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Hi, My Name Is Squeaky...

Awesome pics Bec. :thumb: Do the legs still feel like jello? :twitch: You've got me excited again about trying out the track for the first time. Would you recommend a Ladies Only day (any idea when that might be again) or Beginners @ TWS. It sounds like you got more one on one instructing at MSRH. I too would like to wait a while til it cools down a bit.
 
:thumb: Form looks good and that's definitely a great shot but reading that you are dragging hard parts with those tires scare me!

Don't worry - I've got lean angle left. Not much, but some.
The tire shows good wear to just about the edge on the left and about 1/4 inch shy of the edge on the right.

If it makes you feel better, I went with what has been touted as a "more sticky/agressive" tire on the street while still maintaining some DS characteristics - Michellin Anakee. I need to change out the front soon too, so I might get the matching Anakee and see how it feels.
 
On pavement there really is nothing wrong with Tourances. They by far outperform the Strom on cornering. Now I wouldn't exactly want to run them on something like an SV or a GSXR, but for a bike with as little lean angle as the Strom they really aren't too bad IMO.
 
I'd go to a track for nothing more than to get a photo of myself like that. That's too cool!:drool:

Yeppers, this shot is a wall hanger if there ever was one. Squeaker did gooooood. And not only does she walk the walk, but now she is talking the talk.:clap:

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:sun:
 
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Ooh, a sample pic from the track photog!
(note the peculiar fellow running the track on my blinker stalk)

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Good to see your head finally pointing in the right direction! Looking good :thumb:
 
On pavement there really is nothing wrong with Tourances. They by far outperform the Strom on cornering. Now I wouldn't exactly want to run them on something like an SV or a GSXR, but for a bike with as little lean angle as the Strom they really aren't too bad IMO.

:tab I never had any problems with Tourances on the pavement when running them on my 1150GS :shrug: The GS has LOTS of lean angle and I was able to drag pegs and luggage on it with nary a wiggle from the tourances. Of course, I could also do this with the TKC 80 knobbies on there :eek2: I also ran the Anakees. So far as I could tell, they were virtually identical in handling and lifespan :ponder: I just wish I could have gotten the GS on the track before selling it... :doh:
 
Repeat after me:

My name is "Squeaky", and I have a habit. :trust:
So when are the TAA* meetings? :giveup:
*Track Addicts Anonymous
So - do y'all want to wait for the next ladies only day, a newbie-only day mixed with the men, or just do a "regular" track day? Which track?
If y'all do a non-gender discriminating one, I'd love to come.
If its a ladies only, I'll offer to serve as a pit crew/photographer :trust:

Course time and $$ are always working against me :argh:
 
If its a ladies only, I'll offer to serve as a pit crew/photographer :trust:

Can I call dibs on you as my umbrella boy? You and Wayne are probably some of the only ones that can hold the umbrella high enough to get me & Wilbur under it! :lol2:

Scott - funny you say that about me looking where I'm going. Whenever I see track pics, I always look for that on everyone and from what I can tell I'm one of only a few that turn my head completely. Not to say that others arent looking where they're going, but they must use peripheral vision (which I have none with glasses) cuz not a lot of them get the full head turn. :shrug:
 
It might be because TWS has more hard right turns and MSRH had more lefts - I suspect that the pedal to deploy the stand hangs down farther on the left than any of the operating parts on the right.
That is my concern - the left. My one road peg-and-boot-gouging turn was a tighty righty.

I'd say leave the stand and learn to get off the bike more.
I've been leaning, tucking and knee-out riding for awhile now, but only shifting the weight to one butt cheek or another. Guess I have to learn to get that off to the side, too.

So - do y'all want to wait for the next ladies only day, a newbie-only day mixed with the men, or just do a "regular" track day? Which track?
Maybe later. I have a coach now that I trust and feel confident in. I'd like some time under his tutelage for awhile first.
 
He said I was getting over on my lower body nicely but that I was dropping my inside shoulder. (This is something I learned to do on the street to relax on tight intersection turns) In order to "open up" my shoulders the way he wanted, I'd need a sport bike. I still tried to work on opening up my shoulders to the turns as far as I could. In that last pic I can see my shoulder dropping in.
HMM... This is interesting. Did he explain why?

I've learned to drop my inside shoulder forward and down into the curves, shifting weight back on the rear. Turn upper body into the line of curve, lean forward, head forward and down but looking up, and dip shoulder down. Shift weight to the appropriate butt cheek, knee glides out. Head follows line, body follows, bike follows.

Getting the butt off the seat is my next step.

It's a matter of physics when you think about it. Keeping the shoulders up and open works for me only in tame and slow corners, but not tight corners with any speed. The difference is amazing.

I discussed this with a friend who is an Olympic speed skater and sports physiologist. The same technique, and physics, apply on the ice. And riding horses (cross-country).

You also might consider a different handle bar on the Strom. My after-market bar is very compatible with both styles of riding. And I have shorter arms than you. (I'm shorter, period)
 
Getting the butt off the seat is my next step.

You'll start to get off the seat and feel like you're hanging off until you see pictures - then you'll see how much more you can hang off. I basically got to a point where I could take my outside leg completely off the peg in a long turn and dangle it out to the side since ALL of my weight was on the inside.

Try putting Wee up on the center stand and get on and try it. If you rotate around the gas cap (keeping the shoulder in) you'll bring your knee around toward the front of the bike instead of down to the ground. The only way to get it out there as far as it will go will be to follow it with your upper body.
 
Oh, and more pics from spectators! Track photog says I get my full set of pics tomorrow - I can't wait! :rider:

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This pic has me wondering if maybe the center stand was dragging because it wasn't getting pulled back up as far as it should have? :ponder:
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:tab Squeaky, if you ever watch any pro racing, you will see that most every rider turns their entire head. They basically point their nose where they want to go. I have found that when I do this, I ride better. When I get lazy and use peripheral vision or just move the eyes, I ride worse. Also, watch how the pros get over to one side. They move the entire body, not just their fanny. Shoulders and head move to the inside with the rear, sometimes more than the rear.

:tab So have you begun to master the slow in/fast out and proper throttle control as well?

:tab It is cool to see you enjoying the track so much and doing so well. You've come a long way since those days of me chasing you through the twisties of Arkansas ;-)
 
:tab So have you begun to master the slow in/fast out and proper throttle control as well?

I'd like to think I've had that part down for a while now... but since you and I haven't ridden in FOREVER I guess you don't know that. :shrug:

:tab It is cool to see you enjoying the track so much and doing so well. You've come a long way since those days of me chasing you through the twisties of Arkansas ;-)

Yeah - and to think I was scared of the track when I had the SV! Man, what I wouldn't give to get out there on a sport bike just to see how I'd do! :ponder:
 
Also, watch how the pros get over to one side. They move the entire body, not just their fanny. Shoulders and head move to the inside with the rear, sometimes more than the rear.
Bingo!!!

Keeping the center of gravity as low and inside to the curve as possible.

Lyle once said this is where women have the advantage in speed skating. Our center of gravity is lower.
It may also be a disadvantage for us Strom riders: the center of gravity is so much higher (and forward) than a sport bike. That's one reason why I really try to keep my butt way back in the seat on the curves; it shifts the center of gravity back more so that it is closer to the middle rather than all up front. I found it made a big difference in handling, too.

It's all physics.
Ya know, that 'f' word ;)
 
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The upper body is massively important in turning as well. Also, your outside leg really shouldn't be flopping around in the breeze. You should be able to weight the outside peg, and that's hard to do with you foot in the air!

A really common thing, especially amongst dirt riders, is to push the bike down, with the upper body staying in the air above the tank. This is bad, simply because you actually use up more ground clearance.

A simple check is to see where your head is at (no, really). Your head should be between the gas tank and the inside of the turn. If you are over the gas tank, or to the outside of the turn you need to shift the upper body. Once you start shifting the upper body, it's amazing how responsive a sport bike is to "decisive" steering input.

Ditto on the looking down the track...you kinda want to look like this. Notice if you draw a line down from his head, it's well off the tank to the inside...even at a mild lean angle.
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It is cool to see you enjoying the track so much and doing so well. You've come a long way since those days of me chasing you through the twisties of Arkansas ;-)

That's what I thinking, except I remember my first 'twt' ride of us 3 on a Wednesday morning a few years back. Now I am worried that I won't be able to keep up!:doh:
 
At the RideSmart track day at TWS recently, Ty Howard and another guy (can't recall his name) were talking about weight shifting. They were adamant about two things in particular:

1. The hips (and thus, the shoulders) should be perpendicular to the bike. I've heard elsewhere about two styles of hanging off, this way, and another which involves essentially 'rotating' around the gas tank. Ty et al, really stressed the former, saying that the shoulders should be squared or (iirc) even facing the exit of the turn (I think this is the open-ness that Squeaky mentioned earlier).

2. The head should be where your inside-of-the-turn mirror would be.

They were not adamant about hanging off a whole lot, just getting one cheek off to the inside. They did make a point that by shifting the whole body to one side of the other, there's less need to hold on to the bars, allowing for better handling of mid-turn bumps and, of course, less unnecessary input to the bars during the turn.

I tried to practice all this, but didn't do so great, until maybe the last session.

fwiw.
 
I know my bike was not meant for riding a track, but I enjoy the twisties in the mountains in eastern Oklahoma and the Pig Trail as much as the next person. I do have a little background with the fundamentals of turns for motorcycles but it was in the early 70's that I learned it (but it was a cafe bike) and I'm a little out of practice. I do have a pretty extensive background in track turns in fast cars, but that's another deal.
With my wide seat it is very difficult for me to shift my butt to the side, (tractor style seat), but I try to make up for it my moving my feet to where they are hanging off the back of the floorboards and more underneath me and leaning down with my upper body to the side of the tank.
This has worked for me so far, but I would love to go to the track and work out the best method. I can't go too far without leaving metal parts here and there, but learning the best method for my bike would sure be nice.
Any advise?
I left a lot of floorboard mounts and even some chrome pipe on the Pig Trail twisties last June. I am headed out Sunday to see if I can leave some more up there.

Janet
 
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I am headed out Sunday to see if I can leave some more up there.
Janet

I'm jealous. My 1st ride in AR was with Billy's group a few weeks ago and that was one of the best rides I've been on. The weather was on our side and the roads were fantastic.

Wish I was going with ya.
:sun:
 
This has worked for me so far, but I would love to go to the track and work out the best method. I can't go too far without leaving metal parts here and there, but learning the best method for my bike would sure be nice.
Any advise?
I left a lot of floorboard mounts and even some chrome pipe on the Pig Trail twisties last June. I am headed out Sunday to see if I can leave some more up there.

Janet

Someone say leaning on a cruiser???:trust:
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With my wide seat it is very difficult for me to shift my butt to the side, (tractor style seat), but I try to make up for it my moving my feet to where they are hanging off the back of the floorboards and more underneath me and leaning down with my upper body to the side of the tank.

That's how I used to ride on the street. I'd move my weight over, scoot the rear end a bit, and it works fine for even the fastest/twistiest roads.

Then I got on the track and did that and in my first session and thought I was doing fine until I ran out of room to lean - the peg feeler was digging into the pavement HARD through the horseshoe and I decided I'd drifted wide enough so I picked the bike up and rode it off the track.

Street riding still has me pulling my inside foot back and shifting weight, but I don't get up and over like I need to on the track. I just don't go that fast on those turns.
 
Guy and the other instructor (I forget his name) told us to move our bums off the seats a little. I felt I was doing that a lot, but then got to looking and was barely getting one cheek off the seat. I do know I was getting the bike leaned way further over then I do on the street.

My whole point of going to the track day was to learn to trust the bike/tires more. I know I rode much harder at the track then I ever have on the street and the bike never felt like it was going to let go. The simple confidence in the bike that I gained from the track day was worth WAY more then I paid! :clap:

Edit to add: Whats required of an umbrella boy? :wary:
 
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