09-15-2015, 10:46 PM
Henrik... I totally agree with you about tension. If you feel tense you will not ride as well as you can and mistakes will follow. I got back from a week long tour Sunday on my big touring bike with tires that were near the end of their life and getting misshapen. It took a lot of bar pressure to initiate turns and transitions. Monday I rolled out the CB with good tires and went for a ride. I found myself putting a lot of pressure on the bars and this bike reacted how a bike should with that much bar pressure, which made for too sharp of turns, scary actually, which tensed me up. Ended up only riding 28 miles because I knew it was better not to ride that tense. Another ride on the CB yesterday and I felt much better. Todays ride I trust will be better yet.
See if you agree with this. My issue with track days is that they ingrain in you the fastest way thru a turn or series of turns rather than the SAFEST way thru a turn or series of turns (which would be more valuable to a rider on the street). Cornering apexes on a track do not translate well to the street IMO, where you only have 1/2 of the width of the track (road) to use, where vehicles may be coming toward you crowding or crossing the centerline, where there are slick painted lines (particularly after a rain), or gravel or other objects we need to be able to see, understand and avoid safely.
There are a lot of things you can take away from a track day which are invaluable for the street rider, in particular throttle, clutch and transmission control and most importantly braking and body positioning exercises, plus riding a motorcycle fast in a safe environment lets you ride without tension, which is a great lesson in itself.
See if you agree with this. My issue with track days is that they ingrain in you the fastest way thru a turn or series of turns rather than the SAFEST way thru a turn or series of turns (which would be more valuable to a rider on the street). Cornering apexes on a track do not translate well to the street IMO, where you only have 1/2 of the width of the track (road) to use, where vehicles may be coming toward you crowding or crossing the centerline, where there are slick painted lines (particularly after a rain), or gravel or other objects we need to be able to see, understand and avoid safely.
There are a lot of things you can take away from a track day which are invaluable for the street rider, in particular throttle, clutch and transmission control and most importantly braking and body positioning exercises, plus riding a motorcycle fast in a safe environment lets you ride without tension, which is a great lesson in itself.