I'm loving it right now!!!
She's a little slow right now in the corners, so gotta get my 55 series on soon!!
But so far she gets down with no problem, and very smooth transitions which I assume is cause of the weight...

blackpearl, dump those Metzlers ! LOL ! I got some 55 Michelin Pilot road 4's, and even this high mileage sport/touring tire, kicks the Metzlers ass ! I mean even with the tires being brand new, and having the casting compound on them, they didn't slip once ! And they haven't yet ! I have been I some pretty tight curves too, haven't got to dragging my knee YET ! But will try ! And you are right, the 55 makes a HUGE difference !

Once you have the 55, and your suspension is set, this bike is quite agile for its size ....

I blew past a smaller bike in some high sweepers, he was stunned that this big bike could handle some of the
Stuff he didn't think it could .....

* Last updated by: carabuser on 6/23/2014 @ 11:07 AM *

Omega, saw this two piece "drag suit" for $359 shipped, don't know what your track requirements are, but thought I would post it anyway, ride safe, but FAST !!!

"OK, so I have been kicking track days around for a while... but I need to get some real gear. where can I get a decent 2 piece track approved suit? I am a boy boy, and were 3x fulmer mesh jacket just fine, but don't know what to do about the pants. I will mention that I can wear 38 jeans, but rather 40's... you know for the boys to breath :)"

Click Here for Link to Suit !!!!

Oh don't forget Craigslist, here's an example in my area, two piece Alpinestars, $150

LINK HERE !!!!!

* Last updated by: carabuser on 6/23/2014 @ 11:29 AM *

Sounds like that was quite s thrill, Smatlock!

Thanks to all for the informative input.

And from an older post, no, it's not me in the photo. No white knucking, clenched teeth, or butt hole taking a bite outta the seat, so it can't be me !

Kidding. I am coming along and feel no need to push it. I'd also live to take s track day and planned on it but now have some home financial demands that make it undoable this year.

Between The bike prep, leather suit and track fees, track days can lead to $$$$

But I think it'd be well worth it and I plan to when I am more able to swing it

That's s great price on the speed and strength suit. I was looking into a Teknic Chicane for around $440 or so; On close out cause they went outta business

* Last updated by: ZX14MAN64 on 6/23/2014 @ 3:33 PM *

Be in the correct gear to keep the engine in it's powerband and control your speed with the throttle instead of the brakes. Too high a gear and you'll be slung to the outside of the corner. Too low and engine braking can break the back tire loose, which means you're on your ass sliding.

The tendency with a big motor is to short shift and just let the thing torque along, but on a twisty road, you have to lose the casual-riding attitude, pay attention to everything and be smooth with your control inputs. Takes some practice, but if you can run miles of twisties without touching the brakes and still go quickly, you're doing something tight.

Brakes are for stop signs. Watch this vid and see if you can spot any brake lights:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEY47NJUJqM

* Last updated by: Danno on 6/23/2014 @ 3:37 PM *

Assist:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEY47NJUJqM

Thanks for saving the copy-and-paste. How do you do that? On every other forum I'm on, it's just copy-and-paste the link into the thread reply and it sets it up automatically.

I'm still learning how to ride this big bike smoothly thru the twisties. Will admit it is real tough. Find myself staying in 2nd and 3rd gear through the tight and technical sections. I think I'm using to much engine braking. Use very little brake. But my main issue is the rear end pogoing me all over the place.

You may be running a gear too low or have too little rebound damping in the back shock to control the amount of preload. The chain torque exerts a certain amount of influence on the rear suspension and a combination of too much preload and too little damping will cause what you describe, especially in the lower gears and up in the powerband. Everything has to work together and not one thing working against another.

That's exactly how I was runnin Danno! 3rd was perfect. Had that needle between 6g and 10g basically the whole time I was chasing this guy. Was awesome. At first stop sign he gave me two thumbs up. Then we kept playing. But I was on full focus I tell ya! He knew those roads for sure.

Brakes are for stop signs

* Last updated by: wfozx14 on 6/23/2014 @ 7:38 PM *

^^^^That.

Brakes are for comprehensively skilled riders. Engine braking alone is nowhere near enough if you're entering a corner from a high rate of speed.

Now, if you're running The Pace method, where you never accelerate beyond the max speed of your slowest corner, then fine. Coast away. But when you're ready to ride FAST, you'd better be ready to use your brakes.

Thanks for saving the copy-and-paste. How do you do that? On every other forum I'm on, it's just copy-and-paste the link into the thread reply and it sets it up automatically.

I like the setup here because it forces you how to learn to manually work the coding. Here are my shortcuts:
1. When you copy and paste that link, go to your other site; c-p it there; click preview to see it.
2. When you see how the preview auto-linked it, copy and paste that, then bring it here with the coding already to go.
3. When I come here, I hold down ctrl + U and this makes my code brackets automatically. This is my auto-link and here are my rl's to finish off the code. The code says the same thing as [link] or [url], meaning, both perform the same 'hot line' to click on.
4. Where if we look above the message board we are typing in; it says Body: in bold letters. Then it says, 'No HTML is allowed in your message...' and below you see the open and closing brackets with the letters being the codes.
5. When I hold down the Ctrl key, I can run the coding 2 ways. First, I can hit ctrl+ any letter like U-I-B and my code brackets appear. Secondly, I can keep the Ctrl key held down and then after the letter choice, I hit V. This places the link in the middle of the codes> without letting up on the Ctrl key. One less lift to make at the keyboard is this shortcut. So I either enter my code letters first and go back in the middle and enter the link, or double click my code and link with two keystrokes, then go back and fill in the right code to match the link. See those moves?

Code Bracket Rules:

When you add the forward slash inside the closing bracket, this makes the link hot. So to show you a few possibilities of embedding a link or photo, the brackets have to butt up against the [url]http:...and butt up again at the end of the address[like this]

Correct:
[url]http://www.hereismepic.com[url]

Incorrect:
[img] http://www.hereismepic.com [url]

Note again, to see the bracket placement I removed the forward slash or she goes hot to the touch.

Codes and their meaning:

[url] = Any address c-p'd
[img] = An image or photo address that ends in 'jpg.'
[link] = Any address line you c-p'd be it photo or the address.

Example:

[url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEY47NJUJqM[url] Danno, this is your link, minus the closing code or forward slash. I c-p'd your link, came to the message board; hit my shortcut ctrl + U keys; wrote url or rl in the brackets, wrote assist and hit reply.

Braking is essential. Just enough, not too much. I have non abs model, so I pay particular attetion to my braking. I try to practice alot with braking and it pays off!

Are you serious? A rider who learns to use there brakes smoothly will smoke a rider using his engine to slow down.-wfoZX14

Deadly serious. As for getting "smoked" I'd like to ride with you some time to see what you've been smoking.

Brakes are for comprehensively skilled riders- TRAILBOSS

Brakes are for mistakes. Blasting past on the straights and parking it in the turns is not riding fast and anyone can do it. If you really want to learn how to be fast, get a slow bike and learn to keep your corner speed up so as not to lose momentum.

Riding on public roads the same way you would ride on a racetrack is potential suicide. If you are doubling the recommended speeds in the corners (60 in a 30, 80 in a 40 etc.) you are making progress.

* Last updated by: musclemerc on 6/24/2014 @ 6:19 AM *

Well, Danno, I suppose I'll just keep making my "mistakes", utilizing both my engine and brakes to properly slow down before and during each corner.

I'm curious to see your qualifications, other than "I'm hella fast on the streetz, bro," that lead you to believe you're entitled to be imparting performance riding advice. You eschew track riding techniques as suicide, leading me to believe you haven't had enough time at a track to understand exactly what's being taught. The riding techniques used at a race track, when utilized with prudence, will save your life. Given that you're recommending double yellow sign speeds in corners, you clearly are riding fast enough to need comprehensive skills, not just throttle control.

Corner speed is essential, as you clearly believe. Yet you seem to assume that coming into your corner fast enough to need the brakes is a mistake. Your corner speed is irrelevant to your initial speed or subsequent deceleration. Brakes or compression, both are just techniques to slow the bike down.

The brakes are also used for changing the geometry of the bike during your tip-in and trail-braking. As the weight transfers forward, your forks compress, decreasing your trail (thanks for the correction, sickninja) and allowing the bike to transition more rapidly from side to side. Engine braking alone is by it's very nature the same as using only the rear brake. This leads to lazier steering characteristics.

Braking also loads up the front, which gives you better front end feel and grip, as the contact patch of the front tire is much larger.

I'd posit that the guy who comes in hot, using both the brakes and compression, setting up his entrance speed and trail braking in is a far better rider than the guy who lets the compression alone slow him down to the same corner speed. The guy using the brakes is also going to be a MUCH faster rider overall, assuming he's capable of comparable cornering.

But hey, what do I know? Just keep on coasting. I'm sure the fast guys will save you a seat at breakfast.

* Last updated by: TRAILBOSS on 6/24/2014 @ 9:41 AM *

musclemerc posted the same vid Danno sent in, correct, merc? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEY47NJUJqM

Danno: Brakes are for comprehensively skilled riders- TRAILBOSS

First is setup = Where are you on the road/track?
Second is braking = Where is your Freddie(instinct)Spencer or braking marker(you need to deereye) something.
Third is entry = Where are you after the brakes? In the weeds being on the wrong side of the setup, took a guess at the brake marker, not some sort of instinct: who needs a marker when it's all about T-I-M-I-N-G.

FOURTH DIMENSION = We are neck and neck; eye off to the corner looking at you. You brake and leave my eyesight. That timing of that gap where I now have to hit the brake(s) is to go deeper than you... I just elevated my braking point is watch your point and out point you... Deereye or Instinct calls the ball?

Neither. Cross your fingers. You forced your instincts and now finish out the speed thru the corner. Use what brake? Front. Why? More load placed up front at the tire patch. Why not more rear? Rear goes light, locks up, big steer time and for every action: it's coming around the other way and that's called = High side: snaps you off the seat. Wash the front out = Low side: this more slides you on the ground being kinked over that low.

So the front is for nosedive work, the rear is for wheelie work. Here is one where you do not follow turtle. I do not use the rear at all. Very bad habit to get into. Panic stops are front skid marks and the instinct to release once that occurs is too hairy for most.

It's happened more than once where things slow down, I have time to think,'I'm going to get out of this with one brake' and leave the rear alone. I elevated my braking ability. You follow more of an instinct of the turtle/Freddie, use is on your own.

I'm still learning how to ride this big bike smoothly...

Find myself staying in 2nd and 3rd gear through the tight and technical sections. I think I'm using to much engine braking.

Use very little brake. But my main issue is the rear end pogoing me all over the place.

Spring:
Generally, I'm not going to race so a 'close enough' says to jump on your street clothes to sag the spring. All I want are the 2 numbers so my fat ass squats to a plush bump on the road. That's zero clicks or say those needles are all open so the flow is so fast, I can pogo the spring. See what I'm saying? Laving the dials alone still squish the oil and when you sit that long, someone is taking numbers, everything is settled out, right? So that's more or less my pogo effect is the spring alone.

Compression:
This is where Brock pushes down on the seat. If I play with the clicks, say I open the other all the way, watch how hard the bump is going to send that spring into a compression mode is one direction think. Do we want to sit on a hard compression where we can almost not make the spring move if plopped down on the seat? So, here you play with the comp-clicks to see how hard you want to feel that bump up your rump.

Rebound:
I want my tire back on the ground as fast as possible, meaning, once the spring and comp take up that energy. With this click I can hold the wheel up in the air and watch it come down all slowasshell. Here is where the spring is going to send that wheel on the pogo-back-down, but we want to slow it down. This is the black art of 'taming pogo' down. Make sense about all 3 guys working together on the depogo-ing?

* Last updated by: Hub on 6/24/2014 @ 8:10 AM *

I rarely use the rear brake outside of low-traction situations (rain, gravel runout, snow) and holding the bike still at a stop.

I'll occasionally brush it to settle the suspension mid-line, but I've found that you can really get out of shape fast if you don't do it right.

I know this really doesn't matter but for the sake of sanity LOL and NOT trying to be a smartass so no offense intended at all. Braking changes the "Trail" not the "Rake". The only way to change the "Rake" is to change the angle of the Triple clamps. The "Trail" changes because the wheel becomes closer to the line of the triple clamps. Again, no offense intended at all.

Sic

No worries, brother. You nailed it. The trail and wheelbase both decrease. The rake angle relative to the surface of travel decreases, but not the static rake of the steering head, which is where the measurent used in motorcycle specs is taken.

Unless you're on a 70's cafe racer... Those have an unintentionally dynamic steering head under load. :/

* Last updated by: TRAILBOSS on 6/24/2014 @ 9:37 AM *

"I'm hella fast on the streetz, bro,"

Trying to figure out where you got that. Do you work for Fox News?

"I'd posit that the guy who comes in hot, using both the brakes and compression, setting up his entrance speed and trail braking in is a far better rider than the guy who lets the compression alone slow him down to the same corner speed. The guy using the brakes is also going to be a MUCH faster rider overall, assuming he's capable of comparable cornering."

You assume quite a lot don't you? I assumed the original poster was looking for some advice on how to smooth his technique. If you are so fuckin fast, where are YOUR credentials? Any race wins? Track school instructor? Or just regurgitating something you read and aspire to?

When you're lapping a track, the corners become familiar. After a while you know where every bump and off-camber is. But in the real world, each corner is something new, unfamiliar and inherently dangerous. Pavement condition and potential obstacles are unknown until encountered.

I'd posit that you're not nearly as fast as you think you are. The speeds in the vid I posted were 75-90 mph average with the occasional 110 or so on long straights. Could we have wicked it up to 140, grabbed a handful of brakes at every corner and got to the end a little sooner? Maybe. Did you notice the guy in the white jacket falling behind in the turns and twisting the throttle to catch up on every straight? This was his first ride on about a year. He got to the end not long after the guy in front of him, so he was nearly as "fast" (by your definition of fast) but he approached the corners "hot" to use your word and had to brake, which slowed him down and subsequently had to screw it on coming out to catch up. So no faster, definitely not smoother and likely not near as much fun.

If you come upon a corner that's tighter than the ones you've been carving, of course you have to use some brake to reset your speed and adjust your rythm. But if you brake for every corner, your just a slow guy pretending to be fast.

What a lively, bouncy debate, no? Lol