KBroderick: Crazy Track Whore on a Two Fiddy!

[MotoFreak]

Check out this lean angle in T11! Freakin Awesome! On a wet track too! By Wednesday he was hauling ass, freakin guy is crazy on the Ninjette!

[kbroderick]

That's the nice thing about not being able to run true track tires--a slightly damp track has a much smaller impact (and that's a damp track, not a wet one).

Nice pic, too...that actually does look like a lot of lean angle.

I finally got around to going through my video from the July days. For those who want to see what too much lean angle (and/or not enough talent) in T3 looks like, check out how not to enter Turn 3.

(You could also watch the the whole session if you're really bored. I think there's a bit of poor line choice through 12 in there somewhere, too.)

[spydah]

Its tough to tell your location on the track due to the camera angles, but given the tape on the track is seems like you didn't hang out on the wall long enough before the braking zone, which would have left you braking at some sort of angle , and consequently surprised by the turn in point of 3, but I'm sure you realized this shortly after it all happened.

I didn't have the patience to pull down your entire 226 mb video, but looks like you got good body position in the short clip.

One thing I find that helps a lot in turn 3 is to use your legs a lot in the breaking zone. Squeeze the tank as your breaking and you'll find that you are more comfortable breaking deeper. I've actually gotten the rear tire off the ground. The other important thing about 3 is that you got to "set it and forget it". I say that to myself every time I go through 3. once you lean in, you gotta commit. The surface is just too unforgiving to make mid-turn adjustments.

Look on the bright side.. you found the limit. Now you know when to back off. I was there too, and it actually helped.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_ZaMuSD0y8

EDIT: Ok I downloaded the video. Your lines look mostly good except whats mentioned above, and your lower body position looks good. You gotta get your upper body in alignment with your lower body tough. And you gotta get lower to the bike post turn-in. That lack of proper center of gravity probably had a large play in your low side (as it did in my video above too). This is actually also confirmed by the picture above as well. Your a bit crossed up. the centerline of your upper body should be aligned with about where the mirror would be on the inside of the bike. I just started getting better at that this season (but I still need to get lower to the bike... see avatar). I find that occasionally checking that your not using too much of your arms helps both happen more naturally.

[Currently]

When I see stuff like this and listen to all the noob riders that want to buy a liter bike "to grow into" really makes me shake my head.

What are you using for rubber?

[kbroderick]

I've got Bridgestone BT45s on the Ninjette now; I've also run Pirelli's Sport Demons, the stock hockey pucks, and a couple of random rears (Conti Blitz and Dunlop K591 HD). So far I'm liking the BT45s.

[kbroderick]

EDIT: Ok I downloaded the video. Your lines look mostly good except whats mentioned above, and your lower body position looks good. You gotta get your upper body in alignment with your lower body tough. And you gotta get lower to the bike post turn-in. That lack of proper center of gravity probably had a large play in your low side (as it did in my video above too). This is actually also confirmed by the picture above as well. Your a bit crossed up. the centerline of your upper body should be aligned with about where the mirror would be on the inside of the bike. I just started getting better at that this season (but I still need to get lower to the bike... see avatar). I find that occasionally checking that your not using too much of your arms helps both happen more naturally.

Yup. That (upper body position) is actually one of the things I was focusing on for the July track days. One of the issues contributing to both my lowsides (I lowsided in 1A on Monday as well) was, I believe, having too much weight on the bars--I was trying so hard to get my upper body down that I was putting weight forward and on the bars.

By Wednesday, I managed to get much better about keeping the weight off the bars and about getting my upper body inside the bike's vertical axis. On a couple of turns, I had my chest protector on the tank and went "ohhh...so I can get this low." Continuing that progression is my primary goal for tomorrow and Tuesday.

[Doc]

When I see stuff like this and listen to all the noob riders that want to buy a liter bike "to grow into" really makes me shake my head.

What are you using for rubber?

[markbvt]

I've got Bridgestone BT45s on the Ninjette now; I've also run Pirelli's Sport Demons, the stock hockey pucks, and a couple of random rears (Conti Blitz and Dunlop K591 HD). So far I'm liking the BT45s.

If you like the BT45s, try a set of Avon AM26 RoadRiders next time. I used to run BT45s on my Bonneville, tried the Avons, and will never go back. The Avons are awesome -- very sticky in the twisties, great in the wet, smooth-handling, and they wear well.

--mark

[The Crashing Tomato]

Two minutes for TRIPPING. Kev from the vid it looks like too much upper bod stiffness for the conditions .... damp, wet, on an EX

[reiobard]

looking good and on a damp track too. Turn 11 turned into a 3" deep swamp last fall on my last track day.