belton
Junior Member
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2009
- Messages
- 6
- Reaction score
- 1
- Points
- 0
- Location
- Vancouver, British Columbia
Note - I had originally posted these comments on the Australian forum, where they were talking about “Rider Development.” Didn’t really mean to hijack their post, but I had wanted to post my experience with the Keith Code Superbike School in Monterey California at Laguna Seca Raceway and glommed onto their topic at the time.
MONDAY MARCH 2ND, 2009
End of Day One of the two day Keith Code Superbike School here at Laguna Seca.
The school is well set up and very organized. We have a pit crew for any bike repairs, good Kawasaki 600 Ninjas, we have Wranglers who help us for anything at our request, a truck with riding gear for our use, and food all during the day to keep us fuelled up.
The “Brake Bike” was a scream - no one else wanted to ride the "Brake Bike" at the time that I rode it in the pouring rain, so I rode it for about 15 minutes. The bike has outriggers on it so that when you lock up the front tire that if you skid and fall you will fall on the outriggers so that there is no downside - that is a great learning tool. The deal is that you accelerate to 35 mph, lock up the front tire, then modulate the pressure down so that you still get maximum braking but without the skidding. I was purposefully stopping in a 7" deep pond of water and there was no difference doing that than the other wet areas. When locking up in the wet, the front end would skid a bit and the bike would move slightly to the side, but it was very controllable. The important part is to keep the arms relaxed but hold your lower torso in position by locking your knees into the gas tank. Overall I was stopping faster in the wet using only the front brakes than I had been stopping before on my bike using both brakes in the dry.
For our Day One of the school, it was pouring rain from 7 am to 2 pm, then at 2 the sun came out and the track dried up. Riding in the rain was cold but great - the traction on the corners was far, far better than I thought possible, and we're not using tires that are overly special – Dunlop Qualifiers. The school only uses the tires for four to six track days – two different riders use the bikes each day (one rider is on for 20 minutes as the other has class, then they change) and there is about two hours of track time per rider, so that means that the tires have zero to a MAXIMUM of 24 hours of use before they are taken off and sold as used.
First ride was a 20 minute deal, we rode in 4th gear only, no brakes and only using the engine to slow before corners, and my track instructor would sometimes ride ahead and sometimes behind me watching me, and sometimes he would be with his other “pupil.” Everyone rides at their own speed.
(If you go with a group of people, try to get your class time and track time the same, it’s fun to compare your abilities although you definitely won’t be close to each other on the track. If you are in a differing class/track, then you won’t be seeing each other and it’s definitely not as sociable. Also, wear some type of loud identifying piece of clothing as if you pass someone or if they pass you your brain can quickly identify the other person.)
First class was with Keith Code, topic was throttle control. Enter a corner, lean the bike, and apply throttle to overcome the slowing by friction of the tires. Supposedly a lot of bike accidents happen because a rider enters a corner, rolls on the throttle, then rolls off the throttle for whatever reason which destabilizes the bike, and the bike goes out of control. Keith said that when you are riding on the road and you enter a corner, lean the bike, roll on the throttle, then you come through the corner and see sand or gravel on the road, that you are more likely to ride through the problem with a steady hand on the throttle rather than rolling off the throttle and transferring the weights on the bike and destabilizing it.
Second ride was using throttle control on the track - and again the track instructor would be there.
Second class with Keith was turning points - picking the right point to enter the corner. Supposedly most all bike accidents are on the exit to the corners because the rider chose an entry point too early and ran out of corner on the other side.
Third ride was turning points, and using the traffic cones that were set up at each turn. Again we had our track instructor. 3rd and 4th gears and light front brakes.
Third class was with Keith and was on quick turning - getting the bike into a lean fast.
Forth ride was using the above. 2nd, 3rd, 4th gear and light brakes.
Forth class was with another instructor and was on rider input - relaxing on the bars and not forcing the bars.
Fifth ride was the above drill. 2nd, 3rd, 4th gear and light brakes.
Fifth class was on two-step turning - look where you want to enter the turn, make the turn and lean, apply the throttle, skim the apex, exit, and onwards.
Sixth ride was the above drill.
So that makes 2 hours of track time today. Lots of the guys had sore necks and backs, but I'd been doing yoga for the last month in anticipation of these two days and had also stretched earlier in the morning and felt fine.
You could ride as fast or slow as you liked. Slower in the corners was better and helped to build up the speed for later. My best guess is that I was two to three times faster in the corners at the end of the day then at the beginning. On the straights you could do whatever you wanted to do and I was riding 8,000 rpm in 4th, which I think is about 100 mph or so.
The pussy thing for me though was that the track would be soaked, its raining, I'm entering the corner, rolling on the throttle, apexing, coming out of the corner nice and clean and thinking that I'm a grand rider, and the Advanced riders who were working on their own drills would pass me in a corner off the best line with their bodies somewhat upright and their left hands on their hips!!!!!!
Let's see - $2,000 for two days, or $1,000 so far for today - is it worth it??
Gerry Belton
TUESDAY MARCH 3rd, 2009
Just finished Day Two of Keith Code's Superbike School an hour and a half ago.
The BEST thing was a drill in the parking lot on steering the bike using the bars, not upper body. The drill was to lock the knees into place on the tank and counter steer the bars to turn - I thought that I had been doing it right but WAS NOT. After about six minutes I got the steering right and the instructor had me turn my old way and I couldn't do it. Once we were on the track and using the proper way to steer, it was sooooo much easier to turn and to lean the bike properly, to apex the corner and to exit the turn. It was unfortunate that we couldn't do the steering drill yesterday but they don't do the drill in the wet as too many people have dropped the bikes due to their incorrect steering methods and if you get hurt you don’t ride the rest of the school.
The class sessions today were:
- Reference Points, using objects or whatever that were on or off the track to help us find where to initiate a turn, apex and exit a turn. I used overhead signage, trees, buildings, etc.
- Changing lines - a slow ride (10 mph) along the left side of the track, over the paint lines, into the grass, to see what the track is like on that side, a slow ride on the right side of the track, and a slow ride down the middle looking at everything. Once we had done that we went back up to speed and it's amazing as there was less hesitancy about riding in certain areas plus the track seemed larger.
- Vanishing Points - just looking for vanishing points on the corners, where the track disappears and how to handle the uncertainty of not being able to see the exit of a turn before entering the turn.
- Wide View - looking with peripheral vision at the whole picture when riding rather than focusing/targeting on one object.
- Pickup - picking up the bike to vertical at the end of a turn while leaving the body leaned over.
Seven track sessions with an instructor who was sometimes behind me, sometimes in front, and sometimes was with one other rider doing the same. At the end of the track session, the instructor discussed things that I was doing right and wrong. That makes 140 minutes of track time today. Thank goodness for having done the four weeks of yoga in anticipation of these two days because even I was getting a sore back and neck.
The first two track sessions were on a dry track - I really ripped on the track, carved the corners, leaned the bike, and had a smiley face. The last five track sessions were in totally soaking wet track due to the rain that started, and on the first track session in the rain I started out riding tentative, but kept increasing the speed. On corner #5 the rear tire would slip just before the apex and for awhile I slowed down there, but as the track sessions wore on I rode corner #5 faster and faster until the point that both the front and rear tire would slip a few inches for a 5 foot strip just before the apex, but no big deal, being smooth on the throttle and staying in the lean and light on the bars the bike would just keep on tracking. By the last track session I was probably riding faster on the wet rainy track than I was riding earlier in the day on the dry track.
Overall the rain was a great, great benefit, the rain's no big deal it just screwed with my mind if I let it. Loved the dry track too. As to speeds, I figured that I might not ever get on a track again, so rain or dry I was going to ride this bike as fast as I could in the straights and the turns and fully enjoy the experience.
By the way, yesterday (Monday) we had three guys ride off the track, and just in the second last track session of today (Tuesday) we had three guys ride off the track, but in all cases there was no damage and no injuries and the guys got back on the track and kept riding.
Talked often with Keith Code, and we discussed his Superbike School in Australia and England. He is pleased with both schools. Unfortunately neither the Austrailian nor the English head guys have goatees on their chins, so each school is not as authentic as the original Keith Code school.
later, gerry belton
POST SCRIPT
SENT IN A PRIVATE E-MAIL TO “KRUSHNUTS”
You said that you rode Laguna Seca on your PS2.
Turns 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are on the flat, and you start gaining elevation on turn 5, 6, 7 and the hill crests just before turn 8 - the corkscrew - so that you can't see the entry point of the turn until you are maybe 50 feet (1-1/2 seconds) from it. Turn 8a and 8b are the corkscrew, you enter 8a and point down a steep hill with a left turn, you quickly come up on 8b the right hander and you've got to stay on the throttle to keep the bike stable since it's a steep downhill and then you have to roll on the throttle more and more as you are continually increasing speed due to riding downhill and you don't want the engine to go into a deceleration mode, you go wide into 9 then work over to its apex while gaining even more speed as it's still going down hill - all of this takes "gumption" because if you're not stable in 8a, 8b, or 9 then you don't have an opportunity to brake as your always going downhill and accelerating and the bike is just about never vertical for the safest braking effect.
It wasn't until your comment that it made me realize how great it was riding Laguna Seca!!!
GB
MONDAY MARCH 2ND, 2009
End of Day One of the two day Keith Code Superbike School here at Laguna Seca.
The school is well set up and very organized. We have a pit crew for any bike repairs, good Kawasaki 600 Ninjas, we have Wranglers who help us for anything at our request, a truck with riding gear for our use, and food all during the day to keep us fuelled up.
The “Brake Bike” was a scream - no one else wanted to ride the "Brake Bike" at the time that I rode it in the pouring rain, so I rode it for about 15 minutes. The bike has outriggers on it so that when you lock up the front tire that if you skid and fall you will fall on the outriggers so that there is no downside - that is a great learning tool. The deal is that you accelerate to 35 mph, lock up the front tire, then modulate the pressure down so that you still get maximum braking but without the skidding. I was purposefully stopping in a 7" deep pond of water and there was no difference doing that than the other wet areas. When locking up in the wet, the front end would skid a bit and the bike would move slightly to the side, but it was very controllable. The important part is to keep the arms relaxed but hold your lower torso in position by locking your knees into the gas tank. Overall I was stopping faster in the wet using only the front brakes than I had been stopping before on my bike using both brakes in the dry.
For our Day One of the school, it was pouring rain from 7 am to 2 pm, then at 2 the sun came out and the track dried up. Riding in the rain was cold but great - the traction on the corners was far, far better than I thought possible, and we're not using tires that are overly special – Dunlop Qualifiers. The school only uses the tires for four to six track days – two different riders use the bikes each day (one rider is on for 20 minutes as the other has class, then they change) and there is about two hours of track time per rider, so that means that the tires have zero to a MAXIMUM of 24 hours of use before they are taken off and sold as used.
First ride was a 20 minute deal, we rode in 4th gear only, no brakes and only using the engine to slow before corners, and my track instructor would sometimes ride ahead and sometimes behind me watching me, and sometimes he would be with his other “pupil.” Everyone rides at their own speed.
(If you go with a group of people, try to get your class time and track time the same, it’s fun to compare your abilities although you definitely won’t be close to each other on the track. If you are in a differing class/track, then you won’t be seeing each other and it’s definitely not as sociable. Also, wear some type of loud identifying piece of clothing as if you pass someone or if they pass you your brain can quickly identify the other person.)
First class was with Keith Code, topic was throttle control. Enter a corner, lean the bike, and apply throttle to overcome the slowing by friction of the tires. Supposedly a lot of bike accidents happen because a rider enters a corner, rolls on the throttle, then rolls off the throttle for whatever reason which destabilizes the bike, and the bike goes out of control. Keith said that when you are riding on the road and you enter a corner, lean the bike, roll on the throttle, then you come through the corner and see sand or gravel on the road, that you are more likely to ride through the problem with a steady hand on the throttle rather than rolling off the throttle and transferring the weights on the bike and destabilizing it.
Second ride was using throttle control on the track - and again the track instructor would be there.
Second class with Keith was turning points - picking the right point to enter the corner. Supposedly most all bike accidents are on the exit to the corners because the rider chose an entry point too early and ran out of corner on the other side.
Third ride was turning points, and using the traffic cones that were set up at each turn. Again we had our track instructor. 3rd and 4th gears and light front brakes.
Third class was with Keith and was on quick turning - getting the bike into a lean fast.
Forth ride was using the above. 2nd, 3rd, 4th gear and light brakes.
Forth class was with another instructor and was on rider input - relaxing on the bars and not forcing the bars.
Fifth ride was the above drill. 2nd, 3rd, 4th gear and light brakes.
Fifth class was on two-step turning - look where you want to enter the turn, make the turn and lean, apply the throttle, skim the apex, exit, and onwards.
Sixth ride was the above drill.
So that makes 2 hours of track time today. Lots of the guys had sore necks and backs, but I'd been doing yoga for the last month in anticipation of these two days and had also stretched earlier in the morning and felt fine.
You could ride as fast or slow as you liked. Slower in the corners was better and helped to build up the speed for later. My best guess is that I was two to three times faster in the corners at the end of the day then at the beginning. On the straights you could do whatever you wanted to do and I was riding 8,000 rpm in 4th, which I think is about 100 mph or so.
The pussy thing for me though was that the track would be soaked, its raining, I'm entering the corner, rolling on the throttle, apexing, coming out of the corner nice and clean and thinking that I'm a grand rider, and the Advanced riders who were working on their own drills would pass me in a corner off the best line with their bodies somewhat upright and their left hands on their hips!!!!!!
Let's see - $2,000 for two days, or $1,000 so far for today - is it worth it??
Gerry Belton
TUESDAY MARCH 3rd, 2009
Just finished Day Two of Keith Code's Superbike School an hour and a half ago.
The BEST thing was a drill in the parking lot on steering the bike using the bars, not upper body. The drill was to lock the knees into place on the tank and counter steer the bars to turn - I thought that I had been doing it right but WAS NOT. After about six minutes I got the steering right and the instructor had me turn my old way and I couldn't do it. Once we were on the track and using the proper way to steer, it was sooooo much easier to turn and to lean the bike properly, to apex the corner and to exit the turn. It was unfortunate that we couldn't do the steering drill yesterday but they don't do the drill in the wet as too many people have dropped the bikes due to their incorrect steering methods and if you get hurt you don’t ride the rest of the school.
The class sessions today were:
- Reference Points, using objects or whatever that were on or off the track to help us find where to initiate a turn, apex and exit a turn. I used overhead signage, trees, buildings, etc.
- Changing lines - a slow ride (10 mph) along the left side of the track, over the paint lines, into the grass, to see what the track is like on that side, a slow ride on the right side of the track, and a slow ride down the middle looking at everything. Once we had done that we went back up to speed and it's amazing as there was less hesitancy about riding in certain areas plus the track seemed larger.
- Vanishing Points - just looking for vanishing points on the corners, where the track disappears and how to handle the uncertainty of not being able to see the exit of a turn before entering the turn.
- Wide View - looking with peripheral vision at the whole picture when riding rather than focusing/targeting on one object.
- Pickup - picking up the bike to vertical at the end of a turn while leaving the body leaned over.
Seven track sessions with an instructor who was sometimes behind me, sometimes in front, and sometimes was with one other rider doing the same. At the end of the track session, the instructor discussed things that I was doing right and wrong. That makes 140 minutes of track time today. Thank goodness for having done the four weeks of yoga in anticipation of these two days because even I was getting a sore back and neck.
The first two track sessions were on a dry track - I really ripped on the track, carved the corners, leaned the bike, and had a smiley face. The last five track sessions were in totally soaking wet track due to the rain that started, and on the first track session in the rain I started out riding tentative, but kept increasing the speed. On corner #5 the rear tire would slip just before the apex and for awhile I slowed down there, but as the track sessions wore on I rode corner #5 faster and faster until the point that both the front and rear tire would slip a few inches for a 5 foot strip just before the apex, but no big deal, being smooth on the throttle and staying in the lean and light on the bars the bike would just keep on tracking. By the last track session I was probably riding faster on the wet rainy track than I was riding earlier in the day on the dry track.
Overall the rain was a great, great benefit, the rain's no big deal it just screwed with my mind if I let it. Loved the dry track too. As to speeds, I figured that I might not ever get on a track again, so rain or dry I was going to ride this bike as fast as I could in the straights and the turns and fully enjoy the experience.
By the way, yesterday (Monday) we had three guys ride off the track, and just in the second last track session of today (Tuesday) we had three guys ride off the track, but in all cases there was no damage and no injuries and the guys got back on the track and kept riding.
Talked often with Keith Code, and we discussed his Superbike School in Australia and England. He is pleased with both schools. Unfortunately neither the Austrailian nor the English head guys have goatees on their chins, so each school is not as authentic as the original Keith Code school.
later, gerry belton
POST SCRIPT
SENT IN A PRIVATE E-MAIL TO “KRUSHNUTS”
You said that you rode Laguna Seca on your PS2.
Turns 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are on the flat, and you start gaining elevation on turn 5, 6, 7 and the hill crests just before turn 8 - the corkscrew - so that you can't see the entry point of the turn until you are maybe 50 feet (1-1/2 seconds) from it. Turn 8a and 8b are the corkscrew, you enter 8a and point down a steep hill with a left turn, you quickly come up on 8b the right hander and you've got to stay on the throttle to keep the bike stable since it's a steep downhill and then you have to roll on the throttle more and more as you are continually increasing speed due to riding downhill and you don't want the engine to go into a deceleration mode, you go wide into 9 then work over to its apex while gaining even more speed as it's still going down hill - all of this takes "gumption" because if you're not stable in 8a, 8b, or 9 then you don't have an opportunity to brake as your always going downhill and accelerating and the bike is just about never vertical for the safest braking effect.
It wasn't until your comment that it made me realize how great it was riding Laguna Seca!!!
GB
Last edited:
