all great advice from those above (especially hooking up with a CR and viewing it as a "chess" game). I personally think you can never be too polite with passing (unless of course its an SV. . .
. . .
A couple of things helped me alot with passing in N group: First and foremost, was understanding why the passing rules were established the way they are - to force you to learn how to pass in "phases" - phase 1 is on the brakes, or timing the exit (N group); phase 2 is continue phase 1, and carrying more speed on entry and through the turn (outside passing - I group) and finally consistent, smooth braking, throttle, and race lines to do an inside pass. . .
When that finally clicked, I stopped thinking about passing and started working on braking later and later and getting on throttle earlier and earlier on exit (with INSANE AMOUNTS OF CR HELP). I actually did it not to pass people, but in an effort to get people to stop PASSING ME. . .
. Once I started pushing my brake markers, then I started looking for tell tail signs to help me "predict" what other riders in front of me were going to do and when. For passing on the brakes, the easiest is the rider "popping up" - if you know you're better on the brakes, you're just waiting to see that and then even if you hold throttle for half a second longer (because you're braking later) - you'll literally FLY by the rider your passing. Riders of liter bikes in particular brake way early (including myself). . .you're goal shouldn't to be to keep up on the straights, it should be to be on their ass coming out of the turn onto the straight, let them gap from the power, watch when then pop up, notice where it is in relation to your brake marker. . .smoke em on the next lap. . .
. The funny thing is, for my brother and I to get faster, we had to learn how to ride liter bikes like 600's - brake later, corner speed and on the gas early and hard. . .I can't tell you the amount of times I've been SMOKED by smaller bikes coming in to a corner, mid corner, exit of a corner (particularly a pesky 60hp SV650
) and the distance that corner speed generates CANNOT be overcome by power unless it's a really long straight.
Once again, for me, what also helped alot was having a rear facing go-pro. This has been a benefit for two reasons: 1) it showed me that I wasn't cutting off peoples noses when I made passes (we can't look back) and 2) once you start getting comfortable with passes, it shows (in GRAPHIC detail) where and how people are PASSING YOU. . .
. Both are very valuable pieces of information to get faster. . . because it gives you confidence that what you thought was a questionable pass really was clean so the next time you're in that situation, you won't hesitate to make it, and it lets you know where others are making up time on you (and where you need to focus your attention for getting even more faster. . .
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