which is a possibility.  Notice how flat tracks are lefts?  

The best answer is make sure you are at a safe speed before you enter a corner (especially a decreasing radius corner) and that was my biggest mistake.

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Some excellent points here. I believe the dirt transfers to street as well. All of us probably have examples of our dirt skills (the little I have) coming into play on the street.

Good stuff, Mike.

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I'm happy to have learned in the dirt and then gone to the street as opposed to the other way.  The dirt (IMHO) requires more attention to changes and just prepares you better for stuff once on the slab.

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Just a quick note about trail braking.  

On the street/track, trail braking is primarily done with the front brake. (Most newer sport bikes in the last three years or so have linked braking so your front brake activates the rear in relative amounts).  As you initiate your turn in towards the apex, you continue to keep some braking pressure on the front brake and smoothly release it (trailing it off) as you apex and then smoothly bring on throttle as you exit.  Trail braking helps compress the front suspension and loads the front tire giving a greater contact patch on the ground.  You get a similar effect by leaning downward forward quickly in the turn which decreases the rake and monetarily increases manueverability, but without the slowing.

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