Here are some featured pics of our last Cornering School Day 1 (5/28/16)
As usual, and only at Superbike-Coach… our photographer Dean Lonskey has uploaded 1623 shots of this class… all for free! Here are some featured pics…
Your free download is here.
How To Setup A Motorcycle Suspension
There are lots of misunderstandings about how to setup a motorcycle suspension setup, and 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… yep, I’ve really experienced this.
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.
Please 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
Headcoach Can Akkaya
We had lots of fun with this video, and it will put you a smile on your face as well. You don’t want to find yourself in a situation like this though, so enjoy the video first to get something out of it, and then keep reading with our article, and watch the tip video we made, and read the little article below:
So here is how Pro’s doing it in a minute- without any damage and injuries. Let’s have a look on the equipment base you need to have to get the job all by yourself done.
- Pickup truck with at least space for one motorcycle in width and length, and at least for hooks to tie-down
- Long (reduces the ankle to the truck bed) fold-able bike ramp, which is very wide (walking path) as well
- One short tie-down to secure the ramp down to the truck
- Universal Roll-On Stand for single operation
- At least two heavy-duty buckle zip (ratchets were yesterday!) tie-downs with swivel hooks
- At least one rubber tie to transport and secure the bike ramp on the truck
From here we let Headcoach Can Akkaya from Superbike-Coach take over to explain the process:
Read the process in detail here: https://www.superbike-coach.com/coachs-blog/coachs-motorcycle-support
Believe it or not- I’ve been together with my wife Marion since my second year of racing, and we’ve ridden tons of bikes in all those years- she was always a passenger… even on Germany’s famous 13 miles Nuerburgring Nordschleife to smoke guys on big bikes- but she NEVER rode a motorcycle her selves!!!
But since we have that sweet Superbike-Coach rental bike, a Ninja 250- Marion sat on it… declared it as ‘cute’- looked at me and said “…teach me to ride. I wanna make a drivers license!”. From here, I want to pass this three part article on to her to tell the story of how it’s like- and what to do in order to get a motorcycle drivers license:
Here is how to make your M1 drivers license, Part 1 of 3, by Marion Akkaya
First, I went to the DMV to get the booklet (http://driving-tests.org/california/california-motorcycle-manual/) to prepare for the written test. After studying it for a couple of days, I took some free available test online just to make sure not to see where I’m at. I also scheduled an appointment not to waste my time by waiting for hours in line, which is easy to do online: )
When I arrived, I still had to wait in line, but it was much shorter than what I saw on the other lines. I had to fill out some paperwork about name, address, SSN, information about already existing driver license – the usual stuff, than I got a number and I went back to wait until they called my name.
It took about 15-20 minutes until a DMV worker told me that I have to renew my car driver license when adding a motorcycle license. This information took me by surprise because I wasn’t prepared for the test. I paid $ 29 before I got to window A, where they took my picture. Then they send me to the testing room, loaded with about 20 computers. The nice part by taking it online is that it shows right away if your answer is correct and it is much faster. On the other hand it makes you more nervous after a mistake. Some of the questions were common sense, while other just confused me. I passed my written test for the car right away, but had to retake the written motorcycle test. I had to go back in line, pull a new number and wait for probably 15 more minutes before I could take it again, but this time I’ve passed the test!
The good part is that you can retake the test three times before they send you home and you have to pay again. I am just glad that I past and now I can focus on the “little circle” through which I have to go to pass the driving test. I have no clue how to get through it, but I have the best riding Coach I possibly can think of- who will get me through this successfully. I was convinced he’ll be more sensitive with his wife- was I wrong! J
Now, the fun staff started –riding a motorcycle. ‘Coach husband’ started giving me riding lessons. We started first with some easy lessons, how to shift, to break, to steer, and the right body position. He showed me how to turn my head into the right direction instead of looking right in front of me. I learned shifting up without using the clutch, which is not easy in the beginning, but like he says:” what you don’t have to do- you can’t mess up” –and he is right. Believe me it was not easy for him, because I am a bad listener and I am just glad that I haven’t had make any push-ups yet :)
After a couple of days of training with him, he installed a vox radio in my Arai helmet and says “Let’s hit the freeway hon”, and off we went…
To be continued!
Author Marion Akkaya, Sacramento CA
Many times I am teaching Track Drill 1on1 students according to their skill level in the slow group. This is typically group C, or B-, depending on the track day organizer and race track we’re going with. While my student is pretty much safe and in control, I see almost every time a total disaster for a whole lot of other inexperienced riders all over a track day.
The spectrum I’ve seen in all the years I have been doing this ranges from $300 scratches on the bikes up to totals in material, and with the stuff you can’t repair, it goes from bruises to broken bones, lost jobs, and even up to a lost life. All of that, 99% of the time, for super dumb reasons… panic attacks, target fixation, and overreacting, which are triggered by a ‘moment of instability’ in confidence.
Whoever attends my programs knows what components are the essential nutrients for building ‘confidence’: knowledge, training & correction, practice. Instead, those riders skip all of that, hurting themselves, and even worse… involving other riders in their crash as well. Mostly, their excuses are totally off reality: someone else, the tires, the suspension, or their bike are the top excuses for f..’ing things up massively. This video is a perfect example, which is a YouTube pick from thousands of clips like it:
The gentleman on the video comes out of the pit lane on cold tires on the Laguna Seca Raceway, and starts with not much “foreplay” with more or less useful hanging off exercises. At that point I should mention that one rule of the Laguna Raceway is to not to go on the race line on turn 3 if you’ve just entered the track. But anyway, he feels obviously “ready” to follow a faster rider into turn 5. His track day is done right there, and his friend behind him seems to go down as well… just because of these things: ego, cold tires, target fixation, panic, and overreacting.
So I thought I’d give some tips for less or inexperienced riders who are up to attacking their first track day, in the hope that this will help them and others stay healthy:
- If you don’t have a decent amount of street miles under your belt, and you are still working on essentials such as shifting, throttle and brake control… don’t come to the track!
- Take a race bike rental to the track. Feel Like A Pro—or we also have track-ready bikes you can rent and insure. These bike are small, and learning comes before torque.
- Don’t watch videos from other riders to “learn” the track you’ve chosen. At the end of the day, you’ll feel lost in reality anyway, and videos like the one above will just freak you out.
- Be careful whose advice you take, and which friend and riding buddies might accompany you. There is a German saying… ‘too many chefs mess up a meal’.
- Don’t change to ‘better’ tires, but stick to the ones you know. Nothing is wrong with them. They are made for millions of riders, and you can go with ‘better’ ones later.
- Same goes for the suspension—where many experts deliver advice. Just know that your suspension is totally fine, and that an experienced rider would get a 20 second faster lap time out of your suspension without any ‘adjustments’. All of that stuff you won’t feel for now and it just makes you more nervous. Do it way later, when you begin to feel these things—and then you can really appreciate and use them.
- If you are not able to find or keep the race line, stop riding before things get worse and ask the right people for advice. You and other inexperienced riders will freak out because you are extremely hard to pass.
- Take advantage of riding with a track day instructor, which is free of charge, or get everything you need from our Cornering School Days or even Track Drill 1on1.
- Don’t do 20 mph sightseeing laps. Other inexperienced riders don’t know how to pass safely and quickly. I’ve seen clusters of 10 – 15 riders which f’s up an entire 20-minute session for pretty much everyone. Don’t be the guy!
- It’s not your bike! It’s all good—it’s made for millions of riders world-wide. Trust in what you have, and understand that you are the component making the mistakes. Don’t look down to the asphalt or target the dirt outside the track. Relax your muscles and breath out while going into a turn.
I could keep going forever, but that would get into individual issues and problem solving “between your ears”, which is my favorite subject! So why not take it easy, for you and others?!
Can Akkaya
Headcoach, Superbike-Coach Corp
It actually amuses me to see the huge amount of attention other schools, books, forums, and videos spending on the subject called ‘the perfect body positioning’ for street riders. Glancing over to what MotoGP riders like Marc Marquez performs on TV- must be good for the Redwood Rd in the SF East Bay. If it doesn’t look like Marquez… It’ll be damned as ‘crossed-up’ and some rookie rider who was proud showing his first hanging off pic’s will be scoffed by. Read more
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