I need training...

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

But you won't be going round a corner at speed on a tight road. Tight roads with hedges and stuff are (and need to be) pretty much point and squirt because of the limited visibility.

Hard to do on a big lardy tourer more suited to open sweeping stuff

Actually chris i have leant this bike far more than i did the sv, it actually handles quite well, far better than i know what to do with.
Dont know why but when im out on my drz i have so much more confidence cornering, i can chuck that thing around even in the wet and the rear tyre is half the size of my sprint.
Im never gonna enjoy the tight bumpy poor visibilty roads but if i have the confidence to lean the bike over quickly it will stop me freezing on them.

[yorkie_chris]

Yeah but leant it smoothly. It is never going to lend itself well to being lobbed over on its ear at any rate

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by specialone

but somehow go to pot and freeze on unfamiliar roads.

You said your problem isnt observation, but if you are reading the road, you should have worked out what is coming towards you before you get to it. Which means excluding things you cant plan for you shouldnt get caught out, especially if you arent riding at 100% of your ability.

If the problem in your head the I can see how a track day will help you build confidence in your bike and learn to trust it more though.

Personally I think if you are stuck, you are better off getting advice from those qualified to give it rather than listening to a bunch of peeps on an internet forum.

IAM, ROSPA, Bikesafe all good places to start. The good thing about the track though is that is a static environment and you'll all be going to same way and theres no white line to cross into oncoming traffic.

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

You said your problem isnt observation, but if you are reading the road, you should have worked out what is coming towards you before you get to it. Which means excluding things you cant plan for you shouldnt get caught out, especially if you arent riding at 100% of your ability.

If the problem in your head the I can see how a track day will help you build confidence in your bike and learn to trust it more though.

Personally I think if you are stuck, you are better off getting advice from those qualified to give it rather than listening to a bunch of peeps on an internet forum.

IAM, ROSPA, Bikesafe all good places to start. The good thing about the track though is that is a static environment and you'll all be going to same way and theres no white line to cross into oncoming traffic.

Fizz, you have pretty much understood what i mean, even when following someone on unfamiliar roads, i still freeze thinking i cant do that, but on wider roads that look the way i feel comfortable on i dont really have a problem to much.
Watching some peeps on here go round corners i just cant imagine me doing that, but somewhere between them and where i am now would be good.

I am just fecked in the head tbh, probably need a shrink rather a race riding coach.

Get in touch with Simon at Redditch Motorcycle Training and have a few days doing the Enhanced Rider Scheme with him. I guarantee he will put you right on the road. I don't see the point of track training when your problem is on the road. Think about that when you are fully confident on the road.

Cheers - Steve

sounds like a confidence thing. A bit of track time will allow you to explore your bike and become more comfortable with cornering without the distraction of cars, **** on the road, dodgy road surface etc

The various schools (Haslam, California etc) would certainly help but they are very expensive for the amount of time you actually spend on track. The majority of sessioned track days have instructors who will coach you for free throughout the day. All the ones I've encountered have been great blokes and I've learnt loads

Don't be intimidated by track days, there's plenty of people who are there to ride at their own pace, there'll always be someone slower than you!

[lukemillar]

Do CSS... in New Zealand! It is about half the price than in the UK!

People keep on drawing distinct lines between track and road riding. While I will concede that the pace and ultimate goal is somewhat different, end of the day, the are both tarmac, both have straight bits and bendy bits that you want to ride on to get confidence and enjoyment!

Same cornering techniques apply on the road and the track - main advantage of the track is you remove most of the hazards you encounter on the road, so you can focus totally on the technique.

Hottrax do a learner track day usually at Cadwell for 199 quid its really really good. Some of the guys on ThrottleMonkey (the trackday addicts site) prefer the Hottrax one to the Cali Superbike one.

BTW when I say learner I mean they do the classroom sessions and the intructors follow you round watch your lines then they tell you to follow them, close to their tail and look at what they do to understand it. They go through a lot in one day there is not different levels but like a normal trackday they have novice, intermediate and advances rider groups and tailor their sessions to the type of group they are teaching.

Its usually 3-4 riders per instructor.

In any case trackdays have improved my riding by about 1000%.

If you can get on a NoLimits one at cadwell for 99 quid even down to 49 quid later in the season and use there free instructors thats probably a good cheap place to start and go from there.

[keith_d]

I'd suggest contacting your local IAM group and arranging a ride with one of their observers. This doesn't commit you to joining, but you'll get a couple of hours of riding on a variety of roads and some really good suggestions. (well, that's my experience anyway).

It's free, though it's considered good form to pay for the observers petrol (£20 IIRC), and you're not under any pressure to join. I'm hoping to find time next year to join them and improve my skills.

Just my thoughts,

Keith.

Specialone,

Can you explain what you know about "Vanishing points"?

I think this is where the problem lies.

Once you've explained as much as you know about it, I'll post some pics and we'll aplly what you've written to them.

Cheers,
C