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There are plenty of motorcycle road racing rider schools you can take and books you can read, but what does a 9 year old international road racer think about what you need to go faster? I asked KDJR and here is what he said.

There are plenty of motorcycle road racing rider schools you can take and books you can read, but what does a 9 year old international road racer think about what you need to go faster? I asked KDJR and here is what he said:

1. Throttle

According to Kristian, throttle control is the most important skill. He explained that "The smoother you are at opening the throttle, the earlier you can open the throttle without making the bike upset". When you arrive at the apex, it's normally a good time to open the throttle but that's also when the bike is leaning over the furthest. If you open the throttle too much or too fast, the rear tire will definitely lose traction abruptly and well you can figure out the outcome. If you develop smooth, precise throttle inputs, you can "crack" the throttle open slightly at full lean and while the rear tire may still slightly lose traction and slide a little, you manage that limit with the throttle.

KDJR developed his touch by training with a terrible bike, with terrible tires on terrible asphalt in a parking lot. Those all combined with tight riding drills that forced the tires to lose traction also forced KDJR to smooth out his throttle if he wanted to complete the drills. Also, he rode quite a bit of flat track and while it's an industry wide debate about weather it's helpful or not, he thinks flat track was a huge factor in his throttle management.

2. Lean Angle

The second most important part of going fast around a track, according to KDJR, is learning how to lean the bike a lot. If you want increase your corner speed, you'll also have to lean the bike farther over to stay on the best racing line. He explained that the more you lean the bike, the more the bike tends to slip and slide, so you have to learn to manage that feeling.

3. Body Position

The third most important part about riding, from his point of view, is body position. He said that a good body position lets you lean the bike very far, so you tuck your body between the bike and the ground. Also, holding the bars in a way that allows you to move your upper body freely and keeping your elbows open (as opposed to close to your body). Last, in order to lean the bike farther, you need to not stick your knee so far out... if you bring your knee in closer when dragging, it allows you to lean the bike more.

4. Braking

The fourth piece needed to go fast is learning how to brake hard and deep. The harder and deeper you brake, the more the bike will slide. He said the hardest part it not being too scared to brake deep and managing the slides. He said the best way to get comfortable with that feeling is setting up cones in a parking lot, accelerating hard and braking so hard it makes the bike slide. The goal isn't to slide every time you brake, but as you get closer to the limit of the tires and the track, you have to let the bike slide a tiny bit. Also, learning to release the brakes (not braking for too long) because that can hurt your corner speed. Again, when you release the brakes at a high speed, the bike may slide a little and you have to build confidence and learn how to be smooth with releasing the brakes.

5. Stay Calm

Last but not least, staying calm. He said that it's hard work to trying to go faster, and it takes a lot of concentration. Racing and training can be very stressful, and if you don't stay calm it's impossible to progress. You have to pay attention to what you're feeling on the bike and you have to make a strategy off of the bike, so the more calm you are the better you can manage all of that. Staying around happy people and always trying to have fun is super important!

To wrap it all up, a lot of these things are best practiced slowly off of a race track, over and over again so they become 2nd nature. It's very difficult to concentrate when you're going very fast, and this is only a small list of things that go through your head while on the track. So if you're braking super deep, the bike is sliding and you'e supposed to release the brakes knowing the bike will slide, it's not likely that you're remember body position, elbow position, how you're holding the bars, lean angle, etc. Have fun and PUSH!!!!