Riding experience.. learning to extract...

A

amberguillen

New member
I'm sure I know what the answer is gonna be but.. here it goes.. cause surely I'm not the only one to think this..

I've now been riding for a couple of years.. and having ridden now close to 18,000 miles.. I can really say I love it... and I wouldn't have anything else but a sportsbike as I love the nimbleness and what not..

Here's the thing.. How did you guys really learn how to extract the performance in the corners?

I mean, I don't want to sound weak and all, I'm just being truthful here and in reality, it's likely weak.. but.. anyways... the thing is... I'm quite good when I'm on four wheels.. Have plenty of track time under my belt, etc.. but I tend to be much more reserved on the bike.. for good reason...

The pic here, will show you about the most that I can muster out of it. I get edge to edge on the rear, but just barely.

I could certainly loose a few pounds, something I'm working on, and surely this doesn't help my situation as I don't trust the tires.... I'm guessing most will answer... go to a school?



Oh.. most interesting pic from yesterday I think was this one..
 
Do you guys feel like a track day can provide you with some good education?

I'm actually considering going to school and most definetly want to hit up a track day...

To answer the second. Thanks. And really, I actually don't. But I want to learn how to push it further. Learning the limits and how to recognize them will always make you a better rider, IMO... I feel it works in a car, so it should with the bike... However, as I always tell people with no riding experience, or people who wonder what its like to ride.. It's easier to go all out on a car. There are only a few cars out there that I drive as reserved as I ride, Porsches being one of the most due to their tendencies. If you make a mistake on a car, its typically easier to get out of the mess, in a bike, however, the commitment level is so much that I simply can't justify being so aggressive on the street.

Oh, here's another reason why I'm so reserved on the street... Mind you, compared to many out there, I'm likely not all that reserved. Here's another reason why I'm so reserved on the street...

This picture was taken on the very same spot that my picture was taken, only likely an hour or two after I left... I hope the rider is ok...
 
Yes the track is the BEST place. So so much safer to find your limits.
Say you get scaired, and stand it up. A trip through the kitty litter, back on the track. Next lap, do over and see what you did wrong. On the street, no room for a do over.

Look at your 2nd photo. That other guy has no more lean than you. His leg is out, and 4" off the ground.
If you were at the track, 1/2 a day, you would have a puck down. Your so close now.
 
Very true... I don't think I'll ever forget how thankful I was for having a run-off the day I ran out of brakes at Cal Speedway on my old STi.. going 100+ and finding no brakes is a scary thing to feel. I suppose it's a similar feeling when you run wide on a bike... or hit a marble, etc.

I guess I figired that although the track day would certainly be much safer and fun I wouldn't really learn a whole lot, but it sounds like I'm certainly wrong to that effect.
 
My 1st track day I rode like a mad man. Way to fast. 100% all day. Off the track like 5 times. I did not learn shit. Wow was it fun!!

After that day I go 80-90% Now I am learning and can and do take it to the street. I still have less than 10 times on the track, and still learning and loving it.

I will be doing my 3rd race in two weeks in Co. and 4th and 5th rases at Miller in Ut. the week after. Im slow, but safe enough to get my race license. I know I would be faster if I did a school, but in 45 and having fun with limmited funds. I will never be an old has been, because I never was. I will just be old. Haha.

Added a photo of my 1st track day at the bottom.

Good luck with your track day. I know you will love it.
 
I'm the guy on the 999r, you can find me at Mothers most any weekend sitting around telling lies and such to each other. Most of us have been riding a long time, why not pull up a chair and ask us? I suspect we have already met anyway (I'm the old guy with a limp).
 
Hey Stimmy,

You sure you aren't related to Ben Spies or anything? Judging from your positioning he seems to have a little of you in 'em. Being that you're older and all.
 
Canyons are ridiculously dangerous, might as well sign your life away because when your accident does happen, its gonna be too late. Everyone has an accident at one point or another in the canyons, I got out before my day came and won't even go back for a cruise.

Track days are a totally different level of riding. You could be the best canyon rider ever and go to a track day and be back of the pack in the lowest level, its a totally different experience.

My first track day, I was blown away by guys who I thought were way faster then I was. I never thought I could get close to the level of them. It took me two years riding on the track to get pretty quick, I'm usually top 5 quickest at any trackday and run at the top of the pack when racing.

So yes, if you attend track days, you will get better. But just like smokers trying to quit, you've gotta make a commitment to not riding in the canyons in favor of the track. Then you can focus on getting better and if you put in the effort, you will get better.
 
+1,000,000 To what Tye has said! I've recently broken in to the track and am now more than addicted. I've also noticed that speed has a completely different subjectivity now and like, Tye I will not go canyon charging...though a cruise through the hills at speed limit pace is not out of the question with some friends every now and then.

As for getting better, here's what I learned my first track experience:
Started in C group and kept in the middle of the pack being passed several time a lap for the first two sessions.
As I learned the track I slowly dialed it up lap by lap making sure to stay in my percieved "safe zone".
By the 2PM session I was pulling off every couple laps to keep clear track in front of me so I wasn't getting stuck in traffice behind the same people who'd been passing me earlier.
3PM session had a control rider ask me if I wanted to bump to B group and work on different racing lines etc.

I was thrilled with the progress I had made for the day and would've never thought I'd get that far. Get to the track, take it easy to start while learning the corners and then start to turn it up. The speed will definitely come.




Tye, do you have a particular track that you use, or do you mix it up? I had fun at Streets, but couldn't help but feeling the track was fairly dangerous given the status of the shoulders, rumble strips, and even the surface in a lot of spots...don't know that I'll be getting back on that one.
 
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