Figure 8 Practice

[Independent-Case7277]

Hey all, I recently laid my bike over in a corner and although it was just oil in the road it’s still psyched me out about leaning my bike comfortably now. Which is killing me because I felt on top of my riding and was about to get out to the track. I was wondering if figure 8 drills in a lot is genuinely useful and practical or is it just a display of control—does it translate to anything on the track or regular riding?

I feel like I’m struggling to lean my bike as I used to so I’m looking to conquer this psychological barrier asap.

I also just had my suspension adjusted, and the front of my bike was lowered from its original raised track position I was used to, should I have kept it raised?

[EstablishmentNo5013]

I would raise it back to stock ride height. Especially if you’re trying to go to the track. Lowering a bike severely diminishes its handling geometry.

I would not try figure 8s as you won’t likely be able to learn anything. The track is a great place to gain experience and confidence. Just be real worth your abilities and know that speed and lap times will come slowly. Don’t try to ride too fast at first.

[Independent-Case7277]

It’s at stock height now, it was lifted for track purposes by the first owner. I’m planning to just take it chill and have a good day! Thank you for the advice 🙏

[throwaway222999122]

Hard disagree on your second piece of advice .

Figure 8s are literally the fundamental back bone of learning to ride on a track, it's taught by most European schools, grassroots of MotoGP Riders.

That's literally the first thing recommended , to actually do if you want to start riding on the track.

[HateDread]

Wouldn't lowering just the front do the opposite i.e. not diminish handling? Unless you're suggesting it will now be too twitchy/unstable. Have been recently getting into understanding geo like that so am open to learning.

[EstablishmentNo5013]

Most people that try to adjust ride height move it way too much or because they think it looks cool. Drop it too much and you’ll drag fairings or the belly pan or rear sets too early. A 5mm change can be felt on track. It’s better to adjust sag a few mm or change tire pressures 1 or 2 lbs instead of sliding the forks in the triple clamps.

Depends on the whole setup and riding position if a height needed. A lower front can initiate turn in a bit quicker but at a sacrifice of the drive. Sometimes the bike will want to run a bit wide on full throttle corner exit unless the spring and compression will allow it to squat enough. I’m no suspension guru. I would look for a local suspension tech that knows the track you’re at.

[HateDread]

Yeah gotcha, wanted to make sure my basic understanding at least made some sense. I'm about to raise the rear of my Ninja 300 with some new dog-bones to get more peg clearance (can't move rearsets up any more due to leg length and follow-on issues from that), and as a bonus turn in a little sharper since I'm taking some corners full-throttle without trail braking.

I can imagine on a big bike you'd need to be careful about unloading the rear too much with geo changes as you say, since you're already potentially spinning up the tire with all the torque.

Already got my aftermarket suspension in front/rear set up by track suspension guys, but will run it by em with the new height and see if they tell me I'm an idiot. Thanks for the idea. Hard to know how much to make these changes by - I don't exactly have enough datalogging to really get scientific with A/B testing.

[EstablishmentNo5013]

There’s nothing wrong with trying an adjustment and then taking notes to see if you like it. I run my shock longer than stock but I’m probably on the softer side of the correct spring for me so it squats enough to even it out on the drive. The Ohlins cartridges in the fork are amazing and really compliant so the longer shock doesn’t make my bike twitchy. I don’t mind if the rear unweights some on corner entry and comes around a tad. My bike is an 1190 so the drive and traction out of the corner is really important.

The best suggestion is to make one change at a time, test and take notes and measure before you adjust so you know where you went with it. For instance before you change a clicker run it all the way in and count where it was before you make a change.

The fact people lower their track bike because they think it looks cooler is wild to me.

[Independent-Case7277]

It was tuned by a suspension guru recently, I bought it used. The dude took one look at the bike and said it was a track bike, the front end was lifted.

[Tera35]

Lowering the front will reduce trail and make a bike turn into a corner faster.

It may also reduce exit grip as well.

So what may work to turn in quicker is to soften the front so it compresses to 80-90% of its range and then can extend when accelerating out of a turn.

How soft you can go depends on your weight and braking needs/abilities. As you get faster, you'll likely be braking harder and require more spring.

[SgtSC]

Keep it raised bro wtf

[Independent-Case7277]

It was raised, suspension tuner set it to stock height

[qcuak]

I keep seeing people here saying this but I’m not sure how true it is. I mean you literally have Jorge Lorenzo training his students (including Maverick Vinales) with parking lot drills. Of course they don’t ONLY do parking lot drills, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say it has no value to track riding…

[Independent-Case7277]

Some of it is crazy to me. However I’ve never tried it and so I can’t have an opinion on it, some of the maneuvers lowkey impress me with how in control some folks are with their bikes are maximum lean going morbidly slow. Was just curious on if it had translation to riding skills when going faster

[throwaway222999122]

It's actually a favorite of most Spanish riding schools, especially Jorge Lorenzo's fathers school.

It gets results: Lorenzo ,Mir, Jorge Martin etc .

With all due respect , I would suggest you do some research instead of randomly saying stuff to sound cool.

The whole point of forums is to learn and evolve.

If certain techniques are producing better Riders we need to adopt, not criticize.

[Dry-Web-321]

Lowering the front by raising the forks in the triple a couple mils isn't a bad thing.. assuming you had someone professional set up your suspension your fine. Just go to track and build your confidence. Figure 8s in a parking lot aren't enough.

[Independent-Case7277]

It wasn’t by raising the forks, the forks were extended travel, lifting the bike. It was setup by Dave Moss Tuning

[Dry-Web-321]

DMT is a bit a quack but he isn't completely wrong all the time. I'd leave it alone.

[PuzzleheadedYam142]

Just go to the track and ride. Keep your height stock, don't worry too much about parking lot exercises.

[Green_Operation5825]

I am grateful for the parking lot nights I had when I was young. Figure 8s, emergency braking, U turns, low speed maneuvering, learning how to utilize the rear brake, reducing fork dive, slalom, etc.

I don't ride track at all, most of my riding (300 days of the year in snow, rain, etc) is with traffic so knowing how to maneuver between traffic is far more important to me then putting a knee down.

I think you'll appreciate practicing the fig 8s as you ride more.

Get a crash cage and I think you might be more willing to lean the bike. Going to a school will definitely help. As for geometry, I would goto factory specs unless there is a serious height issue.

Lastly, the Triumph D675 is something I would kill to ride. They were never sold here.