Goin' back to school...

[RedLeader]

So there are many motorcycling school out there, from Pridmore's Star school to Keith Codes California Superbike. I'm sure some people have taken some of these. Thoughts or comments on any you've taken and which you prefer if multiple?

[Justin]

the one i like is the Oneup has described to me.   I would go to that one.

[dmh2000]

I have been to STAR school, Keigwins 2 day novice school. as well as twice with Doug Polen's 1on1. All 3 were good.  For individual on track instruction 1on1 was best. Keigwins was very trackday oriented as you would expect from a novice school. STAR was much more race oriented. all of these are way cheaper than Cali Superbike school.  Keigwins has an intermediate level 2 day also. Keigwins and STAR are not much more expensive than 2 trackdays so they are very cost effective.

I am also in the process of deciding which one to go to in the spring.

[Justin]

Morgan, none of dave's suggestions is the one that Greg (oneup) went to.  ScotinExile had an excellent experience also.

I never do schools, but I chat with Valentino late at night when he can't sleep. (poor guy has a lot on hs mind)
 

[RedLeader]

No-one seems to have their 2010 schedules up yet.

Ive noticed this as well. Kinda going off the 2009 schedule... figure its at least kind of what thay will be doing this year, maybe similar dates or prices....
The star school is Jason Pridmore's school (http://www.starmotorcycle.com/). Ive had some friends go to it a few years ago, and is the one i will probably end up going to... it seems pretty good.

[Justin]

Here is one that i really would be interested in iffin I was fixin' to ride a 'cycle real good.
http://www.superbikeschool.com/

I think the guys name is "Keith," or something

[XIII]

+1 for STAR school.

[Adiggity]

There are indeed a lot of schools out there. I don't really know of any that I have heard of that are bad. I have taken a few of the Keigwins schools. Unless you are completely new to trackdays, I wouldn't suggest the novice school. I would jump straight to the intermediate.

MMP has a school there that I've heard is really good.

http://www.millermotorsportspark.com/learn/motorcycle-school/

And I've also heard great things about Rich Oliver's school. It is mostly a dirt school from what I understand but I've heard it helps tremendously with bike control, and learning to slide the bike. Many very good road racers have recommended this school to road racers.

http://www.richoliver.net/FunCampMain.html

Ken Hill also does personal training. You can find that info all over on barf. Here is one guys review of his experience. (trackho is an AFM racer as well)

http://bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=253171&highlight=Ken+Hill+School

[Justin]

THAT'S THE ONE....  GREG (oneup) told me about


Ken Hill.

[Justin]

http://www.superbikeschool.com/machinery/slide-bike.php

This thing is all I would want to use.   Fun

[RedLeader]

I did a z2 track day a while ago. I really liked my instructor, i got a lot of one on one track time with her. They also did have some good classroom stuff on body positioning and cornering/weighting too, but i think that if you take full advantage of the instructors its pretty much the same type of thing as a SSA trackday.
As far as rep goes... Cali superbike is awesome, but when i do one, i will probably do the STAR school.

[independent]

I'd like to put in a plug for American Supercamp, run by Danny Walker. 

He travels around the country with a fleet of mini dirtbikes, teaching people to get comfortable when the bike is a'slippin' & a'slidin'.

I've been a couple times, and it's helped my street & track riding a lot.

Now when a tire gets loose & slips a bit, my muscles don't panic & lock up. I can stay loose & relaxed, go w/the flow.

Danny focuses on body position & balance, keeping your weight centered over the bike so when one end lets go, your body isn't acting like a
pendulum, getting flung around & then flung off.

He makes it a lot of fun, too.  Has great guest-instructors- i've chased nicky hayden, chris carr, josh hayes, will davis, and others. Awesome to follow those
guys & see up close what they do.

When I ride my 100 in the backyard, it's to practice what i've learned there, and maintain those skills.
When the weather warms up a bit, I'll do another open invite. Maybe in a couple weekends?

[jlavallee]

I did the California Superbike School at Laguna in 2007. It was OK and I used their ZX6R so for me it was a great way to do Laguna without worrying about noise restrictions. The classroom portion was fair and the drills were interesting but I personally found the instruction lacking. It seemed that everyone else in my group of the course 1 class (you have to do course 1 the first time etc...) was much more novice level and I didn't feel like I got any real useful feedback after the sessions the way I had expected. It was however, well organized and directed with minimal time wasted.

I would do it again on Laguna with their bike and I suspect it would get better as the levels progressed. For the other tracks though I would do a Z2 or Kegwins day instead. If you just want a fun day on the track, the CSS is a very expensive option.

[Achilles775]

I'm interested in taking a course, too!! I wonder if they will do a group rate or some sort of discount if we can get a couple of people signed-up?

[2wcp]

As Kevin said, the American Supercamp is really good to teach you stuff you'd never expect to learn on a little crf100. I've done the star school when they came to Fernley and it was a good course, but if you are a really fast track rider not sure how well it will be for you. I only had 1 instructor in class that could even keep up and he had a tough time in a couple spots staying close. Still worth the money though.