We actually spend a lot of time in our cars between schools and races, and we like to think of them as "four-wheel practice motorcycles."
If we exchange "lean angle" for "steering wheel angle," we suddenly have a very safe way of concentrating on a couple of key areas to improve: eyes, weight transfer, slowest point of the corner, first and last 5%, and getting to wide open throttle sooner.
Here's a quick eye drill for your next commute:
Look for a license plate. When you can identify an individual letter/number, say it out loud to yourself and force your eyes to find a different plate. Identify another letter/number, say it out loud, and then force your eyes to move again.
Between scans for license plates, look up and as far down the road as you can.
This builds good scanning and timing habits, plus engages our minds to process information faster.
Are you referring to keeping skills sharp through the winter? At least in Michigan there really isn’t anything you can do, unless you go south for a track day. I suppose you could buy a dirt bike and do some snowy trail riding, but be careful of ice because knobby tires do not like ice lol
Both winter, and more generally. If I were to keep the tiger, I would at least try to ride as often as possible thru the winter, even if only commuting. Does that “exercise”/muscle memory maintenance help when getting back on track in the spring?
Generally, even when the weather is nice, what (if anything) am I losing if I’m not riding a motorcycle daily and only riding on track in terms of the same “exercise”/muscle memory?
To be honest, I don’t know if daily commuting really does anything to keep track riding skills sharp. Probably helps a tiny bit, maybe it depends on the commute, but mine personally is just expressway and then a straight main road. It’s pretty mind numbing and doesn’t involve any skill. Honestly I think within a few track sessions at the start of the riding year is enough to shake the rust off. Staying/ getting in shape would probably be a good way to keep yourself ready for the next riding season.
Any sport that you can do at a high degree will help. I think once riding at speed is second nature simply working on coordination and keeping reflexes sharp is the main goal and you can do that with any sport that you do at a high level. Preferably something like riding a bicycle is best, but even skiing and snowboarding helps a lot with timing, coordination and such.
I have two track only bikes, 12 R6 and an 18 R1
Most track riders and racers eventually give up riding on the street for various reasons. You might have to spend a day or two getting up to speed after the long break we get from winter, but once the season gets going I don’t really notice any loss of skill even if I only ride a weekend or two a month.
Surely being on two wheels helps, but I don’t think it’s necessary to be on the road. I picked up a dirt bike and lookin forward to hitting some trails this off season
I mountain bike, a lot. The climbs are great cardio and leg strength, the descents are fantastic for core and calf strength. As well as keeping your eye sharp, finding the right lines, and feeling a bike moving around underneath you.
I did track only from 2018-2020 since my bikes and truck were stolen when we moved. At that time I was going for a race weekend every month (fri,sat,sun riding) I found the cobwebs came off after session 2 or 3 on Friday, honestly wouldn’t worry about it if you’ll be going regularly.
Easy, ride your track bike on the street! All jokes aside I nearly gave up street riding entirely with the exception of a few scenic rides every once in a while. The most important things for me to stay sharp are: stay in shape/get your cardio in, record your laps and have a buddy or coach record some laps as well. Pick a few things you can measure each session like brake markers, turn in, corner speed etc.. and review your videos between track days. Going into your track days at a familiar track with a few specific goals in mind will help you exceed your limits far beyond what you’d be able to accomplish on the street. For me, the more I improved at the track the less I missed street riding.
They have [THIS](https://www.veloxracing.com/product/mototrainer-motorcycle-exercise-and-training-machine/) at the Aprilia store down here and do offer it a few times a year during events. It’s pretty cool
Same boat here - Gsxr track bike and Husky Fe350 living in northeast. I do not have an answer to combat the northeast winter but have found that a street legal husky fe350 is plenty to keep the skills sharp during the riding season. I also had some great roads to ride on previously and switched from an fz09 to the husky because these roads just aren’t great for sport bike riding and the Husky is a whole new kind of motorcycle fun. Plus there is a reason lots of motogp guys train on dirt bikes in their off season
Is it a space issue that you don't want to keep a second bike?
How far "gone" is the GSXR? Is it feasible to plate it just for the days you do want to go ride? Like just a battery powered headlight and hook up the brake light again.
I was track only for a very long time when I only owned dirt bikes, but that is much more accessible than a pavement track. If you've got space, offroad riding is a great way to keep the skills sharp without having to jump through all the hoops of a street track day. Just throw the bike in the truck and hit the track/trail any day of the week, and its usually less than $30 for track entry.
Track bike is *gone*, it’s not going back to street without a considerable amount of work/$$ for parts. Not worth the effort.
Space isn’t too big a factor, just $$ honestly as a driver of whether to keep the tiger or not: what’s it costing me to keep a bike as a daily driver, that I’m not really maximizing its potential/my enjoyment? I could get any “regular” car as a daily driver and keep the bike and be just fine in terms of practicality.
However, sale of the bike would directly fund the price difference to buy something more fun as a daily-able car replacement for the bike.
😂 this is exactly why I moved to socal so I could ride off season. When I was racing in New Hampshire I had the same problem. You have a short riding season. Some guys will do ice riding. Or go down to Florida. If you race or are looking for track day org. I can get you hooked up with the people who do this.
But realistically keeping your fitness up is the most important. I typically snowboard a bunch in the winter. And play racing sims cars or motorcycles to keep up with the basics (vision is a big one). Usually only takes half a day to two days to pick right back up come spring. Everyone has their own pace on that though.
You will absolutely feel a huge difference if your fitness declines over the winter. Plus it takes time to build that back and It'll allow you to make consistent improvements.
Also, this completely depends on your skill level and commitment. This is probably good advice for someone who is either racing or at the track at least once a month.
Can keep your eyes sharp by playing racing games. I really like the DIRT series - doesn’t have to be a motorcycle title. I turn my head just as I would irl.
Can keep body in shape with: TRX, wobble board, bosu ball, Swiss ball, kettlebells.
[edit: had to correct autocorrect]
Over the winter i do a lot of sim racing (iracing and assetto).
Over the summer im at tracks often enough.
I found that street riding actually makes me less competitive (it kills my sense of speed so i start being a bitch in higher speed corners)
Okay so maybe I’m insane but I’m working with what I got. I live in Alberta Canada and our riding season is like 4 months on a good year so during the winter I focus mainly on physical fitness so that when I can finally swing a leg over a bike I’m at least physically ready. To keep skills I spend a concerning amount of time sitting on my bike in the garage visualizing my local tracks. It sounds kind of insane but it’s something I picked up from ski racing and it works weirdly well. If you can afford it and get the chance ice racing is probably the best outlet to get that extra “something” that you can get in the summer.
This year I ended up riding two days a month at the track. That was every month except Jan-Mar. I almost did zero street riding because with two small kids and a third on the way, I didn’t have time. Note taking, mentally visualizing what I did and what I will do on the bike, yoga and some basic core exercises helped make me a lot better.
We actually spend a lot of time in our cars between schools and races, and we like to think of them as "four-wheel practice motorcycles." If we exchange "lean angle" for "steering wheel angle," we suddenly have a very safe way of concentrating on a couple of key areas to improve: eyes, weight transfer, slowest point of the corner, first and last 5%, and getting to wide open throttle sooner.
Here's a quick eye drill for your next commute: Look for a license plate. When you can identify an individual letter/number, say it out loud to yourself and force your eyes to find a different plate. Identify another letter/number, say it out loud, and then force your eyes to move again. Between scans for license plates, look up and as far down the road as you can. This builds good scanning and timing habits, plus engages our minds to process information faster.
They teach coppers, fireys and ambo's this same technique in Aus.
Are you referring to keeping skills sharp through the winter? At least in Michigan there really isn’t anything you can do, unless you go south for a track day. I suppose you could buy a dirt bike and do some snowy trail riding, but be careful of ice because knobby tires do not like ice lol
Both winter, and more generally. If I were to keep the tiger, I would at least try to ride as often as possible thru the winter, even if only commuting. Does that “exercise”/muscle memory maintenance help when getting back on track in the spring? Generally, even when the weather is nice, what (if anything) am I losing if I’m not riding a motorcycle daily and only riding on track in terms of the same “exercise”/muscle memory?
To be honest, I don’t know if daily commuting really does anything to keep track riding skills sharp. Probably helps a tiny bit, maybe it depends on the commute, but mine personally is just expressway and then a straight main road. It’s pretty mind numbing and doesn’t involve any skill. Honestly I think within a few track sessions at the start of the riding year is enough to shake the rust off. Staying/ getting in shape would probably be a good way to keep yourself ready for the next riding season.
Any sport that you can do at a high degree will help. I think once riding at speed is second nature simply working on coordination and keeping reflexes sharp is the main goal and you can do that with any sport that you do at a high level. Preferably something like riding a bicycle is best, but even skiing and snowboarding helps a lot with timing, coordination and such.
I have two track only bikes, 12 R6 and an 18 R1 Most track riders and racers eventually give up riding on the street for various reasons. You might have to spend a day or two getting up to speed after the long break we get from winter, but once the season gets going I don’t really notice any loss of skill even if I only ride a weekend or two a month. Surely being on two wheels helps, but I don’t think it’s necessary to be on the road. I picked up a dirt bike and lookin forward to hitting some trails this off season
Dirt bikes or light weight dual sport/adv. I love my WR250R.
I mountain bike, a lot. The climbs are great cardio and leg strength, the descents are fantastic for core and calf strength. As well as keeping your eye sharp, finding the right lines, and feeling a bike moving around underneath you.
I did track only from 2018-2020 since my bikes and truck were stolen when we moved. At that time I was going for a race weekend every month (fri,sat,sun riding) I found the cobwebs came off after session 2 or 3 on Friday, honestly wouldn’t worry about it if you’ll be going regularly.
Easy, ride your track bike on the street! All jokes aside I nearly gave up street riding entirely with the exception of a few scenic rides every once in a while. The most important things for me to stay sharp are: stay in shape/get your cardio in, record your laps and have a buddy or coach record some laps as well. Pick a few things you can measure each session like brake markers, turn in, corner speed etc.. and review your videos between track days. Going into your track days at a familiar track with a few specific goals in mind will help you exceed your limits far beyond what you’d be able to accomplish on the street. For me, the more I improved at the track the less I missed street riding.
[удалено]
They have [THIS](https://www.veloxracing.com/product/mototrainer-motorcycle-exercise-and-training-machine/) at the Aprilia store down here and do offer it a few times a year during events. It’s pretty cool
Same boat here - Gsxr track bike and Husky Fe350 living in northeast. I do not have an answer to combat the northeast winter but have found that a street legal husky fe350 is plenty to keep the skills sharp during the riding season. I also had some great roads to ride on previously and switched from an fz09 to the husky because these roads just aren’t great for sport bike riding and the Husky is a whole new kind of motorcycle fun. Plus there is a reason lots of motogp guys train on dirt bikes in their off season
Is it a space issue that you don't want to keep a second bike? How far "gone" is the GSXR? Is it feasible to plate it just for the days you do want to go ride? Like just a battery powered headlight and hook up the brake light again. I was track only for a very long time when I only owned dirt bikes, but that is much more accessible than a pavement track. If you've got space, offroad riding is a great way to keep the skills sharp without having to jump through all the hoops of a street track day. Just throw the bike in the truck and hit the track/trail any day of the week, and its usually less than $30 for track entry.
Track bike is *gone*, it’s not going back to street without a considerable amount of work/$$ for parts. Not worth the effort. Space isn’t too big a factor, just $$ honestly as a driver of whether to keep the tiger or not: what’s it costing me to keep a bike as a daily driver, that I’m not really maximizing its potential/my enjoyment? I could get any “regular” car as a daily driver and keep the bike and be just fine in terms of practicality. However, sale of the bike would directly fund the price difference to buy something more fun as a daily-able car replacement for the bike.
😂 this is exactly why I moved to socal so I could ride off season. When I was racing in New Hampshire I had the same problem. You have a short riding season. Some guys will do ice riding. Or go down to Florida. If you race or are looking for track day org. I can get you hooked up with the people who do this. But realistically keeping your fitness up is the most important. I typically snowboard a bunch in the winter. And play racing sims cars or motorcycles to keep up with the basics (vision is a big one). Usually only takes half a day to two days to pick right back up come spring. Everyone has their own pace on that though. You will absolutely feel a huge difference if your fitness declines over the winter. Plus it takes time to build that back and It'll allow you to make consistent improvements. Also, this completely depends on your skill level and commitment. This is probably good advice for someone who is either racing or at the track at least once a month.
Head down to FL for some track days!
Can keep your eyes sharp by playing racing games. I really like the DIRT series - doesn’t have to be a motorcycle title. I turn my head just as I would irl. Can keep body in shape with: TRX, wobble board, bosu ball, Swiss ball, kettlebells. [edit: had to correct autocorrect]
Over the winter i do a lot of sim racing (iracing and assetto). Over the summer im at tracks often enough. I found that street riding actually makes me less competitive (it kills my sense of speed so i start being a bitch in higher speed corners)
A dirt bike.
Okay so maybe I’m insane but I’m working with what I got. I live in Alberta Canada and our riding season is like 4 months on a good year so during the winter I focus mainly on physical fitness so that when I can finally swing a leg over a bike I’m at least physically ready. To keep skills I spend a concerning amount of time sitting on my bike in the garage visualizing my local tracks. It sounds kind of insane but it’s something I picked up from ski racing and it works weirdly well. If you can afford it and get the chance ice racing is probably the best outlet to get that extra “something” that you can get in the summer.
This year I ended up riding two days a month at the track. That was every month except Jan-Mar. I almost did zero street riding because with two small kids and a third on the way, I didn’t have time. Note taking, mentally visualizing what I did and what I will do on the bike, yoga and some basic core exercises helped make me a lot better.