Eight mindful strategies to help keep you on your bike at all times...       

.       While there is no question that riding a motorcycle anywhere, street, track, or otherwise, is an activity that includes some risk, I believe we can keep the risk to an acceptable minimum. Sure, there are some things beyond our control whenever we ride, but my feeling is that I’m sure going to carefully control everything within my power to insure the safety of myself, my bike, and others I ride with.

          Do you know anyone who seems to crash a lot while on the track? Maybe they’re really fast, maybe not. How about someone who never seems to crash? Again, maybe someone really fast, and maybe not. I know quite a few riders who are exceptionally fast, yet hardly ever crash. I don’t believe there needs to be a direct correlation between higher speeds and frequency of crashing. In fact, many fast riders are that fast because they know how not to crash.

          So why do we crash, anyway? Of course, there are a bunch of reasons. In this article we’re only going to talk about the ones within our control, not ones where someone (or something) else causes us to crash. The objective here is to learn how to avoid crashing, while still riding at our maximum potential, and that of our equipment.

"You might get away with it occasionally, but at some point it will bite you. 70% lean angle + 60% braking = Uh-oh." - Whipple

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          Here are the primary reasons I’ve seen people cause themselves to crash (several of which I’ve done myself):

          *Cold tires / Worn tires
          *Abrupt inputs on the controls
          *Lack of focus
          *Rushing the corners / Poor lines
          *Bad body position
          *Violating the 100% rule
          *Incorrect suspension setup
          *Repeating mistakes

           You’ll notice I put “cause themselves to crash” in bold print above. That wasn’t by accident (no pun intended). In most cases, if we’ve crashed, it didn’t just happen to us– we made it happen. The good news about this is that, if we can make it happen, there is much we can do to make it not happen.

Tires

         If you’ve ever been to a trackday, you have probably heard the warnings at the Riders Meeting: “Okay, everyone. Remember to take it easy for a couple of laps to let your tires warm up before you start pushing it.” And then, almost inevitably, a session or two into the day, a red flag comes out, and everyone leaves the track while they pick up the bike and rider who crashed on cold tires.

          I’ve seen this so many times it’s ridiculous. I was almost a victim of it myself once, and that was even when I’d used tire warmers between sessions. I went out on the track, fully intending to take it easy for a couple of laps, when about two corners into my first lap, I got passed by someone who had been out there for a couple of laps already. Being a bit competitive by nature, I decided I had to go get him, right then and there! I got on the gas exiting the next turn, and immediately felt the rear tire spinning and sliding sideways at a rapid clip, like I was on a dirt bike or something. Knowing better than to chop the throttle off, which would have probably highsided me to the moon, I eased off gently and carefully rode out the slide, breathing a big sigh of relief. I’m glad I learned my lesson without having to have a get-off.

          *Be patient. Let your tires warm up. Cold tires don't grip very well. Even yours.

           What about worn tires? I know what you’re thinking. “Come on. Tires are expensive. Can’t I just get one more session out of these?” Been there. Done that. Yeah, I know - they’re not cheap. But tires that are worn out, low on rubber or high on heat cycles, are going to put you at risk.

                      Tire Warmers

           I’ve known several racers that rode back to the paddock on the crash truck, with a rashed up bike and trashed gear, who thought they could get “just one more session” out of their tires. Look, I know they cost a lot of money. I spend several hundred every race weekend on new tires. And every weekend I have to make judgment calls on how much life is left in my tires. I can tell you this– when they start to become even a little bit questionable, if I do decide to go just one more session on them, I make an even greater effort to get my body position well off the bike, to stand it up on the fat, center part of the tire. If I don’t, I may wind up like those guys on the crash truck. No thanks. Tires are cheap insurance compared to the cost of bike repair or replacement.

Abrupt Input

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            “I can’t believe I crashed. It all happened so fast. I was trying to up the pace, got into turn four a little hot, and had no choice but to brake harder. Suddenly I tucked the front. Bam– down I went.” 

            Going faster means carrying more corner speed, getting on the gas harder and sooner exiting corners, and braking harder entering corners. Everything speeds up. Reaction times decrease. The margin for error becomes much smaller. So, what’s the temptation? PIN the throttle. THROW the bike into the corner. STAB the brakes. Faster means more abrupt, right?

          Wrong. Watch the top racers on TV. Smooth, smooth, smooth. Sure, they’re pushing hard and constantly stretching the limits. Yet watch them at corner entry, braking from nearly 200 MPH to less than half that in a matter of seconds. If you watch closely, you won’t see their front end diving abruptly as they apply the brakes. Sometimes it’s hard to even tell when they’re on the brakes, because although they are braking hard, they apply the brakes very smoothly. They start early, and gradually squeeze the lever, harder, harder, to maximum, and then just as gently and gradually they release the lever.

Getting it wrong on the track                       

           *Your brake and throttle are not on/off switches. Learn to control them properly, more like a volume control.

            Two of the coolest experiences I ever had were when I got to ride as a passenger on the back of bikes piloted by Freddie Spencer and Jason Pridmore at their schools. While it was fun and exciting to go that fast around the track, the part that stuck with me the most was just how smooth they were with all their inputs. You knew when the bike was speeding up or slowing down, but you never felt the bike jerk abruptly while accelerating, shifting or braking. They were like highly trained surgeons that had an absolute mastery of their craft. I even practice making smooth inputs while just driving my car around town. I want being smooth to be second nature. It keeps me safer on the track.

Lack of Focus

           One of the things I love most about this sport, is that it demands so much mental focus and clarity at all times. The mental intensity it requires is incredibly stimulating, but can be exhausting. We are required to make hundreds of split-second decisions in every lap, and we don’t dare let our minds wander while dragging a knee at high speeds.

            Yet sometimes, we do let our minds wander, jeopardizing our safety. We may be hot and tired, dehydrated, or just feeling “out of it.” We may have done so many laps on this track, that we sort of go on autopilot. We may just be mindlessly following the rider in front of us, doing what he does, right or wrong, rather than riding our own bike. I’ve found myself thinking about stupid things like what I’ll have for lunch.

           When I catch myself doing any of these things, I know it’s time to take a break, drink some water or a sports drink, and refocus. There’s just too much at stake.

                                    Racing at the max

            A more subtle way that this can happen, which is just as destructive, is thinking about the corner we just messed up, when we really need to be focusing only on the one directly in front of us. Ever done this? I sure have. Especially if there is a particular corner I’ve been working on, and I blow it. Sometimes I may be two or three turns beyond it, and I’m still thinking about it (and probably screwing up the ones I’m not currently focusing on).

          *Stay in the Moment.

         Forget about the turns you’ve already been through. Focus on what’s in front of you, not what’s behind you.

Rushing the Corners/Poor Lines

            Choosing the proper lines around a racetrack is a science itself, and makes a huge difference in your safety and speed. I wrote a previous article about selecting the best lines: http://www.mcadxmag.org/learned-hard-way/48-techniques/49-using-the-whole-track-.html.

          Often when I’m following someone at the track who chooses poor lines, I can predict how it will cause them problems and compromise their safety. The main mistake I see is riders “rushing the corner.” They are following someone in front of them, trying to catch (or pass) them. Instead of taking the proper line into the corner, they abruptly rush in too early, trying to take a shorter route to catch up more quickly. Why not? The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, right?

         Look at the example shown here. Rider A, the leading rider, takes the correct line, using the whole track at entry and exit. Rider B decides to take a more aggressive line into the turn to catch up. What happens next? Rider A continues on with minimal lean angle. Rider B, on the other hand, now winds up on a path to the outside edge of the track, and the only way to correct his course is to slow down or add more lean angle, or both.

          Sure, sometimes in a race (or trackday), you wind up having to take alternative lines to make a pass. If you just follow the other rider on the preferred line, you can’t get around him. However, you need to understand the added risk that goes along with this maneuver, and adjust accordingly to stay safe.

          Beware of this temptation, as it catches a lot of riders. It’s very subtle, and it can bite you. Think about your lines, and stick with the program. Use the whole track to improve your safety.

*Don’t rush the corners. It won’t make you faster, it will make you crash.

Rider B rushing              

Bad Body Position

          It’s all about lean angle, and what you are asking your tires to do. The safest rider is the one that uses the least amount of lean angle. But if you’re going fast, aren’t you going to naturally add more lean angle? Can you go fast and still minimize lean angle?

          Yes, you can. And you do it with proper body position.

          Consider two riders going through the same turn, at about the same speed. One is doing a better job of getting off the bike, butt off the seat, head down, leading the bike through the turn. With the weight off the center of the bike, the center of gravity is lowered, and the bike can go through the corner at the same speed with less lean angle. A little extra effort for the rider, but greatly enhanced safety as a result.

*Increased lean angle = increaded risk. Do what you can to minimize it with proper body position. You’ll go faster, yet stay safer.

                       Correct body position in the mid-turn

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Violating the 100 Percent Rule

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          I call it the 100 percent rule. No, not pushing your abilities beyond 100 percent, although that can certainly put you at risk. This 100 percent rule has to do with the combination of lean angle and braking, or lean angle and acceleration. Nick Ienatsch refers to this as the "100 points of traction" in his great book: Amazon.com: Sport Riding Techniques: How To Develop Real World Skills for Speed, Safety, and Confidence on the Street and Track: Nick Ienatsch, Kenny Roberts, Tom Morgan: Books

         The idea is that if you are at 60% of your maximum lean angle, you had better not be more than 40% of your available acceleration (corner exit), or 40% of available braking (corner entry). If you increase the percentage of lean angle, you need to correspondingly decrease the amount of acceleration or braking. 20% lean angle + 80% acceleration/braking = 100%. 80% lean angle + 20% acceleration/braking = 100%, and so on. If you exceed 100% total, you are very much at risk. You might get away with it occasionally, but at some point it will bite you. 70% lean angle + 60% braking = Uh-oh.

         It is necessary to brake to slow down when entering corners. The best riders in the world do it as late as possible, applying the brakes smoothly as they approach the corner, achieving maximum braking pressure while the bike is still quite upright, then easing off the brakes as they approach maximum lean angle. At corner exit, they want to get on the gas as hard and as quickly as possible. They know, however, that if they twist the throttle aggressively while at full lean, the tire will spin and they could crash. Because of this, they try to stand the bike up as much as possible as they get on the gas. The 100 percent rule in action.

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                                                    Hard braking                                                                                               On the gas

Incorrect Suspension Setup

          I’m not going to spend a bunch of time talking about how to properly set up your bike’s suspension. There are plenty of great articles that have been written about that. I do want you to know, however, that having properly set up suspension will greatly enhance your safety on the track.

          I speak from experience. I believe that a crash I had last year in a race was largely caused by incorrect suspension settings on my bike.

          Despite starting from the back of the grid, I charged through the pack on the first lap, passing probably 15 racers through the first five turns. I made a bold move into turn six, taking the inside line while braking hard into the turn. I released the front brake to get back on the gas through the turn, and instantly the front tire lost traction, and down I went, praying that the 20 or so guys behind me wouldn’t run me over (they didn’t, thankfully).

          What I later figured out was that the rebound on my forks was too fast. The forks were compressed when I was braking into the corner. When I released the brake lever, the forks quickly sprung back out, instead of gently. This caused the front tire to lose grip. An expensive and painful learning experience.

          *Get some help with your suspension setup.

         There are lots of great experts out there at trackdays and races. Your bike will be much easier to ride, and you’ll be able to go faster, with greater safety.

Repeating Mistakes

          Sometimes, we get away with violating some of these fundamentals while on the track. Our tires are new, so they grip well despite our poor lines or excessive lean angle. We stab at the brakes, but happen to have the bike upright enough to maintain good traction. We let our mind wander briefly.

          However, each time we repeat a mistake like these, we increase our chances of not getting away with it. Don’t let this happen to you. Consciously work on these fundamentals the next time you are out on the track. If you catch yourself making a mistake, fix it on the next lap, and keep getting it right. As I read once, “Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.” You should never be out mindlessly spinning laps. Have a plan, have goals for each session– not just “faster lap times,” but improved fundamentals.

Respect, Not Fear

 
         Fear is incredibly powerful, and terribly destructive. If you ride around in fear of crashing all the time, you won’t have much fun, and you probably won’t ride very well.

          When I violently crashed a few years ago, I considered giving up track riding forever. But I loved it so much, that within a few days I decided I couldn’t do that. Instead, I decided to learn everything I could about how to ride safer while riding faster. I know there are risks involved, but I maintain a very healthy, ongoing respect for those risks, and do all I can to minimize them. I encourage you to do the same.

Have fun, go fast, be smart, and ride safely!