On a local forum a rider was asking what he could do to his SV650 that would make him a better rider. I suggested he spend his money on training. As usual lots of fellow riders suggested suspension upgrades, improved tires, steel brake lines etc. etc. The following is how I responded to the thread. You may find it interesting, helpful or irrelevant, take your pick.
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Keith Code is the granddaddy of motorcycle training "California Superbike School". Code started training riders back in the 80's. The following is from a Code article in Sport Rider magazine.
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The rapid pace of development in motorcycle performance and technology hasn't resulted in any average riding skill improvement. New riders don't make more or less mistakes on say, a 74 Norton Commando than they do on the new S 1000RR - they are the same errors. The bike's improvements like stability, steering response, brakes and throttle may make them feel better initially, but the improvements did not make better riders. Because the riding technology is underneath all that; the underlying technical skills needed to ride a motorcycle haven't changed. The bikes got better, the tires got better, but there weren't huge changes in the average lap times of first-time guys at the school.
Features like ABS and even traction control do provide a buffer zone of sorts to keep the over-enthusiastic types from committing a heinous error, but the basic skills need to be there. And it's the science of those skills that Code will continue to study and reveal to the rest of us.
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So Keith Code is telling us (YOU) that no upgraded parts you can buy for your bike will improve your skill level. Better suspension and steel brake lines may make you feel better but won't improve your skills. "Skill cannot be BOUGHT, it must be EARNED"!
However, "Tires are central to performance riding"! Tires are the link between the motorcycle and possible impending disaster.
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Keith Code is the granddaddy of motorcycle training "California Superbike School". Code started training riders back in the 80's. The following is from a Code article in Sport Rider magazine.
-----------------
The rapid pace of development in motorcycle performance and technology hasn't resulted in any average riding skill improvement. New riders don't make more or less mistakes on say, a 74 Norton Commando than they do on the new S 1000RR - they are the same errors. The bike's improvements like stability, steering response, brakes and throttle may make them feel better initially, but the improvements did not make better riders. Because the riding technology is underneath all that; the underlying technical skills needed to ride a motorcycle haven't changed. The bikes got better, the tires got better, but there weren't huge changes in the average lap times of first-time guys at the school.
Features like ABS and even traction control do provide a buffer zone of sorts to keep the over-enthusiastic types from committing a heinous error, but the basic skills need to be there. And it's the science of those skills that Code will continue to study and reveal to the rest of us.
------------------------
So Keith Code is telling us (YOU) that no upgraded parts you can buy for your bike will improve your skill level. Better suspension and steel brake lines may make you feel better but won't improve your skills. "Skill cannot be BOUGHT, it must be EARNED"!
However, "Tires are central to performance riding"! Tires are the link between the motorcycle and possible impending disaster.
And any other word or picture that supports this!!!
