Twitchy corners
 

Hi all hope you can help...

I did a track event at Cadwell yesterday (part of the police Bike safe program). It was great.:D

My problem is, my bike (sk6s sport) was so twitchy in the corners I didnt have the confidence (being a newish newbie!) to really get it round quick.

I know the suspension can be set differently and tyre pressures are important but I dunno what to set em to!!:confused:

Any suggestions. I have left suspension as it came cos its comfy enough for road riding. Im planning to do it again ASAP so any info would be useful.

Cheers;)
Frazer

Re: Twitchy corners.............
 

were you running road tyre pressures? you really need to drop the pressures to low 30's on track

was it wet or dry? what tyres do you have?

what do you mean by twitchy? wheels sliding? steering over-sensitive? something else?

Re: Twitchy corners.............
 

How long have you been riding ? and how long have you had the bike for ?

Re: Twitchy corners.............
 

Track was dry, and yes road pressures.F33 R 36

I found that going into a corner the front would slide out slightly, very unnerving on a brand new bike!! And comming out of the bend the back sometimes slipped slightly even though I wasnt overly quick or putting to much power on.

Tyres are standard fit Dunlop Sportmax.

Been riding for a year and bike is 2 months old, I know experience is key but it did twitch ......... promise!!!

Re: Twitchy corners.............
 

were you getting leant over onto parts of the tyre you hadn't used before?

Re: Twitchy corners.............
 

How many laps did you do before you started to push the bike.. perhaps the tyres were cold ? One thing I found with the standard Dunlops is that they take a while to get heat into them and they dont work especially well when they are cold.

Failing that, what Weazelz said.

Re: Twitchy corners.............
 

AAAAAAH !!

I didnt think of that DOH !

Yeah, new part of the tyres............. They were well warm did about 4 laps before I felt confident enough to really go for it.

The SV certainly gave some of the supersports bikes a run for their money up the straight and I got airborne comming of the hill near the stand!!

Im sooooo glad I bought this bike.

Whats a good tyre to fit ?

What about suspension set ups?

Re: Twitchy corners.............
 

Cadwell's great, isn't it? :-)

search for "fork oil springs" & "rear shock" & you'll get looooads of discussion on suspension

tyre section would be a good place for tyres. I like supercorsa's as a track tyre, but they're not a very good all-rounder

Re: Twitchy corners.............
 

Keep forgetting to search the older threads.......sorry.

Yeah I really enjoyed Cadwell. Thinking about getting a cheap trackbike, just for the experience.

Thanks for the tips guys.

Re: Twitchy corners
 

Are you sure they tyres are sliding? That would be something of an event. Soft suspension settling in does feel the same - and this would fit with your description - front loading up on entry, rear on exit.

Re: Twitchy corners
 

Tyre flex could feel like the tyre was skipping a little too. I see this quite a bit if pressures get low, and I'd probably HATE riding at track pressures.

That, and the stock tyres are infamous for being, well, sh**e. Using areas of rubber you haven't used before shouldn't really matter, so long as they were scrubbed in properly.

I reckon that in all likelyhood, you were pushing the boundary on the tyres. I've started doing this in the dry on Z6's, and I reckon I'd probably over step the mark a little on stock rubber. One reason I won't go back to it.

Of course, the above could be complete male cow manure!

Re: Twitchy corners
 

I experienced something like this on my bandit when I first got it, the tyres were squared off by the previous owner and it twitched as it went over onto the unused part. (scary!)

Hubby took it out and rounded the tyres off for me one day ;-) (that was a long while ago...I keep my own tyres rounded off now :cool: :)

(Check all other possibilites that everyone else has suggested, but just thought Id let you know my own experience)

Re: Twitchy corners
 

Track pressures are lower when cold as track gets far more heat into the tyre. The actual pressure when riding will be similar to riding pressure on the road.

If you use road pressures on the track the tyre will over-inflated when hot, giving twitchy handling and less grip.

Frazer: I'd ditch the Dunlops if you go on track again, not wanting to scare you but I crashed on mine (and I don't think I'm the only one).

Pick something like Pirelli Diablos, Pilot Powers, Metzler M-1 or 3, etc. if you don't want to compromise your mileage,wet grip but don't want to worry about grip on the track.

Re: Twitchy corners
 

It sounds like one of two things....
The rider is twitchy being leaned over further than usual. Thats a totally normal process. Small inputs give larger feeling shakes.

Your tyres are a bit squared off..the Squared "line" is giving you a slight bump as you go over it.

I have to disagree with the Anti-Dunlop fraternity.
I didnt use much of the sportmax's, but i've had 3 sets of D207's, 2 sets of D208's and I've never had any worries with them, wet or dry. To blame a crash just on a modern tyre is a bit of a misnomer.... tyres will only do so much. Anyone expecting to go full pelt at a trackday on a road tyre is asking for trouble.

Re: Twitchy corners
 

what I was meaning was that he may have been getting little slides whilst the un-used, un-scrubbed part of the tyre scrubbed in

Re: Twitchy corners
 

I'd sincerely doubt it. When I went to France last year I thought my front and rear were sliding about on the rhs roundabouts....freaked me out a bit.
Turns out it was my suspension compressing... but because its a "sideways" kinda motion when you're leaned over further than usual its unnerving the first few times.

Re: Twitchy corners
 

practice ....practice....
one day it'll all just 'click' :)
standard tyres are pants, but still capable on a dry track.

Re: Twitchy corners
 

Wasting my breath, so I am. Wallowing feels a bit like sliding, especially to the less experienced, and on a track you corner harder than usual so the forces are higher and the wallowing greater.

Re: Twitchy corners
 

I had read your post(and agreed with it) :)
Now I know what wallowing in my own inexperience feels like :)

Re: Twitchy corners
 

Thanks guys, lots to think about here I must admit.

I dont just have this problem on track on must roundabouts as well.

The event at Cadwell wasnt racing by any means, just a bit of fun after a training session.

My tyres arent squared off at all, only got 1400 mile on em, the suspension was set as it came from the factory so I will try playing with that. I am generally relaxed going into a corner but as soon as the "twitch" appears I back off and tense up which doesnt help.

I also agree with the PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE theory! again, thanks for the advice, hope to see soem of ya at AR07, the wife has signed my leave pass so Im off to play for a couple of days YIPPEE!:D

Re: Twitchy corners
 

My bike felt like that going thru corners. I increased the back preloading by two notches and it is MUCH better. Now feels much more settled for my 13 stone. It's on notch 4 now