rmadursk
New Member
I ran on Saturday at BeaveRun in PA. I've been riding for 40+ years and learned more about using (not riding) a motorcycle in one day than I have over all that time. It took the whole day but I finally got to a point where I felt like I was using the motorcycle to get around the track instead of riding the bike around the track. Let me summarize the day. If this stuff bores you and you just want to hear the ah-ha moment scroll to the end.
Session 1 - Sloppy as hell. Shifting was not working for me, bike felt too stiff, I felt like I was late on every apex, got passed a lot. It was an absolute blast.
Session 2 - After discussion with with some guys in the paddock I decided to avoid shifting. That worked well to smooth me out but made it impossible to get around anyone on the straights. I upshifted a couple of times out of turn 11/12 and with some sphincter puckering slow downs was able to get around other riders at the end of the front straight. I felt much smoother and enjoyed the session more. When we came off track and talked to the CRs one of them (couldn't tell which one with the helmets on) suggested that I shift the same on every lap. Made sense. Muscle memory and consistency definitely helps to concentrate on more important areas. CRs did a great job of highlighting the lines that would work during this session.
Session 3 - Shifting was much less cumbersome, although sometimes I would forget which gear I was in sometimes and bog in the carousel or coming out of turn 1. I was feeling smoother and the toes and pegs were dragging pretty regularly, a couple of times almost all the way around the carousel. At the time this seemed to me like the limit of the bikes capabilities. Ignorance is bliss
. I believe it was during this session that I had my first off-course excursion. Between turns 8 and 9 is a long fast straight and the CR windmilled a group of us by. The whole group accelerated and then the rider in front of me decided he wasn't going to make it (I assume) and slowed down drifting a little left. I was on his left and about ready to pass him when this happened. It pushed me to the edge of the track and I had no room left, or time to slow down so I went off in the grass. I was able to gather it up and continue. Other than not taking advantage of the wave by in a bunched group I'm not sure if there was much I could have done about it. We were bunched up and I was on the outside the whole time. Anyway, the discussion after the session with Len (fantastic CR BTW, I was surprised to read this evening that he was a new CR) suggested that I take turns 2-4 as a single line, or at least smoother. We talked about the difference between 4 and 2 wheeled track lines and how to transition better into turn 2 to make it work better.
Session 4 - Felt much better. I felt like I was moving around on the bike better and keeping up a nice pace. Worked on braking into turn 1 to get setup for 2 as well as going deeper to pass. Almost got into trouble one time when I was passing a guy on the left at the end of the straight and spotted another passer on my right. I tightened up on the lever and let them both go by since I was on a really bad line at that point. The CR suggestion on that round was to position myself better on the bike. I thought I understood what he was talking about (I think the gist of it was to keep my chest/upper body in line with the bike) but didn't, until later when it happened.
Lunch break - good timing, I was getting hungry and tired.
During the beginner meeting Dean (one of the CRs) got on a bike and showed us the right "riding" position. I use quotes because I think if you get to this position you are no longer riding the bike but are using it as a machine to get around the track. I would never "ride" like that. They announced that they were going to allow passing between turns 7 and 8. This made me a little nervous since there were a lot of riders that were inconsistent with their lines in and out of both of them. In hindsight it made me much faster out of 7 knowing I didn't have to reign it in following a slower rider to avoid braking in the downhill off camber section.
Session 5 - Felt pretty good in this session. I was concentrating on keeping a lean all the way from the exit of 1 to the entrance of 4. Pushed it pretty hard and actually felt like I was doing it right most of the time. It was much harder when there were slower riders in front of me because it threw off my rhythm. I was doing the carousel well and made a lot of passes braking hard into turn 1. In the earlier sessions I had been rolling off the throttle just before the 200M marker and breaking at the 200. In this session I was waiting until after the 200 and squeezing the lever around the 150. As long as I was on the right side this worked well. Passing on the left at that rate required a little extra concentration. This was my fastest session so far as I went 2 miles more in this session than I had all day according to my trip meter (not a very accurate metric, but it is all I had).
Session 6 - Windy session. Felt really good going into this one. My tire pressures had been stabilizing and felt like I was getting more consistent, fixing fewer mistakes. I had gotten used to going harder out of 6 and into 7 and was really enjoying the drift from inside to out. I actually made a pass between 7 and 8 as I was carrying so much momentum out of 7 that I would have probably washed out the front end trying to slow it down to avoid the pass. I was getting a lot of attention from Len on this session and keeping to his lines helped me quite a bit. Except one time coming out of 8 I was drifting from the apex of 8 to the edge of the track I drifted too far and ended up in the grass again. I wish I knew what happened to me so I could avoid it next time but I'm not sure how I messed it up. Little bit of perspective for the non-riders reading (if there are any) I probably come around turn 8 at about 75 MPH. That's a bit fast to be in the grass :doh:. Got back on pavement, scrubbed the grass/dirt/water off my tires and got back on pace.
Session 7 - Slightly slower starting pace. Mostly due to the red flag incident in the intermediate group. He was hurt but it sounds like he'll be OK. This was a good session (I thought). I felt much smoother, I was bumping the pegs off the ground which I didn't like but was getting used to doing. When we came off the track Len told me I need to push the bike up.
Session 8 - About 3 laps in I finally "pushed the bike up" and went from riding the motorcycle to using the motorcycle to get around the track. This didn't work very well for me :argh:. I had a lot difficulty with smoothness using this technique which caused the bike to become unsettled out of the turns. I wasn't very fast in this last session, but I really feel like it was my best one. Hanging off the tank with my knee and rolling my sole over the footpeg was an amazing feeling. I experienced what Dean had referred to as "looking through the mirror" in the turn. This technique is about 10 times more physically intense as you are more or less crawling all over the machine and using your muscles instead of inertia to keep yourself on the machine.
To sum it up. For me, there are 2 ways to get around the track. Riding the bike and using the bike. Riding is easy but limits how fast you can go because you can only lean the bike over so far when riding before you start scraping hard parts. Using the bike as a machine to propel yourself around the track opens up a whole new realm. Pushing the bike up as you move lower opens up all new possibilities to add speed. Someday maybe I'll actually have the opportunity to tune the bike to make it work better as I use it to get around.
Couple of thanks. Anyone that attended. Paddock was great. Good people everywhere. I wore out the 10 year old DT208's and rhad to scrounge for tools on Sunday to change tires. Colin Blandford with ShagMoto was very helpful and affordable with fitting some new shoes on my rims. Todd did a great job as Director, Len was a fantastic CR. I am still amazed that the CRs can go through turns looking back at riders behind them and stay upright. The barbecue on Sat. night was tasty and entertaining.
My legs still hurt but I'll be back.
Thanks,
Ron Madurski
#66 Sprint ST
Session 1 - Sloppy as hell. Shifting was not working for me, bike felt too stiff, I felt like I was late on every apex, got passed a lot. It was an absolute blast.
Session 2 - After discussion with with some guys in the paddock I decided to avoid shifting. That worked well to smooth me out but made it impossible to get around anyone on the straights. I upshifted a couple of times out of turn 11/12 and with some sphincter puckering slow downs was able to get around other riders at the end of the front straight. I felt much smoother and enjoyed the session more. When we came off track and talked to the CRs one of them (couldn't tell which one with the helmets on) suggested that I shift the same on every lap. Made sense. Muscle memory and consistency definitely helps to concentrate on more important areas. CRs did a great job of highlighting the lines that would work during this session.
Session 3 - Shifting was much less cumbersome, although sometimes I would forget which gear I was in sometimes and bog in the carousel or coming out of turn 1. I was feeling smoother and the toes and pegs were dragging pretty regularly, a couple of times almost all the way around the carousel. At the time this seemed to me like the limit of the bikes capabilities. Ignorance is bliss
. I believe it was during this session that I had my first off-course excursion. Between turns 8 and 9 is a long fast straight and the CR windmilled a group of us by. The whole group accelerated and then the rider in front of me decided he wasn't going to make it (I assume) and slowed down drifting a little left. I was on his left and about ready to pass him when this happened. It pushed me to the edge of the track and I had no room left, or time to slow down so I went off in the grass. I was able to gather it up and continue. Other than not taking advantage of the wave by in a bunched group I'm not sure if there was much I could have done about it. We were bunched up and I was on the outside the whole time. Anyway, the discussion after the session with Len (fantastic CR BTW, I was surprised to read this evening that he was a new CR) suggested that I take turns 2-4 as a single line, or at least smoother. We talked about the difference between 4 and 2 wheeled track lines and how to transition better into turn 2 to make it work better.Session 4 - Felt much better. I felt like I was moving around on the bike better and keeping up a nice pace. Worked on braking into turn 1 to get setup for 2 as well as going deeper to pass. Almost got into trouble one time when I was passing a guy on the left at the end of the straight and spotted another passer on my right. I tightened up on the lever and let them both go by since I was on a really bad line at that point. The CR suggestion on that round was to position myself better on the bike. I thought I understood what he was talking about (I think the gist of it was to keep my chest/upper body in line with the bike) but didn't, until later when it happened.
Lunch break - good timing, I was getting hungry and tired.
During the beginner meeting Dean (one of the CRs) got on a bike and showed us the right "riding" position. I use quotes because I think if you get to this position you are no longer riding the bike but are using it as a machine to get around the track. I would never "ride" like that. They announced that they were going to allow passing between turns 7 and 8. This made me a little nervous since there were a lot of riders that were inconsistent with their lines in and out of both of them. In hindsight it made me much faster out of 7 knowing I didn't have to reign it in following a slower rider to avoid braking in the downhill off camber section.
Session 5 - Felt pretty good in this session. I was concentrating on keeping a lean all the way from the exit of 1 to the entrance of 4. Pushed it pretty hard and actually felt like I was doing it right most of the time. It was much harder when there were slower riders in front of me because it threw off my rhythm. I was doing the carousel well and made a lot of passes braking hard into turn 1. In the earlier sessions I had been rolling off the throttle just before the 200M marker and breaking at the 200. In this session I was waiting until after the 200 and squeezing the lever around the 150. As long as I was on the right side this worked well. Passing on the left at that rate required a little extra concentration
. This was my fastest session so far as I went 2 miles more in this session than I had all day according to my trip meter (not a very accurate metric, but it is all I had). Session 6 - Windy session. Felt really good going into this one. My tire pressures had been stabilizing and felt like I was getting more consistent, fixing fewer mistakes. I had gotten used to going harder out of 6 and into 7 and was really enjoying the drift from inside to out. I actually made a pass between 7 and 8 as I was carrying so much momentum out of 7 that I would have probably washed out the front end trying to slow it down to avoid the pass. I was getting a lot of attention from Len on this session and keeping to his lines helped me quite a bit. Except one time coming out of 8 I was drifting from the apex of 8 to the edge of the track I drifted too far and ended up in the grass again. I wish I knew what happened to me so I could avoid it next time but I'm not sure how I messed it up. Little bit of perspective for the non-riders reading (if there are any) I probably come around turn 8 at about 75 MPH. That's a bit fast to be in the grass :doh:. Got back on pavement, scrubbed the grass/dirt/water off my tires and got back on pace.
Session 7 - Slightly slower starting pace. Mostly due to the red flag incident in the intermediate group. He was hurt but it sounds like he'll be OK. This was a good session (I thought). I felt much smoother, I was bumping the pegs off the ground which I didn't like but was getting used to doing. When we came off the track Len told me I need to push the bike up.
Session 8 - About 3 laps in I finally "pushed the bike up" and went from riding the motorcycle to using the motorcycle to get around the track. This didn't work very well for me :argh:. I had a lot difficulty with smoothness using this technique which caused the bike to become unsettled out of the turns. I wasn't very fast in this last session, but I really feel like it was my best one. Hanging off the tank with my knee and rolling my sole over the footpeg was an amazing feeling. I experienced what Dean had referred to as "looking through the mirror" in the turn. This technique is about 10 times more physically intense as you are more or less crawling all over the machine and using your muscles instead of inertia to keep yourself on the machine.
To sum it up. For me, there are 2 ways to get around the track. Riding the bike and using the bike. Riding is easy but limits how fast you can go because you can only lean the bike over so far when riding before you start scraping hard parts. Using the bike as a machine to propel yourself around the track opens up a whole new realm. Pushing the bike up as you move lower opens up all new possibilities to add speed. Someday maybe I'll actually have the opportunity to tune the bike to make it work better as I use it to get around.
Couple of thanks. Anyone that attended. Paddock was great. Good people everywhere. I wore out the 10 year old DT208's and rhad to scrounge for tools on Sunday to change tires. Colin Blandford with ShagMoto was very helpful and affordable with fitting some new shoes on my rims. Todd did a great job as Director, Len was a fantastic CR. I am still amazed that the CRs can go through turns looking back at riders behind them and stay upright. The barbecue on Sat. night was tasty and entertaining.
My legs still hurt but I'll be back.
Thanks,
Ron Madurski
#66 Sprint ST
