Bluethunder silverstone photos

[metalmonkey]

Okay as i didn't get out on track much I only have a few photos, which is very frustrating, nearly as much as the issues with the bike! But anyway here are a few of them. I think the bike looks good white so will probally new fairings white, with some colours and stickers!

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc182/svracer12/Instrutorfollowchris.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc182/svracer12/ChrisonCorner.jpg

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc182/svracer12/Chrisinpack.jpg

[lukemillar]

Nice pics and track bike!

Does your helmet fit properly!?? It looks like you are looking at the top of the visor the whole time! Might just be the sunglasses creatint that illusion

Get a tinted visor - looks way cooler! :smt064

[metalmonkey]

Thanks I do like the look of the bike! Its the fog city insert its sits at the top my vision when over the tank....I will sort it all soon. That is an xs aria lid, I think thats the smallest right?

[JediGoat]

Its the fog city insert its sits at the top my vision when over the tank....I will sort it all soon.

Then your helmet is either not on at the correct angle, or that model is the wrong shape for your head. You shouldn't need the fog city in for track use, but they are a pain to remove, so best to get a second visor.

That is an xs aria lid, I think thats the smallest right?

Nope. Arai go to 3XS in some models, but again, the shape for each model will be different.

Edit - The bike looks nice btw.

Jo

[plowsie]

Chris, lift the bottom of your helmet up a bit. Solves the problem.

1st pic - Nut cruncher, yowchhhh!

[Alpinestarhero]

Here, i posted on yer ruddy thread :p

Awesome pics, that fog city insert alters one's perception of how well your helmet fits, huh :D

Looking good

Matt

[Lozzo]

Then your helmet is either not on at the correct angle, or that model is the wrong shape for your head. You shouldn't need the fog city in for track use, but they are a pain to remove, so best to get a second visor.


I keep my pinlock in my Arai cos my visor steams badly on track without. I even chose a pinlock enabled black visor because it still steams even on really sunny days.

[Lozzo]

Chris, get yerself to a race school so they can teach you how to sit correctly and how to position yourself correctly for corners, it makes a huge difference to the way the bike feels, how well you can corner and your own confidence.

You're sitting way too far forward and not moving your backside off the seat at all in corners. One of the things the guys at Mick Boddice race school keep saying is "stop shagging my bike's tank" - move your backside back against the bum-stop and relax your grip on the bars. You like you're holding on for grim death.

Do race school, you'll benefit from it hugely

[Lozzo]

Looking again at those pics, and Jo is right, your helmet is wrong.

Your eyes should be at mid-point from top to bottom of the aperture, as it is that's where your nose is sitting. I seriously think you've bought the wrong shaped helmet. It might be the right size, but it's tilted too far forward. When the helmet is on and settled you should have a finger's width between eyebrow and the liner at the top of the aperture and the tip of your nose should be pretty much in line with the bottom edge of the aperture. Yours looks like the liner is coming over your eyebrows and your nose is half way up the visor.

[Blue_SV650S]

... You shouldn't need the fog city in for track use, ...

Eh? what makes you say that? :scratch:

[Sideshow#36]

Eh? what makes you say that? :scratch:

+1. I use one all the time for racing. Doesnt obscure your vision at all and when its wet, without it, my visor would steam up.

[ASM-Forever]

+1. I use one all the time for racing. Doesnt obscure your vision at all and when its wet, without it, my visor would steam up.

+2

The faster i ride the more excited i get, ergo i pant like a dog.

I imagine track/road will be exactly the same. :cool:

[rob13]

I can echo what Lozzo is saying, I read some of the stuff from the CSS (I didnt actually go to the class) and looked into how to hang off the bike properly. I found that by sitting further back (it feels odd at first) not only do you grip with your knees properly, but you lean better and there is better leverage to the bars with your arms being in a more horizontal position. Must have added another 20% onto my speed without any other changes.

[Lozzo]

I can echo what Lozzo is saying, I read some of the stuff from the CSS (I didnt actually go to the class) and looked into how to hang off the bike properly. I found that by sitting further back (it feels odd at first) not only do you grip with your knees properly, but you lean better and there is better leverage to the bars with your arms being in a more horizontal position. Must have added another 20% onto my speed without any other changes.

Exactly.

For those of you who met my ex, Tori, at Silverstone, she's one of the tidiest and quickest riders I've ever seen. The link below is her at Snetterton on her old Daytona 600. You'll see how far back she sits and she reckons it made huge differences to her corner speed and control. If you follow the photostream there's more photos of her on the Daytona at Snetterton and Brands on page 6, and Mallory with her SV K3 on page 5.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/78131584@N00/989681717/

Btw, she was on Pirelli Diablo Stradas on the Daytona, and normal Diablos on the SV.

[Fizzy Fish]

I can echo what Lozzo is saying, I read some of the stuff from the CSS (I didnt actually go to the class) and looked into how to hang off the bike properly. I found that by sitting further back (it feels odd at first) not only do you grip with your knees properly, but you lean better and there is better leverage to the bars with your arms being in a more horizontal position. Must have added another 20% onto my speed without any other changes.

v interesting - i know i tend to sit quite far forward and it could be why i'm struggling a bit with positioning. Maybe 08 is the year for CSS? :D

PS. Go Tori!!

[Lozzo]

v interesting - i know i tend to sit quite far forward and it could be why i'm struggling a bit with positioning. Maybe 08 is the year for CSS? :D


Doing a recognised race school like Mick Boddice's one at Darley Moor is a much cheaper way, and you get more track time/instruction for your money. That's where Tori went when she was building up to getting her ACU race licence.

CSS I've found tends to fill your head with far too much technical theory which doesn't help you become an instinctively fast rider. You want to be out there just doing it because it feels right, not because you're subconsiously thinking if you have x amount of weight in y place the bike will turn at z rate.

[lukemillar]

CSS I've found tends to fill your head with far too much technical theory which doesn't help you become an instinctively fast rider. You want to be out there just doing it because it feels right, not because you're subconsiously thinking if you have x amount of weight in y place the bike will turn at z rate.

Hmm - have you been on the course or just read Twist of the Wrist? The course isn't technical at all like in the x,y,z scenario you gave though the book does lend itself to that. They actually break it down and make it very straight forward. They teach you what feels right and why.

[JediGoat]

+1. I use one all the time for racing. Doesnt obscure your vision at all and when its wet, without it, my visor would steam up.

Sorry, what I meant was that if it is blocking his view anyway, does he really need it on a dry track day?

Mind you....I don't use any anti-fog insert at all. Until someone invents mini pinlock inserts for my specs, I'll have to continue riding with my visor open a little :D

[metalmonkey]

I had these photos at work with me last night, I was like to the guys what do you think? They were like who's that?

It me, thats me riding my race bike, they really didn't think it was me! There like thats you? One of mates was like thats just very cool:D

Well I'll put on them on the front of my locker, see if I can get anyone interested.....

[Bear]

And then I was like, and they were like...

Sorry mate, couldn't resist...

[Sideshow#36]

And then I was like, and they were like...

Sorry mate, couldn't resist...

:smt043:smt043:smt043:smt043 And she was like yur but no but yer but no, like whateva shutup!!!! Noooo way!!!!

[Blue_SV650S]

I had these photos at work with me last night, I was like to the guys what do you think? They were like who's that?

It me, thats me riding my race bike, they really didn't think it was me! There like thats you? One of mates was like thats just very cool:D

Well I'll put on them on the front of my locker, see if I can get anyone interested.....

No one where I work ever thought my biking was cool :(

[Fizzy Fish]

:smt043:smt043:smt043:smt043 And she was like yur but no but yer but no, like whateva shutup!!!! Noooo way!!!!

:lol: :lol:

No one where I work ever thought my biking was cool :(

awww, but we love you!! :D

[monkey]

+2


+3 (But only cos it turns blue in the sun and matches my lid)

And then I was like, and they were like...

Sorry mate, couldn't resist...
:lol:

"...He said who? I said you he said me? I said yes he said ooooh.

I said will you make brown? he said who? I said you he said me? I said yes he said nooooo."

One of our yellow bike loving orgers favourite adverts.
:)

P.S. Can't believe you managed to get any pics Chris you were off track for so long! Petrol-it's good when you've got some. He he.

[Blue_SV650S]

awww, but we love you!! :D

But not even that is true!! :D

[Lozzo]

Hmm - have you been on the course or just read Twist of the Wrist? The course isn't technical at all like in the x,y,z scenario you gave though the book does lend itself to that. They actually break it down and make it very straight forward. They teach you what feels right and why.

I've known a few people do it, and while they became capable of getting a bike right over and holding a nice line through corners, they all became slower. One of them told me he thinks way too much about why/how he's doing things and not enough on his actual riding. To me riding should be instinctive, you should do things without thinking because the bike responds better - there's no need to know the deep technical explanations, you just need an ability to pick up on something that's taught and put it into practise enough times that it feels natural.

[Blue_SV650S]

I've known a few people do it, and while they became capable of getting a bike right over and holding a nice line through corners, they all became slower. One of them told me he thinks way too much about why/how he's doing things and not enough on his actual riding. To me riding should be instinctive, you should do things without thinking because the bike responds better - there's no need to know the deep technical explanations, you just need an ability to pick up on something that's taught and put it into practise enough times that it feels natural.

Some people can learn by trial and error, others need to be taught ... simple as that ;)

[Alpinestarhero]

I've known a few people do it, and while they became capable of getting a bike right over and holding a nice line through corners, they all became slower. One of them told me he thinks way too much about why/how he's doing things and not enough on his actual riding. To me riding should be instinctive, you should do things without thinking because the bike responds better - there's no need to know the deep technical explanations, you just need an ability to pick up on something that's taught and put it into practise enough times that it feels natural.

Is there a middle ground? I tend to ride on instinct; but afterwards, find myself analysing what I did and why it worked. I find that when I understand why it worked, then I can do it again and again. An example is my slow control; a few times I somehow managed to get really tight turns when going into junctions....but I couldnt work out why. I did it instincivly, but because I didnt understand it, I couldnt reliably reproduce it.

So I sat down, thought about it, worked out what it is I did (released my grip on the handlebars and gripped with my knees I think) and now, I can do it whenever.

I do find I'm getting faster the more I ride, the more I get used to feeling ok being lent over X amount of degrees. Then I know its safe, and try a bit more. Daily commuting on half-decent roads with constant radius corners is bloody helpfull to ones riding

Matt

[Balky001]

I've known a few people do it, and while they became capable of getting a bike right over and holding a nice line through corners, they all became slower. One of them told me he thinks way too much about why/how he's doing things and not enough on his actual riding. To me riding should be instinctive, you should do things without thinking because the bike responds better - there's no need to know the deep technical explanations, you just need an ability to pick up on something that's taught and put it into practise enough times that it feels natural.

It took me a year to get back up to speed after CSS1 as all I thought was throttle on in the corner, 60/40 split. If I didn't have the weighting right I thought the front would wash out, then I remembered it never did before. However, after more track time and 2 days on the Nurburgring, what they taught me actually helped in the long term, not that I remembered much at Silverstone last month! - well you still have to practise it a bit more often than every 6 months :D:scratch:

[lukemillar]

I've known a few people do it, and while they became capable of getting a bike right over and holding a nice line through corners, they all became slower. One of them told me he thinks way too much about why/how he's doing things and not enough on his actual riding. To me riding should be instinctive, you should do things without thinking because the bike responds better - there's no need to know the deep technical explanations, you just need an ability to pick up on something that's taught and put it into practise enough times that it feels natural.

It took me a year to get back up to speed after CSS1 as all I thought was throttle on in the corner, 60/40 split. If I didn't have the weighting right I thought the front would wash out, then I remembered it never did before. However, after more track time and 2 days on the Nurburgring, what they taught me actually helped in the long term, not that I remembered much at Silverstone last month! - well you still have to practise it a bit more often than every 6 months :D:scratch:


Hmmm, that's quite interesting - I found myself quicker after CSS! I didn't find any of the technical stuff baffling or get too focussed on the 60/40 thing. They focus on rolling on the throttle through a corner to shift weight to the rear, but don't get hung up on the %.

The five things they focus on level 1:

-Importance and how to use the throttle
-Turn-in points
-Relaxing on the bike
-Quick steering
-How to give yourself more perceived time/space in a corner

When I did it, I had quite a number of trackdays under my belt, so maybe that helped, but none of the above stuff is super technical. They just teach you why it is important to smooth cornering.

They also teach you about lines through a corner. After the recent Silverstone TD, a few people have commented on people not being on the 'correct line'. There is no correct line! You can turn in late into a corner to square it off and get good drive or turn in early to defend your line + many things in between. People take different lines through corners - ok some of them aren't the quickest way through, but still not wrong. Wrong is when a line takes you off the track. One trackday last year at Lydden had an entire IAM group as a class and their lines were nuts! But nevertheless, correct for them.

[monkey]

Lines?! What are these lines that you speak of? I was well off on half of them and I know which ones. Gonna sort it in 3 weeks today when I go back for more! He he. After following Lucas who was under an instructor's wing for one lap I saw how important good lines can be. Then it all went to pot again. Pah.

That CSS aint half expensive.

[Jackhammer]

I had these photos at work with me last night, I was like to the guys what do you think? They were like who's that?

It me, thats me riding my race bike, they really didn't think it was me! There like thats you? One of mates was like thats just very cool:D

Well I'll put on them on the front of my locker, see if I can get anyone interested.....

Jezuz B.T. i had to read this three time before i figured out what the hell you were talking about !!! Had you been on the pro - plus pills ... :thumbsup::nomore:

I assume that CSS is California Superbike School - have been thinking about doing this but am probably not ready for it yet !! I feel like i am quite an instinctively quick rider so a few nudges in the right direction will certainly help !!! and then one i have a few more Trackdays under the belt may do a CSS next summer or something - or even abroad to guarantee some sunshine - maybe a level 2 right off the bat !!!

[metalmonkey]

Nope Jackhammer, I'm always like that:smt045 its a little crazy words/ideas just come up sometimes, the biggest problem for me is trying to express what I'm thinking!

[Lozzo]

the biggest problem for me is trying to express what I'm thinking!

Same as mate. I find the easiest way to get the message across to terminally thick people is to bang it out in longhand morse code on their forehead, with a lump hammer.