superbike school first.. or track day.. (phillip island)

anthmac · 10-12-2006, 6:21 PM

having a bit of an argument with my friend who wants to go straight to do a track day instead of going to superbike school first. his arguments are fairly sound.. ie you wont be shttest there, you not going to crash cause you wont be good enough to push the bike (im naturally a cautious rider) and you will have a better time. superbike school is essentially teaching you what is in twist of the wrist anyways so if you read that and apply it on your own track day seemingly you'ld get more out of the day then doing superbike school. you know what you're doing wrong. so i dunno. riding round i feel pretty comfortable but phillip island, where ill be doing it, is a pretty fast track. i havent cornered much at over 100. so am a bit lost and not really sure on what to do. dont know what either will be like and which would be best...

any feedback on ppl who have done the schools first or the track days first would be good..

also any advise from ppl who have done phillip island would be good too

nhfirefighter13 · 10-12-2006, 6:41 PM

The argument here seems to be a bit flawed.

Note: I've never riddin at Phillip Island nor have I taken the Superpuke School.

Having said that, You will learn stuff at a trackday and you would, presumably, learn stuff at the school since reading about concepts and actually putting them into action are two different things.
Worrying about being the slowest guy there is a big mistake. That's your ego talking and it want's nothing more than to get you into trouble. Ride at a comfortable pace and step it up a bit when you think you're ready...not just because people are passing you.
Also, and again, I don't know the track or your abilities for that matter, but somehow I doubt someone who is new to being on a track is going to be "cornering at over 100"....unless we're talking km per hour instead of mph...
I've heard a lot of not so good things about Keith Code and his school. Personally, I'd say go to the trackday first.

Jungleboy · 10-12-2006, 7:11 PM

Either way I dont think you can go too far wrong. I personally would be inclined to do a track day first to get the feel for riding on the track and then do a school as soon after as possible, then at least you will be familiar with the track and you will get your first track day jitters out of your system and then whilst your sitting there listening to all the theory you will at least a have a blue print of the track in your head to help you visualize what they are talking about.

Just try to stay as loose and relaxed as possible (no good being all tensed up) ride within your comfort zone, concentrate on being smooth and work on your lines.

If you concentrate on these things and remind yourself that your out there to have FUN you will progress much quicker than if you just go out and try to ride as fast as humanly possible (thats a good recipe for a ride in the ambulance, trust me I know

)

Cheers Jai

bwhip · 10-12-2006, 7:21 PM

Schools are great, but I've known lots of riders (the majority, actually) that did just fine going directly to a trackday before school. As was mentioned above, the key is to ride within your limits, and don't try to race or impress anyone. Just be smooth and predictable so the person coming up behind you doesn't have to deal with any big surprises.

Mojave954 · 10-12-2006, 7:45 PM

If you have the school you may think you are better than you are. Nothing wrong with going to the track first.

ichsnoo · 10-13-2006, 12:08 AM

Hi anthmac,

I have done the level 1 and 2 superbike schools at eastern creek. It was my induction to the track and I started racing shortly after level 1. My advice is do the school instead of a track day if you can arrange it. You will be absolutely amazed at what you will learn in level 1. I had been riding around 7 years before doing level 1 and was pretty quick and confident yet level 1 still transformed my riding in many ways.

Cheers,
Dave aka ICHSNOO