Critique my ride - or - here are some track photos, I want to get better
 

Hey all - As most of you know I've been doing a lot of touring lately on the F4. I finally got all the ducks in the row so I could get to track school... and that really was a light bulb moment.

To back track - I got into bikes when I was a kid. I started riding on the street and like most young males liked to ride twisty roads fast. Operative word being fast... but in the end I said enough is enough - sold my ninja 600, kept my maxim 650 and said that's it. I'm not going to ride on the street like an idiot - and that left behind touring. Really it was the only thing I enjoyed doing besides going fast.

Fast forward a few more years and I brought my CBR F4 - an ex-track bike that I planned on street and tracking. Finally this summer I got into the Kawasaki High Performance Riding School here at Atlantic Motorsports Park. Eleven corners, 1.6 miles, lots of elevation changes and many blind apexs.

The track is abosolutely awesome. The school's instructors were awesome. At the end of the school I was probably running 1:40s - where a good 600 racer can get 1:14. I say that for persepective on the pace we were going in the school - not crazy fast. The school kept hammering home to work on the basics and not going fast. Be smooth, get off the bike, find and keep consistantly good lines. If you do that, then you will go faster.

So I've not had my bike on the street since. I've been hooked. This long burning desire to ride a bike on a twisty road has been rekindled. I have never felt safer or more connected to the bike than on the track.

So ramble over.

At the last track day the photographer was there and took about 19 pictures of me in mostly the same corner (Turn 2 - slowest one on the track. You come down the front through a down hill right hand #1 that is limited only in speed by how fast you want to enter 2, which is a downhill to uphill left hand hair pin)

At the track day I spent the day working on body position. Looking at the photos I know I also have to work on foot position more. Without working on speed I ran 1:31s consistently.

What I would love is for feedback on what they look like - and maybe some ideas for how to improve. I know they are all still images so it's really hard...

My goal this year is really improve the body position... and hopefully see the lap times fall to 1:25 in a few more track days. After that I'll feel I'd be in good shape to run some sportsman 2 classes (10 year old 600 class), and the amateur 600 class for the practice.

The full gallery is here:
http://gallery.atpic.com/28400

My favorites are:
http://88.198.67.36/atpic2/3064/28400/0/1430161/600.jpg

http://88.198.67.36/atpic2/3064/28400/0/1430149/600.jpg

http://88.198.67.36/atpic2/3064/28400/0/1430152/600.jpg

I am with you regarding the track addiction. Its fun huh? :)

For what I can see in the pics, you want to get your head lower. Your face should practically be where your mirrors would be. I can't tell much else from the pics but here are pointers.

- Stay on the balls of your toes
- Light on the bars at all times, all your weight should go into feet and knees, if you ever get on a liter bike or anything that will spin the rear wheel, you want to slide back as you exit a corner as to weight the rear
- Get set up for your turn way before you turn in. (you don't want to move around as you turn in)
- Your weight should be on the outside peg in a corner
- Shoulders and hips need to point in the same direction as the bike. Some riders twist their butt off the edge of the seat, which makes their hips point to the outside of a turn. From your pics, you seem to be doing this right.
- Head low and inside
- Look at the exit of a corner not the entrance (or as far forward as you can)

Other than that its just practice! :) Good luck and be safe

The getting your head down is good advice for fast corners to get your weight forward. But I often sitting up a bit in tight corners helps my balance as I always find them tight ones tricky...

But I'm no pro. Practice will pay quadruple the dividends of anyone on the internets advice...

-Chad