Hello everyone,
I was hesitant to re-post this on this forum, but I know that there are members here who aren't necessarily on SBN a lot, and I do want to encourage people to try track days and riding schools. So, if you've read this over on SBN, move along, nothing to see here.
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Some friends of mine and I decided to take the California Superbike School out at the Streets of Willow Springs at Willow Springs International Raceway, north of Los Angeles.
I wanted to take the school because I feel like I had the very basic skillset as far as street riding, and because I'm just not the type who rides aggressively enough in the canyons to really improve my cornering skills. There are too many douchebags who shouldn't be riding/driving up in the local L.A. canyons, not to mention traffic, road surface hazards, cops, and animals (in that order).
I'd been to one track day, at Buttonwillow Raceway (not to be confused with Willow Springs) out near Bakersfield in central California. I think I posted some pics from that track day, you can probably search for it. It was fun but in a sometimes-terrifying kind of way, because for me it was hard to judge when to brake, when to turn in, and how fast to take a turn. I blew the turn on the back straight twice and ran off track, though I didn't crash or anything.
Willow Springs has several tracks; "the big track" aka "the fastest track in the West" which supposedly has some serious pucker-factor high speed turns, and Streets of Willow, a shorter, more technical course; and other tracks (2 ovals, one dirt and one paved, and another short road course). Streets looks like this:
In addition to the CA SBS, our group also signed up with TrackDaz to do a proper trackday the following weekend at the same track, so we could try to put it all together for ourselves in an open trackday environment.
We showed up early for the CA Superbike School, dressed for the forecasted 90 degree F weather. Needless to say, we were quite surprised at the 38 F temperature at sunrise! Nonetheless, we had some of the coffee and breakfast fruit they provided while we milled around at registration, looking at their nice-looking ZX-6Rs that two of us rode (the other two rode their own bikes). It was bitchin', BTW, to just drive out there w/ our gear and have the bikes there and ready to go. For the cost of renting a van and the extra gas, it was almost as much as the extra cost to ride their bikes.
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The majority of the school was actually taught by Keith Code himself, or Level 1 (of 4) was at least. The other two were taught by Dylan Code, I assume he was Keith's son. The classroom sessions (which is really what you're paying for after all) were very engaging and clear, with plenty of whiteboard diagrams and gesturing. They really liked getting feedback from the group, and it was pretty interactive.
The format was: 20 minutes of instruction, 20 minutes or so of track time to work on the skill discussed in that session, and 20 minutes of one on one instruction and break time. It made for a whirlwind of a day for sure.
The first session was all about throttle control. They had us put the bikes in 4th gear and keep them there for the entire 20 minute session; did I mention that we weren't allow to use brakes either? LOL that made for an interesting first lap or two! The last section (we did not use the skid pad) is a series of very tight switchbacks and it was VERY unnerving to go through that in 4th gear w/o brakes. But I think I learned more about cornering and track riding in that drill than anything since my MSF class.
The second session was about finding the correct turn in spot for each corner. To assist the students, they actually placed big "X"s on the track using masking tape. This was to help people correct their line selections, and to keep it consistent throughout the remainder of the day. For the vast majority of the turns, they were in places where I had been turning in anyway, although a couple were a bit deeper. One turn in particular was marked in the middle of the track (going into The Bowl, at the top of the track map above), where I had been going way to the outside of the track to turn in.
The third session was about making a very quick turn in, basically getting the bike turned over as quickly as possible. They also emphasized getting on the gas immediately after reaching the max lean angle, even if this was well before the apex. The point is to get the suspension settled and more able to absorb mid-corner bumps and steering inputs. This was hard at first, as I've never really ridden a true sport bike before, much less around a track, but I progressed well throughout the day. It also helped me the following week on the FZ6, to get that bad boy leaned over "con gusto" which makes for a better turn in.
The fourth session focused on relaxing the arms in mid-corner. Keith's point on this drill was that the bike will stay on-line until you bring it out of the turn; he challenges the idea that simply applying throttle will make the bike stand up. When you relax your arms, it allows the bike to work under you and keeps you from fighting one arm/hand with the other. This was a couple of my friends' "moment of clarity" as far as making progress for the day.
The fifth and final session had to do with looking for your turn in point first, then looking to your apex and exit as soon as you could take your eyes off your turn in point. This allowed you to break it down into two steps, rather than "looking for the apex" or more vaguely "looking through the turn."
All in all it was well worth the $650 (hello credit card!) to ride their ZX-6R and to take the Level 1 class. What a blast!
Here's a few more from that day:
I was hesitant to re-post this on this forum, but I know that there are members here who aren't necessarily on SBN a lot, and I do want to encourage people to try track days and riding schools. So, if you've read this over on SBN, move along, nothing to see here.
=========
Some friends of mine and I decided to take the California Superbike School out at the Streets of Willow Springs at Willow Springs International Raceway, north of Los Angeles.
I wanted to take the school because I feel like I had the very basic skillset as far as street riding, and because I'm just not the type who rides aggressively enough in the canyons to really improve my cornering skills. There are too many douchebags who shouldn't be riding/driving up in the local L.A. canyons, not to mention traffic, road surface hazards, cops, and animals (in that order).
I'd been to one track day, at Buttonwillow Raceway (not to be confused with Willow Springs) out near Bakersfield in central California. I think I posted some pics from that track day, you can probably search for it.
It was fun but in a sometimes-terrifying kind of way, because for me it was hard to judge when to brake, when to turn in, and how fast to take a turn. I blew the turn on the back straight twice and ran off track, though I didn't crash or anything. Willow Springs has several tracks; "the big track" aka "the fastest track in the West" which supposedly has some serious pucker-factor high speed turns, and Streets of Willow, a shorter, more technical course; and other tracks (2 ovals, one dirt and one paved, and another short road course). Streets looks like this:
In addition to the CA SBS, our group also signed up with TrackDaz to do a proper trackday the following weekend at the same track, so we could try to put it all together for ourselves in an open trackday environment.
We showed up early for the CA Superbike School, dressed for the forecasted 90 degree F weather. Needless to say, we were quite surprised at the 38 F temperature at sunrise! Nonetheless, we had some of the coffee and breakfast fruit they provided while we milled around at registration, looking at their nice-looking ZX-6Rs that two of us rode (the other two rode their own bikes). It was bitchin', BTW, to just drive out there w/ our gear and have the bikes there and ready to go. For the cost of renting a van and the extra gas, it was almost as much as the extra cost to ride their bikes.
===
The majority of the school was actually taught by Keith Code himself, or Level 1 (of 4) was at least. The other two were taught by Dylan Code, I assume he was Keith's son. The classroom sessions (which is really what you're paying for after all) were very engaging and clear, with plenty of whiteboard diagrams and gesturing.
They really liked getting feedback from the group, and it was pretty interactive. The format was: 20 minutes of instruction, 20 minutes or so of track time to work on the skill discussed in that session, and 20 minutes of one on one instruction and break time. It made for a whirlwind of a day for sure.
The first session was all about throttle control. They had us put the bikes in 4th gear and keep them there for the entire 20 minute session; did I mention that we weren't allow to use brakes either? LOL that made for an interesting first lap or two! The last section (we did not use the skid pad) is a series of very tight switchbacks and it was VERY unnerving to go through that in 4th gear w/o brakes. But I think I learned more about cornering and track riding in that drill than anything since my MSF class.
The second session was about finding the correct turn in spot for each corner. To assist the students, they actually placed big "X"s on the track using masking tape. This was to help people correct their line selections, and to keep it consistent throughout the remainder of the day. For the vast majority of the turns, they were in places where I had been turning in anyway, although a couple were a bit deeper. One turn in particular was marked in the middle of the track (going into The Bowl, at the top of the track map above), where I had been going way to the outside of the track to turn in.
The third session was about making a very quick turn in, basically getting the bike turned over as quickly as possible. They also emphasized getting on the gas immediately after reaching the max lean angle, even if this was well before the apex. The point is to get the suspension settled and more able to absorb mid-corner bumps and steering inputs. This was hard at first, as I've never really ridden a true sport bike before, much less around a track, but I progressed well throughout the day. It also helped me the following week on the FZ6, to get that bad boy leaned over "con gusto" which makes for a better turn in.
The fourth session focused on relaxing the arms in mid-corner. Keith's point on this drill was that the bike will stay on-line until you bring it out of the turn; he challenges the idea that simply applying throttle will make the bike stand up. When you relax your arms, it allows the bike to work under you and keeps you from fighting one arm/hand with the other. This was a couple of my friends' "moment of clarity" as far as making progress for the day.
The fifth and final session had to do with looking for your turn in point first, then looking to your apex and exit as soon as you could take your eyes off your turn in point. This allowed you to break it down into two steps, rather than "looking for the apex" or more vaguely "looking through the turn."
All in all it was well worth the $650 (hello credit card!) to ride their ZX-6R and to take the Level 1 class. What a blast!
Here's a few more from that day:
