| Riding tips - Speed up slowly.....
This advise is so good that I felt they should be here as well.......
Take your time to speed up your riding
EVERY week Andy Ibbott - European Director of the California Superbike School -passes on some essential advice to improve your riding...
THE PROBLEM
WHEN the little devil's horns come out to play we end up riding ragged and 'loose'. This can cause loss of traction. The harder we ride, the less smooth we become until we get to a point where we think we're on it, but in truth our riding has become a lot slower. Then the only thing we are 'on' is a knife-edge of traction created by aggressive, sloppy and frantic control actions.
THE SOLUTION
IF you put your mind to it, then riding briskly can feel slow. Everything you do will be in a controlled and very precise manner. The three areas we tend to get overactive with when riding 'fast' are the throttle, the gears and the brakes. A smooth progressive roll on goes out the door to be replaced with sudden and jerky throttle openings. This causes the bike to become unstable as weight is transferred front to rear and back again, compressing and unloading the suspension to such a degree that the tyres can let go, even with a small amount of lean angle. If you want more acceleration on exit, the solution is to start your roll-on a little sooner and be more progressive as you go through the turn.
Jumping down through the gearbox is another 'fast riding' trait. This causes a mismatch between front and rear wheel speeds and the bike slews and sways into corners, making it hard for you to judge when to tip in, if you can even turn at all. Match your rapid downshifts with a smooth blip of the throttle to keep everything smooth.
And then there are the brakes. Typical problems are applying too much too soon, then not using enough followed by excessive force.
Too much rear and not enough front brake are all signs that you are stabbing at the levers, thinking you need to because you are going 'fast'. Take your time! A bike can stop quicker than it can accelerate, so use those powerful tools under your fingertips and foot with the respect your tyres need.
Squeezing the lever rather than just grabbing it will stop you overwhelming the tyres' traction and bottoming out the forks. This will keep the suspension working smoothly and give you more grip and stability. All this works towards improved confidence and will make you faster as you become smoother.
CALIFORNIA SUPERBIKE SCHOOL DATES:
Mar 28 Rockingham Supermoto School, £199
April 3-4 Training camp, Spain, £1200
April 8 - Rockingham, all levels, £299
April 9 - Rockingham, all levels, £299
May 9 - Rockingham Supermoto School, £199
May 11 - Mondello Park, Eire, all levels, £245
May 12 - Mondello Park, Eire, all levels, £245
June 8 - Rockingham, all levels, £299
June 9 - Rockingham, all levels, £299
June 20 - Rockingham Supermoto School, £199
July 13 - Rockingham, all levels, £299
July 14 - Rockingham, all levels, £299
July 20 - Rockingham 'Supermoto School, £199
August 22 - Rockingham Supermoto School, £199
September 19 - Rockingham Supermoto School, £199
September 21 - Rockingham, all levels, £299
September 22 - Rockingham, all levels, £299
October 6 - Rockingham, all levels, £299
October 17-18 - Two-day camp, Almeria, £1499. Keith Code attending
October 25-26 - Two-day camp, Catalunya, £1300
October 31 - Rockingham Supermoto School, £199
November 28 - Supermoto School
Rockingham,
£199
Contact: 01933-224449
Happy fast riding - Frank  | 
01-Mar-2004, 09:08 
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