gap run/rookie cornering/cam footage

[Mugster]

Figured i'd post this because this is the time of year i start going to the gap regularly. Cooler weather, not so many squids, most of the rookies on 600's have crashed out already. Also, as a disclaimer. I don't endorse foolish riding on public roads. It up to the individual to determine if this guy is out of control.

Anyway, he's got some footage of a pretty fast gap pass handling cars and such, and gets stuck behind a rider that shows what not to do up on the 'the hill'. I think the message is stay within your ability, because its pretty obvious to everyone when you are riding over your head. And get out of the way when faster people come up behind you...its more dangerous for everyone invlolved if you try to speed up. He's on an FZ1, btw. Clicking the below link takes you to the video page. He's got some comments well worth reading before you view the film:

http://www.gormanonline.com/forums/5/ShowPost.aspx

All of his footage is pretty darn good, lots of racetrack passes. Some good comments to read also.

http://www.gormanonline.com/forums/

[MotoMan]

Well, I've heard a lot of horror stories about The Gap, but those twisties look like a helluva lot of fun. Much cleaner than the canyon stuff out here around Malibu. I didn't see any true blind turns, although there may be some that exist.

But what about those idiots cagers using both lanes. The wheel turns, don't they know?

[Mugster]

Depends on when you run it. When the leaves are off the trees you get petty good vision in some spots, particularly when the road doubles back on itself to the right and you can look across a ravine. In the summer, i'd say, yeah theres alot of blind or semi blind stuff where mebbe you can see a turn up but not the turn you are in. Camera footage always makes stuff seem less tight than it is, and you just do not see the elevation change.

I just poked around on this guys site a little more. Pretty interesting riding resume can be found here:

http://www.gormanonline.com/forums/49/ShowPost.aspx

[NoCo Gal]

The guy can ride. My problem is that he's doing wheelies, passing in double yellow, and passing other bikers in their lane space. It's riding with guys like that behind me that freaks me about about riding Deal's Gap. He won't make me ride faster than I can handle, but he sure has hell will ruin my good time.

And if he passes me in my lane, I'll rip him a new one when I finally make it to the finish...

[sanglant]

The guy can ride. My problem is that he's doing wheelies, passing in double yellow, and passing other bikers in their lane space. It's riding with guys like that behind me that freaks me about about riding Deal's Gap. He won't make me ride faster than I can handle, but he sure has hell will ruin my good time.

And if he passes me in my lane, I'll rip him a new one when I finally make it to the finish...

lol! Gorman is a former bud of mine, an FBR, and a past CCS regional champioin. He'd be around you so fast you wouldn't have time to freaked out.

If he still has the night ride up, check it out. He also does a lap of Barber, on this same FZ1, in less than a minute fifty. That's a fast lap, especially for a street bike.

[Mugster]

Yeah, he's got way mad asphalt skillz.

Alot depends on your perception. To me he exercised quite a bit of restraint on the wobbler pass. Some guys i know would not have been quite so friendly.

[MarcS]

Gorman was also selected as one of the first guys to get a test ride on the K1200S and put on the Nurburgring. He did some nice laps, there, too, and really did the bike justice (some nice vids of it are on the net, maybe his site).

[x_cuesme]

Don't think anyone is disputing the skill level of the rider- I know I'm not.

When I watched the film right after the link was posted- and didn't comment for this reason-

My thoughts were: "Yeah, the guy he filmed shouldn't be attempting what he's attempting- obviously doesn't have the skill to do it. But that's a hard lesson to take seriously from someone speeding, stunting, illegally passing, etc., while they comment on someone else's mistakes."

I don't care who he is or how good he is- illegal is illegal, discourteous is discourteous, and stuning doesn't belong on a public road. Same rules apply to all- and I've heard all of that expressed many times on this forum before!

[remy_marathe]

Watching that guy (the one in over his head) leaning his body the wrong way, starting curves on the inside, and completely wandering into the other lane was just plain painful.

I noticed Gorman rolled on the throttle after he was well into a few of the curves; later than I would've expected. It made me wonder- is the ideal time to start rolling on when you've reached the bottom of your lean, or should one start rolling on as soon as the lean is initiated?

[Jack_R1]

My thoughts were: "Yeah, the guy he filmed shouldn't be attempting what he's attempting- obviously doesn't have the skill to do it. But that's a hard lesson to take seriously from someone speeding, stunting, illegally passing, etc., while they comment on someone else's mistakes."

I don't care who he is or how good he is- illegal is illegal, discourteous is discourteous, and stuning doesn't belong on a public road. Same rules apply to all- and I've heard all of that expressed many times on this forum before!

It's a very easy lesson to take, actually.
I can't see the video since the page isn't loading, but for this one, I think I don't need it.
A lesson about riding skills doesn't have anything to do with "legal" or "illegal", it's about riding skills. I know some riders that ride way more illegally than I allow to myself, but they're very skilled riders nonetheless, and I'd suggest to any new rider to listen to their advice as long as it doesn't concern road behavior, and most of them wouldn't give advice on road behavior anyway, knowing their "bad habits" (and I break the law from the moment I sit on the bike until I get off, mostly speeding, sometimes passing on solid line when I'm really annoyed, and lanesplitting and passing in the same lane is legal here, and comfort of those whom I pass isn't much of my concern, if they're uncomfortable, they shouldn't be on the road, I tend to think more and more that the road is a place for skilled people only, and right now, a majority of people who are out there, don't belong).

Actually, I don't believe that same rules should apply to all, either. It's a simplification that is made for lack of ability of people to apply correct judgement to a situation. Especially, I don't believe that trucks, cars, bikes and anything else that you might meet on the road, should share the same set of laws, and I think it's obvious, why.
But that's another story...








To remy_marathe:

Since I can't see the video and don't know the rider, I can't answer for him, and it's even harder to guess. But I can tell you that there is a way of keeping the bike in balance when going from braking to turning, which is quite similar to trailbraking - instead of finishing all the braking in straight, releasing the brakes, diving for the turn and applying gas, which unbalances the chassis (braking compresses the front, releasing the brakes decompresses it, diving in the turn compresses it back), there is another technique - riding the brakes into the turn, gradually releasing the brakes and applying lean, until the brakes are completely released, and then rolling on the throttle - this way, you substitute the compressing forces of braking on the front with compressing forces of turning, and the front remains compressed all the time. The downside, as with trail braking, is that if you use too much braking and lean together, you lose traction. Maybe that's what he does.