Kevin Kane

A; If it is the School's regular photographer it is: ETECH Photo PO Box 1187 Eldersburg, MD 21784 www.etechphoto.com Rainman

markSTer; This is good advice and you are on point with the reading part of the learning; the two Twist Books are a must have in that regard. So much of riding especially sport bike riding is counter intuitive that if you understand the concepts before or while you're trying them they won't seem so alien. Counter steering itself is a concept that you would never try on your own but it is everything on a bike at speed. Rainman

B-girl; I will break with the fellas here and say go to the School at Willow Springs. I say that because you're obviously proficient with the controls if you can do 6 hour rides...but you're issue as you describe is cornering. Well girl - that's what the School is all about! I've never taken the MSF course but have done a bunch of Schools and if you want to learn how to corner a motorcycle then the CSS is the place to go. Rainman

Greg; I loved this write up. It was fun to read, had enough detail to help us feel what your experience was like and it had a great ending. Beyond that CONGRATUALTIONS on a hugely successful first AMA Racing experience. You must remember getting to the level you are enjoying now is a dream for many here and since you have actually coached some of us (me included) it reaffirms everything we were taught. As I said to coaches Misti Hurst and Josh Galster before, you are breathing rarified air now. Rainman

Crash; IIRC, You are limited to using only 3rd & 4th gears in the first three sessions of the five rotations at a regular school (2-day camp usually has 6 or 7 sessions) so your shifting will be limited anyway. By the last session you will be permitted to use all gears and full brakes but depending on the track you can get by with only two gears anyway because that S1000R has such broad power and torque bands that you won't need to shift if you choose not to. Rainman

Earlier in this thread I had responded to Jaybird's inquiry by saying that my improved sense of speed allowed me to carry greater entry speed into corners - a true statement at the time but only to a point. I was at CSS/NJMP on the Thunderbolt course this week, a track that I've ridden a lot and one that I think I know pretty well by now. I was riding on my Ducati; a bike that I think I know even better so what could possibly diminish my sense of speed this week? Inexplicably by Tuesday instead of getting better I found myself struggling as things seemed a bit disjointed and I was out of sync in a big way. I felt rushed and my riding seemed off so completely that I never settled in at all. How did I regress so far backward so quickly? Well there was one thing that was different - very different and I completely failed to make adjustments for some changes I made to the bike when I returned home from there last month. In August I was coming out of the Devil in 4th and hit 5th at the left kink and then banged into 6th right after exiting onto the front straight after the second kink; long before I reached the 5 board I was up against the rev limiter. I decided that a 14/39 ratio was way too short for a long course like T-Bolt so I swapped out the sprockets for a 15 front and a 38 rear. This ratio was taller by almost a 9% if I did my math correctly but I had forgotten to make adjustments in my head for the much higher speed the Ducati could generate with this new set up. What an idiot! Previously at the limitations of the gearing I thought I knew what speed I could carry because I couldn't get any more. After pondering this since I returned home I now believe that my sense of speed (correctly or incorrectly) was dependent on more than just visual acuity; it also was derived from the familiar sound of the motor I have listened to for seven years and maybe a glance of the tach once in awhile. Since I didn't change my brake markers at all, I failed to account for the much higher speed I could now carry down the straight leading to my feeling rushed at every high speed corner on that track. So JB, I owe you a correction to my response…I thought that I had a good sense of entry speed but I now realize it's a much more complicated question that you asked. A more humbled Rainman

JB; You have a way of keeping it interesting... I will offer my answers: My sense of speed has improved because I can carry far higher entry speeds into corners than I could before without sacrificing mid corner speed or drive out. The product is lower lap times. I'm not gonna touch that one. As Forrest Gump so eloquently spoke: "maybe its both". The ability to quantify performance changes. Rainman

Bobby; Great comeback my friend! BTW, the quote of yours I have clipped above - none of the Coaches who told me to try this technique ever spoke about its other benefits but there's no question about it IMHO; it works no matter where you try it. Rainman

Progression; As Bullet said - this is a great report. Even though it has been a couple of years since I took Level II, it put me right back at Laguna Seca and in the rain no less - with the same smile on my face. My avitar is from that Level II day in the rain. This big issue I see here is how much insight you have given others on the Forum of what they can expect, especially if they embrace changing conditions the way that you did (it can and does rain anywhere as we all well know). Also, it took me a couple of schools before I realized that getting there the night before is a much bigger deal than most new students think. It is so much tougher when you arrive after a three hour journey that day. Also your photos added to the story. Nice Job! Rainman

TR; Since I am not a CSS Team member I will give you what my experience has been but you need to be aware of that caveat. That said, Level II is as you say, primarily focused on visual drills and Level III is geared toward body position. Despite taking numerous Level IV courses since I first did the cycle back in 2001-02, I retook all four Levels in 2009 and this refresher was eye-opening for me. I had forgotten how much of the detail is taught in the first three levels and it allowed me to attack some personal barriers that I couldn't get through on my own. What I had lost touch with the most was the visual training offered in Level II as I had let old bad habits seep back into my riding consciousness and they acted as a real deterrent to progress. Then Level III reminded me of how much I had conveniently "forgotten" about proper body position so for me, going back to redo the first three levels was time and money well spent. Anyway, that's my story Razor and I'm stickin' to it! Rainman

Jason; Considering I am an Northeast (US) Corner Worker for the School, please don't tell Trevor Pennington (CSS Course Control in the US) that you needed to remind me that I missed this point! Rainman

Crash; If it is on a track you have never been on before, you'll miss out seeing where the line is if you lose touch with the group going out...on some tracks this can be a bit unnerving especially where it involves turns with blind crests or multiple radii. Clubs all have different policies in this regard. You will need to check them out individually (they are all on line) but you may find one or more to your liking. Rain

Dan; I have an Italian Liter bike for the street and its smaller sibling for the track; same frame, seat, body work, wheels, rear sets, clip ons...it's just not as powerful. This is a combination that works very well for me FWIW. Rainman

...How FUN was that! I am a former member of three different track clubs in the US (I won't mention names) and found them all to operate along the lines that Hottie described. To be fair, when I joined one they required me to start in their Beginner level (despite having a CCS license and numerous track events in my experience) and they were more safety conscious the other two but it didn't change the tone of how these groups operate IMO. It's one of the reasons why I am a former member. There is such a huge discrepancy in rider experience, rider ability and most importantly rider attitude that the safety briefings at the Riders meeting always turns out to be so much Blah-Blah-Blah! That said I don't know how you could organize a track event that "worked" for everyone unless all of the participants had complete buy in to the events parameters beforehand. I am fortunate to be in a circle of riders who once a year rent a track for our own private track day which is about as good as it could get. We decide as a group how the day will proceed and we change it on the fly if we need to tweak it so it's all good. Rainman

Talan; You are one amazing guy... Great story, even better attitude about pursuit of personal goals. You are an inspiration my friend. Rain

D; Maybe if you went back to the beginning? If you remember back to Level I, the first section was on throttle control and how that affects the bike's stability. You were instructed to move the weight off the front and back onto the rear correct...the 40/60 thing? Do you remember that the suspension has to be in the mid range both front and rear to work most efficiently and how do you get the components into that position? Are you charging the corners going in too hot for your current confidence level? You could back it down a notch (or two) and go back thru your training to "re-learn" what you already know but may have lost touch with right now. Do you have good RP's for each turn? Are you two-stepping/three stepping? How's your wide view? How's your throttle control? Are you setting up early, before you arrive at your turn points? Are you loose on the bars? Are you quick turning the bike? Do you remember the pivot steering drill? Are you picking the bike up quickly? You were taught all of these things...you just need to put them all back together. You have been through 15 specific drills in Level's I-III so find your notes and get reaquainted with the training or re-read the Twist Books (especially T2). It sounds like you need to do a little mental rebuilding of your approach and you may need to go slower to get faster if that makes any sense. Others may disagree but that's why we're here...to learn. Rain

Razor; I have done it both ways; the first time I did back to back days I was unprepared for the cumulative demands it would place on me physically and mentally so the second day was not as productive. The second time I did back to back days I ate it up! I was ready and on the second day I didn't have to reacclimate to being on a track, I didn't have to reacclimate to being on that particular track nor the bike or anything beyond the new drills so I was able to integrate the two days with my previous training in a big big way. Rainman

That's a rhetorical question isn't it? Bobby all of us react differently to crashing; You say that your entire track riding experience since April has been in the rain so you're disappointed that on your first dry day you still haven't found your pace? Riding in the rain [iMHO] is a great way to work on reinforcing your fundamentals, especially good throttle control but very few can match the pace they have when they ride a dry track. Is it fair to say that since your crash you haven't come close to replicating the circumstances that allowed you to be "full of confidence...happily drag(ing) (your) knee...spin(ing) the tyre on the exit as (you) did the pickup drill, (you) just felt so in control of (your) bike..."? Then yesterday you're surprised that on your first dry track day since your crash you couldn't just go out and ride like nothing happened the last time you rode a dry track? Your confidence will return...you overcame all of the barriers when you first became proficient at this game and you will do it again; probably more quickly that you think you can right now. My 2 cents. Rainman

I am not an instructor but can relate to the experience you describe (except the "safe" part). I am a very slow learner and it has taken me a long time to become "quicker" (note that's a relative term) than I used to be. With that said I would jump at the chance if I were you; go to the School at VIR. The School WILL teach you how to ride better, more proficiently and give you a more thorough understanding of how motorcycles operate and what you have to do to ride them with more confidence and control. A significant part of the CSS experience is their ability to help students dismantle the barriers that hold all of us back. You will also see that some of their training is counter intuitative until you understand the principles involved and why it is almost impossible to self teach the skill sets needed to corner a motorcycle at speed. I have attended other Schools and have been the unfortunate receipient of track club control rider's coaching in the past and those are part of the reason why I am such a firm believer in the School. Since you have asked the question it is clear you haven't given up the idea yet so for the cost of two sets of tires or so you will receive a value that will take you further than the miles you could rack up on those tires. If you go, make sure you let us know how it goes and if I'm lyin' then you can lay me out right here for everybody else to see. Rainman

Colinginger; Pivot Steering is part of the Level III cirriculum. Rain

What the Hell Kai! I was so stoked by your post that I had a pop open a beer myself. ; ) Rain

Kelly; If by "watch this stuff" you mean watch the races, in the US they are on Speed TV in the digital cable portion of cable service. I would expect the channel is also available with satellite service but don't know for sure. Rain

Fossil; When I started to experience the "pogo" effect about six or seven years ago, I assumed that the springs were too stiff for me (previous owner had 50+ lbs on me) so I swapped out the stiffer springs for the OEM and the problem was gone. Too bad I didn't realize that if I adjusted the settings I might have saved a few bucks and taken advantage of these springs as my experience and track confidence grew. ...You learn something everyday. Thanks Fossil; Rain

...don't see it - are you sure its up here?

Crash; The Top Lap times from the Laguna Seca weekend are as follows: MotoGP - 1:21.376 Casey Stoner AMA Superbike - 1:24.691 Josh Hayes AMA Pro Sportbike - 1:27.586 Martin Cardenas The Sport Bike races are really a knock down drag out knife fight every week but despite the appearances to the contrary, they are not faster. Personally they have become my favorite races to watch this season because you truely don't know who is going to win from week to week. Rain