Total Control: High Performance Street Riding Techniques, 2nd Edition 9780760343449, 0760343446

Table of contents :
Cover
Title
Table of Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction
Section 1: Chassis Dynamics
Chapter 1: Traction
Chapter 2: Steering
Chapter 3: Suspension
Section 2: Mental Dynamics
Chapter 4: Fear
Chapter 5: Concentration
Chapter 6: Right Attitude
Section 3: Body Dynamics
Chapter 7: Vision
Chapter 8: Line Selection
Chapter 9: Throttle Control
Chapter 10: Shifting
Chapter 11: Braking
Chapter 12: Body Positioning
Chapter 13: Low-Speed Turns
Chapter 14: Riding Two-Up
Section 4: Machine Setup
Chapter 15: Suspension Setup
Chapter 16: Chassis Tuning
Chapter 17: Ergonomics
Chapter 18: Aerodynamics
Section 5: Rider Setup
Chapter 19: Fitness
Chapter 20: Riding Gear
Epilogue
Appendix
Suspension Testing Log
Index
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
K
L
M
N
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
Z
Photo Credits

Citation preview

TOTAL CONTROL High performance street riding techniques

Lee Parks Foreword by Erik Buell

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First published in 2015 by Motorbooks, an imprint of Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc., 400 First Avenue North, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA © 2015 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc. Text © 2015 Lee Parks Photography © 2015 Lee Parks All photographs are by the author unless noted otherwise. All rights reserved. With the exception of quoting brief passages for the purposes of review, no part of this publication may be reproduced without prior written permission from the Publisher. The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without any guarantee on the part of the author or Publisher, who also disclaims any liability incurred in connection with the use of this data or specific details. We recognize, further, that some words, model names, and designations mentioned herein are the property of the trademark holder. We use them for identification purposes only. This is not an official publication. Motorbooks titles are also available at discounts in bulk quantity for industrial or sales-promotional use. For details write to Special Sales Manager at Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc., 400 First Avenue North, Suite 400, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA. To find out more about our books, visit us online at www.motorbooks.com. ISBN: 9780760343449 Digital edition: 978-1-62788-560-7 Softcover edition: 978-0-76034-344-9 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Acquisitions Editor: Darwin Holmstrom Art Director: Brad Springer Cover Designer: Simon Larkin Layout Designer: Alan Lapp Illustrator: Alan Lapp On the front cover: Photo by Lee Parks On the back cover: Photo by Lee Parks and Cali Photography On the title page: Photo by Kevin Wing Printed in China 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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Table of Contents Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Section 1: Chassis Dynamics Chapter 1: Traction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Chapter 2: Steering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Chapter 3: Suspension . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Section 2: Mental Dynamics Chapter 4: Fear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Chapter 5: Concentration. . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Chapter 6: Right Attitude . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Section 3: Body Dynamics Chapter 7: Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Chapter 8: Line Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . 74 Chapter 9: Throttle Control . . . . . . . . . . . 84 Chapter 10: Shifting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Chapter 11: Braking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96 Chapter 12: Body Positioning. . . . . . . . . . 106 Chapter 13: Low-Speed Turns . . . . . . . . . 118 Chapter 14: Riding Two-Up. . . . . . . . . . . 122

Section 4: Machine Setup Chapter 15: Suspension Setup . . . . . . . . . 128 Chapter 16: Chassis Tuning . . . . . . . . . . 146 Chapter 17: Ergonomics . . . . . . . . . . . .154 Chapter 18: Aerodynamics . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Section 5: Rider Setup Chapter 19: Fitness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168 Chapter 20: Riding Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . 176 Epilogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184 Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188 Suspension Testing Log . . . . . . . . . . . .189 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 Photo Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

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Foreword Most people who have heard of me in the motorcycling world know me as a motorcycle engineer/designer and motorcycle manufacturer/entrepreneur first with HarleyDavidson, then Buell and now EBR. While that is true, a smaller number of people know that I am an avid rider and ex-racer, which is what really led me down this trail of fun and madness. I truly love motorcycle riding, and as I started riding, it aligned with my fascination with learning and stretching what I can accomplish and control. So first I started pushing myself on the street. Young and brave, and still ignorant that led to a few crashes. So some wiser older guys pointed me to the race track. Best thing that ever happened. There were no schools then for learning riding, but if you opened your eyes and listened, there was a lot to be learned. Unlike the street where being bravest and stupidest might make you look fastest, the track was a true comparison. And it became one where I wanted to measure myself. And once measured, then I wanted to do better. So slowly I learned bike control by 1) watching what the fast guys did, 2) by listening to what they said, 3) by asking questions and, finally by trying the new things. First I learned about lines on the track and how to maximize speed with them. Next, I learned how to pass and not be passed. Once I could ride with the fast guys, smaller things became important— like body position, weight transfer, and transitions in and out of corners. As I found these physical controls, it led to learning about technical controls that I could apply such as suspension settings, tire and brake compounds, and more. Next came even more esoteric subjects like chassis rigidity, CG and swingarm pivot location, wheelbase, etc. It was all incredibly interesting and incredibly personal. Everything I learned applied to getting me around a track better, and it could be measured and quantified. My goal was road racing. As I learned I moved up the ranks until I was running in the Daytona 200 and finishing top 10 in AMA F1 and Superbike. It was incredible how dedication to learning had moved me from a street squid to a world class rider level. It wasn’t talent and it wasn’t bravery. And it surely wasn’t about money. It was all about approaching riding as a learning experience and always making the best out of what I had available to me. All this also led me to going to engineering school for my

degree, and all of a sudden math, graphs, and statistics had a reason for me—my motorcycle racing. Of course, every mile in life leads to more learning, and that is what makes life good. But the road I had taken took many years and a lot of dedication. When people would ask me how to become better riders I could really only say, “Devote a whole lot of time to it. Put in enough hours and most people can ride well.” Or I would try to explain quickly from my perspective, but most went over people’s heads. I was not a good teacher. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling, because it meant that learning to ride well might be out of the reach of many people. And what a shame that would be. How could people learn the skills it took me so long to develop and that were really worth having? I think that is what intrigued me most about Lee Parks and his approach. Yes he had raced, but not at the same obsessive level as I had for years. What Lee had done was, as a writer, to start capturing what he was learning while racing, in a format that allowed him to learn faster. And lo and behold, this allowed him to put it into a format where he could share it. And in a really interesting way, he blended solid engineering data in with the riding skills part of what he was teaching. For me, that really counts. I need to understand from several levels what is happening with me on the bike—not only the direct connection between rider input and result, but what happens in between with the machine. Lee has created a riding technology that really helps explain a lot in one clean and easily understandable book. In Total Control, Lee covers a very large range of knowledge about motorcycles and riding them well. You still need to go practice, but as you read this, you will know what to look for while you are practicing. It will give you a step-by-step practice portfolio, rather than just randomly trying things while riding. You will get better if you read and practice what he is teaching. How far you go will depend on many things. But without a doubt you will improve, and at a far faster pace than you would without the comprehensive lessons here. Lee has dedicated himself to making riding a motorcycle a safer and more satisfying experience in less time, and I thank him for it. Total control is waiting for you. Take the step. — Erik Buell

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Acknowledgements I originally figured that writing the original book would be a cakewalk given that it was simply supposed to be a written version of my Advanced Riding Clinics (ARC), which I knew like the back of my hand. I could not have been more wrong. With this edition, I likewise figured it would pretty easy given that I was just going to update the book with some newer references, photos, etc. Wrong again. In fact, it took as much time to update this book as it did to write the original. Fortunately, I am rich with amazing friends and family whose outstanding support helped make this book a reality. First and foremost, I’d like to thank “Big Al” Lapp. In addition to providing his worldclass illustrations and laying out this book, he is a true gearhead. In fact, Al spent just as much time as I did understanding the physics involved in single-track vehicles to ensure exactitude. Next, I’d like to thank my editor, Darwin Holmstrom. Not only did he convince me to do this book in the first place, but he proceeded to kick me in the butt on a weekly and even daily basis for close to a year (twice!) until I finally got it finished. Without his efforts, this book would still be a wistful fantasy. I’d also like to thank Race Tech founder Paul Thede, who showed his selfless nature by allowing me to take a career’s worth of his knowledge and whittle it down into the two suspension chapters here, which are better than I ever could have done on my own. In the interim Paul and I co-wrote Race Tech’s Motorcycle Suspension Bible in 2010, which is still the definitive work on the subject. My longtime girlfriend Christie Ung gets the award for the most versatile contributions to the book, which included writing, photography, editing, and photo modeling—not to mention taking up the slack in both of my companies as I was engaged with the book’s completion. Also high on the list are those friends who contributed their time, expertise, principles, and often words to help make sure the book was both accurate and comprehensive. These stalwarts include: Erik Buell, Greg McDonald, Dave Saam, Timothy Paravano, Earl Damron, Ray Engelhardt, Tom Riles, Matt Wiley, Rick Mayer, Terry Watts, Scott Fond-Leoncini, Gus Diamantopoulos, D. C. Wilson, Tony Foale, Kevin Cameron, Andy Goldfine, Randy Northrup, Kent Soignier, Ken Merena, Keith Soulter, and Stacey Axmaker. Special kudos to Joe Bonello, who took on much of the action photography. Jim Granger, Tealdo Teal, Marcy Toschi, David Bianco, Steve Kirsch, Glen Goldman, Keith Soulter, and Art Guilfoil also made contributions too numbers to detail. The rest of the photographers and photo models who contributed are listed at the back of the book in the Photo Credits section.

America, Chuckwalla Valley Raceway, and Summit Point. Motorcycle shops who contributed include: Douglas Motorcycles, Victorville Harley-Davidson, Rev Moto Industries, Las Vegas Dyno Tech, Motor Cycle Center, and B&B Cycles. Companies who helped include: Level 5 Graphics, Race Tech, GMD Computrack, Erik Buell Racing, Bazzaz, Avon, Dunlop, Spider Grips, Schuberth, BMW, LS2, Aerostich, Klim, G2 Ergonomics, Twisted Throttle, HeliBars, Team AZ, and Zero Gravity. Of course, I have to thank my parents for allowing me the privilege of riding motorcycles at a young age. My dad taught me the basics of riding and supported my twowheeled addiction until I could afford to do it on my own. He also gave me my first professional writing, editing, and graphic design jobs and taught me how to use a camera. My mom spent many weekends transporting my friends and me to the local motocross track and tried to read her novels as we made lots of noise and covered her in dust. She also taught me much of what I know about teaching. I can’t stress enough the contribution of my students and fellow instructors over the years. Through them I was able to refine the riding and teaching techniques until they just plain worked. I easily learned as much from them as they did from me. Although much of the riding technology in this book is original thought, it has been built on the extensive bodies of research of those who have come before me. In a letter to colleague Robert Hook on February 5, 1676, Sir Isaac Newton said, “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” In that spirit, I would like to acknowledge my giants: Keith Code, David Hough, and Freddie Spencer. On many occasions here they are quoted or credited with words or ideas, but anyone familiar with their work will recognize their collective influence throughout this book. It would not have happened without their individual contributions to my riding and thinking. Finally, I’d like to acknowledge Landmark Education (landmarkworldwide.com) and its Curriculum for Living. This work made my career possible. I’m sure my mediocre memory has left out some other important people who in one way or another contributed to the creation of this book. So I apologize, in advance, for their omission. Obviously, a lifetime of experiences and interactions with my fellow earthlings can’t be summed up in a single page of text. If nothing else, this book is a testament to the generosity of the human spirit. Thanks to you all.

Helpful tracks where we did photography include: Grangé Moto Circuit, Willow Springs Raceway, Road

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Preface As I sit down to write this it has been 12 years since the original Total Control was published. When I first wrote the book I wanted to add something new to the discourse of rider training. While I had hoped to get riders thinking more critically about their technique—and improving their skills—the resulting explosion of interest in this riding technology has blown away my expectations. What started as a fun hobby has turned into a worldwide sensation with licensed Total Control providers all over the United States and internationally. The book has even been translated into five languages. I have been privileged to teach Total Control Advanced Riding Clinics (TCARC) as far away as Okinawa, England, and Russia. It all sort of sank in when I signed the completion card for the 10,000th rider to go through the training. Many languages have a specific word for this number: in Ancient

the satisfaction received from trading value for value with your fellow Homo sapiens in a free market. In addition, when you make your recreation your vocation, the primacy of productive work and happiness are the natural results. You could say Total Control has become as much about personal well-being as it is riding skills and safety. Probably the most impactful thing that has happened since the original Total Control was released is the training we have done for the US military. As an example, the problem of marines getting killed in personally owned vehicles (POVs) was so bad that in 2006, more marines were killed in motorcycle crashes back home than in combat overseas. As I like to say, what makes these guys good marines makes them dangerous motorcyclists. They’re great with training, but accidents waiting to happen until then. While the Total Control Advanced Riding Clinics are utilized extensively by the U.S. military to reduce mishaps (injuries and fatalities). Here Total Control students at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia pose with a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor after class.

Greek it is the basis for the word myriad in English. In the Far East it is often used to mean an indefinite very large number. In my mind, it meant Total Control was no longer just a cool motorcycle class, but had transformed into a global phenomenon. Perhaps the most important job Total Control has done is help riders better manage the inherent risk of two-wheeled travel. Riding a motorcycle is significantly more dangerous than driving a car based on National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) data from 2011. As far as fatalities are concerned in the US, riding a motorcycle is currently 33 times (as in 3300 percent) more dangerous than driving a car per mile ridden vs. per mile driven. Of course, those are total numbers averaged for everyone. The good news is that if you make choices like: not drinking and riding, taking advanced rider training courses, wearing good protective gear, etc., you belong to a much safer risk pool than the average rider. Given those variables, motorcycle riding can be a very manageable risk. But never is it truly safe. If it were totally safe it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun to do. This is for the same reason that a good motorcycle video game is not even close to being as satisfying as the real thing—there is no risk management involved. And the human condition is such that successfully managing risk is one of its most prized values. Similarly if you’ve ever been a successful entrepreneur, or enjoyed doing business with one, you can appreciate

problem was the worst with the marines, it affected all the branches of the Department of Defense in a similar way. I continue to be humbled by the sacrifices of the soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, coast guardsmen and national guardsmen who allow the rest of us to live in a free nation and do what we love. In the air force they have a saying, “There are old pilots and bold pilots, but no old, bold pilots.” As the head of Total Control Training, my Prime Directive is to make all of you old pilots. So what’s new since the first edition? A whole lot. In fact, there is so much new material, it’s almost like a brand-new book, versus a mere “second edition.” Every chapter has been enlarged and updated with new information based on the lessons learned in the past 12 years of teaching TCARCs. Some of the most valuable additions have come from our amazing cadre of instructors and inquisitive students. I’ve also done quite a bit of original research in the ensuing interval to truly provide you with the current state of the art in rider training. While the book doesn’t replace being professionally coached by our staff, I’ve tried to leave nothing on the table for advanced street and track riding. You have in your hands many of the secrets that professional riders have been using for years to stay safe while winning everything from road races to police motor competitions. Ride well my friends.

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Introduction The speed and capabilities of modern motorcycles now far exceed the average rider’s abilities. In fact, the difference between stock street bikes and full-blown racing superbikes is a tiny fraction of that between sports cars and their racing counterparts. This has created a need for more and better rider education.

;OL7YVISLTVM3LHYUPUN[V.V-HZ[ Having spent many years in riding and racing schools, I am a big supporter of rider training. The knowledge I have gleaned from these classes has literally saved my life

the other hand, have the opposite problem. The speeds are so much higher than most street riders are used to that many are afraid to try new techniques for fear of a high-speed crash. This is a real shame as most track schools have solid skills to teach, but the racetrack environment is not ideal for the average street rider to learn the basics of high-performance riding. Once a rider has the basics down, however, there is nothing better than a good track school to refine and expand on those skills. As part of my duties as editor of Motorcycle Consumer News from 1995–2000, I had the The author started racing professionally in 1994 where he finished second overall in the AMA Superbike Championship in the 125 GP class (now called Moto 3). It was during this time that he began his intellectual journey into figuring out the physical, mental, and mechanical dynamics of riding faster and safer.

numerous times. For sport riders who want to improve their technique (especially highspeed cornering), there are two basic options: the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Advanced RiderCourse (MSF ARC) and the various track schools. Unfortunately, while both are worthwhile, each has drawbacks that limit how much a rider can improve by participating. The problem with the MSF ARC is that all the drills are at such low speeds that the fear of going fast is never handled, and the advanced skills used by racers to control their bikes at high speeds are not taught. Track schools, on

privilege of working with both David Hough and Keith Code on many riding skill articles. They really sparked my interest in the subject. Even though I finished second overall in the AMA 125 GP national championship in 1994, I realized while working on these articles that although I was fast, I still had much to learn about how to control a motorcycle. I became concerned because I mostly learned how to race by “feel” and wasn’t entirely sure exactly what I was doing. This made my riding inconsistent. When I had problems on a particular track, I didn’t know how to diagnose them, let alone

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As it turns out, many of our readers were also looking for a similar “easy” way to improve their riding. I kept getting complaints from street riders that there was too big a gap between the MSF and the track schools. Some wished for a “middle step,” and others had no interest in ever going on a track—despite my encouragement— and just wanted something a little “stronger” than the MSF’s offerings. To make things worse, many also complained that the only books on

the advanced techniques of the track schools, with the lower-stress parking lot environment of the MSF curricula. Just as importantly, each skill would be broken down to its simplest form and practiced individually in a building block format. Using many friends as guinea pigs, the curriculum and drills began to take shape. My basic teaching philosophy was simple. Rather than ask a rider to try something at, say, 20 mph faster than he ever has tried such an exercise before (which happens at some track schools), I would ask the student to try going faster in small, 2-mph increments. This prevented him from getting too scared. For example, let’s say that a full race pace around a 40-foot diameter circle is around 34

the subject were written for racers and were too complicated for them. They wanted simpler solutions for high-performance street riding, not sophisticated racing strategies. After listening to enough of these “middlestepper” complaints, I eventually decided to do something about it and began work on a new genre of riding school. It would combine

mph. A typical street rider might be comfortable going around it at 17 mph. The important thing here is to keep the student comfortable so he will be willing to try something new. First, I teach the proper technique at 0 mph. To do this I have the student get on his bike and along with several other students to help me, we go through a mock turn by leaning the bike all the

fix them. Long conversations with Hough and Code finally got me thinking about the physical dynamics of riding, and I began a quest to figure out an easy way to fix my riding when necessary.

(5L^>H`[V3LHYU

Getting coaching from our professional instructors is the most effective way to put Total Control techniques into practice. Use this book as the gateway to taking your riding to another level.

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way over and back up while I help properly position the rider’s body in real time using what we call the “10 Steps to Proper Cornering.” We do this several times until the student can do everything right in the mock turn. Then he goes on the range and does it. After going 17 mph, he moves to 19, then to 21. Let’s say he has a problem at 21 mph, I work with him on the problem until he can go 21 mph without a hitch. Then we move to 23, etc. Now he will likely not get over 30 mph on street tires, but by the end of the day, using this teaching technique, each area of his riding will have made specific measurable improvements. My Advanced Riding Clinic (ARC) was born. Over 10,000 students later, this method has more than proven its mettle. In fact, while the curriculum was originally designed for street riders, many racers have found it equally effective at improving their riding skills. I originally stumbled across this method while figuring out how to teach myself to drag my knee back in college. Next to my dorm was a big empty parking lot that was mostly used during sporting events. One day when there were no such events planned, I had the parking lot all to myself. I set up a practice turn with the use of several strategically placed dirty sweatshirts. The important thing here is that I did not set up a “course” with multiple turn and braking points. I felt it best to keep it simple. With my turn in place, I took a few deep breaths, strapped on my helmet, leathers, boots, and gloves, and set off to explore uncharted lean angles. After about five minutes of warming my tires by weaving back and forth like I’d seen racers do on TV, I began slowly increasing my speed. I found that I had to keep changing my body position to deal with the increased velocities, and just kept playing around until it felt comfortable for me. Of course, I had no idea what I was doing, and had no knowledgeable instructors to help guide me, but after about 30 minutes of this, I finally touched my knee to the ground and felt like I had achieved a great milestone in my life. Rather than risk ruining the moment, I picked up my clothing, parked the bike, and walked back to my dorm room, a new man. Every rider who has ever dragged his knee remembers his first time like it was yesterday.

Part of the reason for this is that it often requires years of practice to work up to it. However, in one half-hour on a sunny Saturday afternoon, I was able to break the threshold, within a lowstress environment, and so can you. Fortunately for you, everything I was missing that day is clearly spelled out for you in this book.

;OL)VVR0Z)VYU After teaching many ARCs at rallies around the country, two things were clear: My students were making incredible improvements in their riding, and I could never teach enough classes to make much of an impact in the general motorcycling population. It was for the second reason that I never sought any publicity for my Clinics. I knew I didn’t have time to fulfill the demand even if I wanted to. The Internet threw a monkey wrench into the mix, however, as happy graduates were posting their incredible stories of improvement on websites all over the place. One of the people who happened to notice many of these postings was Motorbooks International Acquisitions Editor Darwin Holmstrom, who asked about the possibility of doing a book on the subject. Although I had considered doing a book at some point, his call brought the project to the front burner. After much thought, I realized that doing a book was the only way to get this riding technology to the masses, and so I began putting words to paper. After finishing the initial research, I decided to thoroughly test each and every technique by returning to national road racing after a seven-year absence. I chose to compete in the WERA National Endurance Series because the large amounts of track time would give me the most opportunities to validate my findings. I joined the Speed Werks/Cyberlogtech team racing a Suzuki SV650 in the Lightweight class. My two teammates had just earned their expert licenses after just one season of racing as novices. Although I didn’t think we would be contenders for the crown, I figured it was an ideal opportunity to test the techniques with several riders. Amazingly enough, even with a rookie crew with no endurance racing experience, we managed to win the championship in our first effort as a team. Obviously, the technology was ready for publication. On a very somber note,

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our team owner Scott Gowland was killed two weeks before we won the championship he worked so hard to achieve. It is to his memory that this book is dedicated.

>OH[0[0Z The purpose of this book is to teach you how to have total control of your bike. So, what does total control mean? The best definition I’ve heard was told to me by California Superbike School Chief Instructor Cobie Fair: “Putting the bike where you want, when you want it.” How you use that control will vary from rider to rider. You can use it to go faster with the same level of safety you currently have, or ride safer at the same speed, or some of both. This book deals specifically with riding technique, not racing strategy. That subject will be covered in another book. This book gives you a real tool for making improvements in your riding. In doing so, it empowers you to self-diagnose problems when they occur, as well as giving you the solutions. In other words, you will learn specific riding techniques that will put you in control of your motorcycle. This is fundamentally different from giving you generic advice like “be smooth.” I think Keith Code said it best when he called smoothness the “false promise” because, in and of itself, it doesn’t tell you how to achieve this state. My position is that smoothness is not something that you do. Smoothness is the result of having practiced the correct techniques enough times that each time it takes less and less effort, until pretty soon you can do it with virtually no effort at all. But, to simply tell someone to be smooth is as useless as telling him to be fast. Without knowing exactly how to do it, it’s just an empty concept. I should mention that throughout the text I use the pronoun “he” as a generic for describing riders and “she” for passengers. This is not meant to be sexist in any way. Unfortunately, in the English language we have to choose, and using the “he or she”—or even worse, the singular “they”—options are awkward to read and grammatically incorrect, respectively. So, feel free to substitute he for she and vice versa whenever appropriate.

/V^[VVYRZ Simply put, countersteering is applying pressure to the inside handlebar in the direction of the intended turn and pushing forward. By “inside” handlebar, I mean the bar that’s on the same side to which you are turning. At more ground first, this may seem countertrail intuitive as you are turning the front wheel of the bike in the direction opposite of where you want to travel. By steering the wheel in the opposite direction, the bike wants to tip to the inside. This is a result of the centrifugal force created by the turning. Interestingly enough, pushing the handlebar down has almost no effect. If you think about pushing the bar forward, you will get quicker turns with less effort than if you try to push down. Many people assume the term countersteering means that the wheel must cross the bike’s centerline for countersteering to happen. The wheel simply needs to track some amount to the outside of the current path of travel. Although the wheel does, indeed, cross the center and point the opposite way when initiating a turn from an upright position, in slow, tight corners with a larger steering angle, the wheel may never cross the center.

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steering axis

Figure 2.3

steering axis

force input

Wider tires have a much larger “lever effect” on the steering when hitting rocks or other obstacles than narrow tires, causing unwanted directional changes. This is part of why front tires are narrower than rear tires and why off-road bikes use narrower tires than their on-road counterparts.

force input

force offset

more force offset

Figure 2.4

center of gravity is displaced equally from vertical (i.e. the same speed, the same radius turn)

Wider tires require more lean angle for the same speed than narrower tires due to the contact patch offset from the bike’s centerline.

Steering

lean angle: 40°

contact patch is offset from the center line

the result is greater lean angle: 45°

contact patch is offset further from the center line

Automobiles (or sidecars or trikes) don’t fall over when they are steered into a turn because they are multi-tracked. The second “track” of wheels that is located toward the outside of the vehicle’s center of gravity counters the effects of centrifugal force by transferring weight laterally to the outside wheels. When cornering hard in a car, you can feel the effect of centrifugal force. Newton’s first law of motion is “Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied

to it.” That external force is the car turning in a tighter line. So while it feels like you are being thrown to the outside of the turn, what’s actually happening is the outside of the vehicle pushes the outside of your body to the inside of the turn. Meanwhile your body is “trying” to continue going straight but is being redirected by the car’s new path. It should be noted that too much centrifugal force will eventually cause a vehicle to flip over

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center of gravity is displaced equally from vertical (i.e. the same speed, the same radius turn)

Figure 2.5 The higher the bike’s CG the less lean angle is needed due to the contact patch offset from the bike’s centerline. Narrower tires with a smaller contact patch offset have less of a lean-angle effect from CG height changes.

in this example, CG is raised 20%

Steering

lean angle: 45°

The farther you can move your body to the inside of the turn, the less lean angle is needed for a given speed and radius. Once you find the correct combined center of gravity (CG) of the rider and machine, virtually no steering effort is required on the bars to maintain a given line. The picture was taken during a wet race at Summit Point, WV with three riders on SV650s going through a similar arc at a similar speed. Notice how the author’s bike (#311) is leaned over less than the other two due to a combined CG that is closer to the inside of the turn. This allows for earlier and harder application of the throttle on the exit and greater ground clearance.

as sometimes happens with tall, narrow sport utility vehicles. Of course, that’s assuming the SUV has enough traction to keep from sliding. Conversely, a motorcycle has no outside wheel to support the lateral weight transfer caused by the centrifugal force so it falls in the opposite direction of the steering. Riding a motorcycle is a balancing act. When you lean over, gravity tries to pull the bike into the ground. At the same time, centrifugal force tries to throw you to the outside of the turn. By moving your body weight to the inside of the turn, as racers do when they “hang off,” you’re helping gravity do its job. Your body shift

the result is reduced lean angle: 36°

reduces the amount of countersteering force needed to maintain a given line. This is why top racers make it look so easy going around turns. It is easy on their bodies, because they’re giving the gravitational force a longer “lever” to counter the effects of centrifugal inertia. As you’ve learned, countersteering the motorcycle causes it to lean and ultimately turn. The reason the bike leans over has to do with physics. When you push forward (let’s say on the left grip) the front tire momentarily tracks out to the right. Because the front tire is turned out to the right, and inertia continues to push the bike straightforward in line with the rear tire, the out-of-alignment wheels make the bike start falling over (leaning) to the left. The quicker you push on the inside bar, the faster the motorcycle will lean; the longer you hold pressure, the farther it will lean. Once the bike is leaned over it goes around a turn to the left because of the rounded shape of the tires. When the bike is leaning, the outside edge of

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Figure 2.6 Countersteering, or a quick steering input counter to the direction you want to go, is the primary action that causes the bike to begin leaning into the turn. This happens because the front and rear wheels are temporarily facing in different directions, which unbalances the bike causing it to begin falling. Once that happens, the castor effect of the trail causes the front tire to steer into the turn and maintain a clean line. After the bike is in the turn, slow direct-steering movements can be used to tighten or widen the line. The rate of change of the steering inputs determines if the result will be direct steering (slow) or countersteering (quick).

countersteering initiates lean

path of motorcycle

path of motorcycle

.`YVZJVWPJ7YeJeZZPVU

Steering

the contact patch has a larger circumference than the inside edge of the contact patch. That difference in circumference causes the motorcycle to roll in a curve because the taller outside edge must roll faster per revolution to keep up with the smaller inside edge. The more the bike is leaned over, the greater the circumference differential and the tighter the line. As an example of this, take a Styrofoam coffee cup, lean it on its side and push it forward. It will roll around in the direction of the bottom of the cup, or the smaller circumference. When you get to the intended lean angle, you simply release some or all of the pressure on the bar, and the bike will hold a particular radius around the turn. After reaching your intended lean angle, the self-correcting (castering) effect of the trail and gyroscopic precession STEE keep the bike on the intended RIN G line. At this point, the physics get a little more complicated.

direct steering maintains lean and controls line

As a motorcycle travels down the road, it actually moves in a nearly undetectable lowamplitude weave, even when the rider thinks it is going straight. This is due to a multitude of factors like wind, uneven pavement, and tire profiles, the elastic properties of tire rubber, and Figure 2.7

EL ROTATION WHE

Gyr o Pre scopic ces sion

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Figure 2.8

when straight up, contact patch describes a cylinder, which causes the wheel to track straight

contact patch straight up when leaned over, contact patch describes a cone, which causes the wheel to track an arc

contact patch leaned over

Steering

tires turn when leaned over for the same reason a disposable cup rolls in a circle

the constantly changing weight distribution from rider and suspension movements. When this happens, the bike begins to fall to one side, and a phenomenon known as gyroscopic precession causes the wheel to turn into the direction of the fall. At this point, centrifugal force pushes the motorcycle in the opposite direction. This process is repeated over and over, creating a low-amplitude weave. Working in tandem with gyroscopic precession is gyroscopic momentum, which is caused by the motorcycle’s spinning wheels. To understand these phenomena, you will need to perform a simple experiment. Hold a bicycle wheel in front of you by the axle and have a partner spin the wheel so that the top moves away from you. Now try to steer the wheel to the left. Notice how it resists your input and tilts to the right. Next have your partner spin the wheel again. This time, lean the wheel to the left as if it is entering a curve. Notice that the wheel tends to turn left into the direction of lean. This turning effect is gyroscopic precession. This precession

also helps the bike lean over when you make a steering input, but according to chassis design guru Tony Foale (tonyfoale.com) it is a minor force compared to moving the contact patch out from under the bike during countersteering. The gyroscopic momentum increases with wheel weight, wider weight distribution, and rotational speed. This is the reason steering becomes more difficult as the bike goes faster and the reason why racers buy lightweight wheels to improve cornering. On the plus side, increased wheel speed improves chassis stability, which is why you can take your hands off the bars at highway speeds without falling over, but cannot do this at super-slow parking-lot speeds. While I have seen stunter Jason Britton perform no-handed, low-speed wheelies, this is not something mere mortals should ever attempt.

*V\U[eYZ[eeYPUg]Z+PYeJ[:[eeYPUg I have just described countersteering, which can be summed up very simply as push right,

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Figure 2.9 motorcycle is upright and traveling straight

initiate turn entry using countersteering

changing lean angle using out-tracking

out-tracking causes lean into turn, a.k.a. countersteering

constant lean angle using direct steering to control line

initiate turn exit using countersteering

Steering

neutral steering with small inputs maintains lean angle and line changing lean angle using in-tracking

motorcycle is upright and traveling straight in-tracking causes bike to stand up a.k.a. countersteering

go right and push left, go left to initiate a turn. There is also another form of steering, which you are most familiar with when the bike is going very slow, below approximately 12 to 15 miles per hour. At these low speeds the motorcycle rides like a bicycle, and you simply point the front tire in the direction you wish to go. While it’s easiest to see at these slow speeds, direct steering can also happen at higher road speeds. The difference lies in how quickly you make the steering input. A relatively quick steering input causes the effect of countersteering and adjusts the lean angle of the bike and therefore adjusts the line. However, if we put very gentle, slow steering inputs into the handlebars then we get the direct steering result. This is easiest

to experiment with on a track with a big, long sweeping curve. You will find that a quick countersteer makes the bike lean to enter the curve, and then once leaned over and in the curve, very small, precise adjustments to the line can be made by direct steering. If you are using both arms to steer, you will probably be using too much force to notice this subtle technique.

:[eeYPUg;eJOUPX\e Perhaps the single most significant technique we teach in Total Control is to use only your inside arm to steer once you’ve entered the corner. This includes both pushing and pulling when appropriate. I recommend this because it’s extremely difficult for both arms to put reverse inputs into opposite ends of the bars in precise

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Motorcycle simulators have been tried in various forms and levels of sophistication. They can be very useful for body position training but none have been able to accurately simulate the effects of steering as of this writing. The most sophisticated version used by the author (upper left) has been tried in the armed forces without much success. While it does a decent job simulating accelerating, braking, and shifting, its steering process is not even remotely accurate, and can have the effect of teaching bad muscle memory to new riders before they even get on a real bike for the first time.

Steering

unison while simultaneously allowing enough “give” in the steering for the trail and gyroscopic precession to do their thing. That advice may sound strange, but in my Total Control Advanced Riding Clinics the single biggest hindrance my students have in holding a tight line is that both arms are fighting for control of the steering. The problem is easy to spot by looking at how tense riders’ arms get as they stiffen and rise away from the gas tank. Although I originally came up with this theory while watching a video of my students in action, I proved its validity the hard way while participating in one of Freddie Spencer’s High-Performance Riding Schools back in 1998. As I approached a turn that was giving me problems, one that had me almost running off the outside, I decided to test my hypothesis and just let my inside arm do all the work. And, boy, did it ever work. In fact, initiating the turn at the exact same position on the track, even with substantially less effort on the bars, I turned so much quicker that I ran off the inside of the track and actually crashed. I was obviously on to something. Ever since I incorporated the “steering with only the inside arm” technique into the curriculum, my students have been making amazing breakthroughs. As soon as the students

stop arm-wrestling with themselves for control of the handlebars, their bikes become much more efficient turning machines. Freed from the conflicting inputs of the two arms, the bike is allowed to do what it was engineered to do, turning smoother and much quicker at the given speed. In fact, the moment the student releases pressure from the outside arm, the bike immediately wants to run off the inside of the course. Many students end up making a dramatic bobble to keep from running off the inside as they compensate for the newfound steering ability. As they practice the technique and become more proficient, students learn to use the throttle to help counter lean angle by increasing or decreasing speed. In addition, their lines become smooth, and their riding begins to appear effortless. Eventually, they enter “the zone” we talk about later in this book. I have actually had professional car racers tell me they do a similar thing when racing in the rain. By having one hand dominate the steering, they can allow the vehicle to do whatever self-corrective “wiggling” it needs to do as it struggles for traction in the wet. To exit the corner, simply reverse the process and countersteer in the opposite direction with the outside hand. For example, to exit a right-

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handed corner, push on the left grip. You’ll find that the bike will stand up. Accelerating can produce the same effect because you are creating additional centrifugal force to prop you up. Generally speaking, a combination of the two will work best. The steering input puts a side force on the front tire and when the throttle picks the bike up the side force is on the back tire. By using both steering and the throttle to stand up the bike you spread the side force out across both tires so you are less likely to exceed traction limits on one tire or the other.

As you have learned, there are many forces at work during the steering process. Fortunately, many of them take care of themselves, just like the wheels on that shopping cart. The most important thing to remember about steering is that the more skillfully you use your body’s weight as a lever, the less force you will need to apply to the controls, and the more precise your steering will become. The techniques in this book are designed to teach you exactly that.

E Ticket Ride: How Low Can You Go? almost anything . . . until the corners started coming Although it was great fun, I was startled by how much it wanted to lean but didn’t want to turn. I believe this is one of the main reasons recumbent motorcycles have never taken off. This was exactly the same problem Freddie Spencer had with the original Honda NSR500 GP bike in 1983. It had the heavy fuel tank down low underneath the engine and the relatively lightweight two-stroke expansion chambers up high under a faux fuel tank cover. Because the bike’s CG was so low, it required huge amounts of lean angle to accomplish an adequate amount of turning.

Meanwhile his competitors could go the same speed with less lean angle—hence the change to a more conventional layout the next year. Similarly when Ducati started dominating World Superbike Racing in the early 1990s, part of the reason was the relatively high center of gravity of its big twins. From that point forward, chassis designers have been focusing on centralizing mass rather than lowering it. As an example, the new EBR sportbikes have made mass centralization a primary goal. For the same reason figure skaters turn faster as they pull their arms in and centralize their mass.

Steering

One of the most interesting vehicles I ever rode was this 1997 prototype of Dan Gurney’s Alligator recumbent motorcycle. It was low and light with a big Honda single engine. I was out riding with some friends and happened to be getting gas at the same time as Dan. Of course, I jumped at the chance to ride such a curious beast when he offered. As a prototype it was exotic and sounded great as it snarled to life. The intake track was close to my body so I could almost feel the air being sucked into the large carb. Once underway, I noticed how quickly the bike would lean side-to-side. It initially seemed like it could out-corner

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Chapter 3: Suspension While the stock suspension and factory settings may be adequate for basic riding, as soon as a rider’s skill increases so too does the rider’s equipment need to increase in capability. As such, it is my belief that no real discussion of proper riding technique can take place without first understanding the basics of suspension dynamics. All of the riding techniques in this book revolve around managing traction. The knowledge about how your suspension works—and how to properly adjust it and maintain it—will work together with proper riding skill to improve your overall ability to manage traction. Every movement and control input you make on a motorcycle affects your suspension, and what happens to your suspension happens to you. Enhanced control, better traction, and more compliance translate into improved safety, more comfort, and increased fun on the street. On top of all of that, you’ll enjoy lower lap times on the track. Unfortunately there is a lack of accurate and easily digestible information about how suspensions work and motorcycle manufacturers don’t provide owners much useful help. In fact, many owner’s manuals have questionable instructions such as “Adjust for best comfort,” or “Turning the rebound damping screw clockwise increases rebound.” Even many dealership technicians are only taught to remove and replace parts but have virtually no training on

proper setup. Let’s start by taking a theoretical look at what suspension is and how it works.

>O`:\ZWeUZPVU& Why do we need suspension in the first place? After all, go-karts can go pretty darn fast without any. The simple answer? Bumps (well, holes too). It’s important to remember that go-

karts travel over fairly smooth surfaces while motorcycles may encounter all kinds of surface imperfections. This is where suspension makes a difference. The purpose of the suspension is threefold: to minimize harshness, maximize traction, and maximize control. The ideal setup is determined by a number of factors, including the type of riding (racing or street, for example)

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and personal preference (some like it stiffer, some like it plusher). Imagine the perfect ride produced by the perfect suspension. It starts with maximum traction. It’s also firm with good resistance to bottoming and great “feel” for the road, yet it is plush and comfortable at the same time. Additionally it would be consistent no matter what road we choose to ride on. Every type of rider can relate to this ideal setup—firmness for that feeling of control, and plushness because no one likes getting beat up while riding. The terms “firmness” and “plushness” seem mutually exclusive, but are they? Is this type of ride stiff or is it soft? Well, the answer is both—firm to eliminate excessive dive and control bottoming, and plush on the square edge bumps. Although it doesn’t sound logical, firmness and plushness can both be achieved with a little dose of

on wire diameter, coil diameter, number of coils, and materials. Air springs on the other hand have properties like initial pressure, compression ratio, and effective piston area. The key point to remember about spring force is that it is dependent only on its position regarding the overall travel of the suspension, meaning the distance the spring is compressed. It is not affected by how fast the suspension is compressing or rebounding. Damping force is caused when liquids are forced through some type of restriction. Therefore the damping forces depend on oil viscosity, orifice sizes, piston size, valving, shim configuration and most of all, velocity. The velocity of the oil moving through the damping circuit creates the damping force. This also means a shock creates no damping force unless there is movement of the damper unit

Figure 3.1

Suspension

In the perfect world, the center of gravity of the sprung mass doesn’t move vertically. The wheel remains in contact with the ground at all times. This can only be achieved with active suspension where the wheel is sucked up on the face of the bump and pushed down on the back side. The technology to do this is not here yet, but this is the ideal ultimate goal.

sprung mass spring and damper

direction of travel

sprung mass moves in a straight line

maintains perfect traction

unsprung mass

modern technology. Before we get there, it’s important to understand the basic forces at work in any suspension system.

-VYJeZ There are three distinct types of forces involved in suspension action: spring, damping, and frictional. There are also forces created by acceleration of the masses (component weight) involved, but they will be ignored for the purpose of this discussion. The first type of force is spring force. The two basic types of springs are mechanical and air. Mechanical springs come in three different forms: coil, leaf, and torsion bar, with coil springs being the most common on motorcycles. The force of a coil spring depends

during compression or rebound. Damping is not affected by bike movement or bike speed, only by vertical wheel velocity. The third type of force is frictional force. Frictional force depends on the perpendicular load on the surfaces in question and the materials involved, including lubrication, if any. The higher the load, the greater the friction between, for example, the inner tube and the bushings and seals attached to the outer fork tube. The other factor concerning friction is whether there is movement between the surfaces. These two conditions are known as static friction, or stiction, and dynamic friction. Stiction is created when there is no movement between the surfaces; dynamic

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friction is created when there is movement. Stiction can be readily felt in front forks when you push down on the handlebars. Generally speaking, the breakaway resistance, or stiction, is higher than the friction after there is movement. In some cases, frictional forces can be the biggest suspension problem, larger than the damping and spring forces combined. Low-friction materials, better surface finishes, more sophisticated lubricants, and better designs can minimize friction. Suffice it to say, as far as frictional forces are concerned, less is always better.

,UeYg`

Most bikes use one of three basic types of springs. From left to right: straightrate, dual-rate and true progressive-rate springs.

An understanding of energy helps to greatly simplify the subject of suspension. When a tire comes in contact with a bump, the suspension compresses. As it does, the spring stores some of the energy, while the damper turns some of the remaining energy into heat. The suspension slows down, stops compressing, changes direction, and starts extending or rebounding. The spring releases energy, and the damper applies rebound damping, once again turning mechanical energy into heat. If everything goes perfectly, the center of gravity of the motorcycle follows a straight line, with the wheel moving up and down beneath it. Perfect contact is maintained with the road surface. Figure 3.2 One way spring rate can be calculated is by applying a known amount of force and then dividing that amount by the distance the spring travels.

10 kilograms

Suspension

Forces are important, but it’s essential to understand the larger picture: energy. Springs turn kinetic energy (energy due to motion) into potential or stored energy when they’re compressed. They release energy when they recoil. Damping, on the other hand, turns mechanical energy into heat and then transfers it to the air. Friction also turns mechanical energy into heat, but its characteristics are quite different from damping forces. Why is this knowledge of energy important? There are a number of reasons. At a basic level suspension action is force and energy management. Riders also often get very concerned when their shocks get hot. Once you understand that, on an energy level, a damper’s job is to turn mechanical energy into heat, you free realize it’s not a problem length for the shocks to get hot. However, shock fade, a condition where the shock loses its damping, is undesirable. A welldesigned shock absorber with high-quality fluid K (spring rate) = can get hot and still not fade perceptibly.

spring compressed 20 mm

10 kg 20 mm

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Figure 3.3

90 80 70

Spring Force (F) kg.

This is a force-deflection curve for two different stiffness springs. The blue spring requires .5 kg additional force for each 10mm increment through its entire range. The red spring is twice as stiff, so it has twice the slope, requiring an additional 1.0 kg for each 10mm increment.

the slope of the line represents the spring rate

spring rate: 1.0 kg/mm

60 50 40 30

spring rate: .5 kg/mm

20 10 0 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Spring Travel (D) mm.

Suspension

An accurate spring tester can be an invaluable tool for suspension tuners. This Intercomp basic unit will test only rear springs. A fork spring tester kit can be added on to this basic unit as well.

That’s how it’s supposed to work, but it’s easier said than done. A suspended motorcycle system is illustrated in Figure 3.1. Note that the center of gravity is separated from the wheel by the spring and the damper. Each of these components has mass or weight. Everything above the spring is considered to be “sprung mass,” and everything below the spring is considered to be “unsprung mass.” Half the spring is sprung, and half is unsprung. The portions of the damper attached to the sprung mass are considered sprung, and the portions attached to the unsprung mass are unsprung. When going over a series of bumps on that “perfect ride,” the center of gravity of the sprung mass traces a straight line as the wheel and unsprung mass move up and down, maintaining contact with the road surface and, therefore, providing ideal traction.

:WYPUgZ Everyone knows what a spring is, but few understand exactly how it works or know the differences between various types of springs. When setting up your suspension, getting the correct spring

rate and preload is crucial, so it should be done before any other changes are made. The most essential thing to know about springs is that the spring force is dependent on how much the spring is compressed—this is referred to as spring displacement. For example, if it takes .5 kilogram (kg) of force to compress a spring 1 millimeter (mm), the spring’s rate would be .5 kg per mm, commonly referred to as a “.5 spring.” So if you want to compress this particular spring 20mm, it would require 10 kg of weight, and so on. Thus, the amount of force the spring pushes back is dependent on how far it’s being compressed. Therefore it’s important to

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Figure 3.4 Progressive springs gradually increase force through their travel, while dual-rate springs have a distinct “crossover point” where they change rates. Straight-rate springs have a constant spring rate.

90 80

Spring Force (F) kg.

70

straight-rate spring

60 dual-rate spring

50 40 30

progressive spring

20 10 0

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Spring Travel (D) mm. remember that springs are displacement (or position) sensitive. The total spring force created in telescopic front forks is a bit more involved. This is because there is a volume of air trapped inside the fork tubes that acts like an additional spring. When front forks are compressed, the air pressure inside the fork increases, even if no initial air pressure was used in the fork. The more the fork

compresses, the more progressive the “air spring” becomes. Basically, the front forks have two spring forces: 1) the mechanical spring force, and 2) the air spring. Let’s also define what spring rate and preload really are. Spring rate is the “stiffness” of the spring, measured in kilograms per millimeter or pounds per inch. One of the ways to test spring rate is to first measure the spring’s free, or Figure 3.5 The total spring force is a combination of mechanical spring and air spring.

Suspension

combined spring force is coil spring plus air spring

Spring Force

combined spring force

coil spring

air spring coil spring preload

Fork Travel

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This graph shows the difference between adding preload to a softer spring (blue line) compared to a stiffer rate spring (red line) with less preload. Notice that the two lines cross at the 30 mm fork travel mark. This means that both of these setups have the same amount of static sag, which demonstrates that there is much more to spring choice than just sag. The stiffer spring with less preload is a better choice if the rider is experiencing bottoming out with the alternative setup. On the other hand, if the rider is not generally using all of the available travel, the softer spring with more preload is preferable for a plusher ride.

100 90

Static Sag

Figure 3.6

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1.0 mm/kg spring

70 60

both springs deliver 35 kg of force at 30 mm of fork travel

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40 30 20

20 kg preload force

10 5 kg preload force

0

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Suspension

uninstalled, length. Then put some weight on it and measure the amount it compresses as shown in Figure 3.2. By placing increasingly heavier weights on the spring and measuring how much the spring compresses, a graph comparing force to displacement can be plotted. Spring rate is defined as the change in force divided by the change in displacement. In algebraic terms, that’s spring rate (K) = (change in force)/(change in displacement). What this means is that the slope created when plotting the force in relation to the displacement is the spring rate. There are three basic types of spring designs: straight-rate, dual-rate, and true progressive (Figure 3.4). A straight-rate spring maintains a constant rate throughout its travel and is very common in racing applications. The coils on a straight-rate spring are spaced evenly. Each additional displacement increment (millimeter or inch) takes the same amount of additional force to compress it as it goes through its entire travel. A progressive or dual-rate spring, by contrast, changes the amount of force in relation to the position of travel. A dual-rate spring commonly has two different coil spacings along its length—one is closer together, while the other end has the coils spaced further apart. Stacking two different springs on top of each other can also create a dual-rate spring. A true

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progressive spring has coils that start out close together, and then are spaced progressively farther apart with each successive coil. Initially, the spring force changes only a small amount with each incremental change in displacement. As the spring compresses, the coils are progressively blocked out (the coils touch each other and therefore have no travel remaining) making its rate change gradually. Which spring type is better is a matter of application as well as opinion, but I recommend straight-rate springs in most telescopic forks. Here’s why. When setting up the spring rates on suspension, the ideal setup is one that is progressive enough yet not too progressive. A spring rate that is not progressive enough will tend to be a compromise. It may have a tendency to feel too harsh on small bumps and additionally may bottom out when hitting a large bump. A spring rate that is too progressive will cause the suspension to drop through its travel too easily during the first part of movement, causing a mushy feeling. Additionally, as the suspension continues to compress, it may become too stiff too fast and feel harsh. Remember that in telescopic forks there are two main spring forces: the mechanical coil spring and the air spring. By its very nature the air spring is very progressive and can easily be tuned with

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Figure 3.7

bike only

bike and rider

This figure shows the relationship between spring preload and sag. It also illustrates how changing preload changes the percentage of the suspension’s travel that is available for compression and extension.

bike and rider

bike and rider

preload adjuster difference in preload

extension

compression

difference in preload

preload adjuster lower position

preload adjuster middle position

preload adjuster middle position

preload adjuster high position

95%

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5%

25%

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15%

difference in preload

millimeters or inches. All motorcycles with sprung suspensions have preload. This is true even for the bikes that don’t have preload adjusters. Forks that do have external preload adjustment have spring preload even when set at the minimum adjustment. It is incorrect to assume the fork has no preload if the adjuster is backed out all the way. For example, the preload may range from 20 mm to 35 mm with the adjuster having only 15 mm to travel. It is important to note that all types of forks can have the preload adjusted internally by changing spring spacer length, although sometimes this requires special spacers. The preload force, which is different from the preload length, is the initial force the spring exerts on the end of the fork tube with the fork fully extended. For a particular spring, increasing the amount of preload (spacer length) will increase the preload force. With a given amount of preload force on the spring, it will take that same force to initiate suspension movement when the suspension is fully extended. As preload is increased, it takes more force to cause the fork or shock to begin to compress. When preload force is decreased, less

Suspension

oil level. It’s my experience that the combination of a straight-rate spring and the naturally occurring, progressive air spring offers the best combination of front suspension progressiveness. In fact, if more progressiveness or bottoming resistance is desired, a simple increase in fork oil level may be all that is necessary. Straight-wound springs are also easier to understand in terms of their spring rate. Conversely, the only way to actually see how the force of a progressive spring changes is by using a spring tester to map out the spring forces. Spring preload is one of the most misunderstood concepts when discussing suspension. Often we hear riders talk about adjusting their motorcycle’s spring preload to make the spring stiffer or softer. This is a misconception: changing spring preload does not change the spring rate at all. The spring has the same rate regardless of how the preload adjustment is set. Let’s look at what really happens. During installation, a spring gets compressed a small amount. This compression is referred to as installed preload. Preload is the distance the spring is compressed compared to its free length when installed. This distance is measured in

difference in preload

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1.15

Figure 3.8

1.10 1.05 1.00

Spring Force (F) kg.

Use this chart to determine what rate fork springs you should have in your bike for optimum handling. It works with any brand of fork spring. Courtesy of RaceTech.

.95 supersport

.90 .85 sport

.80 .75 .70 .65 450

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Combined Bike and Rider Weight (Lbs.)

Suspension

force is required to cause movement. Keep in mind that when the motorcycle is resting on the ground with the rider on board, the suspension is compressed. When preload is changed the sprung mass is held higher or lower. This means more preload does not require more force to initiate movement after the weight of the bike and rider has compressed the suspension. Too much spring preload results in the suspension being too extended and as a consequence there will not be enough travel available for the suspension to extend into holes. This can cause tires to lose traction as they skip over depressions in the road’s surface. On the other hand, too little preload squanders ground clearance in corners and can cause the suspension to bottom out too easily. The main thing spring preload adjustments really do is change what percentage of suspension travel is available for absorbing bumps and for extending into holes or dips in the road surface. The goal is to have the suspension in the center of its travel while leaned over in a turn to best be able to manage either bumps or dips. This will allow the suspension the greatest opportunity to keep the tire in contact with the road surface specifically mid-corner. To understand how this affects the suspension’s ability to handle bumps and dips in the road, you must first understand suspension

sag. Note also that it affects chassis geometry and handling. See Chapter 16: Chassis Tuning for more details. There are two types of sag: free sag and static (or race) sag. Free sag is the amount the bike compresses from fully extended under the bike weight only—without the rider on board. This measurement, also known as bike sag, is used primarily during rear shock setup, which is discussed in Chapter 15: Suspension Setup. Static sag is the amount the bike compresses from fully extended when a rider sits on a motorcycle and the suspension moves downward, or “sags” under the rider’s weight. How much the bike sags depends on the spring rate, the sprung weight of the bike and rider, and the preload. When you tighten the adjusting collar on a shock or increase the preload by tightening the adjusters or changing the spacer length on forks, you are, indeed, increasing the initial force exerted by the springs. This keeps the bike from “sagging” closer to the ground, or decreases the spring sag. It does not, however, increase the spring rate. Referring to Figure 3.7, the line at the bottom represents a level road surface. Above the surface of the road are potential bumps that will be absorbed by the suspension during compression. Below the road surface are potential dips, or depressions, which the

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suspension will extend into as the motorcycle moves forward. The illustration shows the effect of a three-step preload adjuster. Imagine that with only the weight of the bike acting on the suspension (far left of the figure) it is nearly “topped out” meaning 95 percent of the suspension’s travel is available for absorbing bumps. At this point the threestep ramped preload adjuster is set to the middle setting. When the weight of the rider is added (second from left), the suspension sinks downwards, or sags. Now 75 percent of the

The preload should be adjusted to the correct amount of static sag, which is around 30 percent of the suspension’s total wheel travel. For most street bikes this equates to 30 mm to 42 mm of sag. Note that a particular sag number can be achieved with dramatically different spring rate and preload combinations (see Figure 3.6). The quality of the ride will suffer when a spring is either too soft or too stiff. The spring with a rate that’s too soft will dive and bottom easily because the spring doesn’t provide enough additional force as it gets deeper into the travel. On the other hand, the spring with a very stiff Larger sport-tourers and dressers can have serious weight differentials based on passengers and luggage. Having the correct spring rate for the load is the single most important aspect of your suspension.

Suspension

suspension travel can absorb bumps, and 25 percent is left to extend into holes. In the next drawing, the preload adjuster has been set to its lowest, or softest, setting. This moves the point of compression and extension downward so that 65 percent of the travel is now available for compression and 35 percent for extension. (It is important to note that the total amount of suspension travel always remains the same at 100 percent.) In the last of the series of drawings, the preload adjuster has been moved to its highest, or stiffest, setting. The point of compression and extension has been moved up, and now 85 percent of the travel is available to absorb bumps and 15 percent can extend into holes.

rate will feel harsh, as if it had hit a wall or a stiff spot in its travel. By taking a few measurements, you can see if your spring rates are in the ballpark (Figure 3.8). Most street bikes are set up with fork springs that are too soft for aggressive riding even on the street. Racers generally use higher spring rates with less preload than street riders. However, personal preference, conditions, and type of riding (street or racing) come into play when setting up suspension. Don’t make the mistake of trying to set up your street bike like a racer, or it will try to shake your tooth fillings out on bumpy roads. See Chapter 15: Suspension Setup for more details on how to set sag. When in doubt, consult a good suspension tuner.

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Figure 3.9

plu shn ess

tr a

c ti

on

fe in g

topping occurs

of

c on t r ol

goldilocks zone

less (quicker)

Rebound Damping

The main thing preload adjusters do is change the geometry of the bike when it is being ridden. Let’s say the bike is set up perfectly. If a heavier rider gets on the bike, the preload adjusters can be used to compensate for the increased weight. If the preload is not changed, the bike would sag more—both statically and dynamically—when in use. This would affect ground clearance as well as the rake and trail on the front end and anti-squat on the rear. Preload does affect bottoming resistance, but if you are experiencing bottoming and the sag is in the recommended ballpark, you are going to need a stiffer spring. If the rider weight change is excessive in either direction (lighter or heavier), the spring rate should likewise be changed. I want to add a couple of final thoughts about air pressure and oil level. On models with air valves built into the fork caps, the addition of air in the forks has a huge effect on both sag and harshness. I don’t recommend the use of air as a tuning variable because harshness generally increases significantly for the relatively small benefit in bottoming resistance. Adding air is almost like adding spring preload instead of spring rate. For example, the use of additional air pressure is tolerable on touring bikes for temporarily changing the load-carrying capacity for riding two-up. It’s not a great solution, but on a bike that is not designed for high-performance

Suspension

maximum feeling of control

maximum traction

el

This shows the relationship between rebound damping and traction, control, and plushness. Note that when traction is falling off as rebound is increased, the feeling of control is still increasing. Most riders will benefit from using less rebound damping than they are used to. Rebound damping is approximately three times stronger than compression damping. This is because it must control the releasing of stored energy of the spring, which unloads all of its energy at once. The ideal range of settings that fall into the “just right” Goldilocks Zone is therefore quite limited, making accurate rebound settings critical for good traction.

more (slower)

riding like a touring bike, it will do the trick. Changes in oil level affect the total spring force, but the effect is negligible in the first half of the travel. The effect is felt in the second half of the stroke as the fork reaches the bottom of the stroke; therefore, it does not affect sag.

+HTWPUg;OeVY` When it comes to overall ride and handling characteristics, many professional tuners consider damping to be the most critical factor. It’s a complex subject, so I’ll start with the basics. Damping is viscous friction. It turns mechanical energy into heat and is sensitive only to velocity, not to suspension stroke position. This is fundamentally different from a spring, which stores energy and is only sensitive to position in the stroke. Damping in modern motorcycle suspension components is accomplished in different ways, but almost always involves a fluid. The configuration can be as simple as shoving oil through a hole, as with old-style damping rod forks, or can be as sophisticated as a multi-stage bending shim-stack configuration in combination with an internally or externally adjustable bleed circuit. There are two primary types of damping: compression damping and rebound damping. Compression damping, or “bump damping,” occurs when the wheel contacts a bump and

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Figure 3.10 maximum traction

tr ac t io

maximum feeling of control

n

bottoming occurs

fee

li n g

of

co

nt

ro l

plu shn ess

ing tom nce t o b ista res

excessive compression damping causes wheel to deflect off bumps

goldilocks zone

less (softer)

Notice that, as with rebound damping, both traction and control drop off as compression damping is increased. It doesn’t fall off as rapidly as with rebound. Notice also that the peak for control is to the right of traction once again. The range of settings that fall into the “just right” Goldilocks Zone is significantly larger than for rebound damping. This is because we are dealing with a significantly reduced force compared to rebound damping as the springs do most of the work absorbing bump energy.

Compression Damping

compresses the suspension. Rebound, or “tension damping,” occurs when the spring forces the shock or forks to extend, coming back toward the ground. All forms of damping accomplish one thing: they slow down the movement of the suspension. Damping, therefore, changes the kinetic energy of suspension movement and turns it into heat. Because energy can only be changed from one form to another (Newtonian physics), the total amount of energy remains the same.

:\ZWeUZPVU6PS

and thickens as it cools. The viscosity index is a number that tells us how stable the viscosity is with temperature: the higher the viscosity index, the more stable it is. The viscosity index is determined by measuring the viscosity at two temperatures, 210 degrees F and 100 degrees F. The 100 degree reading is where the “W” (or “winter”) designation is measured. (Contrary to popular opinion, “W” doesn’t mean weight.) The viscosity index number is then derived from these two measurements. In engine oil terminology, if the oil falls into the 10W range at the low testing temperature and a 30 range at the high temperature, it is designated as a 10W30 oil and is called “multi-grade.” As the oil wears out the viscosity index is reduced based on the additives breaking down. In addition, the oils suffer contamination from internal wear (adding things like aluminum oxide) as well as external contamination past the seals. For these reasons the suspension oils must be changed periodically. Most current sportbikes, and increasingly others, have external adjustments for both compression and rebound damping as well as for spring preload. Most adjustable forks use a screw adjustment located atop the leg for rebound damping. This is not to be confused with the surrounding spring preload adjuster.

Suspension

One important factor that affects damping is oil or suspension fluid. For all intents and purposes we can think of oil as being incompressible. When pressure is applied to a chamber filled with oil, the pressure is exerted equally in all directions. If there is an opening for the oil to get out of a chamber, there will be flow and viscous friction (damping or resistance to flow). The degree of damping is determined in large part by the flow rate—more damping means less flow and vice versa. Oil viscosity is a measure of a fluid’s resistance to flow. It is commonly thought of as equivalent to the fluid’s thickness (sometimes called “weight”). The more viscous the oil, the more resistance there is to flow. Oil viscosity changes with temperature. Oil thins out as it heats up

more (stiffer)

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There is another screw on the bottom near the axle for compression damping. On rear shocks, the adjuster on the reservoir is for compression, and the one on the shaft eyelet is for rebound damping. These adjusters, often referred to as “clickers,” have their limits and typically affect only a small portion of the entire damping range. In other words, even if you have external adjustment capabilities, that doesn’t make up for poor internal valve design. External damping adjustments can never make

hold true in theory for virtually every type of vehicle. You will notice that traction starts at very light, or quick, rebound-damping settings, increases to a maximum, and decreases again. Why does this happen? At very light rebound settings, the chassis is uncontrolled. When the wheel hits a bump, the shock is compressed. The shock then rebounds downward without any control. In fact, it extends too far because the sprung weight of the chassis is moving upward. This upward movement of the chassis

up for extremely worn out dampers. If your bike is wallowing like a 1963 Cadillac with blown shocks, you might want to do some suspension rebuilding or replacement before you spend the rest of your life playing with the adjusting clickers.

causes the wheel to be pulled off the ground, thereby losing traction. Note that at a high rebound-damping setting, or slow rebound, traction also suffers. The suspension compresses as it hits a bump. As you travel up the bump and reach the top, the suspension attempts to follow the surface of the road back down the other side. The wheel is unable to follow the road surface, simply because it can’t respond fast enough to maintain traction. When this becomes excessive, it is referred to as “packing” because the suspension is packed into a shorter travel area. Maximum traction occurs somewhere between these two rebound-damping extremes.

Suspension

Suspension damping clickers are fragile, and should not be forced when counting clicks. Even though the slots are large, they should only be turned by hand with a small screwdriver.

9eIV\UK+HTWPUg Changes in rebound damping affect traction. If you look at Figure 3.9, you’ll see that all of these factors are plotted. There are no numbers on the Y-axis because these are largely subjective quantities. In other words, the discussion is about the ride “feel.” Having said that, these charts are based on years of testing both on- and off-road machines and

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to be aware of this relationship and plan your evaluation accordingly. The job of both the suspension engineer and suspension tuner is to make these two peaks, the traction and the feeling of control, as close to the same point as possible. This is done by reshaping the damping curve inside the Professional suspension tuners and manufacturers use precise tools to test their components. A shock dyno takes a lot of the guesswork out of performance analysis.

Suspension

Your own riding experience may have shown you that when rebound damping is very light, the feeling of control is minimized. The bike feels “loose” and bouncy. As you increase rebound damping, the feeling of control increases as the chassis doesn’t move around nearly as much, and the bike feels more “planted” and stable. When rebound damping is set to higher settings, meaning there’s a lot of damping and the suspension rebounds slowly, traction is poor, and the feeling of control suffers. Once again, somewhere between the two extremes, the feeling of control is maximized. There is a trade-off between maximum traction and control. Notice that maximum traction does not necessarily occur at the same damping setting that yields a maximum feeling of control. Herein lies a common problem. Quite often riders have mistaken ideas about how much damping should be used. They think the faster they are, or the faster they want to be, the more damping they need. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, after reaching a certain level of increased rebound damping, traction, control, and ride quality, or “plushness,” are all sacrificed. Even with rebounddamping settings falling between these two extremes, a trade-off still exists. I will offer one word of caution. During testing, the only way you will ever know if you have less traction for a specific suspension setting is if you are at the limit of traction. This is a very delicate position for a rider. Without being at this limit, the point at which the tires begin to slide, you can’t feel the difference in traction between one setting and another. As you can imagine, it is very easy to slide too far and crash if you’re not careful when riding on the edge of traction, even for experienced riders. The trick in testing is

forks or shock. This requires an understanding of high- and low-speed damping as well as valving piston design. The relationship among damping, spring forces, weight bias, and all the other factors that make a bike handle is also important. Although this complexity may seem overwhelming, making adjustments one at a time or, literally, one click at a time, helps.

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Another ride quantity that is affected by rebound damping is plushness. At very light rebound damping, the wheel moves very quickly, and the ride quality is plush or mushy. As rebound damping increases, there is more and more resistance to movement. At maximum damping, the wheel is packing so much that the chassis is sucked down in its travel and cannot recover for the next bump. When you hit the next bump, the suspension has to overcome the added spring force due to this compression, or packing. The result is a jolt to the chassis upon impact.

*VTWYeZZPVU+HTWPUg

Suspension

BMW’s US GS Trophy Team member, Bill Dragoo is about to experience first-hand the importance of correct spring rates and compression damping.

Compression damping is one of the most critical, yet easily misunderstood, components of suspension tuning. Understanding how compression damping affects ride quality will go a long way toward demystifying the “black art” of how motorcycle suspension works. A fundamental difference exists between compression and rebound velocity profiles. Compression velocity is determined by the bump encountered, while rebound velocity is caused primarily by spring force. This means that for proper compression damping, the shape of the bump is far more important than its size. A square-edged bump results in extremely high shaft velocities, while a bump with a gradual slope causes lower velocities. Granted, when you hit a bump at twice the bike speed, the shaft velocity also increases, but the shape of the bump is the critical factor. In the past, many considered compression damping a necessary evil. They assumed less was better. This stems from the limitations of old-style damping rod forks, or orificestyle damping, which can be simultaneously too harsh

and too mushy. This is due in part to how much fluid can be forced through any given sized hole at different velocities. With the advent of cartridge-type forks found on most sportbikes and Cartridge Emulators (Race Tech’s damping control valves for damping rod forks), the ability to control the shape of the damping curve has changed dramatically. To study the effects of altering compression damping settings, it’s important to look at damping as a whole. For now, ignore the shape of the damping curve. The amount of compression damping affects traction, plushness, bottoming resistance, and dynamic dive. Consider bottoming resistance. Referring to Figure 3.10, notice that the more compression damping there is, the more resistance there is to bottoming. It may seem obvious, but you need to have the right amount of compression damping, not too much or too little. The compression damping force is added to

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spring force and the compression-damping force that resists it. If there is no damping of any kind, the front end will dive and begin to oscillate up and down. If you’re braking for a long period of time, friction will eventually stop the oscillation, and you will notice that the fork is compressed, even while still on the brakes. This is called the dynamic ride height. Since damping is nonexistent when there is no suspension movement, the amount the forks are compressed is determined solely by spring forces. However, maximum dynamic dive, or the amount it overshoots the dynamic ride height, is affected by compression damping. Using more compression damping makes the forks compress slower and will tend to hold the chassis up. If you’re hitting a series of bumps with too much compression damping, the suspension will actually extend, growing taller as the wheels hit successive bumps. This is the opposite of the packing discussed earlier. There are obvious trade-offs between the two extremes of compression-damping settings. As bottoming resistance increases, plushness and maximum dynamic dive both decrease. At some point between these extremes, traction is maximized. Street bikes fare better because they are biased with less compression damping than road race bikes. Remember, you will pay the price for too much or too little compression damping. The right approach is to determine proper spring rates and use only as much compression damping as you need to control suspension bottoming and front-end dive. You can see a chart of proper spring rates for street bikes in Figure 3.8. Keep in mind that compression damping is dependent on suspension movement. If there is no movement, there is no damping. Also be aware that the shape of the damping curve is critical, reflecting not only how much damping you have, but also how progressive it is. For a detailed look at setting up your particular suspension—including comprehensive troubleshooting and testing procedures, see Chapter 15: Suspension Setup. Now that you have a solid understanding of traction, steering, and suspension basics, it’s time to understand how your mind impacts your riding and find out what you can do to maximize its efficiency. Soon you’ll be in the perfect mental state to learn advanced techniques faster and more proficiently than you ever thought possible.

Suspension

the spring forces to help resist bottoming. At the same time that bottoming resistance increases, the feeling of plushness decreases. On the flip side, decreasing the compression damping force will usually increase the feeling of plushness. This is true until you use extremely light compression damping. With very little damping, the plushness can actually decrease. This occurs only on big bumps when the suspension bottoms and therefore feels harsh. On small bumps, less damping still means more plushness. Let’s examine the effects of low-speed compression damping on traction. Imagine you’re riding along, and you hit a bump. If there is too little compression damping, the suspension will not have enough resistance as it is being compressed. This means that there is still energy that needs to be dissipated at the crest of the bump, and the wheel will continue to move upward as it crests the bump. This is because the wheel itself has mass. As that mass is moving upward, it wants to remain in motion and continues to move upward, compressing the suspension more than the amount required to handle the bump. This will cause the tire to “unweight” and possibly even lose contact with the ground as it crests the bump, causing a loss of traction. As compression damping is increased, this phenomenon decreases, and traction improves. If excessive compression damping is used, there will be too much resistance to movement, thereby pushing the center of gravity of the motorcycle, or the sprung mass, upward. Not only can this cause an uncomfortable or harsh ride, but this upward velocity of the chassis tends to unweight the wheel as well, resulting in a loss of traction. In extreme cases, the wheel will come entirely off the ground and skip over the bumps. This is one of the reasons why in bumpy turns at extreme lean angles you may experience difficulty holding an inside cornering line. The bike will tend to drift to the outside of the turn because of this loss of traction. The last factor on the graph represents maximum dynamic dive, or bottoming resistance. This is distinctly different from static sag, which is measured without the bike moving. Maximum dynamic dive is the amount the suspension compresses when hitting bumps or during braking. The maximum amount of dive is determined by a combination of the

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Chapter 4: Fear Fear makes progress impossible —FDR Fear is the single biggest hindrance that we motorcyclists face when trying to improve our skills, yet few riders ever seriously inquire into it. To make matters worse, it is seldom written about in motorcycle magazines or books, and rarely dealt with in the popular riding schools. If there is one thing that I’ve learned in the 15 years I’ve been conducting my Total Control Advanced Riding Clinics, it’s “Remove the fear and the barriers to learning disappear.” After all, anyone can follow step-by-step directions. It’s fear that keeps riders from following through on their desires to make a change in their riding. Dr. Susan Jeffers, author of Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, points out that the one fundamental fear underlying all others is a belief that “I can’t handle it.” If you’re afraid that you can’t handle the consequences of a crash, like scratching up your expensive motorcycle or getting hurt, your body’s survival mechanisms will make you incapable of pushing through the barrier. Although your conscious mind may want to turn the throttle a little more, your unconscious mind will not allow your wrist to comply. This is a frustrating situation for anyone serious about improving their skills, but unaware what is stopping them from making progress. Acknowledging your fears by putting them into positive, verbal language can eliminate the negative influence they have on your riding. In other words, once you speak—not just think—the words, “I can handle it if my bike goes down,” or whatever it is that you are afraid of, the fear no longer has control over your behavior. At this point you can concentrate on the task at hand without having your subconscious cause you to hesitate or wallow in your actions. It should be noted that fear is actually a good thing, but we must learn to work with it, rather than struggle against it, to make it a

positive influence on our riding. Obviously, fear is necessary for survival. If we weren’t afraid of anything (like falling down) we would soon die by doing stupidly dangerous stuff. For instance, if I tried to run the same lap times as Valentino Rossi, I would eventually crash, as I do not possess the necessary riding ability nor the physical strength or reflexes. Additionally fear can increase your adrenaline flow, which provides added strength in emergencies. We’ve all heard the story of the old lady who lifted a car off her trapped son even though she technically didn’t have the strength to do it. But fear can also be your worst enemy if you don’t learn to control it. Too much of it can have a crippling effect on even the most experienced riders.

-eHY;OYeZOVSK Every motorcyclist has what I refer to as a “fear threshold.” That is, a point at which the level of fear becomes so great that his mind cannot process any additional information. This is not unlike trying to run a math-intensive software

program on an old computer. It can only make so many calculations per second. If you try throwing too much information at it too quickly, it’s liable to crash. In the same way, if you try pushing a motorcycle faster than your brain can disseminate the sensory inputs, you also may crash.

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Figure 4.1 Fear is a necessary evil for self-preservation, but experienced riders are able to keep it in check by building their confidence level. A paradigm shift is a change from one way of thinking to another. It’s a transformation driven by agents of change. To progress from a mental state of fear to confidence, the agents of change are knowledge and faith.

Fear

Figure 4.2

Fear-to-Confidence Paradigm Shift

Fear Emotional response to a perceived threat caused by ignorance and/or uncertainty

Ignorance Lack of knowledge, understanding, information, or awareness

Knowledge Facts, information, and skills derived from the analysis of experience

Uncertainty A mental state where it is difficult to predict an outcome

Faith Trusting yourself to an inherently untrustworthy world

As an example, while riding motocross at a friend’s practice track many years ago, I came face to face with this reality. In fact, I overshot my fear threshold by such a margin that my mind hit its own reset button so I didn’t have to watch. My buddy Dave was one frontal lobes of those lucky kids whose dad let him build his own motocross track on the family farm. One day while racing around on my RM80, I came around a turn a little reptile brain too fast to hit the next jump on my undersprung bike, so I decided to take a detour around the jump. Unfortunately, I learned too late that my planned escape route had a 4-foot-deep ditch in the middle of it. As it turned out, rather than getting loads of dirt delivered to build the track, Dave decided to just dig next to where he wanted a jump to get the raw material. As soon as I realized what was about to happen, I actually fainted while riding the bike. My mind literally shut down to avoid being conscious for the ensuing carnage. Apparently, it knew the next two seconds were going to be big-time trouble, so it went into “sleep”

Confidence A feeling of self-assurance arising from an appreciation of one’s own abilities and/or qualities

mode, ostensibly to save me from consciously experiencing the horror. When I awoke, I was upside down in the ditch with a pretty good headache and the bike lying on top of me. I had absolutely no recollection of the crash, and, in retrospect, I think that’s a good thing. Often, right before a rider crashes, he says to himself, “Oh shit, I think I’m gonna crash!” Sure enough, that’s exactly what happens. While many crashes are physically preventable right up until the last moment, once a rider decides he’s going to crash, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and all other possibilities disappear. To understand this a little better, let’s take a look at how the brain handles fear. If you think back to biology class, you’ll remember that the brain is divided up into different parts (Figure 4.2). In the case of motorcycle riding we’re primarily concerned with two parts: The first is the most primitive part of the brain, called the brain stem, or reptile brain. If you ask biologists they will tell you that the reptile brain is responsible for what they

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Few things strike fear into the hearts of professional racers like the threat of an oily track. Here a giant turbine blows the oil dry off Daytona International Speedway as part of a crash cleanup. Every racer will have to decide how much faith he has in the condition of the track, as well as his tires, when the green flag drops again. Those who have faith, tempered with the knowledge of previous similar experiences, hold a serious advantage.

that the risks are manageable. So while terrible consequences are possible, with proper skills and experience they are not probable. This is perhaps best elucidated by navy admiral and computer pioneer Grace Murray Hopper who once said, “A ship in port is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.” Or as we like to say in Total Control, “If you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right!” A perfect example of this phenomenon is when four-time AMA Formula One Champion Mike Baldwin predicted that Wayne Rainey would be a big success even before Rainey left for Europe where he went on to win three world championships. Why? “I could never make myself completely trust the front tire,” Baldwin said. “But Wayne had the ability, when the race started, to just decide to trust it, and ride as though it would grip every time.” This kind of trust comes from confidence. Put simply, Rainey had total faith that the front tire would stick. It’s important to note here that you ride differently when you think you will have traction versus if you think the bike will slide out. As an example, notice how relaxed, confident and focused your body is on a perfect, sunny day with a great view of the open road. Now let’s say in that relaxed, confident state of being that the rear tire slides a little bit. Is that a big deal? No, not at all. You simply go with the flow and keep right on truckin’ along. By contrast, consider how tense and nervous (perhaps paranoid) you become on a wet,

Fear

call the Four Fs of survival. They are Feeding, Fleeing, Fighting and, of course, Reproduction. The most advanced part of the human brain is the frontal lobes. The frontal lobes are responsible for higher-level thinking activities such as imagination, creativity, logic, planning, and intuition. The important thing to remember about how your brain works is that whenever you are utilizing the frontal lobes, you stay out of the reptile brain, which is where fear resides. In other words it is impossible to be afraid when utilizing the frontal lobes. That is why good riding instructors give you one specific thing to work on during each exercise so you can focus on that and not on your fears. If you begin to feel fear while riding, you have retreated back to the reptile brain and need to move your thinking back to the frontal lobes. One of the keys to staying centered in the frontal lobes is confidence. Confidence is derived from two factors: knowledge and faith. Knowledge is the culmination of all the facts, information, and skills derived from the analysis of physical and mental experiences. In the trades this is sometimes referred to as know-how. By faith, I don’t mean in the Biblical sense of pretending to know things you don’t know. Rather, as Alan Watts so eloquently put it, faith is “trusting yourself to an inherently untrustworthy world.” In other words, even though you can’t control every variable affecting you, and you might even be severely injured or killed by something you can’t control, you feel

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Fear

Improv artists never let anything faze them. Using their secret of “accepting everything at face value” can help keep riders safe on the road when the unexpected happens.

slippery road going around a blind corner in the dark. Now in that state what happens when the rear tire starts to slide a little? You make a bad situation worse by overcorrecting as your adrenalin-filled muscles try to over-control the bike, possibly resulting in a crash. In a special sense while riding in poor conditions it’s best to become an “actor” and pretend that the conditions are good. This does not mean that you should accelerate hard in the middle of a slippery corner. It does mean that you should be just as relaxed, present, and focused as if you had really good traction, so that if the bike starts to slide, you will be in the perfect mental and physical state to deal with any changes in traction. The bottom line here is that you have to accept whatever is happening. After all, whether you like your traction conditions or not, your particular situation is what you have to deal with. The sooner you accept your reality, the faster you will be able to react to and work with it. Probably the best examples of this kind of acting are improv artists. If you’ve ever wondered how stand-up comics on stage or in TV shows like Whose Line is it Anyway? are able to make up such funny skits and even songs on the fly, today is your lucky day. It’s because they have a secret that they never share with the audience: They accept everything 100 percent at face value. In other words, they never “block” anything. No matter how outrageous the other comics are on stage, or how nasty of a heckler is in the audience, improv artists act like that was exactly what they expected and perform accordingly. As motorcyclists we can use this same technique to help us deal with unexpected threats on the road. Imagine a semi truck crossing over the double yellow line into your lane. Normally most riders would go into full panic mode and might even target fixate on the truck, causing a head-on crash. But what would the improv artist do? Rather than freezing up

on the terrifying thought that the truck is on a collision course for him, he’d simply change his line as soon as his original one was no longer available without skipping a beat. Interestingly that’s the same way a good salesperson “turns on a dime” and changes his pitch as soon as he realizes his original strategy is not on track toward a sale. Working with particle accelerators, quantum mechanical physicists have discovered that it is impossible to observe sub-atomic phenomena without actually changing what happens. Amazing as it sounds; you cannot watch something, including yourself and your environment, without creating a new reality. This is why every major sport psychologist emphasizes visualization techniques. By imagining a particular event, you actually create the possibility of its existence.

5V7YVISeT In the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu says, “He who is not afraid will always be safe.” There are many interpretations of this. However, when it comes to motorcycling, I have found one to be of profound significance. It can be explained by inquiring into what happens when your bike begins to slide. Most motorcyclists have at one time or another slid one or both wheels in a corner— usually under power while exiting a turn, often in the rain. When this happens, what’s your reaction? A superior rider will simply let the slide occur as if it was supposed to happen. If you are able to retain your composure, the bike will usually correct itself as if nothing ever happened. That’s the purpose of trail in a chassis. It makes the bike want to straighten up whenever it’s crooked. The problem most of us face, however, is that whenever we think that what is happening should not be happening, we perceive this as a

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Factors That Contribute to the Ability to Handle a Threat

If there is one organization that needs to know how to deal with fear it’s the United States Marine Corps. Below is an adaptation from the Combat and Operational Stress Control publication USMC MCRP 6-11C.

brain feedback circuits necessary for reducing the internal threat alarm as needed to keep negative emotions, involuntary reflexes, and body-brain activation under control. These brain systems are part of the essential infrastructure for positive coping, but they are also vulnerable to being reduced in effectiveness or even damaged by intense, long-lasting stress.

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Body factors necessary for effective coping and resilience include the requisite physical skills, strength, endurance, and other attributes needed to mount an effective response and to counter a particular threat. Physical wellness and fitness are critical for an optimal response to a threat. Conversely, the lack of physical wellness or fitness may significantly detract from a rider’s ability and confidence. A further biological prerequisite for a positive threat response is the effective and normal functioning of the

Strengthening the mind for mounting an effective coping response and maintaining resilience begins with a familiarity with the specific threat situation encountered and the ability to recognize it as familiar. Familiarity may be the result of previous realistic training or similar operational experience. Unfamiliar situations may also be mastered by a rider who is able to generalize prior training or experience by adapting what was learned in the past to somewhat different situations in the present. The mental ability to

generalize knowledge and skills and to adapt them to new situations requires intelligence, creativity, and self-confidence—all traits to be strengthened in riders to promote effective functioning and resilience. The final contributors to mental strength—willpower and fortitude—are two aspects of courage. Fortitude is the ability to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity without faltering; whereas, willpower is the motivation to convert that mental strength into courageous behavior. These two crucial components of confidently handling a situation are also two of the least permanent or stable attributes. Knowledge and skill, once acquired, are not quickly lost, but willpower, fortitude, and courage are eroded by the wear and tear of continuous exposure to hardship and danger, and may evaporate during an unexpected event. Willpower and fortitude are among the most important attributes of professional riders and racers.

Fear

Anything that empowers motorcyclists in those initial seconds after encountering lifethreats to say to themselves, “Yes, I can handle this,” will make them not only more effective at riding but also more resilient to the potentially damaging effects of life-threatening stressors. Strengthening both the body and mind are necessary to be optimally effective.

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In a perceived emergency your body is programmed to “go with what you know.” If you’ve not practiced riding with a little bit of fear, you will likely panic when subjected to an unexpected event.

Fear

problem and get scared. Once you get scared, your body gets tense and your mind goes on overload. In this situation you are like a beginning rider and unable to process all the inputs. You have lost your connection with the outer environment and become focused on your inner fear. At this point your chances of crashing have increased significantly. To avoid this scenario requires some special practice. Only by practicing sliding will you become comfortable enough with it that you will not be pushed beyond your fear threshold when it occurs. Because sliding on the street (especially on a large touring bike) can be very dangerous, your best bet is to practice it on an off-road or dual-sport bike. The lighter weight of the bike and the slicker surface of the dirt will teach you the dynamics of sliding in a much safer environment. (See the appendix for a listing of the best off-road schools to learn the art of sliding.) While riding in the dirt, you begin to learn that it’s OK when your bike slides and you can just let it happen without fighting it. After all, once you’re sliding, there’s nothing else for you to do except let it happen since the more you fight the slide, the worse it will become. Then when a slide occurs on the street, you will be able to deal with it without overdosing on fear. Another name for overdosing on fear is panicking. In a panic situation you are not

able to properly reason, which was probably best illustrated by Homer Simpson from the animated TV show The Simpsons. In one particular episode, Homer, the father, admittedly not the sharpest tool in the shed, comes home one day and he is in a real conundrum. His daughter Lisa, the good kid, has very uncharacteristically gotten into trouble in school. Well, Lisa never gets into trouble at school so he doesn’t have a pattern of behavior to fall back on to know how to deal with the situation. After thinking about it for a moment he comes up with the solution and orders Bart to vacuum the floor. When Bart understandably protests, he quips back, “Boy, in times of trouble, you go with what you know!” Similarly, in times of trouble on the motorcycle, we go with what we know. And what we know is what we’ve made habit. And what we’ve made habit is what we’ve practiced over and over. So, if you want to make the skills you learn here into habits, you will have to practice them over and over again until you’ve trained them into your muscle memory. That way, you’ll be able to execute them even in a panic situation when you can’t think about them first.

AJ[PVU4\ZJSe Another important skill to develop in the war on fear is what Tony Robins calls “exercising your action muscle.” That is, the mental

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gumption to go into physical action in the face of fear. For example, I have been a singer my entire life, yet I still get stage fright almost every time I get up to perform. While racing in a 1994 WERA national road race at Road Atlanta, I was asked to sing the National Anthem in front of 24,000 people. Even though I had sung that song hundreds of times before in front of much smaller crowds, the large venue had me so nervous my shaking hands could barely hold the microphone still. Although almost paralyzed with fear, I was able to close my eyes, take a deep breath, and get up and do it anyway. The reason I could do it was all my previous practice. Not just my

to handle all that nervousness. That is why I cannot emphasize enough the importance of practicing riding with a little bit of fear to get comfortable being a little uncomfortable. That way, when the unexpected takes you by surprise, you’ll be able to handle that feeling without shutting down.

singing practice, mind you, but my performing while nervous practice . . . my exercising-theaction-muscle practice. In his best-selling book Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell identifies 10,000 hours as the necessary amount of practice to achieve mastery of a physical or mental activity. Over a period of years I had conditioned myself to not consider nervousness as a problem. Rather, I looked at my fear as a signal that it was time to perform. I was actually thankful that it pumped up my adrenaline level so I could really belt out the tunes. Had I not practiced performing with fear so many times before in front of smaller crowds, I never would have been able to muster the strength

those who raise the point at which fear gets control of their minds. For example, Valentino Rossi couldn’t ride any faster than you if he experienced the same fears as you while riding your pace. The difference in his ability simply means that the speeds at which he experiences those fears are much higher than yours or mine. Once he reaches that threshold, he can’t break through it anymore than we can break through ours—until we change our thinking. As soon as your mind reaches this “information overload” point, you’ll need to re-center yourself as quickly as possible. Hopefully, you’ll be able to accomplish this before you lose control. We’ll discuss how to do this in the next chapter, Concentration.

)YH]eY` Contrary to popular opinion, I believe everyone has a similar fear threshold, that everyone can only take so much fear before they can no longer consciously think and act. Brave people aren’t those who can overcome larger amounts of fear, they are

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Chapter 5: Concentration In the quest for maximum bike control, your mental ability to be completely present in the moment is just as important as your actual riding skills. Because the penalties for not paying attention while riding are so severe, the act of motorcycling all but forces you to pay close attention. For this reason, motorcycling has been called “the lazy man’s Zen,” as it can produce the same type of ecological awareness as deep meditation. Fear and distraction are the enemies of presence, and concentration is the cure. Have you ever noticed how difficult it is to talk to someone in a crowded room? With many people talking at once, it’s difficult to concentrate on what you’re saying. Similarly, when riding motorcycles, there are many distractions that hinder concentration on the road. A motorcyclist’s ability to concentrate is probably his most important tool for staying alive, yet few riders have any training in how to do it effectively. We often use the word, but just what do we mean when we talk about concentration? Three-time national karate champion and motorcycle racer Ken Merena defines proper concentration as “relaxed attentiveness.” In other words, concentration means being aware of your surroundings without stressing out your body. Because all of us eventually fatigue from any prolonged activity, Merena stresses the importance of getting proper rest before and after long periods of intense concentration for optimum performance. According to Webster’s dictionary, concentration is “the act of bringing or directing toward a common center or objective: focus.” Using this definition as a starting point, let’s take

a look at how concentration works and discuss how you can improve your degree of proficiency.

/V^0[>VYRZ In order to master something, you must first identify what it is. Often this is accomplished by starting with what it is not. One by one, you discount the possibilities until you end up with an idea of what you’re facing. At this point, you can decide where you want to go, and you can focus your attention toward it. This is not unlike eliminating each of the voices in a crowded room until you’re able to carry on a conversation with just one person. Although everyone’s mind wanders from time to time, the ability to re-center oneself varies Even a moment’s lapse of concentration can have disastrous results. Pictured is the unconscious author, moments after crashing in his first supermoto race in 2004. It happened after crossing the finish line when he was no longer paying close attention to the rider ahead and was not ready for him to hit the brakes. Seventeen minutes later he regained consciousness and immediately screamed out, “Don’t cut off my leathers!” At that point he realized he was now wearing a neck brace and not much else.

greatly from person to person. A master is simply someone who’s highly skilled at this process. In his book The Use and Abuse of History, Friedrich Nietzsche emphasizes the value of living “unhistorically.” This is the act of being fully present in the moment by temporarily forgetting past events that get in the way of our concentration. He says that the man of action “forgets most things in order to do one. He is unjust to what is behind him, and only recognizes one law—the law of that which is to be.”

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things are possible. For motorcyclists, this is the ability to react to circumstances without hesitation. Racers call it being “in the zone.”

Distracted and inattentive motorcycle operation is becoming one of the biggest concerns of the National Traffic Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA). This photo is of the author after 975 miles and 22 straight hours of riding taken by Iron Butt Association President Mike Kneebone. Realizing that he was now a danger to himself and other motorists due to fatigue, Parks took a one-hour “Iron Butt Motel” to get some rest. This left him just refreshed enough to finish up the last 45 miles to the finish line for his first (and last!) Saddlesore 1000.

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Neuroscientists believe that the human brain can focus its attention on up to seven things at once before it loses the ability to concentrate. Keith Code, in his groundbreaking book The Twist of the Wrist, describes this process in terms of spending money. Code writes: “Attention, and where you spend it while riding a motorcycle, is a key element in how well you will function. Attention has its limits. Each person has a certain amount of it, and the amount varies from individual to individual. You have a fixed amount of attention just as you have a fixed amount of money. Let’s say you have a $10 bill’s worth of attention. If you spend $5 of it on one aspect of riding, you have only $5 left for all the other aspects. Spend $9 and you only have $1 left, and so on.” Because reality comes at you from all sides, you must constantly be choosing which things to pay attention to and which ones to ignore. You can do this by tuning in the requisite and tuning out the extraneous. Experience is what helps you decide what things are to be paid attention to as well as which ones should be ignored. This is why beginners shouldn’t try some of the more advanced skills in this book. It’s too risky for them to practice because they don’t have enough experience to recognize the warning signs of a bike that is about to crash. When it comes right down to it, concentration is the elimination of distractions both outside and inside the body. When there’s nothing left to distract you, you are fully present in the moment. In Zen, this is called mu shin, literally “no mind.” At this point, all

Before you can get in the zone in any activity, you first must practice your techniques over and over. The skills must become second nature, and you shouldn’t have to think about them. Your actions will seemingly happen automatically, and you can react instantaneously to any situation. Just as you don’t have to think how to breathe or how to beat your own heart or even walk, when riding in the zone, the correct inputs will happen as a matter of natural course. In this state, all your awareness is spent on what to react to, not how to react. Awareness is the process of information integration; it’s your ability to discern the key elements of information on the fly based on a much larger pool of incoming data. Any given riding situation requires a specific amount of awareness to properly negotiate. Once you hone your skills to a high level, you will notice that it takes less and less attention to accomplish a specific goal. Of course, this can become a dangerous situation. It is tempting to only use the minimum amount of awareness necessary for a given situation so you can use your “excess processing power” on other activities. For instance, you may think about what you want to eat at your next stop while riding your motorcycle. I am a firm believer in awareness overkill. In other words, keep all of your attention on what you’re doing right now. This gives you a reserve of “what if” ability to deal with unexpected occurrences such as another vehicle coming into your lane. You can tell that you’re in the zone because you won’t have to block thoughts from your mind. Carl Jung wrote, “What you resist persists.” If you stop resisting things like fear and uncertainty, and just allow them to pass

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through you, they will disappear, and your actions will become pure. In actual practice, you don’t know you’re in the zone while you’re there. The moment that you consciously contemplate your performance, you have left it. You only recognize it when you leave it, by comparing it to the previous moment’s lack of conscious reflection. This is different from when we are sleeping, because we don’t have awareness of our environment while we sleep. When we’re in the zone, we have total awareness of our environment, but don’t make internal commentary about it. Everyone has actually experienced being in the zone even if you don’t realize it. To demonstrate this, just think about how long you have been walking. After so many years your legs seem to literally walk themselves, without ever having to think about them. By contrast think about how much concentration is going on when toddlers take their first few steps. It’s notable that we laugh and smile at the first awkward steps of children because it seems strange that they struggle so much with something as simple as walking. As it turns out, however, walking is not easy—it is incredibly difficult. The way that we know the difficulty of any human endeavor is by building a machine to do the same job. Because we have to program every movement, we know exactly what is involved. In the field of robotics, one of the most difficult things scientists have struggled with is being able to replicate bipedal movement. In other words, getting robots to walk like humans do. That’s because there are approximately 1,000 corrections a second that we make to keep these floppy-meatbag bodies of ours balanced on the two little contact patches of our feet.

Intriguingly it was motorcycle manufacturer Honda with its Asimo humanoid robot that first accomplished this technological triumph. The robot weighs 119 lbs. and stands 4 foot 3 inches tall. These specs mean that robotic mechanisms are still not nearly as efficient as human organisms when it comes to replicating muscle energy and computing power for walking.

0TWYV]PUg*VUJeU[YH[PVU Practice is the secret to improving concentration. But this is a different kind of practice than most people are used to because it involves the doing of a non-action. This practice is best described by a Chinese man reported to be the oldest living person on Earth. When asked what the secret to his longevity was, he responded, “Inner quiet.” Because the single biggest distraction you face is the constant interruptions from your own mind, the practice of inner quiet is crucial for superior concentration. The result is increased awareness and, ultimately, better control. To achieve inner quiet, what Buddhists call “the still mind,” means to stop consciously thinking about things. But a still mind is not a stupid mind. Rather, it is a mind ready for whatever presents itself. This is not “zoning-out” like we all tend to do from time to time; it is “zoning in.” When you have no thoughts to distract you, the full use of all your skills and abilities becomes available. Many factors can prevent you from achieving inner quiet. As we learned in the last chapter, fear and uncertainty are two of them. Furthermore, you need to be able to control your mind to prevent it from wandering. As Lao Tzu said in the Tao Te Ching, “Controlling others is strength. Controlling yourself is true power.”

Honda’s latest Asimo (A dvanced S tep in I nnovative Mobility) robot debuted in 2005 and can walk, run (3.7 mph), and turn. For slalom running at 3.1 mph, the center of gravity is moved toward the direction of the turn before the actual turning takes place— just like Step 2 in the 10 Steps to Proper Cornering (see Chapter 12: Body Positioning).

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Concentration

Retrospective analysis of your experience will help hone your concentration when you ride. If you go riding with a buddy, talk about what hazards each of you noticed during the ride when you stop for a break. This is a great opportunity to see what each of you paid attention to, and which things you missed that you want to be on the lookout for the next time.

To learn how to do anything, it is necessary to begin with the basics. Remember how difficult operating a clutch was when you first began? Now you can do it without thinking about it. Achieving inner quiet is a similar process.

4eKP[H[PVU7YHJ[PJe Meditation is probably the best way to practice inner quiet and reduce stress. The primary purpose of meditation is presence: Being completely present in the moment. Whether you’re thinking about something that happened in the past, or worried about something that might happen in the future, both of these conditions take you away from the only thing that can keep you safe. That thing is often referred to as “The Eternal

Now,” and the very next instant is a different now. So what are you trying to think of while meditating? Nothing. Strangely this is one of the most difficult things human beings can do. You’ll be amazed by how much “noise” there is inside your head. Your brain can be bombarded with everything from “Check out that blonde” to “Don’t forget to pick up peanut butter.” Constant thoughts are not unlike the sounds in that crowded room of people. It’s no wonder we get confused and afraid; there’s a party going on up there. One by one, just ask the guests to leave. If you work at it, you can eventually get them all to fade away. The reason for this phenomenon is the way that we normally go through life is very convoluted as far as thought is concerned. We start with a thought about something. Then there is a pause. Then we have another thought, and another pause, and so on. The goal of meditation practice, and of good riding technique for that matter, is to take that pause in between thoughts, and make it longer, and longer, and longer. When you can spend

The mind can only handle up to seven issues at one time. Being able to discern what’s important from what isn’t is critical in high performance situations. In the corkscrew at Laguna Seca, riders must deal with directional, speed, and elevation changes, while simultaneously monitoring their bike’s systems and the other riders’ actions. It is as much a mental workout as a physical one.

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Warning Signs Concentration can be affected by many physical conditions. Low blood sugar, not enough rest, and controlled substances all have detrimental effects on your ability to concentrate. It’s also important to do a self-diagnostic test every once in awhile to make sure your stress level isn’t getting out of control. The symptoms are easy to spot as mental stress quickly manifests itself in your body. In Western culture, we brace ourselves

Concentration

extended periods of time in that pause; that is what being in the zone really means. The process can be very therapeutic, especially while riding. By practicing this, your mind will become more still, and your concentration will improve. Even better, try out a floatation tank (see below).

for that proverbial gut punch by tightening up our stomachs, shoulders, arms, and hands. Not only does that unnecessarily fatigue our muscles, but it also prevents proper breathing. Deep, relaxed breaths help bring oxygen to the body. This allows muscles to operate freely and at peak efficiency, which enables you to concentrate on your environment, and not be distracted by your stress. Proper breathing utilizes a “belly breath” not a “chest breath.” Babies do this naturally, but over time they become socialized to hold in stress by taking shorter, more forced breaths. By putting your hand on your belly, you should feel air going in and out without any muscle tension. If your chest is doing most of the moving, it’s time to focus your attention on your breathing until it becomes easy and natural again. Remember, true concentration is trying not to concentrate.

Float Rider My favorite, and probably the easiest way to practice meditation for better riding, is in a floatation tank. I utilized them for years while racing professionally, and now I even have one at my training center (www.floatvana. com). A floatation tank, also called a sensory deprivation chamber, is at its heart quite simple. It is basically an 8-foot by 4-foot by 4-foot enclosed bathtub filled with 10 inches of water with 750 pounds of Epsom salt dissolved in it. The high salt content creates a super-buoyant environment similar to the Dead Sea, where you become essentially weightless. The saline solution is heated to 93.5 degrees F, which is your skin’s external temperature. Once you’re settled in with the door closed, your body has virtually no sensory inputs. There is no sensation of temperature, pressure, sight, or sound. It literally seems like you’re floating in limitless space. This allows every muscle in your body to completely relax, and allows your brain to go into a deep

meditative state, all without any real effort. The hardest part of meditation is eliminating the external stimuli, and the tank does most of that work for you. Floatation tanks are great for healing injuries, reducing stress, and improving concentration. Recently I decided to try supermoto racing again for the first time in nine years after suffering a serious concussion (see page 59). I was a little concerned because of my former injury, and decided to help prepare for the race by spending an hour in the tank each of the two days prior to the event. With two heats and two mains, I was pleasantly surprised to win all four races. Even cooler was the fact that several other racers came over afterward and independently commented on how smooth and relaxed I looked on the track. All I could say was, “You should consider floating before your next race.” Of course, floating is just as valuable for street riders as it is for racers, and good for your general health to boot!

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Chapter 6: Right Attitude Before trying out any new riding skills, it’s important to make sure you are in a mental state that is conducive to learning. If you’re like most hard-core motorcycle enthusiasts, no matter how many riding skills books or magazine articles you read—and no matter how hard you practice—you will get frustrated with your progress at some point. The secret to ending this frustration is having the right attitude.

)eginner»s 4inK The most critical component of having the right attitude is maintaining what, in Japan, is called shoshin, which means “beginner’s mind.” This is the attitude of a child during his formative years when the majority of learning in the human brain takes place. Have you ever noticed how quickly children can learn new skills or languages? As an adult, however, it is extremely difficult to learn new languages. Part of the reason for this has to do with how children look at the world. Their eyes are open wide like giant sponges taking everything in with what we might call “the wonder of a child.” This is because humans are very curious creatures and when experiencing anything for the first time we are naturally engaged. One of the great triumphs and tragedies of our species, however, is our incredible ability for pattern recognition. As we have more experiences with age, we start to notice and recognize more patterns. And pretty soon we start to become mini Nostradamuses and start to predict where the pattern will go next. This ability certainly has survival value. Unfortunately, as we get better at this, we begin to only see the things that fall within the pattern. Many of us struggle with this in our work lives. For example, when a job is new we typically find it interesting and challenging. As we get better and more experienced at it we start identifying and falling into a repetitive pattern. After too many similar experiences we sometimes struggle to find satisfaction with the job because everything about the job fits into the known pattern. Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki in his book Zen Mind says, “In the beginner’s mind, there are many possibilities; in the expert’s, there

are few.” Not surprisingly, the hallmark of the beginner’s mind is humility. Being humble is the key to learning because it is the ego that keeps our minds closed to new ideas. The more you think you know about riding, the less you will be open to new techniques. Therefore, the best policy for learning new things is to always keep a beginner’s mind. This beginner’s mind is not only the attitude that will allow you to get the most benefit from taking a class or formal training; it’s the attitude that will allow you to learn more in any situation. Specifically, any time we get on the motorcycle is an opportunity to learn more. A beginner’s mind can also be described as living in possibility, as opposed to expectation. There is actually only one thing that has been proven to be the cause of all unhappiness in the world—unfulfilled expectations. In other words, you expected things to be one way and they turned out to be another. Take any life experience you’ve had where you’ve been unhappy, and you will see that an unfulfilled expectation is the cause. In fact, according to the Eurobarometer Survey, for the past 30 years Denmark has been the happiest country in the world. Danes appear to know instinctively that expectations kill happiness, so they keep their expectations low and are therefore often pleasantly surprised by life. You’ll know that you have the wrong attitude on the motorcycle if you become upset, pissed off, or demoralized. Any time you find yourself in this position it is due to your unfulfilled expectations. The key is to not have already made up your mind about what should be happening and just enjoy whatever is happening in the moment. Reality has a way of shaping itself to your preconceived expectations, so don’t limit your learning by deciding you already know how to do something. My favorite example of living in possibility is demonstrated by the television character McGuyver. The reason his character is so compelling is because he refuses to let what he already knows get in the way of seeing new possibilities. Rather than accepting popular belief, he looks at everything with the wonder of a child. The cool thing about him is that his

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Right Attitude

Having the wrong attitude can lead to bad choices. Bad choices can include treating public roads like a racetrack. Treating public roads like a racetrack can lead to uncomfortable bracelets. Don’t end up with uncomfortable bracelets. Practice Total Control techniques and achieve the right attitude.

solutions to problems were always something any of us could have physically done. The difference is that we would never have thought of it. I’m not suggesting that you figure out how to make your motorcycle into a bomb. I am inviting you to look at your riding from a fresh new perspective, uncluttered from past ideas about how things need to be done. On a bike, this philosophy could be used to see a rainy day as a fun opportunity to practice learning about the traction limits of a motorcycle, rather than a ruined riding day. It’s clear from watching the top racers’ vast differences in riding styles that there are many approaches that can be effective. Sometimes a racer will even need to change his style from one track to the next. The racers who can keep a beginner’s mind and adapt their style to current conditions are the ones who are the most successful. The danger, however, is that the more you apply this practice, the more your mind will tend to anticipate what will happen next. This will make it easier for you to either get bored or compensate for the boredom by pushing too hard. In finding a comfortable learning pace, you will enjoy your relationship with the road and keep motivated.

4V[i]a[iVn The second component of right attitude is motivation. You need to be motivated to try something new. For example, if you’re in a bad mood, it is difficult to learn new skills, as your mind is preoccupied with unrelated thoughts that keep it from being clear. The clearer your mind is, the easier it is to understand new information. And the easier it is, the faster you will learn. If you work on your skills by yourself, it is easy to become frustrated, but the frustration itself can be encouraging. It is your mind’s way of signaling that you have lost the right attitude, and that it is time to re-center yourself.

Practicing with a riding buddy is one of the best ways I know to keep motivated. Not only can he see what you are doing and provide valuable feedback, but he can also encourage you when you start to get tired or lazy. This is critical if you are to remain focused on the task at hand. If your mind starts wandering, not only are you not learning, but you are also increasing the likelihood of making a costly mistake that could lead to an accident.

9VaK 9eSa[iVnsOiW The third component of right attitude is your “road relationship.” As motorcyclists, we like to spend a lot of time on the open road, but few of us ever really consider our relationship to it. Whether you ride fast or slow, you have an unwritten agreement with the road beneath you. Like family or business relationships, your road relationship can take three basic forms: indifferent, adversarial, or complementary. An indifferent relationship is like the one you have with the cashier at a fast-food joint. You neither like nor dislike the cashier—you just deal with the person to reach the objective, which is ordering a hamburger or paying for fries. Most riders have an indifferent road relationship. They think of it as little as possible and don’t really relate to the road except when there is a perceived danger, in which case they approach it with caution and distrust. This is a normal survival response, but it can also get you into trouble if you don’t learn to manage it. Another popular road relationship is of the adversarial variety. This is usually seen in sport and dual-sport riders. It is fueled by the notion that they’re going to beat the road into submission. The road becomes their enemy, and they set out to do battle with it. A famous riding instructor advises: “You don’t beat your competitors. You beat the track better than

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physiological changes that take place during this inner journey that put my mind at ease, and my body automatically relaxes. This is effective because when it comes to learning, the human mind doesn’t differentiate between real or imagined experiences. Once I have conjured up the memory in my mind, I say some of my favorite affirmations aloud. I speak, not just think, phrases like “the bike and I are one,” and “fear is the mind killer.” I realize this sounds corny, but it’s an incredibly effective process for recentering yourself in the here and now, which naturally gives you a positive road relationship. For example, when I say, “The bike and I are one,” I imagine such a close connection to the bike that I don’t know where it ends and I begin. A positive road relationship also includes knowing how to deal with traffic. In Southern California, where motorcycles can legally ride between the cars in slow traffic, it is imperative that motorcyclists have the right attitude. When I moved to California in 1992, I remember being terrified of “lane splitting.” I thought of cars as enemies and had several close calls that left me feeling pretty scared. But, in time, I began to change my attitude toward the traffic, and I started thinking of it as more of a dodging game. Now I rarely have close calls, and when I do, I don’t freak out and panic. I just simply do whatever’s necessary to avoid an accident. This makes me a much safer rider, since a moment’s lapse of concentration anywhere can be fatal.

Olympic athletes and professional racers alike use visualization training to help learn new skills and develop consistency. When it comes to learning, the human mind doesn’t differentiate between real and imagined experiences. When it comes to physical pain, however, the human body definitely does!

Right Attitude

they did.” The problem with this attitude is that, just as it is difficult to communicate with someone who disagrees with you, it is difficult to be sensitive to small changes in pavement when you don’t like the road. The most beneficial type of road relationship is a complementary one. In this kind of relationship, you work with the road instead of against it. Dealing with your fear and maximizing your concentration are both skills needed to achieve the right attitude. They are necessary to learn skills and improve your riding. Unfortunately, many skilled riders lack a positive road relationship. Although you don’t get to pick your family members, you do get to decide what kind of relationship you’re going to have with them. Similarly, you get to decide what kind of relationship you’re going to have with the road. Legendary motocross champion Bob Hannah is a great example of someone who knows how to relate to the road. Hannah used to like to race in the rain. This is not because he particularly enjoyed getting dirty, but because he knew that everyone else hated it. He realized that if he could approach it with the right attitude, he’d have a big advantage over his competition. With seven national championships under his belt, it’s difficult to argue with his logic. So, how do you create a positive road relationship? Perhaps the best way is by using visualization techniques to get you in the right state of mind. Before I ride, I like to think about positive past experiences, times when I had a great ride and everything just seemed to click. I close my eyes and remember what the road and scenery looked like, how the air smelled, and what sounds I heard. I completely immerse myself in the memory until I feel like I’m actually there. There are

,nQV`Ten[ The last factor in creating the right attitude is the ability to enjoy what you are doing. You have to enjoy the process of practicing riding skills. For those of you, who, like

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Right Attitude

Overconfidence can turn into recklessness on the street or the track. Even when you (or another rider) make a mistake, the right attitude can transform it into a learning experience.

me, possess the competitive spirit, you can bring it into your training. Just remember not to take competition too seriously, or you will eventually lose your motivation toward practice. It’s fine to compete with other riders or even the stopwatch, but do it in the spirit of a game. For example, if I told you to run 10 feet forward, stop, run 15 feet to the left, 12 feet to the right, then 18 feet back again, you would think it was a boring exercise. But if I put a tennis racquet in your hand and was hitting balls at you, the same activity would be a lot of fun. Another aspect of the game spirit is the element of chance. If you knew you were going to win the game before you played, it wouldn’t be much fun, and you wouldn’t learn a whole lot. Having an element of unpredictability makes any event infinitely more interesting. That’s the power of gaming. Think of ways you can make motorcycling into a game by creating exercises that utilize speed, time, and position goals. If you’re learning with a buddy, don’t let yourself get so caught up in competing with him that you forget why you are there. Because people learn at different paces, it’s important to not push people faster than they can learn. Discuss your goals beforehand and make sure you are both clear about what you are doing as well as why you are doing it.

The best attitude for learning riding—or life—skills I ever heard came from Herb Cohen, author of You Can Negotiate Anything. In the book he said, “I care, but not that much.” To adapt this to motorcycling, care enough about your riding practice to put out your best effort. But don’t care so much that if you are unsuccessful at making your desired progress, it will be a problem for you. In other words, don’t be so attached to the expectation of doing it correctly, that if you do it incorrectly, it ends up upsetting or demoralizing you. It’s in the making of mistakes that allows you to learn. The reason for this is that success and failure are really one in the same when it comes to learning. If you do something correctly, great! But if you do something incorrectly, you’ve actually just been successful at learning one more way how not to do something. Of course, the only way to know that something is correct is—by contrast—knowing what incorrect looks like. This is why in this book we show you both correct and incorrect examples of techniques so you benefit from the comparison. When you have the right attitude, you become naturally easygoing, and you’re able to enjoy both your successes and failures. Either way, you are learning something new. Both success and failure are important for keeping your attitude from becoming overconfident and reckless, or underconfident and hesitant.

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From Zero to Hero if I had not learned how to stop as quickly as possible by using max braking, I would be dead right now. As a vehicle pulled out of a parking lot onto a main street, I broke as hard as my traction would allow. I still hit the car, but going from 40 mph to around 15 mph in a very short amount of time is what saved my life. I understand there is no way to completely eliminate the risks of riding. But in a worst-case situation like I was in, having the right skills greatly minimized the damage. I came out of this accident with a scraped knee and bruised calf. That’s it. —Scott Fond-Leoncini

Right Attitude

The book’s “cover boy” is Marine Cpl. Scott Fond-Leoncini who epitomizes a positive attitude transformation. Here is his story in his own words. I started riding a month or so after my 19th birthday. Getting back from my first tour in Iraq I purchased a Honda CBR600F4. I went through the MSF Basic RiderCourse out in town and got my license. Soon thereafter I went on my first ride on Angeles Crest Highway and crashed twice that day, not really understanding why. After getting back from my 2nd tour I was “voluntold” to take the MSF’s Military Sportbike RiderCourse (MSRC) on my new Kawasaki 636. After Before the MSRC I went to Palomar Mountain and totaled my Kawasaki and almost flew off a cliff and died! After that I got my Triumph Daytona 675 and went through Keith Code’s California Superbike School. I learned a lot there but still had a ways to go. I actually crashed on the road course and later was kicked off the track because I “wasn’t getting it.” After being berated for “stupid behavior” by one of the base safety managers I took the Total Control Advanced Riding Clinic Level 1 and 2 and it completely changed me After as a rider. Even some civilian friends of mine on Harleys noticed how much my skills changed and they signed up “for whatever he got.” I went back to the track on base and was tearing it up—dragging knee in every corner and seemingly flying thru the course. It’s enlightening to look at pictures of my riding style before and after. The skills I learned in Total Control have literally saved my life and let me have way more fun. For example,

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Chapter 7: Vision Vision is, without a doubt, the most fundamental skill for proper riding. The majority of decisions made while riding are based on information coming in through your eyes. In basic terms, your eyes should be up to snuff, displaying 20/20 vision or better. It Correct is absolutely worth getting your vision checked regularly as the technology exists to quickly and easily correct vision. But how you use your eyes is just as important as having properly functioning ones. Using your eyes skillfully requires some understanding of how you react to what you see. Incorrect Virtually all riders from newbies to MotoGP racers struggle with maintaining proper vision in a corner. The reason for this is our eyes evolved over millions of years to deal with potential hazards based on our maximum running speed. Currently the fastest human alive is Usain Bolt who has been clocked at just over 27 mph in the 100-meter dash. Because we can far exceed that speed on our motorcycles, we need to retrain our eyes to look much farther in front of ourselves than what seems natural. This is the only way to identify potential hazards early enough to deal with them effectively. The main reason for vision being so critical is that you go where you look. You’ve probably heard this before, but no one ever told you why it is that you go where you look. The reason has to do with our biological makeup.

Although we don’t normally think of ourselves this way, biologically speaking, human beings are predators. As carnivores, specifically, we have binocular vision where our eyes are set close together in the front of our heads. This is Looking all the way through the corner allows a much better line choice. To make vision easier it helps to turn your shoulders into the turn, as well.

optimal for tracking moving prey. In the wild, humans are the top of the food chain, so this kind of vision helps us. Unfortunately, on the road motorcyclists are at the bottom of the traffic food chain. That means we have to stop seeing like predators, and learn how to start seeing like prey. If you want to know what I mean by “see like prey,” think about what your vision was like the last time you were walking by yourself late at night in a really bad neighborhood. More than likely, your eyes were trying to look everywhere all at once!

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SWV[SigO[ ]s -SVVKSigO[ What you are able to see is based not only on the amount of light available, but also on the types of things upon which you choose to notice. Much like a MAG light with its adjustable beam, we can illuminate a wide area with little detail (floodlight vision) or a small area with high detail (spotlight vision), based on how narrow an area we focus our attention on. Most human beings have no problem spotlighting on things. How else could we stare at computer screens all day and not go insane. Unfortunately most of us have lost much of our ability to use our floodlight vision effectively because we no longer have natural predators in the urban jungle. So humans, like all predators, primarily use spotlight vision. On the motorcycle we call this target fixation. A perfect example of target

VIsion

Looking at the ground in front of you increases your sense of speed. Using floodlight vision and looking farther ahead decreases your sense of speed and helps keep your mind and body relaxed.

fixation is a cheetah. In the wild, a cheetah operates like a targeting computer. Once it has locked its vision on a target such as, say, a gazelle in a herd, it will not stop until it reaches its intended target. In fact, even if a slower or injured gazelle crosses the cheetah’s path, it will literally jump right over it and continue on until it reaches its original target. This is how hard-wired into our DNA this predator vision is. It’s why when we see a pothole or a patch of gravel 30 feet in front of us, we often run right into the very thing we’re trying to avoid, even though we know intellectually we should change our line. In other words, target fixation is normal for humans as it has survival value in the wild. Unfortunately it has the opposite effect in traffic.

In the American education system, much emphasis is placed on discovering life’s details. We use microscopes and telescopes to examine things both near and far. We use computers to analyze the world by breaking it up into micro-sized bits. We have, in essence, been trained to rely on the spotlight and forget about the floodlight. By contrast, prey uses primarily floodlight vision, what a biologist would call “environmental awareness.” They try to always have a sense of where potential predators are (or could be lurking) in their area of influence. We need to be able to use both types of vision. For instance, we use spotlight vision to pick out specific reference points. These include things like corner entry and exit points, and braking points. Growing up, the only floodlighttype training I received was in driver’s education class. Some of you might remember the Smith Driving System developed in the 1950s. In that system, one of the tenets of good driving was to “get the big picture.” Actually, Smith was right on the money. Using your vision as a floodlight slows down your “sense of speed” and allows you to be aware of more potential hazards and opportunities.

Sense VM SWeeK It’s important to make a distinction between your actual speed and your perceived sense of speed. Your mind can play tricks on you when you rely on your spotlight vision while operating a moving vehicle. For instance, if you look at the ground directly beneath you while riding at even moderate speeds, it can seem like you’re moving crazy-fast. If you then change your focus and look at the mountains in the background, it feels like you’re barely moving at all, even though your actual speed hasn’t changed.

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3VVRing ;OrV\gO ;\rns It’s also important to note that our eyes have a sweet spot right in the middle of their travel. So it’s better to turn your head more to pick out your reference points with your pupils in the middle of your eyes, than to try to pick them out through the corners of your eyes. In fighter pilot training they call this technique having a “head on a swivel.” Due to the fact that our forwardfacing eyes’ limited viewing angle makes us genetically predisposed toward spotlight vision, we are going to have to work harder to improve our floodlight vision. In summation there are three important reasons for looking as far through a turn as possible. The first reason is the farther ahead you look, the earlier you will recognize any potential hazards and the sooner you’ll be able to spot opportunities for early acceleration.

The second reason is to slow down your sense of speed, which will go a long way toward reducing any anxiety you may have about a turn. This will allow your body to stay relaxed and permit your mind to see the big picture. The third reason to look far through turns is that your body naturally wants to go in the direction it is looking. Of course, before you look through the turn, you first must decide where your turning point will be. This requires a quick burst of spotlight Practice riding in a circle and looking through the turn to the exit on the opposite side. Have a friend stand in the middle and see if your eyes are dancing around or staying focused on the constantly moving exit.

Vision

Keith Code once told me of an experiment he performed to examine the perception of speed. He took a piece of paper and cut two “eye holes” in it and then tried to drive his car by looking through the small openings. He said that even driving straight down an empty road was terrifying when forced to see through the little holes because the sense of speed was tremendously increased. When you’re riding over your head, you develop a similar sense that things are moving too fast. This occurs when you narrow your perspective to the spotlight view. The solution is to widen your perspective to the floodlight view because the bigger the viewing area, the slower things seem to move. Widening your viewing area certainly takes practice, but the farther ahead you look in a turn, the better off you will be. If you start looking farther ahead, you can slow things down in your mind. This gives your brain more time to make the decisions that let you avoid potential problems.

vision on the turn point, followed by a switch to the floodlight view through the corner. The best practice for looking through turns is to set up a circle in a clean parking lot and have a buddy stand in the center of it. You should be able to look through him for an entire revolution. He will be able to tell if you panic and look forward because he will be watching your eyes. This is much more difficult than it sounds but can be learned fairly quickly. I recommend doing this at a very slow speed until you are comfortable with the drill. There is no need to go fast as the important thing here is to train your head to be turned enough to see the center of the circle. Take your time practicing this drill until you can do it effortlessly. The ability is a prerequisite for every cornering skill in this book, so make sure you have it down before trying anything else. The good news is that once you have mastered looking through the turn, everything else will seem a lot easier. With good vision, we can start strategizing about the best line choices.

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Chapter 8: Line Selection As motorcycles are single-track vehicles, meaning one tire is in front of the other and both follow the same track, they have the unique benefit of being able to alter their line through a curve. By precisely timing changes in our lane position, we can literally change the arc of the road and make it wider than it actually is. There is no perfect “line” or path of travel for every corner. Speed, road conditions, hazards, and rider skill each play a role in choosing which line to take in a particular turn. When conditions permit and there are no hazards, a good street line is described as an “outside-insideoutside” path of travel. Racers use this line on a track where conditions are very controlled to minimize the radius of the curve. By taking the straightest line through a curve, lean angle is reduced and traction is maximized. A good racer turns this extra traction into speed. On the street it is a good practice to use the same type of line, but at a lower speed, for the purpose of increasing our safety margin. The traction and ground clearance gained by taking this line will help to manage any hazards encountered. After training thousands of students, both street riders and racers, I discovered that there are three primary “line” related mistakes made when cornering. The negative consequence of all three is that it forces a wide exit on a curve. This is magnified with speed. Since most single vehicle motorcycle crashes on a curve involve a rider running wide at the exit correcting these three mistakes is critical. All can easily be corrected with a little knowledge and some self-evaluation. The first cornering problem is turning too soon. Not turning quickly enough at the entrance is the second problem. And the last problem is making numerous mid-turn

corrections as you ride through the corner. I’ll discuss each of these common mistakes, errors made by both experienced and novice riders. I’ll also describe some effective lines to take given perfect conditions and will point out important line exceptions when alternative tactics must be employed.

7reTa[\re 0ni[ia[iVn Many riders grow anxious as they approach a turn. They worry about their corner entry speed, how hard to brake, and if their tires will have enough traction to see them through the turn. With all this going on inside their heads, and the corner getting closer and closer, it becomes difficult for them to wait for the appropriate time to begin the turn, and they end up initiating it prematurely or before the road curves (Figure 8.1). This is a very natural error to make because if we go straight longer it brings our line closer to the edge of the road and no one wants to get too close to that edge. We would all prefer a safety buffer from the curb, gravel shoulder, or whatever danger lurks off the side of the road. However, there are some significant benefits to delaying the turn point, and initiating the turn later. As discussed in the last chapter, it’s important to look through the turn before you enter it. This makes it even more difficult to wait for the appropriate time because your body naturally wants to go where your eyes are

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Figure 8.1 Premature Initiation The most common line selection mistake is turning too early. Not only does it restrict your ability to see around blind corners, but it forces you to run wide at the exit and limits what mid-corner corrections you can make.

delayed apex early apex delayed turn point

sight lines

Line Selection

looking. It takes some practice to train yourself to keep going straight while you’re looking somewhere else, but it pays big dividends by the time you’re ready to exit the corner. The good news is that by looking far through the corner, your perception of speed slows way down. This goes a long way toward reducing the anxiety you feel when approaching the turn. It also helps you relax and follow your intended line through the corner. If you look at the big picture instead of concentrating on one small area, you’ll be better able to see the entire turn and be able to consider all the possibilities for getting through it safely. Initiating too soon often happens when the rider fixates on the inside of the turn. As this “fixed” target gets closer, it is often incorrectly used as a reference point for initiating the turn. One consequence of taking a turn too early is that you will be committed to a line that takes you to the outside of the exit and leaves you little opportunity to change course mid-corner should the need arise. Turning in early forces you to the outside of the turn at the exit because you run out of room on the inside to get enough lean angle to make the turn. This means you will need to do a lot of turning after the apex of the turn, which commits you to full lean for the remainder of the turn all the way until your exit point. The apex is the part of the turn where you are closest to the inside of the curve. So an

premature turn point

early turn point creates an early apex, which forces the line wide or requires a mid-corner steering correction. Additionally, if you are at the point of maximum lean angle and a mid-corner correction is required, you may run out of ground clearance and start scraping hard parts. This is especially serious on bikes with limited clearance, like cruisers or any bike coming in at a high rate of speed. Although a late turn-in certainly helps racers go faster around tracks, the technique is even more important in street riding. By covering more real estate before starting the actual turn, you get a better view around the corner before you decide on, and commit to, a line. As seen in Figure 8.1, your line of sight will offer a better angle to reveal things (especially in blind corners) like oncoming vehicles, things that might otherwise be discovered too late if evasive maneuvers are in order. As a general rule of thumb, it is always better to err on the side of a slow entry and faster exit than vice versa. Too high an entry speed usually causes a lot of mistakes to happen in rapid succession and can easily set off a series of events that can lead to a crash. Slowing your entry speed and going deeper into the turn will provide you with a better view of what is coming. Being able to see farther into the turn will allow you to initiate the right lean angle for the arc that you wish to

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Figure 8.2

slow-steer line

Slow Steering Similar in its consequences to premature initiation, slow steering into a corner causes you to stay at maximum lean for an extended period of time. A quick steering input can get most of the turning done early in the corner, which allows for more line options at the exit.

quick-steer line

turn point

carve through the entire corner and eliminate the need for any mid-turn corrections. If the corner has an increasing radius, you can get on the gas sooner and harder. If the corner has a decreasing radius, like the one shown in Figure 8.4, you still have time to adjust your plan for going through it.

SSV^ S[eering

Line Selection

Slowly initiating a turn (Figure 8.2) when you are traveling at speed can have the same consequences as turning too soon. You risk going off the edge of the road at the exit without a second risky steering input. Slow steering does not refer to how fast you are going through a corner, but rather that the time it takes to get from full-upright to full-lean is too long. By full lean, I don’t mean the maximum lean angle that the bike can achieve, but the amount of the lean angle that the bike needs to negotiate the turn at the speed that it’s going. This causes too much time to be spent in what we call the “danger zone” of full lean, and forces the rider to the outside of the turn. It’s called the danger zone because this is the time we as motorcyclists are the most vulnerable. For this reason, we always want to minimize the amount of time we spend leaned over in the danger zone, and the number of times we get into the danger zone. Quick steering feels very awkward until you have lots of practice doing it. Many riders fear

that their motorcycles will slide out from under them if pitched over with too much force into a corner. But, with the exception of slippery conditions like rain or gravel, it is extremely rare for someone to crash a bike by simply steering too quickly into a turn. This is even true of most cruisers, whose lack of ground clearance is the limiting factor in cornering speed. Turning quickly will also allow you to get back on the throttle sooner, which will help stabilize the chassis during cornering. By looking through the turn and quickly steering at the correct point on the road, you not only get the hard work out of the way sooner, but you also buy yourself time to change your intended line based on conditions.

-iM[` 7enJing “Fifty pencing” is the term British motorcyclists use for making too many mid-corner directional changes (Figure 8.3). This is because the polygonal shape of a fifty-pence coin, with its multiple flat edges, resembles the path some riders take while traveling through a turn. Fifty pencing is a very telling sign of a beginning rider at work. A beginner doesn’t have enough experience to know how far the bike needs to be turned in order to complete a corner, so he keeps making corrections as he realizes his initial input was insufficient. A new rider often forgets to look through the

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The English 50-pence coin has a multi-faceted design, which is the inspiration for the multiple-turn-points line negatively referred to as “fifty pencing.” This particular coin is from the Isle of Man and celebrates the famed Isle of Man TT race.

turn to see where he needs to finish. By only looking where he is going to be in the next second, he will tend to steer toward that imaginary point in the corner. When he looks up, he’ll realize that he still needs to turn more to get through the corner. Therefore, he’ll initiate another correction, but again will only look at the next immediate point in the turn. He’ll find himself in the middle of an inaccurate and inefficient process. Generally, beginners are not comfortable enough to exert the necessary turning amount all at once. Of course, plenty of experienced riders share some of these same problems to a

seeing the big picture, it will be much easier to plan and follow a single arc through the corner. As an added bonus, you’ll be able to see what’s in store up ahead so you’ll be prepared. Remember that motorcycling, just like any other sport, is a numbers game. If you increase your chances of making a mistake, by about 500 percent in Figure 8.3, believe me your number is going to come up a lot sooner rather than later. Additionally, every time a new steering correction is made this puts the rider once again into the danger zone and forces the rider to the outside of the turn.

Figure 8.3

fifty-pencing line runs wide

Fifty Pencing

multiple turn points single-steer line exits tight

Line Selection

Having multiple mid-corner steering corrections is the mark of a beginning rider or a badly misjudged corner. It is usually caused by not looking far enough through the turn.

fifty pencing is almost always associated with premature initiation

lesser degree. One problem with fifty pencing is if you’re looking just a little bit in front of you, you are not looking down the road where the real potential hazards may be hiding. If you are having fifty-pencing problems, keep your head up. There’s no need to look at the ground—it will still be there after you complete the turn! Instead, look as far into the turn as possible. When doing so, all the imaginary turning points in your head will vanish. Upon

ArJ $ SWeeK There isn’t a perfect line that works best for everyone in a given turn, but there is an “ideal” to think about when choosing your line. One of the most important things to commit to memory is the equation “Arc = Speed.” The arc, or radius of a specific turning line, is directly proportional to the amount of speed you can carry through it. In other words, the greater the arc, the faster you can travel. An arc, by definition, is still a

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Stayin’ Safe Advanced Rider Training’s Eric Trow teaches students about line selection in one of his “chalk talks.” On-street training is one of the best ways to learn safe riding strategies.

complete, the longer it takes to do the requisite amount of steering, the more time you will spend leaning over. The more lean angle you have, the less stable the bike becomes and the worse it handles. Getting off the gas or braking while at a high lean angle will cause the bike to straighten up and run wide in the turn. These actions, combined with too much speed, are the precursors of a crash. Creating the ideal line through a turn starts with the choice of a turning point. This is the position or placement on the road where you initiate the turn by countersteering. Choosing a turning point every time you approach a turn is Racetrack-based training like the Total Control Track Clinic often uses cones to help riders pick good entry, apex, and exit points. This allows students to “connect the dots” for a perfect line every time. Here the apex of turn 10 at Horsethief Mile is designated by a cone featuring that number. Numbered cones help students remember particular points on the track when receiving feedback from the instructors.

Line Selection

turn. However, by eliminating the three bad habits that I mentioned earlier, you can widen your arc through any turn, thereby allowing yourself more speed, a greater margin of safety, or both. By delaying your entry point and countersteering quickly to get the bike to maximum lean as rapidly as possible, you will effectively “straighten” the turn as seen in the illustrations. Every time you make a steering input, you add some degree of risk. As a result, it’s best to minimize the total number of inputs in any given turn. As you travel through the turn, applying throttle will stabilize the suspension. As the turn opens up you can add throttle as you countersteer out of it to help to straighten the bike up and increase your exit speed. Another consequence of using a quick initial turn-in is that the length of time you must lean over will be minimized. Because every turn requires a specific amount of steering to

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Figure 8.4 Decreasing Radius Turn The dreaded decreasing radius turn can bite even an experienced rider if he didn’t have plenty of lean angle in reserve. With a delayed entry, it can be safely completed with only one turning point. In the case of blind corners, if you don’t know if it is a decreasing radius, you can take either path shown but at a significantly lower speed.

double-apex turn point 2 single-apex turn point

single-apex line

double-apex line double-apex turn point 1

Line Selection

better than waiting for one to be forced on you either by too much speed or by not being able to see far enough into a corner. By planning ahead, you stay in control of the bike. Because of the repetitive nature of a racetrack, turns are somewhat easier to predict. However, when navigating a curving mountain road, your turning points will be less exact than those on the track. This doesn’t mean that they should be vague. Rather, they should be specifically selected for the road conditions, your speed, and the perceived arc of the approaching turn. Locating good turning points is a skill that requires some trial-and-error and practice at slower speeds. Heading up an unfamiliar canyon road is not the best time to start experimenting with different kinds of turning points. Selecting a turning point will also teach you to avoid slow steering inputs that use up valuable real estate within a corner. Even if your decision ends up being less than ideal, choosing a turning point is always a better plan than not choosing one because it also helps

keep you out of the reptile part of the brain where fear resides (see Chapter 4: Fear).

9eaS WVrSK 3ines Ideal lines are most commonly found on a racetrack. On the street, reality rules, and it offers up a variety of distractions and hazards that motorcyclists have to confront. Even roads that you are familiar with are subject to constant and unexpected change. You must be prepared for coming around a blind turn only to find loose gravel, a newly developed pothole, a car partially blocking your lane, or anything else that forces you to have to rethink your chosen line. In street riding, it’s always best to expect the unexpected. To keep from ending up in the hospital, or worse, you must have some line options in reserve. If you have too much entry speed, you’re committed to your maximum lean angle and hard parts are potentially dragging on the road. This severely limits safe directional changes because if any hazard pops up just out of your

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Figure 8.5 Double Apex Turn

turn point 2

Corners that require two or more apexes to navigate come in many shapes and sizes. The key is to plan as far ahead as possible in picking your turn points, before necessity forces them on you when you least expect it.

Houston, we have a problem

yikes! braking and increasing lean

typical late apex apex 1 apex 2

turn point 1

line of sight, you may not have any ground clearance and traction left to handle it. Using a slower corner entry speed will allow you to safely make a mid-corner steering correction to the outside of the turn. This will also leave some lean angle in reserve so you can make steering adjustments to the inside of the corner. Committing to maximum lean angle and using high entry speeds to get you through a turn in the fastest possible time are practices best left for the track. In the real world, there are many tricky turns that require a deeper understanding of riding procedure if you want to effectively negotiate them. One of the most difficult types is a decreasing radius turn (Figure 8.4). When entering a blind turn on the street, there is always the possibility that the turn will tighten up. Two riding practices will help in negotiating this type of turn: using slower entry speeds and choosing deeper turning points. As a rule of thumb, if you are traveling through a turn and the inside and outside lines of the road appear to be coming together, this means that the radius is decreasing. If the inside and outside lines start to separate, the turn is beginning to straighten out. This signifies that

Line Selection

6[Oer ;`Wes VM ;\rns

the radius is increasing, and you will be able to open the throttle earlier and harder. Another non-standard type of turn is one that requires a double apex (Figure 8.5). A double apex turn, by definition, will require at least one mid-turn correction. You can readjust your line of travel by increasing pressure on the inside handlebar or by initiating a slight rolling off of the throttle. If you have to use a lot of brakes, it is probably a result of either too much entry speed or a blind turn where you did not leave enough reserve lean angle for the unexpected.

7raJ[iJing 3ines You can always learn something about the best line through a turn by just riding through it. But speeding up your learning curve will only happen if you take a more deliberate approach. The safest and cheapest method is to set up cones in a vacant parking lot that has good traction. By trying several different turn points and lines through your practice turn, you will quickly see what works best for your type of motorcycle and riding style. Use cones to mark brake on and off points and to indicate where to get back on the throttle. Practicing the same turn at different speeds will help you find your weaknesses and give you specific skills to address.

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Figure 8.6 Linked Turns

early turn point

Multiple linked turns can be the most challenging for line selection because you have to think more than one turn ahead. A mistake on the initial turn gets amplified with each successive turn.

delayed turn point

early apex

incorrect line causes exit of turn to aim at outside of turn

delayed apex correct line causes exit of turn to aim at next turn point

incorrect line causes an early turn point, which forces a large steering input

early apex

delayed turn point

delayed apex

Line Selection

early turn point

delayed turn point

early apex correct line flows smoothly from turn to turn

delayed apex

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Choosing a proper line requires mental preparation and a good view of where you’re about to turn. While it can be scary to be close to the outside of the road so deep into a turn, the resulting line provides a much greater safety margin overall.

Line Selection

Start with a turn that has a constant radius and practice using only one steering input. After you feel comfortable with the “standard” turn, set one up with a decreasing radius or double apex. Start at slower speeds and experiment using several turn points until you feel comfortable. Try increasing your corner entry speeds gradually using the same turn points but adding a quicker steering input to compensate for the higher speed. These skills can be easily transferred to the street, and, if you can find an

interesting turn without too much traffic, try placing cones on the side of the road to mark reference points for turning and braking. Having one or more of your riding buddies along will help you with feedback as others can often see what you are doing wrong and will be able to offer suggestions. This is the same process we use in the Total Control Advanced Riding Clinics, with the advantage of professional instructors to coach you through scientifically designed exercises.

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Chapter 9: Throttle Control The single most important control on your motorcycle is the throttle. This is because it applies forces to so many aspects of your bike’s handling including: traction, suspension, weight transfer, steering, stability, ground clearance, and of course, speed. Knowing how to skillfully apply the throttle is one of the major distinctions between good riders and great riders.

;OrV[[Se ,MMeJ[s To understand proper throttle usage, you first need to be aware of what happens to the bike when the throttle is applied in either direction. In a straight line, the throttle obviously causes the engine speed to increase, propelling the bike forward. As this goes on, other happenings also take place. Because motorcycle tires have variable profiles, your effective gearing changes depending on lean angle. For example, when the bike leans over, the contact patch moves to the outside portion of the tire where the circumference is smaller. This is the same as having shorter gearing, which raises the number of engine revolutions per minute, or rpm. However, a steady throttle doesn’t necessarily accelerate in these situations. In fact, in some turns, the bike can slow down unless you are constantly adding throttle because of the speed lost to wind resistance and tire friction. This is especially true in high-speed turns where straightening out the bike adds enough virtual gearing to require a downshift, even at full throttle settings. Although you might imagine that the rear suspension would squat as the weight transfers to the rear tire, it, in fact, rises. This is because of the torque reaction on the rear wheel. As you no doubt know from experience, the front suspension also wants to rise when accelerating. That means the bike gets taller under acceleration. For bikes with limited lean-over capability, this can be quite useful in a corner because it adds ground clearance while countering the squatting effects of centrifugal force. If you want to test this out, just put your front tire against a wall and let the clutch out slightly in first gear with the engine at idle. You’ll

notice how the torque effect of the drive system actually raises up the rear of the motorcycle. This is true no matter what type of drive system your motorcycle has—chain, shaft, or belt. It is actually most noticeable with shaft drive. So if both the front and rear of the bike rise up under throttle, the ground clearance increases whenever you’re on the gas. This means you want to avoid chopping off the throttle in the middle of a corner because with less ground clearance, you have a smaller safety margin. Although you can slowly change direction while being hard on the throttle, quick steering and heavy throttle generally don’t mix well because of the aforementioned weight transfer to the rear of the bike. For this reason, it’s best to do any quick flicks before getting hard on the gas, as seen in Figure 9.1. Ideally we want to use the throttle to keep the weight even on both wheels so we have the best ground clearance and good traction. When rolling off the throttle, the bike pitches forward, transferring weight to the front tire. Doing this too quickly is a common occurrence even for experienced riders. The faster you roll off, the faster and harder the bike will pitch forward, which can cause all kinds of handling problems if done at an inopportune time. The same can be said for quickly releasing the brakes, which has the same effect as quickly applying the throttle. Combining the last two actions, as many novice sport riders tend to do, makes the bike extremely unstable and wheelie prone. The fix for this is to have a transition period where you are doing both actions simultaneously. One of the important things to remember about suspension is that it works best in the sweet spot, or the middle of its travel range. By being in the middle of its stroke while going through a curve, 50 percent of the travel is available for bumps and 50 percent is available for dips. That prepares it equally well for whatever the road throws at it. When your suspension is set up properly, being on the throttle in the corners helps the bike stay in this range. So that means you want to be “on the gas” as early as possible while cornering. It doesn’t take much throttle to stabilize the chassis.

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Former World Superbike and 250 GP Champion John Kocinski was famous for his masterful throttle control. His touch was so deft, in fact, that he was able to run markedly more compliant suspension settings than other riders his weight because he didn’t upset the chassis with excessive throttle movements.

The next time you go riding, try the same corner both while coasting through it and while being on the gas. The difference in chassis stability will seem like the difference between night and day. Once you do this comparison, you’ll never want to ride through a corner off the gas again. Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of watching John Kocinski or Freddie Spencer enter a corner and get on the throttle should be

Throttle Control

Figure 9.1 This illustration depicts a high-speed turn where the rider is doing a lot of trail braking (see Chapter 11: Braking) upon entry. Notice how rapidly the bike gets leaned over and how the throttle is being applied before the brakes are completely released. This helps minimize the weight transfer to the rear, which keeps the suspension balanced for better traction during acceleration. As you can see the application of throttle is inversely proportional to lean angle on exit.

change. That same finesse helped Kocinski win a World Superbike crown on Honda’s notoriously finicky RC45. Spencer arguably had even better control. In his GP days, he was able to charge turns so fast that when the front tire started sliding from being overloaded, he could keep the bike from crashing by adding just enough throttle to relieve some pressure so the front tire could regain grip,

Throttle

Brake

100%

Lean Angle Corner Entry

0%

Mid-Corner

familiar with this technique. When Kocinski was racing 250 GP bikes, he could get on the throttle with the grace of a ballet dancer. Back when he was still racing in the AMA nationals, I remember watching him decimate the world’s best 250cc riders at the 1989 Laguna Seca USGP. I marveled at his ability to get on the throttle so smoothly that I would not have been able to tell when he got back on it had I not been there to hear the engine sound

Corner Exit

somehow without high-siding. Using this technique on the three-cylinder Honda NS500, he had his competitors convinced that his bike had better torque coming off the corners than their more powerful four-cylinder bikes. In fact, rumor has it that the memory of those battles was one of the reasons Kenny Roberts chose a three-cylinder engine configuration for his ill-fated Modenas 500 GP bike.

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Unlike the days of manually changing carburetor jets for the best throttle response, fuel injection tuning is now done on dynamometers with computer software changes. Pictured is a Bazzaz Principia dyno being used to set up the fuel map for a GSX-R1000. The top of the line system uses the same controller for the fuel map, quick-shifter and traction control.

Of course, that kind of riding is not for mere mortals like us. But it does show you what’s possible when you combine lots of practice with exceptional sensitivity and reflexes.

*Vrner ,_i[s

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Throttle Control

No matter who you are, good throttle control relies on a smoothly operating fuel delivery system. Although it’s rare these days to see a carbureted bike with major surging problems, many fuel-injected bikes still struggle with this problem, making it difficult to smoothly get back on the gas. In his Cycle World editorial column, “Top Dead Center,” Kevin Cameron once noted fuel-injection problems with Matt Mladin’s GSX-R750. After repeatedly watching Mladin come through a turn, Cameron noticed the point at which Mladin could get back on the gas was considerably later than the riders of the factory Ducatis he was racing. Cameron hypothesized that this was caused by the fuel-injection system’s inability to deliver a small enough quantity of fuel when the throttle was first cracked open, causing a small jerk upon delivery. Because of this, Mladin had to wait until the bike was more vertical so it could handle the hit without seesawing out of control.

This is important because going fast, especially on the track, is all about good exit speed. Exit speed is primarily affected by bike lean. The more the bike is leaned, the less you can apply the throttle. As seen in the chart on the facing page, bike lean and throttle opening are negatively correlated. As one goes down, the other goes up due to the finite amount of traction available at any one time. This makes the throttle application point or the point in the curve where you are able to get on and stay on the throttle for the remainder of the curve, the best metric for determining proper corner entry speed. A good rule of thumb is if you find that you’re halfway or more through a corner before you get on the gas, you’re coming in too fast and riding over your head. Even if you feel you’re in control of the bike, if you’re past the 50 percent point of a turn before rolling on the throttle, your entry speed was too fast for your skill level. That means that you need to slow down your entry speed to whatever it needs to be, so that you can get on the throttle as soon as the bike is leaned over. Obviously, as you practice this and get better, your entry speed will be able to increase, but be mindful of your throttle

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Traction control can be a tremendous confidence booster on a motorcycle and is coming stock on more bikes these days. Some companies like Bazzaz offer it as an aftermarket upgrade. Pictured (top) is a screen shot of the Bazzaz software that allows the user to program each gear and rpm range with varying amounts of traction control depending on conditions. An optional rotary dial (below) allows easy external adjustments to the system while riding. Note the attached fuel map switch to the right of the dial. It can have two pre-programmed settings for, say, performance and fuel economy.

application point to know when you are riding beyond your skill level. The amount of available throttle increases as the bike stands up, but it’s better to start sooner and apply it slower than to wait and do it all at once. As mentioned earlier, this is because a smooth, steady increase of throttle keeps the suspension in the sweet spot, whereas a fast application can create additional problems. Taking the time for some specific throttle control practice will help you find the correct rate of throttle application for your bike and riding style.

Throttle Control

7raJ[iJe It’s best to first practice throttle control in a straight line. This can be done almost anywhere. My favorite drills originated from Freddie Spencer. The first drill is to practice rolling on and off the throttle slowly, smoothly, and consistently. When I say slowly, I mean very slowly, especially when rolling off the throttle. I’ve found that what most of my students consider slowly rolling off the throttle is generally three times faster than it needs to be. It will, in fact,

seem almost painfully slow. You know you are doing it right when the suspension barely moves up and down without any jerkiness. For those of you on fuel-injected BMWs, or any other bike with rough off-idle response, this will be very tricky, but well worth the effort. It also helps if your throttle cable is properly adjusted with virtually no slack. After mastering rolling on and off the throttle, the next step is to transition back and forth with the brakes. See Chapter 11: Braking for a description of this technique known as trail braking.

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Throttle Setup and Maintenance Adjusting the extra slack out of your throttle cable can greatly improve throttle control, especially right off idle. It’s important to check the cable when the steering is at both the left and right steering stops to make sure it’s not tight enough to cause the throttle to open by itself. Adjustments can be either made by hand (top) or with tools (middle). It is a good idea to familiarize yourself with any throttle cable adjustment before you head onto the road or track. Bikes may perform very different with even a small adjustment, and you don’t want to be surprised when there is no longer a hesitation between rolling on the throttle and hard acceleration. Another improvement that can be made to bikes with overly aggressive (or passive) throttles is to use

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Throttle Control

replacement cam-type throttle tubes such as the G2 Throttle Tamer (www.g2ergo.com). The Throttle Tamer has a cam with a reduced radius initially, which requires a slightly farther rotation to achieve the same carburetor or throttle body-opening position as a stock throttle. This minimizes the jerky “throttle snatch” especially evident in modern fuel-injected street bikes. Over time cable-operated throttles will pick up dust, debris, and various schmutz that will require cleaning for smooth operation. The best solution is to get a cable luber like this model (bottom) from Motion Pro (www.motionpro.com). It covers the cable end and allows you to use an aerosol can to force a liquid into the housing that cleans and lubricates the cable. Grips are also important to keep from rubbing against the throttle assembly and bar ends/hand guards. Always test throttle action before you start the bike to make sure there is no binding in the system.

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Chapter 10: Shifting One of the easiest ways to gauge the experience level of a rider is to watch how he shifts. Because shifting is required so often in riding and because sloppy shifting makes the ride uncomfortable, experienced riders learn how to do it by feel. However, even many experienced riders take too much time to shift. Shifting efficiently is important because during the time between shifts, the rider is especially vulnerable. When a sudden change in speed is required, like when a car pulls into your lane, it’s vital to be able to accelerate immediately. If you’re caught up in the shifting, you won’t be able to speed up in an emergency. Racers, especially drag racers, have turned shifting into an art form. A look at accelerometer data from a race bike reveals an incredibly short amount of time—and speed—is lost in the shifting process. If you’re traveling in a straight line, that translates into faster acceleration. In a turn, it means you can hold a steady line and avoid the suspension unloading and the resultant loss of traction and control. If you want to find the optimum shift points for your bike, take it to a shop with a rear-wheel dynamometer. You want the bike to shift at the point where it will enter the next gear at an rpm equal to the engine’s torque peak. A list of shops is available online at www.dynojet.com or you can call Dynojet at (800) 992-3525.