Pace Yourself
The street is not the track--it's a place to Pace
By Nick Ienatsch , Jon Berndt
Two weeks ago a rider died when he and his bike tumbled off a cliff paralleling
our favorite road. No gravel in the road, no oncoming car pushing him wide, no
ice. The guy screwed up. Rider error. Too much enthusiasm with too little skill,
and this fatality wasn't the first on this road this year. As with most
single-bike accidents, the rider entered the corner at a speed his brain told
him was too fast, stood the bike up and nailed the rear brake. Goodbye.
On the racetrack this rider would have tumbled into the hay bales, visited the
ambulance for a strip of gauze and headed back to the pits to straighten his
handlebars and think about his mistake. But let's get one thing perfectly clear:
the street is not the racetrack. Using it as such will shorten your riding
career and keep you from discovering the Pace. The Pace is far from street
racing-and a lot more fun.
The Pace places the motorcycle in its proper role as the controlled vehicle, not
the controlling vehicle. Too many riders of sport bikes become baggage when the
throttle gets twisted-the ensuing speed is so overwhelming they are carried
along in the rush. The Pace ignores outright speed and can be as much fun on a
Ninja 250 as on a ZX-11, emphasizing rider skill over right-wrist bravado. A
fool can twist the grip, but a fool has no idea how to stop or turn. Learning to
stop will save your life; learning to turn will enrich it. What feels better
than banking a motorcycle into a corner?
Using all of the available lane while entering the corner (square line) provides
a number of benefits. It allows you to brake while upright, see farther through
the corner and use a later corner apex. With a later apex, you can get on the
throttle earlier as you stand the bike up out of the corner. The low entrance
line (dotted line) forces you to lean over even after the apex and is a major
contributing factor to overshooting a corner. Always give the centerline some
room: stay right except to pass.
The mechanics of turning a motorcycle involve pushing and/or pulling on the
handlebars; while this isn't new information for most sport riders, realize that
the force at the handlebar affects the motorcycle's rate of turn-in. Shove hard
on the bars, and the bike snaps over; gently push the bars, and the bike lazily
banks in. Different corners require different techniques, but as you begin to
think about lines, late entrances and late apexes, turning your bike at the
exact moment and reaching the precise lean angle will require firm, forceful
inputs at the handlebars. If you take less time to turn your motorcycle, you can
use that time to brake more effectively or run deeper into the corner, affording
yourself more time to judge the corner and a better look at any hidden
surprises. It's important to look as far into the corner as possible and
remember the adage, "You go where you look."
DON'T RUSH
The number-one survival skill, after mastering emergency braking, is setting
your corner-entrance speed early, or as Kenny Roberts says, "Slow in, fast out."
Street riders may get away with rushing into 99 out of 100 corners, but that
last one will have gravel, mud or a trespassing car. Setting entrance speed
early will allow you to adjust your speed and cornering line, giving you every
opportunity to handle the surprise.
A tire has a given amount of traction that can be used for cornering,
accelerating, decelerating or a combination of these. A tire that's cornering
hard won't have much traction left for acceleration or deceleration. Imagine a
linkage connecting your rear tire to your throttle hand. As the tire stands up
from full lean, your throttle can be rolled open; the tire's traction used for
cornering can now be converted to acceleration traction.
We've all rushed into a corner too fast and experienced not just the terror but
the lack of control when trying to herd the bike into the bend. If you're
fighting the brakes and trying to turn the bike, any surprise will be impossible
to deal with. Setting your entrance speed early and looking into the corner
allows you to determine what type of corner you're facing. Does the radius
decrease? Is the turn off-camber? Is there an embankment that may have
contributed some dirt to the corner?
Racers talk constantly about late braking, yet that technique is used only to
pass for position during a race, not to turn a quicker lap time. Hard braking
blurs the ability to judge cornering speed accurately, and most racers who rely
too heavily on the brakes find themselves passed at the corner exits because
they scrubbed off too much cornering speed. Additionally, braking late often
forces you to trail the brakes or turn the motorcycle while still braking. While
light trail braking is an excellent and useful technique to master, understand
that your front tire has only a certain amount of traction to give.
If you use a majority of the front tire's traction for braking and then ask it
to provide maximum cornering traction as well, a typical low-side crash will
result. Also consider that your motorcycle won't steer as well with the fork
fully compressed under braking. If you're constantly fighting the motorcycle
while turning, it may be because you're braking too far into the corner. All
these problems can be eliminated by setting your entrance speed early, an
important component of running at the Pace.
Using your brakes entering a corner, or trail braking, takes a delicate touch on
the lever. As the bike leans in and the tire begins cornering in earnest, there
won't be much traction left for braking. Imagine a connection between the
front-brake lever and the front tire: as the tire goes to full lean, all
traction will be used for cornering; grabbing the front brake at this point will
lock the wheel.
Since you aren't hammering the brakes at every corner entrance, your enjoyment
of pure cornering will increase tremendously. You'll relish the feeling of
snapping your bike into a corner and opening the throttle as early as possible.
Racers talk about getting the drive started, and that's just as important on the
street. Notice how the motorcycle settles down and simply works better when the
throttle is open? Use a smooth, light touch on the throttle and try to get the
bike driving as soon as possible in the corner, even before the apex, the
tightest point of the corner. If you find yourself on the throttle ridiculously
early, it's an indication you can increase your entrance speed slightly by
releasing the brakes earlier.
As you sweep past the apex, you can begin to stand the bike up out of the
corner. This is best done by smoothly accelerating, which will help stand the
bike up. As the rear tire comes off full lean it puts more rubber on the road,
and the forces previously used for cornering traction can be converted to
acceleration traction. The throttle can be rolled open as the bike stands up.
This magazine won't tell you how fast is safe; we will tell you how to go fast
safely. How fast you go is your decision, but it's one that requires reflection
and commitment. High speed on an empty four-lane freeway is against the law, but
it's fairly safe. Fifty-five miles per hour in a canyon might be legal, but it
may also be dangerous. Get together with your friends and talk about speed. Set
a reasonable maximum and stick to it. Done right, the Pace is addicting without
high straightaway speeds.
Riding fast everywhere hurts our image, your license and eventually your bike
and body. Set realistic freeway and city speed limits, stick to them and save
the speed for the racetrack or dragstrip.
The group I ride with couldn't care less about outright speed between corners;
any gomer can twist a throttle. If you routinely go 100 mph, we hope you
routinely practice emergency stops from that speed. Keep in mind outright speed
will earn a ticket that is tough to fight and painful to pay; cruising the easy
straight stuff doesn't attract as much attention from the authorities and sets
your speed perfectly for the next sweeper.
GROUP MENTALITY
Straights are the time to reset the ranks. The leader needs to set a pace that
won't bunch up the followers, especially while leaving a stop sign or passing a
car on a two-lane road. The leader must use the throttle hard to get around the
car and give the rest of the group room to make the pass, yet he or she can't
speed blindly along and earn a ticket for the whole group. With sane speeds on
the straights, the gaps can be adjusted easily; the bikes should be spaced about
two seconds apart for maximum visibility of surface hazards.
It's the group aspect of the Pace I enjoy most, watching the bikes in front of
me click into a corner like a row of dominoes, or looking in my mirror as my
friends slip through the same set of corners I just emerged from.
Because there's a leader and a set of rules to follow, the competitive aspect of
sport riding is eliminated and that removes a tremendous amount of pressure from
a young rider's ego-or even an old rider's ego. We've all felt the tug of racing
while riding with friends or strangers, but the Pace takes that away and saves
it for where it belongs: the racetrack. The racetrack is where you prove your
speed and take chances to best your friends and rivals.
I've spent a considerable amount of time writing about the Pace (see
Motorcyclist, Nov. '91) for several reasons, not the least of which being the
fun I've had researching it (continuous and ongoing). But I have motivations
that aren't so fun. I got scared a few years ago when Senator Danforth decided
to save us from ourselves by trying to ban superbikes, soon followed by
insurance companies blacklisting a variety of sport bikes. I've seen Mulholland
Highway shut down because riders insisted on racing (and crashing) over a short
section of it. I've seen heavy police patrols on roads that riders insist on
throwing themselves off of. I've heard the term "murder-cycles" a dozen times
too many. When we consider the abilities of a modern sport bike, it becomes
clear that rider technique is sorely lacking.
The Pace emphasizes intelligent, rational riding techniques that ignore
racetrack heroics without sacrificing fun. The skills needed to excel on the
racetrack make up the basic precepts of the Pace, excluding the mind-numbing
speeds and leaving the substantially larger margin for error needed to allow for
unknowns and immovable objects. Our sport faces unwanted legislation from
outsiders, but a bit of throttle management from within will guarantee our
future.
The Pace Principles
1 Set cornering speed early.
Blow the entrance and you'll never recover.
2 Look down the road.
Maintaining a high visual horizon will reduce perceived speed and help you avoid
panic situations.
3 Steer the bike quickly.
There's a reason John Kocinski works out-turning a fast-moving motorcycle takes
muscle.
4 Use your brakes smoothly but firmly.
Get on and then off the brakes; don't drag 'em.
5 Get the throttle on early.
Starting the drive settles the chassis, especially though a bumpy corner.
6 Never cross the centerline except to pass.
Crossing the centerline in a corner is an instant ticket and an admittance that
you can't really steer your bike. In racing terms, your lane is the course;
staying right of the line adds a significant challenge to most roads and is
mandatory for sport riding's future.
7 Don't crowd the centerline.
Always expect an oncoming car with two wheels in your lane.
8 Don't hang off in the corners or tuck in on the straights.
Sitting sedately on the bike looks safer and reduces unwanted attention. It also
provides a built-in safety margin.
9 When leading, ride for the group.
Good verbal communication is augmented with hand signals and turn signals;
change direction and speed smoothly.
10 When following, ride with the group.
If you can't follow a leader, don't expect anyone to follow you when you're
setting the Pace.
This article was originally published in the June 1993 issue of Sport Rider.
http://sportrider.com/ride/146_9306_pace/