Hardest technique to master?

Keith Code was primarily talking about riders who thought they could steer just by leaning, so he built a bike with two sets of handle bars. He added a set rigidly attached to frame, and had these rider try an steer the bike just by leaning. Article worth reading.

 

What I finally learned from a friend that was a pro rider (500/600 class and 750 class) was to not lean the bike over so far and shift my butt to the side of the seat that I was cornering in to while keeping the bike more upright. We spend a Test and Tune day at the track for the superbike nationals doing test laps with me following him doing what he did. we pissed off a few pro riders when a "rookie" with a big red X on his vest was passing them on a "stock" street bike. After that I didn't scrap the pegs.

 

More often than not you will have riders that don't UNDERSTAND countersteering, rather than ones that don't BELIEVE in countersteering. We do a steering drill exercise at the California Superbike School. If we suspect that a rider doesn't understand counter steering we might ask them "what would happen if you were going straight and you pressed on the right bar." A lot of students answer that the bike would go LEFT. These riders clearly don't understand counter steering and aren't going to be able to get their machines turned as quickly and precisely as possible if they need to suddenly avoid hitting something. Understanding counter steering is the first step to mastering it. What else can help you perfect your steering technique and ensure that you are getting your bike turned as quickly, effectively and precisely as possible?

 

Hardest technique for me: doing a ride without wishing for the slow, painful and televised death of at least one cager.

 

Thats why back in the glory days of American road racers.Kenny Roberts would have his guys practice on 100cc dirt bikes...dirtbikes are the only wway to master it..JMO
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Well said Misti, many many years ago I moved from Toronto to Glendale CA with my first VF750F. I thought I was riding pretty well, haunting the Rock Store and Angele Crest Highway on Sunday mornings. One cold October morning my friends got ahead of me on the Crest, I was upset and cold, came upon a big sweeping left hand turn and misjudged my speed, so I thought. Key word: thought. My mind took over and I steered wrong, then pulled on the front brake, made bike go even straighter. Hit the shoulder and went down, sliding along going off the edge. Luckily my bike hit a little tree (you can see against sky at horizon) and stopped. I hit a reflector post with my shoulder and grabbed the nearest bush, otherwise I would have been at the bottom:
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Quote Originally Posted by nih View Post
As newer rider id say high speed corners, judging angle, line, speed and not freaking if you feel you are to fast, took course last summer that sucked but guy said 'bike will do more than you ever will" i keep that in mind as confidence, just dont be a pussy and lean the bike around the corner.

This is a tough one for sure, judging entry and corner speed and not freaking out if you are entering in too fast (or you perceive you are entering in too fast) Besides trusting your bike to be able to handle it, how else can you improve your ability to sense your speed? What things can you practice with your visual skills that might help this?

Misti, i think it's just experience, what I did last summer w/ VFR was go out and find roads with different curves, then i just ride thru them turn around, ride back ,turn around, each time i try a line and speed, when i felt good i put that info in my memory so when i come to the same type curve i just associate, i think after awhile its just automatic. when i dont have a place to ride to i just go out and hit my curve spots.
the times i got into trouble was the new curve is gradual then turns sharp, blind curve, i had my speed/line setup for a gradual curve then OH Sh*t too fast. other was i was low gear, high rpm and let off throttle in curve, rpm dropped, valves shut off under 7k and back end slipped, was only a millisec but made my butt pucker and rethink my entire life. next millisec everything was fine and was already rolling the throttle out of curve.

 

Explaining to the wife why another box of motorcycle parts has arrived and convincing her of the necessity of buying them.

 

I could use some pointers on that . . .




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Quote Originally Posted by thx1138 View Post
Explaining to the wife why another box of motorcycle parts has arrived and convincing her of the necessity of buying them.

I could use some pointers on that . . .

Order some gay porn that arrives on Tuesday, she is so distraught over it she doesn't notice the bike parts box on Wednesday.

 

Get the bike parts sent to the office, and install them while she's doing the shopping.

 

Glad you were ok!

Experience will help for sure but I also think there are specific things you can do as a rider to strengthen and improve your own visual skills, experience alone won't cut it. You can have a rider with 10 years of experience whose visual skills aren't as good as someone with only a year of riding experience. Things like riding reference points, looking to the apex and avoiding target fixation are all important skills. Are there things you can DO while riding to help improve these skills?

Get her into riding so that she can get her own box of parts