Re: Re: Re: Re: best way to gain confidence through twisties?
Eldritch said:
Please don't misunderstand my statement, as I had stated previously, all the training etc. can give you a better foundation to build on and mentoring is great, but the main point I was getting at is that no hot tips, no knowledge of great tricks or swell style changes are a replacement for having been there and done that. My post was a statement against getting a head full of hot shit tips and then heading out there to go, "Kick Ass," with your new hot shot tips, which will result in a rider getting in over his head due to a false sense of confidence built on information he has not yet mastered.
Capice?
Capice. I responded because more than once I've seen someone saying there is no subsitute for seat time, but then not qualifying it, and I felt (for the sake of the new rider asking about this), that it needed some qualification.
While I agree that seat time is essential, someone who has done 10K miles that were all commuting will likely not have a good grip on what it takes to be confident in the twisties, whereas someone who has only 2K miles all in the twisties may be a newb, but will likely be a more competent rider.
The metaphor I used in another thread was: there is 20 years experience, then there is one years experience repeated 20 times. So I extend that metaphor to this: seat time alone is neither an effective measure of competency, nor should it a blind goal for a new rider in an effort to gain confidence.
If you qualify your original statement about seat time, it makes a lot more sense, i.e. to get confidene in the twisties, there is no substitute for experience in riding the twisties. Then follows the discussion of all the best/safest ways to bootstrap a rookie in to riding safely in the twisties.
I'm a vocal proponent of getting a riding mentor for anyone who wants to ride a sportbike well. This is due to my own experience. A good frined of mine, who is an A group rider and will be competing in AFM this year, took me under his wing early on and gave me one-on-one help in the twisties. We worked on form and smoothness, not speed. After several sessions with him, I knew what I needed to do and practiced it, a lot. By the time I did my first track day, none of my issues were about form, because I had it down. Although I had other issues, of course! :blush
But even with the mentoring, early on I still had a couple of close calls in the twisties, but I luckily kept it together. If I had just been entirely on my own, even armed with some fine book-learnin', I don't know that it would have come out so well for me.
Anyway, most of us know someone who has died or been seriously injured on a bike. So when a rookie asks a question about gaining confidence in the twisties, I get a little alarmed, and want to give him the best info for him to get where he wants to be in as safe a manner as possible. Because I hate those RIP threads...they are oh-so-gary!
So maybe I'll see some of you guys at the next Doc Wong clininc (this one on cornering/sttering input) on 3/19? I've been riding nothing but twisties, and I'm confident in my cornering, but I've learned that it is best to always be humble, and to be open to learning something new no matter how experienced I think I am. Plus, the clinic is free!
Eldritch, I'm really writing all this for the benefit of the original poster, I'm not trying to lecture you or anything.
Ride safe everyone!!!!!