MotoVixens

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PeachesMag.com

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I recently had the privilege to write a post for www.peachesmag.com about my mission for MotoVixens.  Palmer Davis, founder of peachesmag.com, was at the last Ducati Bellevue Women’s track event and did this brief video about our day.  Peachesmag.com is a sexy site for women by women and their main focus is to empower women in every aspect of their lives.  The following is the article I wrote:

A year ago, the idea of racing around a track would have seemed completely absurd and truth be told not even on my radar.  Yet, here I am today not only racing in my novice year, but just getting my head around all the details of what it takes to be competitive.  My introduction into motorcycling has been fairly current and it started as an escape, doing something that I feared, yet I knew would be empowering should I ever find that “zen” place so many motorcyclists speak of.  There was something mysterious and intriguing about that and I started my journey only to seek that place of peace.  Motorcycling was my escape from hardships I was facing, personal struggles that required and sucked every ounce of energy I had, it was the one place I could be that required full focus and concentration and forced me to leave all that “stuff” behind and be in the moment.  Motorcycling helped me reconnect with myself and allowed me to see things differently, with more clarity and patience, it made me a better in every way.  

I started with taking an MSF course, which I strongly suggest to anyone who wants to learn to ride, this will give you the “basics” of riding.   However, those basics will only get you so far and won’t prepare you for the road conditions you face on a daily basis.  I also encountered difficulty in finding gear and spent a great deal of time surfing the web and buying/exchanging items to find gear that actually fit.  There are a few brands that carry gear for women, but they vary drastically depending on your body type and sizing is confusing.  Male riders can pop into any shop and try things on, but women don’t have the same luxury since many stores don’t tend to carry much women’s gear, making it a challenge to find gear to try on for sizing purposes.  Helmets tend to be easier, but boots and gloves are also an issue as most stores are limited in the sizes and styles they carry.   Since I advocate all gear all the time, I bought whatever fit when I first started, but have since found which brands fit me best and tend to stick with those manufacturers.  However, sizes do change from year to year, so what fits this year may not necessarily fit the next model year.  Being female in a male dominated industry definitely does have its downsides.  In my frustration, I decided to start a website for women riders, www.MotoVixens.com in hopes that uniting women riders would allow for us to one day have a larger voice in what we demand from manufacturers, schools, dealerships, etc. 

 I started the site as an educational resource with links to sites I found particularly helpful and had great success with in terms of gear, linked schools for continuing education and blogs pertaining to riding.   I worked with Ducati Bellevue in hopes to open up an avenue for women riders to learn how to ride more competently and with more confidence.  Since starting my website, we have been fortunate enough to collaborate with some of the best companies in the Pacific Northwest.  Ducati Bellevue welcomed the idea with open arms and has been instrumental in hosting Women’s track schools in conjunction with their track days as well as clinics to educate women about their bikes.  2 Fast Motorcycle Instruction and Track Days has been responsible for the performance school provided by Ducati Bellevue for the Women’s Track Event.  WMST is an instructional school that provides MSF, cornering classes, intermediate and advanced motorcycle training and I have since been certified as an On Street instructor (classes for women to be announced next year).  In addition to the educational aspect of riding is also the technical and mechanical portion we tend to take for granted.  Women riders face a greater range of issues from physical height and weight issues to not fully understanding proper maintenance of a motorcycle.   We are only on two wheels, it is even more important for us to make sure those stay in contact with the road.  Suspension is key to a secure ride, whether on street or on track.  I would suggest that you have your bike setup to you to make your ride not only more comfortable, but safe.   There is a resource page on my site that lists various companies that accommodate whatever needs you may have, take a moment to check it out and feel free to call them with your questions and concerns, they are always willing to help you any way they can.

 My mission is be a strong voice for women riders, bringing their issues and concerns to those who can make the difference.  This is why partnering with Ducati Bellevue and 2 Fast to provide a track school was so important…I hope in bringing events like this to women riders they walk away learning more than they could’ve imagined, sign up with their girlfriends, make new friends, gain confidence and feel empowered.  The beauty of this event is that you can sign up as many times as you like and walk away with new knowledge every time.  There is so much information being taught you couldn’t possibly digest it all in one day.   I continue to learn something new every time I get on my bike, new ways to do things differently and more efficiently…turning, gear selection, positioning, etc.  Take the school as often as you like, it can only make you a better rider and what can be better than that?

Pre-Ride Checklist

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We are all guilty of it, we are busy and at the first sight of sun, we grab our helmet and go…but if it’s been a month, even a week of not riding your bike you should check your tire pressure and do a quick walk around your bike.  I recently was asked if I knew what tire pressure I was running and when the last time was that I checked, honestly, I think it had been two weeks…my tires should’ve been inflated to 30-32 lbs., but I was told that they came in at 20!  Yeah, I was both surprised and embarrassed.  Considering I spend so much time on my bike and safety is paramount, it was a wake up call that I need to be much more on top of checking them weekly.  Needless to say, every chance I get I wipe down or wash my bike after a long ride and do a quick check of everything in order to have it ready to go for my next trip out.

Whether it is a day or weekend trip just some basic precautions can make your trip go smoothly, a little preparation can make all the difference.  Firstly, check your tire pressures (check tire manufacturer and look for your tire type to get the recommended pressures to run) and look at the tread-wear indicators near the center of the tire, if they are even with the tread surface, it’s time to buy a new set.  Also look for cracks, splits and separation of tire compounds all these things mean it’s time to retire those tires.  Next, look at your wheels, if you have spokes tap them with a wrench and listen for a ting, if it thunks then it could be loose.  If there is a crack in your cast wheels, you are pretty much grounded until you order a replacement.  Take a quick check of the axle nuts and bolts too and if you should need to tighten them a quick look up will give you the torque specs on your specific bike.

Check your oil, your dealership should have shown you where the window is located and where the oil level should be.  Most bikes need to be straight up and down and not leaning on the side stand in order to properly read the level, then look around the engine and on floor for leaks.  If you see bright green drops of coolant under your bike, wipe them clean asap, pets are attracted to the ethylene glycol which is sweet tasting and poisonous, then find the source of the leak.  Also, check your brake and clutch fluid, if it’s been a while since you’ve changed it and it is starting to get an amber hue it is time to flush it out and put in some nice fresh fluid, nothing feels better than the feeling of confidence when you squeeze that lever and it delivers a perfect bite as it brings you to a smooth stop.

Quick look at forks and rear shocks, just run your finger around the forks to see whether or not the seals are leaking and use a flashlight to check the shocks for any leaks.  Inspect your chain and if you haven’t cleaned it do so to make sure that there is no rust on it.  Lube the chain and check how much give there is in the chain, if it’s more than over half a tooth’s distance (and the chain adjusters are all the way back) then it may be time to consider a new chain, otherwise you are good to go.

Get on your bike and have someone stand in back and front to make sure your lights aren’t burned out and functioning properly, they are our only means of communication to drivers so they need to be in working order.  Make sure the headlights, turn signals and brake lights work then hit the high beam and horn to make sure everything is working.  Check for any loose nuts and bolts and tighten and then if you are adding accessories like racks and luggage, make sure they are secured and nothing is dangling that could get caught in the rear wheel or sprocket.  Then lastly, but certainly not least, make sure you are gassed up, geared up and ready to go!

Vixens, get out and ride!

Valves and suspension

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Stock Valves

Stock Valves

There has been a lot of activity getting the bike race lately please accept my apologies for not getting a blog out last week. After speaking to Brian at length about how to get the bike dialed in to fit me and to give me the confidence I needed to fully trust my bike, he encouraged me to change the stock valves in my forks to ensure optimum performance of my bike on the track. The following is an explanation from Brian (FS2) of why we revalved the R6, I hope you find it interesting and informative:

Race Tech Valves

Race Tech Valves

“Stock valving has a lot of limitations, especially when the bike is used for racing or race track applications. For everyday riding stock valving may be fine as you won’t be pushing the limits of your bike, but for racing and track you put much more stress on your suspension and revalving ensures your bike will give you the desired effect needed on the track. First, let’s discuss what a valve is in terms of suspension. A valve is a piece of metal that has been machined to precision (usually on a c&c machine) that will direct oil through orifices drilled into the valve. On each side of the valve are very thin round pieces of spring steel called shims and as the valve moves through the oil the orifices in the valve direct the oil to the shims clamped onto the valve and these shims bend out of the way to allow the oil to pass through. This is what gives the “damping” effect. The stiffer the shims or the more shims that are in place the more force is required to move the valve through the oil.

So here is the problem with stock valves, they have very small orifices. This is fine for slow speed applications (sorta) but as the valve has to move faster through the oil (such as a race track) those small holes simply cannot allow enough oil to pass through with the velocity needed to allow the suspension to compress fast enough to let the wheel absorb road imperfections. This can get dangerous on a racetrack where the speeds require very fast wheel movement through the stroke of the forks or shock. If the wheel can’t get out of the way of the road imperfection fast enough because of the poor valve engineering, traction is the first thing to suffer.

The aftermarket valves we installed into Carol’s bike have MUCH larger orifices in the valves allowing the valve to move very quickly through the same oil. So to control how fast or slow the valve moves through the oil we use the shims. We can make an infinite number of combinations of “shim stacks” to accommodate changes in riding speed, race track conditions, etc. Aftermarket valves are much more responsive and supple, gives us the ability to customize the flow and perfect what we are trying to accomplish for the rider or even as specific as the track (road conditions).

With stock valves there is really only so much you can do, those small holes limit so much. For example, imagine you are trying to squeeze toothpaste from a toothpaste tube, at some point no matter how hard you squeeze the toothpaste will only come out of the hole so fast. It will not come out any faster even if you dropped a Mack truck on it!! That’s stock valving and that Mack truck is like the force you put in your bike in the track. Now take that same tube and make a giant hole three times the size of the original hole and drop the same truck on it. The toothpaste comes out WAY faster. This is like the aftermarket valves. Now all we do to control the flow of toothpaste is we use a set of shims, just like in the valves. But we want the flow to be high through the valve itself, not restricted through small holes. That’s what aftermarket valves do.”

R6 Spring and Preload Adjustment

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motorcycle-dynotuning

When I decided to start out as a novice racer, it was merely an idea, a dream, a desire. However, as things progress, the actual work of getting the bike race ready has basically slapped that foggy dream-like state into full reality. The thought of possibly having a track bike that was almost ready seems like it would have been a better idea, taking a street bike and trying to get it race ready is a major project, but it is a labor of love. In each and every step, I have learned more about my bike, not just why these modifications are being done, but how it will help and improve my confidence on the bike which will in turn be translated on the track. As promised, with each and every improvement I am and will be doing on my bike, I will share these with you. For some, this may discourage you to try, for others it might even peak your interest and I may see you trying next year! I just hope that in doing it will ignite or inspire you in some way or another to not only dream, but make that dream a reality. That it doesn’t matter what your gender or age, if you have a passion to do something, it is entirely possible you just need to follow your heart.

This video is with Brian Trudeau of FS2 (Fluid Suspension Science), it was to have my spring replaced with one rated for my body weight. The spring I had on my bike was rated for someone heavier than me which made my ride a lot stiffer (it just didn’t give). This would have translated on the track with my rear tire not having the ability to “bite” the track and could have lead to a crash. I hope you find this video informative and educational, I am looking forward to showing you the transformation of my R6 from a streetbike to a full on race bike!

Throttle Control – Suspension & Traction

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I know, I know, another blog on throttle control, but I hope in doing this I can stress how important it is in our riding.  How it can make a ride enjoyable or really crappy really fast.  We have more control than we know when we ride, in fact, we have all the control of the outcome of each and every ride.  So let’s talk more technical about how suspension and traction play a role in the big picture.  Throttle control can affect the suspension and traction on the bike in a positive or negative way depending on how you brake and roll on the throttle.  If you break up acceleration into thirds, where cracking it on is the first third, acceleration(midway) being the second third to full acceleration to the last third, stability and traction are best in the middle third.  Say you hit the throttle hard to start, your front end gets light and tends to shake, but as it settles you feel the traction kick in and stabilize the bike allowing you to apply more throttle for more acceleration.  Throttle control affects suspension through weight transfer, too much at one time loads the back end of the bike (stiffening the rear suspension) and as a result reduces traction.  The ideal weight transfer is 10-20 percent to the rear tire which allows the suspension to work in an optimal range (and traction too) especially when cornering and that 10-20 percent can literally only be millimeters of movement in your wrist.  Cornering is especially tricky when it comes to this (and while there are other principles that apply to this including turn points, body positioning and lean which we will discuss in another blog), the earlier the throttle is applied and rolled on the less forced acceleration you will need to complete the turn and the more responsive the rear suspension will be.  According to Keith Code’s “Twist of the Wrist II” the standard rule of throttle control is:  “Once the throttle is cracked on, it is rolled on smoothly, evenly and constantly throughout the remainder of the turn.”  Yeah, easier said than done when you have a moment of panic that causes you to make a decision under duress.  The trick is to stay calm.

Rolling on smoothly like “Barry White” from my other blog has major advantages, like a rear end slide, you can avoid sliding more or a highside if you just stop rolling on and keeping it constant to allow your bike to slow briefly as it tries to align itself.  Remember your bike wants to be stable and will make every effort to get there, unless of course you disturb it in the process.  If the back end is coming around and you let your throttle go, cutting off power, the weight transfers off the rear wheel which can cause it to slide more or even overload the front tire causing it to slide.  Cutting off power by letting go of your throttle causes rear and front suspension to compress and you lose cornering ground clearance.  If you panic during your lean and cut your throttle you could potentially be lifting either one or both of your wheels off the pavement, now that’s an Oh Shit moment!  As you can see, throttle control is more than just acceleration and deceleration, there is an art to it and understanding how it applies to every aspect of riding.  I hope this little blog about how it affects suspension and traction helps to make your ride more enjoyable and through constant practice, second nature.  This doesn’t apply to street and/or track riding only, it applies to all types of riding.  Ride C.H.I.C. (Confident, Hard and In Control) Vixens!  Don’t forget to sign up for the Ducati “Women’s Event” in June where we will put these principles to the test with 2Fast and WMST.