I was taught by a bevvy of French ex-GP racers, Endurance champs, Supersport champs. If they say that the braking in a straight line is with arms locked straight, that's good enough for me. That's where most of the braking happens. Then there is the next bit which involves braking up to the apex, where of course, your arms can't be straight, but you don't tend to do that much of it on the road. For the OP, if you use the back brake to scrub of speed, if required, when you are cranked over, that sounds about right. Best not to do too much front braking (or any really) in corners on the road. The road is not the track - it contains all sorts of unknown unknowns (to borrow Donald Rumsfeld's phrase). But as you are coming into a roundabout, which normally has excellent visibility, it should be all braking in straight line. When that is over, you peel in. And if you are having a problem crushing your gonads on the tank, I still think that braking with straight arms will solve the problem. You could also solve the problem by not braking much at all, but by changing down in good time and letting the famous Ducati engine braking do most of the work for you. Not as fast, but hey, what are you trying to do? Set a time?
I agree with Bradders, get some more training AIM or RoSPA advanced is golden. Also get someone who knows their stuff to help set up the suspension, from the factory it is usually far too stiff for road use; makes the bike skittish and unstable. Try and learn to relax on the bike, make sure your arms are bent and relaxed, take the weight of your body with the back and stomach muscles. It will feel odd and ache a bit to start, but you will feel more in control. As for slowing down, for road riding closing the throttle provides a lot of braking then into the appropriate gear for the speed. This is taught in AIM and RoSPA. Duke
Stop thinking and just ride your bike it will come you just have to find your comfort zone for roundabouts The more you think about it the worse it is. Everyday is a learning day Chill
On another note, I noticed there is a small dent on the frame where the clipon clamp has hit it. The clamp shouldn't touch the frame normally, right. The adjustable 'stopper' on the right side that sets the amount of left steering lock looks like its a bit bent and has a crack in it. The bike has some scratches to the cans on the left side, front wheel has a bit of kerbing on the left side too which I didn't notice before as it's been touched up. The dealer did not disclose these issues to me when I asked him to tell my about any damage. Looks like it might have had a bump... :frown:
its a 2011 bike with brand new tires when I bought it and the bike had 1500 miles on it with 1 previous owner. Front pressure is 31 rear is 34.
Cant belive how different we all are, eh I run f/r 30/32 max with SCs (std tyres) Red, any signs of it being a track or race bike? Does sound like something has had a bump at some point in the past. Think I'd be taking it back and asking why it wasnt described, the wheel you can see (assuming you did t buy sight unseen) but the lugs...may want to get it checked for being straight. Any signs of damage on the footpeg welds same side of being repaired/bent/cracked paint?
Yeah I bought it sight unseen - asked the dealer to send pics, highlighting any damage (he mentioned some minor scratches to the fairing, nothing about the kerbed wheel etc). I had a long chat so ample opportunity to mention it. I feel he should have disclosed this so quite irked as there would have been much more leverage on the price. I am assuming that, being dealers the bike is safe to ride and not bent in any way. Tires are diablo rosso II. Will check the reccomened pressures in the manual.
BUT - what a difference a day makes!! Had an awesome ride today, HUGE thank you to everyone for giving me input because, by jove, I think I've cracked it!))) Was out most of the day on the twisties around abergavenny/llandovery and loving it. Not saying I was particularly fast but I've made a big leap forward in my cornering, and it turned out to be pretty simple to correct thanks to you lot. The biggest issues as many pointed out was being too rigid on the bars and thinking too much about steering. More that that I was trying to steer the bike by actively counter steering. For whatever reason this was just not working for me when cornering at speed. This is what I did to fix it. By getting my body weight off the side of the bike before the corner then steering with my shoulder and not gripping the bars very tight at all the bike just seems to go where I look. I point my elbow down more, lean forward and down with my head and shoulder while hooking my knee under the tank on the other side, half a cheek off I'd say. The bike is really stable in the turn and I feel I can make any necessary corrections without resistance or panic because my inside arm is nice and bent instead of being stiff. I'm still effectively counter steering but its all directed from the upper body not the hands. The result is I can go round a lot faster - safely - and accelerate much earlier. I can feel the grip of the bike on the road now, it can curl really tightly can't it! ) The other thing is incorporating my hips more in steering and using my knees to grip the bike and as the main way to shift my body weight. I don't think about lean angle now and I'm not scared of it. It feels good!! Surprise surprise this has also fixed my roundabout fear, I was slinging it through some of them What bloody great ride!! What a great bike!
I can't help it. But hindsight is a wonderful thing too. Now, I need to make the tire pressures are ok. From some searches people are recommending 31 ish front and 26 rear. This is for the track though, but generally it seemed the rear should be softer than the front or at least almost equal. I don't really know what the effect is though. It felt pretty good to me today anyhoo. right, wrong ? ET, they seem to say that the manual pressures are way too high.
Only time I run lower rear is hard track work, never on the road, but normally a couple of psi max higher than the front Not saying its right or wrong, just what I do
Can't remember if I run 2.3 and 2.5 or 2.5 and 2.7 ( more like the former). That's bars. I suppose it is as i posted above. But if the rear is a smidgeon down, I notice it in the first couple of corners. Bike won't turn properly with low pressure settings, and you'd wear the tyres quicker. Well worth experimenting. The rear should be harder than the front, whatever. I use Michelin 2CTs. Yes, lower for track. But this is for road.
Fantastic news. Sometimes an individual and a bike just don't get on and there's nothing you can do about it except get something else, glad you've found your mojo, now you can fall in love :smile:.
Thanks guys. I can't say I noticed any difficulty getting the bike to move yesterday so I'll assume the pressures are in the right ballpark (31/34). Maybe I'll try 31/32 and see if I can tell a difference. Bradders, is it just tire wear that's the reason you don't run the rear as soft as you do on the track?
I have always had 30 front 32 rear on the SS It was a mare when the front only had 26 I thought I had a flat tyre and my ride was awful
