Bullet

Hi Busa, Welcome to our forum. You're more than welcome to post, ask any questions you like, and see if we can help you out. I've read your post, and it sounds like some of your riding isn't very comfortable and enjoyable? Some of your comments, really got my attention, your comment on running wide, and not knowing whether you're going to make it through the turn really mustn't be at all enjoyable for you? I'm afraid friends, or people you know can only share their own pearls of wisdom, and some of it I'm afraid you'll find isn't worth much, certainly comments like use the front brake in a turn is really only a last resort kind of option, and can have bad consquences on the whole. At Superbike school, we've developed a structured learning programme that removes myth from mystery, and enables a student to learn the great techniques Keith has developed over his life's work, in a simple effective course that anyone who rides a motorbike can benefit from. Everyone starts at the same level, (level 1), regardless of previous experience, and we ensure that everyone has the esential fundamentals required for basic cornering technique. The upper levels build more on these fundamentals, with level 2 being predominatly about visuals, and level 3 about your phsyical interaction with the bike. Can we help you, I have no doubt, I guess the question for you is this? What is you want to get from coming to a school? Do you want to be safer, faster, smoother, quicker, in control? If the answer is yes to these things, absolutely we can give you those skills and that knowledge. If you want to try and go as fast as you can and get rid of those chicken strips as top priority, you're probably better to get yourself some track days instead. I hope you'd like to find out more about what and how we coach, I'm sure many of the students who have gone through the programme from around the world will be more than happy to share with you their experiences, and tell you whether it's been a worthwhile experience or not! If you have any other questions you'd like to ask, please do so, and we'll try and help you out. Bullet

Morning DBtriple.... A very interesting post in itself, mainly due to the inaccuracy about Coach salaries.. I'm not sure if the greater public actually know, but of the 90 worldwide coaches that make up the coaching rosta, there are only a very small handfull that are fulltime. The rest of us have real jobs, , we do this because we love riding, we love what the school has brought to our own riding, and we're all passionate about our's and our students learning. We essentially get paid a nominal fee, but it's buttons for a 13 hour day of setting up and coaching and packing up at the end of the day, so we do this for our passion of riding, and for sharing the knowledge. It's hard doing 15-18 days a year in my case juggling personal life with work commitments, and so on, but we do, and we do because of people like you, people who crave and love to learn more about what it is we've learnt. So my friend, just for you, I created a new post... because you're interested... so look it up, and get posting, and sharing your thoughts. Bullet

A pertinent point for myself at the moment, which I'll discuss in more depth when we get this thread going in some more depth. I'd like to discuss what people may consider to be in many respects a negative thread but in reality isn't. We all make mistakes, but there is much to be learned from making mistakes as long as you know what you did and why, and what you'd do differently to avoid making them again. So my question to all forum members is this, what mistakes have you made, or do you regularly make? Your mistakes don't need to involve crashing, or accidents, they can be common mistakes you make you realising you'd like to change but perhaps don't know how to change them? Share your thoughts, what you've learned and share these experiences with your fellow forum friends. Get fess'ing up peeps! Bullet

i wasn't there in April, but I definitely will be there in Sept, so I very much look forward to it my friend! Bullet

Hi, Level 4.... Well, Level 4 my friend, is all about you! What things have you still not mastered? What things do you need to work on still? Which drills from the previous 3 need more work? You're a very active part of level 4, we need you to think about these questions, and come prepared with some thought about what you'd like to work on, like to improve, whether you're ultimately racing and looking to improve laptimes, or whatever it is, we'll try and help you get closer to your goals. How do we do this? Well, you'll start your day completing a level 4 questionaire with the level 4 liason who will be working with you to get into the detail on what's missing, and getting you to think about how we could improve that specific area. When it's track time, you're level 4 liason will speak with your on track coach, and he'll advise you on what the drill is you're going to work on. So, lets say you're given 2 Step turn to work upon with the goal of improving you're ability to get to Apexes, you're coach will then work on track seeing if we can improve that aspect. Whilst doing this inital drill observation, you're coach will also be seeing what else we can improve, and when we get back to the pits and doing your de-breif, we'll also identify the next area for improvement. this information is shared back with the level 4 liason and so the scenario starts again. In essence, we take a journey as three, you, your level 4 liason and your on track coach. we go where you want it to go, and where it needs to go to meet your goals. On track protocol is the same as all the other levels, i.e. 4th gear no brakes at start of day, working through gears and brakes as we go on, and you'll still be assigned to a group, in most cases it's the white group. You'll get video analysis so you can see yourself, get the coaches eye perspective, which is a very valuable aid to improvement also. Finally on Level 4, you'll typically get the option of running on the slidebike, which we do normally run on 2 day camps. This gives you the chance if your brave enough to ride the "fukka", understand about sliding a bike and how to control them in a safe manner. So there you have it, level 4. How cool is that my friend? Bullet

Hi my friend, Glad you enjoyed Jerez last year, it is indeed some fantastic track. We'll look forward to seeing you there again this year, where I can guarantee some sore legs on level 3, and a brilliant day on level 4, customised to working on your specific areas you've not nailed from the previous levels. Jerez is indeed an amazing track, and so unbelieveably grippy, a very fast and flowing track. I actually have some onboad video on the second day of last year at Jerez with myself and Andy Ibbott doing some laps followed by the Video bike, if you guys would like to have a watch? The video is a personal video of mine, and was taken for my own benefit. It should be noted guys that its on very knackered tyres, and if you look closely, you'll see the front tuck on me a few times but we still had some fun and entertainment. You can view it here.. (A few quick points... Andy Ibbbot is at the front, I'm directly in front of the video bike. We're riding 600' R6's and the camera bike is an R1, and finally the speedo is in KPH, not MPH, the R1 that appears from time to time is our cheif coach and he's on slicks, we're on road tyres, in my case, very tired Qualifier RR's) For those of you not able to get to Jerez, perhaps this clip will entice you to come and see us some time in Europe, at one of the best tracks in the world! Bullet

Shhhhhh, don't tell em that.. LOL....... They all thought I could ride a bit till you said that! Bullet

Rumored it was going to go onto You tube (the trailer), but don't think it's up yet. I'll let you guys know the minute I know! CF On keiths recent visit to UK, he's shown the UK staff the DVD trailer, and it really does look exceptionally impressive. Some fantastic on board video of the points in TW2, it uses Virtual Reality compyter Graphics in some places, its very, very slick and a massive, (and I mean massive), step from what there has been before. I understood, that this was probably going to be available August 09 sometime. I'll be getting one (well two, as it's 2 DVD's apparently) for sure! Bullet Hi Bullet, Do you know if this dvd will be available directly from the CSS UK website when released! I'm looking forward to it, I bet it will spark off a few interesting discussions on this site too! Hi Ace, Yeah I think it definitely will, though you can expect US availability before it being here, though I do expect it August/September. I have absolutely no doubt it will be very, very well recieved by anyone who rides a bike and wants to improve, it really was that impressive! Bullet

You do all levels from day 1 in the UK, though the "coach" may get given the chance to just coach levels 1 and 3 if it can be accomodated in the rota as they're slightly easier to coach than level 2. Bullet

If your a big lad (a bit like myself), you'll almost certainly need to get new springs in both the shock and the front forks to get a the setup optimal for sure, so bear that in mind you're trying to tweak spring rates for more than likely a 12 stone fella, and you can only go so far without changing components. Bullet

Rumored it was going to go onto You tube (the trailer), but don't think it's up yet. I'll let you guys know the minute I know! CF On keiths recent visit to UK, he's shown the UK staff the DVD trailer, and it really does look exceptionally impressive. Some fantastic on board video of the points in TW2, it uses Virtual Reality compyter Graphics in some places, its very, very slick and a massive, (and I mean massive), step from what there has been before. I understood, that this was probably going to be available August 09 sometime. I'll be getting one (well two, as it's 2 DVD's apparently) for sure! Bullet

It is true that certain rims cannot safely host a 190 tyre, as they're too narrow, (I can't remmeber whether it's 5.5 inches or 6), but I'm afraid it's a bit of a myth that a 190 slows the rate of steering. It affects suspension setup most certainly, but not rate of turning. The bigger question is the real reason to have a 190 is about wider contact patch to put the power down on the road (hence why liter bikes and above have one, in fact a Ducati Desmocedici has a 200 profile), on a 600, you really don't need anymore contact patch as it's optimal already. Some great advice from Hub there, get your suspension setup by the man in the van at the track, money well spent for sure! Bullet

Yeah definitely the case. And you'd be suprised at how many of the racers have really, really bad throttle control too! They're so keen to get back to it, they have very poor timing and application in many cases. Bullet

Hi Mark, Interesting point, and not one I disagree with, but wonder what is it that allows you to set your entry speed? How do you know you've got it right? Bullet

Hi Innerdemon Welcome to the Forum my friend, your more than welcome. And with such a fine bike as that, you're very welcome indeed, though I have to say I have a very fond personal relationship with my RSV Factory. No, not that personal, but I do love it very, very much! Bullet

Hi Bobby, A very interesting question indeed. Well, there are many champions as you're very well aware, our two latest out of the UK are Leon Camier, (Supersport and with luck soon to be BSB Champion), and Thomas Luthi (125 GP Champion). There are countless others that have been through the school but I'm not aware of who they all are. I'm not sure how student coach allocation is done in the US, but I suspect it's much the same as ours, when you complete your sign on questionaire, type of bike, number of trackdays, racing experience etc, that kind of allocates you to the right type of coach you get. Clearly you need someone that can keep up with you, and provide you with valuable feedback on how you're going. We do have a pecking list of speed of coaches, but that's only one part really, as clearly experience and coaching ability are equally if not more important, and so this becomes a cheif allocation decision also. We do get riders turning up on their race bikes, though when Leon comes for example, he usually leverages a School R6 as did Thomas. We do get club and national racers turning up on their full on race bikes, wets, etc, and it can be interesting sometimes trying to keep up, though of course, you must also remember that the odds are a little stacked on our side for much of the day, as you students can't use all gears and brakes where as we can. That said though, I've personally never had a student I couldn't interact succesfully with, though chasing club racers on wets when your on raod tyres can be very hard work I have to admit. If it did happen, you'd get moved onto a coach that could keep up with you and your abilities. I hope that helps answer your question my friend? Bullet

Hi again, No problem on the reply, you just happened to catch me at the right time. Tyres, well, all the manafacturer's have good tyres these days, certainly all the well known brands you've heard of Dunlop, Michelin, Bridgestone, Pirelli etc, etc. All of them if you look, will have a very good track orientated tyre, the one we use in the UK is the Dunlop GP Racer (D209GP), which is an excellent track tyre, and will also work in rain conditions. I doubt you'd have much trouble with that over the tyres your using now, though like i say, you can get something similiarly orientated from all the manafacturers. As for the move to 190, well, a 190 in itself will make a bit of a difference, especially if you went to a 190/55, as opposed to a 190/50, as it has a bigger contact pacth when leaned over. If you only have a 600 though, personally I'd stick with a 180/55, but thats just me. Hope that helps you out Bullet

Hi Stuart, Welcome to the forum, I'm sure the Aus guys will be along soon to say hi too. Let us all know how it goes, it sounds like it's going to be an excellent experience for all! Bullet

Yes mate inside of inside knee and inner thigh of inside leg.......So the way I understood what I was taught would be (for a left hand turn). Press the left knee into the (left) tank scallop and use that knee inner thigh to slide my ass across the seat to the left. So I'm pulling my ass left across the seat with my left leg. It feels weird for sure, but like Cobie said the alternative is to lift off the seat and unsettle the bike. Keep the bike stable, right?? Thanks for the help Oh and by the way, I met Keith and Dylan Code and Bullet from this parish. Slow'Name dropper'Ass Thats exactly right mate, you got it clear there for sure. And it was nice to meet you! Keep us posted on your progress mate! Bullet

Hi there, This is totally normal and depends to some degree on bike setup, and tyre profiles. Some tyres you can get to the edge on the front, some you cannot, and never will. Those are clearly more road orientated tyres and hence they're designed to have more of the usable tyre where you would use and need it, i.e. the middle, not the very edges. Fear not, carry on, and have fun! Bullet

Hi Briang, This actually a duplicate post, you can find the dialogue we've talked about on this thread here : http://forums.superbikeschool.com/index.php?showtopic=1672 Enjoy, and please feel free to contribute your thoughts. Bullet

Yeah, exactly like that. How Elias actually manages to stay on a bike amazes most of us, and essentially he must be swinging on them there bars to support himself like a Gibbon! It must be a contributing factor to some of his front end crashes. Ah, the Badger, fab fella, very good coach indeed. maybe you'll get him again, either way you'll get some input on your body posution and improving that, so although you've not been able to get on lean bike, you'll get an good outcome from the day for sure. The South circuit looks excellent too, (is new to us), should be a contrast to stowe circuit, fast, fast, and more fast my friend. Yeah, Keith, Dylan and Pete are coming over today, (the team are getting together to meet him), and he's going to be doign a some classroom pieces, and I expect we'll see him have a pootle round at some point also. I have to say, I'm very excited about it myself, having never met the man in person. Seeya Monday my friend, come say hi too, if you don't get me as your coach. Bullet

Wooohoooo! Excellent my friend. Am sure you'll have an excellent time, and add more to your skills bag, and have fun too! Post up when you're done, how you found it! Bullet

Hi, what do you mean by this? I take it to mean not to slide your arse across the seat too much, to avoid twisting the body. Is this correct? When I did my level 2 we couldn't use the lean bike as it was raining. I've got my level 3 on Monday so maybe it will all become clear. Cheers Hi Slowass, Where are you doing your school? Silverstone in UK, or is there a US school as well? If you're at silverstone, I'll see you there mate, should be great fun, its new circuit to us and looks fantastic for coaching. Added to that, a certain Mr Code is in attendance so we're all really looking forward to it. Yeah, Cobie is referring to the fact that most people have way too much arse off the bike, and we have to teach a lot of students to actually lean of the bike less. Bullet

Yes - but I guess it had not occurred to me that the bike front suspension would move during a hard left-right transition. Wouldn't it just stay compressed? What state is the suspension in midway through a turn Hotfoot? What position is the suspension in when the bike is stood upright (say going in a straight line)? Bullet