My Two Cents About The Streets

[Jaybird180]

First of all, let me apologize for the tardy write-up on my L1/L2 class at The Streets. My attention is split at the moment, so the forum doesn’t get as much attention as it did just a few short weeks ago.

 

I traveled from the Right Coast to the Left Coast to get there and it was worth it! Many of my buddies didn’t understand why I’d willing surrender four figures to attend a riding school, but I was convinced that it was the right thing to do as CSS’s reputation precedes itself, and it didn’t disappoint.

 

Secondly, I’d like to say that I’m glad to be in the motorcycling community. Bikers around the country are some of the nicest people anyone would want to meet. We come in all shapes, sizes and backgrounds but there is still a singular something that makes us different.

 

I have a few thousand street miles under my belt and a few trackdays also, so I felt that I could focus on the lessons and take to heart the experience, all of it. Setting the tone on Saturday the 28th was my first experience with a drill, The Steering Bike. I was certain that I would do well on this, but that drill stuck with me and still today makes my think about the time and effort I put into steering a motorcycle. It is definitely a skill worth working on diligently and is a distraction if not well honed. I started that drill goofing with the shifter and the coach, without laughter quickly realized that I hadn’t done something as simple as standard shift pattern in awhile and had to remind me to shift up to get to first gear (LOL). The lessons learned just from this drill would be with me over the next two days and on my ride on my own bike. It was such an eye-opener that I probably could have boarded the plane and headed home at that point because I’d probably received what I’d come for; but NO! There would be drill after drill showing me the value of basics that need ALOT of work.

 

I plan to use my time to work on what was taught over those two days before returning for L3/L4.

 

I was highly impressed by the quality of the staff and the atmosphere. I was amazed at how relaxed it was; I’ve been to trackdays that were more stressful. And although it was a relaxing atmosphere, discipline and safety was a top priority.

 

Kudos to Cobie and the coaching staff. Thank you for helping me check-off one of my life’s “To Do’s”.

 

Thanks to Mr. Code for the lectures both in and out of class.

[Cobie Fair]

Hey JB,

 

Thanks for getting that up there, good to hear it.

 

It's interesting, that the Steering Drill (while it might look fairly simple from the outside) is one of the more difficult tasks for the coaches to truly master. The beginning coaches are not even allowed to do it until they have a decent amount of training and experience.

 

Keep us posted on how your riding goes!

 

Best,

Cobie

[Jaybird180]

Hey Cobie

 

I hope you can answer this (if you remember). But here's some background to this question:

 

The steering drill really had me perplexed. I PM'd Bullet about it and he helped clear up some things (thanks for your dive right-to-the-point approach on this one). Basically Bullet pretty much said that my Steering experience was normal and that it was expected that the rev's would rise/ fall as I got onto the side of the tire. The coach wanted me to keep the revs constant and that took about $9.95 to do. Anyhow, the steering drill consumed at least $8.99 over the next 2 days and so much of the time I was pretty blank.

 

From what you recall, what is the next and most important thing I should work on my next trackday?

 

Go ahead- let me have it brother. I can take it.

[Cobie Fair]

Hey Cobie

 

I hope you can answer this (if you remember). But here's some background to this question:

 

The steering drill really had me perplexed. I PM'd Bullet about it and he helped clear up some things (thanks for your dive right-to-the-point approach on this one). Basically Bullet pretty much said that my Steering experience was normal and that it was expected that the rev's would rise/ fall as I got onto the side of the tire. The coach wanted me to keep the revs constant and that took about $9.95 to do. Anyhow, the steering drill consumed at least $8.99 over the next 2 days and so much of the time I was pretty blank.

 

From what you recall, what is the next and most important thing I should work on my next trackday?

 

Go ahead- let me have it brother. I can take it.

 

Not sure what the coach asked you to do, but the instructions should have been "constant throttle".

 

One thing you could do is work on rider input.

 

CF

[Jaybird180]

"Constant Throttle" was the instruction.

The ear of the coach detected a rise and fall of the engine sound and instructed me to try again.