Palephase Posted June 8, 2014 Report Share Posted June 8, 2014 Greetings. all. Name's Mike. I am new to the forum but not new to riding, although the two-day Levels 1&2 camp at Barber last weekend certainly made me feel like it as Cobie Fair -- with the patience of Job, I might add -- deconstructed my plethora of riding issues and brought me up to basic competence. As a student told me who had taken the one-day Level 1 on Saturday told me as I was checking in to my hotel, it is amazing how many years one can ride -- particularly on the street -- and simply "get by" without really mastering the fundamentals. I made up my mind to get technique down and worry about adding speed later, as anybody who had the misfortune of getting behind me in a corner could attest. But the level of instruction CSS provided really went a long way to clearing up some basic misconceptions of essential aspects of riding, so at least I now have a solid foundation on which to build new skills. Looking forward to getting to know other forum members and contributing in my own small way to the forum. Cheers, Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rchase Posted June 9, 2014 Report Share Posted June 9, 2014 Hey Mike, Welcome to the forum. There's LOTS of great information here! Atlanta here as well. I was at Barber taking Level 4 and riding my new S1000RR. I did the single days. Cobie is a great guy. He was SUPER helpful during my Level 1 and 2 for me as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palephase Posted June 12, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 Hey Mike, Welcome to the forum. There's LOTS of great information here! Atlanta here as well. I was at Barber taking Level 4 and riding my new S1000RR. I did the single days. Cobie is a great guy. He was SUPER helpful during my Level 1 and 2 for me as well. Thanks for the welcome. Few forums seem to focus as much on the techniques and technical aspects of riding. I actually found out about the school some years back by following a link to the forum which turned up in a Google search. How is the Level 4 training? I am a long ways from taking it (I have my work cut out to drill in the lessons from Levels 1 & 2), but it seemed like it would be intense. Congrats on the new bike. I was truly astonished by the school's S1000RRs. My usual ride is a VFR800, and I had never ridden a liter bike before, but it's amazing how easy to ride BMW made that bike. I think there's a lot to be said for seeing how your bike handles in your hands, so in some ways I almost wish I had had my VFR, but I think I honestly got more out the class riding the S1000RR than I would have on my bike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rchase Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 Level 4 is setup a bit different than the other 3 levels. You work with an on track riding coach and an off track riding coach that both work together. The on track coach provides feedback on your riding and the off track coach helps you determine drills to work on. Because of the way it's setup you could theoretically take all 4 levels back very easily. Levels 1-3 you would go through the curriculum and then Level 4 you would go back and work on specifics that you need extra help with. This year doing Level 4 we completely crushed some of the apprehension I had with passing and I gained the ability to pass effortlessly with a much bigger margin of safety. We also worked on getting my corner entry speeds up. I'm already looking forward to next year. If you think the BMW is easy to ride on the track you should try it on the street sometime. For a 1000cc 193hp bike it's easy to ride in even bumper to bumper traffic. The biggest displacement bike I owned before the BMW was my 750cc MV Agusta F4 which is quite unhappy at low speed. The BMW could care less if it's cruising at 5mph or 100mph+. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palephase Posted June 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 Level 4 is setup a bit different than the other 3 levels. You work with an on track riding coach and an off track riding coach that both work together. The on track coach provides feedback on your riding and the off track coach helps you determine drills to work on. Because of the way it's setup you could theoretically take all 4 levels back very easily. Levels 1-3 you would go through the curriculum and then Level 4 you would go back and work on specifics that you need extra help with. This year doing Level 4 we completely crushed some of the apprehension I had with passing and I gained the ability to pass effortlessly with a much bigger margin of safety. We also worked on getting my corner entry speeds up. I'm already looking forward to next year. If you think the BMW is easy to ride on the track you should try it on the street sometime. For a 1000cc 193hp bike it's easy to ride in even bumper to bumper traffic. The biggest displacement bike I owned before the BMW was my 750cc MV Agusta F4 which is quite unhappy at low speed. The BMW could care less if it's cruising at 5mph or 100mph+. I think I am going to have to say my pennies for the higher-level courses. They gave me a ton to work on with Levels 1 & 2, and in conjunction with some of the carry-over items (e.g. recovery from loss of rear wheel traction) from American Supercamp -- which i attended a few weeks before -- I am definitely feeling a lot more confident than I was even six months ago. BTW, you have a refined palate for motorcycles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rchase Posted June 17, 2014 Report Share Posted June 17, 2014 I certainly would. Every time CSS is at Barber I make it a point to go. I'm always completely amazed at the progress I make. Great coaching and a positive environment really is amazing. Oh. Don't get the wrong idea. Not all of my bikes are "nice". My Track R6 is all business with plenty of scratches and war scars from the previous owner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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