Ssky0078
Junior Member
Hi guys,
I took the Advanced Rider Course from T.E.A.M. Arizona at the new GoAZ Rider Training Facility in Scottsdale, AZ today. The day started off early with a 7a.m. start time. I was not well rested as I had spent the night at a GF's house and had to get up to get back to my house at 5a.m. On top of that the Waste Management Open (Phoenix Open) golf tournament was on it's final day and of course I saw a bunch of middle aged men acting like teenagers at the gas station and McDonald's I started my morning off at.
I got to the new training headquarters at GoAZ and at first was impressed by the nice new facility. I think construction and finishing was just recently completed and they have only been doing courses there for a few months. We were put in a comfy classroom and had to buckle in for 3 hours of classroom discussion/lecture. The information provided was relevant and mainly focused on improving rider perception by increasing awareness of the myriad of factors that are involved while riding. Of course we all had to identify our rides, our experience, our thoughts on a crash (I gave full disclosure about both of my crashes and my instructor from the BRC, Michelle, was the instructor for the ARC as well, she was a little shocked, LOL) I took a lot of $hit because of my history but honestly at this point I'm back on two wheels, I get to put in about 300 miles a week, and in a month get more miles than a lot of the opinionated clowns out there get in an entire riding season. My theme song is Eminem's Won't Back Down when people start giving me grief about my mistakes.
After a short break they inspected our motorcycles and we were sent out to the staging area. One of the participants happened to be, Bill Russell, a contributing editor to Phoenix Sport Bike Magazine and his bike (Aprilia Tuono RSV4) did not have a functioning rear master cylinder. He pulled some strings and was given a 2012 Ducatti 1199 Panigalia demo bike to use for the day from the GoAZ dealership.
A list of the exercises (thank you ERCI)
1. Basic Control
2. Quick Stops
3. Stopping Demonstration
4. Curve Adjustments
5. Cornering and Swerving
6. Multiple Curves
7. Decreasing Radius Curves
8. Gap Analysis and Safety Margin
We started out with the Basic Control section which was mainly warming up the tires, weaving in and out at different distances. After that we practiced our Quick Stops and it was fun to see pretty much everyone leaving some rubber on the road. I was probably one of the worst because I would lock up the rear but I feel more comfortable in a rear slide than getting on the front too hard. It's something to work on for sure. In fact during the classroom section we did discuss "2 Finger Braking" and it was actually recommended. The reference material they were using was Nick Ianetsch Sport Riding Techniques book. Then we had the Stopping Demonstration which consisted of the Instructors demonstrating how different "Perception, Reaction, Braking" times looked like in real world situations. Then we broke for lunch.
I went out to lunch with the Bill Russell from Phoenix Sport Bike Magazine who is actually from Tucson, another rider Mike who had a lot of track time including professional race experience, and an Fz6 owner Scott. Lunch was good and it was actually pretty cool to sit down with 2 experiened track riders that both had some actual professional riding experience as well. The discussion of course turned into why somebody would want to do some track time. Scott owned a 2004 Fz6 that he had purchased new and only had 7000 miles on (WTF, right?). He was initially very leery/questioning of the idea of getting on the track saying he didn't have the desire to go fast, he wasn't competitive, etc. But, as both Bill and Mike gave their experience in how it greatly improved their street riding, that Scott began to ask about what it would take to get on a track. I had already made up my mind that I'm gong to do all the MSF courses including the Total Control courses, then try to get on a track by May.
We made it back from lunch just in time and began to do our exercises again. The curve adjustments consisted of 2 circles on opposing corners of the course with different radiuses. You go in cirlces with a group of 3 riders on the smaller circle and then loop over to the larger circle. At one point they put a small obstacle in the circle and you have to navigate out and then back into the corner. I was paired up with the 2 track guys and was doing my best not to slow things down. It was a nice push for me to still be safe but also work my limits. The cornering and swerving exercise consisted of a large loop, in the straights you would enter through two sets of gates, slowing maneuver around an obstacle, then exit through a gate and then do a sweeping corner around the end to the opposite straight and then maneuver in the opposite direction. Basically a big loop around the course. The crazy thing is that in one corner of the course there was yellow paint for one of the drills, it caused the instructor to almost wash out their front during the demonstration and more than one of the participants that caught it also had a tire slip. I learned quick to avoid that portion of the course. During the exercise I was hustling to keep the pace up for my 2 track riders that were probably getting a little annoyed behind me. I began to get jealous of the guy on the Fz6 because that bike is so much more nimble/flickable than the Fz1 (I kept thinking about hurrying up and getting the lithium battery, getting a new exhaust, installing my FE, and switching to the 190/55 rear). The only other complaint I had throughout the day was the difficulty I have of not chopping the throttle. I think I'm going to mess around with the throttle adjustment to see if I can take a little bit of slop out of the return and initial roll on. We took another break.
The second to final section was probably the most fun and challenging. The multiple curves is where we were supposed to use trail braking. It consisted of a straight that you would trail brake into a 180 degree corner, then coming out of the corner into a chicayne, and then entering into another 180 degree corner. It was exciting to get more and more confident flicking The Beast back and forth as well as getting deeper lean angles (I still don't like my PR2's, not super sticky or confidence inspiring). I scrubbed off more of my chicken strips than ever before (still not as good as my S20's, though). Probably the most entertaining of all the exercises was the decreasing radius curves. You started on the straight and then made a curve the entire width of the course, then cut back across the middle of the course to the next gates 1/4 in from the original side, then cut even further in to the gates 1/4 in from the opposite of the start side, then finally swerve out in the direction toward the far side of the straight. I felt so good getting leaned over, hanging off a little cheek and gonig faster and faster with confidence. We were allowed to trail brake to scrub off speed, but I found as my throttle control got better I didn't need to use the brakes. On the way back to staging Bill was in the lead and almost led the whole group into chaos as he didn't follow the directions he was given, Mary, the head instructor and rider coach trainer nearly had a heartattack. We took one more small break.
Final exercise was the Gap Analysis and Safety Margin. This exercise was intended to prepare riders for re-entering into traffic. There was an outside circle and an inside circle. On one side of course the inside circle was meant to change lanes to the outer circle, and vice versa while using turn signals and checking blind spots. It was like motorcycle merry-go-round and a great way to finish the day.
We went back into the classroom for a wrap up. Both of the track guys Bill and Mike had positive things to say about the instruction. Mike's most salient point was that it was at least good to get real time feedback rather than just doing whatever habit you're doing and just believing it was right. It was pretty apparent that all riders had improved by the end of the day, and even the track guys would be a little slower on an exercise till they learned it then picked up the speed of course.
Overall I would recommend T.E.A.M. Arizona as an instructional group for not only the ARC but for a rider who is experienced and wants to refine their skills or one of you guys stuck in the frozen north and have been off the bike for an extended period of time as a warm up for the riding season. I'm looking forward to the Total Control I & II. Actually now that I'm thinking about it, if I can get an insurance discount for completing a class. Should I save those for later in my life and just skip straight to the track :thumbup::rockon:
Highlights:
- Michelle, my BRC, instructor told be it was bad ass that I was back on 2 wheels after going down twice and so many people give up that it's disappointing.
-15% off coupon for any item at the dealer (excluding motorcycles and service) - I was looking at the Schuberth C3 and just may use that as an excuse to buy it ($700 - take $105 off, not bad).
- Everybody had a look at my bike and had nice things to say about it, even though it is in mid transformation to a naked/streetbrawler. Probably the sloppiest/worst thing that they commented on was the exposed wiring harness that I haven't finished cleaning up yet, I hope to do that next weekend.
I took the Advanced Rider Course from T.E.A.M. Arizona at the new GoAZ Rider Training Facility in Scottsdale, AZ today. The day started off early with a 7a.m. start time. I was not well rested as I had spent the night at a GF's house and had to get up to get back to my house at 5a.m. On top of that the Waste Management Open (Phoenix Open) golf tournament was on it's final day and of course I saw a bunch of middle aged men acting like teenagers at the gas station and McDonald's I started my morning off at.
I got to the new training headquarters at GoAZ and at first was impressed by the nice new facility. I think construction and finishing was just recently completed and they have only been doing courses there for a few months. We were put in a comfy classroom and had to buckle in for 3 hours of classroom discussion/lecture. The information provided was relevant and mainly focused on improving rider perception by increasing awareness of the myriad of factors that are involved while riding. Of course we all had to identify our rides, our experience, our thoughts on a crash (I gave full disclosure about both of my crashes and my instructor from the BRC, Michelle, was the instructor for the ARC as well, she was a little shocked, LOL) I took a lot of $hit because of my history but honestly at this point I'm back on two wheels, I get to put in about 300 miles a week, and in a month get more miles than a lot of the opinionated clowns out there get in an entire riding season. My theme song is Eminem's Won't Back Down when people start giving me grief about my mistakes.
After a short break they inspected our motorcycles and we were sent out to the staging area. One of the participants happened to be, Bill Russell, a contributing editor to Phoenix Sport Bike Magazine and his bike (Aprilia Tuono RSV4) did not have a functioning rear master cylinder. He pulled some strings and was given a 2012 Ducatti 1199 Panigalia demo bike to use for the day from the GoAZ dealership.
A list of the exercises (thank you ERCI)
1. Basic Control
2. Quick Stops
3. Stopping Demonstration
4. Curve Adjustments
5. Cornering and Swerving
6. Multiple Curves
7. Decreasing Radius Curves
8. Gap Analysis and Safety Margin
We started out with the Basic Control section which was mainly warming up the tires, weaving in and out at different distances. After that we practiced our Quick Stops and it was fun to see pretty much everyone leaving some rubber on the road. I was probably one of the worst because I would lock up the rear but I feel more comfortable in a rear slide than getting on the front too hard. It's something to work on for sure. In fact during the classroom section we did discuss "2 Finger Braking" and it was actually recommended. The reference material they were using was Nick Ianetsch Sport Riding Techniques book. Then we had the Stopping Demonstration which consisted of the Instructors demonstrating how different "Perception, Reaction, Braking" times looked like in real world situations. Then we broke for lunch.
I went out to lunch with the Bill Russell from Phoenix Sport Bike Magazine who is actually from Tucson, another rider Mike who had a lot of track time including professional race experience, and an Fz6 owner Scott. Lunch was good and it was actually pretty cool to sit down with 2 experiened track riders that both had some actual professional riding experience as well. The discussion of course turned into why somebody would want to do some track time. Scott owned a 2004 Fz6 that he had purchased new and only had 7000 miles on (WTF, right?). He was initially very leery/questioning of the idea of getting on the track saying he didn't have the desire to go fast, he wasn't competitive, etc. But, as both Bill and Mike gave their experience in how it greatly improved their street riding, that Scott began to ask about what it would take to get on a track. I had already made up my mind that I'm gong to do all the MSF courses including the Total Control courses, then try to get on a track by May.
We made it back from lunch just in time and began to do our exercises again. The curve adjustments consisted of 2 circles on opposing corners of the course with different radiuses. You go in cirlces with a group of 3 riders on the smaller circle and then loop over to the larger circle. At one point they put a small obstacle in the circle and you have to navigate out and then back into the corner. I was paired up with the 2 track guys and was doing my best not to slow things down. It was a nice push for me to still be safe but also work my limits. The cornering and swerving exercise consisted of a large loop, in the straights you would enter through two sets of gates, slowing maneuver around an obstacle, then exit through a gate and then do a sweeping corner around the end to the opposite straight and then maneuver in the opposite direction. Basically a big loop around the course. The crazy thing is that in one corner of the course there was yellow paint for one of the drills, it caused the instructor to almost wash out their front during the demonstration and more than one of the participants that caught it also had a tire slip. I learned quick to avoid that portion of the course. During the exercise I was hustling to keep the pace up for my 2 track riders that were probably getting a little annoyed behind me. I began to get jealous of the guy on the Fz6 because that bike is so much more nimble/flickable than the Fz1 (I kept thinking about hurrying up and getting the lithium battery, getting a new exhaust, installing my FE, and switching to the 190/55 rear). The only other complaint I had throughout the day was the difficulty I have of not chopping the throttle. I think I'm going to mess around with the throttle adjustment to see if I can take a little bit of slop out of the return and initial roll on. We took another break.
The second to final section was probably the most fun and challenging. The multiple curves is where we were supposed to use trail braking. It consisted of a straight that you would trail brake into a 180 degree corner, then coming out of the corner into a chicayne, and then entering into another 180 degree corner. It was exciting to get more and more confident flicking The Beast back and forth as well as getting deeper lean angles (I still don't like my PR2's, not super sticky or confidence inspiring). I scrubbed off more of my chicken strips than ever before (still not as good as my S20's, though). Probably the most entertaining of all the exercises was the decreasing radius curves. You started on the straight and then made a curve the entire width of the course, then cut back across the middle of the course to the next gates 1/4 in from the original side, then cut even further in to the gates 1/4 in from the opposite of the start side, then finally swerve out in the direction toward the far side of the straight. I felt so good getting leaned over, hanging off a little cheek and gonig faster and faster with confidence. We were allowed to trail brake to scrub off speed, but I found as my throttle control got better I didn't need to use the brakes. On the way back to staging Bill was in the lead and almost led the whole group into chaos as he didn't follow the directions he was given, Mary, the head instructor and rider coach trainer nearly had a heartattack. We took one more small break.
Final exercise was the Gap Analysis and Safety Margin. This exercise was intended to prepare riders for re-entering into traffic. There was an outside circle and an inside circle. On one side of course the inside circle was meant to change lanes to the outer circle, and vice versa while using turn signals and checking blind spots. It was like motorcycle merry-go-round and a great way to finish the day.
We went back into the classroom for a wrap up. Both of the track guys Bill and Mike had positive things to say about the instruction. Mike's most salient point was that it was at least good to get real time feedback rather than just doing whatever habit you're doing and just believing it was right. It was pretty apparent that all riders had improved by the end of the day, and even the track guys would be a little slower on an exercise till they learned it then picked up the speed of course.
Overall I would recommend T.E.A.M. Arizona as an instructional group for not only the ARC but for a rider who is experienced and wants to refine their skills or one of you guys stuck in the frozen north and have been off the bike for an extended period of time as a warm up for the riding season. I'm looking forward to the Total Control I & II. Actually now that I'm thinking about it, if I can get an insurance discount for completing a class. Should I save those for later in my life and just skip straight to the track :thumbup::rockon:
Highlights:
- Michelle, my BRC, instructor told be it was bad ass that I was back on 2 wheels after going down twice and so many people give up that it's disappointing.
-15% off coupon for any item at the dealer (excluding motorcycles and service) - I was looking at the Schuberth C3 and just may use that as an excuse to buy it ($700 - take $105 off, not bad).
- Everybody had a look at my bike and had nice things to say about it, even though it is in mid transformation to a naked/streetbrawler. Probably the sloppiest/worst thing that they commented on was the exposed wiring harness that I haven't finished cleaning up yet, I hope to do that next weekend.
