AQAJR

I started riding my cousin's dual purpose every chance I got at about 14. I bought my own bike in '88 (Ninja 750R). All told, about 25 years.

When can we preorder in the US? I tried but the office wasn't sure of the price.

etech photo P.O. Box 1187 Eldersburg, MD 21784 443-851-1723 (cell) 410-795-2767 (phone/fax)

That is my understanding as well. When I did level 3 that was the most unnatural and difficult thing for me to get during the class portion. As I've been practicing it, it is feeling more comfortable (or less uncomfortable) :-)

I believe it's the same photog at each session. His email is etechphoto@usa.net. His phone number is 443-851-1723.

Greetings everyone. I attended the two-day camp, April 23-24, 2009 at the Streets of Willow section of Willow Springs racetrack in Rosamond California. I did level 2 the first day and level 3 the second. I have somewhat of a history with CSS as I did my first session in 1989 at Loudon, New Hampshire. Last year I decided to come “back to school” and did levels 1 and 2 during separate one day schools. I repeated level 2 at this camp as I didn’t think I got enough from level 2 the first time around. Day one began at the track at 7:00 a.m. with breakfast (thanks Judy!). We then registered and were broken into two separate riding groups. We were broken down further, by level, within these riding groups for our respective seminars. Low and behold, I found myself the only level 2 in my riding group. At first I wondered how this would work as it seemed a bit awkward. As it worked out, I had the good fortune to basically have private tutoring for two days, including a video review each day – fantastic! Thanks James, Dylan, Cobie and Keith! My on-track coach for both days was Lonnie. All I can say is that you are the man. I really felt that you were truly looking at my riding which gave me a lot of confidence in the feedback that you gave me. Thanks. I did two off-track drills, the steering bike and the lean bike. Both drills revealed weaknesses in my technique and provided information to take and apply. Level two is about vision and helping you decide what to look for in working out your riding. My initial foray with level 2 was difficult as I was not identifying my reference points and basically had trouble knowing where I was on the track (Note, it is VERY helpful to learn the turn numbers. You will be at a great disadvantage if you can’t speak the language). This time around I was able to identify my weak spots (two-step, quick turn) and consciously work on them. I will continue this work at the next level. The level 3 seminars are workouts. It’s a lot of moving around the bike and learning the best position for keeping in contact with the machine and distributing your weight correctly. Keith had a challenge trying to get me to maneuver my hips quickly across the bike to use for quick, smooth transitions (amply titled drill, the Hip Flick). It’s an unnatural motion but I’m working on it Keith! J As always, it was a fantastic experience in which I learned a lot and my riding will be better for it. I will be back to do level 4 at Thunderbolt in August. See ya then! Albert PS. I had never seen Dylan ride before. He is FAST!

great thread. Please keep it up. Thanks!

Where are you getting updated info? Check it out here: http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=35430

Now that Suzuki is back it will be Mladin riding by himself all season.

Agreed, but I would throw Dovioso into the MotoGP mix as well.

oh man. My fingers are crossed.

I would say instruction/knowledge plus practice will make a rider better and faster.

Ultimately fast, and I believe being smooth is the best path to getting there.

I wonder how much has to do with the crew chief too. Look at the guys that have been multi-time world champs: they all had someone there (Kenny had Kel, Wayne had Kenny and the other guys--Warren Willig I think?) Freddie had Erv. Doohan had Burgess, as has Rossie and I tihnk Gardner too. Is it the crew chief or the exceptional riders who eventually made the crew chief famous (or the chicken or the egg)?

My two favorite riders of all time have to be Valentino Rossi in the modern era because of his personality, his apparent smoothness and ability to overcome obstacles and "win the race" and Kevin Schwantz for his balls to the wall win it or bin it attitude. Schwantz's battles against Rainey, Doohan, Lawson and the legends of the day were epic and those guys were riding monsters! It's really awesome to see film of those races and watch the rear end of the bike skip from side to side as Schwantz brakes for the corner.

Greetings,I'm Albert from NY. This year I attended Levels I and II. Level I at Pocono in May and then level II at Mid-Ohio in August. I attended the school in 1990 at Loudon, NH. I currently ride a 2004 CBR 1000RR and look forward to doing level III, likely in early '09.