Body Positioning relates to the rider’s positioning of their body in a comfortable position before during and after cornering to maximize ground clearance. Correct body positioning allows efficient, fluid movement of the rider to minimize the adverse affects being transmitted to the chassis. See pages 76-85 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Braking refers to specific braking techniques for quick stops, threshold braking, proper brake modulation, trail braking and procedures for when a front or rear tire skid occurs. Learning and practicing proper braking techniques allows safer, smoother, shorter stopping distances and minimizes chassis movement while braking when cornering. See pages 68-75 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Ergonomics is the relationship between the rider and motorcycle based on comfort, fit and feel when seated on the motorcycle. Personal ergonomic adjustments are made by the individual to the handle bars, hand controls, foot controls and seat to finalize the overall fit of machine to the individual. See pages 102-109 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Line Selection is the intended path of travel selected and executed through a designated corner based on numerous variables such as the motorcycle capabilities, motorcyclist’s abilities, approach speed, entry speed, corner speed, and vision through the corner to the exit, road conditions, traffic, corner slope and radius. See pages 50-57 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Arc refers to the perceived radius of the intended path of travel around a corner. See pages 52-53 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Fifty Pencing is the British term motorcyclists’ use for making too many mid-corner directional changes. The British fifty pence coin has multiple edges, thus the reference. See pages 51-52 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Premature Initiation is the misjudgment of the turn-in point for a corner and beginning to turn too early. The consequences are running off the road or into oncoming traffic. See pages 50-51 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Slow Steering is initiating the steering input to late or too slowly for the speed, radius or road conditions when cornering. The results can be the same as Premature Initiating with the rider running off the road or into oncoming traffic. See page 51 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Turns are defined in terms of varying degrees of radius which requires the motorcyclist to press on the handle bar with one single input, to initiate lean, and maintain enough pressure on the inside grip to smoothly go through a corner. Road camber or slope will influence the amount of pressure required on the inside grip to initiate and maintain the lean angle. Cornering technique will vary on constant radius, decreasing radius and double apex corners. See pages 55-57 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Shifting refers to changing gears, up or down, on the motorcycle to match engine speed to wheel speed.
Up Shifting is changing to a higher gear as engine speed increases along with increased wheel speed. See pages 64-67 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Down Shifting is changing to a lower gear as engine speed decreases along with decreased wheel speed. See pages 64-67 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Speed Shifting is up shifting to a higher gear quickly without the use of the clutch. See pages 64-67 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
High-Performance Down Shifting requires rolling the throttle on/off (blipping) very quickly at the same time the clutch is disengaged, a down shift to a lower gear is made and the clutch is re-engaged, all in one seemingly single action. See pages 64-67 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Short Shifting is up shifting to a higher gear before the engine attains peak torque in a given gear. See pages 64-67 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Steering a motorcycle involves two different methods. At slower speeds (below 12-15 mph) the handlebars are simply turned from side-to-side to change direction. At higher speeds (above 12-15 mph) the motorcycle turns by countersteering. See pages 17-21 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Body Steering is using rider weight shifts to make fine course corrections while in the middle of a turn. See page 18 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Countersteering at speeds above 12-15 mph, press forward on the hand grip (left or right) to initiate lean and change the motorcycles’ direction. See page 18 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Steering Technique uniquely defined by Lee Parks using only the inside grip to steer the motorcycle when countersteering. See page 21 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Suspension of a motorcycle is designed to absorb energy and insulate the chassis from the affects of irregularities in the road surface. Properly tuned suspension will enhance motorcycle control, provide better traction, improve safety, increase comfort and increase the affinity for street riding. See pages 22-31 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Purpose of Suspension The purpose of suspension is threefold: to minimize harshness, maximize traction, and maximize control. See page 22 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Spring Force is dependent only on its position regarding the overall travel of the suspension. See page 23 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Damping Force is caused when liquids are forced through some type of restriction. Damping is viscous friction. See pages 23-24 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Frictional Forces depend on the perpendicular load on the surfaces in question and the materials involved, including lubrication. See pages 23-24 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Dynamic Friction is created when there is movement between surfaces. See pages 23-24 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Static Friction is created between two surfaces when there is no movement. See page 24 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Energy as it relates to suspension, is stored (compressed) or released (recoil) in the springs. Mechanical energy (damping) is released as heat and transferred into the air. See pages 24-25 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Springs are available in straight-rate, dual-rate and progressive with each having unique characteristics. Spring rate is defined as the change in force divided by the change in displacement. Spring preload is the small amount of compression that takes place when the spring is installed. See pages 25-26 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Rebound Damping occurs when liquid (oil) in the fork or shock is forced through some type of restriction as the spring forces the shock or forks to extend back toward the ground. Rebound Damping controls the velocity of the suspension’s shaft movement. Also, Rebound Damping setup affects traction, the feeling of plushness and stability of the motorcycle while riding. See pages 27-29 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Compression Damping occurs when liquid (oil) in the fork or shock is forced through some type of restriction as the wheel contacts a bump and compresses the suspension. Compression Damping controls the velocity of the suspension’s shaft movement. Also, Compression Damping setup affects traction, the feeling of plushness, bottoming resistance, and dynamic dive of the motorcycle while riding. See pages 29-31 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Suspension Setup technique involves adjusting static spring sag, compression damping and rebound damping. Static Spring Sag is the distance the suspension compresses between being fully topped-out and fully loaded. Adjusting Static Spring Sag is detailed on pages 96-101 and whereas Compression and Rebound Damping is addressed on pages 27-31 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book.
Static Spring Sag is the distance the suspension compresses between being fully topped-out and fully loaded. See page 96 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Front Suspension Static Spring Sag is used to determine the correct-rate springs for you and your motorcycle combined. Front Static Spring Sage is the distance the front suspension compresses between being fully topped-out and fully loaded. See pages 99-101 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Rear Suspension Static Spring Sag is used to determine the correct-rate springs for you and your motorcycle combined. Rear Static Spring Sag is the distance the rear suspension compresses between being fully topped-out and fully loaded. See pages 96-101 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Throttle Control The single most important control on the motorcycle because it applies forces to so many aspects of the motorcycle’s handling. See pages 58-63 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Throttle Control Effects include: traction, suspension, weight transfer, steering, stability, ground clearance, and of course speed. See pages 96-101 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Traction is friction between the motorcycle’s tires and road surface. See pages 12-16 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Traction Management is affected by type of tire, road conditions, suspension, braking, cornering, accelerating and lean angle. Managing all these variables in harmony will enhance the fun and safety factors of motorcycling. See pages 12-16 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.
Vision is our way of gathering information using our eyes to make decisions. Spotlight VS Floodlight methods help determines our sense of speed. Looking through turns and where we want to go on the motorcycle gives us directional control. See pages 46-49 of Lee Parks’ Total Control book for detailed information.