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- Jul 10, 2020
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- 6,445
I recently attended California Superbike School's one-day level one course at NCM Motorsports park. Highly recommended. Keith Code was there, which was cool to meet him in person. They had a ton of snacks and refreshments. The day was divided into one off-track drill and five on-track sessions. I opted to rent a BMW S1000RR as I always wanted to try one. More thoughts on that later. The day started with the staff introducing themselves and giving a briefing on how the day was to progress. All of the students were divided into three groups depending on what curriculum they were doing. After each on-track session you'd meet with your on-track coach who'd give you pointers and address any problems. Passing was allowed and the passer was required to give six foot of spacing. They also tape off the display so you can't see the speedometer, which I can see value in. One less thing to focus on and I think changed my perspective as to what speed I was riding at. I didn't treat any of the sessions like a race day. I wanted to give the material it's due attention and get as much out of it as I could.
The first drill was the off-track drill, which was to ensure the student understood counter steering. You'd ride in a line and flick the bike from side to side, make a U-turn and come back. The instructor would discuss how they wanted you to put input on the bars, speed etc. Nothing earth shattering.
The next and first on-track drill was throttle control. After two sighting laps, you pit in and line up. An instructor would ask you what the drill was to make sure you understood what you were going. For this one, 4th gear no brakes. You could use the brakes if needed for safety. The idea was to control the bike and the bikes line by using the throttle.
Second on-track drill was turn points, 3rd and 4th gear, no brakes. They marked all of the turn-in points with a yellow X which really benefited the rider by knowing exactly where the racing line was.
Third was quick turn, 3rd and 4th with light brakes. The idea here being to focus on making quick but smooth turns of direction and using countersteer/prosteer to get the bike turned.
Four was rider input which focused on being light on the bars. 2nd gear and up with moderate braking.
Five, two step turning, which focused on visual skills, full gearing and braking allowed. I found this one to be one of the most beneficial. Turn 10 at NCM is a sharp downhill left hander that I have always found tricky even when I did a track day at NCM last year. It has a bit of a delayed apex and leads uphill into a right turn. I kept rushing the turn and missing the apex which pushed me wide. The lesson learned was to not look to the apex but to look about a foot or so from it and when it's obvious you were going to hit that point, transition to looking at the next place you wanted to place the bike along the line. I've always turned my head to look through the turn, but this drill was about what to look at when doing so. The first time after the classroom lesson I nailed turn 10, and again on every lap after.
The last session ended way too early and was the one when I felt all of the lessons clicked into place. Each drill builds on the one before, which became apparent during the final drill. There were people of varying skills in the level one class. Some were fast, some were slow. My last time and NCM I felt quick if I had someone to follow. This time I was doing a bit of passing and preferred having open track in front of me. I totally related to a comment MM said in an interview, something to the effect of if you don't attack, they attack you. When I got caught up in traffic or behind a slower rider, if I didn't make a pass in the next few turns, I was getting passed. Being able to time passes especially while being nice about it is also a skill.
BMW S1000RR. Everything I've read, saw or heard about them is true. They do everything well and are almost completely devoid of emotion. Don't get me wrong, it's a good bike, and in the setting of taking a class, is an excellent choice. They really came alive at 8K+, so in the drills where we could, I was in 2nd or 3rd for most of the track to keep the bike spun up. All the talk about brake lever feel on this forum; that bike has plastic/composite brake levers and not a Brembo anything. The rear brake and about four inches of travel before it felt like you were stepping on a mattress. I'm 100% satisfied with the brakes on my Panigale now. No mechanical slop in the throttle, but it felt as maybe there was limited input electronically in the first bit of travel. Nothing I was really focusing on or worried about. I could have used a taller windscreen on the BWM. I don't know if it was the profile of the BWM tank, my chest protector, or a combination of the two, but with my chest on the tank I was very much over the screen. I'm sure all of the issues I had with the BMW could easily be solved by throwing more money at it, but the grass doesn't seem to be greener in Bavaria. That being said, I'd probably still rent a bike for their level two school, which I plan on taking.
TL;DR, highly recommended.
The first drill was the off-track drill, which was to ensure the student understood counter steering. You'd ride in a line and flick the bike from side to side, make a U-turn and come back. The instructor would discuss how they wanted you to put input on the bars, speed etc. Nothing earth shattering.
The next and first on-track drill was throttle control. After two sighting laps, you pit in and line up. An instructor would ask you what the drill was to make sure you understood what you were going. For this one, 4th gear no brakes. You could use the brakes if needed for safety. The idea was to control the bike and the bikes line by using the throttle.
Second on-track drill was turn points, 3rd and 4th gear, no brakes. They marked all of the turn-in points with a yellow X which really benefited the rider by knowing exactly where the racing line was.
Third was quick turn, 3rd and 4th with light brakes. The idea here being to focus on making quick but smooth turns of direction and using countersteer/prosteer to get the bike turned.
Four was rider input which focused on being light on the bars. 2nd gear and up with moderate braking.
Five, two step turning, which focused on visual skills, full gearing and braking allowed. I found this one to be one of the most beneficial. Turn 10 at NCM is a sharp downhill left hander that I have always found tricky even when I did a track day at NCM last year. It has a bit of a delayed apex and leads uphill into a right turn. I kept rushing the turn and missing the apex which pushed me wide. The lesson learned was to not look to the apex but to look about a foot or so from it and when it's obvious you were going to hit that point, transition to looking at the next place you wanted to place the bike along the line. I've always turned my head to look through the turn, but this drill was about what to look at when doing so. The first time after the classroom lesson I nailed turn 10, and again on every lap after.
The last session ended way too early and was the one when I felt all of the lessons clicked into place. Each drill builds on the one before, which became apparent during the final drill. There were people of varying skills in the level one class. Some were fast, some were slow. My last time and NCM I felt quick if I had someone to follow. This time I was doing a bit of passing and preferred having open track in front of me. I totally related to a comment MM said in an interview, something to the effect of if you don't attack, they attack you. When I got caught up in traffic or behind a slower rider, if I didn't make a pass in the next few turns, I was getting passed. Being able to time passes especially while being nice about it is also a skill.
BMW S1000RR. Everything I've read, saw or heard about them is true. They do everything well and are almost completely devoid of emotion. Don't get me wrong, it's a good bike, and in the setting of taking a class, is an excellent choice. They really came alive at 8K+, so in the drills where we could, I was in 2nd or 3rd for most of the track to keep the bike spun up. All the talk about brake lever feel on this forum; that bike has plastic/composite brake levers and not a Brembo anything. The rear brake and about four inches of travel before it felt like you were stepping on a mattress. I'm 100% satisfied with the brakes on my Panigale now. No mechanical slop in the throttle, but it felt as maybe there was limited input electronically in the first bit of travel. Nothing I was really focusing on or worried about. I could have used a taller windscreen on the BWM. I don't know if it was the profile of the BWM tank, my chest protector, or a combination of the two, but with my chest on the tank I was very much over the screen. I'm sure all of the issues I had with the BMW could easily be solved by throwing more money at it, but the grass doesn't seem to be greener in Bavaria. That being said, I'd probably still rent a bike for their level two school, which I plan on taking.
TL;DR, highly recommended.
