~ Auto Buzz ~: IENATSCH TUESDAY: Corner Entry It’s important to add understanding to your riding techniques.

We pulled this pic from a Yamaha Champions Riding School film lap because the rider’s knee is on the ground and the brake light is still on. This rider continues to slow his entry speed and fine-tune his entry radius for one reason. Photo by Anthony Sansotta.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could circulate a racetrack briskly behind a YCRS instructor? Wait! Don’t answer, it’s a trick question. Yes, of course, it would be great. And it is great, but having students lap behind instructors is far from my idea of a successful riding school. It speaks to the proverb of giving a man a fish or teaching him how to fish. We can drag students around the track in our wake, and part of the school does involve lead/follow. But from the moment the school starts to the time it ends, we are front-loading and back-filling the lapping with words, demos, drills, and video. Our style is spreading to trackday and coaching groups like N2, Rickdiculous, TrackDaz, SMRI, Apex, and others I can’t yet mention.

Ken Hill and I are in the blue A-Stars suits and I’m busy augmenting the riding techniques we teach with hows and whys. In a moment, Ken will jump in with another example of the point we are trying to make, all in an effort to build riders who understand more than simple technique.

Okay, thank you for withstanding that short chest-puffing paragraph. It hurts to brag, but I so believe in what YCRS does that I risk your ire. If you’re still with me, I want to write about something very important: The Purpose of Corner Entry. My hope is that you will ride (or drive) with this in mind the next few times you leave the garage. Keep it at the forefront of your focus during the next two rides/drives and it can then be placed in your toolbox of riding understanding. I write “drives” because it’s winter and you may not ride much, choosing instead to jump into your “four-wheeled practice motorcycle.” It’s not a riding technique like initial braking or eye usage; it’s an overall understanding and outlook and prioritization of riding a motorcycle well all your life. It speaks to consistency, safety, and certainly speed, but speed is always third on this list for street riders. From this moment on, look at the entrance to every corner this way: It exists to “get the bike ready to exit.” The italicized part of that sentence speaks to the bike’s direction, or how you get it pointed, or your ability to get it slowed enough to match the corner’s radius, get it on the apex, get it in a position to do one of two things—either continue to slow in order to continue to tighten your radius (in response to gravel, a car in the lane, a tree limb) or take away lean angle and accelerate off the corner.

This Triumph 675 sets up wide on a huge downhill entry at Mosport. Line choice, body position, eyes, and mainly bike speed are all aimed at getting the 675 on the apex and ready to exit. This approach keeps you healthy and focused on what counts: Exits. Photo by Alex Bilo.

Let’s define corner entry as the part of the corner before the apex, where you are slowing and turning in. Entries last a long time in 180-degree corners, much less in 90s or corners that are more open. But don’t sweat the corner layout; remember that you are using the entry to get the bike slowed, turned, pointed and ready to exit if the way is clear. Racers attending YCRS soon realize that rushing corner entries hurts their exits, lap times and eventually bodies. Street riders learn that riders die when they hurtle uncontrolled into corners surrounded by trees, guardrails and oncoming traffic. Both groups gain consistency when they begin to think about corner entries as the time to get the bike slowed, turned, pointed and ready to exit. When Kenny Roberts Sr. told you “Slow in, fast out,” he was using corner entries to set up exits. Um, he’s a three-time 500 Grand Prix World Champion for you kids out there. You don’t win championships without consistency, and you don’t have consistency when you rush corner entries. And this example speaks to what we chase so hard at YCRS: not just specific techniques but overall principles for thriving on two wheels. Students who leave being able to coach themselves, or “fish for themselves,” is my definition of a successful riding school. When I hear my instructors discussing these overarching principles along with more specific issues like lines or downshift procedures, I know the students are getting the education necessary for a long riding career. Approaching every corner entrance with the purpose of preparing for the exit will make you a consistently safe street rider and keep you roadracers healthy enough to have a shot at championships. Phillip Island International Island Classic? Yes, I’m racing Rusty Bigley’s Yamaha TZ750 at this huge vintage festival in January 2016. It’s an amazing event that pits teams from America, England, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland. Four races during the weekend with points counting in each race; the machinery is amazing and intense, mostly 1300cc four-strokes in custom chassis. If that’s not tough enough, the riders are the Who’s Who of yesteryear’s roadracing. Sometimes a young gun shows up, but the thrill for me will be meeting and racing against some of my heroes.

I’m standing with Kurt Lentz and Rusty Bigley after a good AHRMA weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park earlier this year. The weapon in front of us is the 1983 Spondon TZ750 we’ll race at the Island. For anyone interested in attending the Classic, check out www.facebook.com/luxeStarVIPClassicRaceTeam for travel packages...it’s going to be an epic weekend. Photo by Brian Smith.

Dave Crussell is our team captain and a veteran of the event. We’re taking 13 riders for the US team. It’s a huge deal on all fronts and Bigley and Kurt Lentz are working flat-out getting the TZ prepped, crated and shipped. When asked why I would enter such an event I answer: Yamaha TZ750 at Phillip Island. Anyone who knows the bike or the track immediately understands. Stay tuned. More next Tuesday!