Fast Guy Question

I'm talking about a click or two off track records fast. Most of the really fast guys I ever met were fast from the start, I don't believe I ever met anyone that "got" fast. I'm not talking about kids that grew into the sport. What's your guys take on it?

 

I feel like racing a motorcycle (or riding one fast) is essentially like any other athletic event/sport. There are some that have more natural potential, which means they will get "fast" at a quicker rate than others. But I also feel like it takes a long time to get "that" fast.

The Novices you see that are out there with the orange shirt landing on the Podium are guys that have been doing track days forever and finally started to race, some are even track day Instructors who finally decided to get their race license. Some of them have been riding places like Deals Gap for years at damn near a race pace (like an idiot), then finally decided to take it to the track (I know of 3 guys who fall into that category, they were dragging elbow on The Dragon before they ever got on a track).

In other words, I don't think there is anyone who had to ask "what does this lever do?", and then 2 months later was setting lap records. The "kids" you see that are going pro at 16, didn't start riding when they were 15. Many/most of them started riding as toddlers, or they spent years riding dirt or flat track then finally swapped to roadracing.

 

do or do not, there is no "try"

 

How quick someone gets "fast" ultimately depends on 2 things......natural ability, inhibitions.

Someone who isn't scared of crashing, isn't worrying about trashing a bike, doesn't have a job or bills etc...will get faster, quicker.
Someone who has more natural potential (sort of like athletic ability) will get faster, quicker.

Someone with no inhibitions AND natural talent will obviously get fast, very quickly.

From there you are getting into things like coaching/instruction, equipment, staying healthy, etc.

With that being said, (directly addressing the original point), there are people who have/can get that fast over time...and those are the people that have the natural talent/potential....BUT they also have to worry about getting to work, paying bills, etc. Those people don't want to crash and trash bikes and/or get hurt, so they can get that fast, it will just happen at a slower rate because they aren't willing to take as many chances.

 

Most older guys can get fat pretty quick, with little to no effort.

 

I resemble that remark.

 

That's what I thought the title said too.

 

Define "Fast" also. Joey Dunlop vs Valentino Rossi, Dungey vs Bowers.

 

Good that was spelled out cuz I'm a klik (kilometers) or two off record pace.

 

It's all about your sense of balance and how fast your brain can process the information being fed to you. People with a better natural sense of balance will get it quicker. Of course you can learn it but with limited amounts of seat time that will take you longer. The "fast" guys are also probably less likely to tell themselves lies about why they were slow at any particular time. There's a lot of people that convince themselves it's always the bikes fault, the track fault or the tires fault that they were slow. Most of that is bullshit unless there truly was a mechanical issue that adversely affected the bikes performance.

 

Ok. Fair enough. Are we talking about traditional road racing on American circuits, on a traditional road race chassis?

 

Yeah, but you are walking for AT train up...so you get a free pass.

 

Also depends on the track record.

My kid set a bunch of SV 650 track records in the Southwest, and a 125 track record at Chuckwalla. He ran 125's for 3 years, an SV for 9 months and he only ran a 600 for one year. He is probably 1-2 seconds off any 600 track records, at tracks he has set the smaller bike records.

Yes, I think you can learn to get fast, with proper training and continuing to work on your racecraft.

 

Not me...
You won't find me ruckin' without frowned upon heavy artillery and my non-existant ideal pack can't get in the way of a quick presentation.

 

I feel the same as the op. Everyone I know that's fast, has always been much better then anyone else that started at the same time. Yes, normal people can be made much much faster, but top of the pile/record setting faster? I don't think that happens much.

 

Crap...i got you mixed up with pistol pete. Too much replying and I got folks crossed up!!

 

I have to agree with that. Everyone has a "cap" or "ceiling".

While I have been racing since the last race weekend of 2008, in the 2nd weekend of 2009 I was taken out and missed 6-7 months. Then when I came back, I was taken out again by somebody lowsiding into me and missed another 6-7 months. There have been years when i was only able to race like 2 weekends.

Like I said before, I went Expert with only about 4 fully completed Novice weekends. Then you have to consider that my job keeps me out of the country for 6 months out of the year.

I have been a racer for several years now, but I don't have the experience as other guys that started the same time as me. I try to make up for it by doing more races, but when you do a race and make progress...then don't sit on the bike again for 5-6 weeks, then repeat, it slows things down.

So while I have been a licensed racer for 8 years, I am still early enough in my "career" (for lack of a better term) that every race weekend I will knock off at least 0.7-1sec off my previous PB lap time at that same track. I think concentrating on just one bike will actually speed up that process (getting faster). I don't know that I will ever set any lap records, it is highly unlikely unless I win the lotto and can ride/train/etc full time, which would let me get in some more dirt bike training, maybe get in some flat track, stuff like that. But I am still getting better/faster all the time.

But it goes back to what I was saying before, I am not willing to take a lot of chances like some people are. So my progress is a little slower. Prior to the GNF I had only crashed like 2-3x in the past 5-6 years. As long as I can keep consistently making progress, even if it is only 0.5sec per weekend, if I am staying upright while doing so, I am happy.

But everyone has a "cap" that is based on their natural potential. I could win the lotto and ride/race a bike 365 days a year, and would never beat Rossi. So I do believe that natural talent/potential is a big factor. At some point, everyone will reach a peak. It might take 5 years, or 20 years, but everyone will at some point get to a certain pace and that is all they got.