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New Member In Socal


Sof

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Hi Guys,

 

Firstly, I want to thank you all for making this a truly valuable forum. I've been lurking for a long time and read some great stuff here. I finally decided to become a member so hopefully I can give something back to the community too.

 

I used to live in Melbourne, Australia (originally from the UK) and did some track days with the SBK school at Phillip Island, but never got around to doing a school day. Before the Oz SBK school had an exclusive arrangement with the track owners, there used to be a few different ride day organizers. I tried a few different groups, but in the end, I decided to only ride with the Australian SBK school because I found them to be safer and the most professional of the bunch. Back then, I didn't realize the value of school days and in the back of my mind, I couldn't justify "wasting" track time at Phillip Island on a school day. I couldn't have been more wrong! After doing my first school day last year at Laguna Seca with Keith, I had a revelation in what the curriculum really offers, and also a major all-round improvement in my riding and confidence. Least to say, I wished I would have utilized the school days a long time ago back in Australia.

 

It is never too late to improve and I hope to continue to do so. One of my goals is to do become a coach if I can get good enough, but I know I'm a long way away. I'm booked in for this weekend at the Streets of Willow Springs for Level III and really looking forward to it. I'm riding an '06 R1 now, and bringing it to the Streets. I find that the road-course is really tight and technical, and especially challenging on the R1 because of the slower corners. It's precisely for this reason that I want to continue the school days at the Streets because I know I have a lot to learn there. Well guys, hope to see you at the school and thanks for reading my intro post.

 

Peace,

 

Sof

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Hi Guys,

 

Firstly, I want to thank you all for making this a truly valuable forum. I've been lurking for a long time and read some great stuff here. I finally decided to become a member so hopefully I can give something back to the community too.

 

I used to live in Melbourne, Australia (originally from the UK) and did some track days with the SBK school at Phillip Island, but never got around to doing a school day. Before the Oz SBK school had an exclusive arrangement with the track owners, there used to be a few different ride day organizers. I tried a few different groups, but in the end, I decided to only ride with the Australian SBK school because I found them to be safer and the most professional of the bunch. Back then, I didn't realize the value of school days and in the back of my mind, I couldn't justify "wasting" track time at Phillip Island on a school day. I couldn't have been more wrong! After doing my first school day last year at Laguna Seca with Keith, I had a revelation in what the curriculum really offers, and also a major all-round improvement in my riding and confidence. Least to say, I wished I would have utilized the school days a long time ago back in Australia.

 

It is never too late to improve and I hope to continue to do so. One of my goals is to do become a coach if I can get good enough, but I know I'm a long way away. I'm booked in for this weekend at the Streets of Willow Springs for Level III and really looking forward to it. I'm riding an '06 R1 now, and bringing it to the Streets. I find that the road-course is really tight and technical, and especially challenging on the R1 because of the slower corners. It's precisely for this reason that I want to continue the school days at the Streets because I know I have a lot to learn there. Well guys, hope to see you at the school and thanks for reading my intro post.

 

Peace,

 

Sof

 

Hi Sof,

 

Welcome to the forum, nice of you to stop by and share your (inital) story with us, no doubt we'll be getting much in the future.

 

I think your story probably reflects on many people's journey really, rode bikes. got pretty good, didn't think there was much to be learned anymore, wondered why others kept getting better. You got here in the end brother, and you've seen wgat can be done with time and application.

 

I hope your quest with getting to become one of the coaching staff becomes a reality for you. It's hard work to get in, even harder to stay in, but the rewards on helping others is way more in terms of compensation than anything I've ever done before or probably ever will, so I hope you get to share in that experience too. If you want it enough, and can put in the work we believe anyone, and i mean anyone can make it.

 

Good luck with level 3 man, let us know how it goes, what you learn, n you now realise where you're not sure, you just ask, and we'll try and help you on your way!

 

Bullet

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Hey Sof, great to have you on the forum. I am also in So Cal and I'm going to SOW this weekend too. I'll be coming from Pasadena and driving up on Saturday morning. Where are you coming from?

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Howdy Sof. I've been in love with track since my first time out. I listened to some of the more advanced riders talk, and learned from further investigation into what they were talking about that I'll never know everything about track riding and sportbikes. That further deepened my love for it. I'm in a profession where it's literally impossible to know everything about it, and my mind requires lots of stimulation, so I need a hobby that requires the same. I found it in motorcycles. Between the mechanical aspect and riding aspect, I'll never know everything, and if I sit here and get tired of studying medicine, I can always turn to motorcycles and riding.

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Wow, I am really happy about the warm welcome received from all you guys. Thank you again for making this an awesome forum!

 

Bullet:

 

It was a real pleasure to share my initial story and I'm glad I posted. There are quite a few more stories and always new ones in the making (one big one coming up this weekend at the Streets!). I look forward to sharing them here. I'm really passionate about riding and it's funny because I remember when I purchased my first sport bike 10 years ago, if you call a 250CC ZZR Kawasaki a sport bike mind you, I had no idea I was going to feel that way about bikes. I did my road test scraping pegs and my instructor knew he was in for trouble :D . It was a great bike to learn on and push the limits of lean and traction until it sadly got stolen, but we had a good life together. It was time to move onto an Aprilia RS250 (it's the one in my profile pic now)! When I first stated riding, I had only heard about these bikes and how expensive they were considering they were only 250cc, but that was before I understood about 2 strokes and what they had to offer. I remember the dealer describing them as a real rider's bike. After the first test ride, it was like night and day compared to what I knew and least to say, I was smitten. Back in Australia, you can register them on the road legally without any of the hassles you have here in the US. I didn't realize how spoiled I was over there at the time. I kept that bike for a long time even after I moved country. I was reluctant to sell it but eventually felt like someone else should enjoy riding it instead of it wasting away in storage. I might get another one someday just for fun, but sadly they stopped making them new in 2003. Mine was a 2002 model.

 

Anyway, yes, I loved riding so much and rode everyday, everywhere. Most of my friends had never seen me in anything other than my leathers. I read Keith's books and began watching road racing with great interest and excitement. I still wake up almost religiously in the early hours of the morning to watch the MotoGP whenever scheduled, and play the videogame to help improve my lines. My passion hasn't changed, but I hardly ride on the road these days. I hope to eventually spend all my time riding on the track instead.:)

 

Thank you for your support regarding coaching. I spoke to a few coaches and they say exactly the same thing as you. I hope to say the same thing too someday. I'm determined and motivated to succeed! I don't know what's involved yet at this stage but I'm going to have a chat with the guys this weekend and find out the details. That's awesome you have experienced being a coach. What did you find to be the best thing about becoming a coach?

 

For sure, I'll post about level 3 following this weekend and thank you again for your well wishes. I find I have to repeat a lot of the steps to perfect my understanding of them and I wish I could ride a track everyday to practice! I'll try to make the most of the day, but there is never enough time to address everything.

 

 

lwarner:

 

Hey man, thanks for the post and I sent you a PM. Great to have another track junkie in the area! Hopefully I'll see you later today.

 

Cobie:

 

Hi Cobie and thanks for the reply too. I've seen a lot of your posts in the forum and they're all really helpful and friendly. I look forward to meeting you on Saturday and I'm sure I'll be talking to you about coaching. I believe I've seen you doing other school days, but we've never been introduced. I look forward to changing that this weekend :)

 

hubbard_28/Jasonzilla:

 

Howdy Jasonzilla and good to meet you here. I saw your post about your name change and posted there :). I totally feel the same way as you do about the track. I was just reading the years old article Keith wrote in his section about how intimate we can become with a track, and in particular: Willow Springs, and it really hit home. You mentioned that you learned a lot from advanced riders and investigation. I spent many track days learning things the hard way on my own, and even though I learned a lot, it took a lot of time because of the trial and error method. When I did the school last year at Laguna Seca, I found the approach to be very rewarding and I could see and feel the results right away. I remember doing level 1 and how surprised I was with the difference in lap times between "no brakes forth gear" and using brakes and two or three gears: mainly, I was going a lot faster than I thought with no brakes. I have been conscious of so many little things that I've learned during the school and also have more attention to devote to improving since becoming stronger with the fundamental skills. It really is something I should have done a long time ago, but glad to be with the program now. You say you're studying medicine and it's your profession too? If so, I hope you stick it through. I'm a computer guy and specialize in embedded systems design so it's pretty demanding of my brain too, but I enjoy applying myself and it gives me great satisfaction.

 

 

 

Thanks again guys for all your great posts. I'm gonna start going through my checklist for the track and check back here later. Can't wait for tomorrow. I look forward to seeing some of you there!

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What did you find to be the best thing about becoming a coach?

 

Thats an interesting question there mate. I think it changes as you become a more seasoned campaigner I guess. I think I initally was so proud to be just part of the team, be a coach, working with any studemts just made my day really. I didn't care what the weather, how good they were, etc, etc, anyday, was a great day! In time, that passed a little, and now I get a great day when you get great students, I don't neccesarily mean fast students, I mean students that just lap it up, are so keen for more, you give them info and the benefits, they go and do it. It's just a joy to behold that is mate, no better day than that. Some of the racers you get maje it good fun, chasing them on trick race bikes can be laugh, for example, i recently had the lithunia superbie champ, on a superstock K9 GSXR1000 on slicks, myself a standard 09 R6 on GP racers. That was a great day, chasing him down. :lol:

 

Other highlights, well, In the UK we have a very tight team, we all get on supremely well, and we have a really good laugh. We take the mick quite a lot, and practical jokes and banter are a very special part of our crew life over here too! Pribably final good thing, is your around some of the very best motorbike coaches in the world bar none. They all communicate well, and offer a real opportunity for your own improvement too. There is always something to be working on, and we're very much encouraged to work on our skills all the time, work on riding issues, things like that, and thats quite special too.

 

All in All, it's great, and a real privilieged to be part of the worldwide team. I hope it goes well for you, with luck, you'll get some similiar experiences yourself my friend.

 

Enjoy your weekend.

 

Bullet

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  • 2 weeks later...
Thats an interesting question there mate. I think it changes as you become a more seasoned campaigner I guess. I think I initally was so proud to be just part of the team, be a coach, working with any studemts just made my day really. I didn't care what the weather, how good they were, etc, etc, anyday, was a great day! In time, that passed a little, and now I get a great day when you get great students, I don't neccesarily mean fast students, I mean students that just lap it up, are so keen for more, you give them info and the benefits, they go and do it. It's just a joy to behold that is mate, no better day than that. Some of the racers you get maje it good fun, chasing them on trick race bikes can be laugh, for example, i recently had the lithunia superbie champ, on a superstock K9 GSXR1000 on slicks, myself a standard 09 R6 on GP racers. That was a great day, chasing him down. :lol:

 

Other highlights, well, In the UK we have a very tight team, we all get on supremely well, and we have a really good laugh. We take the mick quite a lot, and practical jokes and banter are a very special part of our crew life over here too! Pribably final good thing, is your around some of the very best motorbike coaches in the world bar none. They all communicate well, and offer a real opportunity for your own improvement too. There is always something to be working on, and we're very much encouraged to work on our skills all the time, work on riding issues, things like that, and thats quite special too.

 

All in All, it's great, and a real privilieged to be part of the worldwide team. I hope it goes well for you, with luck, you'll get some similiar experiences yourself my friend.

 

Enjoy your weekend.

 

Bullet

 

Hey Bullet and thanks for the great post! I really appreciate your insight and I can imagine how rewarding it is to be a coach. From my experiences as a student, I can tell that the coaches are enjoying it so much when I'm really getting a lot out of the session and absorbing everything I can. Maybe I'm a bit too enthusiastic! I was watching some onboard footage I took when my instructor zipped past me and indicated what I was doing wrong, and what I should be doing. I then made the adjustments which could be seen with my body position changing in the vid. It was really awesome. We had a great day.

 

That's what would do it for me too. I'd get great satisfaction in seeing improvement from a student who wants to develop. I did some tutoring over time and found that to be the best feeling. Glad it's something you get to experience. I would imagine that your personal riding would improve tremendously with the fast guys you have to follow and the amount of track time you get. That's one of my problems right now in that I hardly ride on the street at all, and I only get to the track once in a while. I'm going to try and change that, but doing some coaching would be ideal. Thanks for the support mate. It is really great to have the network here. Maybe someday I'll come to Silverstone or Jerez and do some riding there. I have a British passport so I could even do some coaching there someday perhaps :D Would be great fun.

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Hey Sof,

 

So, where do you live, and what's keeping you from trying out to be a coach?

 

CF

 

Hi Cobie,

 

I'm actually in Pasadena about 15 minutes from the SBK school office. Nothing is stopping me from signing up except not knowing the process. How do we start?

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Go HERE Sof. I would love to do it, it'd be awesome if you did it too!

 

Thanks Lyle. That link worked great! I was reading through the application and yes, I would love to be able to give back to the school and other students by coaching. I will fill out the app this weekend and so should you! :)

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Yeah man, I'm all over it. I really love the books and people, so I think the most important thing for me will be to get my speed up (levels 3 and 4!) and I personally really want to do some racing too.

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Yeah man, I'm all over it. I really love the books and people, so I think the most important thing for me will be to get my speed up (levels 3 and 4!) and I personally really want to do some racing too.

 

LW beat me to it SoF :)

 

Get the app in, we'll look it over and then schedule a time to meet--you are close enough, we'll just do a live interview, we can go over everything at that time.

 

CF

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LW beat me to it SoF :)

 

Get the app in, we'll look it over and then schedule a time to meet--you are close enough, we'll just do a live interview, we can go over everything at that time.

 

CF

 

Hey Cobie and thank you so much for replying. Your encouragement means a lot to me. I'll definately get the application is as soon as possible. As excited as I am, I know the road to being a CSS coach is a challenging one. I can't wait for the journey to begin. :)

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LW beat me to it SoF :)

 

Get the app in, we'll look it over and then schedule a time to meet--you are close enough, we'll just do a live interview, we can go over everything at that time.

 

CF

 

Hey Cobie and thank you so much for replying. Your encouragement means a lot to me. I'll definately get the application is as soon as possible. As excited as I am, I know the road to being a CSS coach is a challenging one. I can't wait for the journey to begin. :)

 

 

Shoot it over, we'll get the process started.

 

Anyone esle?

 

CF

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LW beat me to it SoF :)

 

Get the app in, we'll look it over and then schedule a time to meet--you are close enough, we'll just do a live interview, we can go over everything at that time.

 

CF

 

Hey Cobie and thank you so much for replying. Your encouragement means a lot to me. I'll definately get the application is as soon as possible. As excited as I am, I know the road to being a CSS coach is a challenging one. I can't wait for the journey to begin. :)

 

 

Shoot it over, we'll get the process started.

 

Anyone esle?

 

CF

 

LOL, it's probably easier to count the people who WOULDN'T be interested. That'd be a much smaller number.

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