Friday 16th August 2013

Speed fix - track training for bikes

How to be faster on two wheels with training from a Macau Grand Prix winner

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Many people say speed is a drug. It's not. Speed is a disease that some have a 'natural immunity' to. The rest of us are sufferers with only one known cure. Speed itself.

Sean's dad is fast but wants to go faster

To give people that fix, track days were invented, allowing the average Joe on his Japanese production race-rep or cracking, cackling two-stroke track bike the chance to experience what their heroes do so adeptly every weekend.

Today, one such average Joe is actually an average Phil. He's my dad and a keen track rider. He's fast group pace, owns a BMW S1000RR and wants to learn how to get even quicker still.

Technical challenge
The best and safest way to do that is with professional help, which is why we're at Oulton Park with former Macau Grand Prix winner and British Supersport champion Mike 'Spike' Edwards.

Not being able to sit alongside your pupil like in a car makes motorcycle track tuition a challenge, but Spike has a clever method of overcoming the issue. His Kawasaki ZX-10R is fitted with cameras front and rear so he can actually show you what you did wrong, rather than you having to try and recall a blurry memory from the hurried moment at which you were bailing into a corner far too fast.

Phil's position on the bike is picked up on

The diagnosis
Session one is wet, after a drizzly dawn. Thankfully though, it's just sighting laps, and by the second session the Cheshire blacktop is basking in sun and all but dry. That means wets out and a new set of wheels shod with suitable Dunlop D212 rubber in.

Edwards immediately picks up on Phil's peculiarities - his throttle arm sits high and at an odd angle, for example, making it more difficult for him to get to full gas quickly. Curing this, he reckons, will find speed straight away.

Spike doesn't tell you what you're doing wrong, he starts with what you're doing right and then links this with you what you need to work on. For Phil - and it sounds awfully simple - his targets are to brake later and harder, and open the throttle sooner and wider. On a 193hp superbike that'll do 0-150mph in less than 10 seconds, that's no mean feat.

Edwards films pupils' progress from chase bike

The trick to doing it are Edwards' methods. Put simply, they work. The video footage gives you time to diagnose what you need to focus on in the calm sanctity of the pits in the 40 minutes between sessions, not a frantic debrief after a 160mph dash down the back straight.

The cure
He's full of useful analogies, too, helping visualise how to go quicker. The tracking camera means you can never hide. Your mistakes are plain to see and easy to recall - but in conjunction with Spike's feedback and advice, it also means they're easier to put right.

By the first session after lunch my old man is tangibly faster; this is where tapping 30-odd years of racing experience linked to clever, tailored tuition helps. It's pushing him just outside of his comfort zone on the area of the track where he's most confident - another clever trick by Edwards to bring his pupil on faster.

Video debrief allows speedy analysis of issues

Phil's now on full throttle earlier and sooner, he's holding it for longer and braking later and harder. Things seem to be gelling a little more now. But it's uncovered another problem that Spike has so accurately diagnosed, clearly pointing out in another video debrief. Now everything is happening faster, his movements are jerkier and more robotic in an attempt to maintain the hotter pace. It's making the bike work harder than it needs to, so Phil isn't maximising his and the machine's potential.

One picture, 1,000 words
At an amateur level, improving one area is always going to reveal another zone of weakness. Edwards doesn't bombard his pupil with info, though. He simply supplies them with enough to work on one particular area - once that falls into place it's easier to deal with the next point.

Confidence grows through the day - result

It's the video aspect that makes going quicker so accessible. A picture really does paint a thousand words here, and teamed with Spike's perception it means no time is wasted in highlighting and correcting the problem.

A comparison of the videos from the morning and the afternoon prove it, and in Phil's case, it's certainly helped him build confidence. Which ultimately builds speed and safety. Exactly what Spike set out to do at the start of the day. Funny, that...

Photos: Alex James

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Farrant]

Are them crash bungs photoshopped on in the top picture or summat? They don't look 'real'.

[ClarkyboyS]

Nope, that's just slight over-exposure on the shot making the white look too bright (highlighting the black of the bung)

[LoonR1]

I was in the same garage as your Dad and have a bit of footage of both Spike and your Dad from the last session of the day.

Short vid (2 mins) of them together on track

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H4Fa0SwsoE&fea...

Edited by LoonR1 on Monday 19th August 13:28

[nomad63]

Top man is Mike (Spike) Edwards.........taught me how to ride a bike way-back-when for my CBT when he had his bike school in Wigan over 20 years ago.

Makes me chuckle even now to think that I was being taught by one of the very BEST riders in the country, and didn`t even know a thing about it LOL.

Mike never did mention that little point on the day, but I was to find out a couple of months later, and duly went back to thank him again..........as I said, very unassuming down to earth bloke.

Good luck in the future Mike, and KEEP RIDING FAST !