The Official Pune Offline Meet(G2G) Thread

[shrinathrao]

any meets planned for today ?
No ?
ok I will post this again tomorrow !

bahut maze le raha hain rohan

[SAGARR_46]

One of the fun challenges of riding on the track is learning to focus amidst

1. Am I carrying the right corner entry speed ?

1.1 Am I carrying the right speed is a direct result of have you braked right? To be able to brake right you need to hit the proper braking markers. It has happened to me countless no of times where I have braked and released the brake lever only to be surged ahead unexpectedly as I had not brushed off enough speed. Seeing myself unexpectedly surged ahead right when I needed to turn in a corner fooked my corner right then and there.

2. At what rate should I turn in ?

2.1 At what rate should I turn in is something that comes with experience I guess. But it will most certainly depend on the turning point that you have decided for a particular corner. If you have an early turn point you are basically encouraging a bad habit for most corners. With an early turn point I will have to turn in slow; with a later turn point I have to quick turn. I will also need good reference points for this if I want any consistency in turn points.

3. Am I gonna hit the apex ?

3.1 Am I gonna hit the apex depends largely on whether I have got the first two thingies right! If I have braked well I can focus better on the turn points and focus on looking through the turn. I think vision plays the biggest role in hitting the apex. When on track I developed this habit of saying 'HIT' to myself if I hit the apex I made out to be in a corner. If I didnt hit it, I murmured a slight 'MISS' to myself. This game made me focus more on the apex itself and not indulge in the common error of letting the apex out of the sight too soon in pursuit of looking through the turn. Even today its a gamble..I hit some apexes I miss some.

4. Will I get a good drive out ?

4.1 After the apex has been hit or missed you cant be arsed to be bothered about anything but the drive out of a corner. You try and salvage whatever damage that had been done by fooking up the corner by getting a good drive. Sometimes everything falls in its place and you are comfortable with a freaking good drive. Other times you are constantly battling to open that throttle but cant cause u arent done cornering yet and the bike cannot be stood up yet.

Now these are the thoughts that my brain is being overwhelmed with when cornering. Amidst all this my head explodes sometimes and then I am compelled to pull over and rest for a while. There isnt much of any consistency nor do I find myself going any faster. I just cant gather/muster up the courage of increasing my corner speeds cause I am never done with the calculations well before taking a corner and I always seem running out of time. All this results in cornering in a rush and as we all know if you arent smooth and rythmic in cornering you arent fast!

So do I just need more practice or am I doing something fundamentally wrong ? How can I grow the balls to go faster in a corner ?

If you really need to hone these skills, in my opinion you should first and foremost hit the track so you can practice in controlled and ideal riding conditions. Once on the track, I would spend a good amount of time to learn each and every single corner. I would ride around each corner slowly to pick the right line, the braking point, the entry point and the apex. After I have picked these out, then it would simply be a matter of practice, (a lot of it) to perfect my line at varying speeds.

The increasing speed will test your knowledge and ability as a rider to stick to the racing line. You will also need to know your bike very well to be fluent and in control through the corners.

I know there is a more to going fast in corners than the points I have mentioned but these can serve as good starting points to go by.

[TenHut]

The answer to all your questions.

Waiting on experience to come to me is a *****. What am I to do untill I am experienced.
Then again...I concurr that a lot of things come with experience but some simply dont. Looking through a corner cannot come through experience if you one never learns it right to start with. I am thinking there is something that has missed my attention and something that I need to work on to get better with corner entry speeds.

Every rider has his/her own style for each corner. the Speeds may also vary depending upon a certain corner, you just cant decide your speed & enter a corner, you need to judge properly. Wrong judgement will lead you into trouble & tough times as you already know. People can give you tips & advice, but cant decide for you, that at what speed you should enter a corner or anything like that. You can only improve with practice & proper judgement (bole toh experience)
Trust me, as am one of those persons, who enter a corner at very high speeds.
Also, I agree with Ritwik's answers.

AND you cant just grow balls (for whatever), its against Nature.

If you really need to hone these skills, in my opinion you should first and foremost hit the track so you can practice in controlled and ideal riding conditions. Once on the track, I would spend a good amount of time to learn each and every single corner. I would ride around each corner slowly to pick the right line, the braking point, the entry point and the apex. After I have picked these out, then it would simply be a matter of practice, (a lot of it) to perfect my line at varying speeds.

The increasing speed will test your knowledge and ability as a rider to stick to the racing line. You will also need to know your bike very well to be fluent and in control through the corners.

I know there is a more to going fast in corners than the points I have mentioned but these can serve as good starting points to go by.

When I asked how to grow balls to get faster in corners I literally meant how to grow balls. No kidding. Practice and stuff is allright. I have a plan ready and the sequence in which I am to practice all the 12 corners at MMSC once I hit the track. My problem however is 'FEAR'
When I saw my vids on the track I was like wtf. I could be going so much faster...then why am I not ? Cause when in a corner I am fookin busy. I am busy cornering and increasing my speed is the last thing on my mind as I am rushing into the corner. Since I rush into it nothing is smooth. Since nothing is smooth I am scared. See now I know where the fear is stemming from but I dont know how to get rid of it. Will simply pushing myself (even when my brain is crying 'alarm' help ? Or will it help in crashing : :P

I ask this cause maybe not all but some here surely must have gone through this phase where one has to conquer the fear to get faster in the corners. Where one has to trust in tyres and say that small little prayer and just dive in towards the apex. And then it turns out that all went well.
Should I do that or is that a recipe for a crash ? That is essentially what I meant to ask right in the beginning.

P.S : At the very onset of this I would like to clear that speed is relative. I am definitely faster than what I was when I started sports riding. I aint a snail on the track and have clocked a lap time of 2.15 secs at MMSC. This was with only 2 gears and no brakes. So I am sure I can go faster the next time I am there. But I ask now cause I seem to have hit the doldrums of cornering where nothing is improving at all and I cant seem to take it a step further anymore

[SAGARR_46]

@tenhut- Lavasa is not the place where you should try to improve your corner speed. Your fear to dive into the corners at Lavasa is justified given all the factors that are beyond your control (read gravel, oil, oncoming vehicles at al). So you need to head to the track again and put some good laps in to really see where you stand and how much you have improved since CSS.

CSS introduced you to the science of riding a motorcycle and highlighted the common mistakes riders make. Now to become a better rider and to improve your corner speed you need to put into practice all that you have learned. Also remember that implementing all these concepts becomes that much more difficult when you increase the speed at which you are traveling.

After putting in some laps at the track, if you feel that you are still scared of going faster around corners, you will need to look into the basics again. Are you holding the handle too tight? are you looking too far ahead or right under your nose? are your throttle inputs abrupt? so on and so forth.

So to answer your question, just diving into a corner when you are scared to death and praying for your dear life will NOT help you go faster. On the contrary, this approach will lead to a crash sooner or later.

I am comfortable riding at lavasa because I know the road at the back of my hand and everytime I feel my body tensing up, I focus on the basics again.
So if you ask me, to go fast in a corner:

• You need to know the track well
• You need to be comfortable with your bike
• Your bike needs to be in good condition
• You need to know the basics well
• And you should be able to implement these techniques correctly (which takes a lot of practice)

[TenHut]

Fair enough ! But I cant stop riding at Lavasa. I am going there right now. In about 30m mins I shall leave for lavasa. If anyones interested or have the time then join in. Message my cellular as I wont be logged on xbhp.

If by the end of the year 2010 I cant corner the way I want to then I am quitting motorcycling.

[rishabhshukla14]

...I am quitting motorcycling.

Saad was right TenHut is Selling his bikes and gear and suit + cage also at 80% discount see his last post...

[trustvishwas]

In a change of topic, I have some reflective jackets (as worn by traffic police / road workers). So if anyone is doing late night riding and wants very high visibility, he/she can borrow them from me. It is extremely light weight and can be worn above riding jacket.

I have around 10 of them with me.

[satyenpoojary]

^borrowing or selling or giving it for free
I would love to have one! I do a lot of night riding too

[trustvishwas]

^borrowing or selling or giving it for free
I would love to have one! I do a lot of night riding too

You could borrow for free. Buy for Rs.90/- each.

[satyenpoojary]

You could borrow for free. Buy for Rs.90/- each.

its those eeny weeny thin type of sleeve less thing right?
Can you post a pic? I will pick up one (or two) from you this week! I was trying to find them for sometime now!

[trustvishwas]

its those eeny weeny thin type of sleeve less thing right?
Can you post a pic? I will pick up one (or two) from you this week! I was trying to find them for sometime now!

Yes these are the bright orange/red ones with reflective tapes and without sleeves. I don't have a photograph and don't intend to click one. Not worth the bother.

I had got them for some event and these are leftovers.

[rishabhshukla14]

^ Me too intrested vishwas keep one for me...

[RoadZilla]

In a change of topic, I have some reflective jackets (as worn by traffic police / road workers). So if anyone is doing late night riding and wants very high visibility, he/she can borrow them from me. It is extremely light weight and can be worn above riding jacket.

I have around 10 of them with me.

Kya Vishwas bhai... free mai nahi doge kya???

90 Rs Comeon!!!

[ketan_r15]

Kya Vishwas bhai... free mai nahi doge kya???

90 Rs Comeon!!!

hehe..

[inder.cool]

Guys, its G2G Baba a.k.a Rohit's B'day Today.

Many Many happy returns of the day Rohit.