Chris G Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 ...while my impressions are still fresh ! First Thanks to the whole CSS-crew to make the 2 Day camp on the Streets of Willow a nice and interesting learning experience ! Coby,Dylan,James and especially my track coaches Mike Resicka and Jon Groom who groomed me a big Thank You ! I was a little disappointed that Keith did not show up but I got to meet Dylan who filled the big boots and did a few classroom sessions... Anyways the weather was great but a little hot and the track slow but technical;to keep things even more interesting we ran it counter-clockwise on day 2. I liked this a lot because I found out that like left hand turns better than right handers for whatever reason... I'm not new to trackriding with formerly R1100S and now R1200S boxers I have been riding. Never have been to S.O.W. and never on a powerful inline-4 like the S1000RR. I had a few butterflies the night before but after the 1. session on the track,they were all gone. The BMW S1000RR is awesome and was very easy to ride,especially in Rainmode.In the afternoon I graduated to Sportmode and the bike came to life and I thought between the ABS and TC and finally a direct link between twistgrip and throttlebody it was even easier and much more fun to ride.THe huge power did not feel threatening but was very exciting and intoxicating.Riding home on my Boxer felt like riding a moped... The only bad thing were a few leg-cramps due to my 36 inseam.Maybe BMW can come out with a XL version in the future...;-) !? All in all I learned a few new things and enjoyed the bike a lot. I would never get one for streetriding but for the track this thing is awesome;the power and the electronic nannies to let us mortals explore more of it's potential makes the S1000RR a revolutionary sport-bike like the CBR900RR set the new standart in 1992. Anyways a few suggestions for even a better experience in the future;It would have been nice to see the video of Dylan circling the track before the school to get a good visual idea;monkey see,monkey do...;-) Also I was under the impression that someone was following with a video-bike to get the whole picture of your riding. Unfortunately the current video bike shows only a fracture of that picture... And it would have been nice to ride the slide-bike a little earlier in the day and not at the end of the 2 days. I think I was the only one to ride it but I did not have much left in me especially in the heat after 2 days. Thanks Mike for your patience to get her done on the 3rd attempt...;-) A few questions remain and I would appreciate some feedback from someone or my riding coaches while they remember; -I started to trust the traction control pretty early and rolled on the throttle during the beginning of the turn and had it pretty much fully rolled on shortly after the apex of the turn. Jon stopped me and probably saved my bacon and told me that at full lean after the turning imput was completed I could not roll on the gas that hard,otherwise I would crash like another studend had before me in the same situation.How much throttle in the first half of the turn? What gear/what rpm would you run on the S1000RR? I think I was mostly in 3rd and had the throttle fully opened around 6-7000 rpm on... Just steady roll-on until the apex and then push the bike away from you as soon as you can see the exit and fully open and let the TC do the rest? -Another question has to do with the turn in point,quick steering and the 3 step; Mike told me after the 1st day to steer quicker and don't look too far ahead.I forgot since I did Level 1-2 in 2003... Anyways I looked at the turn in point,before hitting it look at the apex and before hitting the apex where I wanted to be at the exit...I steered quick especially after the pivot-steering drill. Due to my long legs I still experiemented with anchoring my outside foot with either at the balls of my feet or arch.I hope this is right (3 step,quick steer/pivot steering) but what do you actually prefer to anchor your outside foot if you have long legs? -Also I tried to be on the brakes or gas and tried to let off the brakes at the turn in point;Should I experiment to brake until the apex or until the turn in point,let off the brakes, steer,and back on the gas and how much especially at full lean and with the TC of the S1000RR. A few questions after the school I would love to get some feedback on... Thanks again and I would love to come back to get to ride the S-RR some more...:-) Chris PS:Jon and Mike you guys were great ! I had lots of fun riding around with you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobie Fair Posted September 27, 2011 Report Share Posted September 27, 2011 Hi Chris, Thanks for the nice words, and glad the school went well overall. I'll let Mike and Jon know of this post, and if you have any questions that I can answer, feel free to call the office. Best, Cobie 800-530-3350 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crash106 Posted September 29, 2011 Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 Chris, Thanks for the report. It sounds like you had a great time. I'm planning to attend CSS next year, but use as much of the material as I can grasp from the books and video. I'm going to venture a reply to the throttle control question as throttle control is something I use on every turn of every ride on my couch rocket (GL1800). You said, "Jon stopped me and probably saved my bacon and told me that at full lean after the turning input was completed I could not roll on the gas that hard, otherwise I would crash like another student had before me in the same situation. How much throttle in the first half of the turn?" The goal of standard throttle control is to rock the bike back onto that big fat rear tire and let the suspension work in the middle of its range. You are also raising the bike for more ground clearance and "taking the slack out" of the suspension and drive train so when you do gas it, it is one smooth effortless flow. Traction control doesn't fix everything. :~) How much gas? Enough to get the bike to 40:60 front:rear balance. You'll know it when the bike suddenly feels effortlessly balanced. When I feel like I could just stay on that line all day, till I was good and ready to stand her up and accelerate away, I figure that is pretty close. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris G Posted September 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 Thanks for your feedback! Maybe Cobie can give some answers from his perspektive too. About letting the brakes off at the turning point and then back on the throttle and how much/what rpm range on a powerful bike like the S-RR and from which point of the corner on full throttle and relying on TC... Or about experimenting trailing the front all the way to the apex,or not ?! I guess if I give myself an answer after the turn in point/steering input at full lean either off or trailing the frontbrake there is only minimal throttle roll-on to have theoretically 40% of the weight of the bike on the front tire?Since the tires have most of their traction already used up for cornering/centrifugal forces too much throttle even with the help of TC could overcome the available traction of the rear or take too much weight off the front and lead to a crash? So full throttle with the help of TC only from the apex on when you can see the corner exit and push the bike away from you to stand it up? Any corrections / additional input is appreciated;Thanks ! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobie Fair Posted September 29, 2011 Report Share Posted September 29, 2011 Chris and I caught up on the phone today, think we sorted a few things out. CF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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