BT Tune for Superbike-Coach V4R

BT Tune, also know as Brenn Tuning, can and will take care of some special needs around your motorcycle. How about to open up power recourses? Getting more rideability and smoothness for riding on street or track. Now, since you are a Superbike-Coach student, you’ll have access to a nice discount with BT Moto. Here is your code: SBC_TUNE

Discount with Superbike-Coach for a tune with Brenn Tuning

Superbike=Coach Corp

What a relieve this was, but I’m exhausted as shit. I could adapt to my injuries and found ways to compensate. However, I’m struggling finding my timing and groove. Furthermore, I was quite careful with ‘Pazzo’. I mean… pretty much every bolt has been touched and 45 horse more with a total different engine characteristics, plus f’d up shoulder and fingers… you go do that 🙂
The delight came with the first session on Saturday. I had the bike done literally the night before and some issues with the lower exhaust, as one joint is not seal and burned the fairing. I was paranoid, and when my daughter Jill had a dream of the bike on fire, it was ‘complete’. I was soooo happy cuz it all went real well, so that I could do my track drill 1on3 without any interruptions. I also figured that my new suit is the best MotoGear suit I’ve ever had, so thanks to Sajjad Ahmed.
Can’t put in words my appreciation for Marion, and the crew of ‘Carson Pass RV’ with Thomas Schurz, Howard and John, who put a toy hauler on the camp ground. Not just that… Thomas made the best BBQ we’ve ever had and the get together couldn’t be any better. Luckily, also these guys could go on the track for 3 laps and Howard got a press shirt to go take pictures. Exceptional.
Sunday was for me and Pazzo, but I got great help from everyone around. Thanks to Mark, Connor, Kevin, and Marion, I could start working on the setup. Not done yet at all, but it got better from session to session. Pace came in till I was lifting off both wheels over crest on T1. The bike sounds and feels all MotoGP. It sweats napalm. After installing Brenn Tuning stage 2, I broke the sound booth mic at a 124db and got black flagged 🙂 Seriously… I should make a run to just take the audio of all sounds which are coming out of this thang!
I did 4 sessions and decided to stop as I started making mistakes based on my physicals. There is not much of forgiveness on a pace like that you know?! It was enough to give me key’s to keep working on Pazzo, so I am looking to do another td for myself.
We all had such a great time together. What a beautiful weekend for everyone involved. Wished you could have see and feel it all yourself, cuz this here are just words.
Headcoach Can Akkaya, Superbike-Coach Corp

I finally received my new MotoGear racing suit. Right on time for my Laguna Seca gig next weekend, where the 2024 Ducati Panigale V4R rolls out on track first time.

I can’t wait to show you how this thing look, but the suit here might gives an hint here for you :-)

When comparing my design vision with what MotoGear manufactured, you notice that this is 1:1. So whatever you might visioning and put on paper… you’ll get what you want. The only nerve wrecking part is taking your measures, but there is a hell of good description of how to do all of it. Stickers and logos is easy to pass on to them and they turn this over is size and places where you want them. Then you have a massive list of functionality features:

  • MotoGear race suit for Can AkkayaFitment (racing, street, etc)
  • Aero hump in different sizes
  • Cow or Kangaroo
  • Cooling holes as many and where ever you want
  • Outside sliders yes/no
  • One or two piece
  • Undersuit
  • Colar y/n
  • and all of this is also customizable, which is pretty much what they do for me

And it actually doesn’t stop there. I actually constantly help them developing their product so we made some great progress in regard inside liner and functionality. They listen, and apply. They also would be able to set up your suit for allowing air bag systems. By this way… I went down hard at Sonoma Raceway back in April at a 90 miles an hour, and I can tell you that a MotoGear suit is holding up. In fact, I was still using that exact suit while waiting for this baby here- without any repairs.

Know that our students automatically have access to 20% off discounts with MotoGear , which makes a fully customized suit like this available around the 1000 bux!!!

You’ll have something NOBODY else has.

Headcoach Can Akkaya, Superbike-Coach Corp

We hear and see this all the time. Our Cornering School program puts many riders on the fence. Let me help getting off there.

From 2006 in Europe till today in the USA, Superbike-Coach has trained about 10,000 riders. I can ensure you that about 95% of those had a NEED for this. There are 5-star reviews in the thousands which are backing this up. As we see it, based on this experience, only those who can’t shift right yet- and those who are at least on a semi professional racing level… are out of this question.

No we’re looking at those 5% of riders. Roughly 2% of those, we couldn’t help because their ego was in the way and we probably are doing this “all wrong”. That makes only about 3% of riders where I could say… yes, they had their shit together. However, even they were surprised of the density of subjects. Things they never thought of, especially on the mental side. Not to mention the confidence boost to get a confirmation of accomplishment.

So… if you are not belonging in the red zones- then I can tell you straight up and with a 95% certainty, that the Cornering School program is the place to be. I tell you this, even without seeing you riding ever before.

So come, and have me melting your face with things you don’t know, never thought about, never seen, and sometimes even thinking that this is physically impossible to master. Just because you believe to know certain things, doesn’t mean you’re actually doing them right. That is our honest experience with all those riders!

Are you ready for Superbike-Coach cornering school

Headcoach Can Akkaya, Superbike-Coach Corp

When I talk about braking- I am not talking about picking up a six pack at a gas station for sure. There is extreme heat, G-forces and wining tires!

You also need to know that I’m a ‘burned child’ in regard brakes. In all the years of riding and racing, I’ve had three major front brake losses out of high speed. Luckily all happened on a track where there is plenty of space to at least reduce impact. My first one was during a European Championship race, when a brake piston seal broke. I was lucky cuz’ I could run this one out without hitting something. The second one happened way later when I was teaching. Brake fluid was boiling due to cheap brake pads (long story and I don’t want to go there). I won’t ever forget the impact at about 200 km per hour. The third one happened at Thunderhill West, when the G-forces of a huge tank slapper (another long story) pushed back my caliper pistons.

So yea, try to imagine that when I figured that there ain’t no brakes- that that happen at a time when I was late braking. You know… that comes with quite a surprise at ya. Great way to test your mental strength btw. For me- brakes need to be top notch and well maintained.

Braking in Pro racing is like martial arts. High temps taking and with a stopping power which makes your sweat comes forward off your face. MotoGP brakes cost a fortune and most of the time only go out to hand picked teams and racers. Today, I am still somewhat in need for high level brake equipment but not willing to invest that kind of money into bikes which are not prototype race bikes. So just like in my prime, I am abusing what’s there. One brake rotor after another needs to be replaced because they are binding and wrapping up, and my brake pads go like butter in the sun.

Let’s take my 2022 KTM 450 SMR Supermoto as an example. The bike had about 18 hours on it. You can say 15 hours of this were done at slow to moderate pace during classes- and about 3 hours at my pace. That front brake rotor is toast! I needed a solution and found it with BrakeTech braking rotors. Why?… because of how they are designed and materials been used. When looking closely at the picture, you’ll notice the rotor carrier is meant to be holding the majority of brake force, and not the buttons themselves. Besides this smart design, this rotor is about 2mm thicker, uses exotic materials and is real floated. That keeps temps at the actual disc in check and delivers a more linear bite and more even wear (more info in regard materials etc).

I am still glad that I kept looking in the BrakeTech product portfolio, because I also found brake caliper replacement pistons which are coming directly from MotoGP. High end titanium can take the heat way easier than aluminum materials, and ventilation holes around the pistons allow the air to go inside the pocket between piston and brake pads. Best part… they seem to have these pistons for Brembo and Nissin applications for an actual affordable price.

Don’t know yet if we are able to make a install video, but this is fairly simple. Maybe you’ll think about it when you next brake fluid change need to be done.

Headcoach Can Akkaya, Superbike-Coach Corp

This is might controversial to you, but I literally get to experience a phenomenon every week- not just with riders I don’t know, but also and mainly with students. It obviously doesn’t apply to all of you, but to a big percentage for sure.

So here is ‘Joe’ who is signed up for his very first track day. Joe did some schooling and has a lot of riding experience. His visions, wish-thinking and especially expectations of how he’s gonna look like during that track day are astronomical. The same goes for hundreds of my own students, who went through a lot of hands-on and real life coaching. Most of them did it all- cornering programs, knee down classes, and 1on1’s. Also here… visions, wish-thinking and especially expectations towards their first ever track day at ‘the big track’.

The expectations of/in themselves and especially in what they’ve learned, will probably lead them right into confusion and frustration, and that will cause them to question that what they’ve learned was good or right. Some will start pushing their limits and crash- some won’t come back to finish their schooling. At this point you might smile and think that I am worried to ‘lose them’. I can tell you that I am worried to lose them to foolishness. Not more- not less.

So I am extremely confident in what these guys have learned and I am truly not looking for excuses… they are at the end of their first track day. The actual problem is though, that their expectations are STILL beyond their capabilities. That’s just one point. Another one is, that they are dropped off into a boxing ring. There will be passing all over them, which is something a brain has to get use to. Additionally, the pace they gonna make is way beyond they ever been and the track they are on is way wider.

There is a lot you do not know yet. You are only totally overwhelmed, so that you might can’t put to action what you’ve learned. This is fooling you quickly!

I remember one kid at this point. He had a blast during cornering day 1 and he made a quantum jump forward with his abilities. He came to me and said that he can’t wait to get into day 2. Till then, he got himself a new bike and went to a track day. Naturally, pretty much everyone was faster than him and he very likely was all over the place which is probably why he crashed. Finally day 2 arrived and I already felt a distanced student there. He already looked frustrated and wasn’t really ‘attending’. First turns into the first track session, I saw him overly pushing already. It didn’t take long from there for him to crash.

I had a lot of talks with him from there, just to understand what happened to him. It was like talking to a different person- to someone who lost faith and trust in what he had learned. Someone who is more frustrated than confused. He actually started talking to other riders, expecting that they can help. How can they, when they don’t understand neither what the actual problem is, nor to know what the fix is?! Then it was on me to tell him what I am thinking the issue is, but held back, cuz’ he might only sees it as a desperate attempt to not to lose him.

Trust me… I don’t want to even look this way and I actually think he is a loss already because he ‘likes to think’ that this is a good excuse. This is some deep stuff, you know?!

So… for the rest of you going into your first track day… It is not about what you’ve learned. It will be all about being totally overwhelmed. It will narrowing your vision because you are STILL far away from being in control of distraction and fears. It is because of high speed and passing’s you’ve never experienced. You might still believe that this is all about balls and that sticking to track days does the rest…

Don’t be a fool!

Superbike-Coach Corp

Headcoach Can Akkaya, Superbike-Coach Corp

There are lots of misunderstandings about how to setup a motorcycle suspension setup. I’ve seen questionable work from even supposed specialists. Those specialists make riders believe that one click on the front rebound could lower lap times by 7 seconds. I’ve really experienced this. There are a lot of things to look at, even motorcycle tire pressures.

Stuff like this is totally off reality of course, especially as I still saw his bike bouncing around on Thunderhill Raceway- totally out of balance. In fact i believe that an intermediate to advanced rider don’t even feel the difference of even 15 clicks- especially not on a OEM suspension system.

If you would approach the setup with logic, you wouldn’t have to spend $50 bux to let an expert do some ‘big deal clicks’ on your stock rear shock, which are most of the time not even going nowhere. You don’t need to be nervous to do it yourself, because the range of an OEM suspension is just to small to make a significant change in terms of stability and safety of your bike.

To really make a significant change to match your riding style and purpose- you need to make rearrangements to the geometry of the bike, and then to match the suspension to this geometry… for example:

  • Super tight track: You want to drop the front end or to raise the rear a little
  • Long braking travels: You want to drop the rear right height to keep weights low
  • Long acceleration periods: add a chain link to use up chain adjuster recourse for a longer swing arm.

http://www.suspact.com/Images/Acceleration.jpgPlease Note All Following Points

  • There is NO “perfect” suspension setup- only the’ best compromise. A setup grows with your rider level.
  • So when someone says “I’ve clicked you the same suspension setup as I gave to Valentino Rossi”, then this is logically not going to work for you well.
  • Use the potential of a OEM suspension first before you buy aftermarket stuff… then you really know what it is capable of.

OK, the link below will open an additional page which you can print out to bring it to the track. It’s just hat this page is too much for this section here, because it throws a light on how to set it up right, and how to trouble shoot. Enjoy:

Motorcycle Suspension Guide by Erik

Superbike-Coach conclusion: Don’t be blind and use logic to see the reality. Even totally overrated suspension hero’s can change much on OEM shocks and forks. Don’t make a big deal out of it. Just make sure the preload settings are right, and bring it in a balance as close as possible. If the OEM springs are way too soft… exchange them it more harder ones. If you want to have it ‘real good’… you’re looking at 4-5 grand… easily! [….]

Even better… come see us in our ‘Suspension Workshop & Track Time‘ class.