Canyon Carving: Tutorial on R1-Forums

[Zach929rr]

this was a very interesting and helpful discussion to read. i'm curious, dirk, as to what you were referring to when you said:



i know what chicken strips are. but, i'm not sure i know what you mean when you say that it somehow shows how poorly someone rides. mind elaborating?

Someone with "strips" can be much quicker than someone without due to proper body positioning.

[dirkterrell]

i know what chicken strips are. but, i'm not sure i know what you mean when you say that it somehow shows how poorly someone rides. mind elaborating?

What Zach said. Wear to the edge of the tires is not a reliable indicator of how well or fast someone rides.

[Slo]

+1, I was one of those that would walk around and look at front/back tires to determine if they knew how to ride.

That is....until I learned more, Mike Applehans mentioned something about that (how chicken strips dont mean anything) a long time ago and it was definitely true.

[grim]

I was tought that you want to try and get good full contact all the way around the tire so that you have a nice even wear all the way around and you don't start getting a flat spot in the center which can throw you off when leaning into a turn. Is this not correct?

[Titus]

What Zach said. Wear to the edge of the tires is not a reliable indicator of how well or fast someone rides.

+1

All things being equal; speed, line, etc., a rider with proper body positioning will have a more upright bike around the corner (and have bigger chicken strips) than a rider with poor body positioning.

The rider with good body position will also have less knee contact with the ground too.

[Titus]

I was tought that you want to try and get good full contact all the way around the tire so that you have a nice even wear all the way around and you don't start getting a flat spot in the center which can throw you off when leaning into a turn. Is this not correct?

I don't think they're worried about getting a flat spot at a certain lean angle. If that was a problem the tire must be waaaaay too soft for the given race.

The better the body positioning a rider has, the more upright he can keep the bike for any given corner speed. Therefore, bigger contact patch = more traction = more corner speed.

[dirkterrell]

I was tought that you want to try and get good full contact all the way around the tire so that you have a nice even wear all the way around and you don't start getting a flat spot in the center which can throw you off when leaning into a turn. Is this not correct?

That's what dual-compound tires are for. If you're developing a flat spot in the center, you're probably commuting a lot. If you're riding curves a lot, I don't think you need to worry about flat spots. My street bikes have about 1/4" or so of chicken strips because I like to keep some reserve in case I come up on something that requires tightening the turn. The race bike's tires are worn to the edge since I'm not worried about that reserve.

I can only recall putting my knee down once on the street. Diego and I were riding down highway 7 one day at a reasonable clip and it was very windy. I was leaned over in a right hander and a big gust came from the left, pushing me into my lean reserve. I used my knee to stop it from pushing me too far. The lesson there was that I was going to fast for the conditions (following an 848 on the VFR) but I did have the reserve to keep it from turning into a bad situation.

Another lesson I can share is my last crash on the street and it was probably before some of you were even born (1986). On my 500 Interceptor I came into a turn that I had taken probably a thousand times and I was little too hot. The bad thing was that I was also being lazy with my body positioning, so I was basically sitting upright. I realized I needed to tighten the turn so I leaned some more. I was used to older bikes with 18" front wheels that would start complaining when you approached the lean limit. The older Interceptors, with those 16" front wheels, are smooth as silk right up to the point where the front washes out. Being upright, I hit the limit and went sliding. If I had had my body in the right position, I would have been able to make the turn while trying to find something in the tank bag. Since then, I have been in the habit of getting my body shifted to the inside, even through moderate turns, just in case.

[GuitarX]

Another lesson I can share is my last crash on the street and it was probably before some of you were even born (1986).

Dirk, I'm guessing tire technology has progressed to the point over the last 26 years where you probably wouldn't have that same accident in 2012 lol!

[dirkterrell]

Dirk, I'm guessing tire technology has progressed to the point over the last 26 years where you probably wouldn't have that same accident in 2012 lol!

Tires and brakes have definitely made huge strides in that time, no doubt.

[Ghosty]

If you're developing a flat spot in the center, you're probably commuting a lot.

That's probably what the prior owner of my bike did. My rear tire was close to bald when I bought it, but only in the center. In fact it's flat or shallow all the way around the center. I've put about 500 miles on it in the last few weeks, found a nail jammed in it last night, so need a new tire for sure (today's project).

[Zanatos]

Why do so many riders seem to fixate on who can lean harder and ride faster? It makes sense at the track, but why would anyone want to ride at the limits of their abilities on public roads? Is it a death wish, a need to rack up as many traffic tickets as possible, or a deep desire to piss off everyone else on the road and give motorcyclists a bad image?

[kawasakirob]

Hahaha! I almost crashed when I first touched knee. My slider was not in the right place so my leathers caught a little bit, and also because it startled me pretty bad. Geez I'm lucky I didn't die. I learned to go fast on Berthoud....not the best choice. Crashed twice, destroyed 2 bikes and have had way to many close calls. I learned the hard way to go kinda fast, definitely was not the smartest. After going to some tracks, it's almost crazy thinking about how much I pushed myself on the street. Not worth it....but fun nonetheless. Dragging a knee is a very rewarding aspect of riding a sport bike, especially when it's done smoothly. But with the added speed/lean/concentration there comes more consequence if a mistake is made. Enjoy the ride on/off the track but there is obviously more "hazards" when ripping around on a canyon road, but to some people, that's just as fun if not more fun than riding on the track.