Steering bible by S.Brouggy (αγγικο κειμενο)

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(Steve Brouggy is the owner of the Australian Superbike School)

There are many schools of thought on just how to steer a motorcycle. While all of them may appear to work, some are more effective than others, and for any to work they must include, conscious or sub-conscious, counter-steering.

What the Dickens is counter-steering? Let's look at the term itself. Counter; opposite to. Steering; to change direction. Counter-steering means to steer opposite to the direction of the turn.

Now this may have quite some effect on your survival reactions. Think about it. To turn a left hand corner, you have to push the handlebars to the right. To turn the bike right, you have to push the bars left. To the part of our minds that is designed to keep us alive, this simply does not compute.

Especially when we consider that it is only on two wheeled vehicles that this is the case. After all, you don't counter-steer a car now do you!? Well, I hope not anyhow... What you need to understand is that you are already doing this whether you are conscious of it or not, and if something is being done sub-consciously, you're simply not in control of it.

To help clarify all this, there is one question you have to ask in relation to changing - "is lean a result of steer, or is steer a result of lean"? When you steer the bike does it lean, or when you lean the bike does it steer? The correct answer is; when you steer, the bike leans. Well done.

For those riders who are leaning into corners out of habit, and those who consciously practice body-steering, I have a few questions for you. Question One: How many contact points do you have with the motorcycle? Answer: At least five (two hands, two feet, and your derriere). Question Two: How many of those points are connected to something that pivots? Answer: Two (your hands). So, your only contact points that can change the position of, or move something on the bike, are your hands on the handlebars.

What this means is that when you lean or body steer, you are relying on the change of your body weight to steer the bike. If this is the case, you must be changing the distribution of weight via your contact points with the motorcycle, which moves the one thing to which you are connected that pivots, the handlebars. If you lean to the right, then your weight will shift to the right, putting weight on and therefore pushing away anything you are holding with your right hand.

This means that when you have been leaning the bike, you've actually been counter-steering it without even realising you've been doing it. As a matter of fact, without counter-steering, the motorcycle cannot make it around a corner. If that's the case, it makes sense to use the skill more directly so that it is more effective, don't you think? Remember, if it's not conscious for you, you're not in control. You can't change something that you don't know you're doing.

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Part Two

Last issue I made the statement that counter-steering is the only real method to steer the motorcycle. If that's true, then how exactly do you do it?

Quite simply, all you do is push the inside handlebar in the opposite direction of the turn. If you're turning right, then push the inside (right) handlebar to the left and vice versa for left hand turns. This is really all the bike wants from you to complete the steering action successfully.

However, when a rider changes from unconsciously using his body weight to get around a corner to steering the bike correctly, it usually takes more than one try to get it right. At first it feels unnatural and downright dangerous. One of the reasons for this is your body position on the bike and how it affects the steering action.

To help me explain this, go and sit on your motorcycle right now in your normal riding position and grab the handlebars. If your seating position is like most riders, you will notice that as you do this the angle of your arm to the ground would probably be around 20 or 30 degrees to the road surface if you measured it.

When you consider the angle at which the steering head runs (which determines the way the handlebars can pivot) you will notice that it doesn't really put you in a position to exercise a great deal of force when turning the bars. Now, try to turn the handlebars back and forth and see how much force it takes. You will most likely notice that as you try to push the handlebar to steer it, you will end up pushing the bar down rather than slightly forward which is what is actually required to steer the motorcycle.

To better use the steering of the bike you need to place the direction of the force as close as possible to 90 degrees to the angle of the steering head.

Now, drop your elbows down by hunching your back slightly, seeing how close you can get your forearms to parallel with the ground, and then try to move the handlebars. What happened? You should have noticed that the handlebars moved easier with less force.

If you're not pushing the handlebar in the correct direction, you're actually trying to push the whole bike down instead of turn the bars, and it will not respond with the speed and accuracy that you can gain with the correct method of counter-steering.

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If we've all been paying attention - and we have haven't we ? our steering is improving. Let's sit up straight as the man at the bars speaks...

If you've been following this series you'll know that we have learnt that to get out entry into a corner right we require a turn point. Now we've established that, where do we put it?

Importantly, you should know that your turn point dictates where the turn starts for you, regardless of the curve of the road. Once located, it becomes the focal point at which you complete setting the speed and begin the control actions of riding the turn. In your sequence of actions to ride a corner from one end to the other, the turn point is the thing that breaks up the transition between speed and directional forces. After all, there are only two things you can change on a motorcycle. You can change it's speed, and you can change its direction.

The turn point tells us it's time to be finished with setting the speed for the turn (whether that means decelerating, accelerating or holding a constant speed), gives us the place in which to change the direction of the bike (steer) and then as soon as possible after that we will want to start rolling on the throttle and accelerating out onto the next straight section. It is therefore important that you understand what effect the position of this point will have on the outcome of the corner. There will be a difference on where you will place the turn point depending on what you want from the turn. If you want to go faster, your decision will be different than if you are two-up and trying to take in the scenery.

In the first example your priority is speed, in the second it is comfort. So before you can decide where you will do certain actions you must first decide what it is you want from the corner.

As a general rule, the wider and deeper the entry to the corner, the narrower the exit (wider relates to your position on the road in regard to the inside or outside of the turn, and deeper relates to your position in regard to how far into the turn you are) There is however a trade off between this and the speed you are able to carry through the turn, which will relate directly to your motorcycle and how it needs to be ridden to get the most from it. Sound easy? Here's something else to consider...

A lot of Keith Code's books deal with the whole 'survival instinct' reaction of your body when you place it in a potentially life threatening situation.

If you aren't used to being wide in a corner, then at least for the first time you'll probably experience the uncomfortable sensations that go along with this. We certainly see that at the schools. Most riders tend to want to get to the inside of a corner as quickly as possible. Perhaps you've noticed that the faster you go, the earlier you find yourself arriving on the inside of the turn, sometimes with disastrous results. Keith suggests a number of ways to overcome this, particularly in his book 'A Twist of the Wrist II' but it really boils down to education. If you know why you should consider entering a little wider and deeper into the turn, you're more likely to try it. Do it a few times and get a good result and you're more likely to want to keep doing it.

Lets assume two riders are travelling at the same speed and steering with the same force. Rider A chooses to turn early and narrow and as a result, this leaves him wide and still leant over late in the exit of the turn. Rider B chooses to steer later and deeper into the turn.

This allows him to be more upright earlier and use more power exiting the turn, giving the capability of actually being faster and in more control.

I personally have two goals from any corner:
1.) to be upright at the end of it, and
2.) to be in control.
Bearing this in mind I suggest as you try moving your turn point deeper and wider into the turn, but do it in small steps and carry less speed as you do. Once you're comfortable being out there you'll begin to see the benefits...

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'Get around, get around, I get around...' Yeah? Well here's how to do it better with Big Steve.

So... now we know how and where to steer... how many times should we do it in a corner?

This one's easy. Write this down and commit it to memory. 'There is one steering change per corner'. We'll discuss the exceptions a little later. What this means is you only steer the bike once for it to complete the turn. After you counter-steer, to complete the turn, the bike wouldn't really care if you weren't even on it! Okay, that's a little glib, but after steering, all the bike requires from you is to exercise good throttle control to allow it to complete that turn successfully.

This is our ultimate goal. If you only have to steer the bike once at the entry of the turn, you no longer need any other input to remain on that arc through the turn. Once you have begun the arc you desire by turning it once at the correct point, all that is left for you to do is to stabilise the bike with the throttle. This alone will keep the bike 'tracking' through the corner.

In earlier columns we have discussed the concept that there is a sequence of things you must do to successfully negotiate a turn. It is how well you execute this sequence of actions that determines your cornering outcome. We should be steering the bike only once for any corner and this is an important part of the sequence. Before steering you must have your speed setcorrectly for the corner. If you are still attempting to get your speed right at your turn point, will you be able to effectively steer the bike only once?

After steering the bike, we want to be on the throttle as early as possible and progressively accelerating through the corner. Can you smoothly and progressively apply the throttle if you are trying to make adjustments to the steering? NO

To be effective with any particular action of riding, you must have completed the previous action before initiating the next. In short, you can only do one thing at a time.

You may find that on longer corners that you can't just steer the bike once and have it complete the turn the way you want it to.

These type of turns are commonly known as 'double apex' turns, but I like to think of them as being two corners masquerading as one. In a double apex corner you do have to make a second steering change to remain on an arc that will see you exit the turn where you want to be. Most times the second steering change is so subtle that riders can do it without even realising it, but make no mistake, it is there. The reason it is so subtle is because the bike is already leaned over in the turn, making the amount of input needed at the bars only a very small percentage of what would normally be required to get the bike to begin a turn from being fully upright.

So how does this second steering adjustment effect our sequence of doing one thing at a time? Well... can you accelerate and steer at the same time? Not really. Can you slow the bike down and steer at the same time? Again, notreally. So how do you get to do the second steering input without upsetting the sequence? Simple really. You must roll the throttle on from the first steering input, otherwise the motorcycle won't track around the first part of the turn. For the second steering change we can't keep rolling the throttle on and we can't exactly roll it off either, as either of these won't get us the desired result. Tricky, huh...

In the first instance you will probably find the bike won't tighten the arc (which is what you're wanting it to do) and in the second it will load up the front of the bike and make it tend to run wide. What you can do though is simply stop rolling the throttle on for a moment.

That will not exactly slow the bike down, but it will slow the speed of acceleration, meaning a small amount of weight will be transferred to the front, making it easier to steer. By holding the throttle constant for that moment while you put in the small steering input, you are not interfering with the bike in any other way and it allows you to continue rolling the throttle on immediately after steering, which will once again stabilise the bike.

Whether you're in a long corner that requires you to put in two steering efforts, or a short corner where only one is required, if you have to sacrifice speed or position for any part of the turn, you do it in the early part, so you can make gains on the exit.

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It's time to get down. Steve explains why having your knee on the deck can help - and you'll impress the crowd as well!

There are more and more riders who want to copy their road racing heroes by hanging off the seat and grinding their knees into the ground. While this looks great in the photos, have you ever stopped to think if it's relevant to your riding?

Firstly, your riding style should be results-oriented (meaning there should be a reason for your body position on the bike other than the way you look when you ride). This should be related to; getting the bike to steer better; having correct use of the throttle/brakes/gears etc. How well you use these controls/skills will effectively determine how well you ride.

Often students come to me with the goal of scraping their knee for the first time, genuinely believing they will have 'arrived' as a rider when they can do it. The fact is that hanging off and scraping your knee is a tool. A tool that is there to be used when it is needed, and not when it is not. Just as you wouldn't use hammer to tighten a 10mm nut, or a shifting spanner to change a tyre, you only use this particular aspect of riding the bike (and every other one for that matter!) when it is needed.

The theory behind how this technique works is really quite simple. When you're hanging off the inside of the bike, the weight is moved lower and to the inside of the corner. This means that the bike is less likely to feel the effects of the forces created when you turn the bike (which tries to make the bike go to the outside of the turn) because of the height and position of where the weight is carried.

If you're still sitting upright on the bike, the weight is carried higher and on top, giving the same cornering forces greater leverage. This means it actually takes less force to send the bike to the outside of the turn.

As you try to counteract these forces you will have to lean the bike over further, limiting the amount of ground clearance and traction available. Therefore if both riders are travelling at the same speed the rider that has managed to shift his/her weight lower and to the inside will have the bike more upright, meaning they can carry more speed, and/or have more control.

In essence, this is the main reason for using this technique. There are other benefits that are only relevant to the race rider, such as using the extended knee to balance the bike up as the tyres slide (don't try this one at home!) and having a built-in lean angle indicator.

Hanging off and scraping knees belongs in one place, and one place only, on a racetrack. This riding style does not suit public roads and is not only potentially dangerous to the rider, but also those around him/her. If you're travelling at speeds that involve knee dragging on the open road, you need to seriously consider some safety issues, and perhaps start doing more track days.

While this technique will feel strange at first, with the right effort over time you may find a valuable tool to add to your rider kit' And of course you'll have appeased the motorcycling gods of vanity! See you in the photos...

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We all know why riders 'hang-off' in corners. We also know that it must work, otherwise all the best riders in the world wouldn't bother doing it! The question must be asked then... "how exactly do you do it?".

As discussed previously, the purpose of hanging-off is to get the weight lower and to the inside of the turn. If you were sitting directly on the top of the bike and leaning with it into the turn, the centre of gravity would run straight through the top of your head, through your body and the bike at exactly the same angle at which you are leaned over, meaning it would finish along the line of the tyre where it contacts the road.

If you were to hang-off correctly, that line would fall somewhere between you and the bike, making it closer to the inside of the turn. Imagine that the line now passes through your shoulder and hips and contacts the road somewhere to the inside of the tyre. This is the advantage of putting your body into this position. The problem is that a lot of riders tend to 'cross up' on the bike by pushing the bike under them, meaning that their body is no longer in line with the lean angle of the bike and instead tending to go against the inside of the turn.

Seeing we carry a fair amount of our body weight in our upper bodies, this means that instead of the weight being put to the inside of the turn, it can in fact be higher and further to the outside of the turn which can diminish the benefit of hanging-off the bike in the first place. If any part of your body fights against the lean angle of the bike, then it will mean that the weight is higher and to the outside.

In many cases the amount of 'crossing up' can actually counter the hanging-off the bike in the first place! If you were dramatically crossed up the gravity line could not only return to the centre of the bike, it could in fact move even further to the outside of the turn. So, why would you do that? The answer is quite simple really, it's a survival reaction...

Keith Code's greatest observation of motorcycle riders in my opinion is that most of us don't actually consciously make all of the decisions about riding the bike (for more information see 'A Twist of the Wrist II' - Chapter 2).

Many of the things that we do, particularly those that we can't explain, are done almost automatically by our bodies' need to survive. We all have automated responses that are designed to keep us alive. Every living species on the planet has this basic urge. It's the urge to live. Your body doesn't want you to put it into danger and every time it feels you are doing this, it will respond in an attempt to keep you safe. Unfortunately on a motorcycle this can often mean it compels you to do completely the wrong thing. Holding your body up against the lean angle of the turn and fighting the bike is most likely one of these reactions.

The physical fact is that your body needs to go with the lean angle of the bike if you're to benefit from this technique, yet more often than not riders find themselves working against the bike right from the beginning. I'm sure the same riders doing this would complain about a pillion that refused to go with the bike and made their job harder in getting the bike around the next corner!

If you are going to hang-off, then consider what the benefit really is and make sure you're not working against the bike instead of with it.

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Hands knees and boomps-a-daisy. Steve teaches how to hold on - look Mum, no hands!

In the last few columns we have discussed the art of 'hanging off' in a turn. We now know that by hanging off the inside of the bike we can move the centre of gravity lower and to the inside, meaning that you can carry less lean angle to go through the same corner at the same speed. We also know some of the survival reactions that can interfere with our attempts to copy our road racing heroes. Now... how about we discuss exactly what goes where so you can recreate it every corner?

Another problem associated with hanging off is how to locate yourself on the bike and how you literally 'hang on' while you're 'hanging off'.

Confused? Don't be... The fact is that as you move your body off to the inside of the bike, you no longer have both butt cheeks firmly planted in the saddle and both knees hugging the tank. You now have only one cheek on the seat and only the potential of one leg to hug the tank as the other is (hopefully) stylishly scraping the tarmac. You have now altered the contact points you have with the motorcycle, meaning that you now have to figure out where you should place your weight and what is going to keep you from falling off the inside of the bike.

In the initial stages of trying this, riders tend to find that they lose some degree of control over the motorcycle. All of a sudden the bike gets harder to steer, feels somehow heavier in the front, along with feeling the bumps a lot more. Also rider's forearms seem to pump up easier while wrists also start to hurt. Sound familiar?

The problem is actually quite simple... you're holding on with your hands! Okay. I can tell some of you are probably looking sideways at me right now, so I guess I'd better explain. Yes, I know the handlebars are designed for you to hold on to, but they are not designed to help you hold your body in position. The handlebars are designed for you to have the controls you need (throttle, brake, clutch, steering) in the right place so you can use them. Simply put, your hands are on the handlebars to operate the controls. Nothing more, nothing less.

To illustrate this in the classroom I often tell a story of me and my one and only four-wheeled lover, my FC Holden. Built in 1958, seat belts were still a novelty and certainly not necessary and big vinyl covered bench seats were all the go. Well, one day I decided to give the old girl some TLC and in my frenzied cleaning, I put Armour-All all over the seat! Now... did I ever claim to be intelligent?! When taking the car out after it's thorough going over, I got to the corner at the end of my street and tried to turn to the right. Needless to say that I found my body now sliding to the left and without a seat belt I only had the steering wheel to keep my body in place. Do you think I got the result from my steering that I expected? Certainly not. In fact I ran up the kerbing on to the footpath. Truth be told, you cannot effectively steer something if you're relying on the instrument that steers it to also hold your body in position.

Now I'm sure you're all laughing at me right now, but I wonder how many of you are using your hands to hold your body in position on the motorcycle? Convinced yet?

Now this represents a problem. If your hands don't hold you onto the bike, then what does? I do believe you've still got one leg hugging up into the tank don't you? Do you think if you gripped with your knee into the side of the tank it might help hold your body in position? (In case you're not sure, the indents in the side of your tank are not there for styling purposes, they are there for your body to fit into them). If you lock your knee into the tank by using pressure against the outside peg, you'll find you can release the pressure on the handlebars, meaning the bike will not be affected negatively as in the description above. This allows you to gain the benefit of getting your weight lower and to the inside effectively without distractions.

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If you're busy at the controls and your pillion's got ants in his/her pant, well, you're getting it wrong. Let Steve relax you in his own special way...

Ever had a pillion behind you? Ever had a bad pillion behind you? What does a bad pillion do? Some try to resist leaning into the turn, while others change the shoulder over which they are looking - just when you are wanting to change direction! Others still lean back and head-butt you every time you change gears.

I've even had riders try to turn my body when we get to the corner. It really doesn't matter what they do, if they do anything at all, they are a bad pillion - because all you want is for them to relax and do nothing. That means that we could define a good pillion as one that does nothing other than breathe!

A good pillion goes with the bike and the rider. When you consider it, all riders are really just pillions in a sense. Once moving your motorcycle wants to keep going in the direction in which it is pointing. Any physicists out there?

The Law of Momentum states that an object moving in a direction will continue moving in that direction. What this means to you and me is that your motorcycle actually wants to stay upright and continue moving in the direction you have it pointed. If that's the case, then you are more of a passenger than you realise. The problem with some riders is that they think they have to constantly be doing something for the bike to do what they want, when in actual fact it would be better off left alone. This makes for busy riders, not effective ones.

The simple fact is that a good rider does less, not more Garry McCoy is a great example of a rider that, while looking spectacular, is putting less input into the bike than you may realise. The difference is that Garry knows what he has to do, and he does it decisively and effectively.

Let's be honest, if you and I tried to enter a turn like 'Mr Squiggle' (is he called that because of his riding, or an uncanny resemblance to a particular TV character? Anyway...) we would most likely not make it through the turn! Yet he does it consistently, over and over again. So, how is it that he can put a motorcycle into the ridiculous positions that very few riders on this planet can do? Easy. He's not doing anything to the bike once he initiates the action.

Next time you see him ride, watch his body rather than the bike. You'll probably notice that he's not really doing too much at all, he's just sitting there playing with the controls.

Now... where does this fit in? In previous issues of this column we've discussed methods of steering, use of the throttle and brakes, body position, and other tools for riding a motorcycle. How many times you use these tools and the force used each time will determine the result you get as a rider.

Want a better result? Just remember... Less is often more.

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Are your suspenders giving you grief? In certain corners, does your bike handle like a cement-filled wheelbarrow? There's every chance the problem is operator-error rather than a hardware glitch. Over to you Steve...

Does your bike have any handling problems? Does it seem to work well in one corner, yet poorly in another similar turn? Have other people ridden your bike and pronounced it okay, but you're still struggling and unconvinced? If you answered yes to any of these questions, chances are your riding style is affecting the operation of your suspension.

Aside from the various things you can affect by incorrect use of the controls as discussed in previous issues - you can change the way your bike handles simply by how tightly you hold on to the controls.

In essence, the suspension is there to keep the wheels on the ground (giving you a plush ride is a secondary consideration!). How effective your suspension is will translate to the amount of traction available from the tyres. To perform that task effectively the suspension needs to have neutral input from the rider most of the time. Particularly once the bike has been steered into the turn and is at its maximum lean angle for that corner.

I have previously plagiarised Keith Code to make the statement that a good rider does less not more. Part of ‘doing less' is to relax your grip on the handlebars and allow the bike to complete whatever you have asked it to do.

For example, once you have steered the bike into a turn, to complete that turn the pressure on the handlebars needs to be released so the suspension and tyres can work effectively. If you continue holding onto the handlebars too tightly, the bike will probably feel unstable and want to run wide.

Thinking about it, if you are reducing the tyre's ability to stick to the road, the bike will definitely want to run wide. In the case of excessive speed, the tyres will actually want to slide earlier than if you can just relax and let the whole package of chassis, suspension and tyres do their jobs.

Thinking about it, if you are reducing the tyre's ability to stick to the road, the bike will definitely want to run wide

Doing this is another way in which you can learn to ride your motorcycle in the manner in which it was designed to be ridden. (For more information on this topic, refer to the five chapters that make up Section 2 of Keith Code's book A Twist of the Wrist II).

σσ
ω ναι ...

:smilea:

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What the hell does "smoothness" mean anyway? This month Steve solves one of motorcycling's greatest mysteries.

This month we are going to pull apart the mother of all general pieces of advice: "Whatever you do, just be smooth!" Ever heard that one? So, what the hell does "be smooth" actually mean?

The reality is that riders tend to confuse being smooth with being gentle. Even the "experts" giving the advice to "be smooth" tend to believe that it is something to do with the way you apply any individual force to the motorcycle ie. brakes, throttle, steering etc.

If you are gentle and progressive with this force then that is supposed to make you smooth. But, does it really? Sort of, but that's only part of the story...

The error here is to focus on only one of the control actions of riding the bike. No one says "he is smooth with the throttle" or "she's smooth with the brakes" but rather "they're really smooth riders".

Smoothness as a rider then relates not to one individual application of any force on the motorcycle, but rather the transition from one force to the next. Certainly there needs to be progressiveness in the feeding in and out of every force, but isn't this just part of the transition?

When the word "smooth" comes into a conversation between riders, it's inevitable that a superstar road racer's name will be mentioned to illustrate the point. A name that is commonly bandied around for this point is my favourite rider at the moment, Troy Corser. Troy really does make riding a Superbike at speed look so easy, that it makes you sick. Yet if you were to analyse what makes Troy so "smooth" you will find it is not so much what he does with any one of the controls, but rather his application of each skill in a constant flow of actions through any corner or series of corners. Troy may be smooth, but I can assure you he's not gentle!

Keith Code has defined "being smooth" as "a seamless transition from one riding action to the next" or "a seamless transition of force." Seamless meaning that, as an observer, you can't really tell where one action finishes and the next begins, or at the very least that the bike remains stable during the transition. So it's really just no gaps in your riding.

This means that when you're not braking, you're either accelerating or steering. When you're not steering, you're either accelerating or braking, and so on.

Riders can often confuse this by trying overlap forces, like braking into the corner after steering the bike, for example. Although this can sometimes feel smooth, it is more because of your gentleness on the controls rather than it being the correct thing to do. In doing so you are restricting your effectiveness with one or more of the actions of riding the bike, making it not such a good solution. The key is actually to get the transitions from one force to the next accurate and precise.

In previous AMT articles I have pointed out that riding a corner successfully requires you to follow a sequence of events. These events would include; setting the speed for the turn; looking into the turn; steering the motorcycle effectively; staying relaxed on the bike; accelerating progressively out of the turn. A sequence means one action following another. Being smooth simply relates to doing this so there is at no point in time a gap where you are not doing something in the sequence. It also relates to doing the correct thing at the correct time, with the correct amount of force.

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News flash! Apparently the vast majority of motorcycle crashes happen on corners! What a major revelation this piece of information was when I read it in a recent advertisement supported by the RTA. I wonder how much money it cost them to figure this out? I'd have been happy to volunteer this information for free!

We all know that the straights are easy. Anyone can handle those. It's the corners where the challenges are, but it's also where all the fun is. In fact Luigi, my little Greek/ Tasmanian/ Australian mate that works in our office (we thought weíd handle most of the minority groups in one individual), says that anyone can hold the helm in a calm sea. Too true my clever little friend. Then he surpasses even my limit for cliches (I never thought I'd see the day..), waxes all poetic like and says to me "when you think of it, the straights are like the calm seas, and the corners are the storms". The truth is, for frustrated would-be sailors like Luigi, the storm is where you find out what the helmsman is really made of. When talking about motorcycle riding, we could say that the corners are where we find out what the rider is really made of.

If you delve even deeper, you begin to realise that yes, the straights are easy, but so are some corners compared to others. One thing that I've found amusing to watch over the years is the struggle riders who attend the regular ride days held at Phillip Island go through when they decide to try a different track. No question, Phillip Island is an awesome piece of tarmac. I first rode there towards the end of my race career back in 1989 (yes - I know how old that makes me) and I am just as enamoured by it now as I was then.

I've observed that in Victoria, most riders will only ever attend events run at the Island. And most of them will tell you how forgiving the circuit is and how much room there is when you make an error. This may well be true at the speeds they are riding, but if you check with Valentino Rossi, I'm sure you'll find there's not much margin for error when he's riding Phillip Island. Why does this happen? You see, Phillip Island is full of the types of corners that only exist in a very few places in the world. The reality is that the corners on most other racetracks and indeed every corner on a public road are nothing like the ones in the cornering nirvana that is Phillip Island.

So why do these riders struggle with the other tracks they go to? Easy. These tracks are full of slower, narrower corners that normally exist in the real worlds where we all ride. After riding around and around a few kilometres of heaven a million times or more and getting used to being comfortable, it's a rude shock when you don't have the same luxuries anymore.

For example, the bumps, blind apexes, uphill/downhill sections of a difficult little track like Broadford don't bring out the same ‘far-away' look as Phillip Island does. Why? Because it's harder, that's why! The corners are slower, so riders go faster - compared to what is possible - than they do on faster corners.

Let me explain. If we were able to get accurate radar readings of the mid-corner speeds of top level road racers at the fastest corners at Phillip Island and also at the slowest corners at Broadford, and compare them to the speeds attempted by the average garden-variety ride day attendee, I'll bet you that the Ride Day ‘punters' are closer to the road racers speed at Broadford (percentage wise) than what they are at the Island. Why? Because the corners are slower, that's why. It's easy for most of us to decide to enter a corner that a racer may enter at 80km/h at around the 75km/h mark, but it's a whole new game to enter a 240km/h turn at 225km/h. The percentage of the outright speed is the same, but the commitment level and the forces placed on you are a whole lot greater.

Yes corners are harder than straights. No surprises there. But some corners are harder than others. So what do people tend to do that attempt the other tracks after their rude shock? They go back to riding the Island and appreciate it even more. Wimps. That's right, wimps! The challenges they face in riding the more difficult corner without the extra space, better surface etc. are what will make them better riders.

To continue riding where they are comfortable will not benefit them at all. Not surprisingly, those that take on the challenge of a different venue and work to improve there, often go back to the Island and ride better as they apply the lessons learned in the storms. So sailors - time to take the helm.

Oh - and in case you think I've forgotten you riders in other states, say NSW, how many of you just ride Eastern Creek? That's right - wimps!

Good luck with your riding.

[voudarxos]

Αν εκανες και μια μεταφραση.........:o

[Xlitos]

:ZZZ: :ZZZ: :ZZZ: :ZZZ: :ZZZ:
:ZZZ: :ZZZ: :ZZZ: :ZZZ: :ZZZ: :ZZZ:

[idi]

κανα μασαζακι?

[adam_tsouk]

Δεν το περνάς σε κανένα αρχείο ήχου; Λέω μήπως!!