99VFR

Yeah, both Marvel Mystery oil and Seafoam are great products, a capfull of Seafoam on fillups will help keep the carbs and fuel injectors and valves clean.. I've also heard that when you change your oil you can drain a bit of oil out and then fill with Marvel in with the remaining oil and run the bike for a bit to circulate the oil. After it's run a bit you complete the oil change.. The oil should start coming out cleaner over the next couple of oil changes as the Marvel helps to remove the ###### that builds up in your engine especially if your bike has quite a few miles on it. My buddy and I took a great motorcycle mechanics class down here in Los Angeles and we became believers in these products after seeing them used!

Only having ridden 2 tracks, Streets of Willow and Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, i'd have to say I would prefer Streets for training, as fun as Fontana is quite frankly anyone can crank open the throttle on a straightaway although I don't know how much fun the no brakes drill would be coming off the straight at 140+ into the chicane would be Fontana is great as it's smooth and Streets is well not so smooth and oftentimes appears to be dusty (damn those bumps in turn 5!) I think I would rather be fast on a slower more technical track.. Before I lost it in turn 5 I was lapping just under the 1:40 mark, quite fun.. I am going for Cobies job although I may need to shave 1-2 more seconds off my laps Level 4 still to come!

Level 2 is great and level 3 felt really fast.. I have to say that after level 3 I watched my video about 100 times, studying each corner and trying to see where I could improve and where my weak spots were. The next time on the track I was really able to work through those problem corners and dropped even more time off my laps!

Interesting, I run Michelin Pilot Power 2ct's, they still LOOK in good condition (purchased in October of 2009) and I didn't notice any slipping or sliding during the day BUT they do have 3 levels of CSS and 1 day at Fontana and now 1 day at Streets. I really haven't ridden much on the street since I've started riding the track but perhaps just because they look good doesn't mean they are..

My buddies and I hit the Streets of Willow this past weekend and it was pretty amazing. We were riding in the slower group which seemed to be a festival for liter bikes on 2 600's (R6 and CBR 600) and my Sport/Touring VFR 800 bike and we took it to them pretty much everywhere but the straights! We were passing everywhere (turns 1,2,3,4,6,7,8, the kink and going into 10) and lapping in the low 1:40's fairly consistantly! It was a bit dissapointing to come out onto the straights, get the drive and start to get around those big bikes just to see their arms snap the throttle and just pull away, I tried to get some sort of draft but it didn't seem to help! It was cool though coming into turn 1 as I was able to carry far more corner speed and was many times able to get the run on the inside as they were slowing down for the corner. When I was going to CSS I was always impressed by the guys really cutting to the inside of me and making the corner but this time it was me making those moves with a big smile under my helmet! One of my big problem corners, turn 10, I finally came to grips with and was really letting the bike run through the corner and unlike at CSS I was actually carrying a lot more entry speed into it and really getting back on the gas towards towards turn 11! The level III video really did wonders for me in that I could see exactly where I needed improvement and made me ask myself a ton of questions such as where am I looking, what am I afraid of and how should I approach it next time, all of which led to a much faster turn 10! It was a good day aside from the second to last session where (I am still trying to figure out exactly what happened but I don't think I will) I had my first off in 10 plus years of riding in turn 5. It was a lowside and I am not sure if my tires weren't fully up to temp but they felt good in the earlier corners and we weren't really pushing it at the time. I think it was a combination of a few things, as it happened over the patched bumpy section of 5 and I was later told that there was a bit of dust on the track and there was a bit of gravel there as well. It was a tough way to end the day and certainly after 10+ years of riding quite dissapointing but I came out unhurt (thank god for great gear), my leathers need a bit of stiching and patching and my bike actually came of pretty good (considering I had no frame sliders) with a broken rearset, clipon, some fairing damage and some other miscellaneous items. I haven't seen any leaking fluids, and the engine started right up. So I have some work to do but have already been scouring ebay for parts and found some already. Now I just want to get back out and ride and if any of you are out and see some red white and blue marks going from pretty much the 3/4 the width of the track after turn 5, that was me being patriotic with my blue and white leathers and red bodywork

I did levels 1 and 2 over a weekend and was glad I did.. Yeah I was pretty beat by the end of day 2 but I found that on my final session of day 1 I was going quite a bit faster however I kept in the back of my mind that I'd be back tomorrow so I didn't push as much as I probably would have.. I was lucky enough to have Cobie as my coach for day 1 and he recommended Pete for my second day as he thought he'd be a good fit for me, which he was, so that could be a benefit from doing back-to-back..

Sounds good, i have to drive 6 hours to get there. So im leaving morro at 10 am, and staying at a hotel. Im bringing my own bike, so come by say hello. It'll be the white cbr, quick question. Do we have to be all suited up, and ready when we get there at 7am? Thanks. Nope, just be there by 7, you'll get your bike through tech inspection, then you'll sign in and you have some time for some coffee and the snacks CSS brings.. then everyone goes through introductions with the staff, then you're seperated by groups.. Once you go through your lesson with your group you can get suited up and wait for your turn.. You'll see how the morning goes and they're very good about getting you where you need to be when you need to be there.. I'll be looking like I do in my avatar here..

See you Sunday, level 3 here! I can't wait.. already getting far less done at work and tomorrow will be even less!

Just did a trackday at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, my first trackday outside of CSS... I ran in the intermediate group with a sea of Ducati's (Ducati sponsored the day)... Had a great time, ran towards the backend of that group but would have been in the top 5 or so in the slower group.. I was pretty amazed at the differences between this day and CSS.. They said they had a good day before with only 4 riders going down but while on track I was shocked at the amount of guys blowing turns (nice that there was a lot of runoff around most of the track).. Passes were supposed to be 6 feet, I think you were lucky if you got 3 or 4 feet many times it was barely a foot, and guys blowing past you only to hit the brakes hard in front of you.. I had guys fly past me going into corners only to look behind on the exit and see that I was right on their wheel as well as those whose drive out of the corner took them into the dirt and grass. Looking forward to next month with CSS for more structure as well as a environment where I can really focus on those drills!

Sunday March 21st at Fontana

Yea will do! Luckilly enough my buddies and I (all of which will be at Streets in either level III or IV) are heading to Fontana in a couple of weeks for a trackday which will hopefully get some of those winter cobwebs out!

Finally confirmed level III for April 25th, I'm starting the countdown, can't wait!!!

Really enjoyed the DVD, it's nice to be able to watch certain parts over and over again (braking for me), and the fact that there was a good amount of footage from the Streets of Willow where I was 2 weeks before was nice as I remembered the corners and could watch others from different angles... My wife happened to walk in on the part where Keith is talking to the kids and the kids were saying YEAH!!!.. She looked at me and then back at the kids, shook her head and walked out, awesome more quiet time for me! Loved the bonus SAG part and glimpses of the microphone are classic, but very informative and it's nice to see it done and listen to how it all works.

I think I swapped the pressures, 42 in the rear and 36 in the front ... It's been a long week!

It's a great program! I was amped after the first session (day 1), hard on myself one the next 3 sessions as I had some issues with turn 8 at Streets, it just seemed to be the turn that went on and on and on and I couldn't figure out where to get on the throttle, but finally on the final session so much came together and I finally was able to nail turn 8.. For me it was a matter of getting my eyes up and all of a sudden that turn that went on and on and on really wasn't and on day 2 I was rolling the throttle on earlier and earlier and getting such a rush getting a good drive on the exit and using up the entire track! Can't wait for levels 3 & 4 but I am using the winter to make a few modifications which will hopefully help me with my body positioning.. Have a great time!