Parks - Total Control

High Performance
Street Riding Techniques

Lee Parks

This edition first published in 2003 by Motorbooks International, an imprint of MBI Publishing Company, 400 First Avenue North, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA

Lee Parks, 2003, 2011

All rights reserved. With the exception of quoting brief passages for the purposes of review, no part of this publication may be reproduced without prior written permission from the Publisher.

The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without any guarantee on the part of the author or Publisher, who also disclaim any liability incurred in connection with the use of this data or specific details.

We recognize that some words, model names and designations, for example, mentioned herein are the property of the trademark holder. We use them for identification purposes only. This is not an official publication.

Motorbooks titles are also available at discounts in bulk quantity for industrial or sales-promotional use. For details write to Special Sales Manager at MBI Publishing Company, 400 First Avenue North, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55401 USA.

To find out more about our books, visit us online at
www.motorbooks.com.

ISBN: 978-0-7603-1403-6
Digital Edition: 978-0-7603-1403-6
Softcover Edition: 978-1-6167-3047-5

Edited by Darwin Holmstrom and Kent Larson
Designed by Tom Heffron
Layout by Katie Sonmor and Brenda Canales

Printed in Hong Kong

Contents

Foreword

By Darwin Holmstrom

Although its taken me the better part of forty years, Ive finally discovered one great truth about riding a motorcycle: I still have a hell of a lot to learn. Ive been riding since the age of 11, and Ive lived and breathed motorcycles even longer than that (Ive actually authored a book called The Complete Idiots Guide to Motorcycles), so this was quite a realization.

This shift in my universe came about as a result of my finally being exposed to road racing. Id always been a standard or sport-touring kind of rider, one of those guys who relished 1,000-mile days. My dreams of glory involved winning the Iron Butt Rally, not winning any road racing championships. Up until a few years ago the most sporting motorcycle Id ever owned had been a Honda ST1100. Then, a few years ago, I discovered Speedvision (now Speed Channel). Suddenly motorcycle road racing was no longer some remote activity that I read about in the back pages of Cycle World, months after the fact. Now a coaxial cable was bringing same-day coverage of that racing right into my living room.

Speedvision was the first step down a slippery slope. I began hanging with a bad crowd. Im not talking about the flip-flop-wearing squids riding 100-mile-per-hour wheelies on metropolitan freeways. I fell in with some serious Sportbike riders, mature, highly skilled folks, many of whom had at least an amateur road-racing license. With very few exceptions, these are sensible men and women who practice sound riding techniques. They just practice them at a very high level. To become a responsible member of this group meant I had to take my own skills to a higher level.

My experience is not uncommon. Every year it seems as though more and more people are motivated to ride at a higher level. Unfortunately, far too often this motivation manifests itself in the purchase of the latest and greatest technology. Many riders think the key to riding better is to purchase better equipment. They purchase this weeks fastest open-class Sportbike or the hottest new 600cc machine. They spend small fortunes upgrading their motorcycles with top-shelf suspension components sold by companies that spell their names with umlauts. They increase the power output of machines that are already too fast for their level of riding ability. Undoubtedly, better equipment makes it easier to ride at a higher level, but only if the rider possesses the skill to ride at that level. Simply throwing money at a lack of skill wont help a bit.

Perhaps because I lacked the small fortune necessary to pursue the latest and greatest technology, I chose to take my riding to a higher level by concentrating on improving my skills. I swallowed my pride and began to ask questions of the best riders in our group, not worrying about whether or not those questions were stupid. More importantly, I listened to their answers with an open mind, and went out and practiced the techniques they advised.

I began investigating high-performance riding classes. To my great surprise, one of the most highly recommended riding classes was the Advanced Riding Clinic taught by none other than my old friend Lee Parks.

By this time I had taken a job as an acquisitions editor at Motorbooks International. My job involved conceiving book ideas and finding people to write them. The next step didnt require an extraordinary amount of thought. Lee teaches a highly respected high-performance riding course. Lee is a talented and experienced writer. Obviously, Lee should write this book. Which he did. Although Lees busy schedule and his meticulous attention to detail meant that the book took some time to create (and gave me an ulcer big enough to run an Aprilia Mille exhaust header through), the result exceeded my wildest expectations.

You hold in your hands the result of a lifetime of thought and experience. You hold the key to becoming a better, faster, and safer rider. When I first began watching people like Colin Edwards and Nicky Hayden race, it seemed that the things they did on a motorcycle were completely impossible. This book demystifies the skills practiced by such riders. While this book wont turn you into Valentino Rossi overnight, you will learn the same basic skills Rossi uses when practicing his craft. In Total Control, Parks breaks down the elements of high-performance riding into easily understood steps that anyone can master if willing to practice them. I have been amazed at how practicing these exercises has improved my own riding skills. Even though I still dont have the best and brightest Sportbike on the marketI ride a Yamaha YZF600RI now find Im waiting at stop signs for riders who used to leave me behind. I hope you find this volume as useful and practical as I have. Ride safe.

Acknowledgments

I originally figured that writing this book would be a cakewalk given that it was simply supposed to be a written version of my Advanced Riding Clinics (ARC), which I know like the back of my hand. I could not have been more wrong. Fortunately, I am blessed with amazing friends and family whose outstanding support helped make this book a reality.

First and foremost, Id like to thank my editor, Darwin Holmstrom. Not only did he convince me to do this book in the first place, but he proceeded to kick me in the butt on a weekly and even daily basis for close to a year until I finally got it finished. Without his efforts, this book would still be a wistful fantasy.

Next Id like to thank Race Tech founder Paul Thede who showed his selfless nature by allowing me to take a careers worth of his writing and whittle it down into the two suspension chapters, which are better than I ever could have done on my own.