still having a problem with context or comprehension? and sarcasm? keep fishin'...i'm not talkin' to ya 'til you answer my questions or admit we got into a pissin' match cuz you didn't/don't understand written english. dropping the sarcasm would help, too.
Fred....... When touring the Alps in 1988 on a VFR, we'd often get to the top of a pass, kill our motors and "race" all the way down the mountain in neutral, sometimes a 15 or 20 minute ordeal. What did I learn? I love power.... :wink:
We used to do this a lot on Mt Palomar is So-Cal. It teaches preservation of speed. It is easier to keep an object in motion (and takes less energy) that slow it down and speed it up again. Ride a small (125 or 250) two-stroke and you'll develop the same skills.
i can relate to the preservation of speed from years of bicycle riding in the hills. were you attacking the corner entries any differently than if you had power?
You've begun a line of questioning asking if coasting through downhill corners without power is a good way to learn something about riding technique. This would indicate that you're interested in trying it. If as you stated you don't ride the street, yet want to try coasting through curves downhill, the only place I can think of where you might be able to do that is Laguna. Well, or maybe Road Atlanta to a lesser extent. (Hence, legitimate question, not tinged with sarcasm.) You quote Grand Prix racecar champion Jackie Stewart's viewpoint, and point out the fact that he disregards the opinion of a Bondurant coach because the coach has never won a Grand Prix. For your screen name, you've chosen to represent yourself with the nickname of 3-time Grand Prix motorcycle World Champion Freddie Spencer. You choose to speak on this board as a well-informed expert, and to share your views with this internet community of riders. Therefore I ask how many races have you won? And for that matter, how many days have you taught the art of high-performance riding as an officially sanctioned track coach? (Again, legitimate questions not tinged with sarcasm.) If you're not willing to discuss your accomplishments as a racer and track coach, the people reading this thread will have a hard time giving you any credibility. (Not an attack, merely a logic-based statement.) Since these three questions have been asked logically and without sacrasm, and since they call your credibility into question, it seems like you should be happy to answer them.
Although I disagree with Fred's position and perspective regarding listening to music on the track, his credibility as a rider, racer, and instructor is pretty damn solid; He was probably one of the most respected instructors of expert level riders at Reduc events in all my years (13) there as a Director, won more than his share of races competing on a Amateur level in his first season in spite of some mechanical issues that may have deprived him of a Championship, and has finished quite respectfully as an expert in spite of having to compete on the Maxxis tyres his team was developing. He has probably attended more schools than anyone I know (all levels of Superbike School, Freddie Spencer, Etc....) and is not only very fast, but smooth as silk. He may be opinionated and stubborn, but he's also a bit humble about his own accomplishments on two wheels, so I'm happy to warn you not question his credibility.....you'll loose.
Trail brakeing is too often divided along the lines of always or never. The reality is most of us do it part of the time. For me the turns at the end of both straights on the Pocono long track require trail brakeing. They are long, wide decreasing radius corners, followed by short chutes to the next corner. The other extreme is hairpins. Trailbrakeing into a first or slow second gear corner is just asking for it. Other corners fall in between these extremes and may work with varying degrees of trail brakeing. In most corners, I personally do little or no trail braking. At the risk of over-simplification. Lines with the large radius in the first half of the corner favor trail brakeing, those with the large radius in the second half do not. This is all also depends on other variables, like traffic and track surface. Somehow trail braking over a bumpy, slippery surface doesn't seem wise, no matter what the line of the corner is.
Well, I certainly have to agree with the opinionated and stubborn part. Good to know that he actually has a leg to stand on as far as knowledge goes. I've seen many who take his elitist tone merely to achieve some feeling of Internet importance that their actual experience does not warrant. I suppose I should apologise for calling the guy out as a poser, since it seems he isn't one. But I don't feel embarrassed for having done it. Knowledgable or not, the guy comes across (AT LEAST TO ME) as a self-important idiot. I guess I should learn not to judge a book by it's cover. To be honest, I actually thought that FF might be the latest alias of an Internet persona-non-grata formerly known as Cornercamping Dan. "Fast Freddy" is in some good company on this thread. As I look through the list of people who have spoken their piece here, I see many folks who have impressive credentials. The humble thing though, I'm not seeing that. Pompous I'd buy. Humble? Nope.
There is no doubt that Fred has tried to steal my seat as being most the capable of pissing people off on line, but while he might be quicker than I am on track and better at pissing off his fellow competitors....I'll smoke him on the debate floor, as my credentials and record for pissing people off is unmatched, but he's still young and may catch up. He's really not pompous....just stands firm behind his beliefs; not such a bad quality. He also has trouble hearing you, as he's distracted by the headphones that are blasting ACDC into his head. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Well HELLS BELLS! AC/DC? Now that's a different story! Of course AC/DC makes you faster. Even I know that. I mean, if you can't back it in and slide it out to "Whole Lotta Rosie," well, you'll just never be able to do it.... Hmmmmmmm..... Maybe FF isn't that bad a guy after all. I mean, if we kept the music up loud enough that we couldn't hear each other talk, we might be OK....
:lol::lol::lol: i'm startin' to get your gist. k3, if we could start over, i would be more thoughtful. there are some things that trigger me and then all hell breaks loose in my mind. you know the adage, "don't piss off the quiet guy"? well, that's me. my first post in this thread is slightly heated but i tried to maintain a decorum of civility. it bothers me to no end when people talk about things when they have no experience with it. particularly, as it has to do with riding. when you posted "well mr. spencer...", i took that as sarcasm and lost a little of my civility. i think understandably but some people are unflappable. if we knew each other, it wouldn't have phased me at all. there's no way i can express my personality behind a keyboard and it's impossible for me to read a person's personality. so, it's inevitable that this shit happens. i said to brknbnz(bob) the other day, "watch me and k3 become the best of friends." 8) not likely if you compare me to dan, tho'. :lol: btw, the moniker was given to me...i'd change it but highfalutin'freddie seems a bit much. bobby, thanks for the kind words but, aw shucks, you made it sound like there was only one championship on the line. :roll: :lol:
King Kenny Roberts is of the same camp. On the power in the turn. Get most if not all of your braking done straight up and down (this point of view is published in a book {co}authored by him). I recall the title being "Techniques of Motor Cyce Road Racing" Reduc, member Louis Wilson presently has my copy. http://www.amazon.com/Techniques-Mo..._bbs_sr_1/103-8018113-1792657?ie=UTF8&s=books Off the gas in a turn and the motorcycle pushes (understeers) on the gas in a turn and the motorcycle is loose (oversteers). How much the motorcycle oversteers is dependent on the amount of power the motorcycle is making which can be dependent on the operators right wrist. If on the gas is slow through a turn you need to watch more roundy round racing on dirt. BTW if some people here don't understand the concept I can understand because Barry Sheene didn't either. Why I feel Rossi is amongst the best racer ever: he changes is technique as the corner and situation dictates (changes as the race goes on as the bike gets lighter and the tire's behavior changes, not to mention whether is trying to pass or 'protecting the line'). P.S. There are no definites. Really.
Wow, this is a serious escalation in the level of aggression in this thread. I can see you guys ever being friends after that.
yeah, totally blindsided me with that one. i didn't know you could get suckerpunched on the internet. :lol: