Quote:
Originally Posted by Misti
OK I took a look at some of your laps and have a few questions for you regarding your riding. One, when you get on the gas in the corners, once you crack it on are you rolling it on "smoothly, evenly and constantly throughout the remainder of the turn" or are there places where you are holding the throttle steady and not rolling on?
Are you hitting apexes consistently and accurately or are there places (right turns) where you are inconsistent and far from the apex?
Let's start there  |
@
Misti,
As always thank you for taking the time to review my video. Before I answer all your questions I must revamp what had happened on this day. All weekend I was experiencing an issue with the bike not wanting to turn in as much as I wanted. We both know that the bike is usually not to blame at my level since it is so much more capable than I. Just before this video was shot, I found that the problem was caused by me putting too much pressure on the bars as I was using them to hold on rather than my leg and lower body. Over the past few seasons I have not been able to ride much more than my 2 two day track trips and late last year my knees were bothering me so I moved my foot pegs back and down 1 space each direction < + v. The new location for the rearsets helped with my knees but had the adverse effect of me placing more weight on my hands. The extra weight on my hands did not matter last season as it was cold and wet so the pace was slower. Once we got out there this season on a hot dry track, the issue I described began to show its head and caused some scary moments. I had a really scary (to me) front wheel slide in turn 5 and a few times I ran really wide late in the turn. Once I figured this out most of the final track day had passed and the video is of my last session of the last day. I had just figured out the issue the prior session and was just getting used to the new "CONTROL" I had regained with the changes.
Now onto your questions,
I was 100% intentionally stopping my roll on once the bike was (Nearly) vertical so I could concentrate on corner entry and keeping my weight off of the bars. I know this is not what you are asking about but there have been others who commented on this earlier. I am still having a little trouble with both getting on the gas early enough and consistently rolling on thru the remainder of the turn. Getting on the gas earlier was improving the more I rode the track but the issue I had with not being able to get to the lean angle I expected was also keeping me from continuing to roll on thru the remainder of the turn.
My lack of riding time over the last few years coupled with the issue of too much body weight/input into the bars has really held me back. I feel if I had another track day, you would see significant improvement as I could continue to get comfortable with the bike turning as it should which would allow me to set my line earlier and get on the gas earlier while keeping the roll on thru the turn. I have been practicing this on the street--at much safer speeds--as much as possible since I found this issue.
As for your final question about hitting the apex more often, As my confidence grows from the newly regained control after solving my issue, this too will improve significantly. Should you have time, look at the lines in my older videos posted in this thread (same track Palmer) and you will see how much better they have gotten as I regained confidence in the front end grip. Now with confidence in the front, better lines and the return of actual control of the bike, I think next trip will be better than any so far. I know what to do just need to apply it and figure out the next issue.