razer's definitions

knee pucks

Formed pieces of hard plastic or compressed leather incorporated onto motorcycle roadracing suits to protect the suit leather from damage while cornering. The pucks are attached to the leather suit towards the outside and just below the knee area of each leg, usually with velcro.

Expert motorcycle roadracers must replace their knee pucks quite often.

by razer December 26, 2006

knee sliders

Formed pieces of hard plastic or compressed leather incorporated onto motorcycle roadracing suits to protect the suit leather from damage while cornering. The sliders are attached to the leather suit towards the outside and just below the knee area of each leg, usually with velcro.

Expert motorcycle roadracers must replace their knee sliders quite often.

by razer December 26, 2006

lean angle

Motorcycle roadracing term for the angle between the center plane of the motorcycle and the vertical plane. The more the motorcycle is leaned over, the greater the lean angle. High lean angles are necessary when cornering a motorcycle at high velocity, but too great a lean angle results in loss of traction and often a crash. Riders employ a technique called hanging off in order to alter the rider-motorcycle system's center of mass and thereby minimize the lean angle necessary to negotiate a corner at a given velocity.

Establishing and maintaining the correct amount of lean angle is a balancing act that a motorcycle roadracer must master in order to ride fast.

by razer December 26, 2006

motorcycle roadracers

Participants in the sport and art of motorcycle roadracing. Contrary to popular opinion, most are not wreckless and do not have a death wish, but rather tend to be methodical, analytical and reasonably cautious. Motorcycle roadracing doles out severe physical punishment to those who ride beyond their abilities, and so wreckless tendencies are weeded out in short order. Having said that, it must also be noted that all motorcycle roadracers share an insatiable and inexplicable need for speed.

Top motorcycle roadracers are among the most overlooked and underrated athletes in the world.

by razer December 26, 2006

center of mass

The point in a system of bodies or an extended body at which the mass of the system may be considered to be concentrated and at which external forces may be considered to be applied. Also called barycenter or centroid.

In general, an object with a lower center of mass is more stable. This explains why weebles wobble but they don't fall down.

by razer December 26, 2006

need for speed

Phrase popularized by Tom Cruise in the film Top Gun and commonly applied to those who enjoy participating in activities involving high velocities, including aviation, sky diving, downhill skiing, and most forms of motorsports.

Motorcycle roadracers share a pathological need for speed.

by razer December 26, 2006

death wish

Term commonly applied to those who engage in activities that significantly raise their risk of severe bodily injury or death.

Base jumpers must have a death wish.

by razer December 26, 2006