For practice I like to find a secluded spot and use what I ride on the street. Here is why, street tires, not as sticky, my cornering suspension set-up: horrible for launching.
What all that does is not only make it harder for me to get a good crisp launch, the tires lose traction sooner. This helps because: when tires lose adhesion sooner: ie, hook up less, they do so more predictably. To get fast and hard on that launch, ya gotta have that 'feel'. I practice that feel, that 'slip-grip-slip-grip' in situations where I have to pay CLOSE HARD attention to all of it because my traction threshold is lower. This allows a degree of forgivability (launching with max grip is hard on clutches see!). The more grip, the more important that line becomes between slip and grip. The practice in regular conditions giving a knowledge of that 'feel', those stages of slip and grip. Then, when ya hit the track, lowered and strapped, with the launch tire mounted, you are intimately familiar with the stages of grip loss and wheelie and cam etc. important to note: of course practice as much as you can at the track. But it gets expensive! Shinko is our friend.
Maverick is one of, if not THE fastest hot shot throttle jockey that I know. Every thing he says here about launch is gospel in my humble opinion. He got there through practice. Remember also, fast isn't just a weekend thing. Maverick is in top physical shape. He stays that way for a reason. He is young, aggressive, confident. He lives fast 24 hours a day. All the stages of a fast launch require certain things physically. Hand eye co-ordination, reflexes, strength, agility, flexibility, focus, concentration. If you eat right and stay in shape, ur more flexible, reflexes are better, focus is sharper. If you work out, the strength in your arms and back and legs is greater in proportion to the machine that you have to control. You aren't 'biting off more than you can chew' when it comes to hustling that bike down the track. Your control is better, your consistency grows, your times drop, all of a sudden, fast is every day. Fast is a habit. Speed is a way of life. How bad do ya want it. The rabbit hole to speed is endless, addicting, intoxicating, and never ending. And it is worth every second put into it. What the human being can do when focus on welding mind to the machine is applied, is miraculous. Ask anyone that lines up against Mav! :))
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