One word that changed everything for me:
StabilityMy first trackday on Streets of Willow was an experience to remember. What I remembered the most from my first trackday are the fears--fear of the front washing out on me, fear of running wide, fear of dragging my toe causing a lowside, fear, fear, and fear. You (and I) have every reason to have these fears--especially when it comes to cornering--but what I've realized after attending Keith Code's school was that these fears are what causes accidents and what causes you to fall.
I would say about 50+ people showed up for the Superbike school--all ranging from Level I through IV. People from San Fransico, all the way from Florida either flew or drove down to attend the school. There were about 25 to 30 people in the Level I class. You had your Harely riders, Sport-Touring riders, and Sportbike riders which was surprising because I was expecting only sportbike riders.
Each class session lasted 20 minutes, followed with 20 minutes of track time. And on the track, each instructor was assigned three students. Which was awesome because it felt like you had your very own personal coach every single lap because their presence was everywhere--either in front of you, behind you, or off the side of the track watching every move. On top of that, you had corner workers watching your moves as well who reported any fancy
moves to your instructors. And if you weren't following the directions or if he saw you were hesitant in any way they would see it immediately, pull you off to the side and talk with you. My coach, James, was AWESOME! 50% of my improvement came from his coaching.
The main concerns everyone has when it comes to cornering is:
Surface--road conditions
Speed--approaching the turn too fast or too slow
Line--what line to take
Lean--how much lean is required
Traction--will the tires hold
A lot of times we hear or read of "Rolling on the throttle" through the turns, but I believe a lot of us (noobs especially) don't truly understand the whole purpose of "Rolling on the throttle" or why we should "Roll on the throttle". For example, the first drill, Keith Code wanted us to ride through the track in FOURTH gear without USE OF BRAKES.
I was really hesitant because if you've ever ridden on Streets of Willow (especially if it was your first time on the track), there are a lot of sharp turns. And taking those turns on fourth gear seems too high of a gear because if you're traveling 60 mph, and as you approach a turn and roll off the throttle, the engine won't brake as hard in fourth as it would say 2nd or 3rd gear. My instructor caught me going through the turns slowly, and not rolling on the throttle through the turn. He asked me why I'm taking the turns so slow, and I told him I feel uncomfortable going through the turns on fourth gear because it was just too high of a gear for me to handle. He said by taking that turn going that slow I am making the bike unstable. He said, you need to *roll on the throttle* to keep the bike stable. So, the next few turns, still feeling uncomfortable, I rolled on the throttle gradually; then the instructor pulled me aside, again and said I need to ROLL (demostrating with his hands what looked to be a FULL OPEN THROTTLE) ON THE THROTTLE! I said in my mind this guy has to be crazy if I'm going to crash on my first lap (which btw some girl did because she couldn't control her speed as she approached one of the sharpest turn). But, I remembered what Keith Code said before the track session, "If you just do the drill I promise you at the end of the school you will become a better rider". So, the next few laps I turned and rolled on the throttle what felt to me like I was opening the throttle wide open but to my surprise the bike turned quicker and felt more STABLE then taking those turns slowly.
Here's another example why rolling on the throttle will make the bike stable. A few times my front tire felt like it was about to give out, so I kept the throttle constant if not gradually rolled on the throttle. My instructor asked, "If the front feels like it's going to give out (which was probably all in your mind) what do you do to cure it?" "What do you do," he asked again? "You roll on the throttle even more to distribute the weight from the front to the rear!" And it just clicked from there. It was just awesome!
One last example, a lot of you guys (noobies) are probably LAZY with your turns. What you don't realize is by being lazy with your turns you are increasing the chances of potential problems you may encounter. The solution to this problem which I never understood until now is to flick the bike over. I could not believe just how much time and input I was saving by flicking my bike into the turns. In addition, the bike turned quicker and faster.
I can go on and on and share what else I've learned but the best advice or suggestion I can give you is this school--Superbike School (Keith Code)--is definitely worth every penny ($345 one day) and what you get out of this is confidence from first hands on experience, not confidence from what you hear or read.
Let me put it to you this way, the turns that I struggled with on my very first trackday, I had NO PROBLEMS whatsoever taking ANY turns on that track after taking the class. At the end of last track session, my instructor asked me if I was timing myself (implying if I had a lap timer), and I said no. He told me, I probably shaved off half if not more than all the other track sessions I've done. And I believe him because I cheated by looking at my speedo during some of the turns and I was taking them at 60mph whereas before I was taking them at 30mph. And after T8, before the chicane, I was traveling 90mph whereas on my first trackday I was taking it at 60mph.
My next class--Level II--is in June. We'll be practicing body position. Oh, yeah baby!
Sorry, no pics because the photographer didn't download the pics for our group. Oh, well, the memory is enough.
