Sport Touring Track School - April 27th

[Jes_VFR]

Well, I'd be interested in going. If only it was somewhere close to the east coast.

[canyonchaser]

I am trying to work it out as a b-day gift.
How full is the class so far?

sPOTO

I just was sent this page. It tells how many slots are still available.  As of right now, 17 slots are left.

http://utahsba.com/shop/index.php?id=43

dp

[DredheadV2.0]

I think the main drawback for those of us not in the region is the prospect of riding halfway across the country to do a track day or two, which always runs a greater risk of racking the bike than a liesurely cruise in the country (at least it would for me - the point of the track is to get a lot closer to riding the bike all the way to 10/10ths, which I never do on the road).  I wouldn't want to get stuck in Utah with a wadded bike and no other way home.

However, I love this idea.  Do any of you who do regular track weekends on the Left Coast, Midwest, down South, or Northeast have good connections with tracks and/or track-time organizations which would be up on sponsoring similar events?

[canyonchaser]

I think the main drawback for those of us not in the region is the prospect of riding halfway across the country to do a track day or two, which always runs a greater risk of racking the bike than a liesurely cruise in the country (at least it would for me - the point of the track is to get a lot closer to riding the bike all the way to 10/10ths, which I never do on the road).  I wouldn't want to get stuck in Utah with a wadded bike and no other way home.

However, I love this idea.  Do any of you who do regular track weekends on the Left Coast, Midwest, down South, or Northeast have good connections with tracks and/or track-time organizations which would be up on sponsoring similar events?

I think thats a huge misconception with track riding. And I see it all the time.  New track riders think the track is about Going Fast! Its really not.  Its about not having to deal with as much unexpected like deer, gravel, blind corners, oncoming traffic, cops, etc.  So you can ride at the same speeds you would ride otherwise, but take that "attention" you apply towards the variable of street riding, to your own personal performance.  "Where is my elbow? Where is my head? How much weight am I putting on my feet? How tight am I hanging onto the bars?" etc...  Personal improvement!

This ST-ART really is not a track-school or even a track day. There are speed limits and emphasis is put on control, posture etc.  not speed.  In fact, most times its trying to get students to slow down a bit.  When you are at 10/10ths, you are NOT learning.  Even when racing and hot-sh!t track days i try to never go above 80% of my ability.  And never ever go above 90%.

The thing is, personally, my 80% now is waaaay too fast for public roads.  Most of my street riding is closer to 60-70% with plenty of reserve for those spooky corners - the blind, decreasing radius corners that I entered too hot.  I now have more ability to deal with those.  So my street riding is actually MORE enjoyable, even though my overall speeds have dropped a bit (my corner speeds are still plenty frisky  )

But there are a lot of folks who ride at their 80-90% of their ability on the street. So they get overwhelmed quickly.  A closed course thats faster and more real-world than an MSF ERC allows riders to improve their riding without the unexpected.  So they can ride at 80% on the track, get comfortable without any of the unexpected stuff.  And I'd say the riders that learn the most ride at 70-75% when on the track.

But sadly, we are still struggling to get this program off the ground and self-sustaining.  We have not even dreampt of taking it to other venues.  And if we did we'd probably start by heading to California first.

dp

[XXRider]

I pulled the trigger yesterday for this event.  I hope RMRR, 1K, Clair and Mike make it to it again this year.

[canyonchaser]

I pulled the trigger yesterday for this event.  I hope RMRR, 1K, Clair and Mike make it to it again this year.

Sweet! It'll be good to have you out there again!  

dp

[helodoc]

I didn't see where they allowed or disallowed 2-up riding in the course. Ever see anyone take it 2-up?

[canyonchaser]

I didn't see where they allowed or disallowed 2-up riding in the course. Ever see anyone take it 2-up?

We are still working with MMP on that. They are reluctant for insurance reasons.

dp

[johnbryer]

We are still working with MMP on that. They are reluctant for insurance reasons.

dp

I've never been to a track day where you don't sign a waiver that says you, and only you are responsible for your stuff.  If someone crashes into you, you're still responsible.

[canyonchaser]

Yeah, but its still up to the insurance company.  The Dakar wasn't cancelled because of Terrorists, It was canceled because they couldn't get insurance.

And sadly, one of the biggest costs of a track day/track rental is the insurance.

dp

[helodoc]

Might as well make the experience as realistic as possible. My wife "steers" the bike from the back seat anyway. All I do is shift, throttle, and brake. It would be a hoot to do a 2-up track day.

[canyonchaser]

Might as well make the experience as realistic as possible. My wife "steers" the bike from the back seat anyway. All I do is shift, throttle, and brake. It would be a hoot to do a 2-up track day.

If we were to make the experience as realistic as possible we'd have deer, gravel, cops, geriatric divers, teenagers on text messaging while driving the opposite direction.

dp

[helodoc]

Your point is well taken. Though it would be nice to explore 2-up technique without the aforementioned obstacles.  

[canyonchaser]

Your point is well taken. Though it would be nice to explore 2-up technique without the aforementioned obstacles.  

To be honest, I completely agree with you, although years of teaching MSF ERC's, some of the scary situations i've seen with passengers is enough to make me leary of it.  

An alternative would perhaps be that you could take a second one with a passenger.

dp

[helodoc]

That's a good idea and I'd be willing to take both.

It's surprising that nobody offers instruction for 2-up riding. Most of us aren't looking for knee dragging or drifting corners, but some sort of professional input toward becoming more fluid with a passenger.

I guess the thinking is; if you can ride, then you can ride with a passenger.

[canyonchaser]

Most of us aren't looking for knee dragging or drifting corners, but some sort of professional input toward becoming more fluid with a passenger.

I guess the thinking is; if you can ride, then you can ride with a passenger.

Sport Touring is a relatively new popularity in motorcycling.  So instruction in the form of beginner level classes and advanced "knee-dragging" classes used to be all that could survive.  The motorcycling populous is changing with the all the new ADV bikes and the improvement in Sport-Touring options (not ST11's and Concourses) so I expect we'll see more and more demand as things progress.

But I'd say most riders are content with a BRC, far fewer even want an ERC and even far fewer than that even think they need more instruction. Riders who wish to continue their education are what keeps this sport alive (IMHO) so any opportunity to get more people edumakatid in how good riding can be, the better off most of us are.

dp

[huk_finn]

I would love to go but I think its bit of a stretch for me to get the time off coming from Chicago.  Is there anything like this elsewhere?

 Maybe "road america" (elkhart wisconsin) might start doing this, or a club might rent track during an off day. I see they'll start some bike classes this year:   RA Motorcycle School — Available spring 2008!

We will be offering both the Basic and Experienced Rider Courses next spring!  If interested, call us at 1-800-365-7223.

[canyonchaser]

We will be offering both the Basic and Experienced Rider Courses next spring!  If interested, call us at 1-800-365-7223.

That sounds like MSF BRC and ERC.

dp