Is Fuel Injection To Blame?

At the very outset, congratulations to you all for the fabulous job you are doing!

I have a couple of queries regarding my trusted TVS Apache RTR Fi. The bike has done 15,400 km to date and I have always had it serviced from a reputed mechanic. Now-a-days, however, the bike becomes jerky as if it has run out of petrol, when it is actually not the case.

I took it to the best local mechanic in Kolkata to have the problem rectified. The bike seemed to be all right for some time, but the problem reared its head once again after a week or so. When I took it back to the mechanic, he insisted that it was a fuel injection problem and that there was nothing he could do. The power from the throttle is all right, but it seems as if the fuel does not reach the engine properly. Is it likely that there would be some kind of a block in the fuel injection system? I am not sure if other bikes with the fuel injection system also face a similar problem.

My second query concerns tyre replacement. Is it possible to fit the tyres from the Yamaha R15 or Yamah FZ16 on my bike?

The gear lever of my bike requires too much effort to shift, as if it is stuck in a position. How may I rectify it?

Hasan Arshi, Kolkata

From the description given by you, it does appear that there is a problem in the fuel supply line of your motorcycle. Please take out the fuel filter before the fuel pump and clean it thoroughly. Only a visual inspection by a competent mechanic will yield the correct diagnosis. Whereas the Yamaha R15 and FZ16 come with tubeless tyres, the Apache RTR Fi has tyres with tubes. You may replace the Apache’s front tyre with the FZ16′ front tyre, but the rear tyre of the FZ16 will not fit the narrow rim of your bike. On the other hand, the R15’s rear tyre will be too narrow for the Apache.

____________________________

Boosting The Dio’s Performance

I recently bought a Honda Dio and am very impressed by its combination of good looks and practicality. The scooter has clocked 4,200 km so far. However, I would like to boost its performance a bit more. Can I fit a K&N air-filter and an NGK iridium spark-plug? Will it be necessary to re-tune the carburettor if I opt for these changes? Is semi-synthetic or fully synthetic engine oil better for my Dio’s performance? Which brand is better: Motul or Mobil1? What type of fuel can I use to get the maximum performance? Can I fit fatter 100/90 tyres on both rims? Where can I fit an HID on my scooter?

Sunny Sharma, Indore

A K&N air-filter or an NGK iridium spark-plug will not give you the big boost of performance that you are looking for. A free-flow exhaust system will also serve to augment the performance of your scooter to some extent. You may use wider tyres, but these will affect your scooter’s performance. A high-intensity discharge (HID) headlight is not feasible for the Dio, for its electrical system does not rely on a battery, which is a must to power an HID. As for oil, the brand does not matter so much as the grade of oil. Please stick to the grade recommended by the manufacturer.
____________________________________________

The Case Of The Slipping Clutch

I own a Royal Enfield Bullet 500, which I use only for occasional long rides. It is a 2002 model, which I have kept in mint condition and have had it serviced regularly.

My problem is that when I accelerate hard in the second, third or fourth gears, the clutch slips and the engine tends to rev more than the speed achieved. It does not happen in the first gear, but when I accelerate suddenly, the kick-starter lever falls down and comes up when I ease up on the accelerator. I have had the clutch-plates, clutch-wire and pressure plate replaced and even had bigger springs fitted for the clutch on the advice of my mechanic, but it did not make much difference. Even the chaps at the authorised agency have not been able to help me in this regard.

Ata Hussain Qureshi, via e-mail

When you change the clutch, you have to see to it that there is enough free play in the clutch cable and also in the clutch rod setting. If that is too tight, the chances are that the clutch gets partially engaged, which will cause it to slip and burn out eventually. The load on the clutch is the maximum when you are running in the third and fourth gears. In the first, on the other hand, there is little load on the clutch. That is why you do not suffer slippage in that gear. The fact that the kick-starter lever goes down as you accelerate may be due to the fact that you are using a heavy grade gear oil. Please stick to the grade recommended by the manufacturer. Similarly, try changing the kick-starter return spring.

The Apex Racing Academy promises to teach you something you will never forget. We find out how well they do so

There is no doubt that the Indian racing and motor sport scenario is improving. It may be happening at a rather slow pace, but it is happening none the less. There are a number of motorcycling enthusiasts who are trying to quicken the pace of the sport’s development and act as catalysts in the process. One such is the Apex Racing Academy (ARA), held at the Kari Motor Speedway, near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, where I got an opportunity to ride and learn certain things.

Started over a year ago by Bengaluru-based enthusiasts, the ARA aims at two things primarily: transforming a regular street rider into a much safer and skilled rider and providing a strong platform along with experienced guidance for the one who aims at making a name in the racing world. The first objective mentioned here might sound rather funny, but ponder over it awhile and you will realise that as a general street rider, any person has certain ways of riding and responding to tricky situations. Their reflex actions are not necessarily the correct ones. The basic aim of the ARA for the street rider is to improve this and show the safest way to get around in dangerous circumstances.

The second ARA objective is more important and a focused one. A group of three instructors – Sreekumar Gopinadhan (Poncho), Sameer Venugopalan (Killer) and Henna – take care of the coaching part at the ARA. All three have been National Championship racers with laurels aplenty.

The coaching at the academy has been split into three levels. The first one starts with familiarisation with track riding and includes introduction to proper safety gear, track etiquette, flag signals and so on. That is followed by a track walk, which gives the students a very clear idea of their learning environment and introduces them to camber and riding lines at the track.

Real riding begins after this wherein the level one students are directed towards the concept of smooth riding with the help of throttle control drills. While on track, the students are timed in each session and filmed at the beginning and end of the course to record their progress. The lap timings at the beginning of the course and at the end of the level one generally show an improvement of three to five seconds, achieved just by riding smoothly.

---

As the course progresses to level two, a number of serious skills of going faster are introduced to the students. It all starts with learning how to turn into corners with counter-steering, making the turns quicker, finding the right lines and understanding the concept of outside-inside-outside way of approaching corners and making use of the complete width of the track to open up the corners. This is followed by improving vision while riding and finding reference points for planning your moves on the track. Level two concludes with two very important factors: body position and braking skills.

Level three introduces the rider to the serious elements of racing. It all starts with race launch skills, overtaking skills and tricks and race strategies, etc.

After doing a full weekend at the ARA, I realised that this one is not just a riding school, but also a special one in a number of ways. Firstly, conducting the course are enthusiasts who really want to take the sport to a higher level. They are determined to address each and every rider with personal attention, whatever his/her level. Secondly, all the coaches are extremely experienced with competitive riding and hence know the real deal out there. Thirdly, they are continuously improvising their teachings and course to better the approach of learning and to go into the depths of it. Lastly, they are very open to the idea of an honest feedback from the students so as to improve the overall experience of learning.

Another very interesting aspect of the ARA is that they also run a racing team along with providing end-to-end service. What this means is that the ARA has a model wherein once the student graduates from level three, s/he can buy an annual package from the ARA that will provide him/her with a race-prepped motorcycle, tyres, pit and grid services and, most importantly, a rider coach to guide throughout the season.

The man behind the ARA, Anil Kumar S, has been working hard for a year and has been successful in providing a platform for 118 students so far. What is worth mentioning here is that even the coaches are supportive of Anil S in every possible manner. While Poncho is a businessman over the week, the other two have their jobs to do. All three coaches make it a point to pack up from their work on Friday evening, drive over the night to Coimbatore, start the coaching on Saturday morning, continue all the way till Sunday evening, pack up, drive back to Bengaluru that night and resume their work-a-day life on Monday morning without complaining of exhaustion.

So for all those who have been wondering where to start their racing career, look no further. Get in touch with the ARA, register yourself and kick-start your racing career!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Story: Adhish Alawani

Photography: Aaqhil Hussain and Adhish Alawani

Piyush Sonsale describes the experience of the Yamaha Riding Clinic 2011, India’s first manufacturer-backed motorcycle riding school

Photography: Yamaha India

Piyush Sonsale describes the experience of the Yamaha Riding Clinic 2011, India’s first manufacturer-backed motorcycle riding school
Photography: Yamaha India

 The Yamaha Riding Clinic 2011 was conducted between April 11 and 14 on the Chennai race-track, where I donned the racing skin (riding suit) and rode the last two days of the school to experience the programme at first hand. The first two days were meant for novice riders and the last two for experts. Yamaha had invited former 250-cc GP rider, Osamu Miyazaki, from Japan to train the participants. The fee for the school was Rs 3,000, which covered the rent of the bike with full service support, fuel and food.

Day one began with some limbering up exercises. Contrary to popular belief, any form of motor sport (motorcycle more so) causes extreme physical exhaustion; by the end of the day’s sessions, my legs would wobble inside my R-Jays due to lack of strength. We were then asked to scrutinise the bike assigned to us. The set-up of the bike is extremely important to extract the desired performance as also to avoid mishaps. Finally, we were told about the riding rules and the meaning of the various flags used to signal a rider while on the racetrack.

The duration of each track session was one hour in which we were allowed to ride freely. By the end of each day, we had completed three hours of riding. During the feedback sessions in the classroom, Miyazaki pointed out the flaws in every rider’s style and suggested improvements after observing the video footage he had recorded from his helmet-mounted camcorder. At the end of day one, every rider’s lap time was recorded for self judgement.

---

 

On day two, we were taught how to launch the bike at the start. A swift synchronisation of the throttle and the clutch is necessary to achieve a quick start without lifting the front wheel. Next, Miyazaki selected  a couple of fast corners on the track to explain the correct line to follow. For instance, the classic line for a right-hander with no immediate turn after it would be to pull out to the extreme left before the corner entry, then ride on the inside edge of the road in the corner and drift away to the extreme left again at the corner exit to carry maximum speed. At the end of the day’s sessions, the riders’ lap times were recorded again to evaluate the improvement on day two.

The programme culminated with a race organised for the participants to give us a taste of competitive riding. The best performers from the riding school and the R15 races will be promoted by Yamaha to race internationally. The YZF R15 championship 2011 begins this month. Log on to the FMSCI Website for more information.

Nowadays a visit to the service station with your bike is like visiting a doctor – they do not believe you unless you walk in with the same symptom more than twice.

Nowadays a visit to the service station with your bike is like visiting a doctor – they do not believe you unless you walk in with the same symptom more than twice.

Many riders out there take their bikes apart in order to service them, many do it out of passion, while some do it to avoid a downward spiral into debt. Maintaining a bike may on a few occasions get heavy on the pocket, but nevertheless is an essential part of owning a motorcycle. BI’s Raymond Raj looks into the basics of maintaining a Honda Unicorn.

Give the engine some Lubrication
The phrase “God is in the details” suits the oil-changing process perfectly. Changing your bike’s engine oil sounds very simple but even experts goof up sometimes. If you want to keep your engine running well, change the oil often; it is simple – provided you do it right.

The oil drain bolt will be at the bottom or at the side of the engine. Make sure you place a container large enough to hold all the oil below the drain bolt. Draining the oil is best done when the engine is hot, but if it is way too hot you can get a nasty burn, so wait a while and let it cool down a bit. Using a proper size wrench, open the bolt and let the oil flow into the container. Once you have the bolt out, inspect it visually to get rid of any metal particles that are stuck to it. Tilt the bike a little so that every last drop of used oil flows out. The oil filter is to be changed at every alternate oil change, as it filters the oil of any unwanted impurities.

Once the engine is drained refit the drain bolt. Ideally, you should use a torque wrench to do this, but even if you use a correct size wrench, make sure it does not slip. Using a funnel pour in the specified quantity of  new oil through the dipstick opening at the top. The oil level can be checked by using a dipstick; some bikes also have a glass window. The level of the oil should not be more than the specified quantity, closer to the maximum mark on the glass window and the dipstick. Since we were using a Unicorn it requires one litre of oil. When checking the oil level with a dipstick never screw it in, just dip it and remove to check the level. Recap the dip stick and you are done.

CAPTION
1] Unscrewing the oil drain bolt
2] Draining the dirt and engine oil
3] Checking drain bolt for any metal particles stuck to it
4] Refilling with new engine oil of specified quantity

---

Keep your carbs checked
The thought of overhauling or draining the carburettor can instigate fear in many. To drain and clean the carb, empty the float before you turn it over to avoid the fuel from attacking the diaphragm. Spray the carb with brake cleaner (make sure it is rubber friendly) or with normal air from the compressor. Undo the tops’ screw without it slipping and watch out for little O-rings under the tops that help in sucking in air. Check the diaphragm for holes and also make sure the needles are evenly tapered. Do the same for the float chamber screws.

Once this is done, remove the pilot and main jets with a well-fitting screwdriver. These jets are very small and even a little speck of dirt can reduce the jet size. Blow clean them, as well as the emulsion tubes, with aerosol or compressed air. If the jets are very grimy soak them in brake cleaner.

The air mixture screws are tiny and tricky to handle. There is a default factory setting for these which you should return them to while reassembling. Screw it on until it is seated and remember the number of turns as a point of reference for re-fitting. Get the O-rings out too, which are at the end of these screws. Now that all the jets, screws, and O-rings are out you can go at it with an air-dust remover to get rid of any last traces of grime. Do not use pins or wire brushes on the jets.

CAPTION
Carb can be drained by loosening the screw to drain out dirt and fuel

Batteries
With many motorcycle companies opting for self-starters these days, a lot of   emphasis falls on the batteries, which are mostly way too small for the kind of work they are required to do. A battery
will  discharge slowly, one per cent of its charge per
day if it is left alone not doing anything. A battery should be charged till it is gassing freely.
Add distilled water to the battery if the level is low. You will need to unscrew the caps on top and fill the water evenly in all the wells. Keep in mind not to overfill it with water as while charging it will overflow and mix with the acid causing harm to your bike. Plug the charger and connect the terminals with correct polarity being achieved, positive to positive and negative to negative. Interchanging the terminals will result in the draining off of the battery of whatever charge it already possesses. Plug the charger to the battery and charge the battery at one-third its rated capacity in A-h for 5-6 hours for a full charge.
There is a trick to make an almost junk battery that does not hold any charge, work. Add one-fourth of a teaspoon of magnesium sulphate (Epsom salt) to each cell. This works 60-70 per cent of times; it will get you through for the 2-3 months of winter. It won’t hurt the bike as the battery is already junk.

CAPTION
1] Connecting the battery with wrong polarity will drain it   2] Battery should be charged with correct polarity  3] Topping up the battery with distilled water

---

Changing the chain and sprocket
A chain and sprocket comprise the final drive delivering power to the wheel. A shagged chain and a worn-out sprocket will rob you of precious horsepower and fuel.

First you need to know to what extent the chain is worn out. If by pulling the chain on its way out you are able to expose more than half a tooth of the sprocket it is time to change them.

Remove the front sprocket cover and remove the clutch actuating mechanism to gain access to the sprocket nut. Clean and degrease the dirt. Before you loosen the rear sprocket nuts put the bike in gear and ask a friend to hold the brakes. Do not loosen them too much as they will hinder the wheel turning. Now wedge in the lock washer and loosen the front sprocket nut. To remove the chain, visually locate the chain lock and open it. Once the chain is off, remove the rear wheel and the rear sprocket, which is usually bolted to the rear hub.
If the bolts are corroded clean the grime
that you see.

While refitting the new sprocket be sure you bend over the locking tabs if there are any and as for the chain, the closed end of the chain lock should be in the direction of chain motion. When you have everything in place tighten the bolts, and before refitting the front sprocket cover adjust the clutch actuating assembly. Lube the chain and take the bike for a short ride, after which the chain will stretch (all chains tend to). Re-adjust the chain slackness
once back.

Also keep in mind to never over tighten the chain as it will adversely affect the gear box bearing, wheel bearing and also the fuel efficiency. Ideally, there should be 10-15mm slack in the chain when the bike is off the stand and loaded or with the rider seated on it.

CAPTION
Chain tightening and slack adjustment

Words: Piyush Sonsale
Photography: Sanjay Raikar

An internal combustion engine without engine oil is like a body without blood. When the oil level is low, the condition is comparable with that of a dehydrated athlete.

 

The reasons are not far to seek. Being a contraption of mechanical linkages, the metal parts of an engine exert mechanical force on each other. This entails an evil – a destructive phenomenon called friction. Friction grinds the metallic parts and causes wear. Also, as the process is exothermic, it increases the engine’s temperature above optimum levels, which, in turn, causes the metal parts to expand and fuse into each other to seize the engine. In short, in the absence of oil your vehicle can be dead by the time you ride back home from the showroom or maybe earlier.

Oil management
The primary function of engine oil is lubrication to avoid friction. Barring the area in an engine’s cylinder between the piston head and the combustion chamber, every other part is soaked in oil. Channels and perforations are made in the components for the passage of oil. Oil forms a separating film between the connected parts to avoid friction. However, it still doesn’t make the engine completely friction-free. Frictional grinding creates microscopic rubble, which again mixes with the oil. This saves it from scraping against the metal parts, but, in the process, the oil becomes contaminated. Oil drains down by gravity and is collected in a collector called a sump. An oil filter cleans the oil by removing these microscopic particles and other waste. An oil pump then recirculates the oil throughout the engine and so on.

Job profile
Since oil keeps flowing continuously, it also absorbs and takes away excess engine heat by convection. Anti-oxidation additives in the oil prevent oxidation of the metallic components while acid neutralisers guard it against acids formed during combustion. Oil also seals the gap between the piston and the cylinder liner. Reduced friction ensures optimum efficiency in the engine’s working, which helps in saving fuel. Now that we know we can’t ignore it, let’s see how engine oil is made.

---

What’s in the oil?
Engine oils are basically hydrocarbons reinforced with additives to give them specific properties. These oils have higher flash points (temperatures at which they give out inflammable fumes) to be able to handle engine heat.
Oil types: The basic difference in engine oils lies in their origin, which can be from nature or artificial. The second distinction is their ‘kinematic viscosity’ (time taken to flow down a surface when subjected to gravitational force) and ‘absolute viscosity’ (resistance to flow when under pressure). The higher the kinematic viscosity, the better the oil settles on engine parts when the engine is not alive. Oils with high absolute viscosity resist flowing when forced by the oil pump, which is not favourable. The rate at which viscosity changes (viscosity index) also defines the type of oil.

Mineral oil: Mineral oils are derived from naturally occurring crude oil. Its quality is then improved with certain additives. Price-wise these are the cheapest and also have the shortest life.

Synthetic oil: Synthetic oils are man-made. Their chemical composition is formulated in a laboratory and is then produced artificially in a controlled environment. These oils are generally polyalphaolefins (PAO) while some are ester-based. Esters are polar by nature (magnetic properties), so they stick on metal surfaces, maintaining an oil film. However, the production cost of ester-based oils is high, making them rather expensive to buy. Synthetic oils have very low or no wax content, which is the culprit for oil condensation.

Semi-synthetic oil: As the name suggests, semi-synthetic oils stand between mineral and purely synthetic oils. These are generally mineral oils blended with synthetic ones and serve as a compromise between the two.

Considering the price, synthetics cost much more than mineral oils while semis are costlier, but close to minerals. However, synthetic oils can sustain extreme temperatures and pressure and also double the vehicle’s oil change interval. Thus the increase in the price justifies the brew. More so if the vehicle is used in extreme conditions, on harsh terrain or is not maintained properly.

In each of these three types, the following additives are added in varying proportions to further enhance the quality of the oil.

---

Viscosity index improvers (VII): These chemicals make the oil less susceptible to viscosity change as a result of variations in temperature.

Corrosion inhibitors: Anti-oxidants are added to prevent oxidation.
Acid neutralisers: These are added to absorb and chemically neutralise acids, such as sulphuric acid formed in the engine.

Pour point depressants: Pour point depressants increase the ability of oil to flow at low temperatures. This helps during cold starts.

Anti-foaming agents: These are helpful in avoiding the formation of foam in the engine.
Detergents:  These help in cleansing the engine from within.

Oil grades
The Society of Automobile Engineers (SAE) is a worldwide association of engineers with regional subsidiaries. The Society sets standards in the automobile, aerospace and industrial fields. The SAE has conducted globally accepted viscosity tests on engine oils at high (100º C/212º F) and low (0º C/32ºF) temperatures to classify them according to their grading system. Every oil company mentions these grades on their engine oil cans.
The low temperature grades are suffixed with a ‘W’ to denote winter viscosity.

The higher the number, the thicker the oil at cold temperatures. For instance, 0W, 5W, 10W, 15W, 20W, 25W. The hot temperature grades only have the number. For example, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60.

---

Engine oils are also classified as single or multi-grade oils.
Single-grade oils: These are tested at either high or low temperature. They have only one grade. For example, 10W, 20, 50. These oils have little use in automobiles when engine and atmospheric temperatures vary. These are mostly used in industrial generators, lawn-mower engines or chain saws.

Multi-grade oils: These are tested at both low and high temperatures. Both the grades are mentioned on the oil.  Automobiles generally use multi-grades as the same oil can be used at different temperatures. For example, 10W30, 20W50 etc.

For Indian conditions, the commonly used grades for motorcycles are 20W40 and 20W50. Oils with winter grades lower than 15 are recommended only in extremely low temperature areas.

Engine oil properties depend largely on the type of engine. Hence, engine oils are different for each type of engine. Since two-stroke engines are now obsolete, let us consider different types of four-stroke engines and their requirements. Nevertheless, two-stroke oils are still on sale. Oil cans with 2T written on them are meant for two-stroke engines. Four-stroke cans have 4T written on them.

Apart from grading, oils are also tested for quality by various national and international standards authorities such as the API, JASO, ACEA and ILSAC et al. For two-wheelers, JASO ratings are more relevant as they test the oil for conditions specific to those engines. However, some oil companies also mention API ratings. JASO stands for the Japanese Automotive Standards Organisation. Currently MA, MA1 and MA2 are the ratings for motorcycles with high friction levels (no anti-friction additives) while the MB rating is given to the ones with low friction (containing anti-friction additives). Manufacturers who get their oils tested by JASO mention the rating on their packaging with the JASO symbol while others just claim the JASO rating based on their own tests.

Do’s and Don’ts
In order to change the engine oil in a motorcycle, drain out the old oil completely and tilt the bike for a while until the last drop jumps into the collector. Plug the drain outlet and pour the exact amount of new oil as prescribed by the manufacturer. If you are running on semi-synthetic or synthetic oil, a delay of up to 1,000 kilometres more than the prescribed oil change interval is pardonable. However, as the oil filter cleans the engine oil during every cycle, it is bound to get saturated with waste over a period of time. Therefore, it is necessary to change the filter at alternate servicing or at least have it cleaned if it is just a strainer when shifting from mineral to synthetic oil.
Apart from quality, the volume of oil in the engine is also important. To check the oil level, unscrew the plastic plug found on the engine. The plug is connected to a shaft called the ‘dipstick’, which has a measuring scale on its surface. Wipe it clean, insert it back into the engine but don’t screw it. Pull it out again and read the oil level on the scale. If found low, top up the engine until the level rises to the prescribed volume, but never overfill the engine with oil.

Black death
Sludge or ‘black death’, as infamously known, is the ‘dark side’ of an engine oil. Sludge is a black, tar-like substance that engine oil gets converted into. Exposure to extreme engine temperatures, transmission pressure, wrong engine oil or, in some cases, a faulty engine design changes the chemical composition of the oil in time. The black waxy substance thus created is called sludge. Sludge causes engine seizure and deterioration of the engine’s organs as it
does not flow through the engine, causing wear. If you find a whitish paste inside your engine, it is oil change time for sure, but the substance is not sludge. It either means that the engine gasket has a leak and the coolant has mixed with the oil or else the engine was cranked when under water and water has mixed with the oil. The only remedy in such cases is oil change with flushing. Flushing is a process of cleaning the engine internally. Fill up the engine with a cheap mineral oil, crank it up and drain out the oil after a few minutes. Then pour in fresh oil.

Waste oil disposal
Now that you have learnt to change the engine oil of your bike on your own, what to do with the waste oil? Flush it down the toilet? Consign it to the dustbin? Bury it in the garden or just throw it over the fence? Never! Waste engine oil is a highly hazardous toxic pollutant. It should either be submitted to a recycling or disposal plant or used as a lubricant in household appliances such as sewing machines, bicycles or gymnasium equipment.

Storing oil
Yes, you can store a can of engine oil for as long as you want, even when the can has already been opened. However, if your vehicle is about to remain unused for a long time, do not drain the oil to store it. Always leave the oil in the vehicle, as it helps in avoiding engine corrosion.

Piyush Sonsale penportrays the man, an avid motorcycle enthusiast himself, who brought the California Superbike School to India

It doesn’t take him long to start calling you, ‘Tiger!’ And it’s the best word to describe his own personality too. You may not know who he is or what he does and you may not find him in a tux, but he still carries the charisma of the beast – fearless and in harmony with his surroundings. Unlike the animal, though, he can be described as anything but intimidating. Tall and well built, with a mop of grey hair like that of a 1970s rock star, he was wearing a one-piece racing suit, ready to ride his 600-cc sports bike alongside riders, some of whom were less than half his age, when I first met him. His name is T T Varadarajan, the man who brought the California Superbike School to India.
TT is a successful businessman from Chennai and owns a company called Maya Appliances Pvt Ltd. His company started manufacturing mixers and grinders back in 1979 under the brand-name ‘Preethi’. Now it boasts of a whole range of home appliances and an annual turnover of Rs 450 crore.

Motorcycles have been TT’s passion and companions since he was 14. “They give you a sense of freedom. You connect with nature, which you can never do cocooned in a car,” he avers. The first bike he owned was a Rajdoot 175 and, over the years, has had many Indian as well as foreign machines parked in his garage, such as the Jawa 250, multi-cylinder Japanese sport bikes like the Kawasaki 250 twins, GPX 750, ZX-12R, Honda 600s and 750s, Suzuki GSX-R600, Yamaha YZF R1 and even a Triumph Daytona 675. TT looks upon the Triumph as the best bike he has owned so far, but his favourite is the Honda VFR 800.

Don’t mistake him for just a rich bike collector, though. TT is as adventurous as they come. For instance, he once bought a brand-new Yamaha YZF R1 in Los Angeles, California, and rode 600 km eastwards without a GPS, a map or any direction aid whatever and reached Glendale, Arizona, only after getting lost in the desert for two hours! He has ridden thousands of kilometres in India and abroad, especially in New Zealand, his favourite riding destination. He has been clocking 4000 km on the trip meter there for the last five years and wants to continue the tradition for as long as he can.

Besides road trips, this Wayne Rainey fan also loves motorsport. He has participated in seven South India rallies back in the late 1960s and ‘70s. His son, Siddharth, too has inherited his father’s passion for motorcycles. Both of them have ridden together around the world and have attended the California Superbike School (CSS) workshops many times in the US and also in New Zealand. CSS is arguably the world’s best motorcycle riding school with a teaching experience of more than three decades. It was established by Keith Code, the famous riding coach and author of the book and documentary, ‘A Twist of the Wrist’.

“CSS has a great bunch of coaches who are passionate, patient and dedicated to provide every student the same kind of attention a world champion would get,” said TT when asked about his fondness for CSS. His passion, however, didn’t end with attending the workshops. TT realised that there was a complete absence of any formal coaching as regards motorcycle riding in India. He wanted to provide a platform for Indian riders to prepare for the world stage. He proposed the idea of conducting a CSS workshop in India to Keith Code in 1995 and, after 15 years of convincing, Keith finally sent the CSS UK team to India last year. The workshop was sponsored entirely by TT and turned out to be a success. Keith was quite impressed by the response and tied up with TT’s company this year again for the workshop conducted in January 2011. Following the overwhelming response, they plan to make it an annual event.

TT and Siddharth attended both the workshops themselves and underwent Level Four training, the highest at CSS. In his passion for motorcycles and the sport of racing them, TT has pioneered the development of Indian racers and yet remains a modest and polite person. He attended the workshop like any other student, waiting for his turn to ride and sharing his lunch table and track time with everybody else. While on the track, even at the age of 59, he was fast enough to give any teenager a run for his money. No mean feat that!

BIKE India’s Adhish Alawani gets into an easy conversation with cornering guru Keith Code and talks about bikes, racing and the Indian experience

Bike India: So, Keith, first time coaching in India. How has been the experience?
Keith Code: Oh, yeah, this has been a fantastic trip and here we are on the last day. Time went really fast. We did two days of school in the first batch – Level I and II. The second batch was three days – Level I, II and III – and I’ve been very happy that the students are taking information so well. Everybody is improving dramatically and showing huge improvement. There are riders who have ridden this track so many times and even they are seeing so many improvements.

BI: That exactly is my second question. Some of the students during these five days have been professional racers, who’ve been racing here for many years, while some others are first-timers at the track. So how has been the variety of students?
KC: Well, what I have noticed over the last five days is that the Indian students – 90 of whom I have known for the last five days, only with maybe one or two exceptions – are very interested in improving. They’re coming to the school for the right reason. They’re not coming here just to ride around the track. They want to make some improvements; they’ve seen that we’ve been able to make some major changes in riding for them to the positive side. And I think that 95 per cent of the students have continued to be more alert, more aggressively interested in improvement. They have become converts now. They know that what we are teaching is good material.

BI: On the international scale what do you think is the potential of the Indian riders?
KC: That’s very difficult to say. We have a lot of guys on small bikes who may look completely different on 600s. Some people don’t get along on small bikes; they ride big bikes better. Some people need to learn the lessons from small bikes, so that they can move up in an orderly fashion up to larger ones. When we go to places like South Africa or Greece, we have, say, 85 per cent of students who have already done many track days. That’s not so here. Students here don’t have that track experience, so it’s just starting off the game. Because of the fact that we have just one track here, because the things are so expensive here, because of the fact that riders don’t have the facilities to ride like that here, I would say that we are starting at, maybe, a little lower level. But then we also have some students who are good and are right up there in a good range already. They are definitely above the middle.

BI: Going back to the history of CSS, how did it all start? What was the driving force behind starting the best school?
KC: Well, there really weren’t any schools back then. Preparations for a race included ‘how you prepare the bike, take the mirrors off’ etc. Very little riding technique was taught. There was nothing defined. There was nothing like, ‘This is one technical point, this is another’. The world was blank. So, while I was still racing superbikes in the 1970s, I started to develop some ideas about training people. I actually started doing that in the off-season from professional racing. During winter I would take a few students and teach them some theory, go through what they wanted to fix. I didn’t know many things then, but I discovered a couple of points that were key points. So when I retired from racing in 1979, I wanted to continue training and generating enthusiasm. That was a blank slate. No track days. So I started the school, I had the vision – bikes, leathers, helmets, boots. I got a lot of help from Kawasaki. They stayed with me for 30 years and so was with Dunlop. The economy got bad and Kawasaki had to withdraw. But then came in BMW and we have these awesome motorcycles called S1000RRs.

BI: You started back in 1979. The bikes then and the bikes now are completely different. Speed has gone up, tracks have improved. Have the techniques been modified to suit these changes?
KC: The fundamental techniques are the same. Now, you can do different things with motorcycles. You can do the same things that you did back then, but the motorcycles now are a little bit of help. However, with the same idea in mind, the bikes can also get you into trouble pretty quickly because they are short and tight. None the less, they have a certain amount of forgiveness in them. Our S1000RR are fantastically forgiving. They have ABS brakes, they have traction control. When we changed from the 600s, which we had had for decades and decades, to the 1,000-ccs, our crashes went down by 40 per cent. And that’s the bike. ‘Cause we put these guys on the bikes that were 100 PS earlier and now they are 193 PS bikes. And it’s safer. So, it’s one of the things that I have said for years and years. It’s not the power that gets them in trouble, it’s not the speed, it’s their mistakes. Mistake – they try to fix it, fix doesn’t fix it. So now it’s a bit worse. Then they try another fix and another fix. It takes several such cycles to crash unless you hit oil.

What I found is that the fundamental techniques remain the same. We have refined them for sure. When I started off I knew a little bit. Now I know a little more. Where everything else goes, I don’t know. Every few months we improve, almost every year or so I find a new way of teaching something. We have schools in Australia, New Zealand and England. We have started two in Spain and Greece. So the amount of information I get back when I want to test something is huge. When we develop a new technique, we go about in a scientific manner. It’s not like ‘Hey, that turned out well for that rider, so let’s use that technique’. No. We wait for a long time, test it, maybe for a year or longer before we can say, ‘Okay, it’s good for stating as theory’.

---

BI: What’s your pick, MotoGP or WSBK?
KC: I think WSBK. My heroes, for sure, Pedrosa, Rossi, Lorenzo love the equipment, but it’s so expensive that there are not enough guys to fight it out at the top. To me as a spectator, if I want to watch a race, world superbike is better. There are a number of riders, the competition is tighter, they are fast, there is a lot of talent. It’s not like MotoGP, where the top five guys are within half a second with the qualifying tyres and then when it comes to the races, it’s just brrrrrrruppppp, it stretches out. As an enthusiast, it’s WSBK for Keith Code.

BI: Then, WSBK or Isle of Man?
KC: Ah, that’s like chalk and cheese. They are so different. IOM is the real road racing where it all started. There were no racetracks, so Isle of Man is pretty much good. Do I think if it’s insane or not to ride 200 mph bikes on narrow roads over an island with no run-off areas and all, well, ummm, I see it two ways. It’s quite a challenge. I know the feeling of mastering something like that. It’s very satisfying. Everybody goes there to do that. It’s a completely different mindset. I respect it, I appreciate it. And I hope the reasons for what it is, it continues to be like that for all of them go there for that.

BI: From all the MotoGP racers, who is your all-time favourite racer?
KC: It’s got to be Rossi. I respect many other riders – Kenny Roberts, Mike Hailwood. These riders are incredibly right. They changed racing quite a bit, but nobody has the spirit that Rossi has. He is the reason why MotoGP is alive and well. He is an asshole, maybe, normally, but what he gives to the sport, he has been the biggest asset ever. He has been the most popular rider.

BI: So what do you think is going to 1happen in 2011?
KC: I have no idea. I don’t have a crystal ball. It’s absolutely unknown. As for myself, because Rossi has contributed so much, I would love to see him get onto the Ducati and win the championship. Even if he doesn’t win the championship, I want to see him stand there on the winner’s spot a lot of time. But, by the same token, I want Dani and Jorge to do well too. And I hope that couple of other guys can get up there and compete with them. Will they? I don’t know!

BI: Coming back to the Indian scene, you have heard of Sarath who is going to be riding 125 cc GP? What do you think about him?
KC: Yeah, it’s gonna be a big jump for him from a 150-cc, four-stroke to 125-cc, two-stroke GP bike. It’s like 25 bhp bike here, a 60 bhp there. It’s going be quite different. But I have seen some of our younger riders whose transition from the 150s to 125s has been smooth. They have picked those up pretty fast. But I don’t know him. I don’t know his riding.

BI: What is your favourite race bike?
KC: Well, you know, when I raced superbikes back in the 1970s, the superbikes were horrible. They were weak, the frames were weak. There was a fair amount of horsepower like 140 hp, but those were like big bicycle frames. So we had to do all the modifications on the bike and I did them myself. I was the main mechanic on my own bike. It was not like, ‘I got the frame’. I had to continuously modify something, weld something. It was never perfect. You were chasing the problem all the time and fix it to find another one. We didn’t know much about suspension then. It was a lot of power and horrible handling. So I wouldn’t say that those were my favourite bikes. I had some great rides, but, for me, I think I have had the best time on the 250-cc GP bikes. That was great fun! But then we don’t have them any longer.

BI: One last question. Will you be coming back again next year?
KC: Yes, we intend to come back. No schedule has been set as yet, but we are very enthusiastic about this thing.

Let’s get retarded
Words: Gasha Aeri   
Photography: CSS (Preethi)
The corner is approaching fast, plan the turn, roll off the throttle, brake a little, lean to the side with the bike and bend forward, roll on gas gradually and pin throttle by the exit.

These commands did the rounds in my mind the night before we left for Chennai to attend the second year of the California Superbike School (CSS) in the country. A complete rookie to the world of track days and passion for cutting the lap timings by a fraction of a second, I think these commands were somewhere in my subconscious because of the MotoGP races I had watched on the television. If I had the passion, then the techniques to put that passion in place was what CSS had on offer. There’s a lot of understanding, a lot of learning and even more practice that went in to make the end result possible, but the simple ideas imparted by the trainers to make that possible is the least I can share here.

What follows is a list of 10 steps which made a good rider out of a rookie. If followed correctly, these drills will prove beneficial to almost everyone with a motorcycle and a zeal for learning. So, let’s give some throttle now.

Let’s get retarded
The title comes from the fact that not everyone understands the madness for motorcycle racing and the ones who do fail to crack the Da Vinci Code. But we had the best of both the worlds. The session began with the legendary Pharaoh of cornering, Keith Code, addressing the tribe and giving us the first shock of the season with the words, “We won’t teach you to ride fast”! I felt cheated! But the depth of those words was revealed later. “You’ll get faster yourself,” he said. And sure we did.

1. As Keith would say, “Twist of the wrist”
The first day was like tiptoeing towards the destination, which was later followed by giant leaps. The session began with the Pythagorean theorem of riding: smooth throttle control. I know it is not a big secret, but the results of a smooth and gradual throttle inputs are astonishing. I stand witness to the same. No special advice for straights, but throttle control comes into play in corners. While entering a corner, the throttle must be given off just a little for that apt entry speed. A moderately slower speed at exit means a considerably fast exit. In the middle of a turn, the rider must go back on gas just after he gets into the direction he wishes to go in. The reason for keeping throttle smooth is because a smooth throttle input keeps the bike smooth and stable and that’s what is expected of a good rider. And since we were barred from using any brakes at this stage of the training, smooth throttle just had to become a habit very quickly.

2. ‘Counter steer’ the ship, Captain!
Fancy words, but simple physics defines them well. This is how counter steer works: a little push on the inside handlebar leans the bike down and puts you in the direction you wish to go. Counter steer must then be followed by weight transfer to the respective side and a little lean in order to balance the bike and smoothen the curve. The bike tends to get upright as it is powered. Roll on gas as you hit the apex and there you have a fast exit. Counter steer when combined with throttle control made for a good kick-start to my cornering. Using counter steering, I could turn into the corners quickly and that too without compromising much on the entry speed.

3. Of every nook and corner
Throttle was a friend by now, but corners still looked scary. Our trainer for this drill, Steve, gave an answer to that too. Fix the turn points and attack the corner right on them. Felt easy, as the fear to enter into a corner at a reasonably high speed seemed to be fading away. By now, it got easy to weigh when to ease out on throttle and when you get on gas again with the set markers. Then came the golden words from Steve and life was much simpler than before – straighten the corners. Instead of swaying with the curves, just slice them through the middle and you have a perfect way of attacking the corner at hand. This drill also taught me how to make use of the entire width of the track. It is always a very comforting feeling to have some extra tarmac on the outside and that happens only if the rider makes use of the whole space available to him/her.

---

4. One step up and ‘two-step’ fast
He isn’t what he is for no reason. Keith, with every exercise of the training programme, pushes the rider a step above and that too in a way that the drill becomes a part of his habit even before s/he realises it. The ‘two-step’ theory is another such example. After throttle control and turning points, this drill called for you to fix the turn point in your mind and then shift the visual focus to apex. To master two-step, the rider must first give gradual input of throttle, counter steering and, most importantly, the points of visual focus. A little goof-up with the focus and the bike follows where you look, which isn’t the right path always. I also got a little easy with swift leans and weight shifts as my body was now working in harmony with my mind. The perfect leaning posture, however, was still to be achieved.

Thus, the drills undertaken on the first day gave a little flavour of what the ideal basics look like and our task for the upcoming days was to get better on those, using some add-on techniques. I could see myself getting smoother and thus quicker.

5. For thy reference
The tips from day one seemed somewhat fading the next morning and the solution for that came handy too. The next drill was about setting reference points near the curves, which may help the rider to get a hint of when before/after the curve must the throttle be played with. Also, the view must always be kept as wide as possible. You never know when a nasty one decides to brush shoulders with you. Techniques on taking quick turns, leaning the bike to just the right angle and picking it up with optimum throttle input were other important drills of the day. After getting familiar with the track and in tune with my bike, I found myself not looking away from my apex in search of the reference points for very long. Instead, an approaching corner and my entry speed gave me a fair idea of when to roll off the throttle, without using any reference points for the same. Doing this gave me a better focus round corners. If one must keep a reference point, it must always be in the same line as the apex in order to avoid any distraction.

6. ‘Three-step’ cha cha cha
An extension to the two-step drill, three-step takes care of the exit too. Keeping in mind the exit line takes care of hassle-free and speedy exit. Also, it lets the rider’s mind proceed from the whole task of taking a corner gradually – from looking at the corner, fixing the apex and then looking where you want to exit. Doing all this before approaching the corner gave me more time and space to execute the turn and thus more speed too! Sounds simple and it is even more simple in practice.

By the end of day two, the drills followed for both the days made me faster round the corners, crisp with the lean, and exact with riding lines. Yes, I was now hitting almost all the apexes and was definitely more confident!

---

7. Get ‘hook’ed
The last day of the school revolved round riding posture, getting the body in the right position and removing all the errors attached with it. This began with the ‘hook’ turns. Description of a hook turn –  duck down on the bike and push your head and shoulders out in the direction of the curve while keeping the bike stable. Even though I have written about hook turns a little late in our list of 10 steps, it doesn’t take away its importance. For a sharp line, faster speeds and comfortable posture, a rider must always take a turn in the hooked posture explained here. Moreover, the hooked posture gives better aerodynamics to the rider and the bike and thus better supports higher speeds.

8. Shake your booty
One thing we all knew as well as our names by now was that stability of the bike is the most important. Something which cannot be compromised for even that one extra km/h and the easiest way to keep the bike always stable is by pivot steering instead of moving the bike every time. In simpler words, the rider’s tool for a better lean on corners must be following this little advice: keep the thighs and knees clamped to the fuel tank on straights with hands comfortably resting on the handlebar and not suffocating them and the upper half of the body ducked down for better aerodynamics. On corners, the counter steering must come in a way that your waist acts as the pivot, inside knee hunting for the tarmac while the other one still clamping on firmly to the fuel tank. This most certainly keeps the bike stable round corners, makes cornering better, relaxes the arms and upper body and enables the rider to take the best possible line. I realised that every time I sat firm on the saddle, I couldn’t feel myself as a part of the bike and the same stiffness made me nervous and adversely affected the speed. As a result, stiffness and me parted ways for good. Just using my legs as an additional shock-absorber and my arms for steering, I found riding fast becoming a more natural behaviour.

9. An ‘attack angle’ with no defence
Another factor that determines your exit from a corner is the way you enter one. So, attacking the corner at an accurate angle becomes equally important as other steps. The attack angle must preferably be larger for a smooth exit. A tight attack angle generally needs multiple steering inputs in the middle of a curve, not to speak of the anxiety it brings to the rider’s mind. In case of consecutive turns, the exit line of one turn determines the entry of the next one. Therefore, the rider must calculate in his mind beforehand where his chosen line will take him towards the end of the curve and thus enter the next curve in the correct line.

10. One and only
This may not make for a strict practice drill, but it is by far the simplest and the most important thing to keep in mind while riding: be one with the bike. It not only offers better handling and stability, but takes care of that fraction of chance of the bike going against your wishes. However, while doing so, the rider must not forget to sit light on the bike. As one starts accelerating, the bike starts coming upright and then it is left for the rider to make use of the full width of the road, both on straights and curves. A rider, just like a good jockey, just has to steer it. Gripping the handlebar too tight is a strict no-no.

Three days at the Chennai race-track under the sound guidance of trainers from the California Superbike School gave me the determination and strength to test and challenge my limit and, much to my surprise, I discovered that the limit lay far beyond my imagination. Riding a TVS Apache RTR 160 and pushing the bike to the maximum power that I could became possible only because I knew what I was doing and had the technique to rectify mistakes handy. Laps got faster with every passing session and I knew exactly which correction made it possible. From a snail crawling two minutes 50 seconds during the first day’s sessions, the lap timing miraculously came crashing down to two minute 36 seconds towards the end of the school on that 3.7-km-long race-track. Some moments are just beyond any words and that one was the best of them all.

An additional bonus I earned after attending CSS is that apart from being better at the track, I have grown in leaps and bounds as a rider on city roads too. Now that the school is over and further improvement depends entirely upon my practice, I would make sure that I twist the wrist whenever I get a chance!