Hi all,

If you haven't read Part1 and 2 yet, I suggest to start with those, otherwise this writeup will not make much sense to you:
http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3556696/My_new_project_GCC_Comfy_Chair.html
http://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3572263/Part_2_GCC_Comfy_Chair_Virtual.html

In less than a week I'll face my fears and faith on the racetrack (11/12 June) - so what's new:

As I wrote in Part2, I was not too happy with my current riding skills, so I went for this handling training (advertisement video):


And I was reaaaaally looking forward to riding this course, as it seemed a nice layout offering some decent hangoff/lean angle practice at moderate speeds.

The morning started off nice enough with some practice on a long right hander (and yes, I know the helmet makes me look fat):


It's an early picture, later on I actually got my right foot on the ground (not the knee - the toes . No virgin rubber left on the right side of my tires. This did a ton to improve my confidence.

But eventually after lunch it totally went under water. Just as we were about to run the full length practice layout as in the vid above. Man was I pissed.

Having looked forward to this for about three weeks, even though my total rain experience was not more than maybe 5 hours in my entire riding life and I'm actually scared of rain - I decided to screw it and try to go as fast as I could. Which was pretty much faster than the other six guys in the training, and so fast that the instructor commended me on it. So maybe my brain is now partially rewiring itself to the necessary madness level that most Sportbike riders possess.



After a short break the rain actually reduced/stopped but the track was still wet and I went out a second time



The end of the second vid doesn't look like much, but in reality I way overdid it on the rear brake and downshift and for a few seconds it felt as if the whole bike was swimming sideways. Lots of fun since it didn't end up in a crash.

The biggest thing I learned that day - and it sounds stupid coming from someone who has been riding for 12 years - is to actually push the bike into the corner with a concious handlebar impulse. All my life it seems I have mostly been steering by weight and unconcious small handlebar imput. But when you actually understand countersteering - wow, it's like getting a complete new bike setup.

Another thing that the external pictures showed me is how I'm far, far away from setting myself into a proper hangoff body posture. And how much clearance to the ground the bike still has even when it feels as if my elbow would already be scratched bloody... This is actually becoming a recurring theme - self experience and external observation hardly ever match when you learn motorbike riding.

So, the challenge for the coming racetrack days will be

1) To keep using concious "powersteering" for faster, more precise and more increased lean angles/turns
2) To get my ass off the seat at which point I might have a faint chance of de-virginizing my knee sliders.

I feel I have all the parts togehter now, now what needs to be done is to tie them in a proper line each and every turn.

Time to beat is still the 2:30 mark set by my friend last year, which seems to be about "as good as gets" in the beginners group on unmodified street-legal bikes. If I can reach that next week, or on 14/15 July (next trackdays already booked) I'll be a damn happy camper.

Where are all the racers, where is Wags with his Two-Wheel experience? Poor thread feels lonely.

Though seeing that Magnum's iRacing AAR faired not better, I guess it's still mostly SimHQ and not RaceHQ...

So, today I finally got my knee down - on both sides. It's not something that feels at all comfortable and my upper body is still way wrong positioned.... but practice will make perfect



In other words - all ready for the racetrack experience now. Definitly a huge contrast to my first parking lot practice sessions.

Yeehaw!!!

Looks like a blast! I think some of my favorite rides have been in the twisties during a light rain.

Have fun and be safe!

BTW, I haven't loaded up a race sim in 3 years, but I do ride a moto every day.

I just recently got my first bike and like you, it's not enough for me to know that it works...i want to understand how and why things work so i can consciously apply them

My bike is nothing like the one you drive, it was a bargain sale from a friend of mine. It's a Honda FMX 650 single cylinder, styled like a supermotard but way more underpowered that most supermotards, at 37-40 odd horsepower ( stock is 35, but i got it with after-market remus exhausts on, which are still street legal while upping the performance a bit). If i modify it a bit i can probably get it to 45-50 hp and still be street legal (i got the exhausts, i only need a high flow air filter and readjusting the carbs to avoid running lean after making it "breathe" better), which is plenty for a novice rider like me on a bike that has a gross fueled weight of only 163kgr.

Nevertheless, i went through a similar thing as you. I've had a license for a few years but not a bike, the opportunity presented itself and then i started reading up on everything i could find and watching youtube tutorials on riding techniques and safety tips.

Where am i getting at? I'm really surprised you've been driving for quite a few years and hadn't heard of countersteering before, especially since in many of the EU countries training for a license is much more extensive. Truth be told, they didn't teach it to me in driving school either, but i was reading up on my own and found out about it when i started taking driving lessons.

In short, countersteering is what saves rider lives. Most accidents happen (like 90% of them, according to EU studies) in residential areas because a car will not see you, cut you off and you lack the space to brake in time to avoid a crash.

If you can countersteer, you can start braking and when you realize you can't stop in time, you'll be in a sufficiently low speed to simply swerve by the obstacle.

If you couple that with our natural tendency for target fixation (the old "the bike goes where you look" saying) and set yourself up to consciously practice it every day, you are dramatically improving your accident avoidance skills: look at the opening between the obstacles and push the handlebars to go there.


I'm not trying to be pompous and "school" someone who's been riding far longer than i have and currently rides on the race track with much faster bikes. I'm just glad you discovered this life-saving technique and i want to emphasize that it's perfectly fine for everyday street use, not just for the track. Most bikes start to get effective at countersteering around the 20-30km/h mark, depending on their chassis and geometry. Even when below that speed however, you can initiate a turn by a split-second momentary countersteer, then turn the wheel into the turn to keep the bike from falling over (instead of just centering it when you lean the bike over by countersteering at higher speeds).

Finally, it's not only effective, it's also faster than leaning your entire body and works both ways: push into the turn to lean into the turn, push outside the turn to get the bike level again.


The only thing to remember is that the faster you go, the more you need to push on the handlebars and vice versa. So, if you come from the track and try to apply it on an everyday ride, you will need much less force and a way more subtle movement of the handles. Get some half-empty plastic water bottles, go out on an empty parking lot, do a cone weave around the bottles for half an hour or so and you'll be good to go in no time. Ride safe and have fun

Hi and no worries, I didn't see your post as "schooling".



I think it comes from bicycle then to the 50ccm scooter then onwards to the Enduro I had - all the time I just used the "steering by feel" as I did on Bicycle.

First two Racetrack days are over and I did okay, but still need more concious push. Or indeed maybe the parking lot practice you mention, to automate it.