Adam06

Welcome Quique! Jerez. What a track to go to school on!

Great! Well, of the 3 points you identified for improvement, 2 of them (points 2 and 3) will be addressed in great detail in level 3, so I leave that to Cobie and his crew Your observation of where you're turning the bike is an accurate one, and one worth putting some attention on. If you wanted to turn a little later, in the first right in the chicane before the straight for example, could you just pick a later turn point? Or would you need to make other changes too? There's some great reading on this exact point in Twist fo the Wrist II by the way. Pages 66-78 in particular.

Hey Chocadile, Thanks for posting that up. Video is such a good tool for working on your riding isn't it? You're getting along pretty good. Certainly your throttle control in T7 sounds really nice. What levels of the school have you done?

Yeah, Marty is a pretty cool, low-key type of guy. Great racer. You're right. Cobie I think can tell a great tale of when Marty did the steering drill in Level 1.........

Great result Steve! Thanks for posting. I was lucky enough to ride T/Bolt on a recent trip to the USA. That's one fun track you have there! I love that quick right just after the crest on the back straight. Let us know what comes from your Aug CSS.

"It brings it into perspective that even the top guys are working on the same drills as us mere mortals! Thats pretty cool!" Right on!

Hi Stuart, Thanks for joining. You may be one of the first Kiwi's to do so! Great! There's a ton of info here, and plenty of people to help with any questions you have in the lead up to your first school. We're really excited about coming over to run some CSS events at Hampton Downs - Looks to be an incredible facility they're building for you out there! Also looks to be a keen riding community in NZ which we're looking forward to getting in amongst. Bring on November! Cheers,

Welcome Jermaine!

Do you mind just clarifying this one point..... "Press inside knee into the tank and use the inner knee/thigh to help slide my arse across in to position for the turn." When you say "inside knee" do you mean "inside of the knee", or the inside knee (i.e left knee in a left hander), or something else? May seem a minor point, but if there's been a misunderstanding there it would certainly make things harder than they need to be, so we'll just make sure.

Hi Vegov, and Welcome.

That second shot is "one for the pool room" for sure.

I have one of those twins too! He also pushes buttons when he's not suppose to.

Yeah I messed up a pushed the wrong button. What does "teast use" mean Cobie?

Great shots Jody. I think you've landed in a pretty good place. Enjoy your 4 days at CSS, and if you end up with some photos be sure to post them up.

Is there anywhere we can view the trailer online? It goes without saying all of us here in Oz are really excited about this!

Really interesting reading in this thread. We all see it in our own way don't we For what it's worth, in my riding, it's the visuals that rank #1. What you see dictates what you do. Following in a close 2nd is big skids, then wheelies rounds out my top 3 skills in order of importance.

Exactly! The legs anchor you to the bike, and your core keeps your upper body from just flailing around. So in terms of some form of preparation, cycling is a good place to start. It's no coincidence that many top level motorcycle riders are also high level cyclists. Anything that improves your legs strength or endurance will help for sure. Oh, and we'll help you with how you're moving across the bike. There's a couple of drills on how to get that done as effectively as possible.

Steve's right on that one! Level 3 is pretty physical, but the rewards are huge if you can nail the drills. From what you've discovered so far, which part of the body do you think would do the most work in an ideal riding scenario? Upper body and arms, core, or lower body and legs? Think back to the relax drill... FYI - There is a whole section of Twist of the Wrist II dedicated to this very point. Section 2, it starts on page 32.

Great post! When you really get away from the bars, it's amazing the feeling you get isn't it. The Tech-spec pads are a great product, no doubt. That phenomenon you've found is the basis of the level 3 day. If you like that feeling, I think you'll enjoy level 3 alot! Come say Hi on the day and introduce yourself.

Hey Trixie, Just take a look at the number of world class riders who either have backgrounds in dirt riding, or do it as a form of cross training. Certainly a great way to improve your skills. For what it's worth, I often use the dirtbike to play around with stuff. The lack of traction seems to amplify the result of a change in technique (good or bad). I've found the principles in Twist of the Wrist II apply to dirt riding in many ways too. The application of some techniques varies a bit (for example the body position like Bullet mentioned), but I found I could read a section of the book, then go play with it in the dirt, and straight away get a feel for what Keith was talking about. In short - Go for it!

Hey Taras, Welcome mate. Great to see a familiar face up here! Hope all is well. Will we be seeing you again sometime soon?

Welcome Trixie!

Hi Dark Suzuki, The Island is for sure a pretty fast track, but it's designed that way, so there's alot of space in the turns. With all that space you almost don't notice the speed. It's all relative. Doing Level 1 will be a great introduction to what many consider one of the world's best tracks. We'll build you into gradually, and by the end of the day I think you'll find you'll be pretty comfortable (at the very least). A tip for riding it? Well, it's just another piece of asphalt isn't it? Treat it as you would any other road or track and we'll take it from there Look forward to riding with you. Come say hi and introduce yourself on the day.

.......what Kristi said..........

Hi Dids, Firstly, Welcome! Thanks for taking the time to sign up to the forum. Hope it becomes a useful resource for you (and a source of a few laughs too). This question does come up from time to time as Kevin mentioned. I have found it's usually when the term "Level 1" has been slightly mis-interpreted as "beginner" or "entry level". Level 1 would probably be better defined as something like "The Start". The info in level 1 is no more or no less advanced than the following levels, it's just where we need to start in order to develop a riders full understanding. Does that make sense? I also haven't done the Stay Upright courses, so I can't say how the CSS course compares. Perhaps there's another Aussie on here who's done that course and may be able to give you a comparison. Look forward to turning that voucher into a booking for you!