Help me improve please!
 

Ok, some may remember my previous pics where i was on a trackday on my fizzer and i invited (constructive) criticism

I did 4 days at Cartegena on the fizzer (which just survived) and have some more pics

I am aiming to get smoother and feel more comfortable on the bike at lean

Please have a gander at the pics and tell me what i should / could change / try and how this would help

Dont worry I have a thick skin lol

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...0/FE1_8302.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...0/FE1_8260.jpg

thanks in advance

Nick

Hi Nick,

Well its not quite as easy as just giving you a few tips. My first piece of advice is get yourself booked onto the two days at Cadwell and book yourself an instructor. There'll be a few of us there and some of the guys are CSS qualified.

My one tip for you looking at your photo is to move your upper body weight forward and your head lower. Try and think of it as you putting your chin on your inside hand.

Looks pretty good to me Nick

Body position is one of the areas I really need to work on. I know its holding me back in terms of my abilities on track, but hopefully when I do CSS level 3 at some point soon it will help with that.

The only thing I can really say about you is that you could perhaps just drop the inside shoulder a little. This will lead to the rest of the upper body following, and allow you to just be a little lower on the bike with you upper body. Its one of theose things I have to really think about when I am riding on track, but if I do make that effort to do so, it really does help my body position on the bike.

But I really wouldn't sweat about it too much. Look at MotoGP/WSB/BSB etc...every rider has a different style...some would probably be slated by the likes of the CSS etc....but it works for them. Now if they would be faster or not if they did listen to A. Ibbot and his team...???

[Edited on 19-4-2006 by Harv748]

looks good mate... you could possibly argue about moving your bum back in the seat a touch which in theory will give a lot of benefits in lowering your posture which lowers your CoG and gives you better leverage on the bars for counter steering...

The only issue with that is it can be harder work to pick the bike up as you're further back and the leverage isn't quite as good.

the shoulder thing is what i was told at cartegena but it is hard to put into practice - do you all have your outside arm along the length of the tank in effect then?

Looks OK - I'd make use of trackday instructors when you're next on a trackday.

Pretty much...thats actually how I can tell if I am riding relaxed and therefore better, as I am aware that my outside arm is almost resting along the outside edge of the tank.

When I'm tense that doesn't happen.

not to bad at all.
if I had to be critical I would say get your body over more.
think of it as pushing your shoulder down in to the corner.
other than that.if your happy just keep doing more of it :D

Some good articles in Ride mag this month on 'active counter steering'....

Just wish I had a bike running to practise on!

:(

thanks v much!

am doing the oulton thing so more to learn...

That was an EXCELLENT article...I just need to go out and have a practice...Isn't Andy Ibbott a nice man!:):saint:

will go have a look-see at that article then!

Well from the photo's you do exactly what I do...stick your knees out into the breeze and think you're hanging off the bike, you still seem to have at least one cheek on the saddle, whereas if you were really hanging off the bike as much as you could your ass would be over more - thus bringing your outside leg so as it was braced up against the tank and didn't have any daylight between it and the bike.

The other thing is you seem to swivel your hips around the tank when in theory they should be at 90 degrees to the direction of the bike.

Thats according to CSS level 3, which I've done, but then again I wouldn't presume to tell you you're doing it all wrong because I do both those things myself, despite knowing the theory I can't do it in practise.

Lisa, I think you have a soft spot for Andy somehow ;)

Yes good read though this month - he brought a scarey CSS R6 bike with him that I'd never heard about before. It has a set of handlebars with a remote linked throttle mounted ABOVE the screen using the mirror mounts I think!!!

The idea being to show above any reasonable speed, leaning actually does little in terms of initiating a turn. The riders present had to move hands from the 'normal' clip-ons to the hi-rise at about 50 mph and then try it for themselves - I felt a little queasy just trying to imagine doing it !!!!!!!!!!!

now that is interesting - i do feel like i am miles off but thought my outer leg looked odd being stuck up and out like that

I would really like to no if all this hanging of milarky really does make you go any faster. Has anybody got any clear evidence to that fact. The Star of yester years Mike Hailwood never left the saddle and that man could ride. The tyres in his day were not like there are today either,he like me just rode the bike, didnt bother to change body position only to climb back into the seat again. It looked good for the pictures but I can see no real purpose in it . I would like to be corrected on this . 4D

Loverobot, looking at your pictures I would say you need to sit slightly further back, this will allow you to 'lock in' to the tank cutout(it's what it's there for) to give you a more stable body position and will stop your outside knee from 'hanging in the breeze' as Jools pointed out. This is all level 3 CSS stuff-which I just did at Almeria at the weekend with Butch, Michael, and Duncan.
And Fordie-yes it does make a difference mate-it allows you to either keep the bike more upright and therefore on the fatter part of the tyre or carry more speed for the same lean angle. I know the great Mike Hailwood didn't do it but the tyres he rode on didn't offer enough grip to take advantage. You and I both know as we rode on them too-old ain't we??

John

i managed to drag my knee for the first time in cartegena and once i had i managed to be able to do it all the time, both sides and on most corners

i had to hang off to do it

i found it helped me as when i got to the corner i could keep leaning and putting power on until my knee touched down and then i knew i was far enough

dont know if that is the general concensus of why but it certainly helped me in my limted way

Errr...Fordie mate, look at yer avatar. does that look like Hailwood to you? You're hanging off like a good un

by the way i feel i could hang off further as per the above comments which are v helpful thanks

firstly i aint really got a clue had no tuition or read any books etc
but i find it all feels right if i get all of my body over
e.g my head torso and backsike all as far off the bike as each other

when it's right it feels like you are pulling the bike round the corner really sharp and responsive to any input i give
if i try and push my bottom half futher than i can get the rest of me the whole thing feels wrong like the bike is really understeering

[ [/quote]

Errr...Fordie mate, look at yer avatar. does that look like Hailwood to you? You're hanging off like a good un [/quote]

Im hanging on not hanging off:lol::lol: thats Glyn behind me he'll have to go the long way round:lol: 4D

fordie i find it makes a hell of a difference to my riding if i hang off,on a open local road i can take the same corner 20-30mph quicker with my leathers on knee down than i can in jeans. although at silverstone i found i was actually cornering a bit quicker hanging off but not getting my knee down through some off the faster corners, dont know how that works but it did !!! :D

nick, just get a instructor to watch you at a trackday or do a race school like the ron haslam one at donnington.

So...all you've got to do is

Move your upper body weight forward
Lower your head
Put your chin on your right hand
Drop your inside shoulder
Move your bum back into the seat a touch
Get your body over more
Actively counter steer
Make use of the trackday instructors
Get your bum off the saddle
Get your hips to 90 degrees to the direction of travel
Keep the bike more upright
Lock in to the tank cut out
Get your knee down
Wear leathers not jeans

Got that?

:D

sounds about right phil

some great advice there

Poor bloke....He'll probably run into the back of something while he's trying to remember all that:lol::lol: