THE PACE PRINCIPLES

Set cornering speed early. Blow the entrance and you'll never recover.

Look down the road. Maintaining a high visual horizon will reduce perceived speed and help you avoid panic situations.

Steer the bike quickly. There's a reason Wayne Rainey works out - turning a fast-moving motorcycle takes muscle.

Use your brakes smoothly but firmly. Get on and then off the brakes; don't drag 'em.

Get the throttle on early. Starting the drive settles the chassis, especially through a bumpy corner.

Never cross the centerline except to pass. Crossing the centerline in a corner is an instant ticket and an admittance that you can't really steer your bike. In racing terms, your lane is your course; staying right of the line adds a significant challenge to most roads and is mandatory for sport riding's future.

Don't crowd the centerline. Always expect an oncoming car with two wheels in your lane.

Don't hang off in corners or tuck in on the straights. Sitting sedately on the bike looks safer and reduces unwanted attention. It also provides a built-in safety margin.

When leading, ride for the group. Good verbal communication is augmented with hand signals and turn signals; change direction and speed smoothly.

When following, ride with the group. If you can't follow a leader, don't expect anyone to follow you when you're setting the pace.

© Copyright MOTORCYCLIST Magazine
June 1993 issue

^^^ left that part out, Kruz. ^^^^

Also, you forgot to give credit to the author, Nick Ienatsch.

Figured it's a good time of year to give this thread a bump.

I'm curious, Rook, 1 1/2 years and a trackday later... You still feel the same?

I used to feel like Rook then I moved to TX.... we got some corners here I'm exited to take them at the speed limit!

WHEEEE!!!!my kind of discussion!I'm wit you Rook.Push baby.Open er up on the straights when ya want.Feel the power roll on.Carve that corner.Trail brake if ya want.LEARN.

I would NEVER EVER find a nice 'farm to market' road..and go like some guys here have.I did that....ya...and virtually totaled my first 14.I know about coming in too hot...or perceiving it's too hot.About locking the rear.Drifting wide.Losing concentration.

That article is an excellent read.Read that when I first had my 12R.No group rides for me.70?Forget it....except when I really should.Crazy...stupid...I don't think so.I know when to say enough's enough.I know how to obey the city speeds.I understand the pace deal.I don't agree with all he said.In a perfect world....that might apply.But not on the street.Not all of it.You just can't hold a 'pace' on most hwys.No way.Too much going on...other traffic...cages in front of ya.Sidestreets with cages ready to pull out cause they can't judge yer speed.All that.Having to pass on an uphill with several cars in the way.Knowing that set of sweeps is coming up around that top bend.And it'll probably be free and clear for at least a mile or so.You can't 'pace' that stuff.Smoothness...absolutely...name of the game.

The ticket factor is always there...no gettin around that.I've had my share.And I've had my breaks.All part of riding the street with a seriously overpowered quality bike.And that's the blast of it all.Getting it right....and forgetting about "I may get pulled over".The cars...the passers...the stupid unaware cages that can ruin a good ride.Sa'll there.You get yer groove on....and pay attention.Use what ya know works.Practice.Go fast.Brake.Lean.Take a few risks...sometimes.nothing dumb.Get in your groove...and feel how it is.How you are.How riding like that is.That's yer pace.Whether 70 or 140.And ALWAYS...always RIDE YOUR OWN RIDE...regardless of whether yer bud thinks yer going too slow or whatever.You know how your bike feels.Nobody else knows that,but you.You know when you get a pucker moment.And what to do next time to change that.Then ya go and do it again...with more finesse and confidence.Ya don't ride down roads you've never been on...balls out just because ya can.You find yer limits by pushing..not backing out.But ya don't go stupid either.Ya think while yer rollin.Think about what's goin on.HOW it's goin on.And what yer gonna do come that next set of 's's",BEFORE ya get to em.

I'm curious, Rook, 1 1/2 years and a trackday later... You still feel the same?

yep.

screw the pace. I'll either do the RACE or I won't bother. IMHO, it is more risky to ride illegally assuming that you look harmless than it is to just go freakin NUTZ when you are quite certain nobody is around. cops use laser. I doubt they care what you look like you're doing they have the F(**^ing laser on you before they think anything. You've seen them. Thats' what they do. They sit there and point a laser. They stare at the laser screen, not us. They simply wait for the alarm to go off and then they look at what the laser says you we're doing.

I guess you might say I spent about all of last season trying to ride the pace on the street because I was to freaked out by my run in with the law to go fast anymore. I went 100 a couple times for a half second and almost crawled out of my skin feeling like I took the worse risk any rider could. I love the excitement of riding to my limit but fear is not fun at all. I had enough of that for a life time (not to go off the topic). Fear is what you need when you are seriously dead in your soul and that is what it takes to jolt you to life. The moral of the story is: speed laws are our biggest threat. I've never lost taking a small risk going fast and on those times when I screwed it, there was a way out --there usually is. sometimes not but the odds are very much in your favor if you have common sense. Not so with the cops. There are two directions they might be facing and if it is the same direction as you are going, they are coming after you. 50/50 is not good enough odds for me to be taking on a regular basis. Not with my driving priviledge, anyway.

it's track for me or maybe some desolate area that I know quite well. Kruz thinks I should find a troop of co ps who ride sportbikes in their off duty time. I just know I don't need any more sneaky bastages shooting lasers off of bridges from a half mile away.

I would be curious to hear what Mr Kruz has to say about the Pace a year later. Is it really possible to not look fast in race leathers doing 70 on a 30 mph curve? I'm pretty sure I heard triple digits mentioned just a few times. The Kruzinator and myself, we talk quite often. how is gixxer Dave? did you get him his monogramed mechanics shirt?

I'm not sure WHAT I'm reading here? Hell...I aint no racer.Tell ya what though...I aint gonna ride my friggin 14 like a honda 90.I'm gonna go balls out when I think it's safe to do it.I'm gonna hit those sweeps and lean as hard as I can.I aint worried about a ticket.Shit...just got one two days ago.Guy gave me a break....I'm glad he did.Aint gonna stop me from railin and feelin the thrill of today's modern sportbike(s).Of which OURS is the top of the line.If I crunch...I crunch.I aint talkin insane stuff.Prudence...yep...control...yep...but WTF...gonna go 90 everywhere?...NOT.

Apparently the HWY Patrol guy didn't think I was TOO outta line goin like I was....he wrote it for a speed that'll keep it off my record(which was NOT the clocked speed).And no...I've never seen him before.And yes...I am thankful.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 3/11/2012 @ 9:47 PM *

If I only had your luck, Grn. ...

personally,I feel the cost of speeding tickets would be worth the fun of going fast. If that was all there was to it, I'd pay up at the office! have my own little speeding credit account the boys could draw from whenever they caught me. lol!!! BUT that's just the tip of the iceberg. That;s why track riding is a better deal. you can go as fast as you can go and you never have to slow down. More bang for the buck and none of that other gawdawful crap to worry about.

It isn't luck when EVERY time I get a ticket,IF they'd had been coming just twenty seconds sooner...they'd have had the 'big fish' to show off to their buddies .Nope...not luck Rook.

Trust me I hear you Rook! The good thing about the farm to Market Road (at least in TX) is that there are usually narrow and have no spot for LE to stop and laser without putting themselves or the public in danger. My favorite one in Austin got so much elevation change and is so narrow(2 lanes) that LE couldn't even catch up if they wanted to and I am by no means a fast rider. Furthermore there seems to be an unspoken pact between LE and the riders that says we are to be left alone as long as we take it easy when going by driveways etc. They mostly patrol where there are houses because I'm sure some idiots blow by them and those rich guys in 500 000 dollars homes pick their phones up. Unfortunately during the summer there is so many accidents that they sometime have to patrol those roads but it's rare. Saw one the other day, at the end of a run on a long straight, I was going to go for it, I'm glad I didn't, the guy waived at me, probably to tell me he appreciated the fact that I was taking it easy in the residency area.

"Unfortunately during the summer there is so many accidents"...... Number 1 reason I don't go over the speed limit on those roads.Narrow...no way out...yup.Blind curves.Blind hill crests.In fact...I'm NEVER at ease riding one of those...ever.WAY too much 'possibles' on those.

And Rookster...I was just sitting here thinking about that ticket thing...this is weird...okay?...He walks back to me after running my license and all...with the ticket paper in his hand.I'm thinkin...."geez...here goes...I'm toast...three years+ without a ticket...and now".....

He walks up and I swear...this is what he said.."Okay...I clocked you at(such and such)....I only wrote it for (such and such)....so you won't have this on your record....(get this Bro...he says...)"Is that okay?"I swear...he said that.I was like..."
well,yeah....honestly...thank you"...he says..."just promise me you'll slow it down some okay?Have a nice day sir"...I'm serious...this is just what was said and happened.I got on my bike,started her up,began to pull out and he made a u-turn and drove off.I didn't really think about how absurd it really was...until just now!A 20 dollar ticket....that's it.Mail in or pay in person or online.Amazing.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 3/11/2012 @ 10:53 PM *

we got some corners here I'm exited to take them at the speed limit!

... ok, maybe just a little over.

yep.

screw the pace. I'll either do the RACE or I won't bother.

Race?... Did you say race?... Something we don't know, Rook? You get your novice license? j/k

You doing any track this year?

I would be curious to hear what Mr Kruz has to say about the Pace a year later. Is it really possible to not look fast in race leathers doing 70 on a 30 mph curve? I'm pretty sure I heard triple digits mentioned just a few times.

You know what they say about rules and bones...

You doing any track this year?

HELL YEAH!

first one is Wednesday May 18. Blackhawk Farms

I will ride Road America at least one time this summer. I might be able to hit 160 on that one. I really just want to max the 14 out somewhere. I need to see what top speed is with my gearing setup. I just want to go as fast as one of these will go one time at least. Scottjkyl told me about a LSR course not far from here.

I just want to go really fast and do crazy shit.

I just want to go really fast and do crazy shit.

don't we all

Speaking of crazy shit... I've got some humbling stuff for you guys
Knee down
That's for all the guys who say it's too cold to ride lol

WoHoo...THAT's what I'mma talkin about!LOL!!!!

Does anyone know where I can get a deal on POwer Ones with spikes?

Finland Motorsports....they should be able to hook ya up!

I might get a discount for being a Fin.

That's for all the guys who say it's too cold to ride lol

Not fair... they have umbrella girls waiting with hot coco.

That's why I'm thinking about a career change..... motorcycle mag tester. Lol

"I might get a discount for being a Fin"....shi% Rook...I had NO idea....maybe you SHOULD see if there's a Finland Motorsports....you never know....could be something really cool??????Personally...I don't believe in 'co-incidence(s)'.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 3/12/2012 @ 9:02 PM *

I am also Czech.

mostly French/Belgium ....I don't think they will take me though. Maybe the Foreign Legion would have 30 years ago.

Wow Dogo, you sure resurrected an old thread here...LOL! That's OK though, good topic and it was interesting to go back and re-read my thoughts from back then and compare to how I feel now. Most of it hasn't changed.

We ride mainly two lane Farm to Market (FM) roads here as DragMeister pointed out. Lots of curves, lots of bumps, at least up here in N. Texas, sometimes good road maintenance and sometimes yawning cracks in the road. Those will bite you, especially the ones right in the middle of the corners. It's all part of the experience though and seperates the good riders from the not so good ones.

What I've found over the last few years, at least around here is most guys on sportbikes can't corner to save their butts. They can go fast all day long in a straight line, anyone can, until something goes wrong. Everyday it seems there is something on the news about an idiot doing 150 mph on the Interstate and losing control of his machine with predictable results. A local LEO told me that most of the crash scenes he investigates are single vehicle where excessive speed and failure to negotiate a corner were the root cause. In laymans terms, the guy didn't know how to turn his motorcyce at high speed, straight line speed junky.

The main focus in my riding these days is cornering, I search out roads where I can practice every type of turn, off camber turns, decreasing radius turns, bumpy tight stuff, fast, smooth sweepers whatever. I quit doing CAS, Crazy Ass Speed on Interstates and backroads, good way to end up dead or in jail IMHO.

My focus these days is on smoothness, total bike control and "rapid progress" as Jafo called it. The idea is to be able to go down a road I've never traveled before and maintain a fast pace, reading the curves up ahead before I reach them, getting into that "groove" where you feel like you're one with the road. Sometimes speeds do go triple digits but only briefly in a corner and then back it back down again on the straight aways.

We're not quite riding "the pace" since we do hang off in the corners and probably carry a little more speed than was mentioned in the article but close enough to it.

The idea is to have fun, learn and improve your riding skills without getting killed or going to jail.

BTW, my #1 weapon of choice these days on a backroad is the 600, more focus on maintaining a high cornering speed and finesse rather than relying on brute power.

I still like roads that I call Hwy 14. Some real nice curves elevation changes that open to varieing straights. I'm not sure why but there are some really good riders amoung the massas here. When i'm feeling rigbt I sometimes am not too far back. Of course there also all other skill levels. Really many of them probably don't like that I rip straights but I don't care it's too fun.