Critique my riding please...long post

No offense....No it isn't. (Unless you are doing the correct fundamentals already) All it does is make what you more comfortable doing the wrong things - and, putting the stickiest tires just masks issues. Sorry to jump on this, but the OP hasn't been properly evaluated, besides the quick video he posted. We're just throwing out advice and tips...

Ken

 

Riding a sport bike at speed on the track is one of the hardest things to do, your a little late in the game. I would not be in a hurry to go racing, unless you are at the front of A group,at your trackday, besides tires are expensive.

 

I disagree. If you want competition, you should race. There is racing at every level. You will never reach the front of the A group around here, the top pros in the area are using it as practice!

If you just want to ride a bike fast on the track, compete against the stopwatch, etc. then trackdays are fine. That is enough for a lot of people, but racing is it's own deal, competition can be fun, even at the bottom of the Novice ranks!

 

I agree. Since the OP seems to want to race, I think his at least 12 track days has him more than prepared to try racing. I guarantee you will get faster much quicker. You can still do track days, we usually tried to do one the weekend of the race to help with setup for that weekend.

 

Do you ever make it out to the midwest for coaching? Specifically, the Chicago area?

 

Big changes in the works for 2020....the answer to that is - yes.

Ken

 

Yeah that's right there are usually quite a few racers in A group, and that would probably be good place to learn how to go faster. After learning the basics with someone like K Hill.

 

So I second this. There were things from the podcast that got me in the right direction, helped me understand what the fundamentals are about.

There were a number of areas of my riding where I really believed to be applying the info from the podcasts correctly - but I wasn’t. It wasn’t until I went and actually trained with ken, that the stage was set for getting better the right way.

I was taking information too literally - the nuances of one on one training, with video, and a professional coach at a basically private track day set me on a path of continuous improvement.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Here is the same session from my front camera

 

As some others have stated, slowly increase your entry speed into turns, getting off the throttle later and back on early while carrying a higher speed through the apex. Do this in small increments each lap or session. Keep concentrating on hitting/clipping the every apex and look through the turn, not in front of you. From the latest video, the majority of the time you are not really rolling into the throttle until the bike is completely straight up and down.

Stick with it, it takes seat time!

 

You still haven't told us what bike you are riding. You sound like your really interested in the sport and have good intentions, but I think your best course of action if you really want to learn, is start out on a lower power bike, like a 300. Small bikes can be just as fun, I had the most fun on a 450 supermoto.

 

I think the "stopwatch" or "laptimer" thing is a distraction at the beginning stages. Especially when the rider cant get around traffic in a safe manner. Then they try to extrapolate single best lap times at 1 track to another on which they've never turned a wheel...lol. I will say this... the mock races at Jennings really got me addicted especially when the grids were 40 deep. Would crack me up when folks would stage 10 mins prior to the session to get "pole" or front row spot with not even a slight chance of keeping that position past the entry into Turn 1. The fast guys would be in the back by 14 and would filter through pretty clean & quick. And it was made clear to me that "winning" the mock race was worth even less than a club race placque...hehe.
It sure was fun though!

 

Oops, sorry. Meant to add that into my post about my background. Bike is an 08 GSXR 600. Mostly stocky. I did hack off the Catalytic converter and installed an 07 slip on, vortex rear sets, front and rear steel brake lines, and track bodywork. Running EBC HH sintered pads. All suspension is stock but I did have it tailored to me as much as possible by a reputable trackside suspension vendor. Don't plan on touching suspension again until my pace dictates it.

I had an 01 750 originally. It was my first bike (I know, I know). Sold it to find something smaller for a track bike. Was looking at 600, SV650, and 250/300 bike and found this one in a deal I couldn't pass up. $1500 for a bike with 1400 miles. So I jumped on it.

Edit: Dont really want to sell a bike with such a known history and in such great shape. So in order to buy a smaller bike it would have to be next year, and would eat up all of the money that I would be setting aside for a school/individual coaching.