Chicken strips.

newman

Registered
My chicken strips are going slowly but surely. Corners I was taking at 15-20mph I can now do 30-35mph this is good for me. I remembered the pics this time.
Yes I know the bike needs a clean, just waiting for Lynne to do it, she says it is her job, I just do the supervisor bit and watch.:thumbsup:.
Also thanks to all the org members who have given me advice over the last 15 months it has really helped me a lot, and a big hello to everyone.

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That about where I am. I'm doing the track day at the Busa Stampede this year to learn some technique. Should help me get the feel of how to do it with minimum risk.
 
I am about half an inch. I can honestly say going to the bash and riding some of those roads truly helped. Guess i have more practising to do. Atleast this kind of practising is fun!!!
 
practice, practice, practice......the busa is a very nimble big girl. it's not all about chicken strips though, they will go away with more skill and be careful doing it on open roads. here's my back tire, but the question i have for you how does your front tire look? is it the same too? this is a pic from my ride to the dragon, dragging my knee every other curve, but i'm not worried about my chicken strips and getting rid of them. it's all about the fun of the ride:thumbsup:

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If you are riding on the street, chicken strips are OK.

If you ride on the track, ya gotta say goodbye to them Chickens. :laugh:

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Like everyone said practice get's them gone, but easiest and safest way is a good day at the track. Trying too hard on the street can get you in the same predicament as the guy in my other thread...............in the ditch with a ambulance ride.
 
practice, practice, practice......the busa is a very nimble big girl. it's not all about chicken strips though, they will go away with more skill and be careful doing it on open roads. here's my back tire, but the question i have for you how does your front tire look? is it the same too? this is a pic from my ride to the dragon, dragging my knee every other curve, but i'm not worried about my chicken strips and getting rid of them. it's all about the fun of the ride:thumbsup:

Wear that front down too! The Busa will drag the fairings if you let it, although that's asking for a lowside:laugh:

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I think the heaverier the rider the less your chicken strips. When I get off the side of the bike It is holding the line sometimes while nearly straight up. I'm not by any means an expert knee dragger but I get rolling pretty fast and the roads I ride have nice corners. I have never gotten less than 1/2" on the chicken strips. I read that the goal is to keep the bike as vertical as possible to max the contact patch, so isn't the goal to not use the chicken strips (at least on the street where you're not doing max cornering speed)?

Or am I doing it all wrong?
 
I think the heaverier the rider the less your chicken strips. When I get off the side of the bike It is holding the line sometimes while nearly straight up. I'm not by any means an expert knee dragger but I get rolling pretty fast and the roads I ride have nice corners. I have never gotten less than 1/2" on the chicken strips. I read that the goal is to keep the bike as vertical as possible to max the contact patch, so isn't the goal to not use the chicken strips (at least on the street where you're not doing max cornering speed)?

Or am I doing it all wrong?

:dunno: All I know is the further you lean, the more fun it is:laugh:
But seriously, at 195lbs in leathers, I couldn't take curves at the same speed with the bike more upright. With it leaned all the way over it almost feels like the rear steers into corners.
Let Tufbusa or one of his cronies explain that one.:laugh:

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I think the heaverier the rider the less your chicken strips. When I get off the side of the bike It is holding the line sometimes while nearly straight up. I'm not by any means an expert knee dragger but I get rolling pretty fast and the roads I ride have nice corners. I have never gotten less than 1/2" on the chicken strips. I read that the goal is to keep the bike as vertical as possible to max the contact patch, so isn't the goal to not use the chicken strips (at least on the street where you're not doing max cornering speed)?

Or am I doing it all wrong?

For one, I don't think "Elbows" (Spies) will agree with you.

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Tires and knee pucks both tell a story and they never lie. Although the rider with little or no chicken strips isn't necessarily the most skilled. As well, the rider who’s been in the saddle for 20 years may not have 20 years of experience, he may actually have one year of experience 20 times! Depends on what he's been doing while in the saddle over that 20 year span.

Take the knee pucks below for instance. The first guy has the puck moved as close to the point of the knee and to the inside as far as possible. About a third of the puck is totally off the velcro. The puck is ground down on the leading edge. This is due to the rider reaching with the knee (Called the chicken wing look). If the puck was in the proper position this guy's leather would be the only thing being scuffed and the puck would last a life time. A prime example of a rider with the sole purpose of getting his knee down and not concentrating on riding.

The second puck is in the proper position more on the side of the knee, close to the center of the velcro patch and it's worn as flat as a table top. This rider it concentrating on riding and the knee dragging is a result (not the purpose) of good riding skills.

So when you look at a rider's pucks, pay close attention, they tell a much more accurate story of the riders skills than does his chicken strips! :beerchug:

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Not going for no chicken strips, I think it just shows me that I'm getting better in the curves.
 
Be careful using up 100/95% of your available lean angle on the streets. If you've left yourself with no way of tightening up your line it can make it difficult to deal with mid corner obstacles such as defects in the roadway, wildlife or other riders. Running wide is not always an option and neither is applying the brakes mid corner. Leaving the bike with a little bit more room to lean can help get you out of a sticky situation.

I do remember a few years back when I was first getting in to all of this motorcycle business and how excited I was to show everyone I could use my entire tire but since then I've learned that lack of chicken strips doesn't necessarily show cornering prowess. It just shows that you've had the bike on the edge of its tire before. I do believe that being able to lean the bike is a very important skill to have for anyone riding a motorcycle so keep working at it, just don't get accustomed to using all of your lean angle all of the time.
If you can, make it to a track day. The track day environment is a much better setting to finding these types of limits safely, and you’ll probably be able to get some coaching while you’re there. You’re skills will progress faster than you imagined possible.

Good Luck

Gary
 
I can only second or third or fourth doing trackdays to improve your skills vs. the highway. I can humbly say I am a much better rider after 2 years of trackdays.

This weekend I went for a ride on one of my few curvy roads. When I first started riding this road, it would scare the crap out of me. As time passed, with the skills learned and confidence gained, I can ride this road with less and less fear. There is this one turn that I KNOW would be easy to scrape a knee, and this weekend I easily touched the puck when I went around it - and immediately grinned ear-to-ear.

I know SteveO I've been trying too hard to touch a puck (it's a rite of passage), and I have adjusted my puck on the velcro a little to accomodate a flat patch (but nothing like the one depicted above).

You had better get your tail down here this Fall so we can get some instruction!
 
:thumbsup:work on your body position and being smooth, speed will come with the flow. before ya know it those 20mph corners will become 60-80mph fun!:whistle:
 
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