On March 29th, 2002 I attended Keith Code's California Superbike School. It was held at Willow Springs Raceway on the Streets of Willow Springs track.

I'd rather improving my riding on my bike with my own gear than rent someone elses so I decided to take my Super Hawk and my own leathers, again. This time I had a set of leathers that had knee sliders, so I was determined to drag a knee this time. Despite getting VicToRia better prepped for the track this time, I got so much lean angle that I was draggin' hard parts again. I also shredded up my tires pretty good.

Stand & Cowl	Cowl	Footpeg
Shredded Front Tire	Shredded Rear Tire	Draggin Knee

The Class is scheduled from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm. I arrived just on time with my family after stopping at McDonalds on the way. I registered and put my assigned number (#5) on Vicky. I put on my leathers and went to the first classroom session.

In the Level III class, the emphasis is on bike control skills. The first technique that is taught on this level is the Hook Turn. Essentially, You are taught that the lower you can get your upper body, the tigher the line you can keep. We were shown how to keep our body low (close to the tank) and asked to experiment with changing how low we kept our body in different portions of the turn (turn entry, apex and turn exit). One of the keys was to make sure that your inside elbow was pointed down to help you to relax and keep tension off the bars. I noticed that if I lowered my my body right on the turn entrance, that I could keep a tighter line and carry more speed. This made the skill I learned in Level II, bike pickup, even more important. During this session, we could only use one gear (3rd on the Super Hawk) and no brakes.

After the first session, I was able to walk around and get some pictures. There was an assortment of bikes on the track today. All of the Level II-IV students, that brought their own bikes, were smart enough to bring sportbikes. There was a student in Level I that decided he would bring his Goldwing. I'm just glad I wasn't on the track when he was. Many people rented the schools '03 Kawasaki ZX-6Rs

Level 2-4 Bikes 1	Level 2-4 Bikes 2	Level 1 Bikes 1
Level 1 Bikes 2	Level 1 Goldwing	Rental Bikes

In the second classroom session the Power Steering technique was taught. This technique is also called Pivot steering. In essence, pushing off with your outside leg when you are pushing on the handle bar to counter steer makes you more stable. That stabily gives you more power, which is needed when you're trying to turn the bike quickly when your going fast. During this track session we could only use 2 gears and no brakes. I made the mistake of using third and fourth rather than second and third. I found that this was a mistake, especially on this track, because I wasn't getting the kind of drive I wanted off the corners. I was only in fourth gear near the end of the front and back straights.

I walked around and got some more pictures at lunch time. Even during the lunch break the instructors are willing to provide one-on-one personal attention to the students. There was a crash by this time as well. One of the Level II students crashed his SV650s. Luckily for him, the school let him continue riding. He must have been warned not to crash again because he rode like a granny the rest of the day.

Lunch Break

Personal Attention

Victoria

Crashed SV650s

After lunch time, we were taught a technique that I had heard many past students refer to as one of the better techniques that is taught. It's called the Knee to Knee technique. Prior to actually being taught the technique, I thought this was a technique that taught you how to go from dragging one knee to the other knee. I was wrong. This technique was again an emphasis on bike stability. Basically, when you're going through a series of turns, like esses or a chicane, you have to shift your body weight from one side of the bike to the other. We were taught that you should not take one knee off the tank until the other knee is touching it. I thought that I was doing this already but found that when I focused on this that I would remove one knee before I would actually get the other knee on the tank. This would cause the bike to shimmy a little in these transitions. When the knee to knee technique is done correctly, this slight shimmy goes away completely. During this track session, we were allowed to use 2 gears and light brakes.

Hard Cornering

Hard Accelerating 1

Hard Accelerating 2

I worked really hard during the third session on using the knee to knee technique and had another dramatic drop in my lap times. I also tired myself out pretty good. So, in the fourth session I was really tired and relaxed quite a bit while on the track. The fourth classroom session was an extension of the knee to knee technique. It was the hip flick technique. The hip flick technique is basically doing the knee to knee technique fast. The real key is to do it fast without jerking the bike around, which destablizes it. During this track session, we were allowed to use 3 gears and light brakes.

The fifth and final technique that is taught it called Attack. The essence of this technique is to have a specific goal or attack plan, for any corner. This is especially important when you have a series of corners or you are planning to try and make a pass. After somewhat resting in the fourth session (as seen in my lap times), I decided that since this was the last session of the day to really give it a go. During this track session, we were allowed to use full gears and brakes. This totally changes the way you attack a corner because you can accelerate longer down the straights and really get good power coming out of the turns with the proper gear selection. I passed many people during this session. My average speed was so much faster that my wife, who was taking pictures and small MPEG movies with her camera, missed me coming around onto the front straight on one lap. I also got my overall best lap during this session.

Making the Pass 1

Making the Pass 2

Hard Cornering Movie

Vicky on Hauler

Out Front Movie

Session	1	2	3	4	5
Ave. Lap Time	2:02.5	1:57.9	1:48.4	1:54.9	1:50.2
Ave. Speed	52.9 mph	54.9 mph	59.8 mph	56.4 mph	58.8 mph
Hot Lap	1:58.0	1:56.3	1:47.2	1:50.2	1:45.8

No these aren't blazing by any means, the track record is 1:21 (ave. speed 80 mph)
set by Anthony Gobert, but they're getting steadily better

I have been riding now for a year & a half. I've put well over about 30K miles on the street. After my Level 1 Class, I thanked Keith for helping me move from operating a motorcycle to riding it. After my Level II class, I realized that riding is a skill that requires contants refinement. Now that I've taken the Level III class and learned all the techniques taught by CSS, I will venture on to a different school that has a different teaching philosophy. I never want to be a rider that feels I don't have room for improvement. I feel that CSS has a great program for all levels of riders, but it's especially good for new sportbikers that want to learn how to go fast, safely.