Mike Palmers

Hi from Aotearoa/New Zealand. New to this forum. I hadn't ridden for 30 years. Bought a Yamaha XSR900 early 2018. Have done three training track days (first two with Brian Bernard of Bernard Racing at Manfield [he was coached by Keith when he raced in the USA]). Did my first Superbike school November 2020 at Taupo (Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park) and have read Twist of the Wrist and also follow Nick Ienatsch (Yamaha Champ School). My coach for the day was someone I'd seen at Manfield but wasn't involved in the training. I'm primarily a road rider but want to lift my skill level. I also learnt within my first 4 laps how addictive track riding is. I'm not focused on lap times or speed but smooth and predictable riding. In NZ we have the "RideForever" government funded programme that's based on the UK Police Riding Manual; I've repeated this course (silver and gold levels) 6 times and learnt something each time. I'd rather spend the time and money improving my riding than buying farkles (and the XSR900 is very customisable). I plan to do the level two course this year.