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06-19-2009, 12:22 PM
| #1 |
| Superbiker Joined: Jul 2006 From: Lakewood, WA I Ride: '08 848, '04 R6, '99 VFR | California Superbike School Level 1 & 2 report (long!) The two of you that know me know that I had a fairly "eventful" getoff in T8 at SRP in July of '07. As this incident was less than a year after me breaking a few bones in T9 at Pacific, my wife was LESS than pleased and said "no more track days!".  Well, I wasn't interested in her "no more trackdays" idea, so I started plotting.  "How about if I do an actual school?" I ask her. Much to my surprise she was receptive to the idea, though she did ask if they were going to teach me how to crash properly.  With her approval I signed up for Level 1 and 2 of the California Superbike school. When I initially brought this up with Linda, I had intended on doing the Freddy Spencer school, but that is no longer an option.Fast forward to last weekend. I flew down to Burbank in the morning on Friday the 12th, grabbed my rental car and drove to Rosamond (where? exactly!). The class was being held at the Streets of Willow (@Willow Springs International Raceway), and I was planning on using Friday to get myself oriented as we were supposed to be at the track at 7am sharp Saturday morning. I now know that Edwards AFB is out that way, but other than the base and the track there is NOTHING BUT DESERT!  Day 1, Level 1 (Sat. June 13th) I get to the track about 6:40am (ugh!), grab some coffee and get in line for registration. I'm in the yellow group, on bike #17 (school-supplied ZX6R). Now it's hurry up and wait for 8am and the start of school. Promptly at 8am, Keith Code gives the opening welcome speech and introduces his folks to all of us. After that, we split up into our color groups and get down to learnin'! There's 17 people in my yellow Level 1 group, and our first classroom session is with Keith Code. Very informative and he's quite a good speaker. The discussion is about throttle control and it's importance to how a motorcycle handles in corners (if you've read the book, you know what I'm talking about!). Anyway, it's time for the first track session. We're told to do it in one gear (4th) and NO BRAKES! Now, as I'm in line at the start/finish I'm starting to get a little anxious. This is my first time on the track since I spent six days in the hospital, and I'm supposed to run an unfamiliar track with NO FREAKING BRAKES?!?!?! Hooo boy. Yeah, needless to say I was VERY tense and my legs were cramping by the end of the first session. Cobie (my riding coach for the day) asked me how I felt I did in our debrief session, so I told him about what happened and how tense I felt as a result. We decided that I would focus on relaxing and not worry about the other stuff for the next session. It really helped!The format of the actual school is lecture, on-track session applying the topic of the lecture then a debrief with your rider coach. There were three riders (counting me) assigned to Cobie, so we got a LOT of one-on-one time over the course of the day. The coach would follow you, then pass and have you follow him. He might have you pull off if he wanted to talk to you about something specific (this happened to me one session; nothing negative, he just wanted to talk about the corner I had just blown and how to fix it). The first day was mostly about mechanical things - throttle control and steering inputs. The first two on track sessions were 4th gear, no brakes. Then we got 3rd and 4th no brakes. Then light brakes with 2nd, 3rd and 4th. The last session was full controls. Cobie was VERY impressed with my progress over the day, and I got MUCH more relaxed and picked up the pace considerably from where I began the day. But my legs hurt like HELL from the tense first couple sessions. Day 2, Level 2 (Sun. June 14th) Got to the track about 6:50am. There were considerably fewer people today, only 17 people in Level 2. Got through registration and the opening welcome talk, and got right to the learnin'! Level 2 is all about the visual aspect of riding a motorcycle. Dylan Code gave the first classroom session of the day, and talked about how we need to retrain our eyes and how to do so. Then it was time to hit the track! As with day 1, we were to use 4th gear and no brakes the first session. I felt CONSIDERABLY more relaxed this day, and was going considerably faster than the first session the day before. Unfortunately, I was coming into turn 2 a little hot (for me) the first couple laps, was using brakes and got blue-flagged as a result. Blue flag means the corner workers saw you do something you weren't supposed to (i.e. use your brakes), and they are letting you know as a reminder. Mike was my rider coach for day 2, and during the first debrief we decided that I would focus on corner entry and where I'm looking, to get my corner entry speed up and my freakout factor down.  As the day progressed I progressed as well. The big thing to me was that it didn't feel like I was going faster, but Mike assured me that my corner entry speeds had VASTLY improved. That told me that what I was learning was working, since I wasn't feeling uncomfortable or nervous at all out there.  The thing I did notice was that if I got passed in a certain section by a faster guy I would keep that bike in view for quite a while, sometimes for even more than a lap. That made me feel good, especially since I wasn't focused on "going fast" that weekend. I was there to learn, and put the things I was learning to use on the track. At the end of the day, my rider coach had nothing but positives for me. He complimented me on my body positioning, was quite impressed with my improvement in corner entry speeds over the course of the day and how relaxed my body was on the bike. I felt really good after hearing all that, even though I was SO tired! My thighs hurt for a couple days!  The bottom line is that I was VERY impressed with the California Superbike School, and would recommend it to anyone. I will be doing levels 3 and 4 as soon as I can afford to, and as a result of doing well and not crashing, my totally awesome wife as allowed me to do the Spokane Sully trackday on July 10th.  I can't wait to put what I've learned into practice.Jimmie |
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06-19-2009, 10:15 PM
| #3 | |
| Zone Head Joined: Mar 2008 From: Beaverton, OR - CLAY I Ride: K6 GSXR 1K | slept in, huh? 
Gave yourself a little extra time in the sack to let those legs recoup! seriously - I am SO jealous! I've had several classes with a code disciple (bad name for some maybe) - you know what I mean. Past superbike school instructors that have started their own organizations (Keigwins). And, I just WANT to do the superbike schools!!!! I am VERY interested in one part of your write up - the eye training... I've read 'twist' and 'soft science' - what specifically was Dylan's coaching in regard to perception? Yes - please repeat verbatim!  Thanks and CONGRATS!!! C | |
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How much is that school? About 2k? | |
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06-20-2009, 06:22 AM
| #8 |
| MotoGP Champion Joined: Sep 2005 From: Bremerton I Ride: 03 Are See fiddy one, 05 DRZ400SM, 95 FZR1040, 69 Combat Commando Roadster, 73 Commando Interstate, 67 BSA B44, 71 BSA B50 | I've also done Keith Code's school. I also have been blue flagged for using the brakes. Powerfull stuff in the brain to overcome. Great write up and congrats on geting back on the track!! |
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06-21-2009, 10:25 PM
| #9 | |
| Superbiker Joined: Jul 2006 From: Lakewood, WA I Ride: '08 848, '04 R6, '99 VFR |
What they do is break it down one step at a time. First, find your reference point for turn-in. Then you work on looking to your apex before you actually initiate the turn. In other words, you're "looking through the corner" in MSF parlance. Once you're in the turn, you start looking at the exit zone, again before you've hit your apex point. This is something "basic", but is broken down into four sessions over the two days. Thinking about and approaching it like this is WAY better than just being told to "look through the corner", and actually gets you to start looking ahead which in turn helps reduce the "feeling of panic" that you're coming in too hot into the corners. Darren, it was $1300 for the two days. Worth every penny! Jimmie | |
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06-22-2009, 11:07 AM
| #10 |
| Newbie Joined: Aug 2008 From: Coeur d'Alene, ID I Ride: 2008 CBR1000RR by Erion Racing | CSS - and Track-schools I used to corner-work at California Superbike School at Street of Willow. We would rotate and and ride with the students and sometimes later in the day have the opportunity to ride with Burke and Coby. Those guys are extremely skilled and the school was always well organized. Just a note - in 20 minutes you can drive down to Avenue K and have a host of franchise restaurants or go in-town and there are allot of great places to eat in Lancaster. The area has grown so much in the recent housing-boom that I hope the track stays where it is for many years to come and doesn't get shut-down due to urban-sprawl. There is also a Mexican restaurant at the airport just next to the racetrack with great food. When we raced there we would stay at the Lancaster Inn (used to be the Essex House) and they would always give discounts for WSMC or California Superbike School. There I learned about "dropping" the bike just before the apex to get it turned and pointed at the exit and using the throttle to pick-up the bike. Keith's book is a great introduction to how the motorcycle works and more importantly what to do to get smoother... On the subject of schools, I went to Keigwins this last March for 2 days at Thunderhill. Lance is a great speaker as well and they had areas for suspension, mechanical repairs, pictures, food, classes with different exercises with open sessions all day. It felt like being at college for Motorcycles! This past Saturday we were out with the 2Fast Racing School in Spokane and the students all looked like they were having fun and I recognized many of the people there who new track-riders after SRP re-opened this year. Schools are a great way to keep us from crashing, learning the potential of our bikes without risking life-and-limb on the street. Great story and very informative write-up! Good to see you figured out a way to keep riding and keep the family happy. Best of luck! |
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06-23-2009, 01:07 PM
| #12 |
| MotoGP Contender Joined: Sep 2005 From: Jacinto I Ride: Aprilia Mille R, Gixxer 600, Yamaha WR250, Yamaha TTR125 | Thanks for sharing the write-up. Glad to hear everything went well and I'll be able to see you out on the track again! |
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06-23-2009, 01:18 PM
| #13 | |
| beansbaxter is too lazy to come up with something but he will get to it, eventually...  |
 arriba arriba!!! | |
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