The Ducati 848 Experiment - The conclusion

I sold the Ducati 848 for a bike that I would be "more" okay with laying down at the track. I loved the Ducati 848 in the end, all the bike wanted to do was go over 70 mph and carve through turns like a fighter jet. The soul of the Ducati is in the suspension. I love the way the l-twin Ducati motors sound but they aren't necessarily powerhouses when compared other bikes in the same class. The 848 is an amazing bike and because of how much I attribute that to the suspension I have become a "suspension" nerd. My most recent bike has a great motor but even better suspension (Ohlins rear, Marzocchi front).

The bike I bought after I sold the 848 was a Kawasaki ZX6R. The ZX6R is a simple no frills bike that just gets the job done. Thats what I really loved about it. After I broke-in the bike I decided to start taking it to the track. My first order of business was to take a track riding / racing class. The day of the class went really well, I was having fun and learning a ton! It was great. My instructor was following me around the track on my last lap on the second to last turn and I low sided... Its amazing how far / long you slide and how slow it seams. There wasn't a lot of damage to the bike; dented tank, impeded stator cover, shaved pegs and shift lever, broken clip on and clutch lever, scraped up plastics. Before going to the track I purchased some track fairings. But, because of the amount of time it took to put them on and the fact that it was the first track day I didn't have them on the bike... Awesome! Oh well, lessons learned. My instructor and myself attributed the low side to having bad tires on the bike (in other words they were still the stock tires).

A few months after sliding my bike across the track I decided to take a suspension class with the same instructor at the same track. What an amazing class, I learned so much it was amazing. I highly recommend taking a class that is about suspension settings.

The Ducati 848 Expiriment

I finally pulled the trigger on the Ducati 848. I got a used one with 200 miles on it for $9500. After the first few rides I didn't want to get off of it.

Now I'm crossing my fingers that she wont be some maintenance nightmare. She died two times while at idle, once before I got on it for the first time and the second at my house while I was revving her from an idle.

Here's to nothing!

Framework to Plan

Over the past few months I've really attuned my training to focusing on the basics. Thats it, the basics. I find basics in just about everything I do, be it the elements of the flower sweep or the collar choke from mount. My training has consisted of drilling these basics until I feel the mojo happening, and then drilling some more. It has been hard to find someone that is willing to drill like a mad man until we have it perfect. But I just pull someone from the mat, and they always learn something after 5 reps...

About a year ago I thought: 'I'm really getting it, I'm really getting good.', then 6 months ago I realized I wasn't. I could beat up on White Belts and got man handled by the Purples and Browns. I cleaned all of my tools from the shed and started over at the basics. My tool set is now 3 things from each position. I am focusing on those 3 pieces and that is all. Then all of the sudden I figure out that if you perfect those tools, learn how to execute when its time, you become a monster on the mat. Now I'm realizing that by going back to the basics, I'm able to set people up to react into one of those 3 techniques, and whamo they are in my game now. Its an unexpected break through, and its how I found my 'REVELATION OF LINKAGE'.