riding techniques, a must read for

[bhairava]

I took the liberty to type up some lines from an old book by Kenny Roberts Sr. It is very interesting and deals with hanging off, which we've talked a bit about lately.

 

"Cal Rayborn used to set up his bikes so that they would oversteer in fast corners and understeer in slow corners. That was the way I ended up with my bike."

 

"I (KR) rode the 350 and won, but I still didn't know anything about roadracing. I really wasn't learning anything except that if I went too fast I fell off."

 

"I saw pictures of Jarno Saarinen and when he came to USA in 1971 I decided to learn why he was so good, because I wanted to be good. He wanted the bikes set up differently from us, with a stock swingarm whereas we used 2 in. longer ones. He wanted a stock motor and weird handlebars that he brought with him. When we got to Ontario I found out why he was so fast, because I was sliding all over the place. I couldn't find traction. That made me think about set-up and my riding style."

 

"I thought how come Jarno hung off like that, or at least laid down on the gas tank and slid his body to the side a bit. Sitting straight up and down on the bike, I felt the front end was sliding away. I couldn't carry enough speed through the corner to be safe. It scared me. I decided to hang off, so I slid my butt to the side and went around. It didn't feel so good at first, but a few laps later that midcorner crisis with the front was going away."

 

"Rayborn had touched his knee twice on the tarmac in the first leg. He showed us the scrape marks, but nobody could believe it."

 

In the second leg, I kept hanging off around that particular corner, but nowhere else. Kel Carruthers asked me afterwards what the hell I was doing, imitating Paul Smart. But I just felt better riding that way and spent all winter thinking about it. By the time I got to Daytona the folloing spring I couldn't ride upright anymore, I just had to hang off. I felt I would fall down if I didn't hang off."

 

"By the next race, which was Dallas in Texas, I was dragging my knees on the tarmac. I had to put tape over my leathers because I was wearing holes in them. Kel saw me with the tape and said 'You must be the most stupid son of a bitch I've ever seen, what are you doing?' Kel used to ride all tucked in and was sure I was going to crash. But I was comfortable."

 

With my new style I needed to alter the handlebars. We were pretty scientific how we wnet about sorting it out. I told Kel what I needed and Kel got a rubber mallet. Wham! He hit the bar until it was right. The first time the Japanese saw him do that they died."

 

"I also preferred shorter fuel tanks so I could put my weight further forward. It's important that the bike feels OK for you, fact doesn't matter as long as it feels right. If a rider wants pink grips, that's what he should have."

 

"There is no set limit to how far you should lean off, though I think that sometimes Randy Mamola goes too far. But five years from now everyone might hang off like Randy. The problem by hanging off so much is that it takes longer to go from left to right, and that can be a big minus."

 

"In Argentina in 1982 we were using Dunlops and I lost the front end a lot in practice, I was running off the edge. The tyre was built around Randy and his Suzuki, and he didn't lean over as far as me. I was flicking it over when it tucked 3 or 4 times, but I just never hit the ground. My leg was saving me, as it wnet down I could muscle it back up off my knee. I got quite good at it. Freddie Spencer was good at it, too. At Silverstone in '83 he must have pushed 55 or 60 feet on his knee. I thought he was down, be he knows how to do it."

 

"Sheene used to say to me, 'Why the hell do you move around on that bike so much?' I'd just say I don't know, I'm just trying to find out how to do it right."