Joined Jan 2008
43 Posts | 0+
Seattle, WA
Hello friends. It's been awhile since I posted. I wrote a review of a book called Total Control by Lee parks on my blog at midliferider. If you haven't ever looked at the book, here are some highlights . . .
The book is organized into five sections.
* Chassis Dynamics
* Mental Dynamics
* Body Dynamics
* Machine Setup
* Rider Setup
Different people will be drawn to different parts of the book. I’ve read more than a few so some of the content was very familiar to me.
The bits that you should be extra attention to in my mind are these . . .
Steering Technique
It is my ardent belief that when cornering, you should use only your inside arm to steer. This includes both pushing and pulling when appropriate.I recommend this because it’s extremely difficult for both arms to put reverse inputs into opposite ends of the bars in precise unison while simultaneoulsy allowing enough “give” in the steering for gyroscopic precision to do its thing. (pg 21)
Suspension
If you don’t know the your suspension basics, this is a good place to start.
Line Selection
Good general advice and excellent drawings of proper lines in the real world.
Throttle Control
I am completely and totally convinced on this one. I use this technique whenever I’m not just poking around town.
After mastering rolling on and off the throttle slowly and smoothly, the next step is to transition back and forth with the brakes. This time, as you slowly roll of the throttle, roll on the brakes. This means you will be applying varying levels of throttle and brakes simultaneously. This may sound strange, preposterous even, but you will be amazed at how this settles the suspension, keeping the bike from pitching forward and backward. (page 63)
I have written about this technique in all my ride reports. For example, here’s a snip from a ride down the Oregon Coast.
The road across the Tillamook forest is brilliant. It darts briefly across farm country and then shoulders its way up and into the woods like some mythic wisp beckoning the hero onward, onward.
I watch the air temperature reading out of the corner of my eye on every approach. The road is shaded as far as I can see and the pavement is still wet from the drenching last night. 48 degrees on the gauge is reassuring, but not conclusive. I don’t press. I look for good lines and move my body off the bike to keep the FJR as upright as possible. I trail the front brake in combination with a live throttle to take up the driveline slack and take out the hitch from right off dead throttle. It’s all about being smooth and I am.
Braking
Lee is a believer in using both brakes. This is hardly a unanimous position amongst riders yet alone racers (very few admit to even knowing where to find the rear brake). I know that on my FJR, the brakes are linked so I’m always using them both in some combination. On Ducatis and Aprilias, the rear brake is for decoration. They do nothing and feel like you’re pressing on wood. Here’s what Lee has to say (pg 73)
Remember, anything that abruptly interferes with the suspension can cause a significant loss of traction. For this reason, it is important to apply the brakes simultaneously and as smoothly as possible.
Applying both brakes simultaneously will help stablize the chassis and keep it from pitching forward too quickly. (pg 73)
Body Positioning
If you have no experience with “hanging off” the bike, read this chapter more than once. It’s an eye opener. That thing you may have seen racers do on TV is something that all riders need to know how to do. I’ve seen guys do it on dirt bikes (on the road) and Harleys.
The basic idea is to get your mass inside the centerline of the bike before and while it’s leaning over. Not to worry. Unless you chop the throttle closed and coast to a halt, nothing bad is going to happen. Only good stuff actually.
Lee describes ten steps. It feels like a lot to remember when you’re reading it, but with just a bit of practice, it comes naturally.
1. Reposition the foot (get your toes out of the way so you don’t scrape them). On a cruiser, this isn’t important.
2. Pre-position the body. This is where the action is. Get at least your upper body inside the vertical centerline of the bike. If you’re riding a standard or sportbike, get a lot more than that over to the inside (looking at pictures helps right about now).
3. Hold the bike upright by pushing on the outside grip. So if you’re going to go right, your body is off to the right side and you’re now pushing on the left grip.
4. Find your turn point. Most riders don’t do this. They just sort of go around the corner. Instead, you want to pick a place to turn in and wait for it.
5. Look through the turn. This is MSF 101. While doing that, definitely scan your line to make sure you’re not missing anything.
6. Relax the outside grip. I think about “releasing” the outside grip. The feeling is that of the bike dropping into the turn. The first time this happens, it can feel pretty weird. The last thing you want to do right about now is chop the throttle. Maintain some forward thrust please,
7. Push the inside grip. At this point, if you have your weight to the inside, the bike will be heading off in a whole new direction. Now you can see why you want to find and wait for your turn in point. If you need more turning, this is when you add some counter steer. Gently. Sometimes this feels to me like pulling the bike down to me.
8. Roll on the throttle. Roll means be smooth with it. Your bike is still leaned over so you’re splitting traction between turning and going.
9. Push the outside grip. This will pick the bike back up. Keep rolling on the throttle as you do.
10. Move back to neutral. That’s you and your body back in the center of the bike.
The book is organized into five sections.
* Chassis Dynamics
* Mental Dynamics
* Body Dynamics
* Machine Setup
* Rider Setup
Different people will be drawn to different parts of the book. I’ve read more than a few so some of the content was very familiar to me.
The bits that you should be extra attention to in my mind are these . . .
Steering Technique
It is my ardent belief that when cornering, you should use only your inside arm to steer. This includes both pushing and pulling when appropriate.I recommend this because it’s extremely difficult for both arms to put reverse inputs into opposite ends of the bars in precise unison while simultaneoulsy allowing enough “give” in the steering for gyroscopic precision to do its thing. (pg 21)
Suspension
If you don’t know the your suspension basics, this is a good place to start.
Line Selection
Good general advice and excellent drawings of proper lines in the real world.
Throttle Control
I am completely and totally convinced on this one. I use this technique whenever I’m not just poking around town.
After mastering rolling on and off the throttle slowly and smoothly, the next step is to transition back and forth with the brakes. This time, as you slowly roll of the throttle, roll on the brakes. This means you will be applying varying levels of throttle and brakes simultaneously. This may sound strange, preposterous even, but you will be amazed at how this settles the suspension, keeping the bike from pitching forward and backward. (page 63)
I have written about this technique in all my ride reports. For example, here’s a snip from a ride down the Oregon Coast.
The road across the Tillamook forest is brilliant. It darts briefly across farm country and then shoulders its way up and into the woods like some mythic wisp beckoning the hero onward, onward.
I watch the air temperature reading out of the corner of my eye on every approach. The road is shaded as far as I can see and the pavement is still wet from the drenching last night. 48 degrees on the gauge is reassuring, but not conclusive. I don’t press. I look for good lines and move my body off the bike to keep the FJR as upright as possible. I trail the front brake in combination with a live throttle to take up the driveline slack and take out the hitch from right off dead throttle. It’s all about being smooth and I am.
Braking
Lee is a believer in using both brakes. This is hardly a unanimous position amongst riders yet alone racers (very few admit to even knowing where to find the rear brake). I know that on my FJR, the brakes are linked so I’m always using them both in some combination. On Ducatis and Aprilias, the rear brake is for decoration. They do nothing and feel like you’re pressing on wood. Here’s what Lee has to say (pg 73)
Remember, anything that abruptly interferes with the suspension can cause a significant loss of traction. For this reason, it is important to apply the brakes simultaneously and as smoothly as possible.
Applying both brakes simultaneously will help stablize the chassis and keep it from pitching forward too quickly. (pg 73)
Body Positioning
If you have no experience with “hanging off” the bike, read this chapter more than once. It’s an eye opener. That thing you may have seen racers do on TV is something that all riders need to know how to do. I’ve seen guys do it on dirt bikes (on the road) and Harleys.
The basic idea is to get your mass inside the centerline of the bike before and while it’s leaning over. Not to worry. Unless you chop the throttle closed and coast to a halt, nothing bad is going to happen. Only good stuff actually.
Lee describes ten steps. It feels like a lot to remember when you’re reading it, but with just a bit of practice, it comes naturally.
1. Reposition the foot (get your toes out of the way so you don’t scrape them). On a cruiser, this isn’t important.
2. Pre-position the body. This is where the action is. Get at least your upper body inside the vertical centerline of the bike. If you’re riding a standard or sportbike, get a lot more than that over to the inside (looking at pictures helps right about now).
3. Hold the bike upright by pushing on the outside grip. So if you’re going to go right, your body is off to the right side and you’re now pushing on the left grip.
4. Find your turn point. Most riders don’t do this. They just sort of go around the corner. Instead, you want to pick a place to turn in and wait for it.
5. Look through the turn. This is MSF 101. While doing that, definitely scan your line to make sure you’re not missing anything.
6. Relax the outside grip. I think about “releasing” the outside grip. The feeling is that of the bike dropping into the turn. The first time this happens, it can feel pretty weird. The last thing you want to do right about now is chop the throttle. Maintain some forward thrust please,
7. Push the inside grip. At this point, if you have your weight to the inside, the bike will be heading off in a whole new direction. Now you can see why you want to find and wait for your turn in point. If you need more turning, this is when you add some counter steer. Gently. Sometimes this feels to me like pulling the bike down to me.
8. Roll on the throttle. Roll means be smooth with it. Your bike is still leaned over so you’re splitting traction between turning and going.
9. Push the outside grip. This will pick the bike back up. Keep rolling on the throttle as you do.
10. Move back to neutral. That’s you and your body back in the center of the bike.
