video of Statler peddling around VIR

[Timmy Tucker]

What are the yellow X's on the track for? I've never been to a track so i've got no idea. Cool vid, btw!

[LMT]

What are the yellow X's on the track for? I've never been to a track so i've got no idea. Cool vid, btw!

Apex, or where to drop into the turn.

[Statler]

CSS puts them down in level one class to help mark turn-in points.

[LMT]

CSS puts them down in level one class to help mark turn-in points.

Thats what I meant...  football and chips have fried my brain. 

[factorPlayer]

Apex, or where to drop into the turn.

Wouldn't that vary somewhat from bike to bike and rider to rider?

[DesmoDiva]

Wouldn't that vary somewhat from bike to bike and rider to rider?

Yes, but these are the "suggested" turn points for the level 1 riders at Cali SBK school, most who have never been on a track before. 

[misti]

Cool video and nice form   You PM'd me to say feel free to comment so I think I will 

1st, you set up your body really well and nice and early which is great, also you get the bike turned really quickly and for the most part your throttle control is really good and you are able to get on the gas nice and early and roll it on throughout the entire corner.  There were a few turns however, namely the downhill corners, turn 14 (the right at the top of the hill) 16 and 17 where the throttle was just held steady or was a little late to roll on.  When doing downhill it is really important to be rolling on the gas, otherwise you have more weight on the front tire than you necessarily want.

Also, the second time you went around the track, on turn 4 it looks like you went up on the curb or got really close to it.  Take a look at where you turned the bike into that corner....what happens if you turn a bike into a corner a little too early or too much to the inside?

Glad you had a good time and glad you posted the video for others to see and comment on!  Great job and maybe we will see you at another school in the future!

cheers
Misti

[Statler]

 

It's amazing how you chip away at one thing, and then three others go out the window when you focus on the one fix...so you go again and try to do both etc.etc.

Almost all the level four guys (including me) ended up doing vision drills from level one for most of a day.

So I bust ass on riding position and getting myself transitioned...and I spend too much concentration on that and blow a corner entry spot (early and inside))(and the speed too...was slower than normal) on the turn Misti mentioned and had a little pucker factor.   The good thing is with the proper body position and very relaxed arms and hands, the bike moves a lot over the inside curbing but the body stays un-tensed and lets the bike recover by itself instead of transitioning the wobble further.   Was no biggie but could have been bad if I tensed up and death gripped the bars.


I was happy about finally relaxing more...being able to have the bike leaned far and yet still raise my hand to signal slowing and coming into pits is something I couldn't do easily last year.

Funny to hear the same list as when at the track from different people...good to have specifics to work on next time.


Keep 'em coming...

[NuTTs]

Looking good Chris. You´ve got good on track form, don´t worry about speed. Using the right lines and being smooth is much more important.

Ok, we´ve seen the vid.. where are the pics?

[Speeddog]

All the on-track looked pretty damn good to me. 

Are you part owl? Your head swivels around quite dramatically! 

Oh, and I didn't see if there was a flagman on that pit exit, but I would've looked over my left shoulder a time or two before merging onto the line.

[gm2]

CSS puts them down in level one class to help mark turn-in points.

so don't expect them anywhere other than CSS.  track day orgs won't do this  for you...

Wouldn't that vary somewhat from bike to bike and rider to rider?

no.  maybe it changes if you're in traffic or in a race, but if you accept that there is an optimal line through any corner bike and rider don't change that.  it's not as if the dimensions of the track change based on my height/weight or the CCs of my bike.

[Spidey]

no.  maybe it changes if you're in traffic or in a race, but if you accept that there is an optimal line through any corner bike and rider don't change that.  it's not as if the dimensions of the track change based on my height/weight or the CCs of my bike.

Maybe it doesn't matter for beginning track riders, but turn-in points and lines completely change depending on bike.  The fast line on my 250 race bike is WAAAAAY different than when I'm on a 600.  So are my turn-in points. 

[gm2]

Maybe it doesn't matter for beginning track riders, but turn-in points and lines completely change depending on bike.  The fast line on my 250 race bike is WAAAAAY different than when I'm on a 600.  So are my turn-in points. 

i figured you or someone might say something like that.. =)

what i'm saying is that the dimensions of the track don't change.  the apex is always the apex.  you can choose to early or late apex it for drive or cornerspeed or whatever, but geometrically there's one apex.  from a learning/CSS point of view, there's one line through the corner (assuming you buy their version of the best way to get through a corner).  from levels 1-4 of taking that school, this isn't going to change even if you ride a 600 one day and a 1000 the next. 

yes, later on you might modify this for yourself.  especially if you're riding things as different from eachother as a ninja 250 and an R6. 

but once you leave the school, there aren't big ass Xs on the ground.. you gotta figure that out yourself.   [moto]

[TiNi]

looking good chris  [moto]

[Statler]

Oh, and I didn't see if there was a flagman on that pit exit, but I would've looked over my left shoulder a time or two before merging onto the line.

no flag man.   I should have done a quick head check, but the drill for the entire time there with CSS is that coming out of the pits you stay on the inside, and the guys coming down the straight stay left and take a wider line if there are folks coming out.    That's why I didn't drift over to the outside of the track before the turn.

So if I looked over and by chance someone was coming at 160mph, don't I just hold a consistent line and not wander over anyway?   For class we could pass but it's the passing rider's responsibility to make sure there's enough room.

Being passed was easy.  Passing people was difficult...seeing where the hole would be by the time I got there.   I held way back from that rider on first lap so as not to pressure her, and just waited for the straight, but I know there could have been tons of room to go by before then if I timed it correctly.   aaah more to work on.