As to facilities, it has its own clubhouse and bathrooms with showers (all very nice), covered awning space (for rent), nice garages (also for rent), and paid RV spaces with power. There is a restaurant in the clubhouse that (typically) serves breakfast and lunch. There is a gate fee (just like the other BW track) for weekend events.

I did a track walk and a slow-car drive so I was able to inspect it up close, the aggregate is good (of course it’s still fresh) and the track is generally very smooth. There is one significant bump in one of the latter corners, Turn 7, at the apex (just be sure you’ve started accelerating before you get to it, enough to have positive tension in the driveline). There are a few spots where you can tell that it was paved in sections as the aggregate doesn’t quite line up. Hopefully they maintain it because those sections are where wear and undulations often occur as time goes on. Ideally the aggregate goes on in one long continuous deployment but without a huge GP-type track budget, aggregate usually goes on in sections or strips for most tracks in the US. The grip is fantastic and tire wear was quite nice and surprisingly evenly balanced on both sides of the tires.

As to the nature of riding it, it reminds me a lot of the Sonoma kart track in that it has lots of really late apexes. These take a while to get your control timing going (at least for me) and to build precision but I really like it once I start to figure it out. You come in on the brakes, not always sure of where best entry is but it often calls for a slow turn in and managing your throttle and/or brake just right so that you can hit that late apex while accelerating out with some enthusiasm.

Additionally, it has more elevation than you might expect for the location. We’re not talking Ridge, Sonoma, or Laguna types of elevation but some subtle stuff and some drops that are pretty fun. On the run out of T6 over the drop on my Tuono V4 and the BMW, significant wheelies are possible (and I’m not a wheelie kind of guy). There’s more elevation change than most on-board video captures.

This track has a remarkable number of late apex corners. What I have found, and I am by no means an expert this track, but at my pace there are several entry options, which makes for good passing opportunities on the way in. There are also at least 3 opportunities to hit 140 mph with a 200 bhp bike.

On this particular weekend event, we had some noteworthy regional and national level racers, including several from the BPR team as well as Joe Roberts from moto2. Nearly a third of our A group included national (or world) level racers! While this can be intimidating at first, it posed no problem for the rest of the A group riders as we would usually only see them for a few seconds and all of the passes were clean and expeditious.

We also had the ChampSchool and JP43 coaches working with their students. This is one of the particularly cool things about Volant Vivere (VV)—we’ve partnered with different professional coaching agencies and our track days are an official venue where their coaches can work with clients. The way this works is that the rider purchases their pass to ride and then they get in touch with whichever coaching organization we’ve coordinated with (usually ChampSchool/YCRS and JP43).

We had a few off-track excursions through the weekend and only a couple of fallers and mechanicals but nothing serious enough that required an ambulance. We had two groups with 30 minute sessions per group from 9AM - 5PM and an hour break for the catered lunch. Few people ran into substantial traffic and even if they did, because the sessions were 30 minutes, they could pull into the hot pits and wait 30 seconds and go straight back out again.

I spent a good part of the weekend working with a few clients, including a newer track rider who made some fantastic progress. It’s really neat to hear their response when they’ve made a jump in a particular area. One client managed to drop 5 seconds (!) over the course of a couple of sessions remarked about how everything felt so much different at that elevated pace and it brought back memories and observations I had a few years ago (and still do) as my pace improves.

Below is a sample lap; I was riding with a client to get some video footage for him to use with his coach. I still have loads to work on myself but it may give you a better sense of the track if you’ve not ridden there.

All in all, I really like the track. It’s a bit of a haul with a 300+ mile drive to get down there so I don’t expect to make a lot of trips there but at least I have a sense of it now and have lots to work on the next time. I have to periodically remind myself of just how fortunate we are in Northern California to have so many great tracks at our disposal. If you count the two tracks at Thunderhill and two tracks at Buttonwillow, we now have 6 tracks within 5 hours of the Bay Area.

It was a good time and great to be a part of the VV team. The responses we heard from customers were very positive and it’s nice to be able to spend a good amount of time working with riders and peers you respect.

My riding coach asked for my data and I reluctantly obliged. He just picked a few corners but the one that stood out to me was Turn 1, a fast left-hander following the front straight which is good for 160 mph on a liter bike. Braking from ~160 mph and gauging your appropriate speed for the corner happens quickly and takes some rapid calculations as you tip in and ease off the brake pressure and prepare to get back to throttle with positive acceleration past the apex. The exit reference is out of sight until you’re fairly close to the apex and it’s at the edge of a track with no runoff. On my better laps, I’m 110 mph or faster exiting Turn 1. Adding to that, the hard braking on the way to Turn 1 is bumpy and the exit too; the wheelie control is working full-time.

What my coach noticed was that I was a bit late getting back to the throttle and sometimes when I do, it’s too much initially. This corner has stymied me for years, and even in my best laps I feel like I could do it better. Since my coach e-mailed me his observations over a week ago, it’s been in the back of my mind. Earlier this morning I recalled something he told me a few years ago. My coach’s coach was Freddie Spencer and he had told Ken that on some corners he aims for the dirt inside the apex and then uses the throttle to take him out from the dirt, back to the apex. Effectively, the idea is to aim inside the apex and once back to the throttle, use degree of application to put yourself on the apex. For me, I think this approach could be useful.

Since the throttle data is also in the image, I want to address that as well. You can see where I’m late to the throttle in T1 and there’s too much initial throttle particularly in Turns 2 & 3, I’m also going to be focusing on that. The goal in nearly all corners is to be able to smoothly continue to add throttle without backing off, which I clearly wasn’t executing on. To assist with this I’ve also adjusted the throttle map and engine braking on the bike. Full-suite electronics add several dimensions to the game and I haven’t really thought about those as much as I probably ought. My nature is a set-it-and-forget it and just ride what you have, but premium liter bikes have so much power, I’m beginning to come to the conclusion that to ride them effectively, you really may need to lean into the electronics to at least a bit.

Aiming for the dirt isn’t for everyone, and depending on where you are with your riding, you may be a ways off from it but for me, I think this could be useful. By aiming inside the apex, this will force me to get direction sooner and the sooner that I’ve got the bike pointed, the sooner I can get back to positive acceleration (throttle) which should happen as I’m both opening up the radius and slowly taking away lean angle. This doesn’t work with all corners but in corners where you should be accelerating past the apex and camber and gravity are in your favor, as well as having enough power that you can effectively steer the bike with the throttle, it may make sense.

When I go back to Thunderhill, I’m going to make a point of moving my eyes to initially focus on the dirt just inside the apex and use my throttle to adjust my bike’s position on the track. Of course, I’m also going to deliberately work on my throttle hand and building a smoother and initially lighter build.

To repeat, my summary is that I have two core things to work on at my next Thunderhill outing:

1. Getting direction earlier by aiming toward the dirt on Turn 1; getting direction earlier should put me in the right place to start throttle earlier to line up with my coach’s initial throttle.

2. Working on the quality of my initial throttle by not grabbing as much at the outset and working toward a continual build. When I’ve focused on this in the past, it makes everything feel slower, though it’s usually the opposite. I am going to take advantage of the bike’s electronics to calm the engine response as well as less engine braking which may help prevent so much over-slowing. I do also like to feel the front tire working.

My objective report cards will be easy to measure—beginning of throttle for T1 should be earlier and if my throttle application starts slower and builds in a linear way. My fitness is already improved from the first outing and for me, sometimes I just need to get a few good laps to build momentum. I’m hoping to get to that because then I should start getting into my preferred bike geometry at turn in (~105-115 mm front travel at turn in and smoother suspension travel through the corner). I could soften the front end but I kind of liking riding to the bike, especially when I know how good it is when I can get to my pace.

My ideal would be able to get my control usage to look like it did on a pretty decent session on my Tuono V4 from last year. Granted, the BMW is appreciably faster and lighter so it may take some time. Yes, I’ve gone faster on the BMW than the Tuono, but my inputs weren’t as disciplined.

Since I’m mostly focusing on stuff between Monterey and Shelton, this weekend is the first riding event at the big tracks out my way.

I’ve managed to get a couple of days at the Sonoma kart track in January and February riding my Ninja 400. I’m pleased to report that the foot that I injured last season was not an impediment in any way. I still ‘feel’ the injury and/or tightness while walking but I am also able to walk at my 4.2 - 4.4 mph pace without difficulty. In my second kart track outing I was able to trim ~1.6 seconds compared to the first outing which puts me on par with last year. I’ll try to squeeze in a few more kart track days during the regular season as I’ve found that to be the best tool for working on my own program.

Knowing that I’m physically able to do the thing, I’m starting to visualize and recount the things I need to keep in mind on the big tracks so I can get back to speed efficiently. When I get out there, my priorities will be:

1. Establish Precision - every corner, every lap, be able to put the bike where I intend. Nothing else matters more to me than building the precision. Based on the kart track riding, that wasn’t much of a problem so I think I can do it on the big tracks.

2. Weight off the inside arm - I’ve struggled with this for a long time. There are the occasional sessions where I remember to lower my chest and lift my elbows (which in photos is not nearly as much as it feels) and it’s not something that’s second nature for me yet. I know when I’ve done this right because the bike just falls into the corner. Timing is tight because you do carry a lot of weight on the bars under heavy braking and then you need to tighten your core, drop your chest, etc. as you’re releasing brake pressure and turning in. This will likely be an ongoing thing for me.

3. Let body timing become a background thought - for me, this means having my butt on the correct side of the bike before the turn starts, appropriately positioned fore and aft, right part of the feet on the correct part of the peg, etc. In esses this means moving my butt as I’m taking away lean angle from the preceding exit. I mostly do this correctly now but it’s in my conscious thought somewhat. My hope is for that to fall out of my thoughts so I can leave room for the below.

4. How things feel at different paces - In the last year or two I became more conscious of this. For instance, if I’m in turn 2 at Thill East at 64 mph mid-corner vs 69 mph, the bike feels quite a bit different. There’s not only more lean angle but the bars move around more. This is even more noticeable if I’ve got the weight off the inside arm and the bars move as the front wheel tracks through surface imperfections. If I come into turn 6 at 80 mph vs 90 mph, the bump under braking is barely noticeable at 80 but at 90, it’s significant. At Sonoma, braking into turn 9, if the rear isn’t off the ground or just about off the ground, I can condense my braking. Turn 6 exit at Sonoma, if I’m not concerned about running close to the right curb, I’m not exiting with enough enthusiasm or I’ve hit the second apex late.

5. Front end geometry - in harder braking corners around 90°, I want to see over 100+ mm of front travel at turn in (figure ~20-ish degrees of lean angle) and the front suspension travel shouldn’t move below 100mm until I’m taking away lean angle and getting on the throttle. If my numbers are there, I’m doing it right. My A-bike is pretty well setup and data was confirmed recently so the hardware is up to task.

I’ll be instructing and control riding with Volant Vivere again this year and it’s always on my mind to be a good example in terms of precision and courtesy to fellow riders. Here’s to a great riding season for all of us!

If you’ve done this track riding/driving thing for a while, and you end up behind a rider with precision, you know it right away. These are the riders who go fast, are tight to the inside curb, look smooth, don’t appear tense, and don’t often fall down. You may not even notice them transition their body between corners because it happens early and smoothly. At the highest level of our sport, a lack of precision is immediately recognizable because when they are running at or near limits and they miss a marker, the rider loses time, gets passed, or falls down.

After doing it on my own with the periodic instruction from track day personnel and some schools with some progress but inconsistent guidance, I sought out and worked with some high level coaches. I jumped in with the Rickdickulous school near the end of its run and met the guy whose podcasts I’d been listening to religiously. There Ken Hill paired me with Phil and since then I’ve had the privelge of working with Ken, Mark, Phil, and Cam. The recurring theme with all of them is unrelenting precision. Yes, they’re all quick, but to me the most impressive part was their consistency and ability to put the bike exactly where they intended, corner after corner, lap after lap, all while making it look natural and fluid. By the way, if you ever have the opportunity to do a two-up ride with Ken, do it!

When I first stated track riding, I struggled with precision. By precision, I’m referring to two overall things:

1. Direction/Vehicle Position—consistently putting the vehicle in the correct location, to make the most out of each corner. In terms of apexes, this means knee over the curb, not a foot or two off the apex.

2. Control Timing - the ability to use the right control at the right time, in other words, all the ways we control the vehicle, be it braking or throttle application, both on and off; steering inputs, etc. All of this being relevant to the specific corner in question.

These two aspects of precision have taken me years and I’m always working to improve my own, but doing so also led to consistency, pace, and safety. These are the biggest riding priorities for me and if I’m having an ‘off’ day, focusing on these things will result in a satisfying day for me, even if my pace isn’t where I want it. For me, quality is more important than outright pace. It may not mean the fastest lap time but I’m not really a send it kind of rider. The reality of it though is that since focusing on precision, my lap times continue to improve.

Now to build precision, it takes a combination of the bigger items:

• Vision - usage of and timing of moving eyes from one visual reference to the next. Don’t let yourself linger on a reference once you know you’re going to hit your mark, as soon as you know you’ll be there, move on to your next visual reference. In longer radius corners, swivel your head to have it going where you want your vehicle to go.

• Anticipation - big picture anticipation: prepare days in advance by watching my own videos and videos of others, trying to acclimate myself to the track in question; more specific—anticipate references, turning, end of braking points, body timing, etc. for the upcoming corner.

• Body timing - moving my body appropriately and timing it so that my movements don’t upset the chassis; often times this means moving early and I’ll often spend time in the garage days in advance with the bike on stands practicing transitions and building references to where different parts of my body are in contact with the bike. This will vary with different bikes. For instance, with naked bikes and corners leading onto long straights, I want to get moved over particularly early because the lack of aero and more relaxed ergonomics makes high speed transitions challenging.

• Control sensitivity - knowing just how much brake pressure and timing as well as how much throttle to get the bike to move to the inside or outside of a corner. This also includes continuing development of sensitivity to just where a given amount of throttle naturally tracks the vehicle. For instance, building familiarity with the appropriate amount of throttle that takes you to the outside of the track on corner exit and putting yourself in the most advantageous position for the next corner. As the pace improves, this will organically take you to a position of building feel for limits of grip, both in acceleration and braking.

I mentioned body transitions. I think one of the most inspirational clips I watched was a booty-cam lap with Pedro Acosta in his moto2 championship winning year in 2023. This is an extremely high-level racer who is anticipating everything. Notice how he will transition well before he exits the corner he’s in. Also note that he doesn’t go back to the center of the seat unless he has a decent amount of straight ahead of him.

Once a rider/driver is able to build consistency in precision (which should be visible in data by overlaying multiple laps at pace—slow points should be virtually identical in location, throttle and brake shapes should be similar, etc.), that’s the point at which it’s safe to building further pace. This could be condensing brake application, more lean, faster/longer throttle application, etc. At this step, it’s completely normal for the rider’s precision to get knocked down a little. Part of it is that things are happening faster, there are new and possibly unfamiliar sensations coming through the chassis of the bike, the rider may be nearer the edge of the track than they are familiar with, etc.. Continuing to work on the new pace, ideally the rider will quickly adjust and restore the precision. If the rider is not able to return to the precision, backing off the pace just enough to bring back that precision for a session or two, then try again.

Being consistently precise demonstrates an understanding of the track, the ability to process what’s about to happen, bike control, and provides the necessary foundation to go faster. When a rider makes a jump in pace, precision often suffers. It’s the rider who can maintain that pace and rebuild precision quickly who will continue to make safe improvements.

A special shout out to Mike Canfield (MC Tech) to helping me edit this post and as always Ken and the team for years of guidance and inspiration.

That said, I will focus on a few fundamentals, and really, it’s what I try to do early in the riding season and focus on in the first session of any track day.

1. Precision - put the bike where I want when, apexes NOT optional.

2. Eyes & Vision - put my focus on the next upcoming reference and hold it there just long enough to know that I’ll hit it, as soon as I see that, then move my eyes to the next. I must remember to pivot my head in appropriate corners (T2 is the biggest).

3. Control Timing - brake release, throttle application, etc., all pertinent to the type of corner.

Once I can consistently do the three items above, then I’ll give myself permission to go faster by lengthening throttle application, getting to throttle faster, condensing braking zones, and carrying more lean angle. If I can also work on front-end geometry, awesome, but that’s a bit lower in my priorities.

I’m super excited to get back at it, even if it is the tail end of the Northern California season. I’ll try to attend as many track days as my schedule permits. It was a major bummer to lose out on so much riding time, particularly since it was working out to be a great season with measured progress. I’ve watched friends making progress on their goals and performance with a good degree of envy, but it also gave me time to channel my track focus into my professional career (which pays for me to do all of the riding), and the timing was honestly fortuitous due to the types of projects I had going on. Our oldest kid headed off to college during this time as well. I did manage a little street riding in the recovery period, which also helped me gauge where my healing was at. My wife even came along on a weekend street ride, and we had a really nice afternoon ride through the redwoods and along the California coast. Riding with a passenger is always good practice because to make it enjoyable for the passenger, you really need to focus on smooth control application, early turn-ins (if moving at a bit of a clip), and minimal hanging off. She said it was swift but not scary, which is exactly what I was aiming for.

I’m looking forward to seeing my riding buddies and maybe getting some inspiration. I’ll be measured with my riding and focused on the three items above, and try to have some fun. It’s improbable that I’ll be able to get a lap time, and that’s fine.

As I mentioned in Part 1, data is huge for rider development, however it can also be incredibly useful in vehicle performance (and could be more important the higher up you go), and that’s what I’m focusing on in this series.

Suspension

Obviously, having suspension data really helps you get your suspension setup (way beyond putting a zip tie on a fork leg), and once it’s setup for you, you can see if you’re maximizing your ability to use the suspension properly (brake pressure at turn-in and front suspension travel, average and peak suspension travel, etc.).

Engine Tune

I was told by the previous owner of my BMW that the bike had a Bren Tune Stage 1 tune on it. In comparing hand throttle to butterflies, I was able to tell that on the front straight and the bike stood up, when my hand was at 100%, the butterflies were at ~80%. Not long after I took the bike to a tuner with a dyno and he found that the bike had the dealer-installed M-torque tune, not the Bren Tune flash. He remedied that with a custom flash built for my bike and I now see 100% (actually it peaks at 99%) on the butterflies when my hand is at 100% on the front straight (and the top speeds are higher). The new custom tune produces an even 200 bhp to the tire whereas the M-torque tune produced 177 bhp and it was not a smooth curve. The new tune from OpenFlash is more potent but the bike is easier to ride with it because the power is much more linear.

ABS

I retained the factory ABS on my bike as I have not found that to be a limiting factor. If you have the ABS on the bike, it gives you brake pressure data, separate for the front and rear. In the settings for the bike, there are ~5 different levels of ABS and I have it in the 2nd or 3rd least intrusive setting (which still allows the rear to lift and I personally like that as it’s become a ‘feel’ for me). With that, I discovered that the bike will automatically activate the rear brake in hard braking zones. It’s not enough that I can feel it, it’s just interesting to see that data channel light up when I know it wasn’t me.

Electronics/Nannies

Also interesting is to see how the ASC (automatic stability control) works. At moderate and greater lean angles, the bike will hold back the amount of power it produces (by reducing the butterfly opening) until the bike comes more upright. BMW’s documentation says it considers front vs rear wheel speed but I’ve not found the exact correlation yet. It *appears* that the bias is largely lean angle and throttle opening. When I have the +7/-7 TC at levels above +3, I can feel it more pronounced and the way that it releases the power when the bike becomes upright can sometimes be dramatic (enough for the front end to come up without provocation). If the conditions are good and the tire is fairly fresh, I’ll start at 0 or +1. If it’s a cold early session where I’ll start at +2 or +3 and I’ll do the same if the rear tire is appreciably worn and I’m feeling the rear slip noticeably. Above +3 and it feels much more dramatic to me in the way that it ‘releases’ the bike as you become vertical. I do want to experiment with much lower settings (say -5) to see if/how that impacts the ASC. Changing the overall TC profile in the Race Pro modes doesn’t seem to have much impact (at least in the more aggressive settings, I haven’t tried the road/rain settings). In the below set of graphs, the ASC is shown in the top graph overlaid with GPS speed. BTW, the ASC appears to correlate with the amber light in the top right of the dash lighting up, which is frequent.

Engine Health and Operating Conditions

Bikes usually don’t have a lot of data for engine health but most have coolant temperature, some may have oil temperature, maybe oxygen sensor, ignition advance, etc. At the very least, I’ll take a glance at coolant temperatures over the course of the day, just to make sure the temperatures aren’t getting too high. If I were building a race bike, I’d probably add oil temperature, maybe oil pressure, etc. The faster you go, the more of a consumable engines become but if you have a history of some of these measurements, you can get a sense of where you are in the health of the engine.

In RS3, I also have a page dedicated to suspension for the BMW. My bike’s integrated rear suspension pot tracks extremely closely to my AiM rear potentiometer, though the range is different by 2-4 mm. Rear suspension data in the last graph in the below set.

In the next set of graphs, near the front straight (toward the end of the graphs), notice in the 2nd graph where there are channels for HandTPS (hand throttle position) and TPS (butterflies). At one point, hand position is 100% but butterflies are at 74%. This is what drove my curiosity into the state of the tune since I was upright and ASC was not lit up.

Following the OpenFlash tune, you can see that the butterflies more closely match the hand position (assuming ASC is not engaged) in the 2nd graph. The 3rd graph shows front and rear brake pressure and I was only operating the front brake, the bike was activating the rear brake for me as part of the braking profile. As I mentioned before, I couldn’t feel the rear brake activating, nor could two test riders who are more proficient than I am. It would still be interesting to know the logic behind the algorithm for the rear brake activation.

Bike and Data Collection Wishlist

While I’m very happy with the BMW and the amount of data available from the stock ECU with the AiM hardware, there are a few things that are missing (both from BMW and AiM):

• From BMW, there is no provision for the user to calibrate the wheel speeds. Ducati and Aprilia both have a calibration mode which allows you to roll through the pits when you change tire sizes which calibrates the TC/WC/ABS for a different tire size. On my Aprilia there is even a Tire Slip channel and if I change tire sizes and forget to calibrate, I’ll see some slip numbers that are off. One time I noticed it most with early ABS intervention. I wish BMW had an onboard facility for doing tire size calibration.

• I have a spare set of wheels for my BMW and while the original wheels have TPMS sensors, I wish there was a way to code up the 2nd set of wheels for the TPMS. I was able to do this with my Triumph using a complete 3rd party set of i2M sensors and receiver. I had also implemented that data into the data stream so that my video overlay included tire pressure and wheel temperatures. My preferred BMW dash top display line is the tire pressure information. I find this particularly useful in case I’m held on grid for a few minutes as a reminder to get the tires warm before riding harder.

• My BMW came with tire pressure sensors (I think the BMW abbreviation is RDS). I wish AiM had data channels for tire pressure and wheel temperature since both of those are measured by the TPMS sensors.

• The AiM ECU profile logs the TC setting but I would really like for it to log the other user-configruable settings, including everything within RacePro modes (engine profile, ABS setting, wheelie control setting, traction control profile, etc.). It does record damper settings for bikes with the electronic suspension and the -7 to +7 DTC settings, as well as launch control.

• The 24+ BMWs have a steering angle sensor as a part of the newer ‘slide control’ feature. Even though my bike pre-dates that feature, I would like to have that data channel in the AiM protocol in case I get a newer BMW.

• Why doesn’t the BMW have a traditional Euro5 plug? Instead the only way to get data is via the BMW diagnostics plug. The bike also has a traditional ODBII plug however the AIM ODBII harness won’t work with that. Not a big deal as long as you know. Also note that the BMW diagnostics port has unswitched power so you’ll need to unplug your AiM hardware at the end of the day or you will drain your battery. I personally went with a flying leads harness and tapped into the CAN +/- and a switched power lead so that I don’t have to worry about leaving my data logger plugged in overnight but it’s a slightly more involved installation.

While I don’t expect anything to change on the BMW side with regard to allowing calibration or plug selection, I have worked extensively with AiM on different projects so if they can get their hands on a high-spec S1000RR, they can likely sniff the data to capture some of the other channels.

I still have more to discover with the electronics of the BMW and loads more of my own riding development but if you like to ride as well as geek out over data, this is a great platform and doesn’t take a lot to get data from it. This meshes well with my cautious nature in riding because I can look at data and find my own opportunities that aren’t too far outside my comfort zone and build on that.

Before diving in here, data is huge for rider development; however, it can also be incredibly useful in vehicle performance, and that’s what I’m focusing on in this set of posts. This first part will cover available data with the stock ECU and a fairly simple installation of suspension potentiometers. The second part will demonstrate some of the data that I’ve been able to glean.

AiM Data Channels for the 2015+ BMW S1000RR

AiM has an ECU profile for the 2015+ series of S1000RR that includes the following key channels:

• RPM

• Gear

• Front & Rear wheel speeds (independently)

• IMU data (roll/bank/lean angle) as well as the usual accelerometer and IMU channels

• Front & Rear brake pressure

• Intake & Coolant temperature

• Hand Throttle and Butterflies (which is great to recognize tunes and how the ASC impacts the butterflies)

• Torque Reduction (power reduction due to amount of throttle + lean and/or TC); multiple channels here reflected in percentages as well as Nm

• TC level setting

• ABS engagement (not positive if it’s front, rear, or any)

• ASC on (which is on a surprising amount)

• LiftOff-Wheelie Control engagement

• Suspension rebound & compression setting, as well as rear suspension travel, which is available with the stock electronic suspension option

In addition, Alpha Racing also sells a 2D front suspension potentiometer that plugs in directly to the bike. If you add that to a bike that came with the electronic suspension, you’ll also get front suspension travel and it unlocks the separate compression and rebound damping on the fork; without the front pot, the compression and rebound are linked. As mentioned in the last bullet point above, if the bike came from the factory with the electronic suspension, it also has a rear suspension travel potentiometer.

On my bike, I wasn’t aware of the 2D potentiometer option at the time that I set up the data, so I added standalone Eclipse potentiometers from AiM, but I did use the Alpha mounting kit for the front and rear suspension. This means that I have two separate channels for measuring rear suspension data: 1.) OEM pot, 2.) 3rd party AiM pot that’s attached directly to the shock. In order to add the analog suspension pots, I also had to add an ACC (analog to CAN converter) from AiM.

One thing that I found little reference to with regard to installing a front suspension pot is the fact that installing it with the Alpha kit (which is hands-down the easiest way to do it), it will put the potentiometer in a position that it can get pinched by the radiator at full left lock and potentially damaged. Alpha also sells a set of steering stops that will prevent that from happening. As with other steering stops, it dramatically impacts the amount that the steering head can move, so the first few times you try to turn the bike around, you’ll notice it.

Both cabling the BMW for data and having ample space to stash excess cable, the ACC, and a data hub have been super easy. This is not like the Aprilia, where finding space for even extra cable is a challenge. AiM offers a pre-terminated harness that plugs straight into the BMW diagnostics part. I used an un-terminated CAN harness on my bike to afford me a bit more control over the installation. The extra AiM components fit under the front tank cover easily, and if I wanted to remove everything, it would literally take just a few minutes. I mounted an AiM XLog on the tail of the bike as my primary data logger (I prefer the XLog for its superior GPS reception), but because it doesn’t support an external display, I also cabled a second CAN harness to the front of the bike and mounted a S2DL to the steering stem. Another nice thing about having the two loggers on the bike is that I have backup data in the event one of them doesn’t record (that’s very rare).

Hardware Installation

Here we have two rear suspension measuring pots. The one in front of the shock and parallel with it is the aftermarket AiM Eclipse linear suspension potentiometer (100 mm) installed with the. Alpha kit. The angled one in the foreground is the OEM BMW pot. To be noted, if your bike came with the electronic suspension and you remove the OEM shock and/or forks, you will get a standing error on your dash and a warning message in the info section because it’s not seeing communication with the stock parts.

Below is the SmartyCam 3 GP 84° FoV camera controller attached to a fabricated aluminum sheet attached to the fairing stay. This works with the SharkSkinz fairings but different fairings may not permit the same mounting location.

Hardware List

• AiM XLog - mounted to the tail for best reception (same location MotoGP & WSBK mount their GPS antennae).

• AiM ACC - converts analog sensor data to CAN, installed under the front tank cover trim piece. AiM also has the ACC2 and ACC3, they all work the same but you want to make sure you select the variant that has the appropriate connection to your analog sensors (in my case, 719 connectors on the suspension pots).

• AiM Eclipse Linear Pots - 150 mm for the front, 100 mm for the rear

• AiM Data Hub - Since the XLog only has one AiM CAN port and I have the ACC + SmartyCam, I needed two AiM CAN ports. This is small and sits under the front tank trim cover.

• AiM SmartyCam 3 GP 84° FoV - I have two collars setup for the camera, one on a RAM ball mount where the right front rearview mirror would go, the other behind the windscreen on a sheet of fabricated aluminum. The latter has compromised optics since it’s looking through the windscreen but it keeps the camera out of the breeze and prevents it from getting hit by stray bits of asphalt and rubber.

• AiM - Solo2DL - this is connected to the BMW’s CAN network just like the XLog but it’s really only being used as a display. It’s completely unnecessary but since I have it, I use it.

• Alpha Racing front pot installation kit - includes upper and lower mounts for a 150/175 mm pot

• Alpha Racing rear pot installation kit for a TTX shock - includes upper and lower mounts; I used a 100 mm pot; this works with the Öhlins shock, I can’t say if it works with a manual suspension OEM shock but it does not appear to; it might be possible to retrofit the OEM DDC suspension pot but that might be fairly involved with an additional module and programming, possibly harness stuff too.

• Alpha Racing steering stop kit - this prevents the front potentiometer from getting pinched at the radiator at full lock; it also provides padding for the forks in the event of a tip-over though it dramatically increases the turning radius.

• Potentially additional/alternate cables - AiM offers different lengths of cables and harnesses so select what you’ll need for your particular installation.

With this fairly short list of hardware, I’m able to capture loads of valuable data with what I consider a reasonable expense (for those uninitiated, it’s still expensive, but if you shop around different data logging systems, this setup is relatively affordable and will work with a lot of different vehicles). It could all be done with a S2DL instead of the XLog, but I prefer the finer GPS resolution available with the XLog. As time goes on and data analysis becomes more detailed, I want more precise GPS data. Another option for that, though, is an external GPS antenna connected to the S2DL, the GPS09 from AiM. While this works fine with a S2DL, when I’ve used it with my S2DL and a SmartyCam, I lose the on-screen predictive timing on the video overlay, but it still works on the S2DL display in real time and offers better GPS resolution.

If you have the stock manual suspension, the front Alpha mounting kit should work fine, but the rear with the stock shock might be tricky. Alpha does have several different parts for attaching pots on their website, but you might be on your own for sorting out something. Again, if you don’t have the electronic suspension, you will need to use 3rd party pots, such as the AiM pots. If you do have electronic suspension stock (and whether or not you remove it), you can use the 2D pot, and you’ll have suspension data natively in the BMW ECU stream without the need for an ACC.

If you’ve read this far and are interested, Part 2 goes through various findings on my bike, both of the bike itself and the rider.

• Get weight off the inside arm as early as possible - during heavy braking, there is a lot of weight on both of your arms, that weight and force is pushed into the handlebars. In order to get the bike to turn by allowing the fork to move in the steering head, we have to get our weight off the bars as soon as practically possible. There are different ways of thinking about this, including getting to a screwdriver grip, consciously tightening the abdominal muscles (as Ken would say, ‘tighten your core!’), dropping your upper body, thinking of keeping the inside elbow up and bent, etc.

• Front-end geometry - in most 90°+ corners, optimal fork travel should be ~100 mm or more at turn-in. With 130 mm of front travel on my bike, my target is close to 110 mm (or more). The reason for this is layered and has multiple benefits. In order to get to the 100 mm + of travel, you have to save a good portion of your braking for the area closest to your turn-in. The immediate advantage is that you’ll be carrying speed longer and condensing your deceleration zone, and hence improving lap time. When the front end has good brake pressure on it near turn in, you’re increasing your grip by putting more pressure on the front tire, pushing it into the asphalt. Last is that with the front end pushed down, the wheelbase of the bike is shorter and rake and trail are optimized for turning, improving the bike’s turning. Fortunately I have suspension potentiometers so I can verify my progress on this.

• Throttle builds - I’m wanting to improve my first 40% of throttle usage and making it more linear. This may mean slowing my first bit of throttle application so that I can confidently build to 100%. The new tune on the BMW is something I’m still working to familiarize myself with.

• Further familiarization with my A bike - I still have a lot to learn with the BMW. The power is amazing and consequently I find myself rolling out of the throttle somewhat as the front end lifts slightly. Yes, it has electronics, including wheelie control, that prevents anything too outrageous from happening, however the front still comes up with even small bumps while on the throttle. It’s not a lot and I need to get more comfortable with it. I’m still experimenting with ABS and engine braking settings to see what I like. I feel like I’m getting a handle on the TC and making adjustments for tire wear but the ABS and engine braking are things I’m curious about. I’m also trying things out with ergonomics. The bike came with Alpha rear sets which were just too aggressive for my liking even in the most relaxed setting. I tried some Gilles rear sets and now I’ve recently installed some Evol Tech rear sets. The bike is amazingly stable in high speed acceleration corners, such as Laguna Turn 1 and Thunderhill East Turn 7. I have lots of potential to build speed in those corners.

• Earlier downshifts - this isn’t cemented yet but it’s improving, and it’s something I can practice on street and dirt rides. At the Ridge in June, I was working on this for braking into the chicane and was getting some rear wheel skipping. I was using the intermediate of the 3 engine braking levels on the BMW so I want to try with the lowest of the EB settings.

• At the Ridge Ken and Mark both rode the BMW and while they liked it mid-corner and the power, they both remarked that the front end lacked feel under hard braking. Further research showed that the previous owner installed a larger bore master cylinder than what is recommended for the stock calipers. I since replaced the master cylinder with the correct size (17 mm instead of the 19 mm) but haven’t ridden it enough to build a feel for it.

• Turning, then braking - A broader skill that I want to work on is turning, then braking and turning on throttle. There aren’t a lot of corners where this is applicable on a superbike but there are a few at Buttonwillow (Riverside in particular, degree of rolloff in several corners) and Laguna (T3, T10, T9 to a lesser degree). I watched the MA Superbike and Supersport races in great detail to confirm the entry procedure on these Laguna corners. It’s a counter-intuitive process but I’m thinking I want to do some deliberate practice with the 400 to work on this as a lower horsepower bike can force you into the scenario sooner than a bigger horsepower bike will. I do practice this at the kart track with the 400 so it’s not an entirely foreign concept but doing it at higher speeds on a big bike at a big track is a rarity for me.

• Earlier direction - Last year I was working on getting direction (getting the bike pointed) earlier and that’s still on my mind for this year.

I really like riding other bikes at the track, when done deliberately, it helps me with riding my own bikes and vice versa. For instance, if I know I can safely slow for a corner with bike X and bike Y isn’t as fast, I can extend my throttle/brake usage with bike Y. In other words, riding the Tuono (~175 bhp) after riding the BMW (200 bhp), I know I can safely push my throttle and braking further with the Tuono.

One of my highlights for this year was a new PB on my street/coaching bike, the Aprilia Tuono V4, at Thunderhill East. In that lap I was reasonably happy with my direction, control usage, and the data. I did have slightly late slow points, likely as a result of being particularly cautious with initial throttle at lean due to the street-oriented suspension.

Accompanying video

Here’s another fun data set. This is on the BMW at Thunderhill East. Following the new OpenFlash tune, the bike is producing 200 bhp on the dyno. Consequently, I was getting wheelie control intervention at 149.6 mph. Wheelie control is in the 2nd graph in blue and is labeled ‘LiftOff'.’ Unfortunately my video failed to record on this session.

In June I was up at The Ridge on my BMW S1000RR and on an out lap I was over-confident and greedy with throttle and managed to low-side my bike on the entry into T7. It was totally on me, I was coming out of T6 and didn’t feel like I was going fast enough so I gave the bike just a bit more throttle and between the tires not being fully warmed up and the front getting a little light, I lost it and the bike slid out at around 85 mph. I got a couple of bruises and the bike’s fairings took some damage but after cleaning it up, I was able to ride in the afternoon. Ken led me for a few laps to help me rebuild my confidence and that helped a bunch. The next day I did a PB on the track and managed to hit 151.4 mph on the front straight (~8 mph shy of the MotoAmerica super bikes).

Before riding July 15th at Laguna Seca, I flushed the coolant on my BMW and *thought* I had followed the correct procedure. I had a very specific set of items I planned to work on for that day and was excited to try out a new master cylinder and play with engine braking settings on the BMW. About 3 or 4 laps into my first session on it, the rear very dramatically spun up out of turn 5 and the bike spit me off onto my back. My airbag deployed and I managed to suffer a break in my left foot, likely due to a twisting motion of the highside and most of my weight on the inside peg. I’ve reviewed the data and footage along with others who are well-versed and my technique was fine but the fact that it spun up so quickly leads us to believe that it was likely a sudden loss of rear traction. Ken made a good point that normal tire slippage on exit should be caught by the bike’s electronics, particularly since this wasn’t a very fast pace for me yet.

When my bike was on its side, I did notice a good amount of steam coming from it (not smoke) so I thought maybe I destroyed the radiator. When we recovered the bike, there was a lot of coolant in the belly pan and knowing that I’d recently flushed the coolant, that was a question in the back of my mind.

After taking the fairings off to inspect things, I noticed something curious. Notice anything odd about the lower red radiator hose?

I did remove this host to drain the old coolant and I’ve never forgotten to reinstall a hose clamp before but it would appear that I did. I’ve slapped myself a few times now for this grave mistake that could have had far worse consequences than it did.

As of this writing, it’s been 2 days since I was launched off the bike. I met with my doctor and had X-rays taken of my foot the day after. I have a small bone fragment pulled off by ligament, it’s called an avulsion fracture. My doctor confirmed with podiatry for a second opinion and treatment will be a removable boot for ~6 weeks. I’ve had broken arms, wrists, and scaphoid in years past but I’d never broken anything around my legs before. The injury still hurts and getting around is really difficult and slow and super frustrating. I have always considered myself independent and depending on others is not in my nature so this is a big adjustment. I feel guilty about getting hurt and inconveniencing others. I’m angry with myself because I crashed, particularly since it was so easily preventable. It will be expensive to repair the bike and time for my foot to heal. It provides lots of time for self-doubt and regret.

I love this sport and my deliberate focus has improved my life in so many other ways outside of it. The sport has helped me through some incredibly difficult times emotionally when my family lost so many important people by providing me a focus mechanism. I’ve made the most amazing friends I would have ever imagined. I’ve been exposed to some of the best professionals and coaching. The sport has caused me to improve my physical fitness and diet (I take pride in the fact that after my doctor had comprehensive blood work done he said ‘you’re one of my most boring patients, medically that is.’ Motorcycling in general has been in my blood for over 4 decades and the past 7 years of track riding has resulted in some of the best friendships I could have ever imagined. I’ve heard from so many of my riding friends in the past couple of days and have received some of the nicest compliments. While the self-doubt is high, I need to remember all of the life improvements that have come from it. No one wants to get hurt but I will learn from all of this and be better as a result of it.

Sonoma Raceway

Sonoma, previously known as Sears Point and Infineon Raceway, has solid lineage and is still very active. It is close to San Francisco and the Northern California wine country so it’s a popular destination. There are loads of car events and consequently the asphalt shows it with bumps and ripples. The surface had gone largely neglected until a full re-pave in early 2024. AMA and MotoAmerica used to race here but the rumor is that the safety concerns and lack of maintenance caused it to fall out of favor with the national association. There used to be lots of club racing here but hasn’t been in years. Having ridden it several times in 2024 post-repave, I can tell you that the surface condition is generally quite good. It wasn’t the best of the repaves as there are already some bumps from cars and they had to repair some of it following a few car events. I’ve ridden it twice in 2025 and there are some new bumps and some more repairs but it’s such a fun and challenging track I overlook the worts.

It’s a great circuit if you want to come with your significant other and/or family because of its proximity to great food, wine, and San Francisco. The zip code also means that track rental fees are high so it’s not an inexpensive track. The cafe is quite good and there’s a variety of fuel at the track. Garages are included with the track rental but most track providers will charge for the garage rental separately.

This track has a significant amount of elevation change (meaning blind rises) and is highly technical. It’s great fun on any size bike though my favorite is a supersport. 400s are also really fun here and because the top speeds aren’t particularly high, it’s pretty safe to mix 400s with super bikes. Liter bikes are a lot of work and so far I haven’t really gone appreciably faster on a big bike but it’s a lot more work. Sonoma Raceway has some of the hardest braking of any track I’ve ridden so it will take a toll on you by the end of the day.

Weather is generally pretty mild here but this track does not suffer fools. If it’s cool or slightly damp, be particularly cautious as the grip falls off quickly.

Sonoma also has the SIM Raceway (kart track) that is open most Mondays for alternating sessions with moto and karts. You’ll often find local national racers practicing here including Cameron Beaubier, Tyler O’Hara, and Wyatt Farris on 400s. Check their schedule because it does change up often.

[WeatherTech] Laguna Seca

Laguna Seca is one of the most iconic tracks in the country with loads of pedigree. It’s a terrific place to bring the family being just a few miles from Monterey and Carmel and less than an hour from Santa Cruz. It’s typically the most expensive track day in California. The track is used in the MotoAmerica schedule and a few years ago was still used by MotoGP and World Superbike, and has good amenities including a great cafe (expensive) and a variety of fuel at the track. Garage rentals are handled directly through the track and are also expensive ($185/day). Power is not provided in the paddocks so bring a generator if you’re not renting a garage and need 120v. There are campgrounds within the park but outside of the paddocks so you can camp with power and non-potable water. I’ll often book a campsite and bring the family and they can go sight-seeing while I ride and then we reconvene at the end of my riding and go to dinner or the beach. You can book campsites here.

Laguna is not a terribly technical track until you’re going proper fast. There are 11 identified corners. Due to the elevation and fast overall speed, I prefer riding larger bikes. It’s generally well-maintained and the elevation is one of my favorite things. Obviously it’s known for the famous turn 8 Corkscrew but the scariest corner is turn 1 which is a kink over a blind rise on the front straight. The fastest of professional racers will effectively wheelie or jump the top of it well in excess of 140 mph while carrying 40° of lean angle.

The facilities are a bit dated now, which probably adds to the reasons the international bike series don’t run here now. Showers are outside of the paddocks on the way to the campgrounds. Track rental fees are high and everything is a la carte for the provider so check to see if the organizer has purchased overnight camping.

Buttonwillow Raceway [Classic and The Circuit]

Buttonwillow is pretty much in the middle of nowhere and is, for me, an excruciating drive slogging down the train of Interstate 5. It’s definitely not a destination track as there’s very little around it until you get to LA (nearly two hours away) or San Luis Obispo. There is fuel on premise and a cafe. There is no power in the paddocks unless you rent an RV campsite or garage. Garage rentals are handled through the track directly and they’re $125 per day (2025 saw an increase in pricing).

While track management does patch problem areas, it’s due for a full repave. I’ve see big chunks of asphalt kicked up by bikes coming toward me nearly every session and I end up with more nicks in my bodywork and visor here than anywhere else. It’s also incredibly bumpy, stuff that makes you question your suspension setup. Until recently the track was used by big MotoAmerica teams in the off-season for testing and practice.

It’s taken me a while to get my head around the appeal and character of BW but what it is for me is figuring out degree of rolloff and turning in on-throttle. There are loads of corners where you don’t use the brakes but it’s about how and when you roll off the throttle. It’s kind of like a full-sized kart track. Cotton Corners, Grapevine, Phil Hill, and Riverside are all really fun corners.

While the area during the day isn’t pretty at all, the sunrises and sunsets, particularly if there are some clouds, are quite spectacular and make an end-of-day track walk quite nice.

I’ve enjoyed riding every size bike here, though it feels safer on a supersport and bigger. Closing speeds between a 400 and bigger bikes can be substantial in several areas. A lot of regular riders here can be a bit aggressive with their passing.

Buttonwillow also has a kart track open to motorcycles as well but I’ve never tried that.

There are showers but they’re rather vintage.

After many years of construction and delays, Buttonwillow opened a second track known as The Circuit. I’ve not ridden it yet but it is fresh and has several late apex corners with some high speed straights. In talking with a couple of riders who have ridden it, it seems like a faster bike would be more natural here.

There is no public power, that requires a garage or RV site rental. There are no canopies so bring an awning if you’re not renting a garage because it does get hot here.

The area that is closest to the Interstate is where the handful of motels and restaurants are located and that’s what most people think of as the town of Buttonwillow but in reality, the actual ‘city’ is about 5 miles west of there up a county road. Dining options are very limited but I’ve historically found my favorite food at any one of the 3 food trucks located near the motels. Recently though I wanted a decent burger and checked Yelp and that’s when I found the actual town of Buttonwillow. I’d never heard of it before but there is a Frosty King Drive In there and that was really good.

Ridge Motorsports Park

I first went up to The Ridge (Shelton, WA) in 2021 and instantly loved it. It’s a long haul for me to get there but it’s a gorgeous setting with trees surrounding the area. Amenities are limited but always improving, including some really nice garages (don’t run more than 2 bikes on warmers though or you’ll trip the breakers) but there isn’t any power in the paddocks and no on-campus fuel. Non-ethanol fuel is available less than 10 minutes from the track and there’s a Tractor Supply store that refills propane only a couple of miles away. Dining options are okay, including going north to Hoodsport.

One of the first things I noticed about riding at The Ridge was how polite faster riders were in passing. I attribute much of this to the insistence of the providers that riders respect one another. It’s also one of the few tracks that seems to have track and often facilities improvements every year since I started going there. It has good track management and reasonable rental fees.

The track has loads of character with blind rises and some very technical corners along with some fast sweeping corners. It can be frustrating if you’re at the faster end of your group because there aren’t loads of passing opportunities and if you’re on the faster end of your riding group, more than ~30 riders in a group can start to feel crowded. There is a good chance of riding with some high-caliber regional and national racers as it is the home track to some pretty big racing names. This is the best-maintained of all the tracks I’ve ridden and being a MotoAmerica track, it has grippy paint on the curbs. It’s very bike friendly and there are loads of bike days.

The track has a couple of showers but you’ll want to watch your timing because there will often be a queue for them.

This is the western Pacific Northwest so there is a good chance of rainstorms coming in at any part of the day and the locals often have rain tires. Grip is still good if it is lightly misting due to the quality of the surface. There are two primary configurations for the track, AiM calls them Ridge Bike and Ridge Road, the former includes the same chicane MotoAmerica uses. It’s not as high a top speed with the chicane but it feels more manageable and makes it a bit more technical and it’s how most providers run it.

Thunderhill Raceway (East & West)

Thunderhill has two different paved race tracks, generally known as East and West but also known respectively as 3 mile and 2 mile. East sees more activity and has evolved to a pretty fun track over the years. The vast majority of times the two tracks are operated independently however some providers will occasionally rent both tracks and run them together as a 5 mile track.

Thunderhill Raceway is about 7 miles east of the town of Willows. Willows has several motel options and some okay food options; there is a large Walmart in town and that’s a good place to stock up on supplies if you’re camping at the track . Willows is about 30 miles from the town of Chico.

Thunderhill East is the original track with 15 identified corners and it is mostly run in CCW direction. It’s not a terribly technical track but it is a fast track. On the front straight liter bikes can exceed 160 mph. It’s not super technical but it does have some highly cambered and off camber turns and a fun blind rise for turn 9. There are a couple of hard braking downhill corners that add some commitment to riding quickly.

Thunderhill West has a completely different flavor to it and I’ve enjoyed it the most on smaller bikes (Ninja 400, R7, RS 660, etc.). West is comprised of a lot of slow tight corners. The track can be run in a 7 or 10 turn configuration, and CW or CCW. Most providers seem to be running it in the 10 turn configuration in the last couple of years though.

The track has good amenities with lots of free electricity available though on the East track most of the power poles are away from the (also) free canopies. It’s a big paddock on the East side but if you’re camping and want a peaceful night, camping near turn 1 or turn 15 will be quieter. The West side has power under the canopies but you’ll need to arrive early to secure a spot but there are power poles all around the track. Pit areas are first-come-first-served at both of the Thunderhill paddocks. Thunderhill has fuel pumps on the East track. There are nice restrooms and showers on both tracks.

My summary of these tracks:

The ride down was usual Bay Area traffic but with some scattered rain and wind but I made my way there without incident and arrived around noon. I removed the 3 cases and my tank bag, taped the brake lights and turned the mirrors down, set suspension to maximum preload (for additional ground clearance and support), mounted the Solo 2 DL and SmartyCam 3 Sport and rode the first session. I haven’t ridden the Bavarian Cow on track in several years but it was surprisingly fun. In the first flying lap (no tire warmers) I managed a fairly clean 1:48 in that first session and 1:46s in the next couple of sessions.

As a track bike, the big GS isn’t ideally suited, particularly with a sport-touring 90/10 19” front tire. The Telelever front suspension is super comfortable on rough roads and tracks great at a spirited road pace but at a reasonably quick track pace the feedback is a little numb and ground clearance was constantly on my mind. I managed to touch down the left foot peg (which does not have a feeler), and dragged my knee in T9-Rainey. A very cool feature is that the same AiM protocol that I use for the S1000RR also works with the GS. I did modify the layout to adjust for the substantially lower RPM range.

All was well and good and in my final session I was tracking toward a 1:45 but I lost the front end going into the final turn (T11) and fell over. The bike landed on the engine guard (aftermarket) and spun around 180°. Jesse Carter came by soon and got the bike off track and inspected it and it was fine other than the beveled engine guard. The foot peg and shift lever didn’t even touch down. My Helite airbag deployed (first time). My leathers took a little scuffing but I incurred no damage to myself—no bruises, twists, etc. Unfortunately that broke my streak of over 5 years of big track riding without falling down. Like most crashes, I chalk it up to rider error. I did know that I was pushing the front pretty hard because I was trying to shorten up my braking distance and to do that I had to condense my braking. I learned from it and know that my expectations should be more reasonable, particularly on an adventure bike.

I decided to call it after that and changed into my street gear, loaded the saddle boxes and top box and rode home with the most efficient route presented by Waze.

The return ride was in a bit more traffic-loaded time of the day but Waze sent me up Highway 1 to Santa Cruz, then over 17 and 280 which was a nice change of scenery. I did run into a couple of pretty heavy cloud bursts and a few minutes of hail (which hurts when riding a bike). I stopped off at the 280 rest stop and donned my heated vest and rode straight through back to Petaluma. It was a 374 mile day trip which included 3 long sessions at Laguna Seca, a very scenic drive with some varied weather, gorgeous green Northern California hills, a big rainbow, and a twisty bit on the way home (Highway 17) and even after falling down, my confidence wasn’t impacted. I feel like I got to know the GS better than I already did and finding more time on it would be tough. The track time included several chase laps on Max which he can use to send to his riding coach for video review. It was really a pretty epic day for something that I wasn’t originally planning to do—sometimes the best experiences are those for which you don’t plan.

Between Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, my riding coach reviewed some of what I was doing and reminded me to adjust my initial throttle input to ride the bike more smoothly and consistently (I was going to too much initial throttle, then backing out). When I followed his guidance of opening it slowly and more linearly, the speed on the straights was just as good and the acceleration didn’t feel as overwhelming because the bike’s chassis and I were calmer.

I’m a big fan of working on technique and letting the lap time come to you when the opportunity presents itself. Specifically working on a lap time at a public track day can often result in frustration and may put the rider or others at greater risk. There aren’t prizes or trophies at track days, this is the opportunity to work on stuff. You win the track day when you have been able to work on your own program, check off what you came to accomplish, and have some fun. I was able to hang out with some friends, do some chase video for one, got to ride some reasonably quick laps with a couple of staff, and left happy with the bike covered in tire smears and bugs and a well-worn rear tire. The bike is in one piece and just needs the regular cleaning and service for its next outing. This is winning the track day.

I’ve been following a drummer on YouTube by the name of El Estepario Siberiano and he has some amazing skill. He’s best known for his shorts on YT but I recently watched a Drum Beats Online video discussing his ‘secrets.’ One bit that really hit home and made me pay attention and is completely parallel to high performance riding/driving and most anything.

This nugget is SO true. This is more than nodding and smiling politely, this is consistently thinking about it, working on exercises and any other kind of training when you’re not at the track. I frequently see top level MotoAmerica racers training on 400s at the same kart track I like to ride; when you’re driving your car to work or the grocery store, experiment with your brake graph, work on minimizing off throttle-off brake time, work on your throttle builds, etc.

In this screenshot, you can replace ‘drummers’ with whatever it is that you’re working to improve on.

This is a tough one. I grew up in a household where we didn’t celebrate the success of others, we tended to be skeptical or assume that they had an unfair advantage. That may sometimes be the case but celebrating success of others is a huge part of intellectual and emotional maturity. This is a fundamental way of thinking and for me, coming from the opposite, it’s an ongoing change in the way I think about things. Someone’s faster than you and does it well? Outstanding, use that for inspiration. The people who can consistently perform well, be it at a race pace or the first time they hop on a new bike or go to a new track, these are the people I want to be like.

Have you ever been on track and get passed by someone who misses apexes and their general technique is questionable? Don’t use that as a source of inspiration. All too often I’ve seen that happen and 4 corners later I see them at the base of a cloud of dust. Have you been passed by a professional national level racer and been able to keep them in sight for 2 or 3 corners? You may have noticed that they’re probably riding clean, hitting apexes, and still gapping you. That’s the inspiration you want to look for if you want to keep doing this and doing it without falling down.

Moving along in the video it goes on to discuss unreasonable expectations. While Esterpario’s videos are primarily 40 second long YT Shorts, the examples he records may take 9 hours of practice and 80+ takes (which he discloses), and this is from someone who is already exceptionally skilled. How does this relate to riding? A properly skilled rider seldom just ‘happens.’ They’ve put in thousands of laps working on their craft and what you’re witnessing is the culmination of their training and practice.

Another thing to keep in mind—you may work with a high-level professional coach and they may point out something where they see a significant opportunity that’s within your grasp. Don’t think that you’re going to get that completely mastered or even become proficient in a day or two at the track, it may be a season-long endeavor to get it down. If you go to a two-day track school, unless you’re just beginning, don’t think that you’re going to go out and set a pace 10 seconds off the lap record on your next outing (unless you’re already only 11 seconds off it). You’ll leave the school with a couple of things that are most applicable to you and your riding and then you’re going to have to practice those things for most of the season. All of this takes time. I’d love to tell you there are silver bullets but this stuff is complicated and so much of it is mental.

I’m no drummer but I enjoy the drumming videos. What I really liked about this video is that in explaining a truly excellent drummer, maybe a 1/3 of it was about technique but the bulk of becoming excellent is the approach, mindset, and commitment. This is true of drumming, as well as riding or driving well (and consistently). To do anything well requires proper commitment and mindful practice.

Late 2024 I picked up the well-prepped BMW K67 S1000 RR and have done a couple of rear tire changes, this is a bike that’s really not well engineered for quick wheel swaps. I looked into doing an M1000RR rear brake conversion (those come standard with an underslung caliper) but the full L74 kit was about the same price and adds the ledges that the wheel rests on while you put the chain and axle on so I pulled the trigger. It’s not an inexpensive project but the eventual convenience of it is worth it to me.

L74 is a UK firm that produces quick change kits for a variety of more modern bikes. The fit and finish is very good and considering the shipping distance, it arrives fairly quickly. Some kits include the Lightech chain adjusters (which are always nice) and may have a HEL or Brembo caliper option. I have not received any discounts or compensation for this article, I’m a full retail customer. Fast Frank Racing (now a part of Ione) also makes quick change kits. Quick change kits are not inexpensive so if you’re not switching out rear wheels/tires frequently, it’s probably not worth it.

I started and finished the installation of the kit in most of an afternoon (2-3 hours in total, being cautious and methodical). Doing another one would probably be just over an hour now that I’ve figured out how to do it. It worked better out of the box than the one for the Daytona. This particular kit includes the underslung captive rear brake caliper bracket, a HEL rear caliper, the brake line (be sure to specify if you want a line long enough to reach the ABS pump), the bolt-on ‘ledge’ for the left side, modified Lightech chain adjusters, and the necessary bolts. The kit includes some fairly basic written instructions but there’s not much for pictures or illustrations. It also includes mention of needing to have a BMW dealership do the bleed on the rear brake (since that’s completely removed and the line replaced) but I used a pneumatic bleeder from Harbor Freight and some manual bleeding and it worked fine. The kit includes new wheel spacers since that’s a key component of the wheel lining up at the correct height once the wheel is dropped into the swingarm. I’d also ordered an extra right-side spacer for my spare wheel. The single left side spacer is fine for me since I transfer my sprocket from one wheel to the other.

Honestly, the installation was completely straight forward and went without issue. The original ABS to caliper line was easy to extract and replace, though the new line is a bit long and doesn’t have the bend at the ABS pump side that the original had so I needed to rotate the line to take up the extra slack.

Like the Daytona kit, this one includes a reverse thread axle. The reverse thread is so that the wheel’s rotational direction is the same as tightening the axle to virtually eliminate the risk of the axle loosening—just be sure you have a torque wrench that works in both directions. The new axle is solid as opposed to the original hollow axle so it weighs a bit more.

After bleeding the rear and putting Loctite thread locker on everything that stays attached, I did a couple of practice wheel changes and as expected, it’s super quick, I should be able to do them in well under 5 minutes (including time to bust out and set the torque wrench) while wearing my riding gear. This is the magic for me. I want to be able to switch rear tires/wheels in the middle of a track day so that I don’t burn a lot of time or energy fiddling with getting a wheel in since I still don’t have a pit crew.

Because the kit includes a new caliper bracket that reuses the OEM wheel speed sensor, the last test was to start the bike while on the stand and put it in gear to make sure the speedometer was registering speed and it was. After that was confirmed, I reattached the rear hugger and put away the tools.

In sum, it’s a pretty comprehensive kit, though it did not include an M8 bolt to affix the provided clamp to fasten the rear brake line to the right inside of the swingarm. It does what it’s supposed to do which is speeding up the rear wheel change and simplifying it. Everything is nicely made and it’s always a treat to have Lightech chain adjusters. The biggest shortcoming, in my opinion, is that the instructions should include illustrations or photos—I had to think through a few bits of the installation, including which side each of the two new captive spacers go onto the wheel. This also gave me a good excuse to flush the brake fluid which was getting a bit cloudy—it was likely the original stuff. All said and done, the price of the kit is well worth it to me.

There are a few videos of quick change rears in use on YouTube but here’s one of L74’s:

CanyonChasers did a full installation video on a previous generation Aprilia RSV4:

I won’t get into interpreting data here—if you have a well-rounded coach and/or suspension technician, they will be able to read the data and determine if riding or suspension changes are warranted. What I m covering here is how my suspension technician and I attached potentiometers to my front and rear suspension on my primary bike.

The bike discussed here is a 2020 Triumph Daytona 765 that came stock with an OE made-for-Triumph Ohlins TTX shock and NIX 30 forks. We have since upgraded fork internals to the FKR cartridge kit and the rear shock is an Ohlins direct TTX with ride height adjustment.

My suspension technician really prefers not to drill/tap components to fit potentiometers so that adds a layer of complexity and requires a bit more ingenuity than busting out a drill and the tap set. In the case for this bike, it required sourcing special parts (still readily available though) and a small bit of fabrication for the shock. We used AiM Eclipse linear potentiometers on the bike integrated with the EVO4s data logger.

For the front, he replaced the OE ABS speed sensor bolt with an M6 male to M4 female bolt. It’s the same size bolt but it has a slotted head and an M4 female receiver to which the M4 pop joint bolt threads into. He sourced these from a seller on eBay.

At the top of the fork, we purchased an EvolTech fork clamp with M4 female threads. The nice part with this is that it will fit anywhere on the fork so when I upgraded the suspension potentiometers to newer ones which had a longer body, we could just loosen the clamp and slide it to the appropriate height.

Most of the Ohlins shocks I’ve seen already have female M4 threads for just this purpose. For the rear, my suspension technician used an M4 standoff, which can be found on Amazon and other places (they’re often used inside of computer chassis). I purchased a kit with different lengths of the standoffs so I can use whatever is appropriate and have used different lengths of standoffs for different projects.

At the top of the shock, we needed to raise the height of the mounting point so my suspension technician took a small block of aluminum and drilled and tapped that to get the required height for the pot to attach.

Suspension position data provides so much information into what’s really going on with the rider’s technique and the action on the suspension but it’s not a simple setup and certainly adds complexity to the data but if you’re riding at a high level and want to continue to progress, it’s going to help dramatically.

If you’re new to suspension potentiometers, you’ll want to make sure that they’re clean and lubricated and check and zero them each day. I’ve certainly had challenges with them and if the data is truly important to you, you’ll want to keep a spare for the front and rear in your gear kit. For lubricant, CRC 2-26 was recommended to me by the manufacturer. Credit for the installation goes to Mike Canfield at TTX Tech.

Resources for suspension pot mounting:

https://www.jmrmoto.com/

https://evoltechnology.com/product/potentiometer-to-fork-mounting-bracket/

https://www.facebook.com/Theclipsystem

2024 Stats

Tracks ridden: Buttonwillow (2 different configs), Thunderhill West, Thunderhill East, Sonoma, Ridge, Weathertech Laguna Seca

Days ridden: 40 (42 counting partial days), not counting kart track days

Bikes ridden: Triumph Daytona 765, Aprilia Tuono V4, Kawasaki Ninja 400, BMW S1000 RR (K67); friends bikes - Triumph Street Triple RS, Aprilia RS660, 1st or 2nd gen BMW S1000 RR, Aprilia RSV4, several Yamahas-MT-09 SP, Tracer GT, R7, R6, a FAST GSX-R1000, and a few others

Providers ridden with: Track Daz, Fun Track Dayz, Carters at the Track, Pacific Track Time, Z2, Volant Vivere, Fast Track Riders, 2 Fast, Track Time, Let’s Ride

Track Miles ridden: est. 5,096 (the Tuono is an estimate as it saw a few street miles but was mostly on track; the N400 saw some kart track mileage which was deducted); The Daytona alone was just under 2,900 miles

Maximum full laps in a day: 116 (not counting in and out laps), Thunderhill West, a 2.0 mile track, riding in 3 groups

Highlights: spending time on track with extraordinary coaches, sharing riding groups with Joe Roberts, Kayla Yaakov, Wyatt Farris, Andy DiBrino, Josh Hayes, Bryce Prince, JD Beach, Max Biaggi, Andrew Lee, James Rispoli, Tyler O’Hara, Cody Wyman, and so many others.

Favorite day: Volant Vivere Sonoma day - I hired Mike Canfield to be my in-garage technician and we dialed in the Daytona, it was low headcount so I was able to get a few good laps in, and Andrew Lee took my bike out and gave Mike and me some useful feedback.

This season I’ve been working on a couple of things (besides trying to improve my own pace). Suspension setup on the Daytona has been fascinating and a big learning experience for me. This bike’s setup (for me) has been really interesting and challenging but It’s getting really good now—we’re seeing suspension numbers we expect and the rear is staying on the ground during hard braking. In this process I’ve been getting a much greater sense of what proper suspension geometry feels like and how to push the front down at the right time to get the bike there. This is going to be an ever-evolving thing. As a result of this I’ve become much more conscious of how I use my brakes at turn-in (see Ken Hill’s article). I can’t even begin to pretend that I understand *how* to set up the suspension; for that I rely upon the infinite wisdom of Mike Canfield and Ken Hill. Riding the Tuono and now the BMW is acclimating me more so to angry bikes and trying to ride them quickly (which makes the Daytona feel so chill). Next year I’m thinking the BMW and the Daytona will be my primary bikes for track riding (except on the smaller tracks like Thunderhill West where the Ninja 400 is my go-to). My plan, with the super sport and the liter bike, is to ride a couple of sessions on one and switch to the other while reviewing data between sessions to see what I can take away from each and layer onto the other. For instance, when I got the BMW, it was setup much more firmly than I like, I took it out and ONLY made front preload adjustments on the first day. I knew the front was too stiff for me so I told myself I needed to come into T2 (Thunderhill East) a bit faster so I could use more brake pressure to get the front end geometry where I wanted it. All of a sudden I was coming out of T1 about 7-8 mph faster than I did on the Daytona. Well, if I can do that on the liter bike, why can’t I just stay on the throttle half a second or so more on the Daytona to match that speed? I think one can feed the other and vice versa, a nice symbiotic relationship.

Another late season revelation for me was greater lower body connection to the bike. I don’t look at photos much anymore but when I did, I noticed that I was sitting pretty upright on the bike. I thought maybe I should get a bit lower so I started to remind myself to lower my upper torso. Suddenly I realized my outer leg lock to the tank was more solid and then I started locking my outer foot into the peg and heel guard more closely and kind of pulled the bike down into the corner with me (at least that’s the sensation). It was using this trigger (lowering my chest) that it dawned upon me that I was engaging my core (what Ken Hill talks about). I never really could ‘engage my core’ consciously while riding but lowering my chest made it happen and the light bulb went off. This still isn’t muscle memory, it will continue to require conscious thought and you may already be doing this or maybe it’s not the right thing for you to focus on at this point in your riding, but it’s something I’m keeping in mind now. I’ll definitely be working on this in the off-season training, particularly at the kart track.

There’s nothing like being at the track with friends, especially when we are all working on our own program. I love being able to get chase video for friends, it’s great when they run chase on me. I’ve really enjoyed working with folks on getting their data setup going and continuing to learn how to improve my own and figuring out new bikes. In reviewing data of top tier national-level riders, I’m starting to see trends in how riders move up the ranks, what sorts of skills they build and what they have a feel for those things. Next I hope to identify a pathway for myself and others to build those skills to continue the improvement. In riding the BMW at Thunderhill, my top speed was 158 mph, on the Daytona it was about 147 mph. What’s wild is how much faster that extra ~10 mph feels. That’s going to be a fun thing to work up to—precision when you’re moving over 220 feet per second is tricky.

It’s not all good, we can do better

With all the good stuff put out there, I do have to say that this year was also the most disturbing riding season since I started down this path in 2018. The last half I was either witness to or was made aware of really poor decisions had some unfortunate consequences. I was in Washington state, in the same session and riding group when one rider forgot/overlooked the fact that the provider was running the chicane (as most already do) and he hit another rider at full tilt on a liter bike. The rider who was hit died on the spot. I’ve seen video from days I’ve attended where some really poor passing decisions resulted in significant injuries to other riders. I’m not sure what happened or why but it seems like a lot of people have forgotten about the fact that this sport can have serious consequences. It has the potential to be ridiculously dangerous just on our own but if we don’t take it seriously but our poor decisions can have catastrophic consequences for others too. We all want a lap time but at what cost? Is that the motivation for some of these poor decisions? Are people getting a red mist at track days? I do not know. The other part of it is that we need to own up to our mistakes. No, technically it’s not a requirement but really more of a moral obligation as I see it. Own your shit, be an adult. I like the way that Dustin from Track Day says it during his riders meetings about thinking about a pass: If a part of you says, shit, this is going to be sketchy, then DON’T DO IT! Seriously, if there’s the slightest bit of you that feels like it could put another rider at risk, wait or go through the hot pits. Are you trying to impress someone? How impressed are they when you take someone out? Are you in a group with wildly different pace (think B group). Well, if you’re accurate and at the faster end, ask a control rider or instructor to review you. Maybe get a couple of opinions. What’s the key measure? Apexes! I don’t care how fast you are, if you can’t consistently hit apexes, slow down and focus on that. Only add speed when you can be consistent and precise. If you can’t control your bike or aren’t sure of what the rider in front of you is about to do, you have no right making close passes. Don’t blame accidents on slower riders, it’s the faster rider’s responsibility to pass for the other rider’s comfort. You know what you signed up for. As you get faster, it may be harder to get a lap time because you’re coming up on traffic more frequently. Make courteous passes and use that as a skill-building exercise. There’s a lot you can work on outside of just a lap time. I hope I speak for many when I say I’m more impressed by someone who nails every apex every lap every session than I am by someone just sending it and apexes are optional. At the very top level of the sport, world-level especially, what happens when they miss an apex? They either fall down or lose a position or three. A friend of mine told me recently that a marginally faster rider behind him was frustrated because my friend was ‘blocking’ him from passing. No, I was there too, my friend was simply hitting apexes and using his controls well. If you want to pass, it’s your responsibility to compromise your line and do it in a way that it doesn’t disrupt the other rider.

I know we sometimes go somewhere else in our mind when we get to the track. I’ve used my track days as my therapy sessions when I’ve had some really crummy family stuff going on, but I use it as a way to regain focus. It’s not just throwing myself out there on a racetrack with bikes that can maim or kill us, use it as a way to hyper-focus on the task at hand and break it down into small bite sized pieces that all come together. You win the track day when you go home with a bike covered it molten tire and bug guts and you’re drained but elated on the drive home. You know you’ve done it right if you feel muscle aches for the next day or two and you have a sense of calm about you. If you’re coming home frustrated and dejected (and/or your bike in multiple pieces), you’re doing it wrong. Doing anything well and making progress is incredibly satisfying—strive for that.

Back to the positives

As far as performance, I feel like my precision continues to improve and I am still seeing appreciable lap time improvements, though it’s getting harder to get a lap time (mentioned earlier). At most of the tracks mentioned earlier, I’m consistently 2 - 3 seconds faster than I was in 2023 when I can get a clean lap and while I encounter traffic more frequently, I can get through it better now but there’s still work to be done there.

I’ve shared this video elsewhere but this was one of the most fun sessions of the season (Track Time, a provider normally only at The Ridge in Washington did their season closer/customer appreciation event in California). I went out and ran chase on a friend at Thunderhill West for a few laps, then took off on my own for a few laps then ran chase on another staff member. We were all on Ninja 400s (largely stock) and it was super fun. Yeah, I went faster on my big bike, but had nowhere as much fun.

Sonoma is a special track for me, it’s my home track (25 minutes from my driveway to the gates), it’s highly technical, it’s physically and mentally exhausting, and it combines a lot of different types of corners with few truly fast high lean sections with a good dash of elevation. Days at Sonoma are expensive, second only to Laguna Seca in the West. Weather is usually pretty decent but there are hot days and can be pretty cool in the morning. Sonoma got a re-pave in 2024 but that required several patches. Data and results from the last 2019 MotoAmerica races show that liter bikes don’t have a huge advantage in terms of lap times. I’ve had the most fun on my supersport and the Ninja 400. The Tuono is pretty good here, having handlebars and such, but really, I prefer a 400 or a supersport.

My favorite and most special day at Sonoma in 2024 was the Volant Vivere day and it was my last day there for the season. We had 30 minute sessions on-track and classroom coaching with Jason Pridmore (JP43) and crew. On this particular day I hired Mike Canfield (MC Technologies) as my in-garage crew chief/technician while riding the Daytona. Mike made some very substantial setup changes to the Daytona which were very worthwhile for me and got the front suspension working the way I wanted and some shock work to keep the rear wheel on the deck. On this particular day, I was fortunate enough to get an accomplished local MotoAmerica racer to take the Daytona out for a few laps.

Due largely to the weather being just right, me being in the right frame of mind, and a relatively low headcount day, I was able to put everything together for a couple of laps in the 2nd or 3rd session of the day and knock 2+ seconds off my PB that session for two laps with laps that were pretty high quality for me.

The net result in that one day is that I did made a significant step and I was able to get high quality reference data. The only caveat with the reference rider’s data is that he had traffic in turn 8 so there’s a brief bit in his data that isn’t optimal but the rest is solid. I’ll comb through the data for hours comparing no doubt but at first glance, it’s hugely reaffirming to see that what he and I are doing is fairly similarly.

A couple of initial notes on this before I add in the screenshots of the data. This racer has a LOT of laps around Sonoma and is a pro, he knows the track well and has raced very competitively here. Before heading out, he asked my approximate lap time (probably to set a time in the ballpark). I think for me, the most impressive thing is just how quickly he got up to speed on the Daytona. He did an out lap, a flyer (with traffic in T8), and an in lap and went well on a bike he’d never ridden. He had meaningful feedback for Canfield and me, particularly in ergonomics. That’s a professional rider—someone who can go out on an unfamiliar bike and in just a few corners get the bike figured out and knock out a solid lap. Give him a whole day on track and working with a quality technician and I’m sure he’d be within a few seconds of the supersport lap record.

The first and main thing I want to look at is the speed trace (GPS speed). The smaller graph below GPS speed is deceleration G force, this reflects the slowing of the bike using brake pressure. This just gives me a sense of the riding and pace. Reference rider in red, my lap in blue.

Just a quick glance at this tells me that he and I are doing most things similarly—slow points are lined up pretty well, acceleration slopes are similar, etc. This is huge validation for what I’m trying to do at Sonoma. Even in T8 where the reference rider had traffic, the shape of his data is parallel with mine, which speaks to the concept of ‘degree of application.’ Because I have corresponding video and GPS positional data, I was already able to validate the data—i.e., both riders were hitting apexes and were on what the right lines.

Now if comparing a reference rider’s data to an amateur’s and we don’t see slow points lining up for the most part, we can stop here and that’s where the work on technique happens because trying to go faster without having fundamentals (apexes and control timing) figured out, the risk goes up exponentially if you try to add speed.

Another way of looking at data gets more granular, but as I mentioned, if slow points and lines aren’t lining up, it’s not really worth going deeper. In this case, things are looking good so we can dive in and here’s where we see some differences.

In this set of graphs, we have GPS speed at the top still but we add throttle in the second, front brake pressure in the third, and finally rear brake pressure in the last.

There are some differences in throttle usage here. Again, the reference rider has never ridden this bike so the data shows that he was shifting well short of redline and we had some slightly different approaches in a couple of areas. The throttle usage, while it looks significant, doesn’t result in dramatic differences in GPS speed. Part of it is gear selection, part due to the track’s elevation changes, etc. The bottom is rear brake pressure and he uses it, I seldom do and the few times that I do, it’s for wheelie control. He uses it for corner entry going into T3 a small bit coming into T7 and a some slowing for the esses in the middle of T8. I’m not sure I have the brain space at this point to consciously use it for slowing, I’m still almost exclusively a front brake rider but I have higher priorities than sorting out rear brake usage. Our front brake traces are pretty close other than his traffic in T8. There are some differences in brake initiation and release points in T2 and T6.

My big takeaways from this exercise:

• The reference rider and I are doing things similarly— affirmation is great to have so I can continue working on my own degree of application. This is by far the most important part to me.

• Reference carries a bit more speed into T8, and that’s something I’ve been consciously working on but there’s room still.

• Not sure if the brake initiation and release on T6 are worth looking at, I’ll have to ask my coach on that. Reference rider sheds less speed at the end of T6 to get direction, that might be an area I can work on; with the 2024 re-pave, I’ve been playing with my trajectory in the last third of the Carousel (T6).

• Reference rider carries a small bit more speed out of T10, I typically get to about the same speed but seeing that I didn’t in this lap shows that’s an area where I need to be more consistent.

• Reference rider doesn’t shed as much speed as I do into T9 and does a slight blip of throttle in between the two apexes. I sometimes do that, not sure if there is a ‘right’ answer to it, but there is a small bit of time there potentially. This is a fairly minor thing since it’s more important to get in there with efficient braking and get out of it as the exit of T10 and through it are more important.

• Just looking at my own data, particularly throttle usage, I’d like to clean that up a bit by reducing momentary pauses and consistently getting to WOT where applicable. I also just need to hold WOT out of T8 and stop worrying about the wheelie. It’s getting better but that’s definitely an opportunity.

• As I start going into T5 a bit faster, I’m making adjustments to my lean angle part way through. I really want that to be more of one smooth movement of adding lean angle to the maximum and reducing it smoothly in one motion.

Here’s a lap:

I have conflicting feelings about the BMW bikes. No longer are they ‘Bikes Made Weird’ but they are engineered so well that I feel like they lack some soul. The R-series with their giant horizontally opposed two cylinder engines are kind of interesting in their nature and riding dynamic but the parallel twin and parallel 4 cylinder engines are efficient and effective but don’t (for me) evoke a lot of passion. While working on and maintaining BMW bikes very little jumps out as being ‘special’ in the parts selection or manufacturing, but it all works. It could be argued that the passion is making efficient and effective tools to do a job. One friend said of the S1000, it’s the best Japanese bike made.

With that preamble out of the way, I’ve been thinking about getting a liter bike for the track for a couple of years. I have my Tuono V4 Factory and while that’s an amazing bike, it’s down ~25+ bhp compared to the proper sport bikes and though it has decent wind protection, at 150 mph + it’s lacking. It’s also a street bike for me over being a track bike. I’ve ridden a couple of friends’ RSV4s as that seems like a natural pairing because I have a decent working knowledge of the Aprilia V4 platform and spare wheels. Unfortunately, I didn’t really gel with my friends’ RSV4s. Both had rearsets that were uncomfortable for me and the power honestly felt somewhat difficult to manage. If I were going to get one, it would have to be stock to start with. The RSV4 is a bit heavy and everything is packaged so tightly getting data acquisition on it is tricky. There’s also not a lot of room to adjust the handlebars due to the compact front fairing. I’d probably have to cut the fairing to put the handlebars where I want. Dealer support is not consistent, unless AF1 is your local dealer.

Recently, there was a K67 series S1000 RR that showed up on a local riding forum that was low miles, had the Ohlins fork & shock, lots of Alpha Racing bits, full Akra titanium exhaust, a tune, still had ABS plumbed, nice fairings, and all the stock parts and I jumped on it. The seller included all the stock bits, a clear title, and some extras. The bike is super clean and has been loved its entire life. It came with the OEM forged wheels. While this is an extremely nicely equipped and sorted bike, it still doesn’t inspire me in quite the way my Triumph or Italian bikes do. However, it’s an excellent tool for what I’m working on with my own program and furthering my own riding.

One of other great things about modern European liter bikes is the number of data channels immediately available for data acquisition (using the AiM data loggers). On this bike, that includes RPM, hand throttle, throttle body, front and rear brake pressure, front and rear wheel speed, gear, rear suspension travel (if equipped with the semi-automatic suspension), lean angle, coolant temp, intake temp, and a few other things. The beauty with all these channels being readily available is that with just a Solo 2 DL, you can capture so much useful information.

Another convenient thing about the bike is the aftermarket support. Alpha Racing alone offers almost everything you could ever want for the bike and the other vendors have loads of things too. This is true of most of the modern liter bikes but the BMW seems just a bit better than most and Alpha has top notch products.

So far I’ve had the BMW out for two track days. On the first day, I didn’t change anything other than the front preload. I rode it as it was with the suspension setup the previous owner had and default springs that came with the fork and shock. On the second outing, Ken Hill gave me some suggested baseline settings for the suspension and I rode it that way with some minor adjustments following that. I’ve also added front and rear AiM parallel suspension potentiometers and will be adding an external GPS antenna (for more accurate GPS positioning and speed accuracy).

So, riding summary with 2 days on it (~200 track miles) at Thunderhill East (3 mile track). The BMW is crazy fast (I’ve seen 158 mph on the front straight and 142 mph on the back straight) and the tune is pretty linear, it’s not super peaky like the stock tune. Brakes are effective and I only got a little bit of fade (it was pretty hot out and only when I was running a bit faster). It’s loud and angry sounding (full Akra system) but not particularly sonorous. I definitely miss my Daytona’s tearing-of-paper roar and the Tuono’s V4 rhythm. I’ve adjusted the Alpha rearsets as far forward and down as they go and it’s still too aggressive for my liking. When I jump back on the Daytona in the following session I’m so much more comfortable. Upper riding position is not that much different but the Attack rearsets on the Daytona are fantastic and the Daytona’s tank offers a better outer leg latch, though the Aprilia is the best of them for that.

Because the suspension is pretty much box setup on the BMW, the front end is stiffer than I would like. I’ll likely put 9.0 springs in it with a bit more preload (I suspect it has 10.0 now). What is interesting to me though is the data. As is, I’m already more comfortable carrying more speed on the way into corners—my trail braking numbers are consistently higher as well as my peak braking G. On the way to turn 2 at Thunderhill East, I forced myself to carry the throttle longer than I normally do so I would have to use more brakes to get the fork deeper into its stroke. I’d never actively thought about this kind of thing before while riding so the fact that the bike isn’t setup for me is giving me cause to think of things in a different way which is fascinating.

One thing that frustrated me on day 2 of riding it was having to wait to finish getting direction (getting the bike on the trajectory I’m wanting). On the Daytona, it doesn’t make so much power that 50% throttle is going to throw you off the intended trajectory so I felt like I could exit a couple of turns sooner and more aggressively than I could with the BMW. The corner where this was particularly noticeable was the final bit exiting T5, after you’ve come down the hill but are still turning right. I’d find myself accelerating too much and heading toward the left-side T6 curbing instead of a more centered trajectory. Then, I’d have to over-slow the bike and my apex would be extremely late. It’s all rider stuff, not the fault of the bike by any means. This is part of my own learning to ride a 1000. On day 1 of riding it (again, only changing front preload), I was within 1 second of the Daytona’s PB. On my second day of riding it, I was faster on it than the Daytona by a bit more than a second. The bike’s composure through turns 7 and 8 and slowing for turn 14 were the highlights for me.

There’s an aspect of the BMW that I’m not sure I like or dislike and that’s the linked brakes. I noticed in the data that there was rear brake pressure in some of the corners requiring me to use a good amount of brakes. I didn’t do that, it was the bike activating the rear brake. I never felt the bike doing it and the numbers are fairly low (for rear brake pressure, which takes a lot more to make it noticeable). There are setup options that eliminate it but I’m not to the point where ABS is intrusive and I would rather find that first. It’s just an element that I’m aware of from the data that is interesting.

Now if you’re into data, just using a Solo 2 DL and the 2015+ BMW ECU profile, you can get good stuff like the below graphs. I’m new to this bike so I have lots of bits to clean up but so much good stuff I can use to work on my own riding.

I’ll be riding the bike for the last few track days of 2024—Buttonwillow specifically. My plans for changes to the bike and/or parts:

• Bursig stand - I love these for being able to easily move the entire bike around, pivot it and such. It also lifts the bike by the frame so it makes spring changes and potentiometer calibration so much easier.

• Suspension and Geometry - I hope to get the bike on Mike’s schedule over the winter to get a solid base setup that I can work with through 2025.

• Brembo calipers. There’s nothing wrong with the OEM Nissin calipers but I have 2 other bikes already that share the same brake pads so having some consistency means fewer parts to keep in inventory.

• Stahlbus bleeders. I put these on nearly every bike I have, just makes brake bleeding/flushing so much easier and faster.

• Rearsets - I’ve reached out to Attack and apparently they’re in development. The Alpha Racing rearsets are beautifully made but I miss the Attack adjustability and grippy pegs. If I don’t see anything from Attack early into 2025, I’ll probably look at the Gilles rearsets.

• L74 quick change rear kit - once you’ve used a quick change setup, it’s kind of miserable to change a rear any other way. I have a feeling my rear tire consumption rate will be a bit higher with this bike so anything that makes that part easier is something I’m interested in.

• L74 pull-cup front axle - The BMW uses a 22mm female hex on the front axle. For some reason I can never find that tool when I need it. I’m a big fan of anything that makes the mechanical work during a track day easier.

• Spare OEM rear wheel - again, a time-saver. I’ve got 2 spare rears for the Daytona and it makes life so much easier when you already have a rear on a rim with a quick-change setup.

• AiM ECULog - this is a super small logger that I’ve been wanting to try out. It does not have a compatible display so I’ll probably keep my S2DL as well so I can glance down and see data. I’ll use an external GPS antenna with the ECULog so it will give me that precision I like.

• AiM SmartyCam 3 GP - I need to find a place to mount the controller for it so this is a *hopeful* thing. The cameras are expensive so I won’t do this until I know that I can mount it. I have one on the Daytona and I’d rather leave it there. In the mean time I’ll keep using the SC3 Sport.

The bike really is a great tool and riding it and the Daytona back to back was a much more effective exercise than I would have imagined. I think I can actually speed up my own development by doing more days where I ride them both in the same day as long as I continue to be conscious of the differences but I feel like I have the tools to work on that. As always, a huge shout out to my riding coaches, my mechanics, and especially Ken Hill who worked with me session by session remotely on getting a base suspension setup.

I have been having some issues with my rear suspension potentiometer coming off and this happened once I installed the new AiM Eclipse pot. As it turns out, it’s quite a bit longer (body length) even though the stroke is still 75mm like the old one. That took some fiddling in the garage last week but hopefully I’ll be able to test that out soon.

As a result of the suspension changes, I’m now able to get into the 120 mm range (out of 130mm of total travel) in the harder braking areas and turn-in at 100+ mm of travel (on tighter corners, of course). These changes will take me a bit of conscientious riding to build that geometry but it’s pretty exciting. In watching moto2 racing, I really want to get that ‘carving’ sensation going.

Much of the desire to make these changes were a result of me looking at my data and the riding sensation. I would often times feel the rear wheel start to lift under hard braking (and verified by seeing 0 mm of rear travel in those areas) but only being at ~100 mm of front travel. Softening the front should help my braking by letting me use more of the travel before the rear lifts and the softer rear bump stop spring should help keep the rear on the ground. Again, lifting the rear didn’t bother me and I can tell right when it’s back on the ground so I can turn in but it’s been a limiting factor.

So I’ve got some work to do to learn to ride to the bike’s abilities and it was really worthwhile for me to bring in a qualified and knowledgeable suspension technician to work with me for the day. He was equipped with all the necessary tools to make significant changes and spare parts. It wasn’t inexpensive but I’m looking to make the next step in my riding and may do this once or twice each season going forward.

This is a video from the beginning of the day at Sonoma before making changes. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to go any faster after making changes but I was consciously riding trying to get used to the new setup.

I rode at Laguna a couple of days later for two days, in this session I was deliberately trying to use the front end more. Lots of room and work to be done on my own riding but making steps. No PBs on this day but I was under 1:40 a bunch.

I have a feeling that I’ll need to firm up the front end as I develop on my own development as a rider and using the front more effectively but this will be a fun journey.

On paper the MT-09 SP looked really interesting—the famed 900cc Yamaha triple engine, Ohlins rear and Showa BPF front, electronics, Stylema brakes, etc. Upon sitting on it, I can’t say I dug the ergonomics, at least for track. I kept having visions of riding a giant praying mantis, holding on up high to its antennae. I set the riding mode in the most aggressive settings while retaining TC/WC. Given that it was on DOTs that had been cold all day (I was the first person to ride it that day), I knew I’d take it easy for the first couple of laps, being sure to keep lean angle in check but accelerating and braking hard while up and down.

I went out toward the back of the intermediate group since I knew I’d need to warm up the tires first and it gave me time to figure out my body references on the bike and get a feel for power delivery and braking nature. After that first couple of laps I was ready to dial it up and see how it felt with a bit more pace.

To note, when I’m trying out a new bike, what organically comes to mind for me are deficiencies or characteristics that aren’t intuitive to me. Looking back at my session on it, brakes, lower body position/ergonomics, and handling didn’t really stand out to me meaning that those aspects were to my liking, at least at the pace I was going (~2:05 at the Ridge with the chicane). Things that did stand out:

Gearing - the bike is geared quite a bit shorter than I would have liked. I don’t know if it was the final gearing or transmission gears. Either way, I found myself hitting the rev limiter several times and needing to switch up to 4th in areas I wouldn’t have on my Daytona. Not a big deal, if it were mine, I might go with a shorter overall gearing, but probably not because…
Power Output - It’s been a couple of years since I last rode the MT-09, and the engine has been upgraded since then. I was expecting more torque the the ‘Master of Torque’ delivered. The power band was narrower than I would have imagined, though certainly nowhere as peaky as the R6. Even though I was in the right gear for my exits I frequently felt like I was waiting for the bike to respond to my throttle input and shortly after the power arrived, I’d have to upshift sooner than I expected or I’d hit the rev limiter.
Upper Ergonomics - I fully understand that this is NOT a track bike, however my previous Street Triple RS and my current Tuono V4 Factory are also street bikes and the handlebars are far more accommodating for track riding. I was very much in the ‘sit up and beg’ riding position. I kind of got used to it but if it were mine, I’d be looking into a lower and possibly flatter bar. I also had no objection to the lower bars on the Street Triple and Tuono for street riding, I honestly prefer it. The MT-09 SP felt as high, maybe higher, than my BMW R1250 GS. As a result of the bars being so tall, side to side transitions can be awkward, wind resistance on the front straight is significant, and most importantly, I felt very disconnected from what the front end of the bike was doing.
Dash/TFT - Either the dash is too small or the important graphics are difficult to see. I couldn’t readily see the gear position indicator and the tachometer is a fairly small graphic. It would be great if there were a dash option that put more focus on these items.
Suspension Setup - the bike was not set up for me or my pace and it was really soft. Without having it setup to my liking, I can’t fairly criticize it—maybe it can be setup with stock components to my taste, maybe not. It was pretty soft and I’d often have to wait for the bike to settle before I could move to my next control usage and I couldn’t condense the braking or turning the way I would have liked. I never felt like the suspension was doing anything weird or out of sync between the front and back so I think there’s potential there.

I know some things changed on with the current iteration of the MT-09 SP and this current version doesn’t feel as much the hooligan that the one I rode a couple of years ago was. That one seemed to want to wheelie everywhere and the electronics cut in prematurely. The new one felt much more refined, but nowhere as exciting to ride. I don’t recall all the changes to this specific variant of the MT-09 family but I seem to recall a longer swingarm as well as the revised engine. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were electronics changes too.

Getting back to aspects that didn’t come to mind when I rode—I never once felt the ABS intervening, which was a pleasant surprise since stock ABS on most Japanese bikes can be frustrating, lacking the less-intrusive nature of the European ABS systems. I was perfectly pleased with the brakes—nicely progressive and no fade at the pace I rode it. Foot and seat placement felt fine and didn’t come to mind. I was pleasantly surprised to find that not once did I mis-shift due to this being standard shifting and most of the bikes I’ve ridden on track this season are race shift.

I think it’s a really nice bike and storied Japanese reliability and nice features make it attractive. If I didn’t have good dealer support from Triumphs close by, it would be a great bike for me once I fixed the handlebar situation and possibly addressing gearing. It might also be a matter of a pipe and a tune, though I’d rather avoid tuning a bike unless it really needs it. Given a choice between the MT-09 SP and a Street Triple RS though, for me, the STRS is a slam dunk, particularly the latest 2024 (US) model. It just feels sportier, has ergonomics I prefer, and needs nothing out of the box. The biggest thing working against the Triumph is a dash that ‘evolved’ in 2020 to one that is virtually unusable at pace with a goofy tachometer display and other components on it are almost impossible to see even on the highway.

A big thank you to ChampSchool and Don Williams for letting me take it out. I love riding other bikes on track and figuring them out.