pauly888@bigpond.com

Been a while since I posted but wanted to give a big thank you to the guys at CSS Philip Island for a great day yesterday. Since my last post I actually completed Level 1 on the CBR250R in September last year which was great and had me wanting more. I decided to wait for level 2 until I was on unrestricted license. Well that came in May this year when I bought a new Street Triple R. Level 2 was great, a real eye opener, literally! Interesting to note that when I did level 1 I felt it was really fast and when I first went out yesterday on a bike probably 3-4 times as powerful I was much more comfortable, and even more so by the end of the day. And this on a day where we had cold, rain and howling winds! Will put all the drills into practice for a few months and look to do level 3 in a few months. Big thank you to my coach Todd who was very encouraging and had good feedback and advice, Steve Brouggy and all his staff for a great day. I also sat next to Cobie at lunch who was down for a flying visit, really nice bloke! We had a good chat and he also sat in on my last debrief. It's great to see that the founding school are still involved and hands on as there were also some coaches there from the US. Pleasure to meet you Cobie! PS: Just added a CSS Day in California to my bucket list!

Booked in for Level 1 at PI on Monday, can't wait!

Sorry for the late reply! (Just started a new business and work gets in the way of leisure sometimes!) Yes, bought the Twist II DVD through the school's site and have watched it twice! I'm enjoying my riding more already but I know I'm not doing everything right all the time, but am hungry to keep learning. And yes I love the CBR, I think it's just right for learning and will do me just fine for another 8 months of 'restricted' license! There's a level 1 day at Phillip Island next week so am just trying to organize work so I can be away for the day, hopefully.

Good point!

Don't worry about you or your bike being "too slow" at a CSS school, that will not be an issue. The number of riders on the track is far less than you'd see at a typical track day, and polite considerate passing is allowed so everyone will have room to ride and pass and you will not be holding anyone up. Also it is a school and the emphasis is on learning, and safety and courtesy are a requirement. Thats the reassurance I needed! Thank you!

Thanks Carey. Staying near the track's not a bad idea actually. I hadn't even thought but the ride to the track would actually be very cold and very dark as well! To clarify your point about comfortable at highway speeds; Yes I am, but not cornering at higher speeds. I'm enjoying riding more every time I go out but feel the higher speed cornering is where I lack confidence and the only places near me where higher speed (80mkh+) corners exist are up in the hills, mostly blind corners and from May to September, usually cold and damp even when not raining.

Thanks Eirik, good advice. I can't trailer my bike down there (about 1.5 hrs drive) so I can see the ride home will be a hard slog, but I will put a few mates that have trailers on notice just in case!

Thanks Steve, actually after reading these forums I'm leaning more towards doing the Level One course, start learning the right way straight away!

Hi Guys Paul from Melbourne Australia here. Just signed up after perusing the CSS Australia site, and ordering the Twist II DVD! I've had my new bike (2012 CBR250R) since February so I have 3 months on learners and 2-3 months on my license. I have about 1600 kms on the bike now and am gaining confidence in traffic everytime I go out but still feel less confident on higher speed cornering. I did reply to an earlier post under 'school' regarding the Level one course but it didn't work for some reason. Anyway, basically I was asking if it was too early to tackle Level One at Philip Island and should I do it on my bike as the hire bikes (GSXR600s) seem a bit daunting to me at this stage. After reading a lot more of the forums last night I'm leaning towards doing it and taking my bike. What do you think?

Hi Guys, my first post! My question is similar so I thought I'd add to artigee's thread. I'm looking at booking in at Phillip Island for either a track day or the CSS Level 1. My concern being is it too early? I've had my license 2-3 months and have done about 1600kms. I have a 2012 CBR250R. I'm feeling more confident every time I go out but I'm not increasing in confidence on the faster corners. I'm thinking the track might be the place to do it, by taking away oncoming traffic and blind corne etc, but will I be upsetting the supersport bikes flying all round me cos I'm too slow? What do you guys think?