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t. Acknowledgements
Editorial Assistance
BillStermer
MichaelChurch
Help and Encouragement
Cort Sutton
Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A.
MotorcycIist Magazine
Cycle World Magazine
California Superbike School

Design and Ill ustrat io n

CameronAshby Associates,Inc.
Photography
Jeff Skrimstad
KevinAshby,page80
PatrickBehar,pages3, 74,75,79,94,95
lmportant Lessonsand Friends RichChenet,page82
Bob West MushEmmons, page17
Mel Dinesen Freud,page42
Pierre Des Roches MaryGrothe,backcoveractionphotograph
R i c h a r dD a v i s Magazine,page 14
Motorcyclist
GriffithPark TomRiles,pages26, 51, 56, 88
L. Ron Hubbard JohnUlrich,page109
Judy Code

California SupertrikeSchool, Inc.

800 530-3350

Copyright1983-2002Code Break, Inc.

I S B N :O - 9 1 8 2 2 6 - 0 8 - 2

Library of Congress
C a t a l o gC a r d N u m b e r
82-73771

All rights reserved.No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any
m e a n sw i t h o u t p e r m i s s i o ni n w r i t i n g f r o m t h e a u t h o r .

Printed in the United States of America

Warning: The ridingtechniquescontainedin this book are intendedfor racingpurposes

only.Theauthorand publisheracceptno responsibility for anyaccidentsresultingin bodily
harmor property damage that might occur from the increased speedsand riderabilitythat
m a yb e g a i n e db y t h e u s eo f t h i sm a t e r i aT l . h ea u t h o ra n dp u b l i s h edr o n o t g u a r a n t eteh a t
s i l l a t t a i nt h e s a m eh i g hd e g r e eo f r i d i n gs k i l l st h a t o t h e r sh a v eb y a p p l y i n gt h e s e
r e a d e rw
techniques. Supplemental notesand endorsements by notedridersthat haveusedthese
techniques shouldnot be takenas anyguarantee asto safetyor competency that might be
gained,but mprelyas personalexperience. lf expertassistance is required,the servicesof a
statelicensedagencyshouldbe sought.

vi Alwayswearproperprotectiveclothingand observelocalspeedlaws.
Foreword
Eventhough I've only been road racing for two out of the twelve years of my
c a r e e r .i t s e e m sa s t h o u g h I ' v e b e e n d o i n g i t a l l a l o n g .E v e r y t h i n gg o e s s o
s m o o t h l yn o w . l f t h e r e ' sa p r o b l e m ,I h a n d l ei t r i g h t a w a y .T h i n g s a r e g o i n g r i g h t -
they must be. I find myself in the winner's circle at almost every race. Of course
my dirt track racing helped, but believe me, it wasn't always this easy.

My first time on the asphalt-for more than a couple of laps-was at the California
Superbike School. lt was really a good experience.I wasn't the fastest guy out
there but it gave me the idea of what to do and, more importantly,that I did want
to do it. Kawasakihad been helping me with my short track program. There are
some great people down there who believed I had some promise, so they gave me
a box stock racer and hired Keith Code to work with me for one year.

Here is the part that really surprised me: We spent days going over stuff that Keith
h a d w r i t t e n d o w n a b o u t r a c i n g .I t h o u g h t w e w e r e g o i n g s t r a i g h tt o t h e t r a c k , b u t
h e r e I w a s a c t u a l l yl o o k i n gu p w o r d s i n t h e d i c t i o n a r ya n d t a l k i n g a b o u t r i d i n g .
A f t e r w e d i d g e t t o t h e t r a c k t h e w h o l e t h i n g t u r n e d a r o u n da n d t h e r e I w a s , w r i t -
i n g d o w n e v e r y t h i n gt h a t I w a s d o i n g o n t h e t r a c k . K e i t h m a d e m e t h i n k b e f o r e
we got to the track. while I was on the track, and after I got off the bike.

I don't know if everyonecan get into the winner's circle as fast as I did, but I know
n o w t h a t b e i n g a b l e t o t h i n k a b o u t y o u r r i d i n g i s i m p o r t a n t .G e t t h a t p a r t d o n e f i r s t .

This is where I started. I hope it works for you.

Wayne Rainey

vil
 Gontents
Foreword
Author's Note
lntroduction

CHAPTER ONI
The Road You Ride
The Mysteriesof Asphalt Revealed

CHAPTER TWO
10 What You Do
You BecomeA Scientist

CHAPTER THREE
14 The Product
With Understanding
Precision
Developing

CHAPTER FOUR
24 What You See
ProgrammingYourComputerThroughthe Eyes

CHAPTER FIVE
34 Timing
PuttingThingsin Order

CHAPTER SIX
42 Decisions
: e c i p ef o r S k i l l
n a k i n gR
DecisioM

CHAPTER SEVEN
54 Barriers
Keysto lmprovement

CHAPTER EIGHT
60 Braking
The Art of RegulatingSpeed

CHAPTER NINE
76 Steering
It HappensBackwards

CHAPTER TEN
80 Slipping and Sliding
Traction:Howto Loselt and Uselt
vill

.-&-.r:
 CHAPTER ELEVEN
Hanging Off
It LooksGoodand lt Works

CHAPTER TWELVE
90 Passing
Who WasThatlJust Passed?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
96 Supervise Yourself
Yes,Homeworkls Necessary

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
102 Advice
Ask YourBestFriend-You!

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
104 How to Fall
Relax-You'reJust Road-Testing
YourLeathers

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
108 Sponsorship
Therels No FreeLunch

1 15 A Parting Word
117 Appendix

trMarginNotesand Comments
by EddieLawson

SpecialNote:
Extrawide marginsareprovidedfor your notes.
Author's Note
The informationcontainedin this bookis intendedto be used
by a riderto investigate and masterthe basicridingskillscoveredin each The things that Keith goes
over in hls semrnars and
chapter.Noneof this informationis magic.lt hasbeendeveloped during book are things I do all the
morethan six yearsof trainingmorethan 2,5OOridersand gettingresults time. You can learn the same
This thtngs.
that eitherimprovedlaptimesor increasedriderconfidence.
information worksif it is applied.
Thereis a certainmagic,however,in usinginformation that is
understood, andthe bestway to do it is one stepat a time.Go over the
informationand reallyunderstand it, then go out andapplyit, bit by bit.
Masteringeach point will establisha certaintythat you can do it.

lf your face shield leaks air,
tape it up. The alr won't come
through and get your atten-
tion.
xrl
lntroduction
I'm goingto beginthis bookwith a littleconfession. l'venever
reallybeenall that interestedin racing-l just wantedto ride.Throughout
my racingcareerI regardedthe otherriderson the trackas mostlyjust a
nuisance. Manytimestheygot in the way of the observations I was making
a b o u tm y r i d i n g a, b o u th o w I c o u l di m p r o v em y r i d i n ga n d h o wt h a t
informationcouldbe presented to my students.l'vealwayshadjust as
m u c hf u n r i d i n ga l o n gb y m y s e l fi n a r a c ea s I h a v ec o m p e t i n g withother
riders.
M y r e a s o n i nfgo r t h i s i s s i m p l e - n om a t t e rh o w m a n yo t h e r
ridersareon the track,you muststill relyon yourown ability.Thetrackis
t h e e v e r - p r e s e cnht a l l e n g e - n ot ht e o t h e rr i d e r sT. h i si d e ah a sb e e n
strengthened overthe yearsthroughmy observation that the mostsuc-
cessful racerscan go nearlyas fast in practiceas theydo in the race.They
u s et h e i ru n d e r s t a n d i nogn t h e t r a c kw h e nt h e yp l e a s ew, i t h o u t h e
pressureof competitionforcingthemto "go fast."
Play the Game Well
Ridingfast on a motorcycleis a tremendously exhilarating and
challenging game.Thisgamehasrulesand barriers. There'ssomethingto
win, somethingto lose,and a purposefor eachindividualwho playsthe
game.lt demandsyourattention.Theconsequences of a majormistake
can be severe-severe enoughto makethe gameworth playingwell.The
p u r p o s eo f t h i s b o o ki s t o d e s c r i b e
t h e t e c h n o l o gay n dt h e r u l e so f r i d i n g
fast so that everyrideis a "win,"so that you'llapproachthe barrierswith
c o n fi d e n c ea n du n d e r s t a n d i nagn, ds o y o u c a nf u r t h e ry o u rp u r p o s ei n
ridingor racing,whateverit may be.
My overallapproachto riderimprovement is:To simplify the
actions of riding by defining the basics, and by investigating the
decisions you must make to ride well.
What'll lt Cost?
Attention,andwhereyou spendit whileridinga motorcycle,
is a keyelementin how wellyou willfunction:Attention has its limits.
E a c hp e r s o nh a sa c e d a i na m o u n to f i t ,w h i c hv a r i e sf r o m i n d i v i d u at ol
individual. Youhavea fixedamountof attentionjust as you havea fixed
amountof money.Let'ssayyou havea ten-dollarbill'sworth of attention.
lf you spendf ivedollarsof it on one aspectof riding,you haveonlyf ive
dollarsleftfor all the otheraspects.Spendnineandyou haveonlyone
dollarleft,and so on.
Whenyou first beganto rideyou probablyspentninedollars
of your attentionon how to let out the clutchwithoutstalling.Nowthat
you'veriddenfor yearsandthousandsof miles,you probablyspendonlya
n i c k l eo r d i m eo n i t . R i d e r st e l l m e t h a t s o m ec o m m o nm o v e m e n t sl i,k e
shifting,havebecome"automatic."lt's not true.Theyaresimplyspending
 l e s sa t t e n t i o no n i t . R i d i n gi s l i k et h a t .T h em o r eo p e r a t i o nyso u r e d u c et o
t h e c o s to f a n i c k eol r d i m e ,t h e m o r eo f y o u rt e n - d o l l a rw s o r t ho f a t t e n t i o n
i s l e f tf o r t h e i m p o r t a not p e r a t i o nosf r i d i n go r r a c i n g .
Y o um u s tm a k eh u n d r e d o s f d e c i s i o nw s h i l er i d i n gj u s t o n el a p
of a racetrack or one stretchof road-especially when ridingfast.Hun-
dreds!lf you understand enoughaboutridingto havecorrectlydecided
h o wt o h a n d l e2 5 o f t h o s es i t u a t i o n sy ,o ua r ep r o b a b l ya f a i rr i d e rT. h e
things that you do not understand are the things that will take up
most of your attention. Whenevera situationarisesthat you do not
understand, yourattentionwill becomef ixeduponit. Youoftenfeara sit-
uationwhenyou cannotpredictits outcome,and paniccosts$9.99-you
mayevenbecomeoverdrawn. Thecourseof actionyou havealready
d e c i d e du p o nt o h a n d l ea p o t e n t i apl a n i cs i t u a t i o n
c o s t sm u c hl e s st h a n
this and leavesyou plentyof attentionto sortout youroptions.
On the positiveside,sodingout the actionsof ridingbefore-
handbuysyouthe time andf reedomto becomecreativewith the activity
of riding,just as havinglotsof changein yourpocketallowsyou a certain
freedomof movement.On the racetrack,that left-overattentionallows
youto experiment andto improveyour ridingability.
High-performance ridingand racingdemandnot onlythat you
be ableto performthe necessary actions,but alsothat you be ableto
observethem.Makingaccurateobservations of your performance is the
keyto beingableto improvethem. lf you know what you have done-
you know what can be changed. lf you did not observewhat you were
doing,the changesbecomehaphazard and inaccurate. Doyouagree?
ln the nextchapterswe'll lookat the gameand wherethe
attentionis beingfocusedor spent.We'll investigate the barriersto riding
well and put intoactionthe stepsyou'lltaketo bringhomea "win" every
time.
And finally,let's not losesight of the basicreasonwe started / might only use one-tenth of
riding-it'sf un and makesus feelgood.Here'sreadilyavailable freedom, a cent on some thtngs that
cost another nder $5 00, but
and all it takesis A Twist of the Wrist. you spend something on
everythtng You do on a race
track. The better you get the
lessmost thrngs cost.

What ls a Rider?

Beforelaunchinginto anythingheavy,let'sagreethat the rider

is the personcontrollingthe motorcycle, not a passenger. The riderworks
the brakesand clutch,the throttleand steering.He determines whether
t h e b i k eg o e sa r o u n dt h e t u r nf a s to r s l o w ,s m o o t ho r r o u g h ,u p o r d o w n .
a n d i s t h e o n l yi n d i v i d u awl h o d e c i d e sw h a ta c t i o nt o t a k e ,c a r r i e si t o u t ,
t h e nd e c i d e sh o ww e l li t a l lw o r k e d .
I t a l m o s ts o u n d st o o s i m p l e b, u t i t ' st r u e : W h a ty o u d o i s
what happens; what you don't do-doesn't happen. Motorcycles
don'tdo anythingby themselves. Theydon'twin racesor losethem;they
d o n ' tm a k em i s t a k e os r d o a n y t h i n gr i g h t .E v e r y t h i ntgh a t h a p p e n sd u r i n g
a r i d ed e p e n d s o l e l yo n t h e r i d e r .
Haveyou everseena new rideron the trackor roadstruggling
t o o p e r a t eh i s m a c h i n eT?h eb a s i cc o n t r o o l p e r a t i o nt h, e t r a c ka n dw h o h e
is in relation to these are a mystery to him. He honestlyfeelshe is being
takenfor a ride.lf you'vehadthosefeelings.fine;evenexpertridershave
felt this way at times.
T h e r e ' sa n a c t u atl e c h n o l o gtyo r i d i n g P . e o p l ea r en o t b o r na s
goodor bad riders-ridingskillis learned. A rider is a person who can
lap a race track or ride down the road, fast or slow, and know
what he did and how to change it.
AITilI$OTIHE
IilRI$I
CHAPTER ONE

The Road You Ride

The Mysteries of Asphalt Revealed

Ridersinvariably havetheirfavoritesectionsof road,the parts

that flow together into a dancewhereeverythinghappensjust the way
it's supposedto with no surprises. On the streetor track,you knowwhich
onestheyare-but you wantto knowwhy they'reso comfortable. How
muchshouldyou knowaboutthe roadyou ride?Which aspectsareimpor-
tant andwhicharenot?Why aresomesectionsof roadharderto ride
thanothers?
First,somebackground. Highwaysareconstructedso that
motoristscantravelfrom PointA to PointB veryeasily.The highwayengi-
neersareverythoughtful;theywantto seeyou makeit in one piece.The
turnsareoftengentlybanked.Decreasing-radius cornersarerare.Seldom
is therea hairpinat the end of a straightstretchof road.Off-camber
turnsareavoidedwheneverpossible.Cornersareconstructedin a
predictable and straight-forward manner.

Designed to Fool You

A racetrackis anothersort of beast.Not muchof anythingis

donefor yourconvenience. Thedesignershavepurposelyconstructeda
c o u r s et h a tw i l l c o n t i n u et o c r e a t ec h a n g i n gs i t u a t i o nfso r t h e r i d e rt,o f o o l
a n dc h a l l e n g h e i m .H a i r p i n a s r ep u t i n t ot h e m o s td i f f i c u l st e c t i o n su, s u -
allyafterthe fasteststraight,and "S" turns,or chicanes.oftenhavea
slowerexitthan entry.Cornersmay baffle you with severalcamberand
r a d i u sc h a n g e tso b r e a ky o u rf l o w a n df o r c ey o u i n t ou n u s u asl i t u a t i o n s .
And always,the fasterthe turnsarenegotiated, the moredifficultthey
become.Thereare,however, onlyf ivemajorchangesthat can be designed
into an asphalt road. Haveyounoticedthis?

Types of Road

1 . C h a n g e isn C a m b e r : Ap i e c eo f r o a dc a nh a v ea p o s i t i v e
camber-banking, or it can have"off,"or negativecamber.Thismeansthe
insideof the roadis higherthanthe outside.Or,the roadcan be f lat.A turn
maybe designedwith anycombinationof thesecambers.
2 . C h a n g e isn R a d i u sA: s i n g l et u r n m a yb e a c o n s t a nrta d i u s ,
as in a perfecthalfcircle.lt maydecreasein radius,tighteningup toward
t h e e n d ,o r i t m a yh a v ea n i n c r e a s i nrga d i u so, p e n i n gu p a t t h e e n d .O r i t
maybe a combination of all three.
3. Seriesof Turns:ln a seriesof interdependent turns,the line
y o ut a k et h r o u g ht h e i n i t i a p
l a r to f t h et u r nw i l l b e p a r t l yd e t e r m i n ebdy
whereyou wantto exit it to set up for the nextturn.A seriesof turnscan
h a v ea n yo r a l l o f t h e c a m b e ra n d r a d i u sc h a n g e sl i s t e da b o v e .
4. UphillD , o w n h i lal n dC r e s t e d T r a c kC h a n g e sE: l e v a t i ocna n
be addedat anypointto anytypeof turn or changein a roador track.
t e c t i o n sT: h e s ea r es e c t i o n w
5 . S t r a i g hS s h e r el i t t l eo r n ot u r n -
ing is required.lncreases or decreasesin elevation may be added.
Thesearethe f ivemajorchangesthat can be engineered into
a pieceof asphalt.With the addit.ion of bumpysections,whichwerenot
plannedby the designers, you haveall the possiblesituations. In orderto
understand a roadortrack, you must understand its characteristics. Each
of thesechangeshasa directinfluenceon you andyour bike'sprogress
throughthe corner.In orderto ridequicklyandsafely,you must under-
standhow thesechangesaffectyou and how you can besthandlethem.

Banked turns are com-

fortable for most riders-
Understanding them
allows you to take the
full advantages they offer.

Positive Gamber or Banking

Most everyoneis comfortableridinga sectionof roadthat has

s o m eb a n k i n go r p o s i t i v ec a m b e rT. h eb a n k i n gh a st h e e f f e c to f h o l d i n g
y o u u p b y c r e a t i n ga " w a l l "t o p u s ha g a i n sw
t i t h y o u rt i r e s T
. h eb a n ka l s o
slows your bikedown evenmorewhen you enterthe turn becauseof the
increased resistance createdby this wall.Gravityis workingfor you.pull-
i n gy o ua n dt h e m a c h i n ed o w nt h e w a l l ,c o u n t e r a c t i nt g h eo u t w a r d - b o u n d
cornering forces. Someexamples?
I t i s v e r y d i f fi c u l tt o s e et h e b a n k i n gw h i l e y o u ' r er i d i n go n i t .
You may not notice a slight bank at all, unlessyou looked at the turn before
 you rodeit.Onthe high banksat Daytona,afterridingseverallapson the
outsidetri-ovalin a recordattempt,the bankedsectionsactuallyappeared
f latto me andthe pit arealookedtiltedat a 2O-degree angle.lt is easyto
be deceivedby evena smallamountof bankingbecauseyou'releanedover
and don'thavea straightviewof the road.Also,the bankingbecomesless
noticeable as you increase yourspeed.
Alwaysdesignyourapproachso you can usethe bankingto
yourbestadvantage. Go low in the bank,closeto the insideof the track,at
t h e p o i n tw h e r et h e b a n k i n gb e g i n st o f l a t t e no u t .T h i sg i v e sy o u a n dy o u r
On bankedlrackyou don't
enter low and come out htgh
b i k et h e m a x i m u mh o l d i n ga d v a n t a gteh e b a n k i n gh a st o o f f e rb e f o r ey o u r
bikebeginsto swingoutwardon the f lattersectionfrom the forces
generatedby acceleration.
I n a t u r n .y o u rb i k ea n dy o ua r ej u s t l i k et h e w e i g h ty o u s w i n g
aroundyour headon a rubberband.Thefasteryou swingit,the heavierthe
weightbecomesf rom centrifugalforce,andthe moreit triesto swingto
the outside.Thebanking"holds"you in untilyou moveontothe f latter
sectionof roadthat follows.
Youcan go into bankedturnsfasterthan it seemsyou can
whenyou sizeup the turn and lookat it f rom pastexperience. The banking
w i l l f o o l y o ui n i t i a l l ya n dy o uw i l l p r o b a b l yg o i n t oi t m u c ht o o s l o w l y .
Also.whenyou areexitinga bankedsectionof roadto a flatter
surface,you muststraightenthe bikesinceit will dragmoreeasilywhen
the bankingis gone.Example: lf you arein a bankedsectionand areleaned
overto the pegs,you must leanthe bikeoverevenmorein relationto the
tracksurfaceto keepthat degreeof turningradiuswhenthe bankis gone.
lf the bankis 1Odegrees, you must leanthe bikeoverat leastten more
degreesto keepthat turningradiuson the f latterroadsurface.
The bankinggivesyou moregroundclearance than doesa flat
sectionof track.I haveknownriderswho couldrun laptimeson racetracks
that wereverycloseto recordtimesandwho had racedthat samecourse
3Oor 40 times,who f inallydiscovered that one sectionof trackwas
banked-thatwaswhy theycouldgo so fast in that part.Afterknowing,
theywent evenquicker.lf you don't discovertrackangles,you might be
gettingawaywith ridingmaneuvers youfeelyou shouldn'tbewithouteven
k n o w i n gw h y .O n c ey o ud i s c o v etrh e r e a s o n b s e h i n dy o u ra b i l i t i e sy,o uc a n
begin to use the track to your advantage. Wittthisimproveyourriding?

Off-Camberor Negative-GamberTurns
I don't knowany riderswho regardoff-camberturns as their
favorites. Theseturnsleaveiessroomfor errorand definitelydo not inspire
confidence.
A turnthat beginswith a bankand endsoff-camberdemands
t h e m o s tc h a n g e sa n da d j u s t m e n tisn l e a na n g l e sl.n o r d e r t oc o n t i n u e
aroundit, the bikemustbe leanedoverfarther.Theeffectis muchthe
sameas goingf rom a bankedto a f lat surface.Gravityis now working
a g a i n syt o u ,p u l l i n gy o ua n dy o u rb i k et o t h e o u t s i d eY. o ul o s eg r o u n d
clearance. Therefore, you set up off-camberturnsso that you are in the
off -camber situationas shorta time as possible-just the oppositestrategy
 ''rffil

asfor a bankedturn.Usestraightlineson the partsof the trackthat are As speed increases,

centrif ugal forces genef-
off-camberbecauseyou don'twantto be committedto your maximum
ated by the bike/rider
leananglegoinginto an off-cambersection.ldeally,you wouldonlycom- combination widen the
mit yourselfto the maximumleanangleat the veryendof the section. cornering arc. The line
must change as the
An effectivealternative is to set up so that yourgreatestlean- speed goes up.
ing occursin the middleof the off-cambersection.lt hasbeencalled
"squaringoff" a turn or "goingslow in the slow parts."lt refersto the type
o f t u r nh a n d l i n g t h a t a l l o w sy o ut o s t r a i g h t eonu t t h e n e g a t i v cea m b e ra s
m u c ha s p o s s i b l eB. a s i c a l l y o , ue n t e ra s v e r t i c a l lays p o s s i b l et h, e nm a k e
t h e m a j o rs t e e r i n gc h a n g ea n de x i ta s s t r a i g hat s p o s s i b l e .
Riderstendto seethe basicturn moreclearlybecauseit is
moreobviousthanthe camberchange.This is one of the deceptive tricks
of the racetrack designer. The rideris suckedintothe turn becausehe is
b a s i n gh i s r i d i n gt a c t i c so n w h a tt h e t u r n l o o k sl i k ei n s t e a do f t a k i n gi n t o
a c c o u ntth e c h a n g e si n c a m b e tr h a t c a ns o s e r i o u s layf f e c th i m .H em u s t
r e a l i z teh a tg r a v i t yi s n o w p u l l i n gt h e b i k ei n t h e o p p o s i t ed i r e c t i o no f h i s
i n t e n d e tdu r n ,a n dt h et e n d e n c o y f t h e b i k et o g o t o w a r dt h e o u t s i d ei n
an off-camberturn is dramatic . Wittthishetp?

Flat Turns

Turnswith no negativeor positivecamber-flatturns-willnot

increase
or decreasethe leananglenecessary to negotiatethem at a
 constantradiusor constantspeed.TurnTwo at Daytonais a greatexample
of a basically flat turn with no radiuschanges,and mostfast ridersprefer
to rideit on the inside.In turnsof this kind,the fastestway throughis the
straightestline-it'salsothe shortestdistancearoundthe turn.In a f latturn
t h e r ei s n o a t t e m p t o f o o l t h er i d e ru n l e s sa r a d i u sc h a n g ei s p u t i n f o r
v a r i a t i o nT.h e s et u r n sc o m m i t h e r i d e rt o h i s m a x i m u ml e a na n g l ea n d
m a x i m u ms p e e df o r t h e l o n g e spt e r i o do f t i m e .S i n c ey o u ' r eg o i n gt o b e
r i d i n ga r o u n dt h e i n s i d ea t m a xs p e e da n d m a xl e a ns o o n e o r r l a t e ry, o u
mayaswell get downto it at the beginning. Takinga wide entryintoa flat
t u r no n l yg i v e ss o m e o n e a c h a n c et o p a s sy o u .

Constant Radius

Off Camber

,--F1
'
Gamber changes ---=-'-t- I
dramatically aff ect how
a turn can be ridden. HPositive Camber

Ghangesin Radius

Designers changethe radiusof a turn to put an additionaltwist

i nt h e a c t i o nH . e r ea r et h e b a s i ck i n d so f r a d i ia n dh o wt o h a n d l et h e mo n
the track.
Gonstant-RadiusTurn: A constant-radius (CR)turn neither
increases (widens)nor decreases (tightens) as you go throughit. As men-
t i o n e da b o v ei,f i t i s a f a i r l yl o n gc o n s t a n t - r a d i u( C
s R ) t u r nw i t h n o c a m b e r
c h a n g e sy,o uw i l l e v e n t u a l lwyi n d u p o n t h e i n s i d eo f t h et u r nf o r m o s to f i t .
lf it is a shorthairpin,you may haveotheroptionsas to how to set up the
e n t r ya n de x i t .I n a r e a l l yt i g h t h a i r p i ny o u m u s tm a k ea n a b r u p t u r n i n g
c h a n g e - i st h o u l db e d o n ea t t h e p o i n ta t w h i c hy o uf e e lm o s tc o n f i d e n t .
T h e r ei s n o r u l ea st o h o w i t s h o u l db e d o n e .
lf a constant-radiu t usr n h a sc a m b e cr h a n g e si ,t c a na c ta s a
d e c r e a s i n g - r a d i(uDsR )o r a s a n i n c r e a s i n g - r a d i(ul R s ) t u r nF. o re x a m p l ei ,f
the turn is bankedon the entryandf lattensout on the exit it will have
exactlythe sameeffecton your bikeas the decreasing radius.lf it is flat on
the entryand bankedon the exit,it actsas an increasing-radius. lt is very
commonfor amateurs-andprofessionals as well-to ridethe turnsthe way
they appearat speedand not the way they reallyare.lt is veryeasyto have
yourattentionstuckto the radiusof a turn so you don't seethe camber
changes. Thus,knowingthe locationof the camberchangeswill helpyou
greatly in a turn. Wheredoesthisapply?
 The notorious decreas-
ing radius turn. Designed
to invite you in faster
than it lets you out-

Usually oasy to rlde, the

increasing radius turn
can be made difficult
with camber changes.
Increasing Radius

Decreasing-RadiusTurns: Thisis a turn that tightensup as

you go throughit. ln a decreasing-radius (DR)turn,the designertriesto
trickyou intotreatingit as a constant-radius, single-apex turn. lf youfall
for that,you mustdo one of threethings:1) Runwide at the exit,2) Lean
the bikeovermoreat the endof the turn,or 3) Backoff the gasso that
oneandtwo abovedon't happen.
A decreasing-radius turn hasat leasttwo apexes. Tryto cheat
the turn out of one apexand it will get you backwith the other.In a DRturn
you mustridewhat is there:don'ttry to makethe turn into somethingit
is not.Somemisleading informationhasbeencirculatingfor yearswhich
saysyou "lateapex"DRturns.Thismaybe true in a verytight DRturn,but
in a largerturn you mustdouble-apex the turn.
Youcan makethe turn longerfor yourselfby takinga wide Some places you have to use
a real wrde line so you don't
entryline.This keepsyour speedup andcuts down on the abruptness of scrub speed off, but not
the actualsteeringchange.A DRturn that is f lat on the entranceand always.
bankedat the exitwill act as an lR or CRturn,dependinguponthe severity
of the banking.lf a turn is constructedso that it forcesyouto go slowat
somepoint,you mustdecidewhereto go slow insteadof lettingthe
designerdecidefor you.By figuringa turn correctly, you ridethe track-the
trackdoesnot rideyou.lf you makea big mistakein line,you haveprob-
ablyjust beensuckedinto ridingthe trackthe way it looksratherthan
the way it is.
Increasing-Radius(lR) Turns: Thisturn widens-itsangle
becomeslesssevere-asyou go through it. An lR givesyou the safestfeel-
ing becauseyou haveroomat the endto makechangesand corrections.
Youcan easilyrecoverfrom going into an lR turn too fast becauseyou
haveplentyof room.An lR turn can be changeddramatically by the cam-
berof the road,just as the DRturn can be.lf it is bankedgoingin, andf lat
or off-camberat the exit,it will act as a CRor DRturn,dependingupon
how much negativecamberit has.The radius of the turn is usually
second in importance to its camber. Areyouaware of this?
Series of Turns: Two or moreturnslinkedtogetherin sucha
way as to influenceeachotherarecalleda seriesof turns.They'reusually
designedto slow you down at a placewhereyou otherwisecould go faster.
Forexample.the entryinto a two-turn"S" is fasterthanthe exit' lf the
entryis takenasfast as possible.it will spoilthe exit.lf the entryis
a p p r o a c h ewd i t ht h e e x i ti n m i n d ,t h e r i d e rw i l l s a c r iifc es o m es p e e dg o i n g
in for a moreconstantdriveout of the turn.Oftenthis is a betterstrategy
than havingto backoff and set up againfor the exit.
It is verydistractingto makethis kindof changein the second
turn in a series.KennyRobertshasoftensaidthat you mustgo slow in
someplacein orderto go fast in others-his"slow,"of course,wouldput
mostof us intocardiacarrest.Hereagain,the designersattemptto lull us
i n t ot a k i n ga c t i o ne i t h e tr o o s o o no r t o o l a t e .I n s o m eh i g h - s p e ecdh i c a n e s ,
beingtemperatewith the throttleon the way in and settingup a smooth
exit is worth overa secondin laptime.Chicanes suchas thoseat Pocono,
Daytonaand SearsPointare good examples- Canvouapplv this?
Uphill, Downhill and Crested Turns: Whena track
changesin elevation, it cancreatesomeexcitingchangesin how it must
b e r i d d e nU s f a t r a c kd o n ' tp o s ea n yp a r t i c u -
. p h i l la n dd o w n h i lsl e c t i o n o
lar p r o b l e m unless t h e ya r ei n c o n j u n c t i ow
n i t h a t r i c k yc a m b e rc h a n g e ,
r a d i u sc h a n g eo r b o t h .D i f f i c u l t i eisn u p a n dd o w ns e c t i o n su s u a l l ya r i s e
wherethereis a crestor sharprisefollowedby a downhill.At this pointthe
bikewillfeel lightandwill actuallybe lighton the pavement. Brakingover
a crestedhill is trickybecause the downward pressure of the bikeis
lessened. This resultsin lesstraction.
A turn with a crestin the middleis alsotrickybecausethe bike
tendsto standup andgo towardthe outside.Again,thereis a lossof
traction.lt hasthe sameaffectas a short patchof off-camberroad.lt is
bestto go overa crestedroadas verticallyas possible.Anvexamples?
On uphillsectionswhereyou mustbrake,you havethe advan-
tagethat you can stopor slowthe bikefasterthan on f lat or downhill
sections.lf the hillthat you'rebrakingon hasa 15-degreeslope,the force
of gravitypullingyou backanddown givesyou a 27 percent betterstop-
pingfactor.Youcan usethebrakes27 percent harderwithoutlocking
t h e mu p ,a n dt h a t ' sa l o t !O n a d o w n h i lsl e c t i o nt h e s i t u a t i o ni s r e v e r s e d ;
t h e b r a k e sl o c km o r ee a s i l yT. h eo t h e rp o s s i b l e p r o b l e mw i t h u p h i l l d
, own-
h i l la n dc r e s t e dr o a d si s t h a t b i k e st e n dt o w h e e l i eo v e rt h e m .T h i si s n ' t
reallya problemunlessyou haveto makea turn whilethe f rontwheelis
s t i l li n t h e a i r .
Straight Sections: Thesearestraightportionsof trackwith
no turnsor changesto affectyou.Straightaways area greatplaceto relax
for a secondor two. Checkto seethat you are breathingregularly. Riders
oftenholdtheirbreathduringintenseriding,which slows their efficiency.
L a c ko f o x y g e ni s o n ec a u s eo f m u s c l ec r a m p sw h i l er i d i n g .
The roadyou ride,whetherit be publicor racetrack, is made
up of the f ivecomponents: camber,radius,elevation, seriesof turnsand
straights.Howthesecomponentsare combined determines yourapproach
t o r i d i n gt h e m .n o t o n l yw h e r es p e e di s t h e c o n s i d e r a t i obnu, tf o r s a f e t y ' s
sakeas well.The purposeof a racetrackis to test and retestyour riding
skill;it is intendedby the designers to be difficult.Yourtask is to unravel
the mysteries of the construction usingyour knowledgeto youradvan-
by
tage.No amountof braverywill substitutefor understanding, and no
amountof suspension changeswill entirelyovercomethe forces
generatedby thesef ivecomponents. Doyougetit?

Note: Track Surfaces

Most racetracksand canyonroadsare constructedfrom

asphaltcompounds. Asphaltcan be,andoftenis, mixedwith varioussub-
stancesto createdifferenttypesof roadsurfaces.Racetracks,for
i n s t a n c eo,f t e nh a v eg r o u n d - u ps e as h e l l so r g r a n i t ec h i p sm i x e di n t ot h e
asphaltto givetiresa bettersurfaceto biteon, andthereforebettertrac-
tion.Thecompoundingis oftenverydifferentfrom trackto trackand road
to road,which is one of the reasonstire choicehasbecomea verycritical
e l e m e nitn r a c i n g .
Otherfactors,especially heat,playa hugerolein determining
whattirewill be the bestthat day.An overcastdaythat doesnot allowthe
tracksurfaceto heatup may requirea differenttire than a sunnyday,even
if airtemperature is the same.Asphaltsurfacesthat aredarkerin color
heatup morethan lighter-colored sections.Thisis the caseat SearsPoint
Racewayin Sonoma,California, wherethe trackis a compositeof threeor
four differentasphaltcompounds. Tiresthat workverywell in one area
tendto slidearoundin others.And tiresthat work well in the morning,
beforethe trackhasheatedup, sometimes will not providegoodtraction
in the afternoon-and viceversa.
Theamountof rubberon the trackalsomakesa differencein
traction.I haveheardit saidthat tractionis betterafteran auto racewhere
a lot of rubberhasbecomeimbeddedin the asphalt;l'vealsoheardriders
say it was not as good. My own observationis that laptimes arefaster
afterthe trackhasa goodlayerof rubberon it, especially from an auto-
mobilerace-providing therearen'tloosepiecesof rubberon the track You've got to be able to
"read" pavement. I can tell
surface.
whether I want to push ritor
Tiresandasphaltarean entiretechnologyuntothemselves and not. There are a lot of klnds of
l w i l l n o tt r y t o d e a l w i t ht h e m i n t h i sw r i t i n g B
. yt h et i m ey o u r e a dt h i s ,t h e pavement. Sometrmes the
technologywill alreadyhavechangedandtherewill be newtire ones that look lrke they are
really gorng to be strcky are
compounds-better thanwhatwe now have. lust the oppostte.
CHAPTER TWO

What You Do
You Become A Scientist
Therider'sultimateweaponis his abilityto performthe actions
of riding,andto be able to observe and remember what he has
done. This is a keyto improvement.

Don't Badmouth Yourself

Manyridershavea bad habitof talkingin negatives about

"l go
theirriding. didn't in hardenough," "l should have gotten a better
driveoff the corner,""l don't usethe brakesthat well," needto get a "l
betterlinethroughthis turn."Didn't.Can't.Shouldn'thave,Don't,Too
much,Not enough.Most ridersusethesenegativewordsmuchtoo often.
Howcan informationaboutwhat he didn'tdo right,or thingsthat were
almost-ornot quite-done,everimprovehis riding?lf a personis ridingat
a l l h e i s a l r e a d yd o i n gm o r er i g h tt h a nw r o n g .T h ej o b i s t o a d dt o t h o s e
correctactionsand drop the incorrect.Doyoudothis?

You Gan't Correct What You Didn't Do

T h eo n l yw a yt o m a k ec h a n g e si n y o u rr i d i n gi s t o c h a n g ew h a t
was done.To do that you haveto knowexactlywhatrye5; done.not what
Was!:! Youdidn'tdo a lot of things on that last lap-you didn't washyour
car.you didn'tgo to church,andyou didn'tdo just abouteverything else
t h e r ei s t o d o i n l i f e .Y o uo n l yd i d w h a t y o u d i d . D o n ' f
t a l l i n t ot h e t r a po f
tryingto correctyour ridingby lookingat whatyou didn'tdo.Thisleaves
y o u n o t h i n gt o c h a n g e".l d o n ' tb r a k el a t ee n o u g hi n T u r nT w o , "s o u n d s
innocentenough,but what informationdoesit containfor you to improve?
lf you sayinstead,"l startedbrakingat the asphaltpatchjust beforethe
numberthreemarketand now I knowI can brakeevenlaterthanthat"'you
knowwhat was doneand now havesomethingto change.
k f y o u rr i d i n gi n n e g a t i v easn dy o u d o n ' th a v e
I t ' ss i m p l e - t h i n o
anythingto change.Lookat the way it was andyou havesomethingto
it
10 c h a ng e .N e g a t i vteh i n k i n gi s i n c r e di b l yn o n - p r o d u c t i vG eh . a n g i n gs o m e -
thing you didn't do is impossible. Thinkingnegatively aboutyour rid-
ing putsyou intoa maze.A mirrormazeworkslikethat-it givesyou
nowhereto startyourthinkingfrom,thendisorientsyou by coveringup
whereyou'vebeenandwhereyou cango. Youhaveno reckoningpoint.
The mazetriesto makeyou losea f irm pointof directionby openingup
manypossibilities.Whenyou havea f irm ideaof whereyou camefrom you
can alwaysgo backto that pointand startover.lt's the sameon a race
track.lf you knowjust what you did.you havea stablebasef romwhichto
makecorrectionson the next lap.Wiltit workforyou?

Riding is One Thing-Riding Plus Being Aware

of What You Are Doing is Ouite Another

You haveonlyso muchattentionto spendon whatyou are

d o i n g y, o u rt e n - d o l l abr i l l .l f y o u s p e n di t a l lo n j u s t r i d i n ga n d n o n eo n
observingwhat you'redoing,you can go quitefast.But if you spendfive
dollarson ridingandf iveon observingyourselfandwhat you'redoing,you
havesomethingto lookat andchangewhenyou returnto the pits.You
don't haveto hopeyou can work yourselfinto a feverpitch to go faster-
you can go fasterby figuringout how to do it better.
/ know what I look lrke gotng
Howdo you developthis wonderful abilityto rideand observe through the turns lt might
whatyou'redoingat the sametime?Yousimplydecideto do it.You make look ugly, but it works
an effort to look at what you are doing while you are doing it.
Try it. lf you alreadyhavea recordof your laptimeson the track,go out
and makean effortto observeyourself.Thefirstthing you'llnoticewill be
that you went slowerwhiledoingboththe ridingand observing.lt costsa
I go slow tn the first practrce.
lot of attentionto do boththingsat once.Youwon't be willingto rideas look at the track and get the
hard.Don'tgiveup.You'respendinga lot on lookingand a littleless ieel of the btke.
ondoing.

An accurate mental
recording of what you do
on the track is invaluable.
 Take lt as a Whole

Now,takean entirepracticesessionon the trackandtry to

observeeverything you'redoing.Comebackto the pits andthink it over.
Then,takethe nextpracticeandjust ride.You'llnoticeoneof two things:
1) Youwentfaster,or 2) the ridingbecamelessworkthan before.lt's also
possiblethat both things happened-youwent fasterwith lesseffort.
Ridingwith lesseffortmeansthat you'respendingmoreof
yourattentionon what'simportantand lesson just beingreadyfor sur-
prises.lf you don't knowwhat'scomingup in a turn,you will be tense.lf
you havetakensometime to observewhatwas happening, you havespent
lessattentionon possiblesurprises.

It Costs More Attention to Keep Something From

Happening Than lt Does to Make Something Happen

As in anything,whenyou first beginto observewhatyou're

doing it will cost you a lot of attention.After you becomemorecomfort-
ablewith it youwill spendlessattentionon it. lt maytakea ridera yearor
moreto decideit's okayto slidethe reartire a bit on certainpartsof the
track.He mightpick up oneto five secondsby doingit. But beforecoming
to that decision.which maytakeonlya splitsecondon the track,he might
havebeenspendingalmostall of his attentionin tryingto keepthe rear
w h e e l f r o ms p i n n i n ga n ds l i p p i n g .
Observing whereandwhat happenedon the trackwill make
somethinglikea littlerearwheelslidea predictable partof riding.A rider
who observesa drop in laptimes,andalsonoticeswherehe was sliding
andwhat broughtit about,hassomethingto basea decisionupon-hecan
decideif the slidingwas helpfulor if it didn'twork andshouldbe stopped
altogether. Doesit make sense?

Observing ls the Basis for Change

lf you go out on the trackand run a betterlaptime,but have

Wheneverythingis rightyou
can tell exactlywhich laps
not observedwhatyou did to causeit, you will not be ableto strengthen
were good. the actionsthat worked.Riderswho just rideand don'tobservebelieve
that everything that happenedon that lap mustbe reproduced exactlyand
in the sameorderfor themto repeata goodperformance. Thisis oneof the
waysridersbecomesuperstitious.Because they don't know what
helped, riders go about trying to keep all factors the same as they
were at the time they rode well. You can keepthingsthe same,but
onlyby observingwhat you did and by decidingwhichfactorsworked
best.Observing what you do is the key to learning by your
mistakes.
Youcan easilycheatyourselfout of the knowledgeto be
gainedf rom mistakes. Let'ssayyou got into a turn a littletoo hardand
wentwide of your line.Normally, you wouldtry to get backto that good
12 line-towhat worked.That'sf ine,but there'sa twist.lf you "rideout your
mistake,"you will learnhow that differentlineworks.Tryingdesperately
to get backto the idealonceyou'vemadea mistakewon't tell you anything
exceptthat you'vemadea mistake.Ridingout that mistakewill giveyou
valuable i n f o r m a t i oanb o u th o wt o h a n d l ei t s h o u l di t e v e rh a p p e na g a i n .
Everything you do may be a littlewrong,but at leastyou'll
knowwhat happens-andthat'sthe startingpointfor change.Ridershave
beenknownto adapta completelynewmethodof ridingaftermakingmis-
takes.Ride a mistake out and see what happens. lt will costyou
moreattentionto try to keepsomethingfrom happeningthanto go
through with what you have started. Do youthinkit witt work?

By the Time You Notice a Mistake lt ls Too Late

To Gorrect lt

Youmay haveheardthis before-it'strue.Oncea mistake

occurson any lapor in anyturn,you can'troll backthe clockor the asphalt
to correctit. You'lljust haveto makethe bestof it. Figureout what went
wrongand correctit on the nextlap.

It ls the Last Thing You Did That Got You lnto Trouble

The rootof the mistakeis the controlchangeor decisionsyou

madeandacteduponjust beforethe problemoccurred.
A goodexampleof this is goingintoa turn too witJe.Therider
got therebecauseit waswherehe had pointedthe bikethe lasttime he
had madea steeringchange.Most riderswouldsay,"l didn'tturn soon
enough."Thatisn'ttrue.Actually,he keptit pointingstraighttoo long.lt
will takea lot longerfor the riderto realizewhat happenedif he begins
lookingfor the problemfrom when he noticedit than if he goesbackto the
earlierpointof wherehe was steeringbeforehe beganthe turn.He has to
realize that he was operating from an earlier decision to go
straight, not the later one to turn. Does thisapplyto you?

lf You Decide Upon the Wrong Explanation for a

Mistake, the Solutions for It Will Also Be Wrong

Thisis anotherbasicreasonfor beinga carefulobseruerof

what you do.
Being able to ride is impottant, but riding and
observing leads to understanding.

13
CHAPTER THREE

The Product
Developing Precision with Understanding

What is the linethroughTurnThree?What is the bestline

throughanycorner?Why is one rider'slineso differentfrom another's?

5O Years of lmprovement

Linesusedto be easierto figureout.A lot of racingtheoryhas

beendevelopedin the last 50 yearsof racing,and that's a lot of historyto
backup the ideasthat still hauntus from the 1950sand earlier. On a
motorcycle, it was reckoned,the straightestlinethroughthe turn was the
fastestway,or "line."Butthingshavechangedtoday.lt was truethen,but
it's not necessarilytrue today.
Physicsand naturallawshavenot changed-tiresand suspen-
'SOs
sionshave.In the and earlier,riderswerelimitedby the lackof
sophisticatedtechnology.Theyhadto takethe smoothest,straightest,
shortestlinethroughthe turnsbecausethe hard-rubber tire compounds
and non-compliant suspensions of the earlydaysmadeabruptchangesin
direction,brakingon roughor rippledsurfaces. over-enthusiasticbraking
whileleanedoverand othercurrent-dayridingpossibilities simplyout of
State of the ail? Good
enough to win laconia
in 1965.. . .

14
t h e q u e s t i o nl .f y o u h a do w n e da s e to f D u n l o pS p o r tE l i t e si n 1 9 5 Oa n d
h a dg o n et o t h e l s l eo f M a no n a 1 9 8 O sK a w a s a kGi P Z5 5 O ,y o u p r o b a b l y
wouldhavewon the race.That'sa streetbikewith streettirestoday.
T i r ea n ds u s p e n s i otne c h n o l o ghy a v em a d ei t p o s s i b l teo r i d e
m o r et h a no n e l i n et h r o u g ha t u r na n dm a k ei t w o r k .R i d i n gs t y l e sh a v e
c h a n g e dv e r yd r a m a t i c a l sl yi n c et h e 19 5 0 s ,b u tt h e o u t d a t e dr i d e ri n f o r -
mationf romthosedaysstill confusessomeof us in the '80s.A freshlook
at riderinformationandtechnologycan helpyou ridebetternow.
Definition: A product is something that is produced;
it is the end result when all the work is done. A product is what
you can hold in your hand-or in your mind. You can turn it over
to see if it can be produced better or differently, corrected or
left alone.

Product of the Turn

A turn or seriesof turnshasa "product."lt is that pointwhere

you can say,"l'm donewith that turn now-here'swhat I did this time,
here'swhat happened. Now,what can I do to improveit?"
Thesimplestwayto recognize that spot is to rememberwhere
youwerebraveenoughto think,"l couldgo throughthat one quicker."
Wlren you have enough attention left to reviewyour progress,
and the turn is no longer affecting you, !hg! is when you're done
with it. Haveyou experienced
this?
At that point,the sumtotal of everything you did in the turn
is neatlywrappedup;you knowthat whatyou did eitherworkedor it
didn't.Somepartsof the productwereassembled correctly-maybe some
w e r e n ' tT. h i sp r o d u c h t a sa l o c a t i o no n t h e t r a c k w
, h i c hf o r e x a m p l em i g h t
be a pointthreefeetfrom the outsideedgeor just nextto "that patch"of
a s p h a l tT. h i sp o i n to n t h e t r a c kn o w r e m i n d sy o uo f e x a c t l yw h e r ey o u ' r e
f i n i s h e dw i t h t h et u r nf o r t h a t l a p .

Other Factors

Otherfactors,besidesyour locationon the track,areimportant

partsof the product:what gearyou'rein,yourspeedat that point,your
b o d yp o s i t i o no n t h e b i k e .U s u a l l ys o m ea m o u n o
t f l e a na n g l eT. h ea m o u n t
of control you haveoverthe bike.Thesteeringactionyou are-orarenot-
taking.Throttleaction.Tiretraction.Yourimpressions of whatyou did and
how well it workedout.And a comparison of this passthroughthe turn
with yourearlierpasses.All of these,and more,arepartof yeqr product
for that turn.The quality of your product is determined by all of
what happened and how it worked.Any thoughts onthis?
Note: You use that product to develop a set of known
circumstances that can be thought over and changed when
necessary. A sub-product is a definite set of known circum-
stances that lead to the product for that turn.
Bothyourproducts andsub-products havean exactloca- 15
 tion on the track.Thereis no universal product or sub-product-they will
be slightlydifferentfor eachbikeand rider.Your product is a known
destination along a known route. Youaresupposedto knowwhere
y o u ' r eg o i n go n a t r a c k ,a n dt h e p r o d u c t i s t h e p l a c ey o u a r eg o i n g T
. he
guy with the bestproduct wins.Theproduct andsub-products arethe
resultof a pre-determined and pre-decided planof action,basedupon
your knowledgeof the partsof that turn,andyourknowledgeof howto get
y o u rm a c h i n ea r o u n di t .
End back to beginning.

Pavementpatch

The Product is where you are done with the A Sub-Productalerts you that you are on
t u r n . l t i s a p l a c ey o u k n o w . the right track to your Product.You see it.

Roughspot

You locate another Sub-Productor Refer- Each new RP leads to another that you
e n c e P o i n tt o g u i d ey o u t h r o u g h t h e t u r n . k n o w i s g o i n gt o b e t h e r e .

Y o u b u i l d c o n f i d e n c eb y k n o w i n g w h e r e You become able to "see" the turn before

you areon the trackwith the RPs. y o u e v e n b e g i nt o g o t h r o u g h i t .
16
 David Emde performing
miracles on 25occ GP
bike. At 185 pounds and
6'3" tall, his "plan" is
different than yours.

Your Line ls Your Plan

Fromtalkingto most riders,it is easyto believethat onceyou

f i n dt h e " r i g h t l i n e " f o r a t u r n .e v e r y t h i nw g i l l m a g i c a l ltyu r no u t O Ka n d
your laptimeswill improvebecauseof this knowledge. lt isn'ttrue.
I onceexperimented with showingothersthe "right line"
throughthe turnsof a racetrack.I had studentsfollowme lap afterlapat
moderatespeedsas I did preciselythe samething at precisely the same
placeon the trackeachlap.Thestudentwas thenaskedto repeatthe
procedure that had beenshownto him. I neverfounda studentwho could
do it exactly.EddieLawsonobservedthis samething while instructing
Galifornia Superbike School studentsat Loudon.Onlyone riderout of
25 was ableto reproducehis lineafterbeingshown.(Actuallytwo riders When the Superbike School
wereableto do it. Theotherwas my 12yearold son,who Eddieoffered was at Loudon I let 24 riders
follow me around the track so
to sponsorafterwards. ) they could see my line. Then
l've placedmyselfin the samesituationand askeda better /followed them to frnd out
riderto showme his "lines" aroundthe course.Thecoursewas Ontario how they were dotng.
Twentythree of them got it
M o t o rS p e e d w a y3,. 19 m i l e sa n d 2 0 t u r n s ;t h e r i d e rw a st h e n - 2 5 O cU c .S. wrong from what I could see.
c h a m p i o nD, a v i dE m d ew , h o w a sa l l b u t u n b e a t a b lteh a tv e a ro n t h e
1/q-liter machines. We went aroundthe trackat a good practicepaceas I
carefullyobservedwhat he was doingin hopesof f indingout somedeep,
darkridingsecrets.
I did find out. I foundout that a rider's line is his plan for
going through a turn. Hisplanis baseduponwhat he doeswell and
what he doesn'tdo well.I observed, thenand now,that a rider'splanwill
be baseduponhis strengthsandweaknesses. His lineis the resultof how
his strengthsandweaknesses f it together.
Forexample,riderswho usethe maximumamountof lean
a n g l et h e b i k eh a st o o f f e rw i l l u s u a l l yd e s i g nt h e i r" l i n e " t o u s el e a n
angleto theiradvantage. Their"line" is oftentight to the insideof the
turn.By contrast,a riderwho doesnot useall of the groundclearance
The thing about riding on the
a v a i l a b lteo h i mw i l l d e s i g nh i s " l i n e " ( p l a n )s o t h a t h e d o e sn o t h a v et o back of a motorcyc/e wr:th
s p e n ds o m u c ht i m e l e a n e do v e rt o t h e m a x i m u mH . ew i l l f i n i s hh i s s t e e r - someone else drivrng rs that
thev never do it exactly like I
i n ga s s o o na s p o s s i b l es,t r a i g h t etnh e m a c h i n ea n d m o v ea w a yf r o mt h e would and it scares me.
t u r na sv e r t i c a l lays p o s s i b l eA. l l r i d e r sw i l l d e s i g nt h e i rt u r n sa r o u n dt h e
strongpointsthey believethey have. 17

:q + * *L- t*' .i' -.r' . .

lf someone pulls me I change
my line tn that turn and see if
it works / have films of me
racing wrth rrders and I'll pull
them five bike lengths off a
turn and still they lust keep
on doing the same thrng lf
the other guy's plan rs better
you can fit it rnto yours and
beat him
18
Learning a Line
Followinganotherridercan be veryinstructional if you can
determinehis plan by watchinghim. lf his plan is betterdesignedto
handlea turn thanyours,andyou can seewhy it is better.you mayhave
learnedhow to useyourown abilitiesto betterhandlesometracksitua-
t i o n s .T h ev a l u ei n f o l l o w i n ga n o t h e r i d e r - i ft h e r ei s a n y - i si n u n d e r s t a n d -
i n g h i s p l a na n db e i n ga b l e t oe x p a n dy o u ro w n r i d i n gb e c a u s o e f i t . l t ' sn o t
t
i n l e a r n i n tgh e l i n e ; i t i s l e a r n i n g h e p l a n t h a t c o u n t s .
Basic Goal
Yourbasicgoalin anyturn is getting through the turn with
increased rnph, decreased time spent in it and adequate control
of the bike. Youare lookingfor drive out of the turn that will carryyou to
the nextturn or downthe straightin the shortestamountof time with the
greatestamountof speed.Of course.you muststill be in controlof the
bike.Youbalancethe factorsof speedandtime to get the bestproduct.
Yet it is possibleto comeout of a turn fasterthan beforeandstill not
d e c r e a syeo u rl a pt i m e .T u r n sc a nS u c ky o u i n t om a k i n gm i s t a k e lsi k et h a t '
Turn Balancing
Gettingthe bestproduct f rom a turn requiresturn bal-
y o u rs p e e do u t o f t h e t u r na g a i n stth e
a n c i n g : t h i s i s w h e r ey o u b a l a n c e
amountof time it takesyou to get throughit. The mostcommonmistake
ridersmakeis to go intothe turnsfasterandfaster,then comeout of them
at the samespeedor slower.lt's easier to go into a turn faster than it
is to come out faster. Going in too fast can Gost you your drive
coming out. You'vegot to be ableto carrya fasterentrancespeed
throughthe exitof the turn to improveyour laptimes.Goingin too fast,
t h e nf o u l i n gu p i n t h e m i d d l eo f t h e t u r n ,w i l l l o w e ry o u re x i ts p e e d .
Turn balancing is likeyourten dollarsworth of attention.
Figurethat you haveonlyso manymilesper hour(MPH)to spendin a turn
on anyparticularlapfor any particularline.lf you spendyour MPH
u n w i s e la y tthebeginnino g f t h et u r n ,y o ud o n ' th a v et h e ma t t h e e n d .
Excessspeedat the wrongtime cancostyou time.Don'tjump at the f irst
chanceyou get to go faster.Theincreased speedyou haveaSyou exitone
turn will be addedto the speed that you carry all the wayto the next.Don't
b u r nu p M P Ha t t h e b e g i n n i n o g f t h et u r n ;u s et u r n b a l a n c i n g t o p r o d u c e
yourcorrectproduct: Increased MPH, decreasedtime spent in the
turn and the bike still under control at the turn exit.
Find the Product
Howdo youfind the product? Let'sassumeyou haveridden
the trackfor a few lapsand havef iguredout what the designerhasengi-
neeredintothis pieceof tarmac.Youhavestudiedthe radiuschangesand
the camberchanges(seeChapterOne,"TheRoadYou Ride").You'resus-
piciousof the turnson a racetrackand knowthey'remeantto challenge
andfool you.With this informationyou havea good ideaof how everyturn
affectsyou andyour bike.Youbecomeawareof what the product is for
you andyour machineby applyingthat informationand experience from
riding.Nowyou havea startingpoint,a placeon the trackto workwith,
correctand change,to makedecisionsabout.
Having a product in mind for a turn is like having a
road map and a destination for a trip. You'dhavea very hardtime
gettingto your destinationif you didn'tknowwhereit was.Youcan'tget
from NewYorkto KansasCityunlessyou knowwhereKansasCityis!
Obtaininga preciseproduct for a turn is the f irststepin
decidinghowto improvethat product.Having no product is like
having no destination. Doyouagree?

Having your end point

(product) well known,
even in wide open
sweepers, creates
confidence.
'@.

'** %

.-ltt ,|&r, '."6

End to Beginning

Youmustworkfrom the end backto the beginningof the turn

to establishyourproduct. Decidein advance, beforeyou go intothe turn,
whereyou aregoingto exit.You mustbe ableto "see"the product of the
turn in your mindas you enterit. Thisenablesyou to keepthe piecesand
partsof the turn workingtowardthat product.Thisoverview allowsyou
to f igureout eachstepnecessary to arriveat the productor destination.
Youcan becomehopelessly lost by continuingto "look"at a
turn from beginningto end insteadof from the end backto the beginning. 19

I go out and set my plan and
a lot of trmes the ftrst one ts
the best. lf lt doesn't feel rrght
I change rt. maybe every lap
20
Onceyou knowwhereyou'regoing,you can spendyourattentionmore
wiselyon the problemsthat comeup in the turn,suchas tire slippageand
passing.You'llhaveplentyof sparechangeleftto handlethem.Otherwise,
withouta product and destination, you will alwaysbe spendingtoo much
attentionon what is goingto happenat the endof the turn.Keepingyour
p r o d u c t i n m i n dh e l p sy o u h a n d l et h e u n c e r t a i n t y .
Onceyou havea product, whetherit is perfector not,you can
useit as a yardstickto measureyour progress. Any changesyou makein
the turnwill changethe productsomewhat.Youwill be ableto tell whether
thosechangesareworkingor not.As you increase yourspeedthrougha
turn.the product will changeslightly-orperhapsa greatdealif you'rea
beginner. An experienced ridermaymakea changethat is threefeet back
from his previousproduct and one MPHfaster.A beginner's product
maychange1Ofeet,and may be a gearhigherandfive MPHfasterduring
the courseof a dayon the track.A product givesyou somethingto shoot
for-somethingto change.lf you blowthe turn,you canalwaysgo backto
a l e s sa g g r e s s i voer s l o w e rp r o d u c t a n dg e tt h r o u g hi t w e l le n o u g h .
Locate the Product
Where and how you enter a turn is totally decided by
what and where the product is. Onlyrarelywill you go into a turn the
way it looksfrom the approachand haveit work out well in the end.New
and inexperienced riderscommonlybeginthe turn too earlybecausethey
haveno product in mind.Evenproscan be seendoingit. Thisopensthe
doorto a lot of mistakesand uncertainty.
A product is made in stages, one step at a time. These
stagesof its development aremarkedby sub-products. Sub-products
a l s oh a v ea l o c a t i o no n t h e t r a c ka n do t h e rf a c t o r st h a ta r es i m i l a tro a n
overallproduct. Leanangle,speed,bodyposition,amountof control,
steeringand morearethe sub-products you can useas indicators to tell
you how you'reprogressing towardyourproduct.
Medium-speed and slower-speed turnswill producemore
sub-products thanfasterturns.Youdon't havethe time to makea lot of
changesin fasterturns,and you mustmakethem as simpleas possibleto
leaveyourselfenoughattentionto do it right.Usually, fastturnsdo not
h a v em u l t i p l ec a m b e o r r e l e v a t i ocnh a n g e s - itfh e yd i dt h e yw o u l d n ' tb e
f a s tt u r n s .S l o wa n dm e d i u m - s p e et u d r n so f t e nh a v et h e s ek i n d so f
c h a n g e sa, n dt h e yo f t e nr e q u i r ed r a m a t i cs t e e r i n g c h a n g e sF. o r y o ut o
reachthe desiredproduct, thesechangesmustbe madeat preciseplaces
on the track.Thesearesub-products-places that require a change
in order to reach your product for that turn. Changesin gears,steer-
i n g ,t h r o t t l eb, r a k i n gb, o d yp o s i t i o na n dt h e p o i n t sw h e r ey o u l o o kf o r
coursemarkersareall sub-products. Anyexamples?
Point of Entry
Just as the end product hasa preciselocationon the track,
p o i n t ,t h e p o i n to f e n t r yw h e r et h e m a j o rs t e e r i n g
s o d o e st h e b e g i n n i n g
changefor the turn occurs.Thisis a sub-product. In bankedturns,your
entrypointshouldalwaysbe designedto usethe bankingto bestadvan-
t a g ec o m i n go u t o f t h et u r n .W h a t h a p p e n tso y o u a n dt h e b i k ew h e nt h e
bankingflattensis alwaysa sub-product, a change.Precisely locatethe
p o i n to f y o u rm a j o rs t e e r i n gc h a n g eg o i n gi n t ot h e t u r ns o y o uc a nh a v e
s o m e t h i n tgo a d j u s ta, p o i n tt o t h i n kf r o m .T h ee m p h a s i si s t o u s et h e
b a n k i n gt o y o u ra d v a n t a g eY.o uc a nt h i n ko f i t a s " c o n n e c t - a - d orti"d i n g .
l f y o u " g o i n t o "t u r n st o o s o o n y, o ua r ec o m m i t t e d to maximum
speedand leananglefor a greaterportionof the turn,which leavesyou
feweroptionsfor corrections, andyoufeelyou can'tor shouldn'tmakeany
c h a n g e si n y o u rl i n e .N o wp a s s i n gg, r o u n d i n g o u t o n b u m p s s, t e e r i n g ,
throttleand gearchangesall becomemattersof greatconcernand
becomemoredifficultto do smoothly.Goingintoturnstoo soonis your
indicatorthat you do not haveyourproduct well defined,that you're
slightlylost.Not knowing where you're going in a turn invites you
t o g o i n t o o s o o n . T h et r a c kd e s i g n efro o l sy o u i n t or i d i n gt h e t u r nt h e
w a y i t l o o k sa t t h e b e g i n n i n gr a t h e tr h a nt h ew a y i t w i l l w o r ko u t i n t h e e n d .
Workingout the product andsub-product providesa mapthrough
t h et u r n .

Faster ls Deeper

Here'sanotherway of lookingat it: if you makeyour major

steering c h a n g ea t t h e s a m ep o i n tg o i n gi n t oa t u r n - a n di n c r e a syeo u r
speedpastthat point-youwill runwideof the pointyou passedon the last
o f t h e i n c r e a s ien c e n t r i f u g a l f o r clef t. h e b i k er u n sa b i t t o o
l a pb e c a u s e
wideat the exit,you maybelieveyou wenttoo fast.Actually,the remedyis
to go in deeperbeforemakingthe steeringchange.The faster you wish
to go through a turn, the deeper you have to enter it to increase
your speed at the exit.what will changeif youdo this?
lf you go in deeperandfaster,the steeringchangewill needto
be moreabrupt,andthe bikewill not wantto turn as easilyas before.The
trickto goingin deeperis to go a bit slowerrightat the pointwhereyou
makeyoursteeringchange.Youmust learnto restrainyourself.As Kenny
Robertssays,"Learnto go slowto go fast."lf you do it right,you'llbe able
t o g o f a s t e rf r o mt h a t p o i n to n t h r o u g ht h e t u r n .T h eb i k ec a nb e s t r a i g h t e r
up and down,lesscommittedto maximumleananglesand speed,so you
can adjustyourspeedand set up a product moreeasily.The impoftant
partis knowingwhere you went intothe turn so that you havesomething
t o c h a n g ea n da d j u s tT. h i si s a s u b - p r o d u c t , a n da n i m p o r t a not n e .

Old Racer's Tale

Anotherimpoftantpointis the falseideathat you must useup

allthe trackat the exitof a turn,whetheryou haveto or not.Perhaps this
comesf romthe old corneringtheorythat saysyou beginthe turn wideand
exit it as wide as possible.Whereverit comesfrom, it not onlyisn'talways
true,but it can actuallypreventyou from goingfasterthroughthe turns.
 How?lf you let the bike go wide at the exit, iust because there is
track left over, it can give you a false impression you're going as
fast as you can. Youcanfoolyourselfinto believingit can'tbe done
f a s t e rA. s y o u ' r ef i g u r i n gt h e t u r n sa n dd i a l i n gi n t h e p r o d u c t , y o u u s et h e
informationyou'vestoredup from the lastlapto decideif anychangescan
be made.lf your information says you went all the way to the edge
of the track the last time through, it makes it diffieult to decide
to go faster this time. You knowthe bikewill go widerif you go faster,
andyou'llrun out of track.Yourproduct will change.Youwon't feelas
confidentthat it can be done.wiilit workforvou?

Hold That Line

The remedyfor this commonerroris to hold the bike to the

tightest line possible on the exit so you can get an accurate idea
of where that speed takes you on the track. Wherethe product of
that speedputsyou. lf you holdyour linedown at the end of a turn and
thereis still eightfeetof trackleft,you couldsafelyassumeyou can go
faster.lf the nexttime you keepeverything the samegoingintothe turn,
u s i n gt h e s a m el i n eb u t i n c r e a s i nygo u rs p e e da, n dy o u s t i l lh a v ef i v ef e e t
of trackleft,you can go evenfasteryet.Thepointis,don'tfool yourself
by usingup the trackwhen it isn'tnecessary.
By handlingthe exitsof mostturnsin this way,you can begin
to establisha veryaccurateproduct and good sub-products. you're
e n g i n e e r i nt gh et u r nt o f i t y o u rr i d i n ga n de q u i p m e n d
t ,e c i d i n go n a
product, then makingadjustments to improveuponit. Youarenot being
takenin by the track,makinguselesschangesjust becausethere'san
opportunityto do so.
A goodexampleof beingsuckedin on the entranceof a turn is
the old trapof the decreasing-radius turn.Yougo in fast becauseyou can,
t h e nh a v et o p l a ys o m es e r i o u sc a t c h - u pa t t h e p o i n ti t b e g i n st o t i g h t e n .
Holdingyour speeddown on the entrancecan giveyouthe exactinforma-
tion you needto go faster-ifit's possible. That'syouthinkingnow,not
suckingyourselfinto makingan error.Where wiilyoutryit?

Your Results

Theproducts andsub-products giveyou a destination and

accurately
markthe places where you canmakechangeson the road.They
areyour way of breakingdown the processinto smallerpartsyou can
understandand change.Yourconfidenceand smoothness increase when
you knowwhereyou'regoingandwhatto do whenyou get there.Your
basicrequirement as a rideris to observewhereyourproducts andsub-
products are,what to do at thosepointsandto rememberthem so you
can makeuseof them.

22
O Most riders use the
whole track upon exiting
turns.

I Holding a tight line, and

still having track left
over, lets you know it
can be done even faster.

23
CHAPTER FOUR

WhatYou See
Programming Your ComPuter
Through the Eyes
What you seethroughyour smoke-tinted Bellshieldhasmuch
to do with how wellyou ride.Youcan'tcountthe numberof objectsyou
can seeat anyone spoton the track,anymorethanyou cancountwhat
you seejust staringat the backof your hand.The moreyou look,the more
you see.Thisalsoappliesto the racetrack.Youcanstop at anyturn and
lookfor hoursat what'sto be seen.Butwhileyou'reracingor ridingdown
the road,you can'tstopto gaze.
Howdo you decidewhatto lookat,what is impoftantandwhat
is not?And how do you usewhatyou see?Howcanwhat you seehelpor
hinderyour riding?Thischapteris aboutseeingcorrectlyto improveyour
riding.

Where Are You?

The reason you look at points on the track is to learn

where you are and where you are going' On any pieceof roadyou
lookin f rontof youto obtaininformationaboutwhereyou areso you can
decidewhat to do with the information. Manyridershavesaid,"Yougo
whereyou look."What theyfailedto sayis,"Youcango whereyou don't
look,but you rolloff the throttlefirst."Let'srestateit so the rideris more
in control:Look where you want to go.

Reference Points

You usereference points to find out whereyou areon the

track.This point is a spot or obiect of which you already know the
location. lt is somethingwhichclearlymarksa place.Youcanreferto this
objectfor information.Two reference points presenta betterpictureof
your lOcation. Threeor moregiveyou yourexactlocation.Example: you're
lookingfor a storeon MainStreet.You go to Main one
Street-that's
24 reference point. Youf ind the right block-that'stwo. Youcheckthe
numbersto seewhichdirectionthey run-that'sthree.Youdecidewhich
sideof the streetthe storeis on-that'sfour.Youfollowthe numberstill
you reachthe store.That'sfive or morereference points that you would
u s ei n f i n d i n ga n a d d r e s sO. n a r a c et r a c ko r r o a dy o u d o t h e s a m et h i n g .
lf you don't have enough reference points to know where you
are-you're lost! Any examptes?

Reference Points {RPs)-

a certain reminder of
where you are; basic
building blocks for your
plan.

"{

25
Reference p o t nts-yea h. you
might not thtnk about them
but You'vegot to use them.
Just little things on the track
I remember-rt helps to put
it all together.
Familiar RPs allow you
to look "around" the
turn, well ahead of
yourself .
An RP givee you informa-
tion. lt signals where,
and how much, to
change what you do.
,W
l,''
:# l "
l&ir
26
Thingshappenfast on a motorcycle at speed,andthe situation
changesconstantly. Whereyou areon the roadis veryimportantbecause
it determines yourcourseof action.lf you don't know where you ale,
you also don't know what you're supposed to be doing. Yourloca-
tion on a racetrackor roadcan be plottedin inchesandfeet-not in city
blocks-andthereareno streetsignson the track.lt's up to you to decide
what reference points to useand what to do when you reachthem.
Youmustdecide.
What to Use as Reference Points
YourbestReference Point(RP)is somethingeitheron the track
orverycloseto it: a patchof asphalt,a paintedline,a spot,a crack,curb-
ing,anythingthat doesn'tmove.Objectstoo far f romthe tracksurfacewill
takeyourattentionawayf romthe track.YourRPsmustbe easyto find to
be usable.At timesyou must usethe edgeof the track,but a pointthat'sa
foot in f romthe edgeis betterbecauseit keepsyour attentionon the track.
l f y o ug o t o t h e l i m i tw i t ha n R Pt h a t ' so n ef o o tf r o mt h e e d g e y, o u s t i l lh a v e
a foot left over.Goingto the edgeof the trackmeansgoingto the limit and
leavingyourselfno marginfor error.lt isn'tnecessary to go to the edgeof
the trackwheneverpossibleuntilyou feelcomfortabledoingso.The idea
that you must useallthe trackis likethe ideayou must"hangoff" the bike
-only do it when it becomesnecessary and comfortable.
The RPsyou chooseto lookat shouldbe in your lineof vision
and alongyour pathof travel.Don'tchoosesomethingas a reference point
just becauseit's thereand easyto see.lt might not be the right RPfor you
becauseit's too far off your lineor it doesn'tworkfor the speedyou're
t r a v e l i n gO. n t h e o t h e rh a n d ,d o n ' tn a r r o wy o u rv i s i o nt o o m u c ho r y o u ' l l
not havea wide enoughviewof the tracksurfaceto f ind whereyou are.
RPsthat aredirectlyon your lineof travelestablishyour locationon the
tracklengthways. RPsalongthe sideestablishyour locationin relationto
the width of the track.The bottomlinefor an RPis,does it work? lt can
be anywhere-solongas it worksfor you.
How to Use A Reference Point

A reference point is not merelysomethingyou canseeeasily

on or nearthe track,the reference point must mean something to
you when you see it. Everytime you passor approachit, this point
mustcommunicate a messageto you,like,"Thisis whereI beginlooking
for my turn marker,"or "lf l'm to the rightof this too much l'll hit a bump,
but to the left of it I'm alright."Or,"Thisis whereI beginmy turn."Refer-
ence points are reminders of where you are or of what action you
must take. Canyou applythis?
You'llneedtwo or more reference points to accuratelyfind
yourselfon the track.You'vegot to knowwherethe RPsareso you can
r e l a t ey o u ro w n p o s i t i o nt o t h e m .T h i sm a ys o u n ds i m p l e - m i n d e b du, tif
you narrowyourattentionto oneobject,it becomesyouronly RPandyou
becomea victimof target fixation. Yougo to the RPbecauseyou don't
h a v ea n y t h i n ge l s et o d o .T h i so c c u r si n a p a n i cs i t u a t i o na n dc a n h a p p e n
anywhereon a racetrack.Youmust haveenoughRPsso that target
fixationdoesn'toccur.
Whenyou havesufficientRPsin a turn or on the track,the
scenemovingin f rontof you appearsto movesmoothly,likea wide-screen
70mm movie.Toofew andthe scenelookslikean old-timemovie,bounc-
ing andjerkingalong.Havingonlyone RPis likewatchinga slideshow
frame-nicepicture,but wheredo you go from there?

Having too few RPs

\ causes target fixation.
f' Enough RPs "open up"
the track, making it
appear larger, and costs
less of your attention.
 No doubtyou'veheardthat you must lookdownthe road
where you'regoing,not whereyou are.This is good information-you need
that secondRPto locateyourselfon the track.Lookingtoo closeto the
bikewon't helpyou find it.

Look Ahead for Reference Points

At 60 mph you'retravelingat 88 feet per second;at 120 mph

you'rehurtlingthroughspaceat 176 feet persecond.Thatsecondticksby
veryquickly,and if you'renot readyfor the nextmove,aheadof time,
you'llmakea mistake.Lookingaheadfor yourreference points and
sub-products givesyou time to preparefor the nextmoveso thereareno
surprisesand so everythinggoessmoothly.
This ideacan be takentoo far,however.l'veseenriderslooking
. h e yw e r e
1 5 0 f e e td o w nt h e r o a dw h i l er o u n d i n ga t i g h t4 o - m p hc u r v eT
ignoringwhat was to be seenin front of them,likecurbingand holes.Still,
otherridersin the sameturn werelookingat the curbingand holes,but not
untiltheywerejust 2Ofeet in front of them.Bothof theseextremesare
unworkable; they produceuncertainridingthroughthe turn and slow
cornering.

Where to Look

Two factorswill helpyou determinewhereto lookwhileyou're

r i d i n go r r a c i n g .
1. At speed,the f urtheraheadyou look,the sloweryou believe
you'regoing;the closerto yourselfyou look,the fasteryou believeyou're
going.Look far enough ahead to avoid accelerating the scene, but
not so far that you lose your feel for where you are on the track.
Wath RPs you have a choice of where tolook.wittyou trvit?
2. HavingenoughRPshasthe effectof opening up the
track, making it appear larger. When you look too far aheador too
closeto the bike,the trackseemsto narrow.lf this beginshappening, it is
y o u rs i g n atlo e i t h e rc h a n g eR P so r t o f i n d m o r eo f t h e mi n t h a tt u r n o r
sectionof track.
T h e s ea r eg u i d e l i n e sA.d j u s t h e R P ss o t h e s c e n ei s m o v i n ga t
the rightspeedfor you,and so you can seeenoughto keepthe track
"openedup."
Havingonlyone RPis likehavingonlyonecar.lf it breaksor
doesn'twork,you don'tgo anywhere. lf you haveanotheryou can easily
usethe onethat works.With onlyonereference point' or car,it
becomestoo valuableand necessary. lf youfind that yourattentionis fixed
on one point on the track or road, it's because you don't haveanother
readyto use.Thatone becomesvery valuableto you andyou over-useit.
Youdependuponit for too muchinformationand mightbeginstaringat it.
Youcan becomeslightlylostwhen it no longerletsyou knowwhereyou
areor whatto do. lf youfind yourattentionbecomingfixedon one RP,you
28 needto f ind anotherin the areaso the "movie"will smoothout.
Stepping Stones

Reference points areyoursteppingstonesto the products It's important to prck up good

andsub-products youwill producein a turn or seriesof turns.Theselittle RPs.especially on the exrt

stepsleadto the majorchangesyou will maketo get the bikearoundturns

. P ss i g n atl h e p o i n t so n t h e t r a c kw h e r e
f a s t e ro r w i t h m o r ec o n fi d e n c eR
y o uw i l l m a k et h e s ec h a n g e s .

Concentration

On the trackor road,concentrationis a smoothflow, or chain

of eventsthat movesfrom one to anotherwithout a break.Reference
points arepartsof that chain,one linkdependinguponthe nextfor
strengthand a continuousflow. lf one linkbreaks,the entirechainstays
brokenuntilit can be repairedor replaced.lf you havea sectionof the
trackwith no,or too few RPs,yourchainof concentration will break.
Reference points are the building blocks of concentration.
Let'sget backto the ideaof yourattentionand how muchof it
you have,yourten-dollarbill.Whenyourconcentration is good,you spend
just enoughof it on eachRPso that you knowwhereyou areandwhatto
do.Thiskeepsthat steadyflow going.Whenyou havetoo few RPsin an
area,mostof yourattentionwill be spentin tryingto fix this bad situation.
The points or places on the track that you do not know, or under-
stand, will occupy most of your attention. HavingenoughRPslets
y o us p e n dj u s tt h e r i g h ta m o u n to f t i m ea n da t t e n t i o no n e a c ho n et o g e t
the information you need.Youhaveenoughleftoverto buy otherthings,
t o m a k es m a l lc h a n g e si n y o u rr i d i n gt h a tw i l l h e l py o ug o j u s t a b i t f a s t e r
or leanoverjust a bit more.Everything you do on the track takes up
some attention. Whenyou don't haveenoughRPsyourattentiongoes
rightto that areaandwill-or can-breakyourconcentration.
Someof the strangestthingshappenwhenyou havea break
in yourconcentration. Oneridertold me that everytime his concentration
b r e a k sh e b e g i n st h i n k i n go f a l e a k i n gf a u c e th e h a sa t h o m e Y
. o u rm i n d
maynotwanderto a leakingfaucet,but whenyour concentration breaks
you will noticethat otherthingscomeintoyour mind.Oo youdothis?

Concentration -The Twist

There'sa twist to this subjectof concentration;when you've

got it, it doesn'tseemto you you'relookingat anythingin particular.The
reference points just blendintothe scenein front of you.When asked,
"Whatdo you lookat in turns?"two or threeof the top ridersin the world
havesaid,"l don't reallylookat anything."But is this reallywhatthey
mean?
Whenyourconcentration is good,you spendjust nickelsand
dimeson the RPsand noneof them capturesyourattention.An exampleof
this is that one majordifferencebetweenridersis theirabilityto learn
tracks.Learninga track meansknowing where you are on the track. 29

-&** ;. .*,a-;t;,,,
I like to go ta new tracks-rt's
fun. The firstyear I raced we
went to the tracks that every-
body raced and ljust drd OK
At the new tracks though. I
was right there frrst or second
Find a stopwatch or wall
clock with a second hand
and try this eye-opening
experiment. Do it again
after you have ridden the
track looking for RPs.
30
Someriderscando it in five laps,otherscan'tdo it in 5OOlaps.Bothguys
haveto learnwheretheyareby reference points; the top ridersjust do it
so fasttheycan beatyou on yourfavoriteroadthe secondtimeyou take
themthere!!Onefactorthat separates the top ridersf rom the restof the
f i e l di s t h a tt h e yp i c ku p R P sq u i c k l ya n da c c u r a t e ltyo t h e p o i n tt h e yc a n
s e et h e " w h o l es c e n e w " i t h o u th a v i n gt o p i c ko u t t h e i n d i v i d u aRl P s .
Enough Reference Points
Onceyou haveenoughRPs,you can seethe "wholescene"
comfortablywithouthavingto stareat the RPsindividually. This is your
g o a l ,a n dt h e i n d i v i d u abl u i l d i n gb l o c k so f t h a t s c e n ea r eR P s l.f y o u rc o n -
centrationbecomeslostyou will haveto go backand relyon or relocate
y o u r s e lwf i t h t h e R P st h a t a r ef a m i l i atro y o u .
That'showyou restoreyourconcentration as sool3bspossible:
Go back to the reference points you know and pick up the thread
of concentration. lf you don't haveany RPsin the area,it'll cost you time
on the trackas you hesitateand roll backthe throttle.
Do Not Read Past This Next Paragraph Until
You Have Completed the ExPeriment
1. Geta stopwatch.
2. Sit down in a comfortablechair.
3. Now,closeyoureyesandthinkof a racetrackyou'refamiliar
with. Startthe watchand runthrougha completelapon the track.Do it
from memory.Try to go throughit exactlyas fast as you did the lasttime
you rodethere.Youaretimingyour memoryof the trackand how you
rodeit.
4. Now,closeyoureyesandtry it again.
Memory Lap
lf you'relikemost riders,your memory"laptime"will be either
muchtoo longor muchtoo short.lf youjust brokethe absolutelap record
by 2Qor 30 seconds,or if you added20 or 30 secondsto youractuallap
times,it meansthe samething-not enoughreference points. Theslow-
l a pr i d e r ' s" m o v i e "i s i n c o m p l e taen d h ef i n d sh i m s e l sf t a r - g a z i nagt t h e
placeshe hasno RPs.Hisattentionis on the areasof the trackhe does
not know.
ln the veryfast lap situationthe riderstill hasn'tgot enough
RPs,so he flitsfrom oneto the nextveryquicklybecausethosearewhat
he doesknow.Having sufficient RPs gives you a better sense of
time because you now have points to mark your motion around
the track. Yourattentiongoeseitherto the placesyou knowverywell,or
to the placeyou don't knowverywell.Or,it becomessplit betweenthe
two. Thiscostsyou a lot of attentionyou can'tspendon otherthings.

Find the Lost RPs

Here'san easymethodyou can useto find out whereyou don,t

haveenoughRPs.Youcan useit anytime.
1. Closeyoureyes.
2. Carefullyrunthroughyourown "movie"of the trackas if you
wereriding.
3. "Ride"throughone completelap in your memory.
4. Openyour eyesand draw eachturn on a separatesheetof
paper,markingthe reference pointsyou'resureof in eachturn.
5 . M a k ea n o t eo f w h a te a c hR Pm e a n st o y o u .l i k e :, , B r a k i n g
Point,""SteeringChange,""Locationon the Track.""Bump,,,,,ExitMarker,,,
"Product,"etc.
6. Closeyoureyesagainand go backoveryour,,movie,,,
noticingthe placesyou hesitate.go blank,wherethe scenegetsfoggy,or
whereyou hurrythroughit too fast.Eachof thesesituationsindicatesyou
havetoo few reference points at theselocations.
7. Now makea noteon yourturn drawingsat eachplaceyou
havea blankspotor anyotherproblemsituationfrom No. 6 above.
8. FindmoreRPsfor thoseareasthe nexttime you ridethe
track.
Youcan usethis methodto f ind yourweakspots-andstrong
pointsas well,as it is your memoryof the turnsyou relyon whenyou ride.
This is howyou knowwhereyou'regoing.Knowingwhereyou aregoingis
part of the thread of concentration. Wiuit work?

That's the Twist

Youmustget to the pointwhereyou can seethe wholescene

in front of you withouthavingto spenda lot of attentionon anyone point.
You'rebuildingthat scenewith individualreference points. lf yourcon-
centrationis lost,go backto the RPsthat you knowand buildthe scene
again. 31

A lot of guys I see out there
seem to forget about the
whole rest of the track. They
are paytng too much atten-
tion to that one line.
Good RPs help keep a
steady flow of concen-
tration for a rider. You
spend (use) RPs to save
attention.
@ w rr-rl' -"-
:.
1*
32
The Big Twist to Goncentrationand ReferencePoints
Thetrickto usingRPsand gainingconcentration is you have
to look at something. Youreyeswork by focusingon someobjector
someplane,theneverythingin that planeis in focus,likeon a movie
screen.Youmaybe lookingat onlyoneareaof the screen,but the entire
screenis in focus.
Anotherpoint is that when your eyesmove,they do so in short
stoppingmovements. Theyflit from one objectto anotherlikea butterfly.
lf you try to sweepyoureyesacrossa scenewithoutstoppingon anything,
the scenebecomesa blur.Try it.
A rider'sproblemis that he wantsto seethe trackin f rontof
him flowingas a wholescene,to maintaina steadyf low of concentration,
but his eyesdon'tworkthat way.lf he staresat one reference point too
l o n g ,h e ' l le x p e r i e n caef o r m o f t u n n e vl i s i o n B o f t h ew a yh i s
. u tb e c a u s e
eyeswork,he hasto lookat somespecificthing!There'sthe twist.
.-,.,.
,ilt
\\\ q '..1*',,-:4:.
*:t*-"
F- "ffi
i
I L
t
See Fast
Howdo the top ridersmanageto rideso fastwithoutexperi-
encingproblemsin seeing?Here'sa drillthat will helpyou practicethe
properseeingtechniques.
1. Finda wallthat is entirelyvisibleto you.Youcan seeall four
cornersby movingyoureyes,but not your head.
2. Focusyoureyeson a spot in the middleof the wall.
3. Remainfocusedon that spot,then moveyourattention,not
youreyes,to the upperright-handcornerof the wall.
Stillfocusingon that spot, moveyour attentionto different
placeson the wall.Youare lookingat one spotbut areawareof the other
areasof the wall.
5. Stillfocusingon that spot,moveyourattentionto the
objectsbetweenyou andthe wall,andon the wall as well.
.--...--"-.*E
The Whole Picture

You can see the whole scene while still looking at one This is the way I see lt most
place or spot! You probablynoticedthat duringthis experiment you of the time-the overall scene
That's when things are gorng
wantedto moveyour eyesfrom the spot you werefocusedon to the spot nght everything is worktng
to whichyour attentionhad gone.Thisexperiment becomeseasierwith nght
practice.Youcan practicemovingyourattentionaround,while lookingat
onespotor area,as you'redrivingto the racesor just sittingin a chair.lt's
a skillthat cantaketime to developif you haven'tmasteredit already.
Now,whenyou seethe wholescenein this wayyou haveto
realizethat the pointsin the scenemustbe well knownto you.You need
the reference points in the sceneto makethe scene.lf you don't know
the RPsyoureyeswill huntfor somethingthat is familiarand losethe
wholesceneeffect.
B e i n ga b l et o s e et h e t r a c ki n f r o n to f y o ua s a w h o l es c e n e
m a k e sr i d i n gm u c he a s i e ar n d b r i n g sy o u rc o n c e n t r a t i obna c ki f i t f a l t e r s .
As you canseein the drillabove,it is whereyourattentionis directed,
w h e r ey o u ' r es p e n d i n gy o u rt e n - d o l l abr i l l ,t h a t ' sm u c hm o r ei m p o r t a n t
thanwhatyou'relookingat. Yourattentionmustbe spenteconomically,
a n dl o o k i n ga t t h ew h o l es c e n er a t h e trh a na t o n et h i n gi s s p e n d i n gi t v e r y
wisely,and getting interestbackon your investment.Youjust haveto
practice. Will you try it?
You begin to understand
a turn with RPs. Then
pieces of the turn
become clearer. Finally,
the whole scene is
viewed as a steady flow
of action. You spend the
least and get the most.

,",..
%
'!
CHAPTER FIVE

Timing
Putting Things ln Order

Timing reallyhasnothingto do with yoursenseof time.lt has

The first couple of practice
laps feel fast, too fast. and
then it slows down from
there.
to do with taking the correct action at exactly the correct place on
the track. Thewholeideaof timing is to pulltogetheryourreference
points, products andsub-products so they'reusefultoyou on the
track.Doingthe correctthing at the wrongplaceon the trackproduces
poorresults.Knowingwhat to do, but not exactlywhereto do it, can really
foul up a rider.

My Timing Lesson

I learnedmy lessonabouttiming from ridingskateboards. I

wastryingdesperately to makea "kick"turn,which is the 18O-degree turn
you maketo get yourselfbackdown afterridingup a rampor the sideof a
pool.lfell at leasta hundredtimestryingit. Finally, I discovered that the
boardwould notturn unlessit was goingat a certainslowspeed.lf I triedit
too fast-too early-lcouldnot makethe turn.Tooslow-toolate-andthe
b o a r dw o u l db e g i ns l i d i n gb a c k w a r djsu s t e n o u g ht o m a k et h e t u r nv i r t u -
allyimpossible. Therewas a veryf ine marginof speedthat wouldallowthe
boardto be turned,yet still keepup the momentumso I couldstayon and
c o n t i n u eb a c kd o w n .

How You Let Off

Itook a verycloselookat my motorcycleriding,keepingin

mindwhat I'd learnedon the skateboard,and discovered someverybasic
mistakesI was makingas a rider.Manyotherridersweremakingthe same
mistakesfor the samereasons.
ln turns whereyou usethe brakes,exactlywhereyou let off
them andwhenyou beginsteeringcan makea greatdifferencein your
smoothness. Thoughlcould makethat changein manydifferentways,
34 oneworkedbetterthanthe others.Let'slookat the possibilities:
 1. Youcanfinishthe brakingandthenturn,leavingthe
throttleoff.
2. Youcanfinishthe brakingafteryou beginthe turn,with no
th rottle.
3. Youcanfinishthe braking,thenturn and applythe throttle.
4 . Y o uc a nf i n i s ht h e b r a k i n ga, n dt h e nc r a c kt h e t h r o t t l e
slightly.
5. Youcanf inishthe brakingafteryou beginto turn and apply
the throttle.
6. Youcanf inishthe brakingafteryou turn andjust crackthe
throttleon.

What Happens

ln NumberOneabove,the forksarealmostbottomedout from

the braking,thenwhenyou let up on the brakesthe forksextendandthe
b i k e" s t a n d s u
" p .Y o ut h e np u tt h e b i k ei n t ot h e t u r n ,a n dt h e c o r n e r i n g
forcescompressthe forksagain.lf you put it intothe turn hard,the forks
compressveryfar,then comebackup a little.The bikeis goingup and
down,changingtractionand fork angle.Thatchangesthe steeringand
reducesthe stabilityof the bike.
In NumberTwo above,the fork is down,andwhenyouturn
the throttlebackon it comesup,then backdownagainf romthe turning
forces.Here'sthe samesituationagain-lossof tractionand stability.
ln NumberThree,the fork is compressed from the braking,
thencomesup whenyou releasethe brakes,then down againfrom the
cornering l o a d st,h e nu p a g a i na s y o ua p p l yt h et h r o t t l eT. h eo t h e r
examplesprovidesimilarpossibilities.
To get intothe turn correctly, you musttime the brakingand
turningso that the bikestayseven,not goingup or down,at the pointyou
let off the brakes.Youmust let off the brakesat the exactmomentyour
fork is compressed just enoughfor the speedsand corneringloadsit will
be undergoing throughthe turn.Applythe throttleso that fork extension
doesn'tchange,or changesthe leastamountpossible.Thiswill allowyou
to go intothe turn withoutanyup and down motion.lf yourtiming'soff,
y o u m a yc o m p l a i nt h a tt h e b i k eh a n d l e sp o o r l yp, o s s i b l tyh i n k i n gt h e
shocksaregone.Some examples?

Your Timing Target

Yourtarget,or sub-product for anyturn in whichyou brake

andturn in succession, is timing the braking, steering and throttle
so that fork and shock extension are kept as even as possible.
Fast "esses" and compound turns. When two or more
turnsarestrungtogetherand cannotbe takenwide open,timing is
important.On a quickright/leftor left/rightcombination, time the steering
changeso that the throttleis rolledoff rightbeforethe transitionfrom side
to side.Rollingoff the gasjust an instantbeforemakingthe steering
 changedipsthe f rontend slightly,makingthe steeringeasier(oversteer)
becauseof the decreased fork angle(rake).Makingthat steeringchange
andcompressing the suspension to its maximumpointfor that turn keeps
the bikef rom bobbingup and down excessively. Whendoneright,evena
b i k ew i t h p o o rs h o c k sw i l l h a n d l ef i n e .W h e nd o n ew r o n g ,t h e b e s t -
handlingbikein the worldwill handlepoorly.

Roll-Off Time

Thefasteryou ride,the harderthe steeringbecomes,especi-

allyin high-speed"esses."Rollingthe throttleoff, then steering,then get-
ting backon the gas againin the middleof two turns,can actuallyget you
throughfasterthan if you "push"throughand haveto rolloff at the exitof
t h et w o t u r n s .T h er o l l i n go f f a n db a c ko n a g a i ns h o u l dn o tt a k em o r et h a n
one second,andthe gas is completelyoff for onlya smallf ractionof that
t h e t h r o t t l eo n a n do f f u n t i ly o u rt i m i n g
t i m e ,i f a t a l l .A v o i ds n a p p i n g
is perfect.

Tiredness : Loss of Timing

When you become tired, the first thing you lose is your
timing. This is anotherreasonit's so importantto haveyourreference
points and products well established. sub-products, the majorsteps
or changesin a turn, arealso points of timing (POTI.
Not all RPsarepoints of timirlg. Someonlytellyouwhere
you are,signalingan upcomingchangeor POT/sub-product. lf you
knowwherethey areandwhatto do there,you won't haveto slowdown
as muchwhenyou becometired.Youprobablywon't be willingto go
faster,but that canwait untilyou'resharpagain.Does toyou?
thisapply

Timing and the Road You Ride

changesin the roadaffecttiming dramatically. Younot only

haveto workthe controlscorrectly,but you haveto fit that intothe camber
changea s n d r a d i u sc h a n g e sa s w e l l .F o ri n s t a n c ei f, y o uw e r ec o m i n gu p t o
a bankedturn whereyou would haveto usethe brakesf irst,you should
k n o wt h a tt h e s u s p e n s i owni l l c o m p r e s sm o r ei n t h a tt u r nt h a ni t w i l l o n a
similarturn that is flat with no banking.To go in perfectly, you would let
off the brakesas you go intothe bankingjust as the suspension is taking
the loadf romthe centrifugalforce.Thiswill give you the smoothestentry.
You back out of the brakes iust as the turn takes over the iob of
compressing the suspension. lf you braketoo hardandthe cornering
speedis down,the bikewill riseup whenyou hit the banking,the suspen-
sionwill unload.lf you get off the brakestoo soonandthen hit the bank-
ing,the suspension witl compress. Thesecondof theseis the betterof the
evilsas it offersa bettertractionSituation. Doingit right,of course,is
36 bestof all.
 ln off-camber turns:
1. Spend as little time in
them as possible.
2. Design your plan
around the forces pull-
ing you to the outside
of the turn.

Off-Gamber Timing

In an off-camberturn it is betterto havethe bikeas lightas

possibleon its wheelsto keepit f rom movingto the outsideof the turn too
much.Youmusttime yourcontroloperations so you'reon the gasthe least
amountin that partof the turn.Tractiondeteriorates rapidlyin off-camber
sections,comparedwith f lat or bankedsections.Rollingoff the throttle
veryhardin an off-camberhasan effectsimilarto that of rollingon too
h a r d .l t l o a d so n ew h e e lm o r et h a nt h e o t h e r - i nt h i s c a s et h ef r o n t - a n d
c a nc a u s et h e f r o n te n dt o s l i d eo u t .T h er i d e rm i g h tb e p u z z l e d - h reo l l e d
off the throttleand stillthrew it away.Rollingoff usuallyhelpshim get
throughturnswhen he'sbeengoingtoo fast.Keepingthe weightevenon
the wheelsby crackingopenthe throttle,not accelerating or slowing,gives
the bikeits besttractionin off -camber turns.In an off-camber, set up your
P O Ts o t h e b i k ei s a c c e l e r a t i nogr s l o w i n gt h e l e a s ta m o u n tp o s s i b l eT.h a t
will preventtransferring too muchweightto eitherwheel.

Ghanging the Track with Timing

In a sectionof trackwherea dip compresses the suspension,

it is sometimespossibleto time your roll-onfor that point.Groundclear-
a n c ei n c r e a s ewsh e nt h e b i k ei s a c c e l e r a t i nbge c a u s teh e s u s p e n s i oins
extending; this tacticmaystopsomeof the bobbingup and downthat
occursin dippedpartsof the track.Timing canchangethe trackcondi-
tionsfor betteror worse.lf you get the POTright it canwork-if you don't,
it won't.

,Cl**L*'*a+
 Products and Timing

K e e pi n m i n dt h r o u g ha l lt h i st h a ty o u rg o a li s s t i l lt h e o v e r a l l
product of the turn.Youstillwantthe maximumspeed,the drivecoming
out,or you wantto be set up for the nextturn. lf you makepartsof the turn
work,but losethe drivecomingout,you'vewon the battlebut lostthe war.
Atlof the RPsand POT/sub-products mustmakethe productbetteror
you havedonea lot of fancyridingthat'sslowriding.Sometimesit's better
to go directlythrougha roughsectionof trackwobblingand out of shape
thanto figurea smoother-butslower-wayaroundit. Yourmeasureof
progressis in whetheror not yourproduct is improving.
Points of timing are sub-products, and this is where
changes are made. Everyplacewhereyoutakeanykindof actionis a
point of timing, especially whenyou'rein a turn.Upshiftingon the
straight-away,lor instance,is a POT,thoughit's lessimportantthanwhere
you steerin a turn.Becomingfamiliarwith your POTand products allows
youto loafon the restof the trackbecausenow you understand whereyou
haveto work hardandwhere you don't. lf you get these facts down on
paper,orwell memorized, you won't be sayingthingslike,"l'm having
troublein the esses." You'll seewhich POTareworkingand whichare
fouling up your product. Whatwill changeif youdo this?

Timing in Perspective

To put timing in perspective, let'slookat TurnSixat Riverside

Racewayin Riverside, California. lt's a goodexamplebecausehundredsof
ridersarestill baffledby it, and it's the mostcomplexturn I knowof.

Each change in the track

requires the rider to TurnSix
adjust his bike at exactly
the right place. lf not, the
bike will seem to handle
poorly,

7h
'q//2
iztiziit)

47h Viiti4
'%t
38 iriii,
 Turn Six, Riverside

TurnSix is partof a seriesbeginningwith TurnFive(see

diagram). Turn Fiveis fasterthan Six,and most ridersbrakeand go down
a gearcominginto Five.lt looksverynarrowon the approach,but as
they'recomingout of it, most ridersfind they'vegonethroughit too slow.
T h eg a sc o m e so n f o r a n i n s t a n at s t h e yr i d eu p t h e h i l l i n t oT u r ns i x ,
wherethey haveto usethe brakesagain.Most ridersoverusethe brakes
here,find they'regoinga bit too slow,thenjump on the gasagain.Just at
that point,it seemsthe gas is on too muchagain,so they roll it off. Now it
seemstoo slowagain,so they get backon the gas.Nowtheyseethe end
of the turn,but the bike'sheadingto the outsidetoo fast,aimingfor the
dirt andthe Armcobarrier.Here'sanotherroil-off.Nowthe bike'son the
straight-away and backontothe gas.Thisis a roughwayto go through
aturn!
Here'swhat happened-coming intoTurnSix,the riderfirst
noticesthat he hasoverbraked and is goingtoo slowbecausehe hasfailed
to seethat the trackis bankedat this point.Now he hasthe advantage of
the banking,but just when he beginsto rollon,the trackflattensout and
he losesthe banking.The new roll-onbeginswherethe trackpicksup the
bankingagainabouttwo-thirdsof the waythrough.Thefinalroll-off
beginswherethe bankinggoesawayagainat the exitof the turn.That's
four camberchangesin oneturn!
other factorsaffectthis turn.At the beginning,wherewe lose
the f irstbankingandthe roll-offbegins,thereis a creston the track.Not
onlydoesthe bankingtaperoff, but the bikebecomeslightas it goesover
this crest.Thesuspension unloads,tractiongoesawayandthe bikewants
to go towardthe wall-veryfast!
The bikesettlesdown at the bankedpartof the exitandthe
riderfeelshe is goingtoo slowagain.Now it takestime for him to notice
that the tractionis betterhereandtime to get backon the gasagain.By
then,the bankingbeginsto go awayat the exitandthe bikeis goingtoo
fast.The lastroll-offoccurs.Theadditionaltwist to that lastpartof the
t u r n i s t h a t i t t i g h t e n su p a n dg o e sd o w n h i lal b i t .
Thisturn hasfour camberchanges,two radiuschanges,two
e l e v a t i ocnh a n g e sa n da h u m pi n t h e m i d d l eo f t h e f i r s tc a m b e rc h a n g e !
To makeit worse,the pavement's poor.Thetrackdesignermust have
r e a l l yh a df u n w i t h t h i st u r n .

Find the Timing

Thereis nothingreallywrongwith ridersrollingon and off the

throttle.The problemis they'renot doingit at the rightplaceon the track.
Theirtiming is all wrong.Thisis because, f irstof all,they havenot looked
at the trackandfoundwhereit changes.Remember; you cannotseethese
changesverywellwhenyou'reriding.secondly,no points of timing
a r ee s t a b l i s h et d
o s i g n a l t h ec h a n g e sA. s a r e s u l tt,h e b r a k i n ga n dt h r o t t l e
responses to the trackoccurin the wrongplace.Third,theyestablishno
p l a nt o t a k ea d v a n t a goef t h e b a n k i n gU . s et h e r u l eo f t h u m bt h a tt h e b i k e

. : , , E ; : *
shouldbe at the lowestpointof the bankingwhen leavingit. Fourth,no
overallproduct hasbeendetermined from previousexperience.
My descriptionof ridersgoingthroughTurnSix mightsound
likebaddrama,but watchingthem is worse.Theirworriedexpressions
andfrozenattitudestell the wholestory.Theirbikesbob up anddownf rom
the throttlechangesas if theirshockswerebroken.After ridingTurnSix
likethis a while,you can beginto feelverystupid.As a result,manyriders
choosea constant-radius lineand pretendit's alljust oneturn with no real
r r r a d i u sc h a n g e s .
c a m b eo
Riderstakethis turn manydifferentways,but the fastestones
consistently do threethings:1) Theyusethe banking$oingintothe turn
to maximumadvantage. 2) Ratherthan tryingto fight the middleof the
turn,where it flattens out, theylet the bikedrift out,which allowsthemto
takeadvantage of the followingpoint.3) Theyusethe bankingon the exit
to its bestadvantage. Thislinecouldbasicallybe calleda doubleapex,
whichis a gooddescriptionof the turn.Keepin mindthat the timingmust
be correctfor it to work right.
Turnswith fewerchangescan be equallybaffling,if the
timing is wrong.Someriders,of course,cango throughth is turnveryfast
by keepingup a feverpitch of concentrationand cat-likereflexes,but they
won't be as fast as someonewho understands it. And ridingat,or past,
your CgngentratiOn redlinewears yOU OutSOOner. Areyouawareofthis?

Shaving the Track

You don't have to keep up a razor edge of concentra-

tion everywhere on the track. You'vestill got that ten dollarsworth of
attentionyou'retryingto spendwisely.lf you continuespendingall of it all
the time,you'llsoonuseit up. spendingthe wholeten dollarsto go down
the straightis a waste.Putit in savingsto draw interestin attention-
saving,thenwithdrawit againfor the nextturn.
Yourattentionand abilityto concentrate comeand go; they're
betterat sometimes than at others.By spending your attention only
when necessary, it will be there when you need it. This is another
partof timing, recognizing whereyou haveto do the trghtwork,and
coolingit the rest.At six-hourendurance racesI havehearda numberof
 riderssaytheywere pacingthemselvesto lastthe whole raceby tryingto
relax-andtheywent quickerthanthey had in the sprintraces!Theyforced
themselves to get smart.lf you can usethis attitudefor sprintraces,you
can be evensharperwhen you haveto be.Just f igurewhereyour pOTare
andwhatyou'resupposedto be doingat eachone.Relaxwhilegoing
down the straight-it'sfun to go fast. set up a reference point to tell you
whento start payingattention.Makeit work for you.Youcan alwaysset up
a RPto signalyouthat a POTis coming,andthis will helpyou relax.Get
readywhen you see it, not before.

Spend attention when

necessary but save it
where you can.

Rhythm : Timing
Riderstalk aboutthe rhythmof a racetrack or pieceof road,
of gettingthe flow of the road.This is timing. The rideris fitting himself
and his equipmentintothe trackand allthe actionshe hasto takeon it.
The basisof timing is understanding-notsuper-fastreflexes.Fast
reflexes are not a substitute for good timing. At the speedsattained
on a road-racetrack,good or evenincrediblereflexesdon't win races.
lf you planto go roadracingbecauseyou havefast reflexes,figureout how
longyou haveto makea changeat 18o mph when you'retravetingat 264 Note: Some of the prob-
feet per second!Thereis no substitutefor understanding on a racetrack. lems of timing that a?e
part of going into a turn
You'vegot to haveRPs, POT, sub-products and products to guideyou have been helped by the
around.Fastreflexeshelp,but timing is the keythat unlocksthe various anti-dive devices
now available on stroet
mysteriesof the asphalt.
bikes and more widely
applied to GP racing
machines and superbiker.
Timing Involves Both an ldea and an Action

You must understandboth the trackand your own actionsso lf your timing is right you can
you'renot fightingeachother.Do this by knowingwhatto do andwhere make tt smooth. lf I make a
to do it. l'm sureyou can lookbackoveryour ridingand recallsituations change lust before the matn
event and tt doesn't work out.
where,becauseyourtiming was off,you experienced uncomfortable lJust have to make it work
situations. Thesecondpart is in goingout andactuallydoingit. Getthe wtth good timing.
timing rightfirst,thenadd speed. 41
CHAPTER SIX
I'm always talktn'to mvself
outthere on the track. I can
get outside of mYself and
look at what l'm dorng and
sometlmes, if what is going
on rsn'1;ust right, I get mad
at myself.
Decisions in motion.
Eddie Lawson's f lawless
style is the result of hun-
dreds of correctly made
decisions. Making deci-
sions puts you in control.
42
Decisions
Decision-Making: ReciPe for Skill
Theact of ridinga motorcycleamountsto puttinga whole
stringof decisions into motion. Everymovementyou makeon a bike is
basedupona decision you havemadein the past,or are makingas you
ride.You don't do anything automatically or without making a
decision. Forexample,again,someriderssaytheyshiftgears"auto-
matically"withoutthinkingaboutit.That'snottrue.Theymayspendonlya
nickelor a dimeof theirattentionon this decision,but they'respending
something.
lf you study it, you'll seethat manylittle decisions go into
makingone gearchange.Youdecide whenthe engineis spinningat the
rightrpm.Youdecide howfastto makethe gearchange.Youmaydecide
that one placeis betterthan anotherto shift,and how muchthrottleto
applywhenyouturn it on again.Noneof thesethingsis "automatic,"but
onceyou havemadea decision, it costsyou lessattentionto do it. That's
the magicof decisions.
 You Must Make a Decision

At alltimesyou'reoperatingupondecisions, whetherthey're
pastor present.Forexample, you can let out the clutchin severalways. lf
you'refamiliarwith thesedifferentmethods,you still mustdecidewhich
to use.Youstill mustmakea decision.
Youcan arriveat a decision in two ways.One is to work at the
problemuntilyou havenarrowedit down by the processof elimination, or
Trialand Error(T&E). In the aboveexample, this is how we learnto clutch
our bikes.The secondmethodof arrivingat a decision is to thinkthrough
the task,then makethe decision. We'llcallthismethodThinkinglt
Through(TlT).
Decisionr are the detaals
of your overall "plan.'
"- Spe@- Making a decision gives
you a place to start, and
something to change, or
stop, if it doesn't work
Yojected Speed out.

-..,s $

Traction
Force

Lean Angle

T&E
The first method,Trialand Error,orT&E, dependslessupon
understanding and moreuponpractice.Youdon'tthinkthroughthe prob-
lem,you keepperformingthe actiontill it works.lf you comeup with the
correctmethod,you'realright.Butthe drawbackto makingdecisions by
T&E is that if you changethem,you mustgo throughthe wholeprocess
againto find anotherway.Reallygoodriderswho learnedby T&E have
gonethroughthe manypossiblemethodsof ridinga motorcycleso often
that theycan useanyof them at will.Theyhavean entirementallibraryof
T&E decisionsto drawon.

TIT

MethodTwo,Think lt Through. orTlT, alsohasdrawbacks.

To arrive at a correct decision you must start with correct infor-
mation. The riderhasto be a goodobserver, he hasto reviewthe infor-
mationfrom the lastride,and it hasto be correctand usefulinformation.
A wild examplewould be to decide to go throughTurnOneat Daytona
wideopenin sixthgear.A personwho learnsby TtrE probablywouldn't
makesucha mistake.The "thinker,"of course,wouldonlymakethat
mistakg orlce. Canyou seeit workingfor you? 43

.-''*zt*a*;ijdi€pt*At:f.'.,. .:.- ^^
 A Drawback

The serious drawback to Thinking lt Through is in

making decisions based upon other people's information. One
ridertellsanotherto ridein a certainway,thenthe secondridergoesout
andtriesto fit his ridingstyleintowhat he wastold. lf the informationis
accurateit canwork.Forexample,a ridertold me the reasonmy leftarm
wascrampingwas becauseI was usingthe clutchfor upshifts,which isn't
necessary. I stoppedusingit to upshiftand my arm no longercramped.
Thiswas great-itworked!
Anotherexampleof this,anda grim one,was whenone rider
told anotherhe couldgo overthe crestof TurnSevenat Riverside with the
bikeflat out in fifth gear.Actually,it's a 60-mphturn.The riderwent over
the crestat morethan 100 mph on his f irst lap.. . . NeedI saywhat
happened?

A proper balance of
"Thinking lt Through"
(TlTf and "Trial and
Error" (T e E) can elimi-
nate many mistakes.

The Best Approach

A combination of the two methods, Trial and Error
fT&E) and Thinking lt Through (TlTl, is the best approach to
d e c i s i o n m a k i n g . T E Ei s t i m e - c o n s u m i n U g .n l e s sy o u ' r ea f u l l - t i m ef a c -
tory-contracted racer you mayf ind it difficultto regularlygo ridingor to
renttime on a racetrack.You'vegot to makeeverytrip to the trackcount,
andthat meansyou must returnfrom everysessionwith informationthat
w i l l b e u s a b l ef o r t h e T I Tm e t h o d L
. a p so n a r a c et r a c kw i l l d o n o t h i n gb u t
wearout yourequipmentif you don'ttakeaccurateinformationhomeso
you'll havea clearpictureof what decisions you have made and what
44 to do in the tuture.wittthishelp?
T&EOnly

A rider who uses the T&E method only cannot work on

his riding when he is off the track. Hecan'twork out newdecisions
on how to ridefasterbecausehe doesn'thavethe informationstoredin
himself.T&Eridersfaceanotherdisadvantage. Life sometimes throws
upsets at us that go with us out on the track. Theseupsetscan
consumevastquantitiesof attention-usuallymorethanwe can spare.
WhenT8E ridersareupsetthey havean "off" day.Somethingsthat hap-
pencanaffectone'swholelife,includingthe abilityto makedecisions.
TIT-methodridersarelessaffectedby what happensoff the trackbecause
theirdecisions are basedon what they understand.

Real-World Riding

Let'sleavethe world of ideasfor a time and returnto the real

worldof ridingto seehow the decisionswe makecanaffectus on the road
or track.Takebrakingfor example. Theoveruseof the rearbrakeis the one
brakingdecision that commonlyturnsout the worst.Whenmost riders
learnto ride,they learnthat the rearbrakecan stop the motorcycle.They
decide it will do that.Theyknowthe front brakewill alsostopthe bike,
but whilethey'relearningin a parkinglot or streetit's upsettingwhenthe
front end of the bikedivesdown everytime they usethe front brake.They
decideat that time,rightf romthe start,that the rearbrakeis better.
Now evenaftera rideris told to usethe f ront brake,the rear
will be hisfirst choicebecausehe hasalreadymadethe decisionthe rearis
better.Studiesof motorcycleaccidentshaveconcludedthat in most
cases,whena rideris tryingto avoidan accidenthe usesonlythe rear
brake.He mayknowthe front brakewill stop him muchquicker,but that
originaldecision is so strongin an emergency that down go the bikeand
rider.ln an emergency, a rider will do what he has already decided
will work. In this case,and possiblymanyothers,what he decidedwas
incorrectfor that situation.Does toyou?
thisapply

Ghanging Decisions

In orderto changea decision that doesn'twork,andthat has

becomea bad habit,you mustgo back to the original decision and
un-learn it. Maybe"un-learn"is not correct-actually,you'remakinga
newdecisionafterthe old one hasbeenidentifiedandthrownout.You
don't make a new decision over the old one, you erase the first
decision before making another.
In racing, you are creating an almost continuous emer-
gency situation by pushing to your limits. Thesamesort of thing
appliesin emergencies. The riderperformsan actionthat hasappearedto
work in the pastin similarsituations.
Not knowingcausesand effectscreatesthe oppositeof
decisions-that is, in-decision. In an emergency,indecision can be
verycostly.lf you don't understandthe f ront brake'slimits,you'llspenda
lot of attentionusingit. That'sbecauseyou knowthe f ront brakedoesthe
bestjob of slowingand stopping(thatdecision hasalreadybeenmade),
but you don't knowat what pointit will lock up and causeyouto fall.This
createsindecision. Oncea riderlearnsat what pointthe front brakelocks
up,andwhat to do aboutit, he can makeclear-cutdecisions on how
to useit.
Anotherdecision-making myth is that a ridercanfigureout his
linesby studyinga trackdiagram.lt's impossible to decide how to ridea
racetrack or pieceof roadbeforeyou haveactuallyseenit. Studyinga
trackdiagramat that point is useless.
Tryingto fit a trackdiagramintothe
realworldof riding,whileyou'restilltryingto learnthe track,willonlytake
your attentionawayfrom the realjob. Doyouagree?

Make lt Happen

Deciding to do something is the first step to making it

happen. You can makelots of decisions, but makingtoo manyof them
will confuseyou.StartWiththe importantdecisionsfirst.FindReference
Points,Pointsof Timing,Sub-Productsand Products,then decide how
theyfit togetherwith the track.You put it togetherby deciding how it's
goingto be done,then you do it. Of course,you must havea veryaccurate
understanding of the trackchanges.Thatincludesknowingthe locationof
the camberchangesand radiuschanges.All the informationfrom Chapter
One,"The RoadYou Ride,"must be gatheredfirst. Alwayslook at the track
and rememberthat the manwho designedit was tryingto fool you into
makingpoor decisions.

Deciding How

Deciding how to ride a track by lookingit overdoesnot

alwayswork,especially if you aren'tridingit. AfterridingCalifornia'sSears
Pointonce,I walkedthe trackto find out what I couldlearn.I laidon the
groundand lookedat eachturn from the beginning, then walkedthrough
and lookedat it backwards. I stoodin the middle.I got up on the hills.I
lookedat everyturn f romthe insideout.As I was doingthis, I wasfiguring
t h e " i d e a l "l i n et h r o u g he a c ht u r n .
DuringpracticeI rodeit just as lhad decidedit shouldbe
ridden.I wentthreesecondsslowerthan I hadthe lasttime at the track.lt
didn'twork.The "ideal"linedoesn'ttakeinto accountbumps,slidingand
speed.
I went backto riding it the way I had decided to from my
earlierride.My laptimeswerenow two secondsfasterthan I had ever
gonebefore,andfivesecondsfasterthan my "ideal"line.I had learned
that a combinationof T8E andTITis the keyto success.
Youcan'thaveonewithoutthe other,but it's importantto f irst
decide how to do it, thendecide why it did or did not work.lt isn'tjust
blindexperimenting, but a firm decision to do it oneway,doingit that
way no matter how it feels,then learningthe resultsby looking at the lap
times. Shouldit betried?

lap Times

lap times are your most reliable method of deciding

what works. Yousimplydecide whatto do,then go out and do it. This
meansdeciding whereyour Points of Timing, Products and Refer-
ence Points are,thendeciding whatyou'lldo in this practicesession,
then reviewingyour laptimesto decide if it workedor not.Didthese
changesimproveyour laptimes?Didthe laptimesstaythe same,but you
foundit easiertorideat this level?Bothof theseconclusions arevaluable.
Wren you become comfortable with the decisions at one level
of riding, you can move on to the next level.
Laptimesmust be the basisfor yourdecisions becauseany
othermethodcanfool you too easily.In mostcases,riderswill do what
feelsright,but what feelsright is not alwaysthe quickestway aroundthe
trackor downthe road.I learnedanotherthingfrom my SearsPoint"ideal"
line adventure.You can be going fasterin the entranceand middlesec-
tions of a turn, but can sacrificea good driveon the exit becauseof it. Get-
ting out of the turn with a one- or two-mph fasterproduct will makea
greatdifferenceon the nextstraight.A good speedthroughthe centerof
the turn, but a poor drive,will be worsefor lap times.lt's easyto fool your-
selfthis way.Herearethreepointsto consider:1) Good decisions
result in good lap times. 2l Good lap times are those that improve
and can be done consistently. 3l Lap times are a reflection of the
quaf ity of the rider's decisions. Anynotes?

Go Faster

Thereis, of course,a twist to the decision-making game

which hasto do with how powerfula decision can be. Sometimesa rider
simplydecides to go faster.Hewill applythis overalldecisionto his rid-
ing and-bang!-hislaptimescomedownjust likethat! lt can happenfor
manydifferentreasons.Watchingother ridersgoingfastercan sometimes
changeyour mindabouthow fastyou can ride.Youdecide you cando it,
too. Deciding to beata quickerridercansparknew life intotired lap
times.
Butdeciding to go fasterwithoutgainingenoughexperience
from eitherTbE or TITcan get you intotrouble.Often,aftera day'srace,
you can hearracerstalkingaboutallthe placestheycan makeup time.
"l knowI can go a lot fasterin TurnThreeandTurn Nine."The pit racers
arecuttingrecordlapsby the hundreds!Beatingyourown performance is
oneof the greatrewardsof racing,but be careful.Decideto go fasteronly
whenyou'vehad enoughexperience to backit up. Simplydeciding to cut
betterlaptimesin practicemaynot work if you don't knowwhereyou're
goingto pick up that time.Work out the decisions that will back up
an overall decision to go faster. canyoudoit? 47

: .:::::+t:5a1;+*=';:;'.k*.*€fli
 Oftentimes.when a babylearnsto walk,he decides to run
afterhe'stakenhisfirstfew steps.Therun usuallylastsaboutthreesteps;
in a racer'scase,maybethreelaps.Othersweepingdecisions that usually
workout ratherpoorlyare:"l'm goingto out-brakehim,no matterwhat,"
a n d" l ' l l s h u td o w nl a t e rt h a n h e d o e s . "A t 12 0 m p h ,l a t e ri s a l o n gw a y
downthe road.

Past Decisions

To ridea motorcycle, you mustdrawon your pastdecisions,

andon yourabilityto makedecisions in the present.Thedecisions you
m a k ed e t e r m i n h e o ww e l ly o u rr i d i n gw i l l g o .T h er i d e r ' sj o b i s t o s o r to u t
t h e d e c i s i o nhs e i s u s i n gt o g e ta r o u n dt h e t r a c k t, o k n o wt h e ma n dt o
changethemwhen necessary. Thedecisions can be simpleoneslike
usinglessrearbraketo preventwheelhop whilegoinginto a turn,or tim-
ingyourentranceto a turn so the bikedoesn'tundergoa lot of up and
downsuspension movement. Thedecisions can be harderto find and
correct.Havingtrouble going intoturnstoo soon,a commonerror,might
be basedon the decision "not to go in highor wide,"ratherthanthe
decision "to go in low or tight."
Yousee,this can be verytricky.A ridercouldspenda lot of
timetryingto decide how to entera turn,tryingto f igureout anotherway
to do it. He discovershe is alwaysgoingin low,so he thinksthat he has
decidedto go low. His realdecision , way backwhen,was "l don't want to
go in too high becauseit's unsafe."So he now decides to go higher
againstthat earlierdecision notto go higher.When he triesto usethe
e .h i c hi s l i k ea m e n t aw
h i g h e rl i n eh e r u n si n t oa r e s i s t a n c w l a l l ,t e l l i n gh i m
notto do it. Hisearlierdecision hasmadeit veryuncomfortable for him
to change.A decision can be verypowerful if you don't understand it.
Everyonce in a while you might discover one of these past
decisionsandthink,"Hey,I cando that!Whatevermademe think I
couldn't?"Whenyou changeyour earlierdecision, you cansuddenly
makea greatbreakthrough in your riding.Youhaveto realizewhenyou
havemadea falsedecision, then put a better,moreworkableone in its
place. Someexamples?

Discover Your Decisions

Thedecisions you makewhileridingarebaseduponthe past
decisions you'vemade,whethertheyweremaderecentlyor a longtime
ago.Here'sa way to discover your decisions.
1. T h i n ko v e ry o u ra c t i o n so n a p a r t i c u l at ru r no r t r a c ks i t u a -
t i o n .D ot h i sf o r s e c t i o n tsh a t a r eg o i n gw e l l ,a n df o r t h o s et h a ta r eg i v i n g
youtrouble.
2. Evaluate how wellyouractionswork.
3. Howclearareallthe stepsinvolvedin this action?
4. What standardtellsyou how wellyou'redoingor going?
48 5. What decisionshaveyou madeto helpyou reachyourgoals,
or what decisionsarekeepingyoufrom reachingthem?
6 . S h o u l dy o ud e c i d et o :
A. Changethe decision?
B . N o t c h a n g ei t ?
C. Checkagainto seewhat decisions you havealready
made?
D.Or,lookfor moreinformationbeforemakinga new
decision?
In eachitemyou comeup with in 1 through6 above,you may
a l s oa s k :
1 . H o wi s m y t i m i n g ?
2. What are my Points of Timing?
3. What Reference Points do I use?
4. What is my Product?
5. How muchattention am lspending?
Youcan do this for eachturn of the track.lt will takeyou a long
time,and it isn'teasyto do, but it will help.Also,it's cheaperthantires
andengines.

Some Decisions About Braking

Thefollowingis a partiallistof decisionsyou couldmake

aboutusingthe brakes.Theyarenot of equalimportance, but eachof
them involvesa potentialdecision.
Takea lookat eachone.Considereachveryseriouslyby apply-
ing it to a situationyou'vebeenin. Or,you canjust lookthem overfor
referenceand be awareof them.
lf you havethe time overthe longwinter months,you mayeven
makeyourown listsof otheraspectsof riding.Takeanother,likesteering
or throttlecontrol,and breakit down intothe decisionsand actionsyou
mustmakewhileriding.
Hereare 104 possibledecisionsthat you havemadeor can
makeconcerning the useof brakes.some of them aremoreimportant
thanothersand somecoverthe samegroundin a slightlydifferentman-
ner.Lookthemthroughand reflectbackuponyour ridingwith thesein
mind.Youmay be ableto thinkof otherdecisionsthat applyto the useof
brakes.Just lookingoverthis list andthinkingoverthesedecisionscan
helpimproveyour braking.

How manyf ingersto usefor the front brake

How much leverpressureit takesto lock up the front brake
How much leverpressureit takesto lock up the rearbrake
How hardyou can usethe front brakegoing into slow turns
Howhardyou can useit brakingintofastturns
Howhardyou can useit brakinginto medium-speed turns
Howhardyou can useit brakingintoa seriesof turns
Howhardyou can usethe brakesin the firstturn of a series
Howhardyou can brakegoingintothe secondturn of a series
Brakingin downhillsections 49
 B r a k i n gi n u p h i l ls e c t i o n s
Brakinginto a bankedsection
Brakinginto a flat corner
Brakingintoan off-camberturn
Brakinginto a decreasing-radius turn
Brakinginto an increasing-radius turn
Brakinginto a constant-radius turn
Brakingon a smoothsurface
Brakingon a choppysurface
B r a k i n gi n t or i g h t - h a n tdu r n s
B r a k i n gi n t ol e f t - h a n dturns
Brakingon crestedroads
Whereyou shouldbe on the trackas you beginto brake
W h e r ey o u s h o u l db e o n t h e t r a c kd u r i n gb r a k i n g
Whereyou shouldbe on the trackat the end of the brakingSome examptes?

More Decisions

Whatyou lookfor that tellsyouwhento beginbraking(in eachkindof turn)

W h a ty o u l o o kf o r t h a tt e l l sy o uw h e nt o e n dt h e b r a k i n g( i ne a c hk i n d
of turn)
(Theabovetwo questionscan be appliedto particular tracks)
T i m i n gy o u rb r a k i n gg o i n gi n t os l o w t u r n s
Timingyour brakinggoinginto medium-speed turns
Timingyour brakinggoingintofast turns
Timingyour brakinggoinginto a seriesof turns
Timingyour brakingon downhillsections
T i m i n gy o u rb r a k i n go n u p h i l ls e c t i o n s
T i m i n gy o u rb r a k i n go n b a n k e dt r a c k
T i m i n gy o u rb r a k i n go n f l a tt r a c k
T i m i n gy o u rb r a k i n go n o f f- c a m b etrr a c k
T i m i n gy o u rb r a k i n gi n d e c r e a s i n g - r a d it u sr n s
T i m i n gy o u rb r a k i n gi n i n c r e a s i n g - r a d ituusr n s
T i m i n gy o u rb r a k i n gi n c o n s t a n t - r a d i u
t usr n s
T i m i n gy o u rb r a k i n gi n c o n s t a n t - s p e et udr n s
Timingyour brakingon smoothsurfaces
Timingyour brakingon choppysurfaces

Still More Decisions

\Mrat Points of Timing or Reference Points do you useto tell if the

b r a k i n gi s g o i n gw e l l ?
What POT or RP do you useto decidethe locationof your beginning
brakingpoint?
What POT or RP do you useto decidethe locationof yourend braking
point?
What informationdo you useto decideif the brakingbeganearlyenough?
What informationdo you useto decideif the brakingstartedtoo late?
50 What informationdo you useto decideif the brakingstartedon time?
Decisions With Practice

Brakingoverdiscoloredor changingpavementsurface
Usingthe rearbrakein conjunctionwith the front
Usingthe rearbrakeonly
Usingthe front brakeonly
Whatto do whenthe rearend beginsto hop or slide
Howto correctrear-wheel hop or slide
Lockingup the f ront brake
Lockingup the front and rearbrakestogether
Otherpeople'sinformationon the useof brakesin general
Otherpeople'sinformationon the front brake
Otherpeople'sinformationon the rearbrake
Otherpeople'sinformationon usingboth brakestogether
Information you got from watchingotherridersusethe brakes
What is usefultodo with the brakes
What is not usefulto do with the brakes
Brakingwhenthe bikeis straightup
Brakingwhenthe bikeis leanedover
Brakingwith onlythe front brakewhile leanedover
Brakingwith onlythe rearbrakewhileleanedover
Howfar you can be leanedoverand still usethe brakes
Brakingand steeringat the sametime
Howgood is your brakingoverall?
Howmuchtime can be madeup with brakes?
Howmuchdistanceyou can makeon anotherriderby usingyour brakes
Yourseatingpositionwhilebraking
A critical moment of
decision. How much
brake to use while
leaned over?
 Useof throttleand brakeat the sametime
Howslowlyor quicklyyou can let off the front brake
Howslowlyor quicklyyou can let off the rearbrake
Howto judgeyourspeedat the end of the brakingaction
Whereto positionthe brakelever
Whereto positionthe brakepedal
Howmuchstoppingforcethe front brakehas
Howmuchstoppingforcethe rearbrakehas
Howmuchstoppingforcethe f ront and rearbrakeshavetogether
H o wm u c ht h e l e v e ra n d p e d a lp r e s s u r cea nb e c h a n g e dw h i l eb r a k i n g

More Decisions With Practice

Whereto put yourweightwhilebraking

P u t t i n gy o u rw e i g h to n t h e h a n d l e b awr h i l eb r a k i n g
Puttingyourweighton the footpegswhilebraking
P u t t i n gy o u rw e i g h to n t h e t a n kw h i l eb r a k i n g
S i t t i n gu p w h i l eb r a k i n g
H a n g i n go f f w h i l eb r a k i n g
B r a k i n ga n dd o w n s h i f t i nagt t h e s a m et i m e
Passing whileusingthe brakes
What happensto the steeringgeometryduringbraking
What happensto weighttransferduringbraking
What happensto the suspension duringbraking
Howmuchattentionyou spendbeginningbraking
Howmuchattentionyou spendduringbraking
Howmuchattentionyou spendat the end of braking
Which is the most importantpartof braking-beginning, middleor end
Howmuchf ront brakecan be usedif the rearis lockedup
Howgoodis yoursenseof tractionwhilebraking
Howgood is yoursenseof speedwhilebraking
H o wg o o di s y o u rd e p t hp e r c e p t i ow n h i l eb r a k i n g
Yourabilityto improveyour brakingwittthis hetp?
Phew!!

52
CHAPTER SEVEN

Barriers
Keys to lmprovement
B a r r i e r : A n y t h i nsge r v i n ga s a l i m i t a t i o no r o b s t r u c t i o nA.
W
b a r r i eor b s t r u c t sb u t i s n o t i m p a s s a b l e . h i l er i d i n ga n d r a c i n gy, o u ' l lc o n -
stantlyconfrontbarriersto yourgoingfaster.Yourgoalis to loweryour lap
t i m e sb y r i d i n ga r o u n dt h e t r a c ka t h i g h e rs p e e d sa n dw i t h m o r ec o n t r o l .
Ridershit levelsof laptimesthat act as barriers,however, andtheycan
becomestuckthere.ldeally,youwould be ableto ridea littlefasterand
improveyour averagelaptime eachtime you returnedto a track.That
wouldbe a goodtargetfor you to consider,and a realgoalto set for
yourself.

Time Barriers

Whenyou begintryingto go faster,you will noticethat things

alsohappena lot faster.Youhavelesstime betweencorners.between
Reference Points.andthere'slesstime to makedecisions. Youhavecre-
atedthis emergency situationby addingspeed,and by compressing your
t i m et o a c t .l f y o u ' r ea b l et o c o p ew i t h t h i sc h a n g ey, o u rl a pt i m e sw i l l
improve.But if you haveto put yourselfintopanic reaction time, you
maylearnnothingby the extraspeed-except what it feelsliketo panic.
H a v i n gl e s st i m et o m a k ey o u rd e c i s i o n iss n o t n e c e s s a r ibl ya d ,
for it is one of the indicatorsthat you'veincreased yourspeed.Whenever
you reachoneof thesetime barriers you'reknockingon the doorof your
nextareato conquer.A ridingbarrier is usefulbecauseit's tellingyou that
you needto makenewdecisionsfaster.lt is your automatic instructor.
Y o ud o n ' tn e e dt o f i n d a n e w l i n et h r o u g ha t u r n - y o un e e dt o f i g u r eo u t
w h a tf a c t o r sa r eb r i n g i n gy o u n e a rp a n i c t, h e nc o n t r o l t h e mT. h e s eb a r -
r i e r s a r el i k ew a r n i n gl i g h t so n t h e d a s h b o a rodf y o u rc a r .l f y o u h a n d l e
eachone as it appears,you'll avoida catastrophelater.where doesthisapply?

A Riding Barrier Signals an Area That

Needs lmprovement

You can recognizethese problemareasin severalways.The

54 first is that you'rebeingpressedto reacta littlebeyondyourabilities.
You'renot beingpushedcompletelybeyondyour ability,but enoughthat
yourattentionis fixeduponthe problem.An exampleis that you'reenter-
i n ga t u r na n dt h e b r a k i n ga n dd o w n s h i f t i nagr ec r o w d e ds o c l o s et o t h e
steeringactionthat you'reunableto accurately picka goodPoint of
Timing to act withoutbeingabsolutely f rantic.lf you'resnappingand
g r a b b i n ga t t h e c o n t r o l sl i k ea s h a r ka t f e e d i n gt i m e ,y o u k n o ws o m e t h i n g
isn'tright.
In this example,manyproblemscouldbe affectingyour
approach.Herearesomepossibilities. A lackof goodReference Points
cancausethat kindof panicthat occurswhenyou'reslightlylost.Or you
maysimplybe downshiftingtoo lateand crowdingit intoyourother
actions.Youmaybe goingdown one geartoo manyand haveyouratten-

Track barriers, or prob-

lem areas, are places
where your riding is
"soft." You are either
Iate and have to panic,
or are waiting for some-
i, thing to happen. What
ii *.s' r:r';, you are doing is definitely
unclear.
''t Y
*,*5',,ffi

u--!6tnt#;r:x,i,;.:..
 t i o ns t u c kt o a n e n g i n es p i n n i n ga t 1 3 , O O rOp mw h e ni t s h o u l db e o n
turning.Youmaybe brakingso latethat you'relosingsightof yourentry
speed,resultingin a panicsituation.Thecontrolson your bikemay be set
a t s u c ha n u n c o m f o r t a b a l en g l et h a ty o uc a n ' tr e a c ht h e mq u i c k l y .
T h et r a c kc o n s t r u c t i oint s e l fm a yc o n t r i b u t teo y o u rd i s t r e s s .
Forexample, the entrancemaybe off camberor downhill,andoffersless
potentialbrakingthan a f lat surface.Youmaynot havea product for the
turn andthat will botheryou.Youmay not knowwhereyou'regoing.Of
the manypossibleproblemsin approaching a turn,thesearejust a few.

Other Glues

Besideb s e i n gp r e s s e d f o r t i m et o a c t ,o t h e rc l u e sw i l l t e l ly o u
you'renot on top of the situation.A feelingof uncertainty comesfrom not
f u l l yu n d e r s t a n d i nygo u rs i t u a t i o nl .t c o u l ds t e mf r o mo n eo f t h e a b o v e
reasonsor f rom manyothers.Whateverthe reason,the uncertainty will eat
up yourattention-attention that couldwell be spentelsewhere for a higher
return.This is anotherbarrier.

Go over your decisions.

First year road racer,
Wayne Rainey, thinking
it through iust moments
before his first National
Superbike win at Loudon.

Mistakes

Anothergreatindicatorthat all is not well is whenyou make

mistakeson the track.when you makea mistake,find out whereyour
attentionwas focusedjust beforeit happened. Lookat the decisionlead-
as
ing up to the mistake, it's the
always lastthing you do that getsyou into
trouble.Remember, a mistake is a result, not a cause. This is why you
mustalwaysknowwhat you do and be ableto rememberit in detail.
Mistakesaren'tall that valuable-it'sin remembering what you did to bring
themaboutthat will helpyou correctthem.A mistake isn't to be
ignored in the hope it will disappear with practice-it is some-
thing to be studied and figured out. lt is a barrier to improvement,
andthereforea keyto improvement if handledcorrectly.

Feeling Like You Gan't Do lt

This is veryfrustratingto a rider,and it createstroublefor him.

Thishelplessfeelingoftenresultsfrom not knowingthe tracklayoutwell
enough,or f rom not beingin full controlof the bikein somesituations.lf
y o uc a n ' th a n d l ec o u n t e r - s t e e r i n
i nga t u r n ,y o u m i g h tb e g i nt o b e l i e v ei t
be
can't donethe way it looks. Theworstproblemwith this feelingis that
you maydecideit can be donebecausesomeoneelseis doingit, thenyou
try to do it beforeyou havethe skillnecessary. You berserkit. Thisdanger-
ousconditionresultsfrom frustration, and it's anotherindicatorof a
b a r r i e r t o y o u rr i d i n g .
Overcoming your barriersis not impossible-itjust takessome
work.Youcando the work at the track,in betweenridingsessionsor
races.First,drawyourselfpicturesof eachturn,then go throughthem,
markingdownthe spotswhereyou'rehavingdifficultyor makingmis-
takes.Closeyour eyesand go overthe turnsin your mind as you try to find
the problemareas(seeChapterFour-"WhatYou See").As you'restudying
the trackf rom memory,somepartswill be foggy,unclearor just not there.
Markdownthesespotson yourturn diagrams.Go overthe entiretrackby
memoryand markall the placesthat arebarriersto you,whetherthey're
causedby uncertainty, rushedtime,mistakesor otherproblems.

The Barriers Ghange

Onceyou havelistedyour barriers, go backoverthem and

decidehow you canchangeyour ridingto overcomethem.Remember,
the barriers will change as you go faster. Thereis a twist to barriers.
D o n ' to v e r l o o tkh e p o s s i b i l i ttyh a tt h e s a m ep r o b l e m sc a no c c u ra g a i n ,
evenin the sameturn,as you increase your speed.
Overall,barriers aregoodthings.Theytell you automatically
whereyourproblemslie.Theyaresaying,"Thisis your nextareato expand
into,your nextlevelof improvement." Welcomeit whenyou noticethat
something'snot goingright.Onceyou recognize your barriers, you won't
haveto guesswhat'skeepingyour laptimesdown-theywill pointto your
problems.ft's free instructionlWittyou remember this?

57
l-ook for the other indi- W
cators that there is some
riding barrier slowing
your pfogress.
1. Mistakes.
2. Feeling helpless or
like you can't do it.
3. Pressed for time to act.
4. Doing nothing, waiting
for something to
happen.
5. Can't get a clear pic-
ture of some turn or
area.
6. Attention stuck on
some part of the track.

Remember, the track is

what you have to beat.
You don't beat other
racers, you beat the track
better than they did.

',*aiWr

F
Break the track i
tions-turns, or J
a turn. Pay partir
attention to the
you are unsure o
Handling your riding
barriers is another way
to save, and wisely spend
your $1O worth of
attention.

59
CHAPTER EIGHT

Braking
The Art of Regulating Speed
Motorcyclebrakeshaveundergonemanymajortechnical
breakthroughs sincethe adventof the disc brake,andthey havebecome
extremely efficient.Braketechnologyhassurpassed mostothertechnolo-
gies,suchas suspension, for instance. Youcan buy a set of brakesthat
a
w o u l ds t o pa c a r , n d i n s t a ltl h e mo n y o u rb i k ei n a n a f t e r n o o nT.u n i n g
yoursuspension, however, can be an endlessand painstaking task.This
chapterwill discussthe purposeof brakesin high-performance ridingand
racing.their limits,andwhatyou shouldknowaboutthe businessof
braking.

The Most lmportant Factor

Thesinglemost importantfactorto be awareof in brakingis

the weighttransferthat occurswhenthe brakesareapplied.Let'ssayyou
h a v ea 4 5 o - p o u n db i k ea n da 15 O - p o u n d r i d e ra, n dt h e i rw e i g h ti s d i s -
tributed50 percentf rontand 50 percentrearat rest.Thismeansthe f ront
and rearwheelseachcarrya 300-poundload.At a normalboulevard stop-
ping pace,the weighttransferamountsto about75 percenton the f ront
wheeland 25 percenton the rear.Thefront end nowweighsthreetimes
whatthe reardoes.
A t r a c i n gs p e e d st h e s t o p p i n gf o r c ei s g r e a t esr t i l l .U s i n gt h e
static(orstopped)weight-transfer f igures,90 percentof the weightor
moremaytransferto the f ront,and 1Oper centor lesswill remainon the
rear.Therearend nowweighs60 poundsor less,andthe rearbrakemust
stoponly60 poundsof the bike'sweight,plusthe momentumof the rear
w h e e l a n de n g i n e .

Rear Brake Overuse

Overusing the rearbrakeis so commonas to be almosta fact

of life.Many riders and racers have given up using the rear brake
for hard braking. lt requirestoo much attentionto usecorrectly,and can
60 causethe rearend to hop or slidewhen usedincorrectly.Both slidingand
 Braking forces erc awe-
some. The acceleration
of a 15O hp racebike will
get it through the 1/4
maleat 145 mph. But the
brakes will bring it from
145 mph to O in much
less distance!

,"v.Ei

Weight Transfer
5oo/oFront 5oo/oRear

j 1

Weight Transfer
,#,; 750loFront 25o/oRear

Weight Transfer
l OOo/o
Front OoloRear

A lot of rlders don't pay
enough attention to the
smooth use of their brakes-
even experts.
62
hoppingrenderthe bikeout of controlto somedegree.Youcan'tfeelgood
aboutleaninga bikeintoa turn if it's basicallyout of control.Youhave
onlytwo smallcontactpatcheson the ground,andwhenoneof them is
g o n ei t ' sa d e fi n i t ed i s a d v a n t a gi ne t r a c t i o n - o n o
e f y o u rm a i nc o n c e r n s
d u r i n gc o r n e r i n g .
In a panicor race-speed brakingmaneuver, almostanycontrol
will helpyou morethan a lockedrearbrake.lt'd causeyou lessharmto use
the high-beamswitchor chokelever.Thefront is wherethe weightand
stoppingpowerare-notthe rear.
The useof the rearbrakerequiressomebackwardslogic.lt
seemslogicalto usethe brakesthe hardestat the beginningof the brak-
ing action,whenyou'regoingthe fastest.Thisis truefor the front brake-
Inthe back,however,usethe lightestrearbrakeat the beginningof the
brakingactionwhenthe forksaremostcompressed andthe weighttrans-
fer is the greatest. As the f ront brakeis released, someof the weight
transfersbackto the rearwheelandthe rearbrakecan-if it's goingto be
usedat all-do moreof the work of stoppingor slowingat this time.You
haveto get smartwith your rightfoot if you wantto makeanyuseat all of
the rearbrakeunderheavystopping.
LightGrandPrixbikesor Superbikes havesuchhugedisc
brakesand sticky tires that the rear wheel can off the groundunder
lift
heavybraking.Lesserstreetand racebikesdo the samething.but for a
differentreason.Hardbrakingoverripplingpavementor bumpscan
launchthe rearend of the bikeoff the groundbecauseof its unweighted
condition.Theshocks,which aresetto operateunderheavierloadcondi-
tions,contributeto this by not allowingthe rearwheelto followthe road.
Thenet resultis air betweenthetire andthe road-averypoortraction
situation. Haveyou experiencedthis?
Purpose of Braking
The purposeof the brakesis to adjust and correct the
speed of the motorcycle downward, controlling deceleration.
you can be with the throttle;comingout of a turn
Youknowhow sensitive
you canadjustyourspeedin tenthsof a mileper hourby workingthe twist
grip.Goinginto a turn you can makechangesjust as accurately with the
brakes.
Most ridershavethe ideathat brakesaresomekindof on/off
switch.Reacha brakemarkerand pullthemon-get downto another
markerand letthem off.This isn'ttrue.Youcan'tusebrakeslikethat and
expectto improveyour riding.You'reaskingtoo muchof yourself.The
purposeof brakesis to adjustthe speeddownward;the overallpurposein
racingis to get aroundthe trackor downthe roadquicker.takingseconds
off laptimes.
One Second Faster
what partbrakesplayin goingonesecond
Let'sinvestigate
fasterper lap. On most American tracks you must average about
one mph faster around the trackfor a one-second better lap time.
To do this you mustgo throughthe turnsonemph faster,then holdthat
advantage downthe straights.Youwon't go fasterdownthe straightsif
you don't get out of the turns faster.You have to adjust the speed of
your bike accurately to go around the turns one mph faster. How
canyoujudgethat one mph accurately with the bikepitchingforwardand
bouncingoverthe ripplesas you try to compensate for brakefade,and a
full tankof gasor an emptyone?lt's too muchto ask.Youmusttreat
yourselfmorekindlyand makethat one mph easierto find.
Thinkof the brakeas a reversethrottle.Insteadof turningthe
controlyou pull or pressit to startthe brakingactionand downwardspeed
change.The speed that remains when you release the brakes is
the speed you will enter the turn with. lf you want to go one mph
fasterthanthe lastlap.you must be ableto go intothe turn that much
faster.Youcan'thopeto makeup the speedlaterin the turn-you must
set it up right in the beginning.Wherewittyou
tryit?
late braking often does
more harm to lap times
and corner speeds than
good. Set comfortable
brake points for yourself.

Speedadjustments Speedcorrectly
cost attention. adjusted.

Endbraking Endbraking
at 60 mph. at 61 mph.

Si gn if icant I mprovements

You can't make significant time improvements by

using the brakes harder or going in deeper. You can make time
with the brakes by adjusting the cornering speeds accurately.
Whereand how you let off the brakesis much more important
thanwhereyou pullthem on, as it setsyourcorneringspeed.Youcandive
intoa 120-mphturn 25 feet deeperthanthe lasttime and reduceyour lap
times aboutone-tenthof a second.Goingin 50 feet deeperwould improve
it twiceas much.lf your brakingwasfineto beginwith,you might pick
up two-tenthsto three-tenths of a secondon mosttracks.But goingin
that muchdeeper just might permanently enlargeyoureyeballs,and it
wouldcertainlyincrease the possibilityof errorsandtakeup a considera-
ble amountof attention-your ten-dollarbill-thatmight be betterspent
elsewhere.
By beginningthe brakingactionat a comfortablelocationand
settingthe speedfor the turn correctly,you can pick up a secondor more
everytime you usethe brakes!By goingin too deepand upsettingyour-
self,you'llonlymakeit moredifficultto judgeyourspeed.lt is better to
back off on your initial braking marker and allow yourself more
time to set your speed right than to panic with late braking.
Resistthe temptationto latebrakein turnswhen it won't be an advan-
tage.Forpassingpurposes, you must latebrakegoingintoturns.lt won't
u s u a l l yi m p r o v e y o u rl a pt i m e s ,b u t y o uc a np i c ku p a p l a c ei n t h e
standings.
Tryforyour absolutelatestbrakingpointin practiceso you'll
k n o w w h e r ey o u ' l lw i n d u p o n t h e t r a c ki f l a t eb r a k i n gi s r e q u i r e di n a
p a s s i n gs i t u a t i o nd u r i n gt h e r a c e .
Lookat latebrakingfrom the standpointof time,laptimesand
yourpositionin the racerelativeto the otherriders.lf you'rewithina sec-
ond of the fastestrideron the trackandcan makea lot of improvement in
braking,thenthe two-tenthsor three-tenths of a second gained can really
d o y o u s o m eg o o d .l f y o u n e e dm o r et h a na s e c o n dt o g e t i n t ow i n n i n gl a p
times,don't lookfor it with the brakesalone;you'vegot to get your
averagespeedup in turns.Does it make sense?

The Product of Braking

The realproductof brakingis:To set the speed of the bike

correctly for that place on the track so that no further changes
are necessary. lf you go in too fast and requiremore brakingwhen you
shouldbe turning,it canthrowyourtimingoff. lf you go in too slowlyand
haveto increase yourspeed,that'sone extraoperationthat will taketime
and effortto correct.lt takes time to realize when something is not
right, time to figure out what it should be and time to correct it.
Whenyourspeedis set by adjustingit correctlywith the brakes,gradually,
youwon't haveto makeanycorrections andyour attentionwill be freeto
r i d et h et u r n .
Establish a Reference Point(RP)to markthe spotyou will
beginbraking.Brakingis a Sub-Product and it involvesat leasttwo Points
ofTiming ( P O T ) : y
o n ea t t h e p o i n t o u b e g i nt h e b r a k i n ga c t i o na n do n e
whereyou havecompletedit. lt is just as important to establish a
marker for the end of the braking as it is to have one for the
beginning. Havinga goodend-braking markerallowsyou to seein
advancewhereyou'llbe f inishedwith the brakesand allowsyouto adjust
yourspeedmoreeasily.Thereis no guarantee that the bikewill slowdown
exactlythe sameamounteachlap,evenif you brakeat the sameplace-
thingschange.But an End-of-Braking Marker will giveyou a constant
to work f rom.witt it work for you?

Braking and Your Sense of Speed

Your sense of speed is your ability to iudge whether

you are riding faster or slower than you were during previous
trips through a turn or section of road. ln orderto go fasteryou
The brake is used to cor-
rectly adjust the speed
forthatturn. Beableto
get it right each tame and
then work on late braking
to compress the amount
of time it takes.

65
When mV concentratton is
good I know I dtd everything
Trtght.but it's llke lwasn't
really there I get tnto that
frame of concentration and
rf I go 1l4 mph slower or
faster. / know rt.
You can make accurate
speed adjustments.
There are two results
from this:
1. You develop a better
senae of speed.
2. You can spend your
attention on riding
the turn when you get
it right the f irst time.
I let it coast a little tn the turn
after braking to get everythtng
settled and ready for the exrt
mustknowwhat fasteris. I calculatethat a world-classroadracermust be
ableto judgehis speedto withinone-halfof one milean hour-andpossi-
bly evenf inerthanthat.Plusor minusone-halfmph givesthe ridera one-
mph rangeof sensitivity. of f ivemph allowsyou
A plusor minussensitivity
up to a 1O-mphrangein yoursenseof speed.Thatmight be too much.Five
mph fasterin a turn is reallya greatdeal-enoughto put you down if you do
i t a l l a to n c e .
By usingthe brakesas a dialyoucaneliminateradicalchanges
in the bike'sbehaviorand makeit easierto developyourown senseof
speed.Usingthe brakesas an on/off switch,however,createsdramatic
changesin the bike'sweighttransferand attitude,which makesthe sens-
ing of speeddifficult.Usingthe brakesas a reversespeeddialallowsyou
to reachthe speedmore graduallyand becomemore sensitiveto speed
adjustments. Themoreyou areableto sensespeed,the easierand quicker
it becomesfor youto makethesespeedadjustments accurately.
&
&
Another Twist to Braking
{' l
Anothertwist to brakingis that you can effectivelyincrease
your speedby lettingoff the brakes.lf you use a comfortablebrakingpoint
as you enterthe turn, then sense you may be goingtoo slow, let off the
brakesand maintaina speedthat will be correct25 or morefeet down the
road.lf yourspeedis set right-a littlefasterthanthe lastlap,you prob-
ablywon't loseas muchtime as you mightby latebrakingand upsetting
yourself,and leavingthe dooropenfor a mistake.
There'sa greateradvantage to f ine-tuningyour senseof speed
by goingintothe turnscomfortably, withoutpanic,usingthe brakesas an
adjustment, and bringingthe corneringspeedup a littleat a time.Control
and confidencecan be developedfrom this skill.Doyouthinkit willwork?
The Braking Drills
While it is truethat you willfind the rearbrakeof littleuse
underhardbraking,it's a good ideato find out exactlywhat happenswhen
it is lockedup and sliding.Thesimplestmethodis to ridealongthe track
at a comfortablespeed,then lock up the rearbrake.
 Observeone importantcautionwhilemakingthis test;if the
rearendof the machineslidesout of linewith the front andyou let up on
the rearbrake,it will-or can-snapbackinto linewith the frontwheel.lf the
front and rearareseverely out of line,this actionmay be so abruptit could
throw you and the motorcycledown.
Somemotorcyclesafetyinstructorssuggestyou can avoidthe
abovesituationby leavingthe rearbrakelockeduntilthemachineis
stopped,or nearlystopped.Thismay not alwaysbe a practicalsolution,
especial ly whileracing.
It is possible,with practice,to guidethe wheelsbackinto
alignmentwith bodyEnglishand pressureon the handlebars, then let up
on the brakeand continue.The bestsituationis to not havelockedit up
to beginwith. Hereis a drillyou can practiceto learnthe lock-uppointand
the sensitivity of your rearbrake.
Step 1. Ridealongat a comfortable speedin an areawith no
traffic or d istractions.
Step 2: Applythe front brakeat a steadyand evenrate.
Step3: Applythe rearbrakegraduallyto learnhow muchpedal
pressureit reallytakesto lock it up.
Step4: Repeatsteps1 through3 untilyouknow whenthe
brakewill lock.Do it at variousspeedsand brakingforces,remembering
that the harderyou usethe front,the lighterthe rearwill be.
In rtralght llne braklng,
a locked-up front wheel
feels the same at l OO
1 Om p h mph as it does going 1O
mph, but the skid mark is
longer.

lOO mph

The Front Brake Drill

The purposeof this drill is to find out how muchleverpressure

is requiredto lockup the f rontwheel,andwhat happensto the bikewhen
the wheelis locked.without this information you'llalwaysbe afraidof the
front braketo somedegree.
Step 1: Ridealongat f iveto ten mph.
Step2: Lockup the front wheel,usingonlythe front brake.
Youwill noticethat the f rontwheelturnsunderor turnsin when it is
locked,andthe bikefeelsas thoughit is goingto fall over.lt will-if you
 keepthe brakelocked.Thesimpleandonlysolutionis to let off the lever
. h eb i k ew i l l s t r a i g h t e un p i m m e d i a t e lTy h. e s a m e
u n t i l t h es l i d ee n d s T
t h i n g t h a t h a p p e n sa t 1 O m p h w i l l h a p p e n a t 1 O Om p h . T h eo n l y
mistakeyou can makewith a lockedf rontwheelis not letting off the
brake lever soon enough.
At 100 mph the stripof rubberyou put downon the pavement
w i l l b e l o n g e tr h a nt h e o n ea t 1 Om p h .l f y o u l e a v et h ew h e e l o c k e df o r
1 / 1 O t ho f a s e c o n da t 1O m p ht h e w h e e lw i l l s l i d ef o r 1. 5 f e e t .A t 1O Om p h
it will slidefor nearly15 feet.The bikeof coursehasmoreforceskeeping
i t u p r i g h ta t 1 O Om p h ,b u t i t f e e l st h e s a m ea s i t d o e sa t 1 0 m p h .

Cutting Costs
The purposeof theseexercises is to f ind the pointwherethe
brakeslock,andto becomeaccustomed to that feelingso you'llknow
whatto do if the brakeslockwhileyou'reriding.Thatkindof surprisecan
costyou $9.00.lf you'refamiliarwith it, it costs250 or less.
Step3: RepeatSteps1 and2 aboveat higherand higher
speedsuntilyou arecertainwhat happens,and arecertainyou cancontrol
themachine.

You figure out your

brakes, make your
decisions on what can
be done, and spend that
attention on the turn
coming up.

Braking and Downshifting

Downshifting is closelyassociated with brakingbecausethe

two almostalwaysoccurat the sametime.Fromobservation, it appears
that most riders believe the engine is supposed to help slow or stopthe
bikeW . h e ny o u h e a ra n e n g i n es p i n n i n gu p t o w a r dr e d l i n eg o i n gi n t oa
turn, you knowthe rideris tryingto useit as a brake.Doesthisapply toyou?

The Engine ls Not A Brake!

It'ssupposedto increase the speedof the machine-not

decrease it. At anyplacewhereyou haveto usethe brakesand downshift
at the sametime,it is not efficientor correctto usethe engineto slowyou.
T h e r ei s n ' tm u c hw e i g h to n t h e r e a rw h e e tl o b e g i nw i t h ,a n du s i n gt h e
t h e c r a n ka n dp i s t o n s
e n g i n em e a n sy o u ' r eg o i n gt o h a v et o r e p l a c e
sooner.lf you wishto slowdownthe rearwheela bit, usethe rearbrake.
It'scheaperto replacebrakepadsthan crankshafts. Secondly, it's not
correctto usethe engineas a brakebecausethat'snot the purposeof
68 downshifting.The purpose of downshifting is to bring the engine
 rpm
7,5OO-1O,5OO

The purpose of down-

shifting is to have the
engine in the power
when you begin to accel-
erate. You could leave it
in sixth gear right up to
the point of acceleration
and the bike wouldn't
care,

Begin acceleration.
Must shift while
leaned over.

At redline.
Up-shifting while still
leaned over costs a lot
because it must be
perfect.

Shift point with With the bike pulling

Below redline bike straighter, strong off the turn {with-
(in powerband) c r e a t i n ge a s i e r out up-shifting), you can
d r i v eo u t . spend your attention on
speed, traction, RPs, etc"

&Ew

ln blg sweepers I don't let the
bike bog down offthe power
-it seems to slrde easrer I
keep it spinning up tn the
power band.
into the right rpm range as you begin to accelerate out of a turn.
Most ridersseemto feel it's necessary to downshiftas soonas
possibleafterthey beginto brake.In somecases there isn'ttime for a
leisurelyapproach-thedownshiftingmust be doneimmediately. But if
thereis time to wait,changegearswhen you can do it more leisurely.
The Bike Doesn't Gare
Goingintoa turn,the bikedoesn'tcarewhat gearit's in.The
rightgearmattersonlywhenyou beginto accelerate. lf you havea third-
gearturn at the end of a sixth-gearstraight,and partof the turn requires
c o n s t a n t - s p e er udn n i n gt,h e b i k ew i l l n o t m i n di f i t ' s i n s i x t hg e a rt h r o u g h
that partof the turn.Of courseit's impoftantto makethe correctnum-
berof downshiftsat the properlocation.Thisusuallyisn'tat the first
o p p o r t u n i t yj u, s t a sy o u b e g i nb r a k i n gT. h eb e s tp l a c eu s u a l l yi s n o tw h e n
you'rein the turn leanedover-thatupsetsthe bikesomewhatwhenthe
gearchangesaremade.Changinggearsin a turn maycausethe biketo
bob up and down,as the shiftswill affecttractionand steering.
The bestplaceto makethe gearchangesis towardthe end of
the brakingbut beforethe bikeis actuallyput intothe turn at a steeplean
angle.
You'llsavea lot of attentionby knowinghow manygear
changesto makebeforecominginto a turn.lf you don't knowthis,you'll
feelyou haveto startdownshiftingimmediately in caseyou makea mis-
take-thisis why manyridersbeginthe downshiftingtoo soon.You don't
have to know what gear you're in, so long as you know how
many gears you have to go down. lt's amazinghow muchattention
can be f reedup by simplyknowingthis, and doing it. Shoutd it betried?
Tallest Gear Possible
To decidehow manygearsto go downfor a turn,use the
tallest gear possible that still allows the bike to pull the turn in
its powerband. lf you go downtoo manygearsand run the turn with the
e n g i n es p i n n i n gu p t o r e d l i n ey, o u a r ea l m o s tg u a r a n t e eadg e a rc h a n g e
whilethe bikeis still leanedoverall the way.Youwill haveto makethat
changein the middleof yourdriveout of the turn-a placewhereyou need
to be concentrating on otherthings.Sometimes, of course,you mightnot
havea choicewith the gearingthat is on the bike,andyou'llhaveto change
gearswhileleanedover.Sometimes you canchangethis situationwith the
overall gearing so it's correct for the infieldturnsand overrevsor under
revsa littleon the straight.lf it resultsin betterlaptimes-andit can-
then sacrificinga little top end is worth it.anvexamptes?
Second Problem
Thesecondproblemwith goingdowntoo manygearsand red-
of
l i n i n gt h e e n g i n ei n a t u r n i s t h a t e n g i n ev i b r a t i o nc a nh i d et h e v i b r a t i o n
 Redlining the engine in a
turn gets your attention,
doesn't it? Cut that cost.
It also smothers your
sense of traction.

=)

the tiresbitingintothe road.Youneedthis vibrationto tell you yourtrac-

tion situation.Thereis a vibrationwhenthe tiresaregrippingwell and not
slidingbecausethey aretakingthe maximumload.Whenthe tiresbeginto
slidethe vibrationis differentand muchfiner.A high-rewing engine
can' in a turn, cause the rider to believe his tires are sliding.
Yoursenseof tractionallowsyouto knowwhat conditionsyour
corneringspeedsand leananglesarecreatingfor the tires-howwellthey
arebitingintothe asphalt.Thevibrationfrom this carriesup throughthe
frameandyou senseit at the handlebars, seatand footpegs.The
changes in that vibration give you a picture of the traction at
every moment. lf the enginevibrationis "drowningout,,orsmothering
that information,it becomesdifficultto senseexactlywhatthe tiresare
dOing. nre you aware of this?

Goast Racing
"Canyonracers"havea greatpastimecalled,,CoastRacing.,'
s e v e r a l r i d e rl si n eu p a t t h e t o p o f a l o n gh i l l w i t hl o t so f t u r n si n i t ,s h u to f f
t h e i re n g i n e sa n db e g i nc o a s t i n gd o w n .T h er i d e rw h o u s e sh i s b r a k e st h e
leastwins.Goodridershavenoticedtheyweregoingfasteron the same
t u r n sw h i l ec o a s t i n gt h a nw h e nt h e yw e r er i d i n gt h r o u g ht h e mw i t h t h e
e n g i n eo n .T h i sd o e sn o t m e a ny o u s h o u l dc o a s t h r o u g ht u r n so n a r a c e
trackor anywhereelse-youshouldhavethe bikein gearso you cancontrol I like to use earplugs. The
the exitof the turn.Thisexampleillustrates that you can ,,read', tiretrac- quieter lt is the faster I go.
tion muchbetterwhenthe enginevibrationisn'tdrowningit out. Note:
I don't recommendcoast RacingbecauseI haveseena numberof people
get hurt doingit.

Rider's Job

The rider'sjob is to be abreto separate the engine vibra-

tion from the tire traction vibration so he can constantly sense
traction. Yoursense of traction is somethingyou should be spending
 a lot of attentionon. The combination of your sense of traction and
your sense of speed will help you determine the cornering speed
you are willing to use. No matterwhat lineor RPsor Productyou use
for a turn,thereis a maximumspeedfor that approach.Youwon't be able
to get that maximumspeedif you can'tsensethe tractionof the tires.
Youcan'tignorethe otherbasicsof downshifting:Throttle and
clutchactionmust be correctlytimedwhenchanging gears. Downshifting
at the rightplaceon the track is important,but failureto revthe engineto
matchthe roadspeedof the bikewill lockup the rearwheelormakeit
chatter.Alwaysrevthe engineto the rightspeedbetweendownshifts.

Front Brake * Throttle

Most experienced riders have mastered the technique
of using the front brake and throttle at the same time. lt comes
from practice.The purposeof this techniqueis to allowyou to usethe
front brakeas hardas possibleandstill be ableto twistthe throttleenough
to revthe enginebetweendownshifts.Thetrick is to be ableto keepthe
brakeleverpressureconstant,or to changeit when necessary while
workingthe throttle.
Howyou let the clutchout afterrewingthe enginecan makea
differencebetweena smoothor a roughgearchange. Goodriderslet the
clutchout smoothlyandevenlyso the shift hasthe leastaffecton the bike.
Evenif you don't revthe engineenough,lettingthe clutchout slowlycan
savethe downshiftfrom beingrough.
It mayseemfar-fetchedthat how andwhereyou downshift
can improveyourcorneringspeeds,but I urgeyou to usethe methodsin
this sectionto improveyouroverallridingand senseof traction,aswell as
to f ree up more of your attention. Will thisimproveyourriding?

Using the brake and

throttle together is an
important technique.
Performing hno things at
once cuts costs, when-
ever possible.

1. Get the gas off and then the brake on.

 ,%
2. Do as much braking as possible before ,
you start to downshift. d

( Wr
3. While still maintainingbrake feverpressure,
rotate the throttle on and off to bring the revs I
up for your downshift.

%-
4. Repeat step thrce for each downshift. W

5. Releasethe brake for the corner.

a{ i:';
Eddie demonstrates
entering the corkscrew,
the correct way to end
the braking and begin a
turn.

1.

Notice the almost

unchanged fork exten-
sion from beginning to
end. That's what is
ealled smooth.

&

2.
j,

74
 4.

Just as the bike is entor-

ing the banked pave-
ment, he begins to accel-
'1': erate iust enough to ke6p
the bike from bobbing up
and down.
CHAPTER NINE
I use countersteering and it
lust gets right over wrth very
little effort. After I get the brke
over then I use the throttle to
steer it. l'm drlfttng both
wheels. Let off and tt wtll quit
driftlng
76
Steering
It Happens Backwards
Manyridershavelearnedto steera motorcyclewithoutunder-
standingthe process.The purposeof steeringis to controlthemotor-
cycle'sdirectionof travel.ln racingor in any ridingsituation,you mustfeel
that the steeringand the directionof the bikeare underyourcontrol.The
fasteryou go,the moreyou wantto be certainthat the machinewill do
whatyouwant it to.
Counter Steering
Steeringis simpleenough-youpushthe barsin the opposite
directionof the directionyou wishto travel.Thatbeginsthe turn,andthe
bikeleansas it turns.Deliberately turningthe barsin the oppositedirec-
tion of travelis knownas counter steering. Countermeans"against,"
andto steermeansto "guideor direct."To go rightyou mustturn the bars
left-to go left,turn the barsright.Gounter steering is the only way
you can direct a motorcycle to steer accurately.
This,in fact,is how you'vebeensteeringyour motorcycleall
the time,whetheryou knewit or not.Youcannotsteera motorcyclesimply
by leaningit. Youcan get it to veeroff in eitherdirectionby leaningyour
weightoff to onesideat low speeds,but that isn'tsteering.We aretalking
aboutcontrollingthe bike,andthat methodis somethinglessthancontrol.
Youcanonlyguesswherethe bikewill go.At speedyou can'tdo muchof
a n y t h i n gi f y o u ' r en o t h o l d i n go n t ot h e h a n d l e b a r s .
Let'stakea lookat what happenswhenyou steer.Youare
a p p r o a c h i nagr i g h t - h a n tdu r n .Y o ul e a nr i g h t ,a n dt h e b i k eb e g i n st o g o
right.Sinceyou areholdingontothe barsand movingoverto the right
yourleftarm is pullingthe left sideof the bartowardsyou,whichturns
the barsto the left.lf you leanleftto go arounda leftturn,you pullon the
rightbar.Thismust happenif you'reholdingontothe bars.lf you'renot
holdingthe bars.the bikewill not beginto turn whereyou lean.Youmay
b e p u s h i n go n t h e o t h e rb a ra sw e l la s p u l l i n g - i td e p e n d so n h o wy o u h o l d
the bars. ls it explained?
 ilii iiiiixffi
The faster you go, the
ii more precise your steer-

ffi ing must be, Products,

RPS, Sub-Products,

1
Points of Timing-all
become usable with
accurate steering.

ffiffi, ' ,
r
:a;r.l: ii:.i -
':::i.it::i:.'r:,1

.i.lrri:tir:i..
,',,'.'itl
Push/Pull

As long asyou continue pushing or pulling on the bars,

the bike will continue to lean over and turn more sharply. When
you easethe pressureon the bars,the bikewill stayat the leanangleyou
reachedwhenyou easedup the pressure. Youdon't haveto holdthe bike
intothe turn with anygreatamountof force,if at all.On most bikes,once
you havethe machineat the desiredleanangle,you no longerneedto hold
ontothe bars.Actually,if you wereriding60 mph on most bikeswith a
c r u i s ec o n t r o il n a h u g eo p e np a r k i n gl o t w i t h n o b u m p s y, o uc o u l dt a k e
your handsoff the barsonceyou had it leanedoverandthe bikewould
c o n t i n u eg o i n ga r o u n di n a c i r c l ea t t h a t l e a na n g l eu n t i li t r a no u t o f g a s .
W h e ny o uf i n dy o u r s e lhf o l d i n go n v e r yt i g h t l yi n t u r n s ,y o u ' r e
doinga wholelot of unnecessary work.Bumpsand othersurfaceirregu-
laritiescanchangethe situationof course,so you do haveto holdon to
makesteeringcorrections. Doyoudothis?

Tighten the Turn

To tighten up a turn and increase your lean angte, you

must counter steer again. You'rein a right-handturn,but it's a
decreasing-rada i unsdy o u n e e dt o t i g h t e ni t u p .N o wy o u m u s tp u l lt h e
b a r st o t h e l e f ta g a i nu n t i ly o u r e a c ht h e d e s i r e dl e a na n g l eT. h es a m e
a p p l i e si n a l e f t - h a n dt u r n ;y o u m u s tp u l lr i g h ta n d l e a no v e rm o r et o
t i g h t e nt h e t u r n .
T o s t r a i g h t etnh e b i k eu p a f t e rf i n i s h i n gt h e t u r n ,p u s ht h e b a r s
i n t ot h e d i r e c t i o no f t h et u r n .E x a m p l eY: o u ' r ei n a r i g h t - h a n tdu r na n d
wantto go straight-turnthe barsto the rightuntilthe bikestraightens out.
Ridershaveproblemswith this especially on fast,decreasing-
radiusturns.Theyget intotrouble,thentry to forcethe barsin the direc-
tion of the turn.The major trouble riders have with decreasing-
radius turns is in not knowing how to steer. Youcanactuallysee
ridersclimbingontothe tank,exertinga lot of pressureon the barstrying

@f#Biffie{ffi+*
 to makethe turn.Theybecomerigidas the bikegoesfurtherto the outside
of the turn and makesthem believethey'regoingtoo fast.you can seethe
effortand hearthe throttlebeingrolledoff.
Mostturnscan't be madewithoutcorrectingfor mistakes,
camberor radiuschangesor surfaceirregularities. Also,to holda constant
radiuslinethrougha turn which haschanges(camber,bumps,etc.),steer-
ing adjustments must be made.Most of your steeringoccurswith the
originalsteeringactiongoingintothe turn,but you mustbe ableto correct
the biketo compensate for sliding,changesin camber,in radius,or other
changes.lf you can't corlect the steering in a turn, it will limit
you to a "one line through the turn" approach. your speedand
progresscan be limitedby how well or poorlyyou cancorrectthe bike's
d i r e c t i o nA. n y l i n eh a sa m a x i m u ms p e e dt h a t i t c a nb e r i d d e nb y a
particularrideron a particularbikeon a particularday.Anythoushts on this?

Steering Backwards

In essence, motorcyclesteeringis backwards from mostother

formsof transportation. An automobilegoesin the directionyou turn the
wheel,as do mostothervehicles.one problemwe havein learningto ride
stemsfrom a crueltrickplayedon us by our parents.Theygaveus a
tricycleto pedalaround.A tricycleturnsin the directionyou steerit. when
we rodea bicyclefor the firsttime,we fell down,and everyone saidit was
because we didn'thavegood balance. Actually,it was becausebicycles
alsocountersteer.
Balance h a dn o t h i n gt o d o w i t h i t l T h ec o n f u s i o n
iscaused
because the childexpectsthe biketo go rightwhen he turnsto the right.
Eventually, out of sheersurvivalinstincts,he goesthroughthe steering
m o t i o n sw i t h o u tu n d e r s t a n d i nt hge ma n dw i n d su p o n a m o t o r c y c l 1 e5
yearslaternot knowingwhat he hasbeendoingto go aroundturns.
Practicecountersteeringand becomeawareof it. Beawareof
how muchattentionit costsyouto starta turn.Seeif you can remember
what happenedwhenyou sawan unexpected pot holeor rockon the road
andtriedto go aroundit. Most riders, in an emergency, try to turn
the bike in the direction they want to go. lt doesn'twork andthey
f i n dt h e m s e l v edso i n gs o m er e a l l ys t r a n g et h i n g st o m a k et h e b i k et u r n .
Racing,becauseof the speed,is a self-created emergency. Bythinking
and practice,you can lowerthe amouqtof time and attentionnecessary to
countersteerdownto an acceptable level.
I haveknownpeoplewho haveriddenfor 30 yearswithout
havingto facean emergency situation.Then,one daya car pullsout in
front of them.Theytry to avoid it but the bikewon't do what they want it
to. So they get scaredand quit riding.Theyrealizethat the controlthey
alwaysthoughtwas there-wasn't.Understanding how a bikesteerscan
h e l pa f o r m e rr i d e rl i k et h i s t o d e c i d et o g o r i d i n ga g a i n .
I h a v eh e a r dv a r y i n ge x p l a n a t i o nasb o u tw h a t i s h a p p e n i n g
duringcountersteering,but I haveneverheardanytwo engineers agree
totallyon the physicsof it. Despitethis,everyoneagreesthat counter
steeringis necessary for goodcontrolof a motorcycle. Startpracticingand
78 appfying it to your riding. Wilt thisimproveyourriding?
Kenny Roberts, the
master of fast and pre-
cise steering, sets up for
the right hander in the
corkscrew. Notice the
wheel sharply counter-
steered to the left.

79
CHAPTER TEN

Slipping and Sfiding

Traction: How to Use lt and Lose lt

Slipping and Sliding Your Way to Victory

V e r yl i t t l ew i n n i n gi s d o n et h e s ed a y sw i t h o u ts o m es l i d i n g
aroundon the tires.lf you wantto win,you'llhaveto learnto do it, too.
The biggest single breakthrough for most riders occurs
when they find out that sliding around doesn't always mean
they'll fall. The biggest single drawback is when riders become
fascinated with sliding and think it is an end in itself. They must
see its purpose. Slidingis a tool,andthat tool shouldbecomea useful
partof your riding.Thef irststepis the hardest-deciding that it is OKto
s l i d e l.f y o u a r e n ' tu s e dt o s l i d i n gw , o r ku p t o i t a l i t t l ea t a t i m e .D o n ' t
m a k ea w i l d d e c i s i o n t o r u n i n t oa t u r nt o o f a s ti n h o p e sy o uw i l l b e a b l et o
h a n d l et h e e x c e s s p e e db y s l i d i n gW . o r ku p t o i t b y i n c r e a s i nygo u rs p e e d
t h r o u g ht h e t u r n su n t i ly o u b e g i nt o s l i d e T . h i su s u a l l yf i r s to c c u r sw h e n
r i d e r sg e to n t h e g a sc o m i n go u t o f s l o w e tr u r n s .

Sliding on asphalt can be

distracting when over-
done, but is a useful rid-
ing tool when used in
moderation.

80
Three Kinds of Sliding

Threekindsof slidingcommonlyoccurunderracing
conditions:
1. The rearwheelbeginsto spinon acceleration andthe rear
end "comes around,"or goesout morethanthe front end.
2 . T h ef r o n tt i r eb e g i n s" p u s h i n g " - iits s l i d i n gb, u tt h e b a c k
is not.
3. Bothwheelsaresliding,or the bikeis in a sidewayshop-
motion.
and-slide
N o n e o f t h e s ek i n d s o f s l i d i n gi s c a u s e dby braking;they are
from going into or through the turn too fast or f rom u s i n gt h e t h r o t t l ea n d
breaking traction. Haveyounoticed this?

Exceeding the Limits

' Slidingoccursbecauseyou haveexceeded the limitsof tire
adhesionfor thosecircumstances. Too muchspeedor throttlearenot the
onlyreasonsthat slidingcan occur-roughpavementor roughridingcan
alsocauseit, as can a poorsuspension system.
The backend can "comearound"all by itselfin a turn,which
maybe regardedas the fourth kindof sliding.Manytimesthis and other
k i n d so f s l i d i n ga r ed u et o t h e r i d e r ' so w n h a n d l i n go f t h e t u r n ,s u c ha s
whenweighttransferto the f rontor rearcausesthat endto breakaway.
Forexample,if you wereto comeintoa turn with just a littletoo much
speedand then roll off the gas suddenly,the front end would become
heavierthanthe rearand couldstartthe f ronttire sliding.Thesimplerem-
edy is to crackthe gasopenslightlyto helpeventhe weighton the f ront
and rear.Somebikesareheavieron oneendthanthe other.and havea
b u i l t - i nt e n d e n c tyo s l i d et h a t e n d .T h er o a ds u r f a c ec a nd e t e r m i nw e hich
endof the bikeslides.Goingovera crest,for rnstance, the lighterend-or
bothwheelsbecausethe downwardforceis lessened-slides. Usually,
however, the wheelwith too muchweightwill breaktractionfirst.

Another Decision

A n o t h e rd e c i s i o nm u s tb e m a d et o u s et h e s l i d i n gt o y o u r l've only high sided once.

advantage. A good drive coming off a turn usually involves some Itry to keep it slidrng and
bring it up with the steerrng.
rear-wheel slippage. The harderyou accelerate, the morerubberyou then it quits. especially with
haveto accelerate with as the weighttransfergeneratedby the accelera- a superbike.
tion flattensout the tire and enlargesthe contactpatch.Thisholdstrue
o n l yt o a p o i n t ,o f c o u r s el.f t h e w h e e lb e g i n ss p i n n i n gt o o m u c hf o r e f f e c -
tivetireadhesion,it will heatup rapidlyand offerverylittletraction.Allow-
i n g i t t o s p i nj u s t a b i t w i l l a l l o wt h e b i k et o c o n t i n u ea c c e l e r a t i nagn d
maintainenoughtractionso it won't slideout completely. Youcaneven
steerthe biketo your advantage with the rearend slightlylooseby pointing
t h e b i k et o t h e i n s i d eo f t h e t u r n .T h i si s c a l l e d" t h r o t t l es t e e r i n g . "
The nextstepfor the riderwho feelshe hasreachedthat point 81
 w h e r et h e s l i d eh a sb e c o m ea l i m i t i n gf a c t o ri n h i s r i d i n gi s t o u s et h e
s l i d et o g u i d et h e b i k ew h e r eh ew a n t si t t o g o .A s t h e r i d e ry o u m u s t
d e c i d ew h e r ea n dw h e nt h a t s l i p p i n ga r o u n dc a nb e u s e dt o y o u ra d v a n -
t a g er a t h e trh a nj u s t " w o r r y i n gt"h e b i k ea r o u n dt h e t u r na n db e i n gl i m i t e d
b y t h et r a c t i o nS. l i d i n gy, o uw i l l p r o b a b l fyi n d ,c o s t sa f a i ra m o u n o
t f your
$10 worth of attention. Get used to the sliding and then begin
directing the bike with it.
A moderate and effec-
tive slide smoothly done.
The slide is obvious
because the front wheel
is not turned in enough
to track at that amount
of lean. Note: The slide
is being corrected with
Kenny's knee. This tech-
nique is covered in the
following chapter-

Brake Slide

Slidingis a veryeffectivetool to usewhen you haveentered

a turn a littletoo fast.Leaningthe bikeovera littlemorejust at that point
will allowthe biketo slideand "scruboff" the extraspeed.Youdon't have
to usethe brakesandchancesomethingwill upsetthe bike,you simply
turn it in a littlemore,scruboff the extraspeedand continue.Traction
becomesanothermatterin fastturnsbecauseof the increased amountof
attentionbeingspent.Mediumspeedturnsarelessof a threatto the rider,
h e r a p i d l yl e a r n st h a t a l i t t l es l i d i n ga r o u n dc a nw o r ko u t .R i d e r st e n dt o b e
moretimid of tractionin fasterturns.Also,in mediumspeedbankedturns,
s u c ha s L o u d o ns, l i d i n gi s m o r ep r e d i c t a b laen d l e s sd r a m a t i cT. h er i d e r
canbalanceoff his useof throttlesteeringagainstthe downwardpullof
the banking"holding"him in the turn.Losing traction can sometimes
be more of an advantage than keeping it. wittit workforyou?

Built-ln Safety Valves

Tire sliding and slippage are built-in safety valves.

T h e y ' r et e l l i n gy o u t h e t i r e i s r e a c h i n gi t s l i m i t s .P r e m i u ms t r e e tt i r e s a n d
racingtires are designedto operate in this area of friction and heat.The
used-up rubber "balls up" and goes away,exposinga fresh rubber surface
to the pavement.A standardstreettire usuallywill not give up the used
82 and unresilientrubber fast enough, so itb top layersbecome dry and slip-
pery.The"oils"that areusedto keepit resilienthavebeen"cooked"out
of that top layerof rubber,but the layerstill clingsto the tire.lf you'renot
l e t t i n gy o u rr a c i n gt i r e ss l i p ,y o u ' r er e a l l yr i d i n gu n d e rt h e a b i l i t yo f t h e
ti res.
Foryourown instructional purpose,I suggestusinga tire and
rim combination that will allowyou to slidethe bikearoundat your levelof
riding.Buying racing tires that are beyond your capabilities as a
rider will not allow you to experience how tires perform at their
limits. Most new riderscanfind out moreaboutridingwith a set of Dun-
l o p K - 8 1 s( w h i c hs l i d ev e r yp r e d i c t a b l yf i)t t e dt o t h e i rY a m a h aT Z 2 S O s
thantheywill by mountinga set of state-of-the-artslicks.Thatgoesfor
otherbikesas well.lf you areusedto ridingon stickytires,but haven't
f o u n dt h e i rl i m i t s m
, o u n ta s e to f t i r e sy o u ' l lb e a b l et o s l i d ea r o u n d .
Theothertypesof slidingshouldbe approached in the same
way.Findout what slidingis likeso it won't surpriseyou when it happens. You can get away with a lot
of sliding on small GP blkes
T h i sw i l l i m p r o v ey o u rr i d i n g a , s s l i d i n gc a nc o s tt o o m u c ho f y o u ra t t e n - that you can't on a superbike
tion if you aren'tcomfortablewith it. once you haveslidingundercontrol
as just anotherpartof racing,you will be ableto useit as a tool.wilit work?
CHAPTER ELEVEN

Hanging Off
It Looks Good and lt Works

Nothinghaschangedroad-racingphotography morein the

It doesn't look hke you're lasteightyearsthanthe practiceandtechniqueof hangingoff. Kneedrag-
going fast when Vou are.
ging is the mostdramaticposeracersof anykind haveeverindulgedin.
Spectators arein aweof it, and ridersaren'tsatisfied untilthey'vemas-
teredit. Bothcanyonand caferacersarelikelyto castin plastictheirf irst
pairof designerjeanstheytouchto the tarmacwhilehangingoff.
JarnoSaarinenwas the first riderto exhibitdramaticknee-out
riding.He had beenan ice racerbeforecomingto roadracing,andthere
kneedraggingis both partof the styleandthe onlywayto be seriously
competitive. Saarinenpioneeredit, KennyRobertsrefinedit and most
everyone who racessuccessfully haspickedup kneedraggingfor himself.

Real Reasons

Asidefrom the greatphotographypossibilities, therearereal

reasonsfor hangingout a bodypartthat is cappedby a pieceof boneweak
enoughto be brokenby a 4o-poundblow.The first and most useful
reason for hanging off is: you are movingyour bodyweightfrom
t h et o p o f t h e b i k et o a p o s i t i o nt h a t i s l o w e ra n dt o t h e i n s i d eT. h i s
changeshow yourweightinfluencesthe bikewhencentrifugalforce
beginspushingit towardthe outsideof the turn.Whenyourweightis
higheron the bike,it givesthe corneringforcesa leverto workwith.To
overcomecentrifugalforce, the bikemust be leanedoverin the turn.The
greaterthe force,the moreyou must leanto overcomeit. By hangingoff,
you moveyourweightto the insideof the bikeand lowerto the ground,
presenting lessof a leverfor the forcesto act upon.Thisdoesnot weaken
the force,it simplylessensits effect.Nowthe bikedoesnot haveto be
leanedoveras far to makethe sameradiusof turn,andcan go faster
w i t h o u th a v i n gt o i n c r e a steh e l e a na n g l e E . v e ni f y o ug o t h r o u g ht h e t u r n
a t t h e s a m es p e e da s a r i d e rs i t t i n gu p r i g h ot n h i s m a c h i n ey,o uc a n
begin y o u ra c c e l e r a t i osno o n e trh a nh e c a nb e c a u s yeo u rs t r a i g h t - u b pi k e
84 hasmorerubberon the road.Thiscanbe a tremendousadvantage.
 Remember,increasing your speed in a turn effectively decreases
the radius of the turn.
Note:Othersuggestions havebeenmadeas to why hanging
off works.The lawsof physicsmust havesomethingto do with it but my
understanding of thosephysicsis limited.Someevenarguethat it is no
realadvantage and siteriderexamplesof the pastsuchas MikeHailwood,
who did not hangoff. You musttry it for yourselfandf ind out if thereis
an advantage or not.
The leverage theory. A
tall mass would tend to
heve a wider arc than a
shorterone, in a turn, at
the same speed. Right or
wrong, everyone who is
currently com petitive is
hanging off.
Have you ever tried it?

Another Advantage

How muchwind resistance doesa leg createwhen it is hung

out to the sideof a motorcycleat 1bo mph?At 1oo mph,or even60 mph?
with this additional"sail"on one side,it's easierto turn in that direction.
You can make a quicker and easier steering change with a knee
out because the bike and you will pivot around the point of
resistance that it offers.

For the Records

lfirst noticedthis effectof hangingoff at Daytonawhile

attemptingto set a 24-hourspeedrecordfor 7Soccmachinesin 1g77.
we wereridingKawasaki Kzoso streetbikeswith largegastanksand rac-
ing tiresaroundand aroundthe outerbankedtri-ovalat Daytona.coming
off the bankingontothe levelstraightswas a steeringchorebecausethe
centrifugal forcewastryingto sendthe bikeout to the wall.we wererun-
n i n ga t a c o n s t a nst p e e do f a b o u t1 2 0 m p h .A s y o u m i g h ti m a g i n ei,t w a s
q u i t eb o r i n gr i d i n ga r o u n df o r h o u r sa t a t i m ea l m o s ft l a to u t ,w i t h t h e w i n d
tuggingat you andtryingto lift your helmetoff. I still havepermanent
groovesin my jaw from that chin strap.out of boredomI beganexperi- 85
 mentingandfoundthat poppinga kneeout just as I madea fairlysharp
steeringchangecomingoff the banksmadethe steeringdramatically
easier-byaboutone-third.Therecordswereset,the champagne was
greatand I had learneda newtool.

An extended knee offers

enough air drag to make
steering easier, espe-
cially in high speed
sectaonsof the track.

Second Advantage

So,the secondadvantage of havinga kneeoff is that steering

is easier when the bike and rider pivot around the resistance
offered by the extended leg. Flickingthe bikefrom sideto sidein
essesor anyseriesof turnsis mucheasierwhen it is timedwith the knee
c o m i n go u tj u s t b e f o r et h e s t e e r i n g c h a n g ei s m a d e T . h i sh o l d st r u ef o r
s i n g l et u r n sa s w e l l .T h el i a b i l i t yi s o b v i o u s - y o u ' rcer e a t i n gm o r ew i n d
resistance andthe bikewill slowdown somewhat.Remember, usethis
techniqueas a tool; pull it out whenyou needit and put it awaywhenyou
d o n ' t .T h i sw o u l db e e s p e c i a l lt yr u ew i t h s m a l l e or r u n d e r p o w e r e d
machines. use it onlywhen necessary to makethe steeringeasier.

Third Advantage

A t h i r dr e a s o nf o r h a n g i n go f f h a st o d o w i t h l e a na n g l e L . ean
a n g l ei s o n eo f t h e i n d i c a t o ryso uc a nu s et o t e l l h o wf a s t y o u g o
can and
how muchtractionto expectf rom the tires.lt letsyou knowwhereyou are
balance
i nt h ed e l i c a t e o f l e a na n g l e s, t e e r i n gt r, a c t i o na n ds p e e dY
. our
kneeis a delicateand costlyinstrument; you must makeit your businessto
knowhow far it is f romthe surface of the pavement.

The Knee Gauge

e a u g eo f l e a na n g l e s - iyf o u
T h ek n e ei s a n i n c r e d i b layc c u r a t g
86 p u t i t i n t h e s a m ep o s i t i o ne a c ht i m e .T o d o t h i sy o u rb o d ym u s tb e i n t h e
 The knee dragging tech-
nique is an excellent
"curb feeler," or gauge,
that is used to determine
your lean angle from lap
to lap.

s a m e p o s i t i o no n t h e b i k e e a c ht i m e . l t s p o s i t i o nc a n c h a n g ef r o m t u r n t o
t u r n , b u t i t s h o u l db e t h e s a m e e a c ht i m e t h r o u g h a p a r t i c u l a tr u r n . T h e n
you can use the distancefrom the ground to measure:"l was over this far
on the first lap and it was oK, so next time around this turn I can go a little
faster."The knee doesn't haveto drag the whole way around a turn; you
can drop it now and then to "sample" your lean angle.Doyouthinkit wittwork?

How You Look and Feel

Therearethreegood reasonsto masterthe skill of hanging

off-four if you countthe greatphotopossibilities. Nowwe get to the fifth
reason:knee dragging gives you a sense of security. lt is strange
how this works,and I don'ttotallyunderstand it, but somehowbeingin
c l o s ep r o x i m i t tyo t h e p a v e m e nm t a k e sf a l l i n go f f s e e ml e s sd a n g e r o u s .
Perhapsit is becauseyou havealreadycontactedthe enemyand know
w h e r eh e i s .l t d o e s n ' h t u r tt o f a l lw h e ny o u ' r eo n l ya n i n c ha b o v et h e
ground.Of course,I'm not takingthe speedintoaccount-justthe fall.
A fall from the top of the seatis a muchlongerfall,andthat
extradistancecouldbe the startof a painfulbouncing.Most slide-outs
d o n ' tr e s u l ti n i n j u r yw h e nn o b o u n c i n ga n df l i p p i n go c c u r y. o u j u d g ef o r
yourselfwhetheror not is is any"safer,"but it feelsmoresecure.

Sixth Advantage

Youmay not believethis,but ridershavesavedthemselves

f r o mf a l l i n gb e c a u s teh e yw e r ea b l et o h e l pt h e b i k eb a c ku p w i t h t h e i r
k n e ea f t e ri t h a db e g u nt o s l i d eo u t .A f r i e n do f m i n eo n c ea c t u a l l y
b o u n c e da b i k eb a c ku p o n t oi t sw h e e l sw i t h h i se l b o wa n dc o n t i n u e d
racing.
 Youcan understand how this mightwork if you considerthe
amouno t f w e i g h t h a t i s t a k e no f f t h e b i k et h e m o m e n t h e k n e ei s o n t h e
g r o u n da n d p u s h i n gu p .A t a n yr a t e ,t h i st a c t i ch a sw o r k e d - a n dw i l l n o
doubtwork again.At an advancedsessionof the California Superbike
School where Eddie Lawson was the guest instructor, he was askedto
commenton this.Whenasked, "How oftendo you usethis technique?",
Lawson'sreplywas "About once a lap." Theremay be a measureof heroics
involved, andcertainlyf iveor morelayersof ducttapewill helpkeepyour
leathersand kneelookingsmart.
Usingthe kneeas an anti-slidedevice,or an aid to sliding'
m u s ta l s o k ei n t oa c c o u nw
t a t h e r et h e s l i d eo c c u r si n a p a r t i c u l at ru r n .A
r e c u r r i n sgl i d eb e c o m e sa p o i n to f t i m i n g( P O Ti)n a p a r t i c u l at ru r n ." O K ,
the bikeis goingto slidehereeverytime becausethereis a crestthat
u n l o a d st h e b i k ew h e nI g e t o n t h e g a s . "F i n e i,t ' s n o b i g d e a l y, o u m a k e
it partof your planfor that turn.Now,if you keepyourkneef irmlyplanted
intothe asphaltfor everyturn on everylapof a 20 lap race,you aregoing
to run out of ducttapeand startintoyourkneeor leathers. Thatwon't work.
W h a tw i l l w o r ki s : Y o ug e tt h a t l o c a t i o no n t h e t r a c kr e a l l w
y e l lk n o w n y, o u r
POT,andyou dip the old kneedown.iustbeforethe slidehappens.when
t h e s l i d ea r e ai s p a s s e dy,o u u n w e i g htth e k n e ea n dS a v et h e t a p e 'O n t h e
otherhand,if you wait for the biketo slideeverylapandthen put the knee
d o w n ,i t w i l l p u ty o u i n t oa m i n o rp a n i ce a c ht i m e i t h a p p e n sP. a n i c s
cost a lot.
Hereis what you'vedoneto handlethe situation'
l.You'vefoundan RPto tell you that the slideareais
approaching.
2. You'vef iguredout whereto put your kneedown' That's
your POT.
3. You'vef iguredout whereto pick up the knee,at the end of
the slidearea.That'sanotherPOT'
part
turnedthe driftingor slidinginto a predictable
4. You',ve
of the turn.
5. You'vesavedmanydollarsworth of attentionthat can be
The knee is extended in
readinessto correct for
sliding, should it occur'
 usedfor judgingspeed,adjustingyour line,passing,throttlecontrol,fig-
uringout a betterplan,gettinga betterdrive,etc.,etc.Canit bedone?

Hang Loose

Never become rigid while hanging off. Be relaxedand Be comfortableratherthan

s e t t l ei n t ot h e p o s i t i o ny o u n o r m a l l tya k ew h i l ei n t h i s m a n e u v e Y
r .o u ' v e sultsn.
got to be as relaxedas possibleso that you don't becomea bobbing
weighton the bikethat actslikea passenger who doesn'tknowhow to
relax.lf you encounterany krndof roughpavementor handlethe bike
roughly,it will moveup and down.lf you'reloose,you willflex up and
downwith it. lf you'rerigid,the bikewill go into its motion,thenyou will,
t h e nt h e b i k ew i l l m o v ea g a i n c, r e a t i n ga w o b b l e .
D o n ' tu s et h e h a n d l e b a rt so s u p p o ryt o u rw e i g h tw h e ny o u
hangoff.Thissendsinputsto the steeringand can starta wobbleas well.
Useyour legsto get f rom one sideof the biketo the other.and hordon
with youroutsideleg.Thenrelax.
l ' l l s e ey o u i n t h e p h o t o s .
Note:Manyridershavefoundthat a littletalcumpowderon
the seatis helpfulwhen changingfrom sideto side.wit it workrorvou?

Note:

lf you don'tfeelcomfortablehangingoff, don,tdo it. you can

wastea lot of time and efforttryingto work out somethingyou don't need
t o d o . U s eh a n g i n go f f a s a t o o l .w h e n y o u b e g i nt o h a v eg r o u n dc l e a r -
a n c ep r o b l e m w s h i l ec o r n e r i n go,r a n yo t h e rp r o b l e m tsh a t c o u l db e h e l p e d
by hangingoff,then do it.
A rider'sstyleincludeshow weil he accomplishes eachof the
partsof riding.lt is all of what he understands and all of what he doesn't
feelgoodaboutrolledinto his own package.Hangingoff maybe partof
your ridingpackage, or it maynot be,rightnow.
A ridertellsa greatdealabouthimselfby his styre.Forexam-
ple,a riderwho canstaytuckeddown behindthe bubbleand low on the
bikein fast or trickysectionsknowsthe track.He hasRps.pointsof rim-
i n ga n do t h e rf a c t o r sw e l lu n d e r s t o o dT.h er i d e rw h o d o e s n ' w t i l l b es i t t i n g Don't hang off if you don't
need to.
up tryingto seewherehe is going.
s t y l ei s b a s e do n w h e r et h e r i d e ri s s p e n d i n gh i s $ 1 o w o d h o f
attention.Fittingyourselfinto a stylefor no reasoncancostyou a lot.
CHAPTER TWELVE

Passing
Who Was That I Just Passed?

|tissometimeseasiertopassarideryouareracingwith'
passlapped
someonewith equalor similarabilityto yourown,than it is to
you
or slowerriders.Theotherraceron your levelis therelongenoughfor
new
to makeout someaspectof his ridingstyle,wherethe slowerrideris a
and unobserved commodity.Manytimesyouwill becomewaryof these
you
ridersjust f romthe fact that theyarea lap down on you.lt makes
wonderif they knowwhat'sgoingon.
Passingcomesup oftenin new-riderdiscussions. lt is definitely
oneof the craftsinvolvedin racingand somethingthat onlya few, evenof
the top riders,havemastered'
Thegroundru|esinpassingandfo||owingwi||increaseyou
u n d e r s t a n d i nogf t h e a c t i o n si n v o l v e d :

Ground Rules of Passing

1. Motorcycles go to the outside of the track when

they fall, and so do riders. lf you aredirectlybehinda riderand he loses
you get
c o n t r oal n df a l l s ,i t i s a l m o s ti m p o s s i b lteo h i t h i m .B y t h e t i m e
to the place he fell he witl no longer be there. Aluminumsidecovers
andfairingsofferlittletraction,so oncethe bikeis over,it will rapidly
travelto the outside.
lf you'repositionedto the insideof anotherriderand he falls,
it is not possibleto hit him.The onlyexception to this is in high,banked
t u r n ss u c ha s a t D a y t o n aT.h e r et h e b a n k i n gi s s o s t e e pt h a tt h e s l i d i n g
m a c h i n ea n d r i d e rw i l l t r a v efl a i r l ys t r a i g hfto r s o m ed i s t a n c et ,h e nb e g i na
downwardcourseto the insideof the turn.Bikeand riderliterallyfall down
t h e h i l lb e c a u s teh e c o r n e r i n fgo r c ei s n o l o n g e rh o l d i n gt h e mu p o n t h e
b a n k i n gL. e s s ebr a n k e dt u r n sh a v ea s i m i l a b r u t s o m e w h alte s sd r a m a t i c
t e n d e n c tyo d o t h e s a m et h i n g .
Passino g n t h e o u t s i d eh a si n c r e a s eldi a b i l i t i ebse c a u s teh i s
maneuvermakesit possibleto intersectthe pathof a fallenrideror
machineon its outwardswing.
 2. Often, two-rider accidents are the result of the
trailing rider following the lead rider, the first to fall, off the
track. Oneof the concreteexamplesof the old axiom,"Yougo where
you look."
It is veryupsettingto havesomeonefall off in f rontof you and
i t c a np o s s i b l yb e d a n g e r o utso y o u .A l l t o o o f t e n t, h e t r a i l i n gr i d e rw i l l
watchthe fallenone and go down with him.Perhapsit is becausethe fallen
r i d e ri s n o w h a v i n ga m o r ei n t e r e s t i nrgi d e ,p e r h a p si t i s t h e d a n g e rl.t m a y
b ej u s t m o r b i dc u r i o s i t yW
. h a t e v etrh e r e a s o nt,h e s i m p l es o l u t i o ni s t o n o t
l o o ka t t h ef a l l e nr i d e r C
. ontinue g o i n gw h e r ey o u h a do r i g i n a l l iyn t e n d e d
andthereis littlepossibilityof becomingentangledwith him.
3. lf you become involved with watching the rider in Guys get ln trouble watching
the rlder in front. You're
front of you, passing becomes very difficult. Spendyourattention aware that they're there, but
on that riderandyou arenot spendingit on whereyou aregoing-your you look at the track
$ 1O bill hasnot expanded.
Also.if you are lookingat anotherrideryou areusinghim for
a RPand not lookingat the RPsthat you knowwill get you throughthe
turn.Youbecomelost.
Here'ssomeadvice.and an exampfe,of ridingin traffic from
threeAmericanmasters:KennyRoberts,EddieLawsonand MikeBaldwin.
I haveseeneachof them run near-perfect laps,onlytenthsof a second
slowerthan their best racelaps,in very heavytraffic.
Baldwinsayshe treatsslowerridersliketreesin the woods.He
considers them stationaryobjectshe is goingby.
Lawsonsuggeststhe correctprocedureis in not lookingat the
leadingrider.
After KennyRoberts'incredible openinglapat SearsPoint,
wherehe wentf rom 32ndto sixthon a trackthat doesn'treallyhavea
straightaway, nobodyevenbotheredto ask him. Heobviouslydidn't
considertherewas anyoneelsethere.

rysww$i.rn!|ffit Look where you want to

go, not at the rider you
are about to pass. The
attention spent on him is
the amount you need to
get by.

91

.:-. -;i-,..-ri:J. .. t'+.:--"

 4. Following other riders can help you learn the track
layout when it isn't clear to you. Followingtoo closecan be a liability,
but followingat a comfortabledistancecan improveyourown masteryof
a turn.Whena rideris out in f rontof you he createsa "rollingRp."
Let'ssayanotherrideris aheadof you by 25 to 1OOfeet.lf the
tracksurfaceis hardto seebecauseof elevationchangesor radius
changesyou can knowwherethe trackis goingby locatingthe otherrider.
So longas he stayson the track,his presenceletsyou knowthereis
asphaltaheadof you.lt givesyou a betterpictureof what you can'tsee.As
y o ud r a wc l o s e ry o u m u s tt h e na b a n d o nh i m a s a n R P ,k e e p i n gy o u r
attentionon your Product,Sub-Product or RPs.Does it makesense?

Passing Signals

In California it is legaltosplitlanes-toridebetweenthe lines

of carson the f reeway.Fromthis practice,California ridershavelearned
that the autodriveralwaysdoessomethingbeforehe changeslanes.lt
maybe a lookin the mirror,a twitch of the head,shouldermovement,a
g l a n c et o t h e r e a ro r a c h a n g eo f h a n dp o s i t i o no n t h e s t e e r i n g w h e e l .I n
racing,a rideroftenmakesa movement,usuallyof the head,just before
changingdirections.lt isn'talwaystrue and it isn't 100 percenteffective
as it seemsto be with cardrivers,but it doeshappenandyou can useit if
you seeit.
Yourabilityto "read"the otherrider'slineandwhereit will put
him hasa lot to do with passing.A riderwho is leanedoverthe the maxi-
m u m l i m i t so f h i sm a c h i n ei s n o t l i k e l yt o m a k ea n yr a d i c am l o v e st o w a r d
the insideof the track.Hislineof travelis prettywell set.You mustbe able
t o s i z eu p h i s l i n e ,d e t e r m i n w
e h e r ei t w i l l t a k eh i m ,a n dd e c i d ei f y o uc a n
m a k et h e p a s s .
Judgingthe amountof spacethat you needfor a passisn'tall
that difficult.lt only takes a little more space than the width of a
doorway to pass another rider. lf you can seethat amountof space,
you can get through.wittthis hetp?

Basics Apply

I n p a s s i n gt ,h e b a s i c so f r i d i n gs t i l la p p l y Y
. o um u s ts p e n dy o u r
attentionon gettingaroundthe track.not on otherriders.YourRPs,Sub-
Products, Products, what you do,timingandthe abilityto concentrate on
t h et r a c kw i l l b et h e d e c i d i n gf a c t o r si n w h o c r o s s e tsh e f i n i s hl i n ef i r s t .

92
 The width of a common
doorway is all the track
that is necessary to pass.

*l\

{
I
;i
Th is sequence represents
two seconds of time. A .l
well-executed pass from
the set-up through to
#
completion.

1.

$
ot&*.,
2.

94 J.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
I go into a race. on the start-
ing line, with the attitude that
I'm gonna get beat-these
guys are gonna smoke me.
96
SuperuiseYourself
Yes, Homework ls Necessary
your racingprogram,keepaccuraterecords
To helpsupervise
and be workingon someaspectof it eachtime you go to the track.This
way,you'llbe makingthe bestuseof yourtime,expensive tracktime and
of your bike.
Record Your Lap Times
The first absolutelynecessaryrecordto keepis of lap times.
lap times indicate your overall base-line improvement from lap
to lap and race to race. Laptimestell you directlywhat youreffortsare
bringingin termsof improvement. Whenyoutry somethingnew,the lap
timesarea sure-fireway of weedingout what is workingfrom what is not.
Keepingaccuraterecordsis nothingmorethan keepinga diary
of your riding.Decidewhatyou aregoingto work on and makea noteof it
i n t h e b o o k .G o t o t h e t r a c k w i t h a p l a n . T h a tp l a ns h o u l di n c l u d ea l l o f
the information you havegatheredthereon previouslaps.lf you haven't
riddenthe trackbefore,startfromthe beginning,learningthe courseand
all its peculiarities. Youmightalsostartat the beginningof this bookand
go throughthe track,workingon the pointsmentionedin eachchapter.
Noticethe construction of the track itself,what products you are likely
to havefor eachturn or sectionof the track,notewhatyou aredoingin
each,what reference points you'reusing,or haveavailable to use,how
yourtimingis workingin eachsection,what decisions you're operatingon,
wherethe barriersareandwhatto do aboutthem.Seewhatyou cando to
could
s l i c ku p y o u rb r a k i n ga n ds h i f t i n go, r h o w m o r ec o n s c i o u s t e e r i n g
makeyourway aroundthe courseeasier.Doyouagree?
lmprove Problem Areas
Pick up your problem areas and try to better them;
leave your strong points alone for now. A good way to checkyour
progresson the trackwill requiretwo goodstopwatches anda personto
act as timer. This will help you narrow down the areas you're workingon
s o t h a ty o uc a ns e ei f y o u ' r eg a i n i n go r l o s i n gt i m e i n a p a r t i c u l asre c t i o n .
Thetimershouldbe in a positionto seethe wholetrack,or at leastmost
of it. Thestopwatchesshouldbe the varietythat can recordeverylap,or
you mayusetwo or threesinglelaptimers.

Break the Track

Break the track into sections and time each one

separately. Youmighthaveyourtimerclockfrom,for example, the start/
finishlineto TurnThree;TurnThreeto TurnSix,thenTurnSixto the
start/finishline.Thetimerwill recordyourtimesfor eachsection,then
recordthe overalllap time besideit. Now you'll know exactlyr4q@Ie
you
needwork. I haveseen,for example,WayneRainey-formerlya ClassC dirt
tracker-runa box-stockKawasaki l<Zl50througha tight sectionat Willow
SpringsRaceway(fromTurnThreethroughTurnSix)fasterthan nation-
ally-ranked riderson theirSuperbikes! Rainey'sbikewas equippedwith
streetDunlops,andthe Superbikes ranslickson wide rimsplusthey had
considerably moregroundclearance.
lf you can alsotime your competition,you mayfind wherethey
are pickingup time on you and whereyou needto get your times down.
Youronly limit is the numberof watchesyou haveand the peopleyou have
to runthem.This is valuable,bottom-lineinformation you canwork and
think with. Shouldit be tried?
Breaking the track into
threo or more timed
sections pinpoints your
improvement.

Work On One Thing At A Time

Whenyou supervise yourself,go out intendingto improveone I like the big sweepers,fast
turn or oneaspectof allthe turns,likebraking,reference pointsor points corners.Somettmesthe guys
l'm lappinggo through the
of timing.Whenyou do this,don'tchangeanythingelse.Keepthe restof slow ones fasterthan me.
the trackandwhat you'redoingtherethe same.Thiswill giveyou a better
pictureof the results.
Youcanthinkof endless'things to do whileyou'reout on the
track,but stickto your planand just work on what you had intendedto
from the start. 97

Freddie (Spencer) is fearless
coming out of slow turns.
98
Youcanalsotry to do nothing.Homeworkisn'tfun allthe time,
so takea few lapswhenyou canandjust ride.Don'tconcentrate on any
improvements. At the most,try to relaxmoreand concentrateon your
breathing.Often,I haveseengreatforwardsurgesin lap times by riders
who wereinstructedto just takea few lapsfor fun.Thisis the time when
you can integrateall the thingsyou wereworkingon into a smoothand
flowingride.Yougo out and ridejust likeyou knowwhatyou'redoing.
Go Faster
Most riders try to go faster each time on the track.
Thatis a wholedecisionin itselfthat shouldbe reserved for racingandfor
when you havedonea good amountof thinkingaboutthe track.Once
you'vegonethroughthe boringpartsof lookingand experimenting to see
whatworks, you arearmedwith enoughknowledgeto makeyourdecision
to go faster reallywork.Without solving some of your barriers and
rough spots on the track, you just make mistakes at a higher
speed. lt has beensaid manytimes by manygood riders:First do it
right, then add the speed. "Right" is what works bestfor you and
producesthe bestlaptimes.Setyourplanthen addthe speed.That'syour
starting pface.Canvouapplythis?
Use practiceto your bestadvantage.lf you'reone of the fastest
ridersthat day,go out in front of the practicesessionso you won't haveto
cut througha lot of traffic.lf you'reone of the slowerriders,go out
towardsthe end of the group and stayout of the distractingtraffic.
Practice : lnformation '= Think
Come back from each practice session with informa-
tion you can use to think with. Whetheryou areworkingon some
aspectof your racingor just takinga relaxedride,havea solidideaof what
went on duringthe lapsyou havejust run.lf you have a hard time
remembering what you have just done, your attention is so stuck
on something that you don't have enough of it left to observe
yourself. This happensmorethanwe like,and it makesit difficultto
operatewith understanding. Whenyou can'tremember, yourpreciousten-
dollar'sworth of attention
is being spent to such a degreeon something
elsethat you only havetime to operate.Thiswill leaveyou shofton under-
standingand makesit difficultto tell whatworksandwhat doesn't.
Waste Paper, Not Track Time
Paperis cheap-useit to makedrawingsof the turnsandto
showyourselfwhatyou'redoingin them-makeX's and O's on the draw-
ingsto indicatethe RPs,POT,Productsandyour planof attackto get
aroundthe coursefaster.Drawoneturn at a time unlessyou havesome
esses.
 Makeyourown drawings-don'tusetrackdiagrams- What
counts is how the turn looks to you. Trackdiagramsaref inefor help-
but theydon't include
find theirway to the grandstands,
ing spectators
camberchanges,roughspots,exactlocationsof uphillsanddownhills,etc.

Track Drawings

Make your track drawings as exact as possible, Anyone

who canridea motorcyclecan makea simplelinedrawingof a turn' lt
doesn'ttakeaftisticability.lf you find it difficultto makea turn drawing
afteryou'veriddenthe track,sleepingthroughart classwasn'tthe prob-
lem,you just don't know the turn. Partsof it arestill unclearto you.
A drawing makes your thoughts one step closer to the real thing.
Paperisn'tasphalt,but it is closerto it thanthe stuffthat thoughtsare
madeof. Drawingsget you involvedin a verydirectway with what is going
on whileyou'reriding.

Drawings bring your

TT{g BIKE uINIDADS thoughts one step closer
TOO MUCH WHEN E ,or, to the track. Work out
problem turns on paper.
HOI-Dlr OrJ OvgR- I Have you ever tried it?
THE CR.EST Airlltg I
Exr-r 6 *3.
btr
CHANGE PqI SO
THAT THE. BTKE ISN'T
AccetsennrNG qu\TE
So H,\RD oVER..THE

ENTRANeE Tn /-JJ4f*\
TuRN**4 rs"A V5 /
Ll TTt-g B\T ut{cLErS<'
OVERATL PRDDtrCT \S
uNCLEAR ) Mt\KlN&
t.AE, RDLL ir oxr ,
AND OFtr IN

D . S.,b- Frodurcts
O: POr
99

' .': =r1.- =i.;A;*J:*:i,

 Fast : Fast
You gain more time in the fast turns than you do in
slow ones. Youwill find, as everyriderhas,that a littlefasterin the fast
turns makesmuch more differencethan a littlefasterin the slow ones.
Youcovermoredistancein the fastturns,which bringsup youroverall
average faster.Remember, it takesonlyaboutone mph higheraverageto
go onesecondfasterper lap.A typicalslowturn maybe 1O0-150 feet in
length,whilea fastone may be 300 to 900 feet or more.Thatis a larger
partof the trackin whichyouraveragecan be higher.

Racer's Tools

(1) Lookat your ridingfrom the standpointthat you intendto

improve. Setyourselflap-timetargetsfor the day.(3) Makesureyou
(2)
comeoff the trackwith informationyou can use.(4) Makeeverypractice
sessioncountevenmoreby workingon a pafticularpointwhileyou're
riding.(5) Don'tbecomediscouraged. (6) Readoverthe materialin this
bookagainafter you haveridden.lt will makemoresenseto you then.
Can you see it working
for you?

100
 A pagefrom Wayne
Rainey'snotebook.

g"dx,?Eoop
:iiiii EFFoRE rHe-NE^gEl,{ ffiP-.s"sN Jilt?
"ff' THEN :L N\Y-eenr
Rep Cor'oe Do\N'N SH\ FT
ovER
iiii cN r THEN s-rARTtlovirla
LEF- ' TF\EN 5-
riHE Lr=trT AND"G\N -niE.
it 151N\RD= BA.K oN \N
t\rRorn:=
i* 3TART Rcuur\JQ THE coR\rER/s-rn.rl-|,ENtts&
LEtrt
iiii cENTER cF'fir€
iiii AND GRADu\LLY RN\S\NA rft€ grg t-tP>-fR\lGHr'
li+ T\it* Bo*lo 'tHF sHoRT sHurE INTD TURNT1AJO
fii As s APPROAC\{TUR\r TWb x: sTART-ro LEAN
iu Rrc*Ht \Bcur trlVE F.=gr FRoMTHE c!"rrslDE'
:;i;i;i;

i:r SDGE OF THE TRACK, RouurNeThE fHRDTTI-E

-rHRu
\/a cFF/ LEANTIsGRrei-l-r AND Gor\lG r$rz
i
. ce'uree oF THF TURN AtrotlT s/q THRDTTLE '
sfARrS T0 T\GI-trE\r yPr: ROL\-
AS 1i1+En-reN
THg otJ uelsl\N& T!\E- B\K-E1OWAKDS
-11*R,DT11-F
STgqlq*t' s A{'\ GolNq'
n*E INSIDE PoLE . IHEN
g SHTIT OtrF
tURt\l TIARSE IS A*PPROA,CAITJG '
OIJE GEA[< Af
T1+g- 'n+ROt-r\-E-, Db\)NS\+\FT
-Tl+F.-t<e> coNg. AnD Trrpx rHe FT\oNrAJI)
T1+E
At{D RDt.t-
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-THE LI]SES \T5
TT+ROTTI€. BACI< 6N AS
-lrhEN S'f"f SIRA\G*\TT?^^
BNxn<rsG-SV
I H'J;H16' {i.-"- \xrr-? -ruRN rc\^r<' = AT'\
INS\DE P6UE AS:tr ELT{rIEI<THE
ii ON T1*E
I AM a ,\ a.,\

T\.1RN, ROuursG THE q5S BAo' CN,

FNEreE{pSoMTHg-0\^TSlDEicoRxlE-R"
EDGE otr TFtg cE''fiEtc. oF Trtg
AxlO f*exr :tr AM LEANIINQ rf OVgR \+AR>
I=oe, THE- Ex tT OF I_HE \1JRN} .
liii::::ii:ii:
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
l'm not one for giving out
advice.I don't want to give it
away.especiallyat the track
or raceoaYwnen someone
has a particularquestron.But
I wont screwa guy up and
give him wrong or dangerous
advrce.
You are tho one who hae
to ride the track. A
nickel's worth of bad
advice could cost a lot
more ($1Ol on the track.
102
Advice
Ask Your Best Friend: You
Oneword of adviceaboutpeoplegivingyou adviceabout
your riding-you are your best advisor. You'rethe one sittingin the sad-
dle and riding.No one hasbetterinformationaboutwhat is goingon in
your headthan you. Dealwith yeg! own decisions, y9!rr barriers,
ysgf products and reference points, yggg points of timing and
attention-not someoneelse's.
Sort lt Out for Yourself
Theway your ridinglooksto someonebesidethe trackhas
nothingto do with how you arethinkingaboutit. In the endyou haveto
sort it out for yourself.Anotherrider'sline,evenif he goesfasterthanyou,
mightnot be the correctonefor you.Informationcan be valuable,but you
haveto watchwhereit's comingf rom andwho'sgivingit. Otherridersare
,cftenoperatingfrom theirown falseinformation. Pickit up andyou will try
to makeit work,too. lt canwasteyourtime and energy.
I havetriednot to giveyou adviceaboutridingin this material-
instead,I'vetriedto explainwhat happenswhileyou'reon a motorcycle,
andwhat a ridermustthinkof whenspeedand precisionareimportant.
lt's your job to decide how they apply to you.Howdoyoufeelaboutit?
Behind the race face, the
glare of concentration.
Pumping up the adrena-
lin or going over his plan?

"w
w
:t
CHAPTER FIFTEEN

How to Fall
Relax-You're J ust Road-Testing
Your Leathers

Threereallyimportantfactorsaboutfallingoff a motorcycle
are:Whatyou do whenthe time comesto unload-Howyou keepthis bad
situationfrom gettingworse-andHowyou feelaboutthe businessof
fallingoff.

Be Willing to Fall Off

Let'sconsiderthe third factorfirst. As a racer,you shouldbe

Wt!.!ngto fall off. You don't haveto Wan!to, but beingwilling to is very
different,and it hasto do with yourattitudeaboutfalling.lf you ridea
motorcycle-and especially if you raceone-fallingis an activityyou're
likelyto becomeinvolvedwith. lt goeswith the territoryof riding.lf you
resist falling, you are more likely to fall. This is the key-it worksvery
similarlyto a targetf ixation.That'swhereyou lookat an objectyou don't
wantto hit,then becomeso f ixatedon the threatthat you don't lookfor a
way out and hit it anyway.Fallingis similarin that the moreyou resistit-or
fixateon the ideaof not falling-themoreit will takeyourattentionaway
from your riding.Youcan spendyour entireten-dollar'sworth of attention
resistingfalling,then becauseyou haveno attentionleft to operatethe
machine,fallfrom a mistake.
Hereagainis the magicof the decision. Yousimplydecide
that you mightfall off andacceptthat it can happen.at anytime.anywhere.
Youhaveto lookat it and say,"okay,I canfall off oneof thesethings.I
, r l j u s t m i g h td i ed o i n gi t . "
m i g h tb r e a ka b o n eo r h a v ea h e l lo f a s l i d e o
All of thesethingscan and do happento motorcycleriders.So,get it out
of the way by takinga lookat it andthen makingyourdecisionf romthere.
I wouldn'tadviseracingto anyonewho wasn'twillingto fall down.

FallingInsurance
No onewantsto fall down,but onceyou'vedoneit and it
comesout alright,fallingisn'tas fearsomeanymore.Your best
insurance against falling is to not resist it.
lf you do fall, however,here'show to comeout of it with the
leastamountof damageto your body:

Let Go

1. Let go of the bike: lt is muchlargerand heavierthanyou

andverylikelyto travelfurtherdownthe roadthanyou will. lf you'rehold-
ing onto it, you'regoingalongfor the ride.Youwantto minimizeyour
motionso your new leathersdon'tget holesgroundthroughthem.Motor-
cycleshavehardthingsstickingout theirsidesthat cancatchon the
groundandsendthem rollingand doingendos.lf you'restill attachedto
the bike,you'll do the same.When you let go, the differencebetweenyour
weightandthe bike'swill generally dropyou off at someotherplace.
2. Relax: lf you loseit, just relax.Don'tdo anything.Theact of
relaxingwill usuallygetyou awayfrom the bike.lf you extendyourarmsor
legsto try to breakyourfall,you will be providingyourselfwith a pivotthat
can sendyou flyingor tumbling.Whenyour body'srigidit's easierto break
things.lf you'rerelaxed,skiddingalonglikea ragdoll,it's moredifficult
to breakbones. -:Gl
,61 In a fall, let go. Motor-
cycles are out of your
control once they begin
to slide on the sidecov-
.."'!. ri. ers. Holding on will
..1" r:
'$,,i'
tu.,' extend your trip.
t*'$js

lfl,*,,'** Relaxing completely will

spread out any impact
and help protect against
broken bones. Scuff up
a lot of the leatherc a lat-
tle bit, not scuff a little
part a lot.

xh*

t!*fwl$xx*""; ;i$sii*c$$1ffi*Sa**
 Relaxingalsoputsmoresurfaceareaontothe groundand
spreadsthe impactovera largerarea.Forexample,if you weigh 150
poundsandfall on your palm,that threesquareinchesof yourpalmwill
takea forceof about50 poundsper squareinchfrom the fall alone-the
forceof that impactwill increasegreatlywith the speed.lf you landon
your back,armsand legsinstead,you'refallingonto a couplesquarefeet
which bringsthe loadper squareinchdown belowone pound.A pound
droppedon your handwill hurt a littlebit. Fiftypoundsdroppedon your
h a n dw i l l h u r tl i k eh e l l .
Relaxing spreads the impact over a larger area. This is
oneof the techniquesusedby stuntmenand martialartspeopleto lessen
the possibilities of painand damageto theirbodies.
Probablyeveryone hasheardof exceptional situationswhere
the riderslidesout,then climbson top of the bikeandwaitsfor it to stop.
He nevertouchesthe groundand is unhurt.Youdecideif you wantto try
this,but understand that the worst kindof fall is whenthe bikeis sliding
alongand somethingcatcheswhichf lipsit overon the otherside.lf you're
s t i l lh a n g i n go n - y o ug e t l a u n c h e dT.h i si s c a l l e d" h i g h - s i d i n gw" h e n
you'rethrownoverthe high sideof a bikein a turn."Low-siding"is when
the bikeis leaningoverandthe tireswashout,droppingit straightdown.

Stop Before Standing

Oneotherimportantaspectof fallingis that sometimesyou

can'ttell when you'vestopped.Strangeas this may seem,it's true.When
fluid that governsyoursenseof balance
you fall,it upsetsthe inner-ear
and motion.You can think you are actually stopped while still
sliding along at 1OOmph. lt can makefor an excitingtime if you decide
to standup beforethe slidinghasstopped.lt hashappenedto me and
l'veseenit happento otherriders.Youwind up taking15-footstrides
down the track,and you look likea kangaroo.To avoidthis, countto three
whenyouthinkyou havestopped,then lookaroundto seeif the skyand
groundarewherethey'resupposedto be.Some examples?

Practice Falls

As I mentioned,you preparefor the possibilityof falling by

relaxing.Here'san exerciseto helpyou do that:
1. Standup in the middleof a carpetedroom,or use a
gym that'sequippedwith wrestlingmats.
2. Extendbothyourarmsto the sidesto shoulderheight'
3. Commandthemto relaxandjust let themfall.lf you notice
any resistance in your musclesafteryou havemadethe command,do it
overuntilyour armsjust flop downto yoursides.
4 . S t a n di n t h e m i d d l eo f t h e r o o ma n dc o m m a n dy o u rw h o l e
bodyto relax.Just let go of it and let it fall. lf you do it honestlyyour legs
will bucklefirst andyou won't fall straightforwardor straightbackwards-
106 you'llcrumpleto a heapon the floor.Do it untilyou cancompletelyrelax
your bodyon command.
lf you wantto be creativewith this drillyou cando it on soft
m a t sw h i l ew a l k i n go r r u n n i n gY. o uc a na l s od o i t o n a t r a m p o l i n eT.h e
importantthing is to relaxthe bodyon commandso it willfall relaxedand
spreadthe impactovera largearea.I haveroad-testedthis techniqueat
over 130 mph and can personallytestifythat for most motorcycleacci-
dentsyou'llhavea muchbetterchanceof avoidinginjuryif you hit the
groundrelaxed.Doyouagree?

After A Fall

lf you try to dodge oncoming traffic, there is a greater

chance you'll be hit. Lookat it from the point of view of the other riders-
they havea chanceto avoidyou if you stayin one spot.lf you'reup and
movingin a panic,they don't knowwhichwayyou'llrun.lf you'restopped,
they havesomethingto avoid.Also,it's muchbetterto havea leg run over
by anothermotorcyclethanto be hit by onewhileyou'restandingup.
A planof action,suchas relaxingwhenyou fall off, is likewear-
ing a helmet.Youdon't needit untilyouhit the road,thenyou reallyneed
it. Beingwillingto fall off will helpkeepyou off the ground;knowinghow
to do it can minimizeyour injuries.

A motorcycle and rider

will widen their arc of
travel after a craeh,
except in heavily banked
turns.

107
CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Sponsorship
There ls No Free Lunch
l'll get to the nittyof sponsorship
right away:you needone of
threethings-orall three-toget sponsorship support.
1. Knowsomeonewho is in a positionto sponsoryou.
2. Work hardpromotingyourselfand covereverypossible
sponsor.
3. Be so goodat racingthat otherpeoplewantyou on their
teamcarryingtheirstickersand leathers.

A P.R. World

In most cases,peoplewant to sponsorridersthey like.

Sometimes, that'smoreimportantthanyourabilityto ride,but usuallyit
just helpsa lot.Yourpotentialsponsormaypictureyou on the winner's
standat Daytonasayinggreatthingsabouthim. He mayjust pictureyou at
the club racessayinggoodthingsabouthis productto others.Are you the
kindof personthat othersbelieve? Yoursponsor-orpotentialsponsor-
mustunderstand onething if he is to be at all successful.
We live in a
P.R. (public relationsl world and good P.R. helps. lf you just expect
to be a club racerand nothingfurther,this doesn'texcludeyou f romthe
fruitsof sponsorship. Localracinghasbeenthe spawninggroundfor
someof the most successful productlinesevar.Have younoticed
this?

His Honor, The Racer

Racersareopinionleadersin theirfields.Thatfield is motor-

cycling.Throughoutracinghistory,the majorityof productsthat aresport-
or performance-related haveshown up on the racetrack,then on many
streetbikes.
lf you haveracedand havefrienos,you will noticethat your
credibilityhasincreased amongthem.Yourfriendsandtheirfriendsare
dependingon youto givethemthe hot tip on performance partsand even
on what biketo buy.An opinionleaderis somewhatof a celebrity. You,as a
108 racer,mustfulfillthe requirementsof a celebrity.lf you haveanysuccessin
racing,be willingto answerendlessquestionsaboutmotorcycles. Your
sponsorshould understand that you arewillingto promotehis products.
Whenyou area greatracer,nobodywill expectyou to do anyof this
becauseyou will havebecomeoverpaidand cocky.Not really-butthe
winningwill be first priority.
The basisfor sponsorship, whetheryou area good raceror not,
is the exchangeyou can makewith the sponsor.What canyou do for him
andwhat is he goingto do for you?
Step One is ge(tlng the
sponsor. Step Two is
spreading his name
around. Step Three is
win, win, win.

Decide, Plan and Do!

It's up to you to decideuponand sellto your potential

sponsorsthe exactplanyou havefor gettinghis nameout intothe world in
the bestpossiblelight.Planfor activitiessuchas arrangingfor articles,
makingyour pit areaintoa soft of minitradeshowfor his products,show-
ing him that you havea sphereof influence,pointingout that racingis-
and hasbeen-goodpromotion,and anythingelseyou candreamup to
show him how it will benefithim.Thendo itt
Keepyour sponsorinformedof what you'redoing,or propose
that you will informhim.Takepictures,write lettersand keephim up
to date. Canyou do it?

Proposals

Proposals shouldbe well-organized and lookprofessional. lf

you outlinea greatseasonof promotionand show up with a dirtyor disor-
ganizedproposal,he will seethroughit from the start.Hewon't be confi-
dentthat you arethe conscientious, well-organizedpersonhe needsto do
the job. Youmust beginto think of yourself
as an employeeof a
companyin which you own sharesof stock.
Don't promiseanythingyou can't deliver.Thinr out the year
 aheadandwrite up a planyou canactuallycarryout.The numberof com-
paniesthat will payyou to run stickersat the amateurlevelis dwindling
and hasalmostdisappeared. Don'tbasea sponsorship packageon the fact
you will run his stickerson your bike.Too manyriderswill run stickersfor
a quartof oil or just for fun. Designyour packageso it will standon its own
whetheryou havestickerson the bikeor not.Proposeto makeyourself
availabfe for promotionalactivities.enythoughtsonthis?

The Year Ahead

The most importantpart of any sponsorshippackageis one
that you and yoursponsormustboth be well awareof. I haveseenit over-
lookedcountlesstimeswith unfortunate results.At the beginningof the
yearcompaniesarelookingaroundto seehow theywill spendtheir pro-
motiondollars.Theyareenthusiastic andexpectthat the comingyearwill
be good. Theyhavedollarsthat theyfeelcompelledto spend.Theadver-
t i s i n gp e o p l ea r ep u m p i n gt h e mu p f o r t h e c o m i n gs e a s o nl.t i s w i n t e ra n d
the grasswill be greenerin the spring.Yougo in with a good proposaland
everything looksright.You'repumped,the companyis goingto giveyou
$5OO and all the productyou can use.lt will be a help.
Theseasonbeginsand you go aboutpromotingthe product
as yousaidyou would.Whenthe seasonends,you go backto yourspon-
sor to seeabout nextyearand he says,"What did you do for me this year?"
Youtalkedup the productand spenta lot of time keepingup yourcommit-
ment,but now it all slipsawayf romyou and it seemspettyto mention
eachtime you talkedto a groupof riderson the Sundayrideto pump his
product,eachtime you carefullyplacedstickerson the john walls,every
timeyou got someoneto believeyou aboutit.

Here's the Deal

lf the sponsor spends money on you, he had better be

willing to spend more money telling people about it. Sponsorship
is a two-waystreet.Youdon't get somethingfor nothingand neitherdoes
he.lt takesan efforton both of your partsto get the word out.On the club
levelhe shouldbe supplyingyou with bannersand pinsand stickersto
giveaway,and maybean ad in QycteftletyS to commemorateyour good
performance. A raceprogramad,for instance,helpshim get his nameout
and alsomakesyou betterknownat the sametime.Thesponsorbuildshis
riderand his productat the sametime.lt's a P.R.world,andthe morethey
seeof you and the product,the betterP.R.it is.You'vegot to haveyour
sponsoragreeto backyou throughoutthe year-win,loseor draw.
lf the sponsorwon't backyou in this way,find anotherspon-
sor.Your guy doesn'tunderstand what he is sponsoring you for in the first
place,andyou will losehim when he loseshis initialenthusiasm. At the
end of the year,if he hasusedhis resources to put you and his productout
there,he won't askyou what you did for him-he will know.As riders,we
110 haveto eliminatethis ideathat thereis somekindof magicthat goesalong
 with racing.A win-or lots of wins-will not do anythingfor the sponsor.
lt wilf be his follow-upthat getsthe word out.Doyousetit?

Your P.R.Program

Evenwithout a bunchof first placesyou can still do plentyto

makeyourselfknown.Racingis stillsuchan unknownquantity-inthe U.S.
especially-thatyou can promoteyourselfon late-nightradiotalk shows,
public-access TV andtakingpartin civic-minded activitiesduringthe off-
seasonsuchas talkingto boys'clubs.Starta "Getracingoff the streets
and ontothe track"programthat mightsavea life or makea racerof
someone. Youcan evenplugyoursponsorhere.Localnewspapers are
alwayshungryto fill spacewith storiesaboutlocalpeople.Youcan go into
one of themwith the samecivic-minded approachand it wouldbe difficult
for themto turn you down.Urgeotherridersto do the same.lt mayseem
you'resharingthe spotlight,but in the end it makesracingmorepopular,
which givessponsorsa betterreasonto participate.Any examptes?

Satellite Sponsorship

Yourkeytargetis onewell-knownsponsor.Thisallowsyour
othersponsorssomethingto identifywith, somethinglargerto be con-
nectedwith thanjust Joe Smith,racer.Theyrevolvearoundand baskin
the lightof the better-known centralsponsoring company.The possible
advantages of beinga satellitelinkedto a largecompanywith a multi-
million-dollar advertising budgetis veryappealingto the smallerbusiness-
man.Youaredoinghim a favorby linkinghim with yourcentralsponsor.
Forexample, when a new man is signedonto a factoryteam,
in manycaseshe is stillan unprovenrider-highpotentialobviously, but
he hasnot yet won anyraces.still, a newteamriderfor anyfactoryhas
littledifficultyin findingsponsorsthat will pay handsomely for a patchon
the leathers. Thesponsoris now connectedto the factoryteamandthe
factoryadvertising campaigns.The rider,in this case,is of secondary
importance. Thesponsormaypaythe rider$b,ooofor pracingthe patchor
stickers,but the factorymay usephotosin millionsof dollarsworth of ads,
postersand promotionalitems.Some examples?

Big Fish

Landinga big sponsorcan be usefulin helpingyou gather

satellitesponsors.Goingto a big companywith a small,but effectiveplan
that will not drainthe promotionalbudgetcan be of morevalueto you than
is goingin with an expensiveprogramthat maybe turneddown.lt is still
the sameideaas above.Largecompaniesliketo get bargains, too, andthe
smallercompanyfeelsconnected.Remember, yourcontracttermsmay be
keptconfidentialif you chooseso the othersponsorsyou approachdon't
knowwhetheryou are getting$1O,OOO or $100. Keepit that way. 111

,;,.;a+oj.- - -,; - -!,+Ae:,:.,

 Where To Fish

Thesizeof the pondyou fish in for sponsorsis important.A

factoryis a largef ish in a largepond,worldwide.Theyhavethe moneyto
buythe best.lf you arenot the best-yet-startf ishingin a smallerpondto
beginwith.Youmayonlyget a set of shocksfrom your localaccessory
store,but that now makesyou appearconnectedto somethinglarger.You
area satelliteand revolvearoundyoursponsoras well.lf you cando a
greatjob of promotingthe shockstheremightbe somegas moneythe
nexttime you talkto the sponsor.Plastertheirnameovereverything you
can,andevenspendmoneyon yourown to primethe pump.(lt makesyou
looklikeyou'regettingmorefrom yoursponsor,and a newsponsorwill
expectto paymorefrom what he hasseenin the past.)Moveup the spon-
sor ladderone sizepondat a time.Youmayevenstartin a largepuddle,
thisapplytoyou?
but at least it is wet. Does

Over the Limit

Onceyou beginto catchsponsors,don'tgo overthe limit-

throw backthe smallones.lf you comeout on racedaywith 30 stickerson
your bikeand leathers,your sponsormayhaveto askwherehis nameis.
Pickthe bestsponsorand makehim the centralfigure,then don'tcrowd
your space.A few sponsors,threeto f ive,still allow everyoneto get his
shareof exposurewithoutfeelinglost.Thinkof yourown time also.You
won't be ableto do as gooda job promoting10 productsas you will with
onlythree.

That's Show Biz

Sponsorship is the businessend of the racinggame.lt has

littleor nothingto do with the ridingitselfexceptfor oneveryimportant
thing: having enough money to operate your program buys you
time to concentrate on yourself as a rider. Spendingallyourtime
doingyourjob to makemoneyfor racingcanget veryold,veryfast.lf you
c o u l ds p e n de i g h th o u r se a c hd a yo n y o u rr i d i n gs k i l l sr a t h e tr h a nw o r k i n g
on your bikeor at the job,you wouldseesomedramaticimprovements.
Oneof the originalideasof sponsorship was to let skilledart-
istsandcraftsmenhavethe timeto createtheirwork.Useyoursponsor-
ship to createyourselfas a betterrider.
Treatsponsorsin a business-like and friendlymanner.
Increased salesis theirbottomline.Keepthe businessseparate from your
riding,but don'tforgetthat it is partof the threemainfactorsfor success.
Theyare:Goodriding,goodequipmentand good sponsors.

112
Factory Rides

Sponsorship alsobringsaboutthe possibilityof a factoryride.

Thefactories,andthe peoplethey listento, areverygoodat spottingwho
hasthe potentialtobe a top-notchrider.
A word of caution:eventhoughit hasbecomeevermore
popularto takedrugsin this society,this is somethingthat smartteam Taking drugs and racing is
managersare on the lookoutfor. Riderswho havea reputationfor partying crazy. I don't want to nde
with those guys and usually
arenot beinglookedon with favor.Drugsarelikea decreasing-radius turn I don't have to.
-they fool you into goingin too fast,then makeit veryhardfor you
to get out.
In closingon the subjectof sponsorship, a writtenagreement
is alwaysin order.lf you obtainsponsorship, get the termsin writing-at
leastuntilyou seehow eachotheroperates. Sometimesit's betterto pay
for suppliesthanto get themwith invisiblestringsattached.Hereinliesa
greattruth: lt often costs more to get things free than it does to
pay for them. Keepup youragreed-upon exchangewith yoursponsor
and it shouldwork out fine.

From your sponaor you

get mon6y and stickers,
etc. Money is payment
for how well you expose
the stickers and his

d
name. Magazine photos
really pump-up sponsors.

sFffi
9{tstof
$ovgord

d^6

stt$s$s\s\\
113
A Parting Word
Manythingshavenot beenincludedin this bookbecausethey
do not haveto do with the actualridingof a motorcycle. Tracksafety
information, machinepreparation and othervaluabledataarenot in my
area.Muchof this hasalreadybeencoveredin the publication"Howto
Fly"by Joe Ziegler,who runsthe PenguinRacingSchoolat Loudon,New
Hampshire and Bridgehampton, NewYork.
By the sametoken,allthereis to sayaboutridingis not in
t h e s ep a g e sT. h em a t e r i a l t h ai ts i n c l u d e di s w o r k a b l ea n dw i l l i m p r o v e
your ridingif it's applied.lt is meantto be appliedandto be used.
Spend your $1O wisely, and most of all, have fun riding!
Rider Checklist

1. Oil at Proper Level

A. Engine
B.Transmission
C. Chain
D. Forks
2. Wheels Are In Line
3. Forks Don't Bind
4. Chain Adiusted
5. Tire Pressures Are Gorrect
A. ColdPressures Front- Rear-
B. Hot PressuresFront Rear-

6. Steering Head Bearings Tight

7. Front Axle CaP Bolts Tight
8. Axles Tight
9. Wheels Are Balanced
1O. Gontrols Are Comfortable and Usable
1 1. Fork Travel Correct
(Forksshouldnot bottomout or top out)
12. Shock Travel Correct
but shouldusemost of the shock
(Shocksshouldnot bottomout excessively
travel.)
13. Throttle OPeratesSmoothlY
free play.)
(Doesn'tstick,no excessive
14. Brakes Work Well
A. Padsare makinggoodcontacton disc.
B. Padsarenot bindingdisc.
C. EnoughPadmaterial.
15. Tires Have Enough Rubber
A. Unevenly wornor steppedtirescancausehandlingdifficulties'
B. Old racingtiresdry out and become"greasy'"
plenty
c. Racetireswork bestwhenthey havejust beenscrubbedin and have
of rubber.
16. Enough Fuel
17. Master Link in Place
(Masterlink shouldbe safetywired unlessit is an endlesschain.)

18. Someone to Record l-aPTimes

Mostof theseitemsare not thingsthat a technicalinspectorlooksat.Theyare
itemsthat directlyaffectyour abilityto put your equipmentto useas a racer'
Theyensurethatyou canmakeit aroundthe trackwithoutmajormishaps
(enough fuel,etc.).
 (Usetheseandmake
copiesfor your notes.)
Race Day Record O
Date
Track
R a c i n gO r g a n i z a t i o n
Length of Track
Numberof Turns
WeatherConditions
AmbientTemperature
Elevation
Classes
to be Run
TiresRun:Brand
Compound/Number Front- Rear
Tire Pressure:
Front-Cold Rear-Cold
Front-Hot Rear-Hot
Tire Mileage:Front Rear
Jetting
Mains Pilot Air Correction
-Air Screws
Needle Slide F l o a tL e v e l - O t h e r
Gasoline
Type
G a s / O i lR a t i o
lgnitionTiming
Spark Plug Heat Range
C a m T i m i n g :I n t a k e Exhaust
Valve Adjustment: Intake Exhaust
Gearing
Countershaft RearSprocket- OverallRatio
ShockDampening
- Rebound
Front-Compression Rear-Compression-
Rebound
SpringSettings
Front- Pre-Load Rear-Pre-Load
Lap Times
Practice Races
PositionEachLap
PointsEarned
Prize Money Won
Comments
Rider Ghecklist
1. Oil at Proper Level
A. Engine
B.Transmission
C.Chain
D. Forks
2. Wheels Are ln Line
3. Forks Don't Bind
4. Chain Adiusted
5. Tire Pressures Are Correct
A. ColdPressures Front- Rear-
B. Hot PressuresFront- Rear-

6. Steering Head Bearings Tight

7. Front Axle GaPBolts Tight
8. Axles Tight
9. Wheels Are Batanced
10. Controls Are Comfortable and Usable
1 1. Fork Travel Correct
(Forksshouldnot bottomout ortop out)
12. ShockTravel Correct
but shouldusemost of the shock
(Shocksshouldnot bottomout excessively
travel.)
13. Throttle OPeratesSmoothlY
free play')
(Doesn'tstick,no excessive
14. Brakes Work Well
A. Padsare makinggoodcontacton disc'
B. Padsare not bindingdisc.
C. EnoughPadmaterial'
15. Tires Have Enough Rubber
A. Unevenlyworn or steppedtirescancausehandlingdifficulties'
B. Old racingtiresdry out and become"greasy"'
plenty
C. Racetireswork bestwhenthey havejust beenscrubbedin and have
of rubber'
16. Enough Fuel
17. Master Link in Place
(Master|inkshou|dbesafetywiredun|essitisanend|esschain.)
18. Someone to Record l-aPTimes
Theyare
Mostof theseitemsarenot thingsthat a technicalinspectorlooksat'
put your to
equipment useas a racer'
itemsthat directlyaffectyour abilityto
Theyensurethatyoucanmakeitaroundthetrackwithoutmajormishaps
(enoughfuel,etc.).
 (Usetheseandmake
copiesfor your notes.)
Race Day Record @
Date
Track
R a c i n gO r g a n i z a t i o n
Lengthof Track
Numberof Turns
Weather Conditions
Ambient Temperature
Elevation
Classes
to be Run
TiresRun:Brand
Compound/Number Front- Rear
Tire Pressure:
Front-Cold Rear-Cold
Front-Hot Rear-Hot
Tire Mileage:Front Rear
Jetting
Mains Pilot Air Correction
-Air Screws
Needle Slide Float Level Other
Gasoline
Type
Gas/Oil Ratio
l g n i t i o nT i m i n g
S p a r k P l u gH e a t R a n g e
C a m T i m i n g :I n t a k e Exhaust
ValveAdjustment:Intake Exhaust
Gearing
Countershaft RearSprocket- OverallRatio
ShockDampening
Front-Compression-Rebound Rear-Compression - Rebound
SpringSettings
Front- Pre-Load Rear-Pre-Load
Lap Times
Practice Races
Position Each Lap
P o i n t sE a r n e d
Prize Money Won
Comments
Rider Ghecklist
1. Oil at Proper Level
A. Engine
B.Transmission
C .C h a i n
D. Forks
2. Wheels Are In Line
3. Forks Don't Bind
4. Chain Adjusted
5. Tire Pressures Are Gorrect
A. ColdPressuresFront- Rear-
B. Hot Pressures
Front- Rear-
6. Steering Head BearingsTight
7. Front Axle Cap Bolts Tight
8. AxlesTight
9. Wheels Are Balanced
1O. Gontrols Are Gomfortable and Usable
1 1. Fork Travel Gorrect
(Forksshouldnot bottomout ortop out)
12. Shock Travel Correct
but shouldusemost of the shock
(Shocksshouldnot bottomout excessively
travel.)
13. Throttle Operates SmoothlY
free play.)
(Doesn'tstick,no excessive
14. Brakes Work Well
A. Padsare makinggoodcontacton disc.
B. Padsarenot bindingdisc.
C. Enoughpad material.
15. Tires Have Enough Rubber
A. Unevenly wornor steppedtirescancausehandlingdifficulties.
B. Oldracingtiresdry out andbecome"greasy."
C. Racetireswork bestwhen they havejust beenscrubbedin and haveplenty
of rubber.
16. Enough Fuel
17. Master Link in Place
(Masterlinkshouldbe safetywiredunlessit is an endlesschain.)
18. Someone to Record l-aPTimes
Mostof theseitemsare not thingsthat a technicalinspectorlooksat. Theyare
itemsthat directlyaffectyour abilityto put your equipmentto useas a racer.
Theyensurethat youcanmakeit aroundthe trackwithoutmajormishaps
(enoughfuel,etc.).
 (Usetheseand make
copiesfor your notes.)
Race Day Record @
Date
Track
R a c i n gO r g a n i z a t i o n
Length of Track
Numberof Turns
WeatherConditions
AmbientTemPerature
Elevation
Classesto be Run
TiresRun:Brand
Compound/Number Front- Rear
Front-Cold
Tire Pressure: Rear-Cold
Front-Hot Rear-Hot

Tire Mileage: Front

Jetting
Mains Pilot Air Correction-Air Screws

Needle Slide Float Level Other

Type
Gasoline
G a s / O i lR a t i o
l g n i t i o nT i m i n g
S p a r k P l u gH e a t R a n g e
CamTiming:Intake Exhaust
Valve Adjustment: Intake Exhaust
Gearing
Countershaft RearSprocket- OverallRatio
ShockDampening
Front-Com pression- Rebound - Rebound
Rear-Compression
Spring Settings
Front- Pre-Loao Rear-Pre-Load

LapTimes
Practice Races
P o s i t i o nE a c hL a P
PointsEarned
Prize Money Won
Comments
Rider Ghecklist
1. Oil at Proper Level
A. Engine
B.Transmission
C.Chain
D. Forks
2. Wheels Are In Line
3. Forks Don't Bind
4. Ghain Adjusted
5. Tire Pressures Are Gorrect
A. ColdPressuresFront- Rear-
B. Hot PressuresFront- Rear-
6. Steering Head Bearings Tight
7. Front Axle Gap Bolts Tight
8. Axles Tight
9. Wheels Are Balanced
1O. Controls Are Gomfortable and Usable
1 1. Fork Travel Gorrect
(Forksshouldnot bottomout or top out)
12. ShockTravel Gorrect
(Shocksshouldnot bottomout excessively
but shouldusemostof the shock
travel.)
13. Throttle Operates Smoothly
free play.)
(Doesn'tstick,no excessive
14. Brakes Work Well
A. Padsare makinggoodcontacton disc.
B. Padsare not bindingdisc.
C. Enoughpad material.
15. Tires Have Enough Rubber
A. Unevenly wornor steppedtirescancausehandlingdifficulties.
B. Old racingtiresdry out and become"greasy."
C. Racetireswork bestwhen they havejust beenscrubbedin and haveplenty
of rubber.
1 6 . E n o u g hF u e l
17. Master Link in Place
(Masterlink shouldbe safetywired unlessit is an endlesschain.)
18. Someone to Record lap Times
Mostof theseitemsare not thingsthat a technicalinspectorlooksat. Theyare
itemsthat directlyaffectyour abilityto put yourequipmentto useas a racer.
Theyensurethat you can makeit aroundthe trackwithout majormishaps
(enough fuel,etc.).
 (Usetheseand make
copiesfor your notes.)
Race Day Record 4
Date
Track
RacingOrganization
Lengthof Track
Numberof Turns
Weather Conditions
Ambient TemPerature
Elevation
to be Run
Classes
TiresRun:Brand
Compound/Number Front- Rear
Tire Pressure:Front-Cold Rear-Cold

Front-Hot Rear-Hot

T i r e M i l e a g e :F r o n t
Jetting
Mains Pilot Air Correction-Air Screws

Needle Slide FloatLevel Other

G a s o l i n eT y p e
G a s / O i lR a t i o
l g n i t i o nT i m i n g
SparkPlugHeatRange
C a mT i m i n g :l n t a k e Exhaust
ValveAdjustment: Intake Exhaust
Gearing
Countershaft RearSprocket Overall Ratio

ShockDampening
Front-Compression-
Rebound Rear-Compression-Rebound

SpringSettings
Front- Pre-load Rear-Pre-Load

Lap Times
Practice Races

P o s i t i o nE a c hL a p
PointsEarned
Prize Money Won
Comments
Rider Ghecklist
1 . Oil at Proper Level
A. Engine
B.Transmission
C. Chain
D. Forks
2 . Wheels Are ln Line
3 . Forks Don't Bind
4 . Chain Adjusted
5 . Tire Pressures Aro Gorract
A. ColdPressuresFront- Rear-
B. Hot PressuresFront- Rear-
6 . Steering Head Bearings Tight
7 . Front Axle Cap Bolts Tight
8 . Axles Tight
9 . Wheels Are Balanced
1 0 . Gontrols Are Gomfortable and Usable
1 1 . Fork Travel Gorrect
(Forksshouldnot bottomout or top out)
1 2 . Shock Travel Correct
(Shocksshouldnot bottomout excessively
but shouldusemost of the shock
travel.)
1 3 . Throttle Operates Smoothly
(Doesn'tstick,no excessive
free play.)
1 4 . Brakes Work Well
A. Padsare makinggoodcontacton disc.
B. Padsarenot bindingdisc.
C. Enoughpadmaterial.
1 5 . Tires Have Enough Rubber
A. Unevenly worn or steppedtirescancausehandlingdifficulties.
B. Old racingtiresdry out and become"greasy."
C. Racetireswork bestwhenthey havejust beenscrubbedin and haveplenty
of rubber.
1 6 . Enough Fuel
1 7 . Master Link in Place
(Masterlink shouldbe safetywired unlessit is an endlesschain.)
1 8 . Someone to Record lap Times
Mostof theseitemsare not thingsthat a technicalinspectorlooksat. Theyare
itemsthat directlyaffectyour abilityto put your equipmentto useas a racer.
Theyensurethat you can makeit aroundthe trackwithout majormishaps
(enoughfuel,etc.).
 (Usetheseand make
copresfor your notes.)
Race Day Record @
Date
Track
RacingOrganization
Lengthof Track
Numberof Turns
Weather C o n d i t i o n s
A m b i e n t Temperature
Elevation
to be Run
Classes
TiresRun:Brand
Compound/Number Front- Rear
Tire Pressure:Front-Cold Rear-Cold
Front-Hot Rear-Hot
Tire Mileage:Front Rear
Jetting
Mains Pilot Air Correction
-Air Screws
Needle Slide FloatLevel Other
GasolineType
Gas/Oil Ratio
l g n i t i o nT i m i n g
S p a r kP l u gH e a tR a n g e
CamTiming:Intake Exhaust
V a l v e A d j u s t m e n t :I n t a k e Exhaust
Gearing
Countershaft RearSprocket O v e r a l lR a t i o
ShockDampening
Front-Compression-
Rebound - Rebound
Rear-Compression
SpringSettings
Front- Pre-Load Rear-Pre-Load
LapTimes
Practice Races
Position Each Lap
P o i n t sE a r n e d
Prize Money Won
Comments
 DISC<3VER THE ART

CORhIERING
$CHOOL
I Cornering is thefun...andthefear
. Confidencecomesfromexactskills
. RideournewZX-OR's or yourbike
t Learnthe 15 precisicntechniquesof Pros
t Timedlaps...gauge yourirnprovement
I Fullridlnggearavailable
o World ClassCorneringr
KEITHCODF'S
CALIFORNIA SCHOOL
SUPERBIKE
Fax(818)841-7019
(818)841-7661
superbikeschsol.com

ffi & l*inffffi DsrrnoPl(awdri ffi sqam rc&

 RIDER.
:TR.AIT\TII\TG
CIASSICS tu.
More riders and racershave used
Keith Code's books to improve their
cornering skills than any others.
They are the all time best sellerson
sport/perform ance ridi ng.

"A Twist of the Wrist" AUDIO CD, read by Keith with dozens of NEW NOTES
ry and COMMENTSto clarify and add depth to this classic instruction manual.
Get it straight from the man in this brand new 4 CD set.

"The companion video that brought life to Keith's "A Twist of the Wrist" is now
ry available in DVD. Just like the book, the video went on to become the world's
best-selling and most widely viewed instructional tape. YOU CAN SEElT now
in all the clarity and convenience of DVD format.

KeithCodebBooksand Video
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