THE STREET IS NOT A TRACK - IT'S A PLACE TO PACE
TWO WEEKS AGO A rider died when he and his bike
tumbled off a cliff paralleling our favourite road. No
gravel in the road, no oncoming car pushing him wide,
no ice. The guy screwed up. Rider error. Too much
enthusiasm with too little skill, and this fatality
wasn't the first on this road this year. As with most
single-bike accidents, the rider entered the corner at
a speed his brain told him was too fast, stood the
bike up and nailed the rear brake. Goodbye
On the racetrack this rider would have tumbled into
the hay bales, visited the ambulance for a strip of
gauze and headed back to the pits to straighten his
handlebars and think about his mistake. But let's get
one thing perfectly clear: the street is not the
racetrack. Using it as such will shorten your riding
career and keep you from discovering the Pace.
The Pace is far from street racing-and a lot more fun.
The Pace places the motorcycle in its proper role as
the controlled vehicle, not the controlling vehicle.
Too many riders of sport bikes become baggage when the
throttle gets twisted-the ensuing speed is so
overwhelming they are carried along in the rush.
The Pace ignores outright speed and can be as much fun
on a Ninja 250 as on a ZX-11, emphasizing rider skill
over right-wrist bravado. A fool can twist the grip,
but a fool has no idea how to stop or turn. Learning
to stop will save your life; learning to turn will
enrich it. What feels better than banking a motorcycle
into a corner?
The mechanics of turning a motorcycle involve pushing
and/or pulling on the handlebars; while this isn't new
information for most sport riders, realize that the
force at the handlebar affects the motorcycle's rate
of turn-in. Shove hard on the bars, and the bike snaps
over; gently push the bars, and the bike lazily banks
in.
Different corners require different techniques, but as
you begin to think about lines, late entrances and
late apexes, turning your bike at the exact moment and
reaching the precise lean angle will require firm,
forceful inputs at the handlebars.
If you take less time to turn your motorcycle, you can
use that time to brake more effectively or run deeper
into the corner, affording yourself more time to judge
the corner and a better look at any hidden surprises.
It's important to look as far into the corner as
possible and remember the adage, "You go where you
look."
DON'T RUSH
The number one survival skill, after mastering
emergency braking, is setting your corner-entrance
speed early, or as Kenny Roberts says, "Slow in, fast
out." Street riders may get away with rushing into 99
out of 100 corners, but that last one will have
gravel, mud or a trespassing car. Setting entrance
speed early will allow you to adjust your speed and
cornering line, giving you every opportunity to handle
the surprise.
Racers talk constantly about late braking, yet that
technique is used only to pass for position during a
race, not to turn a quicker lap time. Hard braking
blurs the ability to judge cornering speed accurately,
and most racers who rely too heavily on the brakes
find themselves passed at the corner because they
scrubbed off too much cornering speed.
Additionally, braking late often forces you to trail
the brakes or turn the motorcycle while still braking.
While light trail braking is an excellent and useful
technique to master understand that your front tyre
has only a certain amount of traction to give.
If you use a majority of the front tyre's traction for
braking and then ask it to provide maximum cornering
traction as well, a typical low-side crash will
result. -Also consider that your motorcycle won't
steer as well with the fork fully compressed under
braking. If you're constantly fighting the motorcycle
while turning, it may be because you're braking too
far into the corner. All these problems can be
eliminated by setting your entrance speed early, an
important component of running at the Pace.
We've all rushed into a corner too fast and
experienced not just the terror but the lack of
control when trying to herd the bike into the bend. If
you're fighting the brakes and trying to turn the
bike, any surprise will be impossible to deal with.
Setting your entrance speed early and looking into the
corner allows you to determine what type of corner
you're facing. Does the radius decrease? Is the turn
off-camber? Is there an embankment that may have
contributed some dirt to the corner?
Since you aren't hammering the brakes at every corner
entrance, your enjoyment of pure cornering will
increase tremendously. You'll relish the feeling of
snapping your bike into a corner and opening the
throttle as early as possible. Racers talk about
getting the drive started, and that's just as
important on the street. Notice how the motorcycle
settles down and simply works better when the throttle
is open? Use a smooth, light touch on the throttle and
try to get the bike driving as soon as possible in the
corner, even before the apex, the tightest point of
the corner. If you find yourself on the throttle
ridiculously early, it's an indication you can
increase your entrance speed slightly by releasing the
brakes earlier.
THE PACE PRINCIPLES
Set cornering speed early. Blow the entrance and
you'll never recover.
Look down the road. Maintaining a high visual horizon
will reduce perceived speed and help you avoid panic
situations.
Steer the bike quickly. There's a reason John Kocinski
works: out-turning a fast-moving motorcycle takes
muscle.
Use your brakes smoothly but firmly. Get on and then
off the brakes; don't drag'em.
Get the throttle on early. Starting the drive settles
the chassis, especially though a bumpy corner.
Never cross the centerline except to pass. Crossing
the centerline in a corner is an instant ticket and an
admittance that you can't really steer your bike. In
racing terms, your lane is the course; staying right
of the line adds a significant challenge to most roads
and is mandatory for sport riding's future.
Don't crowd the centerline. Always expect an oncoming
car with two wheels in your lane.
Don't hang off in the corners or tuck in on the
straights. Sitting sedately on the bike looks safer:
and reduces unwanted attention. It also provides a
built-in safety margin.
When leading, ride for the group. Good verbal
communication is augmented with hand signals and turn
signals; change direction and speed smoothly.
When following, ride with the group. If you can't
follow a leader, don't expect anyone to follow you
when you're setting the Pace.
As you sweep past the apex, you can begin to stand the
bike up out of the corner. This is best done by
smoothly accelerating, which will help stand the bike
up. As the rear tyre comes off full lean it puts more
rubber on the road, and the forces previously used for
cornering traction can be converted to acceleration
traction. The throttle can be rolled open as the bike
stands up.
This magazine won't tell you how fast is safe; we will
tell you how to go fast safely. How fast you go is
your decision, but it's one that requires reflection
and commitment. High speed on an empty four-lane
freeway is against the law, but it's fairly safe.
Fifty-five miles per hour in a canyon might be legal,
but it may also be dangerous. Get together with your
friends and talk about speed. Set a reasonable maximum
and stick to it. Done right, the Pace is addicting
without high straightaway speeds.
The group I ride with couldn't care less about
outright speed between corners; any gamer can twist a
throttle. If you routinely go 100 mph, we hope you
routinely practice emergency stops from that speed.
Keep in mind outright speed will earn a ticket that is
tough to fight and painful to pay; cruising the easy
straight stuff doesn't attract as much attention from
the authorities and sets your speed perfectly for the
next sweeper.
GROUP MENTALITY
STRAIGHTS ARE THE time to reset the ranks. The leader
needs to set a pace that won't bunch up the followers,
especially while leaving a stop sign or passing a car
on a two-lane road. The leader must use the throttle
hard to get around the car and give the rest of the
group room to make the pass, yet he or she can't speed
blindly along and earn a ticket for the whole group.
With sane speeds on the straights, the gaps can be
adjusted easily; the bikes should be spaced about two
seconds apart for maximum visibility of surface
hazards.
It's the group aspect of the Pace I enjoy most,
watching the bikes in front of me click into a corner
like a row of dominoes, or looking in my mirror as my
friends slip through the same set of corners I just
emerged from.
Because there's a leader and a set of rules to follow,
the competitive aspect of sport riding is eliminated
and that removes a tremendous amount of pressure from
a young rider's ego-or even an old rider's ego. We've
all felt the tug of racing while riding with friends
or strangers, but the Pace takes that away and saves
it for where it belongs: the racetrack. The racetrack
is where you prove your speed and take chances to best
your friends and rivals. I've spent a considerable
amount of time writing about the Pace (see
Motorcyclist, Nov. '91) for several reasons, not the
least of which being the fun I've had researching it
(continuous and ongoing). But I have motivations that
aren't so fun. I got scared a few years ago when US
Senator Danforth decided to save us from ourselves by
trying to ban super bikes, soon followed by insurance
companies blacklisting a variety of sports bikes. I've
seen Mulholland highway shut down because riders
insisted on racing (and crashing) over a short section
of it. I've seen heavy police patrols on roads that
riders insist on throwing themselves off of. I've
heard the term "murder cycles" a dozen times too many.
When we consider the abilities of a modern sports
bike, it becomes clear that rider techniques is sorely
lacking.
The Pace emphasizes intelligent, rational riding
techniques that ignore racetrack heroics without
sacrificing fun. The skills needed to excel on the
racetrack make up the basic precepts of the Pace,
excluding the mind-numbing speeds and leaving the
substantially larger margin for error needed to allow
for unknowns and immovable objects. Our sport faces
unwanted legislation from outsiders, but a bit of
throttle management from within will guarantee our
future.