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On Friday evening after Charmayne’s band camp show, I left for Walton Kentucky via the slab as it was already getting too dark for roads I did not know. Since it was already starting to rain in Dayton, I threw my rain gear on and arrived in Cincinnati mostly dry. However, I suddenly met a very thick and drenching wall of rain when I crossed the bridge into Kentucky causing everyone to slow down and four way flashers to come on. Of course, this is not a fun sight for a bike and so I nervously watched my mirrors until I made it by the traffic. The tires definitely proved their worth and I checked into the hotel just up the road from the course.
The next morning I rode out to find out where the facility was and verified the start time. I then found some decent roads that let me kill off enough time to enjoy the area. At 1pm, the class started though we were not sure we would have a full class as seven people signed up but only two of us were there on time (me on my 550 and the other on a Ducati Panigale). Two more showed up from Tennessee as class started - a young lady on a BMW GS650 while her 62 year old dad rode a BMW GS850. We then learned one canceled a few weeks back, another had a motorcycle accident on the Wednesday prior, and the third never bothered to call and cancel until one of the instructors called him just as class was starting. Fortunately, this helped us get a lot more riding time than we expected.
After telling each of us to reduce the amount of air in our tires by a couple of pounds, they started with a couple of module sessions (introduction, throttle control, trailbraking). We then practiced those sessions where they expected us to be smooth enough to not move the suspension. This alternating classroom and riding pattern continued for sessions on body position and line selection. We each received several runs for each direction using various patterns. Each session also included a drill performed either inside (falling to the sides) or out (sitting on the bike while in the cornering position and the bike leaned over held by the rest of us). The last session combined all of the lessons, except for the trail braking, using a figure 8 that was a lot better than any MSF course used. We also discussed suspension settings but could not modify anybody’s bikes as no one really had an easily adjustable configuration. However, I need to reinstall my cartridge emulators into these 650 forks
The class definitely helped my riding almost immediately as the ride home the next day was much smoother and faster than any of my previous rides in that area. I also learned it’s a lot of hard work to ride that way as my legs hurt after about 50 miles.
I highly recommend this class to everyone. In my case, the instructor is a four time national champion who took the class after his first championship and busted collarbone. He explained he wished he had taken the course before he won his first one as it taught him so much more than he ever learned in those races.
Here's a short video of one of my go-a-rounds during the last session
The next morning I rode out to find out where the facility was and verified the start time. I then found some decent roads that let me kill off enough time to enjoy the area. At 1pm, the class started though we were not sure we would have a full class as seven people signed up but only two of us were there on time (me on my 550 and the other on a Ducati Panigale). Two more showed up from Tennessee as class started - a young lady on a BMW GS650 while her 62 year old dad rode a BMW GS850. We then learned one canceled a few weeks back, another had a motorcycle accident on the Wednesday prior, and the third never bothered to call and cancel until one of the instructors called him just as class was starting. Fortunately, this helped us get a lot more riding time than we expected.
After telling each of us to reduce the amount of air in our tires by a couple of pounds, they started with a couple of module sessions (introduction, throttle control, trailbraking). We then practiced those sessions where they expected us to be smooth enough to not move the suspension. This alternating classroom and riding pattern continued for sessions on body position and line selection. We each received several runs for each direction using various patterns. Each session also included a drill performed either inside (falling to the sides) or out (sitting on the bike while in the cornering position and the bike leaned over held by the rest of us). The last session combined all of the lessons, except for the trail braking, using a figure 8 that was a lot better than any MSF course used. We also discussed suspension settings but could not modify anybody’s bikes as no one really had an easily adjustable configuration. However, I need to reinstall my cartridge emulators into these 650 forks
The class definitely helped my riding almost immediately as the ride home the next day was much smoother and faster than any of my previous rides in that area. I also learned it’s a lot of hard work to ride that way as my legs hurt after about 50 miles.
I highly recommend this class to everyone. In my case, the instructor is a four time national champion who took the class after his first championship and busted collarbone. He explained he wished he had taken the course before he won his first one as it taught him so much more than he ever learned in those races.
Here's a short video of one of my go-a-rounds during the last session
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