View Single Post
Old June 3rd, 2016, 10:31 AM   #72
Ducati999
ninjette.org certified postwhore
 
Name: Ant
Location: Wooster
Join Date: Dec 2013

Motorcycle(s): Ducati 999 2012 Ninja 250r Ducati748 Yellow finally running 2003 SV650 S (SOLD)

Posts: A lot.
I am bumping this thread since the wisdom I gained from the posts helped me go faster than I ever have and with less effort. You should read each post from first to last and ask what it means to you. I was scared rushing into turns and not understanding what the front tire was telling me. I talked to a few trusted individuals and really pondered the great info you all provided and figured out how it applied to what I was and Was not doing on the track. There are many links to great articles and some drills you can do to gain perspective on what to expect but nothing replaces actual experience!

I just returned from 2 days at the Palmer Mass track and I am happy to report that I went faster than I have ever gone in my life, yet I felt that I was in more control (and fighting the bike less) than ever in my entire riding life! I am far from fast or an expert but I have listened, learned and applied the knowledge from the people who were willing to share their experience/knowledge and it helped me reach one of my riding milestones! THANK YOU ALL! I will list a few things I feel helped me and see if I got them right: anyone who sees I have made a mistake or wrote something incorrect please do not hesitate to reply and correct me as I am still learning!

#1 Physical fitness: I work with computers and electronics so my fitness was low last year. I did multiple squats and started doing long walks and running as much as I had time. Your legs are the most worked part of your body out there. You cant pull yourself back up with your thigh if its exhausted and you have to use your calves to keep up on your toes. Your body feels much heavier under G-force while turning and you need to be smooth when swapping lean from left to right or vice versa!

#2 Over Thinking: I was fighting myself before every turn! I had to slow down to go faster. Once I read above where I was instructed to focus on a single turn and slowly increase the pace thru there, I found I was smoother all over the track which helped me keep on the correct lines and I had to fight the bike back into the proper place less. This left more energy and brain power to focus on doing the corner correctly which leads to faster!

#3 Smoothness: Since I was not fighting the bike to get on the correct line and direction (vector?) I was pointed in the correct direction to enter the turn, which leads to the correct line to reach the apex and a good line on exit. How you enter the turn affects the line and speed you reach the apex and how early you can get back on the gas.

#4 Exits: When I would do the corner correctly, I would exit on the correct line and that would allow me to continue to accelerate and simply allow the bike to run out to the next marker with no real effort from me. Before I would roll on the throttle and have to correct the direction the bike was traveling to keep it headed to the next marker. The better I did things the easier it was to be smooth and just allow the bike to flow thru the markers/follow the race line. I followed my wife who is still learning and it was clear that the lines/markers dont always seem to make sense at a slower speed.

#5 Braking: Like I said above, once you get the lines down and smooth you will be pointing in the proper direction/angle to enter the next turn without making any corrections. This will allow you to focus on when and where (marker) to roll off the throttle and when to begin/how hard to apply the brakes. This will also allow you to begin to move your roll off and braking closer to the turn in point eventually.

#6 Traction: The title of this thread is "How to find the Edge" because I had no idea what my tires were telling me when I would enter a turn. When I enter a turn and add lean angle I feel/felt a different sensation thru the bars then when going straight and/or braking. You can feel the bike turning but there is also another feeling, kinda like the bike is slipping/sliding a little bit. This is what I did not know/understand. After this weekend (HERE IS WHERE I MAY NEED SOMEONE TO CLAIRIFY) I believe this is just a slight pushing where the tire is following your command to turn but also slipping a tiny bit fighting the momentum of the bike and making it turn. I think this is what people are reffering to when they say the bike is sliding when they are going too slow to actually be sliding. Once I managed to get my entry correct and began to increase pace (slowly) thru my chosen practice corner, I found this sensation does not get much worse even with considerably more speed. I believe it will begin to get more and more as you approach the limits of the tires traction. I was able to get to the point where I could push the bike much faster than I was going yet the slight sideways sliding feeling did not get much more intense.

#7 Confidence: Each time I would get things right and I entered the turn on the right line I was able to enter a little faster and get on the gas a little earlier and still hit my marks I would exit the turn that much faster and could carry more speed up the straight on the right line and into the next turn. I know this may sound like a lot of speed but really it equaled about 10mph by the end of the weekend! Exiting a turn at 10mph faster than you were ever able to do at your best before and remaining on the proper line lap after lap is a win for me!

Last season I was worried when I stepped up from the red (slowest) group to yellow (2nd of 4 groups) and now I can keep pace with some of the fastest guys in the yellow group. I am not fighting the bike and feel I am safer and more in control riding at this pace than I did when I was riding in red group!

Thanks again to everyone who helped me get past my plateau and make some real progress. Chris will let you know how much/little I have actually improved after I ride with him at Mid Ohio next Weekend!
Ducati999 is offline   Reply With Quote


5 out of 5 members found this post helpful.