Kevin Kane

"maybe because im too heavy on the bars" Michael...It's my bet that you're right on the money with your self diagnosis. The other factor could be how you shift your body from side to side. If you are using the bars to pull yourself up and over to the other side, it will contribute to the sensation you described. Level III is where this technique is analyzed and taught in detail. Kevin

Andy; Lap times are all relative and lap times at a School event are affected by many things, not the least of which is the graduated instruction method that is designed to bring students along at a measured pace. As for lap times themselves, they are usually held back at a School event by a number of other factors like the 6 foot passing rule coupled with the sometimes wide disparity in the students experience that ride in your group. Now add in the restriction on using full brakes until the last session (when everyone is a bit tired) and you will find it hard to measure your lap times against an abstract "good/better/best" lap time standard. When you consider that you're attending a Cornering School and not a Racing School that purposly opperates with those constraints, lap times are only important when used to measure personal progress. What is key IMHO is what you said in your post, how your own lap times changed - hopefully, they dropped. That is how I look at my lap times when I attend a School event. Kevin

How do you know? How could you not know? ...well experience for one. I have marveled at how stable the bike is when I stay off the seat between two turns that are in the same direction. CSS Coach John Robshaw told me that I was wasting time and energy getting back on the seat when I took the School at Pocono a few years ago and suggested staying off between corners; I have used that technique ever since at every track I had ridden and the bike does not "fall in" until I push/pull on the bars. If it did, then it would be Body Steering and my experience on the No B.S. Bike convinced me that body steering does not work. Kevin

Tweek, Good choice. Maybe we'll see you there... Kevin

Tweek, Been to Schools at all four locations - my vote is Mid-Ohio by a mile. Kevin

Schmi; Consider that the only time that you need to touch your foot down is when you are in line on the hot pit or are getting off the bike, you will adapt. If you are really feeling awkward, just wait to be the last rider in line; then you can make your approach to pit out as a short ride, drop your foot just once when you get to Course Control and you'll be fine. By the time you go out for your second session, you will have figured out how to do this - and I can say that because I'm not a lot taller than you. Kevin

Stuman; As a former multiple time student of yours, it is awesome to see you "walk the walk". Congratulations on your victories and your track records. Kevin Kane

Purrs offers some excellent perspective for you Bobby and if I can offer an additonal thought, the May dates for CSS/VIR are not that far away so I would encourage you to sign up soon (I think VIR fills prettty quickly). Purrs and Racer can probably attest to the statement that almost every single item you have listed in your post are covered in Levels I, II & III and then are refined in Level IV; and that not many of us are talented or smart enough to just read Keith's book and then go out and ride as he writes. Simply stated, you will be amazed at how much your cornering will improve if you decide to just take Level I. The training tools that are offered after Level I (Lean Bike/Slide Bike, no BS Bike, the Brake Bike, Video Bike) are simply incredible teaching instruments that have helped countless riders overcome the SR's that get in their way every time they try to ride beyond their current skill sets. You also talk about the frustration of getting toasted out on the track and it made me chuckle because I can still remember how embarrassed I was to be on (at the time) a contemporary liter bike at Watkins Glen and getting my ass handed to me by riders on 250's - all day long! The simple truth is that it takes time, practice and excellent coaching to teach anyone how to ride a sportsbike at speed and do so proficiently but these guys and gals (yes, there are excellent women coaches) have trained thousands of riders and racers since the early 1980's and they just keep getting better at it every year. Good luck with it! Kevin

The answer really depends on how much you have left after two days of track riding. I have driven back after the end of the second day w/CSS at Mid Ohio (8 hour drive) one day at Nelson Ledges with Team Pro-Motion (7.5 hours) and Beaver Run (7.5 hours) with NESBA and multiple race weekends at Loudon (8 hours) without a problem and each time I was towing a trailer...and I am not a teenager. If you get involved in track riding to any degree, long drives are just part of the price of admission. That said, no one can answer that question but yourself. Good Luck at Pocono. Kevin

Excellent post young Skywalker, er I mean Ryan... I think we all knew that you would be thrilled by attending, especially the two day camp; thanks for following up and posting your story. BTW, VIR is also a great place do Levels III and IV. Kevin

Aaron, If you really think that you only have two days left on them, why wait until they "are done"? From my memory The Streets is a pretty technical track, one where I wouldn't want to be wondering if my tires were going to hold in the Bowl or trailing it into 2. I have found that each time I have crashed, it cost alot more money than the price of new tires by a healthy margin...and that doesn't factor in the times I have also gotten hurt. Kevin

Matt, You might find your answer in this link as this question appears at the beginning of every riding season. http://forums.superbikeschool.com/index.php?showtopic=738 Kevin

Jeff, I have done it both ways; the first time I brought everything and the second time just my helmet. The first time it turned out to be so hot that day that I ended up wearing the School's perforated one piece suit. In hindsight, I'm sure that the school hats would fit just as well because helmets don't travel well either. Even with a good helmet bag, it is a pain to carry because they don't fit under a plane seat and depending on plane size, not always in the overhead bin. Kevin

I know from watching helmet cam videos that they don't tell much more then where the videographer's helmet is in relationship to the windscreen. The helmet cam can be tilted or straight up & down giving you no real indication of body position, throttle control, ground clearance, lean angle or any other criteria you might use to measure progress. The School's video recording is set up in two different formats: The first is from a chase bike where one of the instructors follows a student for a lap or so shooting video from a static mounted recorder in the nose piece of the chase bike. The results are obvious and your coach and you can review how your cornering looked and what improvements you can make to corner better. There is a lot of information that can be gleaned from this format but IMHO, the second system is even more revealing. The second is from a static mounted recorder that is positioned behind the rider. It is attached to a mast arm extending from the tailpiece and positioning the recorder above and behind the rider. The student does a lap (or two) with this recorder and from that vantage point your coach and you will be able to see much more. You can determine if you set up early and got off the seat, if you hit your turn points (they are visible in this window), if you get back on the throttle after turn in (yes, you can see your throttle hand), if you make mid corner corrections, if you maintian good body position...and on and on and on. Much more detailed analysis can be made of your riding from this second set up. Absolutely none of that feedback is available from a helmet cam unless you're using it to video your buddies riding in front of you and I don't think that is allowed in this School (or any other for that matter). Kevin Full disclosure part deux: I’m just a rookie corner worker but a multi level IV rider-student with CSS.

Ryan; EXCELLENT! Now don't forget to share your experience with us when you're finished. Kevin

Guys Check this out...Keith has recently posted a much more detailed response in the "Cornering" section of this forum. http://forums.superbikeschool.com/index.php?showtopic=714 Kevin

If you are hanging off and not loading the outside peg, how to you stay on the bike? At full lean, your inside foot has no leverage to keep you on the inside peg. Kevin

Ryan & Tweek; With the caveat that I am only a multi-school student and not affiliated with the School, I will offer a rider's perspective. Practiaclly speaking, only you can determine if you are ready to attend because there is no "tryout" before you register - it is assumed that you can control a bike when you sign up. A student needs to be comfortable with comand of the bike's controls and need to operate them without "thinking" about operating them because the School is focused on teaching you how to corner a motorcycle, not how to ride one. That said, if you can ride with some confidence, you will learn a ton and your riding will improve dramatically because the "art" of cornering is counter intuitative - you will be taught techiniques to counter what Keith Code labels "Survival Reactions" as your cornering skills advance. One other observation I can share is that if you do decide to sign up, do not be intimitaded by your relative lack of experience. At every school I have ever attended, the gap between the novices and the seasoned riders is as wide as the Grand Canyon and there is never a problem with that fact. My most recent School experience was as a corner worker and I was amazed to watch the improvement of all of the "rookies" as the day progressed. I had a front row seat and came away from that day even more convinced that the Superbike School is the place to learn this "Art". Kevin

Brian, I can offer my experience from attending a few two-day camps before attending Code Race in 2004. Someone with the School can update or correct my recollections as it has been a couple of years but this is how I remember the differences. Compared to a typical School event, the two-day camp offers more interaction with your coaches as the rider/coach ratio is lower. You will get more track time as there are typically only two groups v. the three at a regular school so you cycle on and off the track every other session. The approach at the two-day camp is still the same with each day starting out with no brakes and gradually allowing more brakes and gear selection as the day progresses. The two-day camp is definitely a more thorough work out and your coaches see you more often so you will get more feedback. There are video reviews of your riding which is eye opening all by itself. If you have taken Level III already you know what I am talking about. Obviously, you get a more intense opportunity to improve the skills that you learned in the first three levels as Level IV is really focused on specific areas that the student identifies in their pre-school questionaire. CodeRACE is altogether different. It is more like a race weekend with timed open practices coupled with drills that are timed by radar guns and lap top computers. Your drills are all directly related to racing and students work on the same drill at the same time so you can measure your progress against the group before you actually race. You do have a coach but the reviews you receive are more group oriented and the feedback is based more on the time results than on technique like you would receive in a school day. Each day ends with an eight lap sprint race that is a real as it gets - you are gridded based upon your best lap time in the three open practice sessions against your classmates - with the School Coaches located two rows behind the the last row of students - and yes, they do race you as well. The question asking to compare the Two-Day Camp v. CodeRACE is to ask how much an apple is like an orange. Once you get past "round" and "fruit", they are very different. Hope this helps Kevin

Eric, Without knowing what your riding skills are, it would be a disservice to you to say that one chapter is more relevant than another. You have plenty of time to read them - and then to re-read them. I can't tell you how many times I have re-read them and I always find something new or something that I didn't comprehend before. Kevin

Hello everyone - my name is Kevin Kane and I have attended a number of Superbike Schools since my Level I class at Watkins Glen in 2001. From there I've been to Pocono, then VIR, Streets of Willow Springs, Mid-Ohio, Laguna Seca and finally Loudon. Started Corner Working this past season at Pocono and hope to continue with that this year. Kevin

Ted, - Yes Not necessarily - it depends on what kind of physical shape you're in because the two day camp has at least one extra session both days so you will ride more at the two day camps. I believe there is a section on that question in the School's website; if you click on the Superbike School logo in the the top right corner of the border here you can access it. In short, you need to replace the anti-freeze in your radiator with water wetter or other similar type of track approved coolant. you will need to tape your lights, turn signals and mirrors but it is easier to just remove the signals and mirrors beforehand and then tape over your headlights and tailights. Also, check your tires to make sure you have enough tread left. Good luck at School. Kevin

As a student who has attended all four levels at individual schools and also attended a couple of 2 day camps, the 2 day camp does offer more track time and more video review of your riding but I think xtrmln's commentary is on point as well - the individual School is an excellent learning experience all by itself. I don't recall if all of the School's off track training bikes are available at the individual Schools; The Lean/Slide bike and the No B.S. bike were at every School I've attended but I'm not sure if the Brake bike is or not. Also, the on board video bike (where you ride with a video recorder mounted on a mast arm behind and over your right shoulder) may only be available at the 2 day camp. Level III riders are typically videoed at all schools from a chase bike following you which is a great training aid but seeing yourself from the vantage point of the on bike video can be even more telling. Either way, you will learn a lot about cornering a motorcycle. Kevin

I have attended the Superbike School at the following tracks: - Watkins Glen (no longer on their schedule) - Pocono - The Streets of Willow Springs - VIR North - Mid Ohio - Laguna Seca - Loudon (N.H.I.S.) and they are all very different from each other so it really comes down to what you would like to get from your School experience. The shorter, more technical tracks like The Streets, Pocono or Loudon require much more "work" because other than one real straight section at each of these tracks, you are constantly preparing for the next turn. At Mid-Ohio, VIR and Laguna, you will have some straight sections where you can catch your breath but that's not to say that they are easy because you will go a helluva lot faster at these longer tracks - you will be busy but in a different way. Of the list above, Mid-Ohio and Laguna are simply awesome places to ride beacuse there is so much going on at both tracks. ... so there's another opinion to consider. Regardless, the instruction, attention and learning experience does not change from track to track. It's all good! Kevin

It's hard to tell from a single photograph but it looks like you're "crossed up" - your butt is off the seat but your torso and head are back over the tank. This diminishes the benefit of hanging off which is done to lower the center of gravity of you and the bike which in turn requires less lean angle for the same corner speed. Others may see this differently, hopefully they will also chime in here. Kevin