Getting out of town...

[Kevin R]

5 hours ago, duckie said:

He wrote the first Pace before he had done any track time. He started track riding and that why trail braking was added. 

I raced and trail braking on the track is all about getting into a corner as fast as possible. 

Street trail braking is more about being able to apply the brakes while leaned over.

If you are trail braking alot on the street.....you are going to fast for conditions........and yes I am guilty of that at times.

If ya ride with someone like Kevin in the hills.....you  will seldom see his brake light, the man is the smoothest rider Ive seen in awhile.  

I rode 108 again recently, OMG, anyway, used better gear selection and the ride was quite enjoyable.......the motor really likes to spin, and you will be rewarded letting it do so.

Did I mention OMG 108 yet.......

That road...! Looks like it survived the winter very nicely.  🙂

[duckie]

Its gotten better........108 OMG.....

[duckie]

15 hours ago, PeterL said:

As you stated Duckie, you have raced. You know your own responses and the nuances of handling in an optimum environment.

I'm 99% a street rider. More 'technical' than 'kinesthetic', but I try. I'm looking at track days as a way to widen the window through which I view the art of the ride. 

One of my close friends is Dave Moss, probably the best suspension tuner I have EVER met. I'm lucky to have him as a resource, and doubly lucky that he owns a GT as well (kept at his winter home in New Zealand, so I can't borrow it for a comparison). He's assisted me with tuning things, but concurs that I need to upgrade the hardware to go farther. Thus, Ohlins. (and trying not to let the wife know how much I'll be dropping on THAT piece of kit!)

Most thoroughly, personally enjoyable bike I ever rode (borrowed, not owned unfortunately) was a 1200s Monster, full Ohlins as stock equipment. The bike was totally planted at any speed and on any surface I could find. Made me look W-A-Y better than I actually am. I'm currently building up an SV1000 which I hope to model on that Duc. Last owner had grafted on a GSXR 1000 front end, which should be more than sufficient. The rear shock is of unknown provenance, and will likely be replaced just so I have a known baseline. Everything else is subject to pillion duty for 'She Who Must Be Conveyed' (any 'Rumpole of the Bailey' fans out there?) but this one will be my personal toy.

The Tracer has good bones, but I tend to always think of any bike as a blank canvas. I find enjoyment in creating the best ride with the fewest compromises I can, to my own personal tastes anyway.

I know of Dave Moss also. He is  a good friend of the owner of the shop I worked in as counter person. 

Get some track time for sure. Its a whole different level of riding. You will learn about yourself and the bike. You will learn about lines and the difference in race lines and street lines. 

You get to experience things you never could on the street......like using the whole   road surface, no driveways, no traffic coming at you and getting passed like your are standing still and whats it like trying to pass another at speed. 

All in a safer environment than the street. 

One question I ask myself about upgrading my suspension.....How much more am I truely gaining for the price. Street riding is not the same as track riding.

On the track, conditions are known, the speed at which you ride is greater... meaning narrow operating conditions than on the street. This means the suspension has to be setup to handle higher speeds. 

The street.....majority of the time you aint no where at track speed.....,cept maybe for a straight lines. The suspension has to handle a wider range of speeds...... and road conditions. One of the setup criteria for me was how well bumps, holes were soaked up by the suspension when leaned over in a turn going at a pretty fast pace. Something that was never considered when I was racing. 

I will be upgrading......but only to get a shock that is rebuildable. I dont think the stocker is. Old suspension fluid is not good for dampening. Its amazing what fresh suspension fluid does for a bike. 

Oh yeah..... 108 OMG

 

 

Edited June 8, 2021 by duckie

[PeterL]

For me, it is a control thing. Not that I have anything against speed. (Oh, LORD no!)

I mentioned the rear hopping on one particular badly surfaced corner, one that my RT would rail through? That is what decided the matter for me. If I'm not the fastest rider in a group, I try hard to be the smartest. Imperfect control equals increased risk of LOSS of control. Right now, the rear end is not up to meeting my requirements, and my two options are to a) repave a number of my local roads, or b) swap the shock. To honor my late friend, the Tracer will be staying in my stable until I kick the oil pan (I don't actually OWN a bucket...) so while I'll do my utmost to preserve and maintain it well, I will not be keeping what does not suit me.

Age and circumstance have taken many of the activities I used to revel in. Hang glider pilot/instructor (broken back, can't lift the weight anymore). Corner worker (heatstroked working Laguna in '06, have to stay out of the sun now), RenFaire street performer (again, sun). Bikes are what I have left- so riding, and riding well have all my attention. Anything that gets in the way of that had better, in the words of Albus Dumbledore "be prepared to suffer a most painful death". Samurai mechanic, my latest career...

Cheers to all. The sun's up, the temps are down. I think I need to go give my new helmet a brief test ride, say, to Fort Bragg and back. Later!

[fjray]

On 6/7/2021 at 11:17 AM, 1moreroad said:

I understood Ienatsch to say that trail braking is to load the front suspension, not to slow the bike. Better to trail brake into the corner than coast into a corner with no control over the suspension. 

What I haven't seen him write about is rolling through a corner on "neutral throttle" with just enough throttle to counteract the acceleration of the curve to hold a steady speed vs go in fast then trail brake to the apex. Neutral throttle should set the suspension like trail braking. There will be more weight on the rear, but the rider will be in control. I'm guessing "neutral throttle" is what @fjray is describing.

@duckie - I think pashnit.com had a motorcycle LA TO SF route that went over some of those roads. A few of the roads were hoary, but a group of friends started a December LA to Monterey ride weekend tradition that use some of those roads. Thanks for reminding me of them.  

Nick does go into that a lot actually but instead of calling it neutral throttle he calls it maintenance throttle.  

[1moreroad]

7 hours ago, PeterL said:

the Tracer will be staying in my stable until I kick the oil pan

Put a skid plate on it first. I learned my lesson. 😁