You’ll need a Coach if you want to corner
I recently went to part one of three courses offered by Superbike Coach. It was a fun introduction to attending a track day with a motorcycle. But, because of my automotive track experience, this first class was a little slow for me.
The course started with track basics and cornering theory. This included pointers on when to apex in a corner and when to shift and brake. The most interesting part of the course was when the coach, Can Akkaya, told us not to use the clutch to shift up. This was against everything that I’ve ever done with any manual transmission, but you gotta listen to the coach!
I tried this a few times and I was hooked! My shifting was a lot smoother and quicker!
Next Can had us only use the front brakes. This was a lot harder for me as I’m accustomed to using both front and rear brakes. The theory here is that if you are trying to balancing the front and rear brake you aren’t using the front brake to it’s maximum potential.
This made a lot of sense in my mind, but it was hard for me to apply on the track. I noticed that I did not brake hard enough to stop the bike quickly. This is something that I’ll need to work on in the future.
Sunday, March 15th will be my second class. This class will include more technical instruction which will include trail braking! This is something that I’ve always wanted to learn. I’ll post up some info after Sunday. For now, take a look at my pictures here (courtesy of Dean Lonskey) and videos below:
I’ve bee trough all three days with Can Akkaya and I will do it all over again. I also signed up for his knee down class in May. Can’t wait!!!
Yea, Can is a really cool guy! I’m looking forward to the knee down class as well. Maybe I’ll see you there!
i understand the slow part… But it was good for me. It forces deliberate behavior… So it can be secondary in nature and I felt so much better after the level 1 class. I had also already taken a class from him so it was nice to hear that I had improved by the end of the day… And I could feel it.
I’ll see you March 15 myself… And knee down in May. Great post.
Hey Mr. Carey, I didn’t mean to offend anyone. I meant the pace of the class was a little slow for me because I understood track basics. I think we all need to start somewhere, and I’ve had a bit of track experience.
I am really looking forward to Sunday though! See you there!