Twist of the Wrist I

8/3/2019 Twist of the Wrist I

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AITTI$I|FIHETRIST


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AruE$I|FTHEuHt$IHEMI|IIIRITGI.ERI|AIIAGER$

HAilDB00t(

byGithGode


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AcknowledgementsEditorial AssistanceB i l lS t e r merMichae lChu r chHelp and EncouragementCort SuttonKawasakiMotors Corp.,U.S.A.MotorcycIist MagazineCycle World MagazineCal forniaSuperbikeSchoolDesign and I l ustrat io nCameronAshby Associates, nc.Jeff Skrimstadlmportant Lessonsand FriendsBob WestMel DinesenPierreDes RochesRichardDavisGr i f f i thParkL. RonHubbardJudy Code

CaliforniaSupertrikeSchool, Inc.800 530-3350

PhotographyKevinAshby,page80Patr ick ehar, ages , 74,75,79,94,95RichChenet, age82MushEmmons,age17Freud,page42MaryGrothe,backcoveractionphotographMotorcyclist agazine, age14TomRiles, ages 6,51,56, 88JohnUlr ich, age109

Copyright1983-2002CodeBreak, nc.

I S B N :O - 9 1 8 2 2 6 - 0 8 - 2Libraryof CongressCata logCardNumber82-7 3771All r ights reserved.No part of this book may be reproduced n an y form or by anymeanswithout permiss ionn wr i t ing rom the author.

Printed n the United Statesof America

Warning: The riding echniques ontainedn this bookare ntended or racingpurposesonly. heauthorandpublisher ccept o responsibil ityor anyaccidentsesult ingn bodilyharmor property amageha t mightoccur rom he ncreasedpeeds nd iderability hatmaybegained y heuseof hismater ia l .heauthor ndpubl ishero notguaranteehatreaders i l lat tain hesame ighdegree f r id ing k i l lshatothers ave y apply inghesetechniques.upplementalotes ndendorsementsy noted iders hat haveused hesetechniqueshould otbe akenasanyguarantees o safety r competencyhat mightbegained, utmprely spersonal xperience.f expert ssistances required,he services f astate icensedgency hould e sought.vi Alwayswearproper rotectivelothing ndobserveocal peedaws.


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ForewordEven hough I 've only been road racing or two out of the twelve yearsof mycareer . t seemsas hough I 'vebeendoing t a l l a long.Everyth ing oessosmooth lynow. f there 'sa problem, handle t r ight away.Thingsaregoing r ight-they must be. I f ind myself n the winner's circleat almost every race.Of coursemy dirt track racing helped,but believeme, t wasn't always his easy.My f irst t ime on the asphalt-for more than a couple of laps-was at the CaliforniaSuperbikeSchool. t was reallya good experience. wasn't the fastestgu y outthere but it gave me th e ideaof what to do and, more importantly, ha t I did wantto do it. Kawasakihad been helping me with my short track program.Therearesome great peopledown there who believed had some promise,so they gave mea bo x stock racer and hired Keith Code o work with me for one year.Here s the part that reallysurprisedme: We spent days going over stuff that Keithhad wr i t tendown about rac ing. thought we were goingstraight o the t rack,buthere was actual ly ook ingup words in he d ic t ionary nd a lk ingabout r id ing.Af terwe did get to the t rack he whole hing urnedaroundand here I was,wr i t -ing down everyth ing hat I was doing on the t rack.Kei thmade me th ink beforewe got to the track. while I was on the track, and after I got off the bike.I don't know if everyoneca n ge t into the winner's circleas fast as I did, but I knownow that be ingable o th ink aboutyour r id ing s mpor tant .Get hat part done i rs t .This is where I started. hope it works for you.

Wayne Rainey

vil


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GontentsForewordAuthor 'sNotelntroduct ionC H A P T E R ON IThe Road You RideThe Myster ies f AsphaltRevealed

10

14

24

34

C H A P T E R T W OWhat You DoYouBecome ScientistC H A P T E R T H R E EThe ProductDeveloping recision ith UnderstandingC H A P T E R F O U RWhat You SeeProgrammingourComputer hrough he EyesC H A P T E R F I V ETimingPutt ing hings n Order

42 C H A P T E R S I XDecisionsDecis ion ak ing: ec ipeor Sk i l l

54

60

76

C H A P T E R S E V E NBarriersKeyso lmprovementC H A P T E R E I G H TBrakingThe Art of Regulat ingSpeedC H A P T E R N I N ESteeringI t HappensBackwardsC H A P T E R T E NSlipping and SlidingTraction: ow o Lose t andUse t

vi l l

80

. -&- . r :


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C H A P T E R E L E V E NHanging OffIt LooksGoodand t Works

90

96

C H A P T E R T W E L V EPassingWho WasThat Just Passed?C H A P T E R T H I R T E E NSupervise YourselfYes,Homeworks Necessary

102

104

C H A P T E R F O U R T E E NAdviceAsk YourBestFriend-You!C H A P T E R F I F T E E NHow to Fal lRelax-You'reust Road-TestingourLeathersC H A P T E R S I X T E E N108 SponsorshipThere s NoFree unch

115 A Parting Word117 Appendix

trMarginNotes ndCommentsby EddieLawsonSpecialNote:Extrawidemargins reprovidedoryournotes.


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Author's NoteThe nformationontainedn his book s ntendedo be usedby a rider o investigatendmaster he basic iding ki l ls overedn eachchapter. oneof this nformations magic. t hasbeendevelopeduring

more hansixyears f trainingmore han2,5OOiders ndgett ing esultsthateither mprovedap imesor ncreasedider onfidence.hisinformation orks f i t is appl ied.There s a certainmagic, owever,n using nformationhat sunderstood,nd he bestway o do it isonestepat a ime.Goover heinformation nd eal ly nderstandt, hengo out andapply t,bit by bit .Mastering achpointwil l establ ish certaintyhatyoucando t.

The things that Keith goesover in hlssemrnarsandbook are things I do all thetime. You can learn the samethtngs.


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face shield leaks air,up . Theal r won't comege t your atten-

lntroductionI 'mgoing o begin his bookwitha l i t t leconfession.'veneverreal ly eenall hat nterestedn racing-l ustwanted o ride. hroughoutmy racing areer regardedhe other iders n he rackas mostlyusta

nuisance. any imes heygot n hewayof theobservationswasmakingaboutmyr id ing, bout ow could mprovemy id ing ndhow hatinformation ouldbepresentedo mystudents.'vealways ad ustasmuch un r id ing long ymysel fna race s have ompet ing i thotherr iders. My reasoningor h is ss imple-nomat ter owmany therriders reon he rack, oumustst i l l elyonyourownabil i ty. he rack stheever-presentha l lenge-notheother iders . h is dea asbeenstrengthenedver heyearshroughmy observationhat he mostsuc-cessf l racers ango nearly s ast n practice s heydo n he race. heyuse he i runderstandingn he rackwhen heyplease, i thout hepressure f competit ionorcing hem o "go ast."Play the Game Well

Riding aston a motorcycles a tremendouslyxhi laratingndchallengingame. hisgamehas ules ndbarriers. here's omethingowin,somethingo lose, nda purposeor each ndividual ho playshegame. t demands ourattention. heconsequencesf a majormistakecanbesevere-severenough o make hegameworthplaying el l .Thepurpose f th isbook s o descr ibehe echnologynd he ru les f r id ingfastso hatevery ide s a "win,"so hatyou'l lapproachhe barriers ithconfdence ndunderstanding,ndsoyoucan ur ther ourpurposenridingor racing, hatevert maybe.Myoveral l pproacho rider mprovements:To simpli fy theactions of r iding by defining the basics, and by investigating thedecisionsyou must make to r ide well .What ' l l l t Cost?

Attention, ndwhere ouspend t while idinga motorcycle,isa keyelementn howwellyouwil l function: ttention has ts l imits.Each erson asa cedain mount f t ,which ar iesrom ndiv idualoindividual.ouhave ixedamount f attentionustasyouhave f ixedamount f money. et 's ayyouhave ten-dol lar i l l 'sworthof attention.l f youspend vedollars f i t ononeaspect f r iding, ouhave nly vedollarseft or al l he otheraspects. pendnineandyouhave nlyonedollar eft,andsoon.Whenyou irstbegan o rideyouprobably pentninedollarsof yourattention n how o letout heclutchwithoutstal l ing. ow hatyou've idden oryears nd housands f miles, ou probably pend nlyanick le r d imeon t. Riderse l lme hatsome ommonmovements ,ikeshift ing, ave ecome automatic."t 's not rue.Theyaresimply pending


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less t tent ionn t . R id ings ike hat .Themore perat ionsou educeothecostof a n icke l r d ime, he more fyour en-dol lars or thof a t tent ionis e f t or he mpor tant perat ionsf r id ing r rac ing.Youmustmake undreds f dec is ions hi le id ingustone apof a racetrackr onestretch f road-especial lyhen iding ast.Hun-dreds! f youunderstandnough bout iding o have orrectly ecidedhow o handle 5 of those i tuat ions,ouareprobably ai r ider . hethings that you do not understand are the things that wi l l take upmost of your attention. Whenever situation riseshatyoudo notunderstand,ourattention i l l become xedupon t.Youoften eara sit-uationwhenyoucannotpredict tsoutcome, ndpanic osts$9.99-youmayeven ecome verdrawn. hecourse f action ouhave lreadydec ided pon o handle potent ia l an ic i tuat ionostsmuch ess hanthis and eaves ouplenty f attentiono sortoutyouroptions.On heposit ive ide, odingout he actions f r idingbefore-handbuys ou he imeand reedomo become reative i th he activi tyof r iding,ustas having otsof change nyourpocket l lows oua certainfreedom f movement. n he race rack, hat eft-over ttention l lowsyou o experimentnd o improve our idingabil i ty.High-performanceidingand acing emand otonly hatyoubeable o performhe necessaryctions, utalso hatyoubeable oobservehem.Making ccurate bservationsf yourperformances hekey o beingable o improve hem. f you know what you have done-you know what can be changed. lf you did notobservewhatyouweredoing, hechanges ecome aphazardnd naccurate. o ou gree?ln he next hapters e' l l ookat hegameandwhere heattentions being ocused r spent.We'l l nvestigatehe barr ierso r idingwellandput ntoaction hesteps ou'l l ake o bringhomea "win"everyt ime. And inally, et'snot osesightof the basic easonwe startedriding-i t 's un andmakes s eelgood.Here'seadily vai lablereedom,andal l t takes s A Twist of the Wrist.

What ls a Rider?Beforeaunchingntoanything eavy,et 'sagree hat he rideris he person ontrol l inghe motorcycle,ota passenger.he iderworksthebrakes ndclutch, he hrott leandsteering. edetermines hetherthebike oes roundhe urn astor s low, mooth r rough, por down.

/ might only use one-tenth ofa cent on some thtngsthatcost another nder $5 00, butyou spend something oneverythtng You do on a racetrack. Thebetter you ge t thelessmost thrngscost.


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and s heonly ndiv idual hodec ides hatact iono take, ar r iest out ,thendec ides owwel l t a l lworked.I t a lmost oundsoos imple, ut t 's rue:Whatyou do iswhat happens;what you don't do-doesn't happen. Motorcyclesdon'tdo anything y hemselves.heydon'twin races r lose hem; heydon ' tmakemistakesr do anyth ingight .Every th inghathappens ur inga r idedepends o le ly n her ider .Have ouever een new ideron he rackor roadstruggl ingto operate ismachine?hebasic ont ro l perat ion,he rack ndwhoheis n relat iono thesearea mysteryo him.Hehonestlyeelshe s beingtaken or a ride. f you've ad hose eel ings.ine;even xpert iders avefelt hiswayat imes.There 's nactua lechnologyo r id ing. eople renotbornasgoodor bad iders-r iding ki l l s earned. r ider is a person who canlap a race track or ride down the road, fast or slow, and knowwhat he did and how to change it.


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AITilI$OTIHEilRI$I


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CHAPTER ONE

The RoadYou RideThe Mysteries of Asphalt Revealed

Ridersnvariablyave heir avorite ections f road,hepartsthat low ogetherntoa dancewhereeverythingappensust hewayit 'ssupposedo with nosurprises. n hestreet r rack, ouknowwhichones heyare-butyouwant o knowwhy hey're ocomfortable. owmuchshould ouknowabout he road ouride?Whichaspects re mpor-tantandwhicharenot?Why aresome ections f roadhardero r idethanothers?First, omebackground. ighways reconstructed o hatmotorists an ravel rom PointA to PointB veryeasi ly. hehighway ngi-neers revery houghtful;heywant o see oumake t inonepiece. heturnsareoftengentlybanked. ecreasing-radiusorners re are.Seldomis herea hairpin t he endof a straight tretch f road.Off-camberturnsareavoided henever ossible. orners reconstructedn apredictablendstraight-forward anner.

Designed to Fool YouA racetracksanother ortof beast.Not muchof anythingsdone oryourconvenience.hedesigners avepurposelyonstructedcoursehatwi l lcont inueo create hanging i tuat ionsor her ider ,o foo landchal lengeim.Hai rp insreput nto hemostd i f f icu l t ec t ions,su-al lyafter he astest traight, nd S" turns,or chicanes. ftenhaveslower xit hanentry.Cornersmaybaffeyouwith several amber ndradius hangeso break our owand orce ou ntounusual i tuat ions.Andalways,he aster he urnsarenegotiated,he morediff cult heybecome. here re,however,nly vemajor hangeshatcanbe designed

into an asphalt road. Have ounoticed his?

Types of Road1.Changesn Camber:A iece f road anhave posi t ivecamber-banking,r it canhave off,"or negativeamber. hismeanshe


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inside f the road s higher han heoutside. r, he road anbe at.A turnmaybedesigned i th anycombination f these ambers.2. Changesn Radius: s ing leurnmaybea constantad ius,as na perfect alfcircle. t maydecreasen radius,ightening p owardtheend, r t mayhave n ncreas ingadius, pening pat heend.Or tmaybea combination f al l hree.3. Series f Turns: na series f interdependenturns, he ineyou ake hrough he n i t ia l ar to f the urnwi l lbepar t ly eterminedywhere ouwant o exit t to setup or he next urn.A series f turnscanhave nyor a l lo f hecamber nd ad ius hangesis ted bove.4. Uphi l l , ownhi l l ndCrested rackChanges: levat ionanbeadded t anypoint o any ypeof turnor changena roador rack.5. St ra ight ect ions:hese re ect ions here i tt le r no urn-ing s required.ncreasesor decreases n elevation may be added.These re he vemajor hangeshat canbe engineeredntoa piece f asphalt.With headdit. ionf bumpy ections, hichwerenotplanned y he designers,ouhave ll hepossible ituations.norder ounderstand roadortrack, oumustunderstandtscharacterist ics.achof these hanges asa direct nfluence nyouandyourbike's rogressthrough hecorner.norder o ridequickly ndsafely, oumustunder-standhow hese hanges ffect ouandhowyoucanbesthandle hem.

Positive Gamber or BankingMosteveryones comfortableidinga section f road hat hassome ank ing r pos i t iveamber. hebank ing as heef fect f ho ld ingyouup bycreat ing "wal l " o pushagainst i thyour i res. hebank lsoslows ourbikedownevenmorewhenyouenter he urn because f theincreasedesistancereated y hiswall .Gravitysworking oryou.pul l-

ingyouand hemachine own hewal l , ounteract ingheoutward-boundcornering orces. Some xamples?I t sveryd i f f cu l t o see he bank ingwhi leyou ' re id ingon i t .

You may not not icea sl ight bank at al l ,unless ou lookedat the turn before

Banked turns are com-fortable for most riders-Understanding themal lows you to take thefull advantages they offer.


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On banked rackyou don' tenter low and come out htgh

yourode t.On hehighbanks t Daytona, fter iding everalapson heoutsideri-ovaln a record ttempt,he banked ections ctual ly ppearedf at o meand hepit area ooked i l tedat a 2O-degreengle.t is easy obedeceived y even smallamount f banking ecauseou're eaned veranddon'thave straight iewof the road.Also, he banking ecomesessnoticeablesyou ncreaseourspeed.Always esign ourapproach oyoucanuse hebankingoyourbestadvantage. o ow n he bank, lose o the nside f the rack,atthepointwhere he bank ing eginso f at ten ut .Th isg ives ouandyourbike hemaximum old ing dvantagehebanking as o of ferbefore ourbikebegins o swingoutward n he atter ectionrom he orcesgeneratedy acceleration.Ina urn. ourb ikeandyouare ust ike heweight ouswingaround ourhead n a rubber and. he aster ouswing t, he heavierheweightbecomesromcentr i f gal orce,and he more t tr ies o swing othe outside. hebanking holds" ou n unti lyoumoveonto he attersection f road hat ol lows.Youcango ntobankedurns aster han t seems oucanwhenyousizeup he urnand ookat t f rompastexperience.hebankingwi l l oo lyou ni t ia l ly ndyouwi l lprobably o nto t much oos lowly .Also.whenyouareexit ing banked ection f road o a lattersurface,oumuststraightenhe bikesince t wi l l dragmoreeasi ly henthebankingsgone.Example:f youare na banked ection ndare eanedover o the pegs, oumust ean he bikeoverevenmore n relat iono thetracksurfaceo keep hatdegree f turning adiuswhen he bank sgone.l f the bank s 1Odegrees,oumust ean hebikeoverat east enmoredegreeso keep hat urning adius n he atter oadsurface.Thebanking ives oumoreground learancehandoesa latsection f track. have nown iderswhocould un ap imeson racetracksthatwereveryclose o record imesandwho had aced hat same ourse3Oor 40 t imes,who nally iscoveredhatonesection f trackwasbanked-that aswhy heycouldgo so ast n hatpart.Afterknowing,theywenteven uicker.f youdon'tdiscoverrackangles, oumightbegett ing waywith ridingmaneuversou eelyoushouldn't ewithoutevenknowing hy.Once oudiscoverhe easons eh ind ourabi l i t ies ,oucanbegin to use the track to your advantage. Witt hi s mprove ou r iding?

Off-Camberor Negative-Gamber urnsI don'tknowany iderswho regard ff-camberturnss heirfavori tes. heseurns eaveess oom or erroranddef nitely o not nspireconf dence.A turn hat beginswith a bankandendsoff-camber emandsthemost hanges ndadjustmentsn ean ngles.norder to ont inuearound t, he bikemustbe eaned ver arther. heeffect s much he

same sgoing roma bankedo a atsurf ce.Gravitys nowworkingagainstou,pu l l ing ouandyourbike o theouts ide. ou ose roundclearance.herefore,ousetupoff-camberurnsso hatyouare n heoff camber ituation sshorta imeaspossible-justhe opposite trategy


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''rffil

as or a bankedurn.Usestraight ines n he partsof the rack hatareoff-camber ecauseoudon'twant o becommittedo yourmaximumleananglegoing ntoanoff-camber ection.deal ly,ouwouldonlycom-mityourselfo the maximumeanangle t heveryendof thesection.An effective l ternatives o setupso hatyourgreatestean-ingoccurs n he middle f theoff-camber ection.t hasbeen al led"squaring ff" a turnor "goingslow n heslowparts." t refers o the ypeof urnhandl inghata l lows ou o st ra ightenut henegat iveamber smuchasposs ib le . as ica l ly ,ouenter sver t ica l lysposs ib le ,henmakethemajor teer ing hange ndex i tasst ra ight sposs ib le .Ridersend o see he basic urnmoreclearly ecauset ismoreobvious han hecamber hange. his soneof thedeceptivericksof the racetrackesigner. he ider ssuckednto he urnbecause e sbas ing is id ingact ics nwhat he urn ooks ike nstead f tak ing ntoaccounthechangesncamberhatcanso ser ious lyf fec t im.Hemustrea l izehatgrav i tysnowpul l inghebike n heopposi te i rec t ion f h isin tendedurn,and he endency f thebike o go oward heouts idenanoff camberurn s dramaticWitthis etp?

Flat TurnsTurnswith no negative r posit ive amber-f laturns-wil lnotincreaser decreasehe eananglenecessaryo negotiatehemat a

As speed increases,centr i f ugal forces genef-ated by the bike/r idercombination widen thecornering arc. The l inemust change as thespeed goes up.


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Gamber changesdramatically aff ect howa turn can be r idden.

constantadius r constant peed. urnTwoat Daytonasa greatexampleof a basical lylat urnwith no radius hanges, ndmost astr iders referto ride t on he nside.n urnsof thiskind, he astestway hrough s hestraightestine-i t 'salso he shortest istance round he urn. na at urnthere snoat tempto foo l the ider n less rad ius hangesput n orvar ia t ion.heseurns ommit her ider o h ismaximumean ngle ndmaximumpeedor he ongest er iod f t ime.Since ou ' re o ing o ber id ing roundhe ns ide t maxspeed ndmax ean ooner r a ter , oumayaswellgetdown o it at hebeginning.aking wideentry ntoa latturnonlyg ives omeone chanceo pass ou.

Of f Camber

Ghanges n RadiusDesignershangehe radius f a urn o putanaddit ionalwistin heact ion. ere re hebas ic inds f rad i i ndhow o handlehemonthe rack. Gonstant-RadiusTurn: A constant-radiusCR)urnneitherincreaseswidens) ordecreasestightens)syougo hrough t.As men-t ioned bove,f t sa a i r ly ong onstant - rad iusCR)turn i thnocamberchanges,ouwi l leventua l lyindupon he ns ide f he urn or mostof t .

l f i t is a shorthairpin, oumayhave theroptions s o how o setup heentry ndex i t . na rea l lyightha i rp in oumustmake nabrupturn ingchange- i t hould edoneat hepoint twhich ou eelmost onf ident .Theresno ru le s o how t should edone.l f a constant - rad iusurnhas amber hanges,t canactasadecreas ing-rad iusDR) r asan ncreas ing-rad iuslR) turn. orexample,fthe urn s banked n he entryand attens ut on he exit t wi l l haveexactlyhesameeffectonyourbikeas hedecreasingadius.f i t is latontheentryandbanked n he exit, t actsasan ncreasing-radius.t isverycommon or amateurs-androfessionalsswell- to r ide he urns hewaytheyappear t speedandnot heway heyreallyare. t is veryeasy o haveyourattention tuck o the radius f a urnsoyoudon'tsee he camberchanges. hus, nowing he ocation f the camber hanges i l l help ougreatly in a turn. Where oes hisapply?

,--F1---=-'-t- ' IHPosit ive Camber

Constant Radius


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IncreasingRadiusDecreasing-RadiusTurns: This sa turn hat ightens pasyougo hrough t. n a decreasing-radiusDR)urn, he designerries otr ickyou nto reatingt as a constant-radius,ingle-apexurn. f you allfor hat,youmustdo oneof three hings:1 Runwideat he exit,2) Leanthe bikeovermoreat he endof the urn,or 3) Backoff thegasso hatoneand wo above on'thappen.A decreasing-radiusurn hasat east wo apexes. ry o cheatthe urnout of oneapex nd t wi l l getyoubackwith he other. na DR urnyoumust idewhat s here: on't ry o make he urn ntosomethingtisnot.Somemisleadingnformation asbeen irculat ingor yearswhichsays ou"lateapex"DR urns.Thismaybe rue n a very ight DR urn,butina largerurnyoumustdouble-apexhe urn.Youcanmake he urn ongeroryourself y akinga wideentry ine. hiskeeps ourspeed pandcutsdownon he abruptness ftheactual teering hange. DR urn hat s aton he entrance ndbanked t heexitwi l l actas an Ror CR urn,depending pon he severityof the banking.f a urn sconstructedo hat t forces ou o go slowatsomepoint, oumustdecidewhere o go slow nstead f lett ing hedesigner ecide or you.By iguring turncorrectly,ouride he rack-thetrackdoesnot r ideyou. f youmakea big mistaken ine, ouhaveprob-

ably ustbeen uckednto iding he rack heway t looks atherhantheway t is.Increasing-Radius lR)Turns: This urnwidens-its nglebecomesesssevere-as ougo through t.An lRgivesyou he safest eel-ingbecauseouhave oomat he end o make hanges ndcorrections.Youcan easily ecoverrom going ntoan R urn too fast because ouhave lenty f room.An lR urncanbechanged ramatical lyy hecam-berof the road,ustas he DR urncanbe. f i t is banked oing n,and ator off-camber t heexit, t wi l l actas a CRor DR urn,depending ponhowmuch negative amber t has.The radius of the turn is usuallysecond in importance to its camber. Are ou waref his?Seriesof Turns: Twoor more urns inked ogethern suchawayas o inf luence achotherarecal led series f turns.They're sual lydesignedo slowyou downat aplacewhereyou otherwise ouldgo faster.

The notorious decreas-ing radius turn. Designedto invite you in fasterthan i t lets you out-

Usually oasy to rlde, theincreasing radius urncan be made diff icultwith camber changes.

Some places you have to usea real wrde line so you don'tscrub speed off, but notalways.

=


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Forexample.he entry ntoa wo-turn S" is aster han he exit ' f theentry s akenas astaspossible.t wi l l spoi l heexit. f the entry sapproachedi th heex i t n mind, he iderwi l lsacr i fcesome peed oingin or a moreconstant riveoutof the urn.Often his s a better trategythanhavingo backoff andsetupagain or heexit.I t isverydistractingo make hiskindof changen hesecondturn n a series. ennyRoberts asoftensaid hatyoumustgo slow nsomeplace n order o go ast n others-his slow,"of course, ouldputmostof us ntocardiac rrest.Here gain,he designers ttempt o lul lusin to ak ing ct ion i theroo soon r oo ate. nsome igh-speedhicanes,being emperate ith he hrott leon heway n andsett ing p a smoothexit sworthovera secondn ap ime.Chicanesuchas hoseat Pocono,Daytona ndSearsPointaregoodexamples- an ou pplvhis?Uphil l , Downhil l and CrestedTurns: Whena rackchangesn elevation,t cancreate omeexcit ing hangesn how t mustbe idden. ph i l l nddownhi l l ec t ions f a rack on ' tpose nypar t icu-

larprob lem nlessheyare nconjunct ioni tha r icky amber hange,rad ius hange r both.Di f f icu l t iesn upanddownsect ions sual ly r isewhere here s a crestor sharp ise ol lowed y a downhil l . t thispoint hebikewil l feel ightandwil l actual ly e ighton he pavement. raking vera crested il l s r ickybecausehedownward ressure f the bike slessened.his esultsn ess raction.A turnwitha crest n he middle salso rickybecausehe biketends o standup andgo toward he outside. gain, here sa lossoftraction. t has he sameaffectas a shortpatchof off-camber oad. t isbest o go overa crested oadasvertically spossible. nv xamples?Onuphil l ect ions here oumustbrake, ouhave he advan-tage hatyoucanstopor slow he bike aster hanon ator downhil lsections.f the hi l l hatyou'rebraking n hasa 15-degree lope,he orceof gravity ul l ing oubackanddowngives oua 27 percentbetter top-ping actor. oucanusethebrakes 7 percentharderwithoutockingthemup,and hat 's ot !Ona downhi l l ec t ionhes i tuat ions reversed;thebrakesockmore as i ly .heother oss ib le rob lem i thuphi l l , own-h i l landcrestedoads s hatb ikesend o wheel ie ver hem. h is sn ' treal ly problem nless ouhave o makea turnwhile he rontwheel sst i l l n heai r .Straight Sections: These restraight ort ions f trackwithno urnsor changeso affect ou.Straightawaysrea greatplaceo relaxfor a second r wo. Checko see hatyouarebreathingegularly. idersoftenhold heirbreath uring ntense iding,whichslows heireff iciency.Lack f oxygensonecause f musc le ramps hi le id ing.The oad ouride,whether t bepublicor racetrack,s madeup of the vecomponents:amber,adius, levation,eries f turnsandstraights. ow hese omponentsrecombined eterminesourapproachto r id inghem.noton lywhere peeds hecons iderat ion,ut orsafety 's

sake swell .Thepurpose f a racetracks o testand etest our idingski l l ; t s ntended y he designerso bediff cult.Your ask s o unravelthemysteries f the construction y using ourknowledgeo youradvan-tage.Noamount f bravery i l l substi tuteor understanding,ndno


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amount f suspensionhanges i l l entirely vercomehe orcesgeneratedy hese vecomponents. o ou ett?

Note: Track SurfacesMost race racksand canyon oadsareconstructedromasphalt ompounds. sphalt anbe,andoften s,mixedwithvarious ub-stances o createdifferent ypesof roadsurfaces.Race racks, orins tance,f tenhave round-upea hel ls rgran i te h ipsmixednto heasphalto give iresa better urfaceo biteon,and herefore etter rac-t ion.Thecompoundings oftenverydifferentrom rack o trackand oadto road,which soneof the reasonsirechoice asbecome verycri t icale lementn rac ing.Otherfactors,special lyeat, laya huge ole ndeterminingwhat irewil l be he best hatday.An overcast ay hatdoesnotal low hetracksurfaceo heatupmay equire differentire hana sunny ay, venif air emperatures hesame. sphalt urfaceshataredarkerncolorheatup more han ighter-coloredections. his s hecaseat SearsPointRacewayn Sonoma, al i fornia,here he rack sa composite f threeorfourdifferent sphalt ompounds. ires hatworkverywell noneareatend o sl idearound nothers. nd ires hatworkwell n he morning,before he rackhasheated p,sometimes i l l notprovide ood ractionin he afternoon-andiceversa.Theamount f rubber n he rackalsomakes differencentraction. haveheard t said hat raction s betterafteran auto acewherea lotof rubber asbecomembeddedn he asphalt;'vealsoheard iderssay t wasnot asgood.My own observations hat lap imesare asterafter he rackhasa good ayer f rubber n t,especial lyroman auto-mobile ace-providingherearen't oose ieces f rubber n he racksurface. Tires ndasphalt reanentireechnology nto hemselvesndlwi l l not ry o dealwi thhem n h iswr i t ing. y he imeyou ead his , hetechnology i l l already ave hanged nd herewil l benew irecompounds-betterhanwhatwe now have.

You've got to be able to"read" pavement. I can tellwhether I want to push ritornot. Thereare a lot of klnds ofpavement.Sometrmes heones that look lrke he y arereally gorng to be strcky arelust the oppostte.


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CHAPTER TWO

What You DoYou Become A Scientist

The ider's l t imate eaponshisabi l i ty o performheactionsof r iding, nd o be able to observe and remember what he hasdone. This sa key o improvement.

Don't Badmouth YourselfMany iders ave badhabitof talking n negativesbout

their iding. l didn'tgo n hardenough," l shouldhave ottena betterdriveoff he corner," l don'tuse he brakeshatwell ," l need o getabetter ine hrough his urn."Didn't.Can't.Shouldn't ave,Don't, oomuch,Notenough.Most iders se hesenegative ordsmuch oo often.Howcan nformationboutwhathe didn'tdo right,or hings hatwerealmost-ornotquite-done, ver mprove is iding?f a persons r idingatal lhe sa l ready oingmore ight hanwrong. he ob s o add o thosecorrectactionsand drop he incorrect. oyou o his?

You Gan't Correct What You Didn't DoTheonlyway o make hangesnyour id ings o change hatwasdone. o do hatyouhave o knowexactly hat ye5;one.notwhat

Was!:!Youdidn'tdo a lotof thingson hat ast ap-youdidn'twashyourcar. oudidn'tgo o church, ndyoudidn'tdo ustabouteverythinglsethere s o do n i fe .Youonlydidwhatyoudid.Don' t a l l n to he rapoftrying o correct our idingby ooking twhatyoudidn'tdo.This eavesyounoth ingo change.l don ' tbrakeateenoughnTurnTwo," oundsinnocent nough, utwhat nformationoes t containor you o improve?lf yousay nstead,l started raking t heasphalt atch ustbefore henumberhreemarketandnow know canbrake ven ater han hat" 'youknowwhatwasdoneandnow have omethingo change.I t 'ss imple- th inkfyour id ingn negat ivesndyoudon' thaveanythingo change. ookat t theway t wasandyouhave omethingochan e.Negat iveh ink ings ncredblynon-product ive.hangingsome-0


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thing you didn't do is impossible. Thinking egativelybout our id-ingputsyou ntoa maze. mirrormazeworks ike hat- i t gives ounowhereo start our hinking rom, hendisorientsoubycovering pwhere ou've eenandwhere oucango.Youhaveno reckoning oint.Themazeries o make ou osea f rmpointof direction yopening pmanypossibi l i t ies. henyouhave rm deaof where oucame romyoucanalways o back o that pointandstartover. t 's he sameon a racetrack. f youknow ustwhatyoudid.youhave stable ase romwhich omakecorrections n the next ap.Wiltt workoryou?

Riding is One Thing-Riding Plus Being Awareof What You Are Doing is Ouite AnotherYouhave nlyso muchattentiono spendonwhatyouaredoing, our en-dol lar i l l . f youspendt a l lon ust id ing ndnone nobserving hatyou're oing, oucango quite ast.But f youspend ivedollars n ridingand veon observingourself ndwhatyou're oing, ouhave omethingo lookat andchangewhenyoureturn o the pits.Youdon't have o hopeyoucanworkyourself nto a feverpitch o go faster-youcango fasterby iguringout how o do it better.Howdo youdevelophiswonderf l abi l i ty o rideandobservewhatyou're oingat he same ime?Yousimply ecideo do t.You makean effort to look at what you are doing while you are doing it.Try i t . l f youalready ave record f your ap imeson he rack, o outandmake neffort o observe ourself. he irst hingyou'l lnoticewil l bethatyouwentslowerwhiledoingboth he r idingandobserving.t costsalotof attentiono do both hingsatonce.Youwon'tbewil l ing o r ideashard.Don'tgiveup.You're pending loton ooking nda l i t t le essondoing.

/ know what I look lrkegotngthrough the turns lt mightlook ugly, but it works

I go slow tn the first practrce.look at the track and ge t theieel of the btke.

An accurate mentalrecording of what you doon the track is invaluable.


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Wheneverythings rightyoucan tell exactlywhich lapsweregood.

Take lt as a WholeNow, akeanentire ractice ession n he rackand ry oobserve verythingou'redoing.Come ack o the pitsand hink t over.Then, ake henextpractice nd ust r ide.You'l l ot ice neof two things:1)Youwent aster, r 2) he ridingbecameesswork hanbefore.t 'salsopossiblehat both hings happened-youwent asterwith lesseffort.Ridingwith esseffortmeans hatyou're pendingmoreofyourattention n what's mportant nd esson ust being eadyor sur-prises.f youdon'tknowwhat'scomingup na urn,youwil lbe ense. fyouhave aken ome ime o observe hatwashappening,ouhave pentlessattentionon possible urprises.

It Costs More Attention to Keep Something FromHappening Than lt Does to Make Something HappenAs inanything, henyou irstbegin o observe hatyou'redoing t will costyoua lot of attention. fteryoubecomemorecomfort-ablewith t youwil l spend essattention n t. t may akea ridera yearormore o decide t 'sokay o sl ide he rear irea bit on certain artsof thetrack.Hemightpickupone o fiveseconds ydoing t. Butbefore omingto that decision. hichmay akeonlya spl i tsecond n he rack,he mighthave een pending lmostal lof hisattentionn rying o keep he rearwheel f rom pinn ing nds l ipp ing.Observing hereandwhat happened n he rackwil l make

somethingikea l i t t le earwheel l idea predictableartof r iding.A r iderwho observes drop n ap imes,andalsonoticeswherehewassl idingandwhat brought t about,hassomethingo base decision pon-hecandecide f the sl idingwas helpful r i f i t didn'tworkandshouldbe stoppedaltogether. Doest make sense?

Observing ls the Basis for Changel f you go out on he rackand una better ap ime,but havenotobserved hatyoudid o cause t,youwil l notbeable o strengthentheactionshatworked.Riders ho ust r ideanddon'tobserve el ievethateverythinghathappened n hat apmustbe reproducedxactly ndin hesameorder or hem o repeat goodperformance.his soneof theways idersbecome uperstitious. ecause hey don't know whathelped, riders go about trying to keep all factors the same as theywere at the time they rode well. Youcan keep hings he same,bu tonlyby observing hatyoudidandbydecidingwhich actorsworkedbest.Observing what you do is the key to learning by yourmistakes.Youcaneasi ly heat ourself utof theknowledgeo begained rommistakes.et 's ay ou got ntoa urn a l i t t le oo hardandwentwideof your ine.Normally,ouwould ry o getback o thatgoodline-towhatworked. hat 's ne,but here's wist. f you "rideoutyour2


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mistake,"ouwil l earn ow hatdifferentineworks.Trying esperatelyto getback o the deal nce ou'vemade mistake on't el lyouanythingexcepthatyou'vemadea mistake. iding ut hat mistake i l l giveyouvaluablenformat ionbout ow o handlet shouldt ever appen gain.Everythingoudo maybea li t t lewrong,but at east ou' l lknowwhathappens-andhat's he start ing oint or change.Riders avebeen nown o adapta completely ewmethod f r idingaftermakingmis-takes.Ride a mistake out and see what happens. l t wi l l costyoumoreattentiono try o keep omethingromhappeninghan o gothrough with what yo u have started. Doyo u hink t wittwork?

By the Time You Notice a Mistake lt ls Too LateTo Gorrect ltYoumayhave eard his before-i t 'srue.Oncea mistake

occurs n any apor inany urn,youcan't ol lback heclockor heasphaltto correct t.You'll ust have o make he bestof it. Figure utwhat wentwrongandcorrect t on he next ap.

It ls the Last Thing You Did That Got You lnto TroubleThe ootof the mistakes hecontrol hange r decisionsoumadeandactedupon ustbeforehe problem ccurred.A goodexample f this sgoing ntoa urn oo witJe. he ider

got herebecauset waswherehe hadpointedhe bike he ast imehehadmadea steering hange.Most iderswouldsay, l didn't urnsoonenough." hat sn't rue.Actual ly, ekept t point ing traightoo long. twi l l akea lot onger or he rider o real ize hathappenedf he beginslookingor he problemromwhenhenoticedt than f hegoesback o theearl ier ointof wherehewassteering efore ebeganhe urn.He has orealize that he was operating from an earlier decision to gostraight, not the later one to turn. Doeshis pplyoyou?

l f You Decide Upon the Wrong Explanation for aMistake, the Solutions for It Will Also Be WrongThis s another asic easonor beinga careful bseruer fwhat you do.Being able to ride is impottant, but riding andobserving leads to understanding.

13


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CHAPTER THREE

The ProductDeveloping Precision with Understanding

What s he ine hroughTurnThree?What s he best inethrough nycorner?Why s one ider's inesodifferentrom another's?

5OYears of lmprovementLines sed o be easiero figureout.A lotof racing heoryhasbeendevelopedn he last50 yearsof racing, nd hat'sa lot of history obackup he deas hat st i l lhauntus rom he 1950sandearl ier. namotorcycle,t wasreckoned,he straightestine hrough he urnwas hefastestway,or "l ine."But hingshave hangedoday. t was rue hen,but

it's notnecessarilyrue oday.Physics ndnaturalawshavenot changed-t ires ndsuspen-sionshave. n he SOsandearl ier,iderswere imited y he ackofsophisticatedechnology. heyhad o take he smoothest, traightest,shortestine hrough he urnsbecausehe hard-rubberirecompoundsandnon-compliantuspensionsf the early aysmadeabrupt hangesndirection, raking n roughor rippled urfaces.ver-enthusiasticrakingwhile eaned verandothercurrent-dayidingpossibi l i t iesimply ut ofState of the ail? Goodenough to win laconiai n 1 9 6 5 . . . .

1 4


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thequest ion.f youhadowned setof Dunlop por tE l i tesn 195O ndhadgone o the s le f Manon a 198Os awasak i PZ 5O, ouprobablywouldhavewon he race. hat 's street ikewithstreet ires oday.T i reandsuspensionechnologyavemade t poss ib leo r idemore hanone ine hrough urnandmake t work.Rid ing ty les avechangedery ramat ica l lyincehe 1950s,but heoutdatedider n for -mation rom hosedays t i l lconf ses omeof us n he 80s.A fresh ookat r ider nformationnd echnology anhelp ouridebetternow.Definit ion: A product is something that is produced;it is the end result when all the work is done. A product is whatyou can hold in your hand-or in your mind. You can turn it overto see if it can be produced better or differently, corrected orleft alone.

Product of the TurnA turnor series f turnshasa "product."t is hatpointwhereyoucansay, l 'm donewith hat urn now-here's hat did his ime,here'swhathappened. ow,whatcan do o improvet?"Thesimplest ay o recognizehatspot s o remember hereyouwerebrave nough o think, l couldgo hrough hatonequicker."Wlren you have enough attention left to reviewyour progress,and the turn is no longer affecting you, !hg! is when you're donewith it. Haveyouexperiencedhis?At thatpoint, hesum otalof everythingoudid n he urnis neatlywrapped p;youknow hatwhatyoudid eitherworked r itdidn't .Somepartsof theproductwereassembledorrectly-maybeomeweren ' t . h isproduct asa locat ion n he rack, h ich orexample ightbea point hree eet rom heoutside dgeor ust next o "thatpatch"ofasphal t . h ispo in t n he racknow emindsouof exact ly here ou ' ref n ished i th he urn or hat ap.

Other FactorsOther actors, esides our ocation n he rack, re mportantpartsof the product:whatgear ou're n,yourspeed t hatpoint, ourbodypos i t ion n he b ike.Usual ly ome mount f lean ngle. heamountof control ouhave ver he bike. hesteering ction ouare-orarenot-taking. hrott le ct ion. ire raction. our mpressionsf whatyoudid andhowwell t workedout.And a comparisonf thispass hrough he urnwithyourearl ier asses. ll of these, ndmore, repartof yeqrproductfor that turn.The quality of your product is determined by all ofwhat happened and how it worked.Any thoughtsn his?Note: You use that product to develop a set of known

circumstances that can be thought over and changed whennecessary.A sub-product is a definite set of known circum-stances that lead to the product for that turn.Bothyourproducts andsub-products have nexact oca- 1 5


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t ionon he rack. here s no universalroduct orsub-product-theywil lbesl ightly i f ferentor eachbikeand ider. our product is a knowndestination along a known route. Youaresupposedo knowwhereyou ' re o ingona rack, nd heproduct is heplace ouaregoing. heguywith he bestproduct wins.Theproduct andsub-products are heresult f a pre-determinedndpre-decidedlanof action, ased ponyourknowledgef thepartsof that urn,andyourknowledge f how o getyourmachine roundt.

End back to beginning.

Pavementpatch

A Sub-Productalertsyou that yo u are onthe r ight track to your Product.You see t.

Rough pot

Eachnew RP eads o another hat youknow is go ing o b e the re .

The Product s where yo u are donewith thetu rn . t i s a p lace ou know.

Yo u ocateanotherSub-Productor Refer-encePo in t o gu ideyou hrough he tu rn .

You bu i l dcon f idence y knowingwhereyou areon the t rackwi th the RPs.You becomeable to "see" the turn beforeyou evenbeg in o go th rough t .1 6


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From alking o most iders,t iseasy o bel ievehat once ouf ind he r ight l ine" fora turn.every th ingi l lmagica l lyurnout OKandyour ap imeswil l mprove ecause f this knowledge.t isn't rue.I onceexperimentedith showing thers he "right l ine"through he urnsof a race rack. hadstudentsol lowme apafter apatmoderate peeds s did preciselyhesame hingat preciselyhesameplace n he rackeach ap.Thestudentwas henasked o repeatheprocedurehathadbeen hown o him. neverounda studentwhocoulddo t exactly. ddie awson bservedhissame hingwhile nstructingGali forniaSuperbike School students t Loudon.Onlyone iderout of25 wasable o reproduce is ineafterbeing hown. Actual lywo r iderswereable o do t.Theotherwasmy 12yearoldson,who Eddie fferedto sponsor fterwards.l'veplacedmyself n thesamesituationand askeda betterr ider o showmehis " l ines" around hecourse. hecoursewasOntarioMotorSpeedway,.1 mi les nd20 urns; he r iderwas hen-25Occ .S.champion, av id mde, howasal lbutunbeatab lehatvear n he1/q-l i termachines. e wentaround he rackat a goodpractice aceas Icaref l lyobserved hathewasdoing n hopes f f ndingoutsomedeep,dark iding ecrets.I did ind out. oundout hata r ider's l ine is his plan forgoing through a turn. Hisplan s based ponwhathedoeswellandwhathedoesn't o well . observed,henandnow, hata rider's lanwil lbe based ponhisstrengths ndweaknesses.is ine s he result f howhisstrengths ndweaknessest together.Forexample,iderswho use he maximum mount f leanangle hebikehas o of ferwi l lusual ly es ignhei r l ine" to use eanangle o theiradvantage.heir l ine" isoften ight o the nside f theturn.Bycontrast, r iderwho doesnotuseallof theground learanceavai lab leo himwi l ldes ign is l ine" (p lan)so hathedoesnothave o

spend omuch ime eaned ver o themaximum. ewi l l n ish iss teer-ingassoon sposs ib le ,t ra ightenhe machine ndmove way rom heturnasver t ica l lysposs ib le .l l r iders i l ldes ignhei r urnsaroundhestrongpoints heybelieveheyhave.MW *- : + s-tii * *L- t*' . ' -.r' .

David Emde performingmi rac les on 25occ GPb ike . A t 185 pounds and6 '3 " ta l l , h i s "p lan " i sdi fferent than yours.

When the Superbike Schoolwas at Loudon I let 24 ridersfollow me around the track sothey could see my line. Then/followed them to frnd outhow they were dotng.Twentythree of them go t itwrong from what I could see.

The thing about riding on theback of a motorcyc/e wr:thsomeone else drivrng rsthatthev never do it exactly like Iwould and it scaresme.

Your Line ls Your Plan

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lf someone pulls me I changemy line tn that turn and see fit works / have films of meracing wrth rrdersand I'll pullthem five bike lengths off aturn and still hey us t keepon doing the same thrng lfthe other guy's plan rs betteryou can fit it rnto yours andbeat him

Learning a LineFollowing nother ider anbevery nstructionalf youcandetermine isplan bywatching im. f hisplan is better esignedohandle turn hanyours, ndyoucanseewhy it is better. oumayhavelearned ow o useyourown abi l i t ieso better andle ome racksitua-

t ions. he a luen ol lowing notherider - i f here sany- is n understand-inghisp lanandbeing b le toexpand ourown id ing ecausef t . t 'snotin earn inghe ine; i t s earn ingheplan thatcounts .

Basic GoalYourbasicgoal n any urn sgett ing through the turn withincreased rnph, decreased time spent in it and adequate controlof the bike. Youare ooking or drive out of the urn hatwil l carry ou o

the next urnor down he straightn heshortest mount f t imewith hegreatest mount f speed.Of course. oumustst i l lbe n control f thebike.Youbalancehe actors f speed nd ime o get he bestproduct.Yet i t spossibleo comeout of a urn aster hanbefore ndsti l lnotdecreaseour ap ime.Turns anSuck ou ntomakingmistakesike hat '

Turn BalancingGettinghe bestproduct f roma urn requiresurn bal-

anc ing: h is swhere oubalanceourspeed utof he urnagainstheamount f t ime t takes ou o get hrough t.Themostcommonmistakeridersmake s o go into he urns aster nd aster,hencomeout of themat he same peed r slower.t 's easier o go into a turn faster than i tis to come out faster. Going in too fast can Gostyou your drivecoming out. You've ot o beable o carrya asterentrance peedthrough he exitof the urn o improve our ap imes.Going n oo ast,then ou l ing p n hemiddle f he urn,wi l l ower ourex i tspeed.Turn balancing is ike our endollarsworthof attention.Figurehatyouhave nlyso manymilesperhour MPH)o spend na urnon anypart icularap or anypart icularine. f youspend ourMPHunwise ly t hebeginn ingf the urn, oudon ' thave hemat heend.Excess peed t he wrong imecancostyou ime.Don't umpat he rstchance ouget o go aster. he ncreasedpeed ouhave S ouexitoneturnwil l be added o thespeedhatyoucarryal l heway o the next.Don'tburnupMPHat hebeginn ingf he urn;use urn balanc ing o produceyourcorrect roduct: IncreasedMPH, decreased ime spent in theturn and the bike still under control at the turn exit.

Find the ProductHowdoyou ind heproduct? Let'sassume ouhave iddenthe rack or a few apsandhave gured utwhat he designer asengi-1 8


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neerednto hispiece f tarmac. ouhave tudiedhe radius hanges ndthecamber hangesseeChapterOne, TheRoadYouRide"). ou're us-picious f the urnson a race rackandknow hey'remeant o chal lengeand oolyou.With his nformationouhave good deaof howeveryurnaffects ouandyourbike.Youbecome ware f what heproduct is oryou andyourmachine y applyinghat nformation ndexperienceromriding.Nowyouhave start ing oint,a place n he rack o workwith,correct ndchange,o makedecisions bout.Having a product in mind for a turn is like having aroad map and a destination for a trip. You'dhavea veryhard imegett ing o yourdestinationf youdidn'tknowwhere t was.Youcan'tgetfrom NewYork o Kansas i tyunless ouknowwhereKansas i ty s!Obtaining precise roduct for a urn s he rststep ndeciding ow o improvehat product.Having no product is l ikehaving no destination. Do ou gree?

'@.

End to BeginningYoumustwork rom heendback o the beginning f the urnto establ ishourproduct. Deciden advance, efore ougo nto he urn,where ouaregoing o exit.Youmustbeable o "see" he product of theturn nyourmindasyouenter t.Thisenables ou o keep he pieces ndpartsof the urnworking oward hatproduct. hisoverview allows outo f gure uteach tepnecessaryo arr ive t he product r destination.Youcanbecome opelesslyostby continuingo "look"at aturn rom beginningo end nstead f from heendback o the beginning.

Having your end point(product)well known,even in wide opensweepers, createsconfidence.

'** %

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

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I go out and setmy plan an da lot of trmes he ftrstone tsthe best. f lt doesn't feel rrghtI change rt .maybe every ap

Once ouknowwhere ou're oing, oucanspend ourattentionmorewisely n he problemshat comeup n he urn,suchas iresl ippage ndpassing. ou' l lhaveplenty f spare hangeeft o handlehem.Otherwise,withouta product anddestination,ouwil l always espendingoo muchattention nwhat sgoing o happen t heendof the urn.Keepingourproduct in mindhelps ouhandlehe uncer ta in ty .Once ouhave product, whether t is perfect r not,youcanuse t asayardsticko measure ourprogress. nychanges oumake nthe urnwil lchangeheproduct omewhat. ouwil l beable o tel lwhetherthosechanges reworking r not.Asyou ncreaseourspeedhroughaturn. heproduct wil l change l ightly-or erhaps greatdeal f you'rebeginner. n experiencedidermaymakea changehat s hree eetbackfromhisprevious roduct andoneMPH aster. beginner'sroductmaychange O eet,andmaybea gearhigher nd iveMPH asterduringthecourse f a dayon he rack.A product gives ousomethingo shootfor-somethingo change.f youblow he urn,youcanalways o back oa ess ggress iver s lower roduct andget hrought wel lenough.Locate the Product

Where and how you enter a turn is totally decided bywhat and where the product is. Only arelywil lyougo ntoa urn heway t ooks rom he approach ndhave t workoutwell n he end.Newand nexperiencediders ommonly egin he urn oo earlybecauseheyhave oproduct in mind.Even roscanbeseen oing t.Thisopens hedoor o a lotof mistakes nduncertainty.A product is made in stages, one step at a t ime. Thesestages f i tsdevelopmentremarked y sub-products. Sub-productsa lsohave locat ion n he rack ndother actorshatares imi laro anoveral l roduct. Lean ngle, peed, odyposit ion, mount f control,steering ndmoreare he sub-products youcanuseas ndicatorso tel lyouhowyou'reprogressingoward ourproduct.Medium-speedndslower-speedurnswil l producemoresub-products than aster urns.Youdon'thave he ime o make lotofchangesn aster urns, ndyoumustmake hemassimple spossibleoleave ourself nough ttentiono do t r ight.Usually,ast urnsdo not

havemul t ip le amber r e levat ionhanges- i fheydid heywouldn ' t efast urns.Slowandmedium-speedurnsof tenhave hese inds fchanges,nd heyof ten equi re ramat ic teer inghanges.oryou oreach he desired roduct, these hangesmustbemadeat precise laceson he rack.These resub-products-places that require a changein order to reach your product for that turn. Changesngears, teer-ing, hrot t le , rak ing, odypos i t ion nd hepointswhere ou ook orcoursemarkers reallsub-products. Any xamples?

Point of EntryJust as heendproduct hasa preciseocation n he rack,sodoes hebeginn ingoint , hepoint f ent rywhere hemajor teer ing0


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changeor he urnoccurs. his sa sub-product. Inbankedurns, ourentrypointshouldalways e designedo use he bankingo bestadvan-tage oming utof the urn.Whathappenso youand he b ikewhen hebankinglattenssalways sub-product, a change. reciselyocate hepoint f yourmajor teer inghange oing nto he urnsoyoucanhavesometh ingo adjust , po in t o th ink rom.Theemphasiss o use hebankingo youradvantage.ou an h inkof t as connect -a-dot"id ing.l f you go nto" urns oosoon, ouare ommit tedo maximumspeed nd eanangle or a greater ort ion f the urn,which eaves oufeweroptionsor corrections,ndyou eelyoucan'tor shouldn'tmake nychangesnyour ine.Nowpass ing,roundinguton bumps, teer ing,thrott le ndgear hanges l l becomematters f great oncern ndbecomemorediff icult o do smoothly. oing nto urns oo soon syourindicatorhatyoudo not have ourproduct welldef ned, hatyou'resl ightlyost.Not knowing where you're going in a turn invites youto go in too soon. The rack es ignerools ou nto id inghe urn heway t ooks t hebeginn ingatherhan heway twi l lworkout n heend.Working ut heproduct andsub-product provides map hroughthe urn.

Faster s DeeperHere's notherwayof looking t t: f youmake ourmajors teer inghange t hesame oint o ing ntoa urn-and ncreaseourspeed ast hatpoint-youwil l runwideof thepointyou passed n he astlapbecausef he ncreasencentr i fugal force.f hebike unsa b i t oowideat he exit, oumaybelieve ouwent oo ast.Actual ly,he remedysto go n deeper eforemakinghe steering hange. he faster you wishto go through a turn, the deeperyou have to enter i t to increase

your speed at the exit.what will change f youdo this?l f yougo n deeper nd aster,hesteering hangewil l need obe moreabrupt, nd he bikewil l notwant o turn aseasi ly sbefore. hetr ick o going n deepers o go a bit slower ightat he pointwhere oumake oursteering hange. oumust earn o restrain ourself. s KennyRoberts ays, Learno go slow o go ast." f youdo it r ight, ou' l lbeable

to go asterrom hatpo in t n hrough he urn.Thebike anbest ra ighterupanddown, ess ommittedo maximumeanangles ndspeed, oyoucanadjust ourspeed ndsetup a product moreeasi ly. he mpoftantpart sknowingwhere youwent nto he urnso hatyouhave omethingto change ndadjust . h is sa sub-product ,andan mpor tant ne.

Old Racer's TaleAnother mpoftant oint s he alse dea hatyoumustuseupall he rackat heexitof a urn,whether ouhave o or not.Perhapshiscomes rom he old corneringheory hatsays oubegin he urnwideandexit t aswideaspossible.Wherevert comes rom, t notonly sn'talwaystrue,but t canactual ly revent ou romgoing aster hrough he urns.


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How? f you let the bike go wide at the exit, iust because there istrack left over, i t can give you a false impression you're going asfast as you can. Youcan oolyourselfntobel ievingt can'tbedonefaster . syou ' re gur inghe urnsanddia l ingn heproduct , youuse heinformationou've toredup rom he ast ap o decide f anychanges anbe made. f your information says you went all the way to the edgeof the track the last time through, it makes it diffieult to decideto go faster this t ime. Youknow hebikewil lgowider f yougo aster,andyou'l l unoutof track.Yourproduct wil l change. ouwon't eelasconf dent hat it can be done.wiil t workorvou?

Hold That LineThe emedyor hiscommonerror s o hold the bike to thetightest line possible on the exit so you can get an accurate ideaof where that speed takes you on the track. Where he product of

thatspeed utsyou. f youholdyour inedownat heendof a urnandthere ssti l leight eetof track eft, oucouldsafely ssume oucangofaster.f the next imeyoukeepeverythinghesamegoing nto he urn,us ing hesame inebut ncreas ingourspeed, ndyoust i l lhave ve eetof track eft, oucango even aster et.Thepoint s,don't oolyourselfby usingup he rackwhen t isn'tnecessary.By handlingheexits f most urns n hisway, oucanbeginto establish veryaccurate roduct andgoodsub-products. you'reengineer inghe urn o f t your id ing ndequipment ,ec id ing n aproduct, thenmaking djustmentso improve pon t.Youarenotbeingtaken nby he rack,making seless hangesust becausehere's nopportunityo do so.A goodexample f being uckedn on heentrance f a urn stheold rapof thedecreasing-radiusurn.Yougo in astbecauseoucan,thenhaveo play ome er ious atch-up t hepoint t beginso t ighten.Holding ourspeed ownon he entrance angiveyou heexact nforma-t ionyouneed o go aster- i f t 'spossible. hat 's ou hinkingnow,notsucking ourself ntomakinganerror.Whereiil oury t?

YourResultsTheproducts andsub-products giveyoua destinationndaccurately ark heplaceswhere oucanmake hanges n he road. heyareyourwayof breaking own he processntosmallerpartsyoucanunderstandndchange. our onf dence ndsmoothnessncrease henyouknowwhere ou're oingandwhat o dowhenyouget here.Yourbasic equirements a r ider s o observe here ourproducts andsub-products are,what o do at hosepoints nd o rememberhemsoyoucanmakeuseof them.

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O Most r iders use thewhole track upon exi t ingtu rns .

I Ho ld ing a t i gh t l i ne , andsti l l having track leftover, lets you know itcan be done even faster.

23


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CHAPTER FOUR

WhatYou SeeProgrammingYour ComPuterThrough the Eyes

Whatyousee hrough oursmoke-t inted ellshieldhasmuchto do with howwellyouride.Youcan'tcount he number f objects oucanseeat anyonespoton he rack,anymore hanyoucancountwhatyousee uststaring t he backof yourhand. hemore ou ook, he moreyousee. hisalsoapplieso the race rack.Youcanstopat any urnandlook or hoursatwhat's o be seen.Butwhileyou're acing r r idingdownthe road, oucan'tstop o gaze.Howdoyoudecidewhat o lookat,what s mpoftant ndwhatis not?And howdoyouusewhatyousee?Howcanwhatyouseehelporhinder our iding? hischapters about eeing orrectlyo improve ourr id ing.

Where Are You?The reason you look at points on the track is to learn

where you are and where you are going' On anypieceof roadyoulook n rontof you o obtain nformationboutwhere ouaresoyoucandecidewhat o dowith he nformation. any iders ave aid, Yougowhere ou ook."What hey ai led o say s, You angowhere oudon'tlook,butyourol loff the hrott le irst."Let 's estatet so he rider s morein control: ook where you want to go.

Reference PointsYouuse eference points to f indoutwhere ouareon he

track. his point is a spot or obiect of which you already know thelocation. l t issomething hichclearlymarks place. oucan efer o thisobject or information. wo reference points present betterpictureofyour Ocation.hree r moregive ouyourexact ocation. xample:ou'relookingor a store n MainStreet. ougo o MainStreet-that 's nereferencepoint. You nd he rightblock-that 'swo.Youcheck he24


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numberso seewhichdirectionhey un-that 's hree.Youdecidewhichsideof thestreet hestore son-that 's our.You ol low henumbersi l lyoureach hestore. hat 's iveor more eferencepoints thatyouwoulduse n nd ing naddress. na race rack r road oudo hesame hing.l f you don't have enough reference points to know where youare-you're lost! Any examptes?

Reference Points {RPs)-a certain reminder ofwhere you are; basicbui ld ing blocks for yourp lan .

"{

2 5


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Reference p o nts yea h. youmight not thtnk about thembu t You'vego t to use them.Just little things on the trackI remember-rt helps to pu tit all together.

Famil iar RPs al low youto look "around" theturn, wel l ahead ofyoursel f .

An RP givee you informa-tion. l t s ignals where,and how much, tochange what you do.

l "l&ir

,Wl,' ':#

2 6

Thingshappenaston a motorcycle t speed, nd hesituationchanges onstantly. here ouareon he road s very mportant ecauseit determinesourcourse f action.f you don't know where you ale,you also don't know what you're supposed to be doing. Your oca-t ionon a race rackor roadcanbeplotted n nches nd eet-not ncityblocks-andherearenostreet ignson he rack. t 's up o you o decidewhat reference points to useandwhat o do whenyou reach hem.Youmustdecide.

What to Use as Reference PointsYourbestReference oint RP)ssomething i ther n he rackorveryclose o i t : a patchof asphalt, paintedine,a spot,a crack, urb-ing,anythinghat doesn'tmove.Objectsoo ar rom he racksurface i l ltakeyourattention way rom he rack.YourRPsmustbeeasy o find obeusable. t t imesyoumustuse he edgeof the rack,but a point hat 'safoot n rom he edge s better ecauset keeps ourattention n he rack.l f yougo o the imi twi than RP hat 's ne oot rom heedge, oust i l lhavea oot eftover.Going o the edgeof the rackmeans oing o the imitand

leaving ourself o margin or error. t isn'tnecessaryo go o theedgeofthe rackwhenever ossible nti lyou eelcomfortable oingso.The deathatyoumustuseall he rack s ike he dea oumust hangoff" he bike-onlydo t when t becomes ecessaryndcomfortable.TheRPs ouchooseo lookat shouldbe nyour ineof visionandalong ourpathof travel.Don'tchoose omething sa referenceointjustbecauset's hereandeasy o see. t mightnotbe he r ightRP or youbecauset's oo aroff your ineor it doesn'twork or he speed ou'ret rave l ing. n heother and, on ' tnar row our is ionoo muchoryou ' l lnothave wideenough iewof the racksurfaceo f ndwhere ouare.RPshataredirectly nyour ineof travel stabl ishour ocation n hetrack engthways. Ps long hesideestabl ishour ocationn relat ionothe widthof the rack.Thebottom ine or an RP s,does i t work? lt canbeanywhere-soongas t works oryou.


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How to Use A Reference PointA reference oint s notmerely omething oucanseeeasi lyon or near he track, he reference point must mean something toyou when you see it. Everyimeyoupassor approacht, hispointmustcommunicate messageo you, ike, This swhere begin ookingfor my urn marker," r "l f l 'm o the r ightof this oo much 'l l hi ta bump,but o the eftof i t I 'malr ight."Or, This swhere beginmy urn."Refer-ence points are reminders of where you are or of what action you

must take. Canyouapply his?You'llneed wo or more eference points to accuratelyindyourself n he rack.You've ot o knowwhere he RPs resoyoucanre la te ourownposi t iono them.Thismaysound imple-minded,ut fyounarrow ourattentiono oneobject, t becomes ouronlyRPandyoubecome vict imof target f ixation. Yougo o the RPbecauseoudon'thave nyth ing lse o do.Thisoccursna panic i tuat ion ndcanhappenanywhere n a race rack.Youmusthave noughRPs o hat argetf ixation oesn't ccur.Whenyouhave uff icient Ps n a urnor on he rack, hescenemoving n rontof youappearso move moothly,ikea wide-screen70mmmovie. oo ew and he scene ooks ikeanold-t imemovie, ounc-ingand erking long.Having nlyoneRP s ikewatching sl ide howframe-nicepicture,but wheredo you go fromthere?Having too few RPscauses target f ixation.Enough RPs "open up"the track, making itappear larger, and costsless of your attention.

\f'


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28

Nodoubtyou'veheardhatyoumust ookdown he roadwhere ou're oing,notwhere ouare.This sgood nformation-youeedthatsecondRP o locate ourself n he rack.Lookingoo close o thebikewon'thelpyou ind t.

Look Ahead for Reference PointsAt 60 mphyou're raveling t 88 feetpersecond; t 120 mphyou'rehurt l inghrough pace t 176 eetpersecond. hatsecondicksbyveryquickly, nd f you'renot readyor he nextmove, head f t ime,you'l lmakea mistake. ooking heador your eference points andsub-products gives ou ime o prepareor he nextmove o herearenosurprises ndso everything oessmoothly.This dea anbe aken oo ar,however.'veseen iders ooking150 eetdown heroadwhi le ounding ight4o-mph urve. heywere

ignoring hatwas o be seen n rontof them, ikecurbing ndholes.Sti l l ,other idersn hesame urnwere ooking t he curbing ndholes, utnotunti l heywere ust 2O eet n rontof them.Bothof theseextremes reunworkable;heyproduce ncertainiding hrough he urnandslowcorner ing.

Where to LookTwo actorswil l help oudetermine here o lookwhileyou're

r id ing r rac ing.1 At speed,he urther head ou ook, heslower oubelieveyou're oing; he closero yourself ou ook, he aster oubelieve ou'regoing.Look fa r enough ahead to avoid accelerating the scene, butnot so far that you lose your feel for where you are on the track.Wath RPsyou have a choice of where tolook.wittyou rv t?2. Having noughRPs as heeffectof opening up thetrack, making it appear larger. Whenyou ook oo far aheador tooclose o the bike, he rackseemso narrow.f this begins appening,t isyours ignalo e i ther hangeRPs r o f ndmore f them n hat urnorsection f track.These reguide l ines.d just he RPs o hescenesmoving tthe r ightspeed oryou,andsoyoucanseeenougho keep he rack"opened p."Having nlyoneRP s ikehaving nlyonecar. f i t breaks rdoesn'twork,youdon'tgo anywhere.f youhave nother oucaneasi lyuse heone hatworks.With onlyone eference point ' or car, tbecomesoo valuable ndnecessary.f you ind hatyourattentions ixedon onepointon he rackor road, t 's because oudon'thave notherready o use.Thatonebecomes ery valuableo youandyouover-uset.Youdepend pon t for oo much nformation ndmightbegin taring t t .Youcanbecome lightlyostwhen t no onger etsyouknowwhere ouareorwhat o do. f you indyourattention ecomingixedon oneRP, ouneed o f nd anothern the area othe "movie"will smoothout.


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Stepping StonesReferencepoints areyourstepping toneso theproductsandsub-products youwil l producena urnor series f urns. heseitt lesteps ead o the major hanges ouwil l make o get he bikearound urnsfaster rwi thmore onf dence. Ps ignalhepoints n he rackwhere

youwi l lmake hese hanges.Concentration

On he trackor road,concentrations a smooth low, or chainof events hat moves rom one o anotherwithouta break.Referencepoints arepartsof thatchain, ne inkdepending pon he next orstrength nda continuouslow. f one inkbreaks,he entire hain taysbroken nti l t canbe repaired r replaced.f youhave section f thetrackwith no,or oo ew RPs, ourchainof concentration i l l break.Referencepoints are the building blocks of concentration.Let 'sgetback o the deaof yourattention ndhowmuchof i tyouhave, our en-dol lar i l l .Whenyourconcentrationsgood, ouspendjustenough f i t on eachRPso hatyouknowwhere ouareandwhat odo.Thiskeepshatsteadylow going.Whenyouhave oo ew RPs n anarea,mostof yourattention i l l bespent n rying o f ix hisbadsituation.The points or places on the track that you do not know, or under-stand, wil l occupy most of your attention. Having noughRPs etsyouspendust her ightamount f imeandat tent ion n each ne o getthe nformationouneed. ouhave nough eftover o buyother hings,to make mal l hangesnyour id inghatwi l lhe lp ougo usta b i t as teror leanover ust a bit more.Everything you do on the track takes upsome attention. Whenyoudon'thave noughRPs ourattention oesright o that area ndwil l-or can-break ourconcentration.Someof thestrangesthingshappenwhenyouhave breakinyourconcentration.ne ider old me hatevery imehisconcentrationbreaks ebeginsh ink ing f a eak ingaucet ehasat home. ourmindmaynotwander o a leakingaucet, utwhenyourconcentrationreaksyouwil l notice hatotherthings ome ntoyourmind.Ooou o his?Concentration -The Twist

There's twist to this subjectof concentration; henyou'vegot t, t doesn't eem o youyou're ooking t anythingn part icular.hereferencepoints justblend nto hescene n rontof you.Whenasked,"Whatdoyou ookat n urns?" wo or hreeof the op r iders n he worldhave aid, l don't eal lyookat anything." ut s his real lywhat heymean?Whenyourconcentrationsgood, ouspendust nickels nddimeson he RPs ndnoneof themcaptures ourattention. n example fthis s hatonemajordifference etween iders s heirabi l i ty o learntracks.Learning trackmeans nowing where you are on the track.

It's mportant to prck up goodRPs.especially on the exrt

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I like to go ta new tracks-rt'sfun. The irstyear I raced wewent to the tracks that every-body raced and ljust drd OKAt the new tracksthough. Iwas right there frrst or second

Find a stopwatch or wallc lock with a second handand try th is eye-openingexperiment. Do i t againafter you have ridden thetrack looking for RPs.

Some iders ando it in ive aps, thers an'tdo t in 5OOaps.Bothguyshave o learnwhere heyareby reference points; the op r idersustdo tso ast heycanbeat ouonyour avorite oad he secondimeyou akethem here!!One actor hatseparateshe op riders rom he restof thef ie ld s hat heypickup RPs uick ly ndaccurate lyo thepoint hey ansee he"whole cene" i thout av ingo pickout he nd iv idual Ps.

Enough Reference PointsOnceyou haveenoughRPs, oucansee he "wholescene"

comfortably ithouthaving o stareat he RPs ndividual ly.his syourgoal , nd he nd iv idualu i ld ing locks f hatscene reRPs.f your on-centration ecomesostyouwil l have o go backand elyon or relocateyourse l f i th he RPshatare ami l iaro you.That'showyourestore ourconcentrationssool3bs ossible:Go back to the reference points you know and pick up the threadof concentration. lf youdon'thaveanyRPs n thearea, t'll costyou imeon he rackasyouhesitate nd ol lback he hrott le.

Do Not Read Past This Next Paragraph UntilYou Have Completed the ExPeriment1.Geta stopwatch.2. Sitdown n a comfortablehair.3. Now,close oureyes nd hinkof a race rackyou're amil iarwith.Start hewatchand un hrougha completeapon he rack.Do tfrommemory.Tryo go hrough t exactly s astasyoudid he ast imeyourode here.Youare imingyourmemory f the rackandhowyourode t. 4. Now,close oureyes nd ry t again.

Memory Lapl f you're ikemost iders, ourmemory lap ime"wil l be eithermuch oo ongor much oo short. f you ustbroke heabsoluteap ecord30


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by 2Qor 30 seconds, r i f youadded20 or 30 secondso youractual aptimes, t means he same hing-notenough eference points. Theslow-lap ider 'smovie"s ncompletendhe indshimsel f tar -gaz ingt heplaces ehasno RPs.Hisattentionson he areas f the rackhedoesnotknow. ln he very ast apsituationhe rider t i l lhasn'tgotenoughRPs, o he l i ts romone o the next eryquickly ecausehosearewhathedoesknow.Having sufficient RPsgives you a better sense oftime becauseyou now have points to mark your motion aroundthe track. Yourattention oeseither o the places ouknowverywell ,orto the place oudon'tknowverywell .Or, t becomes pli tbetweenhetwo.Thiscosts oua lotof attention oucan'tspendon other hings.

Find the Lost RPsHere's neasymethod oucanuse o f indoutwhere oudon,thave noughRPs. oucanuse t anytime.1.Close oureyes.2. Caref l ly un hrough ourown"movie" f the rackas f youwere iding.3. "Ride" hroughonecompleteap nyourmemory.4. Openyoureyesand draweach urn on a separate heetofpaper,markinghe referenceoints ou're ureof in each urn.5. Make note f whateachRPmeanso you. ike: ,Brak ingPoint," Steering hange,"Location n heTrack." Bump,,,,ExitMarker,,,"Product," tc.6. Close oureyes gainandgo backover our ,movie,,,noticingheplaces ouhesitate. o blank,where hescene ets oggy,orwhere ouhurry hrough t too ast.Each f these ituationsndicatesouhave oo few reference points at these ocations.7. Nowmake noteonyour urndrawings t eachplace ouhave blank potor anyotherproblem ituationrom No.6 above.8. FindmoreRPs or hoseareashenext imeyouride hetrack. Youcanuse his method o f ndyourweakspots-and trong

pointsaswell ,as t is yourmemory f the urnsyourelyonwhenyouride.This s howyouknowwhere ou're oing.Knowing here ouaregoing spart of the thread of concentration. Wi u t work?

That's the TwistYoumustget o the pointwhere oucansee hewholescene

in rontof youwithouthavingo spend lotof attention nanyonepoint.You're ui ldinghatscenewith ndividualeference points. l f yourcon-centrations ost,go back o the RPs hatyouknowandbuild he sceneaga in . 31


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A lot of guys I see out thereseem to forget about thewhole rest of the track. Theyare paytng too much atten-t ion to that one l ine.

Good RPs help keep asteady flow of concen-tration for a rider. Youspend (use) RPs to saveattention.

The Big Twist to Goncentrationand ReferencePointsThe r ick o usingRPs ndgaining oncentrationsyou haveto look at something. Youreyesworkby ocusing n someobjectorsomeplane,heneverythingn hatplane s n ocus, ikeon a moviescreen. oumaybe ooking t onlyonearea f thescreen, ut he entirescreens n ocus.Anotherpoint s that whenyoureyesmove, hey do so n shortstoppingmovements.hey l i t fromoneobject o anotherikea butterf ly.l f you ry o sweep oureyes cross scenewithoutstopping n anything,the scene ecomes blur.Try t.A r ider's roblems hathewants o see he rack n rontofhim lowingasa wholescene,o maintain steady owof concentration,buthiseyes on'twork hatway. f hestares t one eference point toolong, e ' l l xper ience ormof unnel is ion. u tbecause f hewayhis

eyeswork,he has o lookat some pecif iching!There'she wist.

@: ,ilt1 *

\ \ \ w rr-rl' "-. - , . , .F-L'..1*',,-:4:."ffiq*:t*-"i It

See FastHowdo he op ridersmanageo r ideso astwithoutexperi-

encing roblemsn seeing? ere's dri l l hatwil l help ou practiceheproper eeingechniques.1 Findawall hat s entirely isible o you.Youcanseeall ourcorners y moving oureyes, ut notyourhead.2. Focus oureyes n a spot n he middle f thewall .3. Remainocused n hat spot, henmove ourattention, otyoureyes,o the upper ight-hand orner f thewall .Still ocusingon that spot,moveyourattention o differentplaces n he wall .Youare ooking tonespotbut areaware f theotherareas f thewall .5. Sti l l ocusing n hat spot,move ourattentiono theobjects etween ouand hewall ,andon he wallaswell .2

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The Whole PictureYou can see the whole scene while still looking at oneplace or spot! Youprobably oticed hatduring hisexperimentouwanted o moveyoureyes romthe spotyouwere ocusedon to thespotto whichyourattention adgone.Thisexperimentecomes asier i thpractice. oucanpracticemoving ourattention round, hi le ooking tonespotor area, syou're riving o the races r ustsit t ing na chair. t 'sa ski l l hatcan ake ime o developf youhaven'tmasteredt already.Now,whenyousee hewholescene n hiswayyouhave oreal izehat hepoints n hescenemustbewellknown o you.Youneedthe reference points in he scene o make hescene.f youdon'tknowthe RPs oureyeswil l hunt or somethinghat s amil iar nd ose hewholescene ffect.Being ble o see he rack n rontof youasa whole cenemakes id ingmucheasier ndbr ings our oncentra t ionack f t a l ters .Asyoucansee n he dri l labove,t iswhere ourattentionsdirected,where ou ' re pendingour en-dol lari l l , hat 'smuchmore mpor tantthanwhatyou're ooking t.Yourattentionmustbespenteconomical ly,and ook ing t hewhole cene atherhanat one h ing s spendingt verywisely, ndgetting nterest ackon your nvestment. ou us t have opractice. Willyou ry t?

, " , . .%'!

This s the way I see lt mostof the time-the overall sceneThat's when things are gorngnght everything is worktngnght

You begin to understanda turn with RPs. Thenpieces of the turnbecome clearer. Final ly,the whole scene isviewed as a steady f lowof action. You spend theleast and get the most.


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CHAPTER F IVE

Timing

The first couple of practicelaps eel fast, oo fast.an dthen it slows down fromthere.

Putting Things ln OrderTiming real ly asnothing o do withyoursense f t ime. t hasto do with taking the correct action at exactly the correct place onthe track. Thewhole deaof t iming s o pul l ogether our eferencepoints, products andsub-products so hey're sefulto ouon hetrack.Doing hecorrect hingat hewrongplace n he rackproducespoor esults. nowing hat o do, but notexactly here o do t,can eallyfoul upa rider.

My Timing LessonI learnedmy esson bout iming from riding kateboards.was ryingdesperatelyo makea "kick" urn,which s he 18O-degreeurnyoumake o getyourself ackdownafter idingupa rampor hesideof apool. fel l at least hundredimes rying t. Final ly,discoveredhat heboardwouldnot urn unlesst wasgoingat a certain lowspeed.f I r ied ttoo ast-tooearly- lcouldnot make he urn.Tooslow-too ate-and heboardwouldbegin l id ing ackwardsustenougho make he urnv i r tu-al ly mpossible.herewasa very nemargin f speedhatwouldal low heboard o be urned, etst i l lkeepup he momentum o I couldstayon and

cont inue ackdown.

How You Let OffI took a veryclose ookat my motorcycleiding, eepingnmindwhat 'd earned n he skateboard,nddiscoveredome erybasicmistakeswasmaking sa r ider.Manyother idersweremaking hesamemistakesor hesame easons.ln turnswhereyouuse he brakes, xactlywhereyou etoffthemandwhenyoubegin teering anmakea greatdifferencenyoursmoothness.hough could make hatchangen manydifferent ays,oneworkedbetter han he others. et 's ookat he possibi l i t ies:4


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1.Youcan inish he braking nd hen urn, eavinghethrottleoff.2. Youcan inish he braking fter oubegin he urn,with noth rottle.3.Youcan inish he braking,hen urnandapply he hrott le.4 . You an in ish he brak ing, nd hencrack he hrot t lesl ightly.5. Youcan nish he braking fter oubegin o turnandapplythe hrott le.6. Youcan nish he braking fter ou urnand ustcrack hethrott le n.

What Happensln NumberOneabove,he orksarealmostbottomed ut romthebraking,henwhenyou etup on he brakeshe orksextend nd hebike stands" p.You henput hebike nto he urn,and hecorner ingforces ompresshe orksagain. f youput t nto he urn hard, he orkscompressery ar, hencomebackupa li t t le. hebike sgoingupanddown, hangingraction nd orkangle. hatchangeshesteering ndreduceshe stabilityof the bike.In Number woabove,he ork sdown,andwhenyou urnthe hrott lebackon t comesup, henbackdownagain rom he urningforces.Here'shesame ituation gain-loss f traction ndstabi l i ty.ln Number hree,he ork scompressedrom he braking,thencomesupwhenyoureleasehebrakes,hendownagain rom hecorner ingoads,henup again syouapply he hrot t le . heotherexamples rovide imilar ossibi l i t ies.Toget nto he urncorrectly,oumust ime he braking ndturning o hat he bikestays ven, otgoingupor down,at hepointyoule toff the brakes. oumust etoff the brakes t the exactmomentyourfork scompressedustenough or he speeds ndcorneringoads t wil lbe undergoinghrough he urn.Apply he hrott le o hat orkextensiondoesn't hange, r changeshe east mount ossible. hiswil l al low outo go nto he urnwithoutanyup anddownmotion. f your iming'soff,youmay ompla inhat hebikehandles oor ly , oss ib lyh ink ingheshocksaregone.Somexamples?

Your Timing TargetYour arget, r sub-product forany urn n whichyoubrakeand urn n succession,s iming the braking, steering and thrott leso that fork and shock extension are kept as even as possible.Fast "esses" and compound turns. When wo or moreturnsarestrung ogether ndcannotbe akenwideopen, iming isimportant. na quick ight/ left r left /r ight ombination,ime he steeringchange o hat he hrott le s rol led ff r ightbeforehe ransit ionromsideto side.Roll ing ff thegas ustan nstant eforemakinghesteering


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36

change ips he rontendsl ightly,makinghesteering asieroversteer)because f thedecreasedorkangle rake).Making hat steering hangeandcompressinghe suspensiono i ts maximum oint or hat urn keepsthe bike rom bobbing panddownexcessively.hendone ight,evenabikewi thpoor hocks i l lhandle ne.Whendonewrong, hebest -handling ike n heworldwil l handle oorly.

Roll-Off TimeThe aster ouride, he harderhesteering ecomes, speci-al ly n high-speedesses." ol l inghe hrott le ff, hensteering,henget-t ing backon hegasagain n he middle f two turns, anactual ly etyouthrough aster han f you"push" hroughandhave o rol loff at the exitofthe wo urns. he o l l ing f f andback nagain hould ot akemore hanonesecond, nd he gas scompletely ff for onlya small raction f thatt ime, f ata l l .Avo id nappinghe hrot t le n andof f unt i l our imingis perfect.

Tiredness : Loss of TimingWhen you become tired, the f irst thing you lose is yourt iming. This sanother easont's so mportanto have our eferencepoints andproducts wellestabl ished.ub-products, themajor tepsorchangesn a urn,arealsopoints of t iming (POTI.Not al lRPs repoints of t imir lg. Someonly el lyouwhereyouare, ignal ing nupcoming hange r POT/sub-product. f youknowwhere heyareandwhat o do here, ouwon'thave o slowdownasmuchwhenyoubecomeired.Youprobably on'tbewil l ing o gofaster, ut hatcanwaitunti lyou're harpagain. oeshis pplyoyou?

Timing and the Road You Ridechangesn he roadaffect iming dramatical ly.ounotonly

have o work hecontrols orrectly, utyouhave o fi t that nto hecamberchangesnd adius hanges swel l .For nstance,fyouwerecoming p oa bankedurnwhere ouwouldhave o use he brakes rst, oushouldknow hat hesuspensioni l lcompress ore n hat urn han t wi l lonasimilarurn hat s latwith no banking. ogo n perfectly,ouwould etoff he brakes syou go nto he bankingustas hesuspensions akingthe oad rom he centr i fugalorce.Thiswil lgiveyou he smoothest ntry.You back out of the brakes iust as the turn takes over the iob ofcompressing the suspension. lf youbrake oo hardand he corneringspeedsdown, hebikewil l r iseup whenyouhit hebanking,hesuspen-sionwil l unload.f yougetoff he brakesoo soonand henhit he bank-ing, he suspension it lcompress. hesecond f these s he better f theevi lsas t offersa better ractionSituation. oing t r ight,of course,sbestof al l .


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ln off-camber turns:1. Spend as l i t t le t ime inthem as possible.2. Design your planaround the forces pul l -ing yo u to the outsideof the turn.

Off-Gamber TimingInanoff-camberurn t is better o have he bikeas ightaspossible n tswheels o keep t f rommoving o theoutside f the urn oomuch.Youmust imeyourcontrol perationsoyou're n hegas he eastamount n hatpartof the urn.Traction eterioratesapidlyn off cambersections, ompared ith ator banked ections. ol l ing ff he hrott leveryhard n anoff-camber asan effect imilar o thatof rol l ing n oohard. t oads newheelmore han heother- in h iscase he ront -andcancausehe rontend o s l ide ut .The idermightbepuzz led-heol ledoff he hrott le ndsti l l hrew t away.Roll ing ff usual ly elpshimgetthrough urnswhenhe'sbeengoing oo ast.Keepinghe weighteven nthewheels y cracking pen he hrott le, otacceleratingrslowing, ives

thebike ts best raction noff camberurns. nanoff-camber,etupyourPOT o hebike saccelerat ingr s lowinghe east mount oss ib le .hatwil l preventransferr ingoo muchweight o eitherwheel.

Ghanging the Track with TimingIna section f trackwherea dip compresseshesuspension,i t is sometimes ossibleo t imeyour ol l-on or hatpoint.Ground lear-ance ncreaseshen hebike saccelerat ingecausehesuspensions

extending;his acticmaystopsomeof the bobbing p anddown hatoccurs n dippedpartsof the rack. iming canchange he rackcondi-t ions or better r worse. f youget he POT ight t canwork-i fyoudon't,itwon't.


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Products and TimingKeepn mind hrough l l h is hatyourgoal sst i l l heovera l lproduct of the urn.Yousti l lwant he maximum peed,hedrive omingout,oryouwant o besetup or he next urn. f youmakepartsof the urnwork,but ose he drive omingout,you'vewon he batt lebut ost he war.Atlof he RPs ndPOT/sub-products mustmake he product etter r

youhave onea otof fancy iding hat 'sslow iding.Sometimest'sbetterto go directlyhrougha roughsection f trackwobbling ndoutof shapethan o f igurea smoother-but lower-way round t.Yourmeasure fprogresss nwhether r notyourproduct is mproving.Points of t iming are sub-products, and this is wherechanges are made. Every lacewhere ou akeanykindof action sapoint of t iming, especial ly henyou're n a urn.Upshift ing n hestraight-away,lornstance,s a POT,hough t 's ess mportanthanwhereyousteer n a urn.Becomingamil iarwithyourPOT ndproducts al lowsyou o loafon he restof the rackbecause owyouunderstand here ouhave o workhardandwhere oudon't. f youget hese actsdownonpaper, rwellmemorized,ouwon't besayinghings ike, l 'm havingtrouble n heesses." ou' l l eewhichPOT reworking ndwhicharefouling up your product. Whatwill changef youdo this?

Timing in PerspectiveToput iming in perspective,et 's ookatTurnSixat RiversideRacewayn Riverside, al i fornia.t 'sa goodexample ecause undreds fr iders resti l lbaff led y t,and t's hemostcomplexurn knowof.

Each change in the trackrequires the r ider toadjust his bike at exactlythe right place. lf not, thebike wi l l seem to handlepoorly,

38

TurnSix

7hztiziit)'q//Viiti47h'%tiriii,


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Turn Six, RiversideTurnSix s partof a series eginning ith TurnFive seediagram).urnFives aster hanSix,andmost iders rake ndgo downa gear oming ntoFive.t looks erynarrow n he approach, ut asthey're omingoutof i t ,most iders ind hey've one hrough t tooslow.Thegascomes n oran nstant s hey ideup hehi l l n toTurn ix ,where heyhave o use he brakes gain.Most iders verusehe brakeshere,ind hey're oinga bit oo slow, hen umpon he gasagain. ustatthatpoint, t seems hegas son oo muchagain, o hey oll t off. Now tseemsoo slowagain, o heygetbackon hegas.Now heysee heendof the urn,but he bike'sheadingo theoutsideoo ast,aiming or hedirtand heArmcobarrier. ere's nother oi l-off.Now hebike's n hestraight-awayndbackonto hegas.This sa roughway o go hrougha urn! Here's hathappened-comingntoTurnSix, he rider irstnoticeshat he hasoverbrakednd sgoing ooslowbecause ehas ai ledto see hat he rack sbanked t hispoint.Nowhe has headvantagefthebanking, ut ustwhenhe beginso rol lon, he rack lattens ut andhe oseshe banking. henew ol l-on eginswhere he rackpicksup hebanking gain bout wo-thirds f the way hrough. he inal ol l-offbeginswhere he banking oesawayagainat heexitof the urn.That'sfourcamber hangesnone urn!other factorsaffect his turn.At the beginning,wherewe losethe rstbanking nd he rol l-offbegins,here sa creston he rack.Notonlydoes he bankingaperoff,but hebikebecomesightas t goesover

thiscrest. hesuspensionnloads,raction oesawayand he bikewantsto go toward hewall-very ast!Thebikesett les ownat hebanked artof theexitand herider eelshe sgoing oo slowagain.Now t takes ime or him o noticethat he raction s betterhereand ime o getbackon hegasagain.Bythen, he banking eginso go awayat heexitand he bike sgoing oofast.The ast ol l-off ccurs. headdit ionalwist o that astpartof theturn s hat t ightens pandgoes ownhi l l b i t .This urnhas ourcamber hanges,wo radius hanges,woelevat ionhanges nda hump n hemiddle f he rs tcamber hange!Tomake t worse, he pavement'soor. he rackdesignermusthavereal ly ad unwi th h is urn.

Find the TimingThere snothing eallywrongwith riders ol l ing n andoff thethrott le. heproblems hey're otdoing t at he r ightplace n he rack.Their iming isal lwrong.This s because, rstof al l , heyhave ot ookedat he rackand oundwhere t changes. emember;oucannot ee hese

changes erywellwhen ou're iding. econdly, opoints of t imingareestab l ishedo s ignal the hanges.s a resu l t ,hebrak ing nd hrot t leresponseso the rackoccur n hewrongplace. hird, heyestabl ish oplan o take dvantagef thebank ing. se he uleof humb hat hebikeE ; : *


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should eat he owest ointof thebankingwhen eavingt.Fourth, ooveral l roduct hasbeendeterminedromprevious xperience.My descript ion f r iders oing hroughTurnSixmightsoundlikebaddrama, utwatching hem sworse. heirworried xpressionsand rozen tt i tudesel l hewholestory. heirbikesbobup anddown romthe hrott le hanges s f theirshockswerebroken. fter idingTurnSixl ike hisa while, oucanbegin o feelverystupid.As a result,many iderschoose constant-radiusineandpretendt'sal l justone urnwith no realcamber r rad ius hanges.Riders ake his turn manydifferentways,but the astestonesconsistentlyo hree hings:1 Theyuse he banking oing nto he urnto maximum dvantage.) Ratherhan rying o fight he middle f theturn,where t f lattens ut, hey et he bikedrif tout,whichal lowshem otakeadvantagef the ol lowing oint.3)Theyuse he banking n heexitto i tsbestadvantage.his inecouldbasical ly ecal led double pex,which s a gooddescript ion f the urn.Keep n mind hat he imingmustbecorrector i t to workright.Turnswith ewerchanges anbe equally aff l ing,f thetiming iswrong.Some iders, f course, ango hrough h s urnvery astby keeping p a feverpitchof concentration ndcat-like ef exes, ut heywon'tbeas astassomeone ho understandst.Andridingat,or past,yourCgngentratiOnedlinewearsyOUOutSOOner.re ou waref his?

Shaving the TrackYou don't have to keep up a razor edge of concentra-tion everywhere on the track. You've tillgo t that ten dollarsworth ofattention ou're rying o spendwisely.f youcontinue pending llof i t al lthe ime,you'l lsoonuse t up.spendinghe whole endollarso go downthe straightsawaste.Put t in savingso draw nterestn attention-saving,henwithdraw t again or henext urn.Yourattention ndabil i ty o concentrateomeandgo; hey're

betterat some imes han at others.By spending your attention onlywhen necessary, it will be there when you need it. This s anotherpartof t iming, recognizing here ouhave o do he rghtwork,andcoolingt the rest.At six-hour nduranceaces haveheard number f


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riders ay heywerepacing hemselveso last he whole aceby trying orelax-andheywentquickerhan heyhad n hesprint aces! hey orcedthemselveso getsmart. f youcanuse hisatt i tude or sprint aces, oucanbe evensharperwhenyou have o be.Just gurewhereyourpOTareandwhatyou're upposedo bedoingat eachone.Relax hi legoingdown he straight-it's un to go fast.set up a reference point to tell youwhen o startpayingattention.Make t work or you.Youcanalways et upa RP o signal ou hata POT scoming, nd hiswil l helpyourelax.Getreadywhenyousee t, notbefore.

Rhythm : T

Twist of the Wrist I

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