Basic skills

I cant believe the way some people ride!

There is no discipline,no plan,

there are no riding rules!

The French motards,

delight in riding with their right leg straight out

-the foot trailing an inch above the the tarmac

WHAT IS THAT ALL ABOUT?

Do you ride like that?

I was taught

by a mature friend

of my Dad,s in 1966.

He had a Mini Cooper S

still looks good ,doesnt it?

and apart from trying to teach me to pass my test

he gave me roadcraft lessons.

(quite a thrill driving a Cooper S at age 17! )

He taught me to use all the available road width,

to square off the corners,

to brake on the straights

and then off the brakes and onto the gas coming out of the bends

(heel and toe braking,no less!)

-on “a rising throttle”

“Slow in-fast out “”

THAT was the drill.

Follow most riders today and it seems to be the opposite!

Accelerate into the corners

brake as if your life depended on it

(probably does-ed)

carry on trailing the brakes into the corner

wobble a bit,

hustle the bike upright

and then….

GO

-like a bat out of hell!

The modern way

-Point and squirt!

Not for me,pal!

I prefer the old school..…

Plan your cornering well in advance

Smoooooothly does it!

always looking THROUGH the corner,

not AT it!

I never use the clutch once I,m going,

do you?

Match the revs,snick it up…

Blip the throttle,snick it down,

SIMPLE

if youve got

Mechanical sympathy!

Use the revs

to get the most

out of your engines performance parameters

Surely Every biker does,dont they?

Dont you believe it!

Follow a group on a trackday,

or on the road ,come to that

“racing line”

“double apex”

“continuous radius”

“adverse camber”

“HEY MAN,

WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?”

Fogarty won by sheer willpower and aggression!

He hated everyone(read his autobiography!)

Crash or win!

(a bit like Stoner or Biaggi)

A racer,sure,

but not a technician!

Keith Code,

Keith Code and Eddie Lawson in 1984

the Californian Race School guru

trainer to the likes of Swantz,

Rainey et al

always said that

“you compete against the TRACK

NOT the other riders”

Lap times are all

if you are gaining

on the man in front,

(cutting down your lap times,)

sooner or later,

you will pass your rival.

Aggressive antics and willpower

have litttle to do with it!

Its basic physics!

Listen to Toby or Julian

on the MotoGP coverage

on Sky eurosports

-they keep banging on

about half a second advantages etc etc

between riders,

but its true

You will catch up

and pass your rival

if you are gaining a time advatage each lap

(provided enough laps remain to do it in!)

One of the smoothest of all riders,

was,

(and still is ,)

John Surtees

(the only man to have been World champion

on 2 and 4 wheels-and now 74 years old)

I remember,

a friend talking to marshalls

at the Curborough sprint

(a Vincent owners club

twisty sprint track)

near Lichfield ,staffs.

where Surtees was a guest driver

at a club competition.

Always a  gentleman

of the old school,

Surtees had inspected the track,

noting all salient features.

He had talked to the marshalls

and praised them

for their dedication.

(unlike some of the modern,

ungracious prima donnas!)

Driving a Caterham 7

he had of course won the event

(Albeit in his late 70,s)

The winning feature,

common to all those

who witnessed the  4 runs,

was the inch perfect placement of the car.

Same line,same gear,same speed

EVERY TIME ROUND!

(I saw him at Mallory a few years ago on a Matchless

-same story,

knees glued to the tank,

same line ,same speed,

EVERY LAP

Its consistency that wins races!

Similarly

Its smooth,

consistent riding

that makes better roadriders!

Next time out,

relax your grip on the bars

give a little more thought

about what you are doing

and enjoy the ride!

Its not a race!

startline disasters 3-premature trajectulation

GOOD TITLE EH?

This is my last disaster story(not all my starts were doomed!)

Mallory Park in June 1998.

A New Era Club meeting with a large entry for the 500 Classic race.

So large, in fact ,that the 500s

were to start 10 seconds in front of a 350 group.

(2 races in one in fact)

I was riding a Honda 350 K4

- a race sorted, roadbased twin .

These bikes bridge the gap nicely

between old and new technology in the classic race scene.

They are deservedly very popular mounts

-strong and reliable

and very competetive in the right hands.

Grid positions were allocated from timed practice results,

run in the morning sessions.

I seem to think there were about 5 rows and I was on the 3rd row

-mid pack in the 350 group

-a good race result, a distinct possibility.

Mallory is a very short course and it is vital to get a good start.

There are few safe passing places.

With this in mind, I was concentrating very hard, on getting a flyer .

SO HARD in fact,

that when the lights went green,

and the first group ,the 500s,left the line

I FOLLOWED THEM

(hence the title-premature trajectulation-geddit?)

I reached the front row before I realised my mistake.

On the “verbal” advice of the startline martial,

I ignominiously pedaled backwards to my slot;

The INSTANT I arrived,

the lights went green for my group

They were off in a flash.

Frantically banging the Honda into gear,

I dashed after the disappearing throng.

Absolutely mad with myself,

I was driving like a man possessed!

So possessed in fact

that I realised I was carrying far too much speed

for the upcoming bend

Gerards .

This is a constant radius bend

which demands a racing line close to its inner edge ;

There was no way I would make it.

I sat up and drove straight into the “kitty litter”

I managed to keep the bike running

and with a marshalls help,

ALMOST got back on the track.

The bike stalled about a yard short

and without the luxury of either kick start

or leccie start on my 1970,s twin

FINITO!

I sat the race out in the martshalls shelter on Gerards

-then back to the paddock in the meatwagon.

Not even one lap completed.

After that I allways watched the bike alongside me

-when he went,so did I,not beforehand