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No way, keep thread alive!!!!!!!!! I thought Lex was on a 250cc four stroke, not a 150? Either way though, it didn't sound right coming onto the front straight... definitely bogging.

 

P.S. Peter used the drafts of several 1000rr riders to suck himself up to the front. I think only by a couple hundredths of a second, but it was neat to see what a difference the draft made!

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No way, keep thread alive!!!!!!!!! I thought Lex was on a 250cc four stroke, not a 150? Either way though, it didn't sound right coming onto the front straight... definitely bogging.

 

P.S. Peter used the drafts of several 1000rr riders to suck himself up to the front. I think only by a couple hundredths of a second, but it was neat to see what a difference the draft made!

 

Totally agree... keep this thread alive! no better way to keep track of what you guys are experiencing on your track/school days!!

 

I am still working on all the drills taught in levels 1&2. trying to plan ahead for my lvl 3 school!

 

cheers!

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OK, I'll keep posting. Here is some worthless info: we are having the floor in the in the Student Services trailer re-finished--or at least supposed to get done, the re-finisher is late!

 

CF

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OK, I'll keep posting. Here is some worthless info: we are having the floor in the in the Student Services trailer re-finished--or at least supposed to get done, the re-finisher is late!

 

CF

 

Hurray! Glad you're going to keep the thread going, I like it, too, nice to know what's going on.

 

Hey, you're in color again, nice photo! :)

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OK, I'll keep posting. Here is some worthless info: we are having the floor in the in the Student Services trailer re-finished--or at least supposed to get done, the re-finisher is late!

 

CF

 

Hurray! Glad you're going to keep the thread going, I like it, too, nice to know what's going on.

 

Hey, you're in color again, nice photo! :)

 

Do you think those leathers make my ass look fat?

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  • 2 weeks later...
April 5, back in the office.

 

Just finished 6 days at the Streets, a little cold the first day, the rest all good. It's official, the bikes are pretty darn cool, and our crash numbers are very, very low.

 

So much for fast bikes==more crashing.

 

CODERACE was very entertaining, Peter Lenz started from the back and still won. Lex Hartly has a 250 racetbike, but had mechanical issues on it, so had to resort to his 150 four stroke, no real match for the 125.

 

We have now got 3 different classes so riders will race with others of similar experience. Except Thomas Patch. Thomas came out, did well, runs '38's, did all 6 days in a row with us--and he is 68 years old.

 

All you guys (hereafter referred to as "whiners) that think you are too old, better re-think that one!

 

OK, that's as close as I can get to blog/facebook/tweeting/myspacing. :) Maybe this thread is too old and I should nuke it anyway.

 

Best,

CF

 

Wow, had no idea Thomas was 68. I was there for Sat & Sun with him and there was no student there more intent on getting as much information out of those classes as Thomas. A good guy and he has my utmost respect.

 

Keep the thread. Hope the student services floor comes out OK. With Kristi around who's looking at you?

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With Kristi around, who's looking at me, wow, I'm hurt. (OK, not really).

 

Back to the Streets for 4 days. Weather looks like it will cooperate for the most part.

 

We did get the student services trailer floor re-done, it looks very nice, you guys can come and say, "Oh, Ahh, how nice."

 

The bikes continue to impress. Crash statistics at the last school--oh yeah, NO crashes again!

 

We have a new coach, but I'll wait to officially announce him as having completed his first training level when he passes his final exam (pretty tough oral exams in fact).

 

Getting ready for our big trip back east. The trucks leave a week from Monday, have a bit more prep to do on them. They have been re-wrapped, but some misc painting still needs to happen.

 

Got Trevor a new cart, way better than what he had before, come by and tell him how cool it is, he'll be happy.

 

OK, enough yammering for now, see some of you in the next few days!

 

CF

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OK, enough yammering for now, see some of you in the next few days!

 

CF

Cobie;

I'll be there on Saturday...but I didn't see rain in the forecast. What up with that?

 

Rainman

 

Rainman came and played with us on Saturday, and guess what--it didn't rain, how about that! In fact, it was about a picture perfect day, great weather, no wind to really speak of, another nice day at the Streets of Willow.

 

We should get him to post what he thinks of the bikes, since I think he's kind of a Duc man, it would be interesting to get his comparison.

 

I did get some new rearsets on my bike and nice to have them. They are a little higher (not a problem, don't have long legs), but mostly I get get a better grip on the bike, really helpful.

 

Getting ready for our big trip back east, trucks leave in a week!

 

CF

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OK, enough yammering for now, see some of you in the next few days!

 

CF

Cobie;

I'll be there on Saturday...but I didn't see rain in the forecast. What up with that?

 

Rainman

 

Rainman came and played with us on Saturday, and guess what--it didn't rain, how about that! In fact, it was about a picture perfect day, great weather, no wind to really speak of, another nice day at the Streets of Willow.

 

We should get him to post what he thinks of the bikes, since I think he's kind of a Duc man, it would be interesting to get his comparison.

 

CF

Rain here and well no, it didn’t rain What’s up with that?

 

OK with Cobie calling me out here I will ‘fess up. I have been a Duc Man for a long time but that BMW S1000RR has put some Duc Doubts into my small head. If you are curious about its performance I can attest to it being the most sophisticated and forgiving motorcycle you can find anywhere bar none. It has the nimble feel of a 600 with the power of a liter bike on steroids. You can flick it on a dime and for me personally that was huge. It delivers its power in a more controlled and linear fashion that any in line four I have ridden so despite its power it will protect you from yourself if you know what I mean :rolleyes:

 

I have struggled with the “Quick Turn” for almost decade yet I was able to snap the S1000RR in all day long. For those of you familiar with the Streets of Willow Springs you know you need to be able to flick the bike quickly to get around there so this one accomplishment was exhilarating. I do need to be Fair here however (no pun intended) but Cobie was also a big part of coaching me over that hurdle. His on track coaching was spot on and coupled with Pete Castanik’s ’s Level IV guidance (especially on BP) and toss in Josh Galster’s reinforcing the BP issues on the Lean Bike made the day one of the best track events I can ever remember. As Arnold said: “I’ll be baak!”

 

The Bike is simply incredible but not to be lost in this praise, the School knows how to coach students to ride it as well. There must have been some cosmic convergence of circumstances that brought the School and BMW together and I would like to spread the challenge to other students to post their impressions of it as well.

 

Rainman

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Nice note Rainman.

 

The bike is a help to us as it makes it more possible to train riders.

 

We are right now experiencing a 74% reduction in crashes on our bikes, since we brought the BMW in, pretty impressive.

 

Really looking forward to going back east next week, and beginning our summer eastern tour.

 

CF

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Rain here and well no, it didn’t rain What’s up with that?

 

OK with Cobie calling me out here I will ‘fess up. I have been a Duc Man for a long time but that BMW S1000RR has put some Duc Doubts into my small head. If you are curious about its performance I can attest to it being the most sophisticated and forgiving motorcycle you can find anywhere bar none. It has the nimble feel of a 600 with the power of a liter bike on steroids. You can flick it on a dime and for me personally that was huge. It delivers its power in a more controlled and linear fashion that any in line four I have ridden so despite its power it will protect you from yourself if you know what I mean :rolleyes:

 

I have struggled with the “Quick Turn” for almost decade yet I was able to snap the S1000RR in all day long. For those of you familiar with the Streets of Willow Springs you know you need to be able to flick the bike quickly to get around there so this one accomplishment was exhilarating. I do need to be Fair here however (no pun intended) but Cobie was also a big part of coaching me over that hurdle. His on track coaching was spot on and coupled with Pete Castanik’s ’s Level IV guidance (especially on BP) and toss in Josh Galster’s reinforcing the BP issues on the Lean Bike made the day one of the best track events I can ever remember. As Arnold said: “I’ll be baak!”

 

The Bike is simply incredible but not to be lost in this praise, the School knows how to coach students to ride it as well. There must have been some cosmic convergence of circumstances that brought the School and BMW together and I would like to spread the challenge to other students to post their impressions of it as well.

 

Rainman

 

You saw a difference in quick turn, I saw a difference in HOOK turn! I was astounded at how well the BMW would respond to this technique, I have never been able to make it work as well on my own bike as it does on the 1000RR. What an incredible bike to ride, I was very confident on it and I'm sure I must have had a ridiculous grin on my face every time I turned that throttle!

 

It was great to finally meet you, Rainman, and to get to ride with you a bit, you sure looked like you were having fun rocketing around the track. :)

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You saw a difference in quick turn, I saw a difference in HOOK turn! I was astounded at how well the BMW would respond to this technique, I have never been able to make it work as well on my own bike as it does on the 1000RR. What an incredible bike to ride, I was very confident on it and I'm sure I must have had a ridiculous grin on my face every time I turned that throttle!

 

It was great to finally meet you, Rainman, and to get to ride with you a bit, you sure looked like you were having fun rocketing around the track. :)

Hottie;

What a trip it was to finally meet you as well; the only piece missing Saturday was FossilFuel...maybe I'll get to ride with him at Barber one of these days... I think the Forum misses your baiting him to come out to race you.

 

Hey I totally agree with you on your analysis of the hook turn on that S1000RR; there are so many attributes that this BMW offers that I completely overlooked commenting on it earlier. Your analysis is right on [a sign of of a good coach, BTW ;) ] as I found myself Hooking the exits of T2, T3, the Bowl and T14 for sure all day long. It is so-o-o-o easy to do on that BMW. Later in the day Josh had me work the Hook Turn combined with the Pick Up Drill on the Lean/Slide bike which just reinforced the technique for me. God what an awesome day that was...but back to the point; that bike ROCKS!

 

Rain

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Getting ready for our big trip back east, trucks leave in a week!

 

CF

 

 

Are you going to be at the event at the Pentagon this weekend?

 

Next weekend for us, May 7, in the outer parking lot---going to be there?

 

CF

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  • 1 month later...

Hi All,

 

Been too long since I've been up here, only in the office today, back to Barber for 4 days tomorrow morning.

 

The spring early summer tour has gone very well so far. Thunderbolt was great, a bit cold and wet part of the first day, but all in all turned out well. Very popular track, fun to ride, nice long straight can let the bikes breath a bit :).

 

Some of the guys from BMW came down, got a chance to run through the school, nice to have them there, get their take on what's going on in the industry.

 

Next to VIR, also went very well. Off to a few days of military schools after that, then as it turns out I got to fly home for Memorial day (first time in I can't remember how long).

 

We've got a few new staff this year: Katie took Judy's place, Jessica is her assistant, and Melissa is Trevor's assistant at course control. I like them all, they do an excellent job, and nice to have some girls around. Boys left to themselves for extended periods of time can degrade into a certain kind of humor...if you know what I mean.

 

The bikes are continuing to impress just about everyone that rides them, crash statistics still very low. I ended up putting Stomp grip on mine, and also got some rear sets. Wouldn't want that for street riding, but helps at the track.

 

We are off to Barber tomorrow (some of the crew stayed back east, some came back) for 4 days of schools. Will has been messing around with his RC cars a bit, basically has some factory sponsorship--don't ask me what/who/how much, cause I don't know.

 

When in Alabama, we will probably eat just about every night at Jim and Nicks. Really kick ass barbeque and food overall--Keith and Dylan like to eat good food (well, so do I), and we haven't been disappointed there.

 

The difference in ages in the coaches is now at the biggest spread. I'll give you a hint: one is called "Gramps" and the other "Squirt". They usually room together, cracks me up (great guys both).

 

Back in the office next week, see about getting back up here!

 

Best,

Cobie

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Back from Barber,

 

Flew back yesterday, the trucks got it at 5am in the morning. A/C went off in one of the trucks starting around Oklahoma City. Drove the rest of the way w/out it and in some case over 100 degrees--man, what a bummer. The a/c was just "fixed" too. Trevor told me at 2pm he was still dehydrated

 

Barber went very well, the last day there was postcard stuff--cooler and clear blue sky, low humidity, just perfect.

 

3 days in the office, then back to the Streets for 4 days coming up, looking forward to that, and a few weeks in SoCal!

 

Best,

Cobie

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Hi Posters and Lurkers, here is the latest.

 

Another excellent set of schools completed at the Streets of Willow Springs. A little warm a few of the days, but the students seemed to take heed, drink tons of water and electrolytes, and did quite well. Some of my level 4 students had their best rides at the end of the 2nd day, impressive really (often students are pretty whipped by then).

 

We also had 3 of the 4 days with zero crashes, testimony to the bikes, Trevor running a superb job at course control, and the coaches continuing to pay close attention to what the students are doing, catching severe riding errors early on. A team effort, but in that regard, Trevor leads the way.

 

I don't know if other track day organizations/schools keep statistics on their crashes, but it is nicely down from the previous year, now 40% average drop.

 

Internal coach training continues very well, we just graduated a 2 star coach, Kristi Martel here in the US, and both the UK and Oz branch schools are continuing to graduate coaches at a nice rate. I know many don't know the details of the coach training program, but each class (equals a star) of training indicates a fair amount of work/study/drilling/examinations. I'll give one little bit of info on a Class II examination: in total it could take 3 hours (or more) to complete the oral exam. ANYTHING missed is re-studied, and re-checked out until all points are correctly understood. Passing standard is 100%.

 

Can you see why we're pretty proud of these guys and girls?

 

Best,

CF

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Hi All,

 

Prepping for Miller, the trucks will leave on Sunday. Anywhere in the Rockies is fine with me, but alas have to stay in town for this trip :(. Not terribly worried, Pete and the gang will handle any and all comers. Miller will be even more fun on the BMW's, while I liked the 600's, I thought them a little weak at that altitude.

 

Speaking of Miller, some of our racer kids were doing well racing there this last weeken, Lex Hartl and Andre Ochs--turns out they raced against Gerry Signorelli, another one of our guys. I finally got to see some racing on the tube and Thomas Luthi did an amazing job in Moto2 (another one we have coached). Since we are on the subject of Miller, Keith was there a few weeks back, coaching Leon Camier at the WSB round, and he put his bike on the box, whoohoo! Do I sound like I'm proud of our guys, hell yes!

 

We finally got Trevor married off (he's our course control, has been for many years, doing an excellent job there). Took his new bride to Hawaii. Wise move I'm sure.

 

Kristi made the cover of MOTORCYCLIST magazine recently, can't belive they didn't use me for that, go figure.

 

This summer and fall we are looking to bring some more of the outer schools coaches in and get them to "the mother ship" for some brainwashing, specifically the Greece school's Chief Riding Coach, then another visit from Adam (the Oz CRC).

 

Best,

CF

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