2015 California Superbike School India Review: Level 1

If you are reading this, three things are for certain. You love motorcycling; you want to be a better and faster rider; and Google must like our tagging. And since I am writing this, again three things are for certain. I love motorcycling; I want to be a better and faster rider; and I was lucky enough to attend the California Superbike School India (or CSS as it is popularly called); unarguably one the finest rider training schools in the world. We were there for three days. Here’s what happened on day 1. Or as the school likes to call it, Level 1 of the training program.

The start to the day is typical of any school. It starts at 7 am with registrations, gear and motorcycle check and basic introductions. The person to watch out for though (the head mistress so to speak) is Marigo. An unassuming looking, slim lady who you need to fear if you try and be anything but a good, obedient student. She has the power to scold, punish and even throw you out of the school, fees paid or not.

So, like good seven-year olds, we are in the classroom when she demands, geared and astride the bikes when she commands and ride like angels, fearful of being thrown out. Now, this is an exaggeration of course. The school is in fact, loads of fun and is a good mix of classroom sessions, on track riding and sharp and precise debriefing. And it all starts with how to work that right wrist…

Throttle control

This is the first drill of the day. And all it requires from the riders is to open the throttle at corner exit. But the throttle must be opened – in CSS’ words – smoothly, evenly and constantly. And believe me, it's a lot more difficult to implement than it sounds. And to make things challenging, you can't use the brakes. Anywhere. But, because you can also only use one gear, your mind is free to concentrate on the only task at hand. Look at the exit and begin opening the throttle when you are done with the leaning.

What did I learn?

To get the throttle control right, I had to consciously tell myself to wait it out and only begin feeding gas once I started standing up the motorcycle. So, even though this meant I was getting on the throttle later than I would have liked, at least I wasn’t rolling on and off but was feeding in the throttle in a more or less seamless fashion. This also allowed the bike’s suspension to be in the mid of its stroke; the ideal place for maximum stability. And because the bike felt more stable it boosted my confidence levels to carry higher corner speeds.

Turn points

After having practiced throttle control for 20 minutes on the track, it’s now time to learn about turn points. As the name suggests, it is the point wherein you start leaning in the bike or initiate the turn to make a corner. You roll off the throttle, choose a turn-in point, begin countersteering into the corner at that point and along with good throttle control exit the bend without drama. What’s important here is to choose the right turn in point. Turn-in too early and you will run wide at the exit. Turn in too late, and you will need to countersteer a lot more and with it, lean the bike a lot harder in order to make the bend. The general tendency (the coaches words, not ours, though we completely agree with it) is to turn in too early as it helps riders relax since the most important part of going around the corner (according to the riders) is dealt with early. However, this also means that to avoid running wide on the exit or off the track, the rider must then roll off the throttle after the apex and make another steering input. Both these things, as you may have guessed causes instability; the exact thing we don't want.

What did I learn?

Deliberately choosing a slightly deeper turn-in point, against an early one that came naturally to me, helped me align better towards the exit with just one steering input. This also allowed me to get (to) on the throttle more aggressively and with it, make a quicker exit.

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Quick turn

The biggest challenge when choosing a deeper turn in point is to try and make the apex. And the reason for that is slow steering; something all of us do involuntarily because it feels safe. The solution of course, is to turn quickly or quick steer. This involves countersteering with a bit more consciousness and strength. So you still push on the inside bar to get the bike to lean in, but the push has to be more deliberate and with minutely more force. And as the CSS coaches did their best to drill it into our heads – no one has really lost their front end by steering quickly into a corner. So we tried it. And boy, does it make a difference!

What did I learn?

Once I got the hang of the quick turn technique, I could hit the late turn-in markers with more confidence. And though I thought quick turn got me to lean more, it also helped me hit late apexes and align the bike for the exit way sooner than I had managed before. It also meant I could get on the throttle earlier and I spent less time leaned over.

Rider input

Believe it or not, we all hang on to our handlebars like our life depended on it. And we don't even realise it! But aching forearms and shoulders post a ride are clear indications of it. The harder we hold on, the sooner we hurt. There’s another ill-effect to this – instability. Now a motorcycle is designed to self-correct, but holding on to the bars tightly prevents it from doing its thing. In a straight line, the results aren't catastrophic, but under braking and when leaned over it could mean losing the front end and having an encounter with tarmac of a very painful kind. The thing to do then is to let the handlebar be and hold the bike at the tank with the knees and cut the unnecessary rider input to a minimum.

What did I learn?

Trying to hold on to the bike by the knees and not the handlebar left me with aching calf and thigh muscles. But, yes, the bike did feel a lot more stable and this allowed me to be more relaxed and confident to carry higher speeds around a bend. It also allowed me to brake harder even though hard braking wasn't part of the curriculum. So, don't tell Marigo.

Two Step

Day two or Level 2 is all visual, say the coaches. So in order to prepare us for the next day, the last drill in Level 1 is all about how well you can shift your focus. It's called two step and it involves first selecting a turn-in point and before you can hit it, you shift your gaze towards the apex. The idea is that you only go where you look. So, if you have located your turn-in point and are confident you are going to hit it, shifting your eyes just before you come on to the turn-in point to locate the apex will ensure you involuntarily turn enough to hit that apex as well.

What did I learn?

Following the two step approach only worked when I managed to shift my focus from the turn-in point to the apex before I was actually upon the turn point, which was a bit rare. But when I did manage, the track seemed wider and I wasn't afraid of running wide or off the track anymore. And because there seemed to be more track at the exit, I stood the bike up sooner and with it was able to twist the right wrist to the stops a lot quicker as well.

Overall then, after day one or Level 1, I could clearly notice my riding was smoother; I was more comfortable taking corners; and I knew exactly where I was going (well, mostly I did). Now, it's time for Level 2...