Riding Confidence

[Mattjin]

A have a bit of a story, so bear with me.

Some of you may remember I did once apon a time start with a Firestorm before going Dark with the Z1000. What most will not know is that the Storm was my first ever road bike after spending 30 years of dirt biking. Everything from trailriding with the mates, to being at the pointy end of competition and minor sponsorship. The switch-over to road bike riding is not as easy as it sounds. Years of sticking the inside leg forward and leaning the wrong way had to be undone, and trust put into the tyres actually gripping the surface.

If anyone has alot of dirt experience you will know how normal it feels for the bike to be slid around corners and how different that feeling is to a road bike, so I had to undo all those years of intuition. As such I have been struggling to overcome those dirt instincts and trying to progress with road bike riding over the last few years. I have just always had that fear of leaning too far, as evidenced by the chicken strips I could just never get rid of.

Well, I am hear to brag a little bit! I picked up some new rubber on Saturday and then went for a Putty run on Sunday. After some careful riding to scrub in the tyres I started getting into the flow of a normal ride, and stopping in at Grey Gums for a quick break (met up with Stu and the guys a little later). I get off the bike and check how the rubber is going to find no chicken strips. The rear tyre has been used in full to the edges on both sides!

Yeah I know it is not a big deal, but to me it is. Not just for overcoming the fear of leaning, but that I did not even feel like I was trying.

[vic3189alex]

Ditto to that story Matt,

[vic3189alex]

Had my vtr under a month and it's my first bike in 20yrs to have more than one pot and no knobbies

[pete]

You're forgetting to tell us the sensational tyres Matt

[Mattjin]

It is good to see there are others who came from a dirt bike background. I still have a 'Berg but it has not been ridden for years now.

I use Dunlop Q2's. On my 4th set now, absolutely love them and its going to take tyres made out of superglue to make me use something else. Yes they wear a little quicker than most, but they have saved me more than once from a dropping it as well as giving me the confidence to move forward.

I am by no means afraid of a bike sliding around underneath me but I always feared a road bike doing it would mean instant doom. On the last couple of rides I have been feeling the front drifting around when on the limit, and once being forced to brake while under a bit of lean and feeling the rear gently step out and very nicely pull it back in with some counter-leaning and rear brake. At no time did it cause fear, it was all controllable and very easily pulled back into line. So IMHO, I owe the confidence the to Q2's.

[bowler]

Track day time , stat...........

Graham

[Mattjin]

Nahhh never on the Zed. Spent half my life at the race track and still do it for a job. Great fun though!

[paulbassett]

Aug 23, 2012 19:51:16 GMT 10 Mattjin said:

I use Dunlop Q2's. On my 4th set now, absolutely love them and its going to take tyres made out of superglue to make me use something else. Yes they wear a little quicker than most, but they have saved me more than once from a dropping it as well as giving me the confidence to move forward.

it was all controllable and very easily pulled back into line. So IMHO, I owe the confidence the to Q2's.

+1 on the Q2s I have them on the blade and they inspire a lot of confidence, $350 from jakewilson delivered, bargain.
How many Ks do you get?

[Mattjin]

This last set was around 5000km, but I always replace them at the indicators even though they can go further. For me, I would rather spend the money on the new tyres all the time than new hips or knees. I think I paid in the low $400 range.... bought other stuff as well. I use a 190-55 rather than the stock 190-50

[red]

May i at all please have your rear tire presure,where is spring set at and do u use a shock spacer,if so how many mm.congrats on the lean,bet the chest is feeling hairy.

[eternityrider]

Hey Mattjin, good story,i haven't gotten rid of my strips yet,there's not much there,hopefully soon.
the dunlops are the best, i have the roadsmarts on as i ride everyday so i need them last,but these are the best tyres i have had on a bike

[Mattjin]

Hey Red, forget all that setup crap. You have to slowly dial it in to suit yourself and never listen to anyone, including me

The Roadsmart 2's are out now I believe, and they will be going on the 1400GTR when the time comes.

Don't worry, the strips will go with time. The big turning point for me was the Albury ride late last year. Coming back down the hill from Falls Creek I just decided to try and keep up with some of the quicker riders, and by the bottom of the run I was still on their ass. It is a mental barrier, not a bike setup or physical skill. Geez, anyone who has met me knows I am a fat bastard!

So if anyone is 50-50 on going to Albury this year hopefully it will convince you to go for it! After that trip it has allowed me to push it further and progress from there.

[eternityrider]

your right about the mental barrier Mattjin,when i have just let the bike do what it was designed to do it feels great,it's when i start thinking and looking where i'm not supposed to things go pear shaped

[blue]

I progressed from dirt to motard to my storm as a first road bike - it does take a lot of work to get the dirt style to subside but it's always there when you need it... All those things that seem counter-intuitive to dedicated road riders, like leaning the wrong way, are still useful on the road when things get out of hand... When I road off Lake Mountain, the words of my father teaching me to land big jumps rang through my head - "when it's done, it's done, don't let the bike crush you into the ground, jump off if you can" - I did jump off and I reckon I came off better for it... A couple of times when I've hit gravel mid corner, suddenly find my leg out and me leaning the wrong way and I manage to pull it off... Dirt skills are great to have on the road...

Great story Matt, glad you're finding your feet...!!!

[trezza]

G'Day matt.

Can I make a recommendation.
I was also fascinated with the Q2s, as you'll probably remember. I've had about 4 sets now over a couple different bikes, and loved them.
I then tried the new Sportsmart Sportmaxx... Oh. My. God
Just when you think tyres can't get any better, Dunlop proves you wrong.
So they're at least equally as good on a hot day when you're working them hard. But add into that its' wet-weather ability, and then its warm-up time is really quick too, heaps better then the Q2.

The day I had them put onto my SV1000 in Bega, my "scrub-in ride" was first thing in the morning from Bega, up Brown Mountain and back to Canberra. In April. In the rain.
These tyres are incredible. Just took my time, got them up to temp, then rode like it wasn't even raining. I also rode home from the Walcha ride in the p!ssing-down rain, down the Oxley by myself, and had a blast. Never had so much fun riding in the rain.

I've done a track-day on them too, drop them to 30psi front and rear (Dunlop actually advertise to use 29psi for track days) and they were phenomenal. The SV1000 doesn't have huge amounts of power, but it's got plenty of torque, and I like to roll on from pretty early in the corner. Tyres balled up and melted on the sides, but gripped like the proverbial to a blanket for all 7 sessions. It was my first track day, and I was doing 1:14's at wakefield on them. Not bad for a naked commuter with 100hp and spagetti for suspension ;-)
I've still got the same set on my bike from all of these stories, they've done about 4000km now and still going strong, and I give them a workout what with wheelies etc too.

The only gripe I had with the Q2 was commuting in winter/rain. They were a hard tyre to warm up in those conditions. If you're already riding, and it begins to rain, no dramas. But if it was already raining, a couple times my Q2s let go a little too easy for my liking.

Good to hear you're getting out there and riding that Zed contraption you've built so well, and I'm sure we'll cross paths at KV/Mac Pass one of these days

Matt

[paulbassett]

The Dunlop Sportsmart is the replacement tyre for the Q2, its just that ATM they are being sold side by side which creates some confusion.
Thats not to say its the same as the Q2, more its an improvement on it, which would make it pretty good as a sports tyre IMO

[red]

I look forward to losing them stripes,definitely.hairy nuts for sure.problem is I'm a broke bastard,and I keep pulling tyres out of the bin,allready scrubed and get to try all different ones back to back,and I don't feel to bad when i rip them up a bit if i slid the rear to much.I use two rears to one front,had new pirelli diablos,some new Mich pures,well worn battle axe now,I even managed to put it on backwards,still works a treat.what I am after though is a comparison.going from 50 series to 55 series feels like the front wants to tuck under,50 is a smig to slow,tried tire pressure from 32 to 42 and would be happy to tune it out,I can hear u shaking your head from here,so let's just say I like to experiment,and if they ever let me near a track i will know what does what exactly,I also have a 6mm spacer.

[Mattjin]

Blue. Nothing beats the dirtbike skills. It has definitely stopped me going down a number of times. A couple of those being mid-corner gravel patches. I would guess most road-only riders would panic and grab a fist-full of front brake when the bike starts sliding, whereas my instinct is to control everything from the rear, especially when the front is trying to tuck in and lowside. A tap of the rear brake, stand up the bike, then power-on to stabilise and the ride continues rather than collecting bits of plastic off the road.

Trezza. Yeah Iactually was going to put the SportSmarts on but could not find them, and seeing as I already love the Q2's and they were available at a reasonable price, on they went again. I never ride in the rain unless I am caught in it, and under those conditions I am happy to take it really easy. Part of being an old bastard is knowing when to back it off I guess. I was down at Robertson on the weekend actually, took the 1400GTR for a run to charge the battery.

Red. IMHO the best thing you can ever do for handling is to match the springs to your weight and preference. For the Zed I went as far as swapping forks and shock to ZX6 parts along with a fork spring swap, and I have never looked back. The bike is a million percent more planted and stable, and having full adjustability front and back (compression and rebound). I have spent a number of rides finding the sweet spot for all settings to the point now where the bike fits me like a glove. Others might ride it and hate it, but it's my glove. If the front feels like it is tucking, maybe it is too soft or the rear needs more rebound? I found the 190-50 was a better feeling tyre for moderate speeds but when I tried to get more lean near an apex it would resist and need alot of counter steer to keep it stable. When I switched to the 190-55 it made the steering more neutral which added confidence and felt more stable at higher lean angles.

Interestingly, I find the Zed does not like a normal knee-down riding style. It prefers weight shifted forward and to the inside, something that is not easy to do when hanging off the bike. More getting my chest over the inside of the tank, but keeping the ass planting on the seat. I can jump on the 1400 and it definitely responds to the normal hang-off-the-side technique, but not the Zed.

[red]

Yeah but its all money.I have to work with what I have for now,run what I brung,if ya get my drift.tryed sitting all over it to load,unload the spring,shock and all that just trying different things learning as I go.trying a 40 series front next without the shock shim,I know it won't work,but hey it still has tread right,can't wast it can I.I don't really know how fast I am,never really prop compaired against,just the locals in the traffic haveing a vent after work.tryed to keep up with a black storm years ago,heading south into sumerset when I doodleed a right hander at the top,round the white peg and all,thought I could ride then,realized I couldn't.iv since been up the back of two cars and offed on mt gravat,capalaba rd,flat in 3rd at night and was to far left to sweep right,slid for ages,picked it up started it rode it home with crooked bars,measured it all with string lines and a steel rule tightened it all back up,took it easy for a week checking welds,looking for cracks,leaning left and right for any crabing,perfect.paid 80 for a rhs peg set,lucky as.

[red]

Ok,one near new 180-55 on at 86597km.will give it a scratch tomorrow morn quikly and c how long it last,more than 6 weeks before I see peel or steel,will be happy,and puntures don't count or skids.

[brent]

sportsmarts sportsmax have to be one of the best all round tyre ,,track road great tyre