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 people drop bikes due to their incorrect steering methods.
Class sessions, then the track sessions today were:
- Reference Points, using objects or whatever on the track to help us find where to initiate a turn, apex and exit a turn.
- Changing lines - a slow ride 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. I was doing yoga for the last four weeks in anticipation of this two day course and was okay, but other guys had sore necks and backs.
The first two track sessions were 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 tentative, but kept increasing the speed. On corner #4 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 #4 faster and faster until the point that both the front and rear tire would slip 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 benefit, the rain's no big deal it just screws with your mind if you let it. Loved the dry track too. As far as the rain goes, 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 we had three guys ride off the track, and just in the second last track session we had three guys ride off the track, but in all cases there was no damage and no injuries.
Talked to Keith C. and he is pleased with his Superbike School in Australia and England. Unfortunately neither the Austrailian nor the English head guys have goatees, so each school is not as authentic as the original Keith Code school.
later, gerry belton
