For me, Dan is someone to understand after you have got a little experience. Things I did not have a feel for yet, were hard to understand. Once I experienced and worked toward a "manuever goal" putting it altogether and understood what I was searching for, Dan's lessons were "aha" moments for me. The more I ride the more I understand his solid approach and theory.
The biggest one I’ve found for conflicting information is how far to sit away from the tank. One riding school says sit up against it and pivot around it and use it to secure yourself, most others say sit back a few inches, get your arse cheek of the seat early and use the inside of your leg to secure yourself. Worth knowing both ideas though and trying them out. Everyone is different 😁👍🏻
My arms get really crowded when needing to prepare for a lean when I sit too far up. Like he said rightfully so, just take info from everyone and make of it what you wish and works for you.
Sitting tight to the tank will anchor you more to the bike and that is why driving schools teach you this. Sitting "one fist" away from the tank gives you the flexibility to work actively with your bodyweight on the bike and that is why it is recommended for a more "active" driving (and for the track)! You don't have to hang the butt cheek out benefit from the flexibility... even if you just lean your upper body out the extra space between you and the tank will be good for you! 😊
Congratulations on becoming one of my All instructors. My first track was possibly the most challenging.🤯 Grattan raceway in Michigan. With 8 out of 11 corners being blind... by day 2 I had moved into compliments rather than concerns coming from the pros. Although, I rode my 2004 Tuono new to me track bike for about 10 minutes before taking her out on the track... I'd say that is 1st track success. It just took 2 days... next time GingerMan raceway in Michigan for 3 days. Aprilia will be there this coming weekend with test rides 6/15-16/19... I'll be there with a 2018 RSV4 RF LE#14... an my Tuono too. Thanks!
My 3day weekend tracktime with the Aprilia test ride racer days at GingerMan raceway was brilliant. I practiced what I had been shown by you at Life of Lean, and what the coach from Sportbike Track Time tried to show me... IT WORKED! I was promoted to intermediate. You guys at LoL were there for me when weather was wicked, i was willing to grow as a rider watching your UA-cam content. When i could i applied those lessons to great success. I have proven you can grow as a rider even when snow gets in the way. Thank you everyone!
Lean Kune Do...every video makes comment sth like "at last! Someone not feeling like a sport riding guru, but actually is". I loved this one. Everytime I am speaking with my trackday friends saying "every corner is different, it needs different lines" or "I am faster when I am NOT dragging knee" or "opening the throttle in different points" I am being mocked. Thank you sifu Dan. 😜
Randomly came across this while looking for some TD tips. Really impressed, you've not overcomplicated your explanations and made it easy to understand. I also like how you suggest training with different coaches/schools...it makes a lot of sense. Maybe you should set up a school?!
Finding ones own comfort zone while holding on to fundemental riding philosophy is a key. I agree with, putting the learning eggs in many baskets, will reap the best interpretation of verbal instruction to track feel and riding.
Excellent riding advice! Can you do one on cornering? Hand pressure, pull or push, body lean....ect. you have a way of breaking down step by step that is very helpful
I came to say a big thank you, I have just completed my 2 days track days training with a coach yesterday and the day before. It was a blast nothing I have ever experienced, it looked easy on the screen, boy It was much harder, physical, psychological and each corner is a test to your limit, first right corner after long straight on hard braking was quiet scary, never thought about this. Love your work please continue to give us more insights! love from Hong Kong
I absolutely agree with learning from multiple sources. It's too easy to fall into a trap of finding one source you like and then thinking that is gospel and anyone who says anything different is therefore wrong. There are a few things to note - Just because one coach says one thing does not even mean that is the only way they do everything. That might just be what they were focusing on that day. - That being said, there can be more than one solution. It's not necessarily the case that there is only one best solution. And as was stated, it may depend on context, which must be taken into consideration. - Sometimes something that might seem different at first, may just be a different way to view something you have already heard. This can be good in that with more points of view on the same thing, you can gain a deeper understanding of that approach. - Think of differing views as ingredients in a dish you prepare. A skilled person can experiment with different ingredients indifferent proportions and see how the result turns out, learn from that, and tweak and tune to obtain the best results that work for you. Just as having more ingredients at your disposal allows for greater degrees of experimentation and discovery, so too does having a greater amount of information, viewpoints, and ideas gleaned from hoovering up as much information from as many different sources as possible. No one can give you a single simple recipe that if you follow it exactly you will always get the best results. Life doesn't work like that. The only real way to learn and develop intuitive understanding is through experimentation. Try something, maybe it works, maybe it doesn't - but in either case it provides more information to better understand how it works and how changes you make will make changes in results. And with that better understanding, one is better positioned to be adaptable and to be able to more quickly find the best solution to anything thrown at you. When you go to a new track, if you have experimented and gained an deeper understanding of how it works, then you can more quickly learn and adapt to that new track.
You have a great ability to explain concepts very succinctly (or at least edit them that way :-) ) Your bite-sized videos have as much real advice as vids that are 3-5 times longer. If you don't teach some subject in some way, I think you should lol. I'm very new to track riding (having only done training courses on them) but really enjoy your vids - kudos! I think the only reason you don't have many many more subs is that track riding is relatively niche - keep up the good work!
I hated how fast my RGV250 steered and trransitioned side to side. I went to a taller front and rear tyre to add gyroscopic effect and slow the steering down. The taller rear helped with that AND stretched the gears slightly so i could hold each gear longer without losing any straight line speed (not so youd notice). This meant i wasnt having to either change gear half way round a corner or rolloff to prevent overrevving. Standard the bike was waaay too twitchy. But everyone says fast steering is better. Err...sometimes. Where i was riding (we were basically road racing on a specific length of public road we all knew VERY well, sorta like the canyon racing the americans do, so sorry everyone these days who cant use that road due to heavy police activity...that was us) super fast steering made for a very unstable little missile. Some of the corners were tight and some followed each other but none required that sort of mental fast direction changing. It was actually bloody dangerous. So I slowed it down. And then spent the rest of my time owning it deflecting everyone else trying to find out why my rgv handled better than all the others (there were some other tweaks too...thst anyone with a brain and 5 minutes thought could have worked out. I left the engine totally stock, and was consequently the only one who didnt have that oh fuck moment when the engine seized due to 'tuning' the oil pump...idiots.). The perceived wisdom isnt always correct, or it may have been once but no longer. Gods they were a fantastic little beast.
Dan, eh up. Thanks for this and the other uploads. Lots of useful information, clearly and concisely presented. I have a random question for you to answer, if you would please. It's not track-related and is actually about riding on the road. Put simply, I wondered if you felt that your track riding had benefited your everyday, normal riding. I'm assuming you do ride on roads, regularly. And, if you reckon track work has improved / helped, how and why it has. Thanks in advance.
I'd say yes, but mainly from a bike control and vision standpoint. I actually stopped riding on the road for 8 years after getting serious about the track, then I got back on the road last year. I just felt more calm than I remember and I had no trouble putting the bike exactly where I wanted. Road riding presents other challenges though, many of which I still struggle with.
Mega video mate, any chance of a video from your first day on track to what you've done until now? (know you touched on your R6 to Blade transition already)
Brilliant channel - have you thought of doing a track guide of say Brands? Braking points, apex's etc for each corner. Think it would be a very popular vid! (I'm biased cos Brands is my local track😉) Cheers!
Is CSS one of the camps? You are challenging quite a bit from their curriculum. Good to see. Would be good to see a few examples of conflicting camp ideas with the camps named.?
Clearly he is and I strongly agree with it. I took CSS Level 1 and quickly became frustrated when I was told to apply their principles on track, had problems, and then was told by instructors of exceptions here and there on track, especially with regards to the "once you crack the throttle" rule they literally drill you on, but doesn't apply to all corners. As a result I lost a lot of respect for CSS. I'd also agree that in general the "quick flick" seems like a really stupid idea, especially on track where smoothness should be the key.... on the street having the ability to quick flick feels more appropriate in emergency situations.
Can please explain vision when we go through hairpin. Some say look at the exit kerbs where some say look to the extreme inner side of track then you will end up on kerbs faster.
Are you asking about corner exit specifically? If so, after I'm moved my eyes from my apex I tend to look fairly far down the track, to the outside edge.
When trail braking into a hard turn I find myself a couple of gears up from where I need to be and downshifting costs me time and out of the loop. Do you have suggestions? Thanks, Mark
Just an observation: trail braking and engine braking most often go hand in hand so why would be say in 4th gear in a corner while trail braking vs being in 2nd where you should be?
@@jessiedivincenzo5215 I get your point but if going to engine braking to match RPM's , I'm unable to get through the turn at a higher rate of speed. I'm truing to get through the turn as I downshift to match everything up.
350 Likes - 0 Dislikes
I think that says it all ❤️
your channel is actually so good💥I don't understand how u don't have more subsribers👍
I agree. Great content delivered in an easy-to-digest way. Subscribers should come in 100s'k.
For me, Dan is someone to understand after you have got a little experience. Things I did not have a feel for yet, were hard to understand. Once I experienced and worked toward a "manuever goal" putting it altogether and understood what I was searching for, Dan's lessons were "aha" moments for me. The more I ride the more I understand his solid approach and theory.
The biggest one I’ve found for conflicting information is how far to sit away from the tank. One riding school says sit up against it and pivot around it and use it to secure yourself, most others say sit back a few inches, get your arse cheek of the seat early and use the inside of your leg to secure yourself. Worth knowing both ideas though and trying them out. Everyone is different 😁👍🏻
My arms get really crowded when needing to prepare for a lean when I sit too far up. Like he said rightfully so, just take info from everyone and make of it what you wish and works for you.
Sitting tight to the tank will anchor you more to the bike and that is why driving schools teach you this. Sitting "one fist" away from the tank gives you the flexibility to work actively with your bodyweight on the bike and that is why it is recommended for a more "active" driving (and for the track)! You don't have to hang the butt cheek out benefit from the flexibility... even if you just lean your upper body out the extra space between you and the tank will be good for you! 😊
Both can work Dan, but my personal opinion is that sitting a little way off the tank brings more benefits than not.
Good answers to this question here... by quite a solid knowledge base! 😊
ua-cam.com/video/eZUGeZQvsSQ/v-deo.html
I recommend Dan’s free e-book; finally got my knee down last track day.
Congratulations on becoming one of my All instructors. My first track was possibly the most challenging.🤯 Grattan raceway in Michigan. With 8 out of 11 corners being blind... by day 2 I had moved into compliments rather than concerns coming from the pros.
Although, I rode my 2004 Tuono new to me track bike for about 10 minutes before taking her out on the track...
I'd say that is 1st track success. It just took 2 days... next time GingerMan raceway in Michigan for 3 days. Aprilia will be there this coming weekend with test rides 6/15-16/19...
I'll be there with a 2018 RSV4 RF LE#14...
an my Tuono too. Thanks!
My 3day weekend tracktime with the Aprilia test ride racer days at GingerMan raceway was brilliant.
I practiced what I had been shown by you at Life of Lean, and what the coach from Sportbike Track Time tried to show me... IT WORKED!
I was promoted to intermediate.
You guys at LoL were there for me when weather was wicked, i was willing to grow as a rider watching your UA-cam content. When i could i applied those lessons to great success. I have proven you can grow as a rider even when snow gets in the way. Thank you everyone!
Always see the bigger picture, grab the bits, make the big picture that you see best fit and improve on that. Fantastic!
Loved your analogy "Become the Bruce Lee of the ...." I completely concur with you. That analogy applies to all we strive to better at.
Dude, he made a Bruce Lee reference for track day...
'Be like fluid like water in the corners, my friends'
"WAAAAATAHHH!!!!
Lean Kune Do...every video makes comment sth like "at last! Someone not feeling like a sport riding guru, but actually is". I loved this one. Everytime I am speaking with my trackday friends saying "every corner is different, it needs different lines" or "I am faster when I am NOT dragging knee" or "opening the throttle in different points" I am being mocked. Thank you sifu Dan. 😜
Randomly came across this while looking for some TD tips. Really impressed, you've not overcomplicated your explanations and made it easy to understand. I also like how you suggest training with different coaches/schools...it makes a lot of sense. Maybe you should set up a school?!
Thanks Gavin. Really appreciate it.
Finding ones own comfort zone while holding on to fundemental riding philosophy is a key. I agree with, putting the learning eggs in many baskets, will reap the best interpretation of verbal instruction to track feel and riding.
Excellent riding advice! Can you do one on cornering? Hand pressure, pull or push, body lean....ect. you have a way of breaking down step by step that is very helpful
I came to say a big thank you, I have just completed my 2 days track days training with a coach yesterday and the day before. It was a blast nothing I have ever experienced, it looked easy on the screen, boy It was much harder, physical, psychological and each corner is a test to your limit, first right corner after long straight on hard braking was quiet scary, never thought about this. Love your work please continue to give us more insights! love from Hong Kong
I absolutely agree with learning from multiple sources. It's too easy to fall into a trap of finding one source you like and then thinking that is gospel and anyone who says anything different is therefore wrong. There are a few things to note
- Just because one coach says one thing does not even mean that is the only way they do everything. That might just be what they were focusing on that day.
- That being said, there can be more than one solution. It's not necessarily the case that there is only one best solution. And as was stated, it may depend on context, which must be taken into consideration.
- Sometimes something that might seem different at first, may just be a different way to view something you have already heard. This can be good in that with more points of view on the same thing, you can gain a deeper understanding of that approach.
- Think of differing views as ingredients in a dish you prepare. A skilled person can experiment with different ingredients indifferent proportions and see how the result turns out, learn from that, and tweak and tune to obtain the best results that work for you. Just as having more ingredients at your disposal allows for greater degrees of experimentation and discovery, so too does having a greater amount of information, viewpoints, and ideas gleaned from hoovering up as much information from as many different sources as possible. No one can give you a single simple recipe that if you follow it exactly you will always get the best results. Life doesn't work like that. The only real way to learn and develop intuitive understanding is through experimentation. Try something, maybe it works, maybe it doesn't - but in either case it provides more information to better understand how it works and how changes you make will make changes in results. And with that better understanding, one is better positioned to be adaptable and to be able to more quickly find the best solution to anything thrown at you. When you go to a new track, if you have experimented and gained an deeper understanding of how it works, then you can more quickly learn and adapt to that new track.
Leaned a lot from your video’s and information, which help me get a bump. Awesome stuff bro, can’t get enough..
You have a great ability to explain concepts very succinctly (or at least edit them that way :-) ) Your bite-sized videos have as much real advice as vids that are 3-5 times longer. If you don't teach some subject in some way, I think you should lol. I'm very new to track riding (having only done training courses on them) but really enjoy your vids - kudos!
I think the only reason you don't have many many more subs is that track riding is relatively niche - keep up the good work!
Thank you Sharkey this means a lot. Regarding subs, I really don't mind. I'm happy with the impact I'm having 😊
This guy is a great couch, wise for such a young man.
Dar Tice he does look very comfortable to sit on.
Thanks for another great video. I enjoy your content everytime something new is up.
My pleasure, Chris.
For me, it's the complete absence of all familiar road references.
Found it hard to even gauge my angle of lean without the usual roadside decoration.
Excellent Dan. Thank YOU.
I hated how fast my RGV250 steered and trransitioned side to side. I went to a taller front and rear tyre to add gyroscopic effect and slow the steering down. The taller rear helped with that AND stretched the gears slightly so i could hold each gear longer without losing any straight line speed (not so youd notice). This meant i wasnt having to either change gear half way round a corner or rolloff to prevent overrevving.
Standard the bike was waaay too twitchy. But everyone says fast steering is better. Err...sometimes. Where i was riding (we were basically road racing on a specific length of public road we all knew VERY well, sorta like the canyon racing the americans do, so sorry everyone these days who cant use that road due to heavy police activity...that was us) super fast steering made for a very unstable little missile. Some of the corners were tight and some followed each other but none required that sort of mental fast direction changing. It was actually bloody dangerous. So I slowed it down. And then spent the rest of my time owning it deflecting everyone else trying to find out why my rgv handled better than all the others (there were some other tweaks too...thst anyone with a brain and 5 minutes thought could have worked out. I left the engine totally stock, and was consequently the only one who didnt have that oh fuck moment when the engine seized due to 'tuning' the oil pump...idiots.).
The perceived wisdom isnt always correct, or it may have been once but no longer.
Gods they were a fantastic little beast.
Thanks Dan....
Crystal clear . Thanks
following your channel for a while now ...
seems like your videos are made up just for me. you talk exactly about the concerns i have.
Believe it or not most riders go through the same issues Julian, which is why much of my content resonates with you 👍
Great info! I've been trying to hit every single turn in the same way. Thank you Mr.
Understandable buddy. With more miles and time spent learning, the differences will begin to click for you 👍
Great Work as usual!
Thank you soo much for this video! Been waiting for this one. Love it. Aus
Dan, eh up. Thanks for this and the other uploads. Lots of useful information, clearly and concisely presented. I have a random question for you to answer, if you would please. It's not track-related and is actually about riding on the road. Put simply, I wondered if you felt that your track riding had benefited your everyday, normal riding. I'm assuming you do ride on roads, regularly. And, if you reckon track work has improved / helped, how and why it has. Thanks in advance.
I'd say yes, but mainly from a bike control and vision standpoint. I actually stopped riding on the road for 8 years after getting serious about the track, then I got back on the road last year. I just felt more calm than I remember and I had no trouble putting the bike exactly where I wanted. Road riding presents other challenges though, many of which I still struggle with.
Saw your UA-cam ads. Looking good Dan!
Mega video mate, any chance of a video from your first day on track to what you've done until now? (know you touched on your R6 to Blade transition already)
That was 10 years ago, so it would be a long one!
Brilliant channel - have you thought of doing a track guide of say Brands? Braking points, apex's etc for each corner. Think it would be a very popular vid! (I'm biased cos Brands is my local track😉) Cheers!
It's something I've considered, for sure. Not in the immediate future but definitely not out of the question.
This is so useful!! Very well done
Thanks
Thank you ,,,, great video, really helpfull.
Great video Dan. I always look forward to your new additions.
Thank you for this videos!
Is CSS one of the camps? You are challenging quite a bit from their curriculum. Good to see. Would be good to see a few examples of conflicting camp ideas with the camps named.?
Clearly he is and I strongly agree with it. I took CSS Level 1 and quickly became frustrated when I was told to apply their principles on track, had problems, and then was told by instructors of exceptions here and there on track, especially with regards to the "once you crack the throttle" rule they literally drill you on, but doesn't apply to all corners. As a result I lost a lot of respect for CSS. I'd also agree that in general the "quick flick" seems like a really stupid idea, especially on track where smoothness should be the key.... on the street having the ability to quick flick feels more appropriate in emergency situations.
this is because bikes have some leeway for slight differences in technique even some bikes act differently
Hey Dan, thanks for another great video.
Great vid! enjoying them all.
Thanks, very informative
Can please explain vision when we go through hairpin. Some say look at the exit kerbs where some say look to the extreme inner side of track then you will end up on kerbs faster.
I think he all ready has a couple of videos on that.
Look them up on his channel.
Are you asking about corner exit specifically? If so, after I'm moved my eyes from my apex I tend to look fairly far down the track, to the outside edge.
From where can I gat your T-shirt.
When trail braking into a hard turn I find myself a couple of gears up from where I need to be and downshifting costs me time and out of the loop. Do you have suggestions? Thanks, Mark
Just an observation: trail braking and engine braking most often go hand in hand so why would be say in 4th gear in a corner while trail braking vs being in 2nd where you should be?
@@jessiedivincenzo5215 I get your point but if going to engine braking to match RPM's , I'm unable to get through the turn at a higher rate of speed. I'm truing to get through the turn as I downshift to match everything up.
Sir I am from India and I like your content so much😘😘.
Be water my friends. Bruce Lee.