Cobie Fair

That is a tough turn, good one! CF

Hi Appanna, Yeah, those are 2 of the key skills, aren't they? Much of what we do in Level 2 is just to make it easier for the rider to do that, and things I work on pretty regularly myself. Best, CF

Have to agree with you on the current 600's compared to the liter bikes---it's only later in the straights that they really pull away. Most of my coaches at the school, can ride the 600's better, and prefer too (for sure I do!) Best, CF

Might be that more deifinition of "thinking" is needed here. Take for example braking and downshifting. If one had to say to himself, "I must roll off the throttle, put on the brake(s), pull in the clutch, blip the throttle, make the downshift, let out the clutch, while keeping the brake pressure steady, or even lessening it, (re-insert the whole process 2 or 3 more times if going down 2-3 gears), all while keeping my position on the track, or in Rossi's case he sometimes adjusts it under braking, dealing with other riders, noticing flag marshals if need be, etc., etc." That would be way too slow, take way longer than the actions themselves. If you guys haven't looked at Keith's book THE SOFT SCIENCE OF ROADRACING, it's pretty much dedicated to this aspect of riding. I'll be interested to see what you think on this. CF

Appanna, I'm curious, was there one skill that made the biggest difference? Or more than one? And if so, which ones? A number of students have said this over the years, but I haven't really surveyed people consistenly on this, so you're the first! Best, CF

Andy, As it turns out, Keith went to that round, he was over there with Leon Camier. Pretty sure it was Leon's first race with a new team, and I think also new tires. CF

Hi BH, Thanks for putting that up there. We had used the '94's and the '96's in our school's with MOTO-LIBERTY, but they did all the maintenance, so this was stuff I didn't know. Best, CF

I thought I'd update how the search is coming. Quite a few tried out at Sears, this last Feb 22-23. There were a total of 11 tryouts, plus one more that was brought to me that day. There were 3 that passed the riding portion of the tryout, and of those 1 we have decided to proceed to the probation step with. I'm still for sure looking! Quite a number of people have read the original post (and downloaded the application), so even if you think you might not be what we need, it's OK to send me the application, and let us decide! Quite a number of the current coaching staff did not make the first tryout--they came back a 2nd or 3rd time. Best, Cobie

How about adding downhill the above turn! CF

OK, I want to hear what you have to say after you ride that 125 GP bike. It's a whole other world, and takes a little getting used to CF

It would be interesting to see racetrack crash stats too. But that would be a task to get it accurate! CF

yeah, I know what you mean. One thing is nice though, it sure is a good time to be riding sport bikes in general. CF

Where did you go to get your stats from? Wonder if the AMA has them here...

Yeah, ole Jeff goes pretty good!

The new crop of ZX-6's are pretty impressive, that's for sure. I'm way better on it than the 10.

Wow, and that on a 1000 too, impressive. Cf

Just for your info: my coaches use race tire take offs, so already used tires. One of the boys put over 30 school days on a front, and 19 or so on a rear. There were slicks to start with, and he for sure didn't have to go full race pace that often, but...that's still a lot of days on a tire! CF

Good pic-y! CF

Mike, OK, but thanks for looking at that. I didn't have a chance to look over on this end, we are pretty busy getting ready for the first part of our season (already started in fact). Best, CF

If anyone comes up with some comparable crash stats, I'd be interested to see them! CF

I liked your resons as well as the list. That RS-250 is a hoot. 125 gp bike if you ever get a chance--whoa! '87 Honda Hurricane worked really well, as did the '84 GPZ-550's. Figured I'd stick an old one or 2 in there! CF

Wow! is all I have to say. The test here in the US is nothing like that. Many even get their test passed if they sucessfully comlete a basic riding course. I wonder what kind of riding statistics Holland has compared to the the US--in terms of crashes. I'll bet percentage-wise your's are lower. Best, CF

Mike, Johnny is at all schools, I would imagine with very rare exception (or none!). I don't personally mind at all if a guy tells me he is interested in being a coach. Unless the person had no tact at all, I wouldn't think it arrogant if he let me know that. I'd tell Johnny that we have corresponded, and you'd like to know what it takes to be a coach. That's polite enough, and pretty clear too! Best, CF

Mike, Johnhy H. is the Chief Riding Coach, you'd contact him. Good guy, runs a tight ship. Best, CF

Send the applications directly to me: cobie@superbikeschool.com And we haven't picked anyone yet. It's not really just pick one over the other, I've not had the situation of too many top guys! CF