A couple of things that happened in my last session...

[Stardog]

A couple of things that happened in my last session that told me that it was time to put it away...

[youtubell][/youtubell]

[DarcShadow]

I've done that first one before. You handled it well. The second one, I think you found the one spot on that track that I haven't ran off. lol

[milesmiles]

Don't let it get you down. Next time you go out you have two things going for you that you didn't have this time...
1) you learned from your mistakes and that will help you not do them again
2) you have more seat time than you did before

Just getting faster is all

[El Diabro]

Glad you survived to tell/show the story

[fixxervi6]

Kinda kickin myself in the ass for not being out there today

At least you didn't eat it in round robin, your manhood is still intact

[Stardog]

[youtubell][/youtubell]

This is a bit more sane. At the end before I pull off of the track is when I started having problems with the bike cutting out.

EDIT - 12:11 - 6ft rule!

[shilka99]

EDIT - 12:11 - 6ft rule!

Thats just Ignacio warming you up for Level 3...

[Rhino]

Man, you keep that up they're going to make you run knobbies.

Looked like on the first one, you hit the inside curbing then just stopped riding the motorcycle.

Second one, I think it's just that you blew the apex by like 15 feet.

[Striple]

EDIT - 12:11 - 6ft rule!

With an instructor vest on, no less. This should be plenty of motivation for next season, so that you can get him back!

[Stardog]

Man, you keep that up they're going to make you run knobbies.

Looked like on the first one, you hit the inside curbing then just stopped riding the motorcycle.

Second one, I think it's just that you blew the apex by like 15 feet.

First one - Trust me, when it came off of that curb it was way out of shape. I would rather run off than crash trying to stay on. Second one, blew the apex because I came in hot trying to practice trail braking. When I get it right(ish) it works beautifully. When I don't get it right I run wide. That second thing happened. By that point in the weekend I was worn out and took that run off to mean that it was time to put it away for the winter.

[Stardog]

Shaun, I was playing with body position a bit and find that it is pretty comfy to just clamp down with my knees going in to a corner, particularly if I am coming in on the brakes. Aside from not having a lean gauge is there a down side to this?

[Firewa11]

It's hard to say unless I can see you from the straight-on view or the behind / side view. With your knees locked to the tank, are you even moved off the seat? I'm trying to think if I were to do that my butt would stay firmly planted in a straight line and then my back / shoulders would be twisted straight off.

Seems like you're doing more of this in that pic?



Obviously we're not all this good, but this would be ideal positioning...



I always like to defer to this document. The proper position is the top right box, however remember this thing is full of sarcasm.

[Firewa11]

And this never hurts:

[youtubell][/youtubell]

[Rhino]

First one - Trust me, when it came off of that curb it was way out of shape. I would rather run off than crash trying to stay on. Second one, blew the apex because I came in hot trying to practice trail braking. When I get it right(ish) it works beautifully. When I don't get it right I run wide. That second thing happened. By that point in the weekend I was worn out and took that run off to mean that it was time to put it away for the winter.

Oh I'm not saying you necessarily did anything bad, just commenting on what I saw.

Believe me, I *totally* understand when your brain is fried and you start riding like shit. I ran the 1.7 CW one time and found a line that straightened out Rattlesnake a little too much--instead of going apex to apex, I went outside to outside over the grass.

[Stardog]

It's hard to say unless I can see you from the straight-on view or the behind / side view. With your knees locked to the tank, are you even moved off the seat? I'm trying to think if I were to do that my butt would stay firmly planted in a straight line and then my back / shoulders would be twisted straight off.

Ass back and one cheek off of the bike, same as my knee dragging position except inside knee tucked tight to keep me from putting weight on the bars during braking. It feels so much more stable under braking because I am not giving unnecessary control inputs. I am going to keep using it in some corners and not in others.

[fixxervi6]

Shaun, I was playing with body position a bit and find that it is pretty comfy to just clamp down with my knees going in to a corner, particularly if I am coming in on the brakes. Aside from not having a lean gauge is there a down side to this?

I've seen your other angles, looks pretty damn good to me, off to the inside and head down, doesn't get much better than that for a street punk.

[shilka99]

Shaun, I was playing with body position a bit and find that it is pretty comfy to just clamp down with my knees going in to a corner, particularly if I am coming in on the brakes. Aside from not having a lean gauge is there a down side to this?

The key question here is this - Does it feel right?
Its one thing to preach standard, "correct" body position to new track riders, but the fact is that everyone is different. Some people dont feel comfortable with this body position. It just doesnt feel right. And there are lots of pro racers out there who dont use what we define as correct body position and they get around the track just fine. Some of the most successful racers in the world use what we would define as awful body position but that just shows that not everyone is the same.

[Firewa11]

Shaun, I was playing with body position a bit and find that it is pretty comfy to just clamp down with my knees going in to a corner, particularly if I am coming in on the brakes. Aside from not having a lean gauge is there a down side to this?

The key question here is this - Does it feel right?
Its one thing to preach standard, "correct" body position to new track riders, but the fact is that everyone is different. Some people dont feel comfortable with this body position. It just doesnt feel right. And there are lots of pro racers out there who dont use what we define as correct body position and they get around the track just fine. Some of the most successful racers in the world use what we would define as awful body position but that just shows that not everyone is the same.

I agree wholeheartedly here. As long as you're getting off the bike enough to lower your center of gravity, it doesn't matter if you look like a spider monkey dangling off or not. If you're not getting your torso off enough to lower your CG, it's fairly pointless to even lean your shoulders off if your butt is planted. Again, pics are hard to say, but from what I've seen of Stardog84 is his body position looks fine to me. I'm by no means an expert but I sure like to pretend sometimes

[Stardog]

Shaun, I was playing with body position a bit and find that it is pretty comfy to just clamp down with my knees going in to a corner, particularly if I am coming in on the brakes. Aside from not having a lean gauge is there a down side to this?

The key question here is this - Does it feel right?
Its one thing to preach standard, "correct" body position to new track riders, but the fact is that everyone is different. Some people dont feel comfortable with this body position. It just doesnt feel right. And there are lots of pro racers out there who dont use what we define as correct body position and they get around the track just fine. Some of the most successful racers in the world use what we would define as awful body position but that just shows that not everyone is the same.

It keeps me from adding unwelcome input to the bars which improves throttle control and steering and just makes the bike feel a lot more stable for a given speed which in turn makes me feel more relaxed and so on. It doesn't do anything for me in the rattle snake after the first turn in, wagon wheel, ricochet... On the other hand in turns like big bend it feels great.

[shilka99]

On the other hand in turns like big bend it feels great.

Its interesting you say that because for me in long turns like Big Bend its the opposite. I feel much safer and confident when my knee touches the asphalt. I get a better feeling for lean - I just get a better sense of where I am. With my knee down I'm able to add more power at corner exit.
Your body position tucked in tight like that is actually classic 2-stroke style, where the bikes have low horsepower and next to no torque to recover from mistakes. By minimizing aerodynamic drag, corner exits and straight line speeds are higher.