Question for the racers.

[bmwian]

I am 5' 8" approx 174 lbs and and trying to get my body position off the bike a lot more at the track, would rear sets help me do this?

I know my opposing arm needs to be on the tank and ass off the seat, and head looking into an imaginary mirror, that was removed from the bike!

I have no trouble dragging knees and my times are good enough for expert class, i just need to get off the bike a lot more to improve my speed and times!

Thanks

[1000RR]

I'm not the resident expert on this stuff, there are some VERY fast racer and track guys on this site... but I will throw my $.02 in...

Sounds like you're carrying decent speed into and through the corners if you're knee is down (assuming your body position is correct). And you mentioned you have times that are floating up there w/the expert class on a track day. If your goal is to get better times and go faster, what is making you think getting your body off more will achieve this? Sounds like your body position isn't too bad already. The reality is, w/out pictures or video - it's hard to say or recommend something like that. Now as far as times/speeds... I was just at the track this past Monday and paid (for his track time) to have a buddy (expert racer) go there and coach me for the day in prep for my first race... He helped shave almost 6 seconds off my time The cause... less brake, more gas (and some lines)! Sounds simple, but basically there were a couple/few key turns where some critical time could be made up... where I (like plenty others) get on the brakes too hard and cut their entry speed down too much. The other piece that shaved at least a second off, was getting on the gas sooner. I was being very cautious getting on the gas at the apex... finally I started getting on sooner and sooner until he and his wife (another expert racer) complimented the application (sooner) of throttle in that turn.

So my answer to you quite honestly is that I don't believe rearsets will make you faster... are aftermarket rearsets a good idea - yes... for plenty of reasons. But for your ability level that you described I think your lap times and speed have more to do with entry speed and getting on the gas sooner.

[siglite]

They won't make you faster. Back when I was racing, I raced a honda 600. It was an F4. It didn't have a very aggressive riding position. The bars were high, and the pegs were low. On that bike, getting higher and more rearward riding rearsets, combined with a set of clipons to lower the bars was helpful. It didn't make me any faster at all. The only reason it was helpful was that it made it physically easier (meaning only "less tiresome") to flip from side-to-side on the bike for direction changes.

Rich Oliver told me that racing is about 15% your equipment, and about 85% the wiring between your ears. The stuff 1000RR describes is truth. You can brake later. You can apex faster. You can exit the corner hotter. Unless of course you're pushing the very limits of traction. And if you are, you'll know it, because you're sliding in a lot of the corners.

The S1000's rider configuration is already far more aggressive than the aftermarket parts I bought for my F4.

Having said all that, if you have some unusual body geometry (unusually tall for example) they may benefit you. But 5'8 175 is right in the sweet-spot, IMO. I'm the same height and weight, and it seems aggressive factory setups are built perfect for me.

[Steve Evil]

As mentioned, the thing that really helped me was to have someone follow me and point out what I should be doing. Inside the next session I had my knee down for the first time ever and my lap times were tumbling.

Photos or videos of you on the bike are a good idea, so you can assess where you might be going wrong, it's usually the case where you think you're hanging off like a monkey, then you look and you've barely moved.

[dazoo]

I would suggest that changing the bike is not the way to go - there is nothing in particular wrong with the setup on the RR and in 99% of cases it is technique and not the bike that needs sorting out.

An hour working with a professional will make much more difference than moving the pegs by 1/2 an inch.

Good luck - improving body positioning is a very rewarding effort.

[edchung]

I got the same feedback as 1000RR: less brakes, more throttle. Makes sense to me. I had a pro follow me for 20 minutes during one of Keigwin's trackdays.

Getting off the bike is about getting the bike to lean less, right? And the goal of leaning the bike less is to increase traction (contact patch) of the tires, right? So ... ... ... unless you're drifting the rear out of turns, I'd assume your body position isn't the problem.

[bmwian]

Thanks guys!