Getting back my MOJO

RIQUE · 09-15-2011, 11:53 PM

After three days of CSS I was going very fast and confidently leaning the bike way beyond my usual comfort zone. On day three I managed to get my knee down. After returning home and riding with my buddies on some twisties I smoked them like 5 turns ahead and had no chicken strips what so ever. Four months later I took another trip with them and noticed my chicken strips are back. I noticed I was trying to lean the bike but was applying less counter steering which made cornering harder....I need to get my Mojo back and get my act together....what should I do?

Cyrano · 09-16-2011, 01:03 AM

Well you could go back to CSS for a day or you could do what they suggest at the school (you learn more/better if you ride under 100% while practicing). Go to your favorite local twisties, ride at 75% while focusing on technique. I bet you'd have your mojo back in no time.

Good luck, ride safe and have fun.

bananaman · 09-16-2011, 05:11 AM

Ive just done level 1, to me it was all about the thought process, sounds like you need to put yr brain back in and think what yr doing, turn in, apex, roll on being smooth etc..... Good luck !

**1000RR** · 09-16-2011, 09:18 AM

IMO, just go to the track. Do some track days. No doubt you will get rusty over time, but part of leaning you bike over is having confidence of what the turn is all about and what's on the other side of it. The track has that consistency.

My S1 stays on the street these days. If I go out and ride with my friends, I always tend to have about 3/8" of unused tread on the rear. That's my safety margin in case shitt goes South. Also, after having gone to the track and raced or trackdays or the like, I don't feel the need to push it as hard on the street. I've found that no matter what I do on the street, there is absolutely no way I can replicate the aggressiveness on the track.

Hopefully there is a track near by you.

RIQUE · 09-16-2011, 12:44 PM

Thanks guys, I think I need to focus more and ride under 100% my back sprain has a lot to do with me trying to get back to my usual riding instead of letting my injury heal first. We all want to be young forever I guess.

**USMC_10** · 09-16-2011, 01:02 PM

Rique, I'm fighting the same problem as you. I recently returned home from a 9 month combat deployment which was preceded by 6 months of pre-deployment training. Needless to say I went nearly 2 years without riding.

Came back from the deployment and bought the S1 and haven't looked back. Yeah, I found I'm a little rusty around the corners as a result of holding a rifle rather than a set of handle bars, but it's slowly coming back.

I'm a big fan of Keith Code's CSS (attended level 1 a few years ago) and will be going back first opportunity to reacquire my mojo. That said, I think the guys here have it right...ride under 100% and try to get back on the track any chance you can.

Good luck!

RIQUE · 09-16-2011, 01:37 PM

Hurra! to that USMC. Ride Safe

ogre · 10-26-2011, 08:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by USMC_10

Rique, I'm fighting the same problem as you. I recently returned home from a 9 month combat deployment which was preceded by 6 months of pre-deployment training. Needless to say I went nearly 2 years without riding.

Came back from the deployment and bought the S1 and haven't looked back. Yeah, I found I'm a little rusty around the corners as a result of holding a rifle rather than a set of handle bars, but it's slowly coming back.

I'm a big fan of Keith Code's CSS (attended level 1 a few years ago) and will be going back first opportunity to reacquire my mojo. That said, I think the guys here have it right...ride under 100% and try to get back on the track any chance you can.

Good luck!

same thing here, i've been stuck in korea for the last 7 months, and finally got to go home a couple weeks ago. rode the chicken strips right off the bus. feels good to get it back. aaaaaaand now i'm back in korea, fml.

RRrider · 10-26-2011, 07:32 PM

Can only second the advice above. Clearly doing a "level 4" or a 2 dayer "level 4" touch up would be ideal, but expensive! Short of that, just getting out on the track, and if possible having an instructor check out the basics (like body position, lines, when and where you are looking) can work wonders. Other people see stuff you don't see, and the track let's you push your envelope of comfort more safely.

I'm going through this too recovering from a crash last spring (surgery takes a while to heal). But I got out to the track this past weekend for my first time since the crash, and it was a blast. I was definitely moving faster and using my tires by the end of the day.

lovin' life!

**Triple Threat** · 10-26-2011, 10:03 PM

Chicken strips don't give you street cred, they won't put a trophy on your trophy counter and the only people that think they're cool are fools. Trying to get them could put you in the hospital or worse.

"Trying" to lean is just as bad, no worse, then trying not to lean. You know you can put your knee down in a track environment. Doing that on a street is dangerous not only for you, but others that happen to be driving the same roads as you, if something were to go a rye.

In my particular area, we've had 4 motorcycle related deaths this week only. We've also had 2 riders in unison leave the road and go over a 500 ft cliff (one followed the other). They were trying to do the racer stuff and came into a 30mph at speeds approaching 60 mph and went right over the edge.

Triple