Over the past few years we've seen motorcycles becoming increasingly loaded with electronics and rider aids, for both safety and performance. And with all the attention surrounding Toyota and other automobile manufacturers for sudden-acceleration issues that may or may not be related to electronics problems, it's worthwhile pointing out some of the steps motorcycle manufacturers take to ensure that a failure in an electronic system or rider aid does not cause an accident. As important as this aspect is for automobile manufactures, I'd suspect it's even more important for a motorcycle company because a failure of some sort is more likely to lead to an accident, and that accident in turn is more likely to lead to an injury.

I like to think one of THE reasons I'm an effective riding instructor is that I'm not blessed with much natural talent. Consequently I've had to learn nearly every aspect of high-performance riding firsthand and often from my mistakes. It's good to learn from your mistakes, but it's even better-and often less painful-to learn from those of others whenever possible.

A few months ago, I attended the Yamaha Champions Riding School ("Extra Credit", Jan. '10), not only to improve my skills, but also to ride the famed Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. As inevitably happens at these things, conversations are struck with fellow classmates. Usually these conversations are just idle banter. And usually the rapport ends there. As it turns out, during the course of my school I befriended Mark Bigelow, a fellow student who lives near the track and had just started club racing with the Masters of the Mountain series, inspired by the fact that a world-class racetrack was now an hour's drive away. During our conversation we exchanged information and I uttered "If you ever need a teammate, let me know," thinking that nothing more would come of it. Boy was I wrong.

The combination of MotoGP and rapidly advancing electronics will soon turn the "trickle down" of technology into a gusher In last issue's "Technology Crossover" comparison between the BMW S 1000 RR and its M3 automobile cousin (August 2010), I mentioned how the four-wheeled sector has leapfrogged the motorcycle world when it comes to performance-enhancing technology. During the '80s, motorcycles had the upper hand over automobiles when it came to performance technology: four/five valves per cylinder, highly oversquare engines revving to 17,000 rpm, adjustable suspension...automobiles were comparatively in the Dark Ages. Motorcyclists were feeling pretty smug about their mounts' technical sophistication back then.

We're gone just after dawn, while the cool morning air still lingers over the landscape. We've got a long way to go and need to make as much time as we can before the inevitable summer thunderstorms emerge later in the day.

In Ama Pro Racing, World Superbike And MotoGP there's been a shift in riding styles. From the days of '80s and '90s heroes like Kevin Schwantz and Mick Doohan who were forced to wrestle powerful, unruly beasts to their will, a younger generation of riders typified by Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner took over, rising from the high-corner speed ranks of 125cc and 250cc Grand Prix machinery to the more refined, better-behaved MotoGP bikes of today with their complex engine-management software and traction control. Actually Rossi's career dates from the final days of fire-breathing 500cc two-strokes (he won the last 500CC World Championship in 2001, then piled up consecutive MotoGP championships from 2002 to 2005), which likely contributes to making him the most versatile and perhaps most talented roadracer of all time.

Odd as it sounds, sometimes the most beneficial riding practice takes place between your ears with your eyes shut and the ignition switch turned off. Mental visualization is used in many sports, and I actually picked it up from a coach while shooting small-bore rifle competition in college. The benefits were immediate and obvious, so I quickly applied it to my roadracing as well.

From Yamaha's press material

Looking for the motorcycle that does it all with style and performance? Look no further than the 2011 Yamaha FZ8. The FZ8 fills the gap for sport riders who feel a 600cc is too small and a 1000cc is too big. The muscular, naked bike styling gives it an aggressive, mass-forward stance while the comfortable, upright riding position with a compact design contributes to the bike’s first-rate handling. This bike simply excels both in the morning commute and on that spirited weekend ride on a twisty back country road.

Back in the '80s, motorcycles had the technological advantage over automobiles. Not too many production automobiles had four valves per cylinder, or revved beyond 7000 rpm; meanwhile, a good majority of motorcycles (and nearly all sportbikes) had four valves per cylinder-some even had five-and bikes such as the Japanese domestic-market Honda CBR250RR revved to 17,000 rpm. The after-effect of the oil panics of the '70s was still stunting advances in the automotive performance sector, but with the Japanese bubble economy during the '80s making the domestic motorcycle manufacturers flush with cash, the pace of development in the two-wheeled sector was bouncing off the rev-limiter.

When the EPA enforced even tighter tier two emission regulations in 2009, Yamaha was caught with its pants down as a new EPA/DOT test was also introduced that measured the emissions a motorcycle puts out at full throttle. Unfortunately, the company apparently wasn't expecting these stricter tests and the YZF-R6 appears to have fallen victim to this test in '09. You may remember one of the features of the '08 R6 that we particularly liked was its performance past 10,000 rpm, where the engine seemingly comes alive. At the same time, the YCC-I variable length intakes emit this ferocious intake growl as it sucks in as much air as it possibly can to deliver this performance. For '09, Yamaha hastily met these new requirements via ECU tweaks that effectively leaned out the fuel mixture at the top of the powerband, between 10,000 and 12,000. This allowed the bike to pass the government checks, but killed all of the thrust that our testers raved about the year prior. In fact, this became a chief complaint during our '09 600cc shootout.

Learn to ride by taking an MSF Basic Rider Course or Experienced Rider Course.
Visit www.msf-usa.org to find the schools in your state.