UTMC

I was watching it over again, specifically to check out the way he uses his clutch. Check out the action on his left hand.
Fooking brilliant!

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Damn... That makes me feel like a serious pussy.

That was a brilliant ride, he was trying to make up for crashing out on Lap1 in the first race.

As for clutch, he's only using it to downshift and it's a slipper clutch so you can just "dump" it. Traction control helps, but this is a true Kamikaze show!

I read an "interview" about that ride, and apparently he was only using the smallest amounts of traction control on that ride.
With watching his clutch hand, it really looks like he was using it more than just to shift. I think (and I could be wrong as hell) he was using it to modulate the traction on the rear end and control his slides.
You can see him going at the lever pretty fast, and doing more movements than a typical downshift would really need, and at times when it doesn't sound like he's shifting gears.

That also brings up the question of whether a wet racetrack or a slipper clutch is going to give way first.

I like to think that's what I look like on my morning commute.

you can clearly see the slides he gets on the downshifts, it helps to rotate the bike in to the corner, same rear kicking out happens even on a dry track. As for clutch/traction control I can't say for sure from this grainy video but if does seem like he's clutching just as the back begins to slide.

It was an epic ride, spanked all the local wet weather experts!

When you hear athletes talk about being in "The Zone" where you can't make a mistake, everything just clicks, and an elevated state of being is achieved.

This is what they're talking about.

MATPOC wrote:you can clearly see the slides he gets on the downshifts, it helps to rotate the bike in to the corner, same rear kicking out happens even on a dry track. As for clutch/traction control I can't say for sure from this grainy video but if does seem like he's clutching just as the back begins to slide.

It was an epic ride, spanked all the local wet weather experts!

Well, if I remember correctly, you've raced and I haven't. I'll defer to your experience on this one.

Yes, I did roadrace and I can back the bike in to the corner BUT like most of the people doing it it does not make me any faster, in fact slows the lap times down. In the Powerslide thread there is an amateur video of some club racers going sideways and you can see that they have to stop the slide before they get in the the corner, that is not the fast way around.

Pros do not stop the slide but transition it from the brake slide to the powerslide seamlessly and that makes them fast. Takes balls and coordination, and that's why they get the big bucks, or at least a team ride...

I've heard that a bunch, actually. From brake slide to power slide has always struck me as something that I'd never be able to do.
Thus far I can only brake slide into a corner in the dirt. I can power slide on pavement, but haven't done it on anything but my thumper since 2001, and nothing I've ever slid was a modern liter bike with top notch tires. I'm sure I'll get there once I start riding regular track days (which should be sooner than later). But mainly it will be just for fun, since that's what I'm really riding for.
I've always been curious, though, about that critical moment of transition between brake and power slide, when your wheel matches speed with your travel speed on the pavement. I assume you've gotta be set up just right to avoid a high side.
Someday I hope to at least understand how it works, and maybe pull it off in the dirt. Pavement? Maybe, but I seriously doubt it.

I love this video. Watch it once only watching his body movements. He's so smooth and fluid and draws his motions out as long as possible to avoid unsettling the suspension that it's often hard to see him moving from one side to the other. Even when he loses traction and the bike moves around, his only rapid movements to counter or control the sliding still seem very slight, not a bit more than necessary.

That brake to power transition probably easier to practice on dirt and also requires you to forget your fear, pretend you're a newb.

A while back I was over at my friends place, while sipping refreshments we were watching his 4 yo. daughter play with next door neighbors kids who just got a pair of PowerWheels that day, a Hummer looking BarbieMobille for the girl (about 3 I think) and a Quad looking think for a boy (about 5) while girls were busy crashing the Pink Hummer in to EVERYTHING because the discovered make-up mirrors and fake cells phones and did not bother to look where they were going (how typical?!) the boy was testing the limits of the quad. It wasn't long before he was flying up the driveway locking the brakes up and then finishing a 180 with a powerslide all with a precision of a veteran Rally driver, I was wondering what was gonna give in first, battery, motor or crappy plastic tires!

The point is, the younger you start, easier it is to learn. Also flat track is a good learning ground, that's where the most of the roadracing World Champions have started.

Yeah, unfortunately my folks were averse to letting me do a damned thing with myself when I was young. I was all about sports, riding dirtbikes, guitar lessons, chess club, you name it. My folks wouldn't have any of it.
Thus, I am doing my fun/dangerous shit now. Too old to ever be a pro, but fuckit, I wanna learn and get as good as I can anyway.
Flat track has always been intriguing to me, though I've never thought of actually doing it until this very moment right now. I say intriguing, not fascinating like other aspects of the sport, which is why I've never thought of actually DOING it until now. I wonder how much fun it is, and how easy it is to get into.
In the meantime, I really need to just go out and do some dirt drills on my KLX. I made a shit ton of progress riding dirt this summer, and I want to keep those skills up, and get them polished enough to parlay them onto the pavement a bit.

Oh, and speaking of kids stuff, I used to be that way on my big wheel. I literally wore out the fucking wheels on no less than four big wheels when I was a wee lad. Racing 'em, sliding em, jumping em off shit. I was a terror on those things! Made me want a dirtbike like nothing else in the freakin world!

supersweetcoolawesomeMatt wrote:Damn... That makes me feel like a serious pussy.

I could've sworn you typed:

"Damn... That makes me feel like some serious pussy."

Which is fair...

Sisyphus wrote:I like to think that's what I look like on my morning commute.

That's what I was thinking!

Yeah... not even close.


I just watched it twice and a couple of my co workers came over to see what I was giggling about

The closest I same to sliding like this was a face-plant I did on front straight at Loudon at 100MPH! It was pouring raining and I was on supersport DOT tires (barely grooved slicks) went down lap 3 as soon as I touched the brakes (right when I felt confident)

Surprisingly did not hurt, but it seemed like I slid for ages! I remember thinking... looking around, few more thoughts... perhaps I should get up? No! remember what the instructor said in class?! Still sliding... there is my bike... wonder how bad is it... still sliding... FINALLY stopped! And then try to get up with 20 gallons of water in the suit! As I was sliding on my belly it filled my nice perforated Vanson like a balloon!

D'oh!
And water reduces the coefficient of kinetic friction by what, 70%?
And if you got to hydroplaning on that slide, I BET it was long.
One of the first things I learned about road racing that stuck in my mind when I was a teenager (not that I raced, it was a kid in my high school who did) was "When you crash, and you think you've stopped sliding, count to three before you try to get up. Chances are you're still sliding."
(Surprisingly) I've only had to do it once.

It's even better with the Italian commentators.
I was so disappointed he had so many problems this year.