California Superbike School - Worth it?
 

At the risk of opening that can of worms again, I attended CSS at Silverstone yesterday.

It was a hot sweaty day in leathers, but I found it to be worthwhile and I'm pretty sure my riding has (and will continue to) improve.

The classroom sessions were easy to follow and taught some essential, basic cornering skills. The track time was essential in applying these skills. It was generally all very sensible riding on track, with only one session red flagged, after two crashes.

So was it worth spending £300 on? I think so. It picked up some real flaws in my riding, which I can now hopefully improve on during future trackdays, and on the road.

I've written a more complete review here - http://kapitalmoto.co.uk/node/112

I should also mention that my on track instructor was the illustrious (or is that notorious?) Chris Butcher. Seriously though, Chris is a pretty good instructor, asking questions and letting me explore the answers.

TP was also there, but I managed to avoid him most of the day ;-) He seemed particularly busy with one of his students on a new Gixxer K6.

Nice one... what did you feel was the most benefit to you ?

Personally, I got the most from the throttle application drill. Made me realise just how far I had been "coasting" into corners before applying throttle in the past. And second would be the relaxation drill. I'd never really thought about it too much before, but when focussing on trying to be more relaxed it's amazing to realise just how tense I had been in the past.

Right then, I just lost another place at Cadwell :(

I also attended a CSS day at Silverstone recently.
Although expensive, the organisation was very good and the team of people were obviously experienced not only in teaching people, but also how to run a training day efficiently.
On a personal level, I actually found it quite difficult to translate what I'd learnt in the classroom onto the track. The evironments are very different places and inevitably more things are 'going on' out on the circuit to take away your concentration.
The only slight critisism I had of the day is that when I booked, I had in my mind that I was actually going to be riding around Silverstone. In reality it was a part of Silverstone that I not only felt was too small, but also had poor surfaces in some areas.
Overall tho, a good day

I felt the same way on both points, to some extent. The "quick turn" drill I found particularly hard to actively do on track - expecially when still trying to think about getting the entry speed, throttle control and turn in points drill from previous sessions. However, the relaxation drill, which was next, helped a lot on the next two sessions and then I could think a bit more about quick turning.

The Silverstone Stowe circuit (I think it's called) is a bit Mickey Mouse with loads of left handers. However, I wasn't too bothered by it. Firstly I need the left hand turn practice, but also I wasn't bother about riding quickly, just practicing the drills. This track I think was fine for Level 1. If/When I do Level Two, I think I'll try for a different track though.

Phil
Thanks for posting this and also the link to your detailed report. Food for thought!

when i asked the question about this this was just what i was looking for.

just £300 bit holding me back have to find a sponser hehehehehe

Nice report Phill, I'm glad you had a good day.

im very interested in the CSS days....have even read a few things written by Keith Code ..!?!?.....its just at 300 a day, with racing its just not in the realms of possibilty...which is a conundrum..i would only do it to go faster on track but can only afford it if i stop racing..if i stop racing how fast i go becomes irrelevant.....hmmmm..i dunno......

Phil

Simply win the lottery - HTH

The judgement here is are you gonna get any value out of a CSS day?

Some might wanna chuck £300 at making the bike go faster and see that as good value, others might see that £300 spent on making the rider go better is good value.

As Fil says theres no point in trying to gyp up the rider for racing if the cost of the course means no racing!

Finding a sponsor is another thing completely, it can take up as much time as the racing side of things. My experience of that side of things might not be that recent but the basics haven't changed IMHO. The phrase "don't ask yourself what can a potential sponsor do for me, ask what can I do for a potential sponsor" springs to mind.

Ray.

Just a quick point on CSS Ebike offer discount for riders who have attended and insurance for riders attending the training aswell at approximately £50-00 for the day fully comp which aint bad value. Having done levels 1 & 2 at Rockingham and 3 at Cadwell I found it well worth it but the benefit took about three months to become apparent when the quick turn stopped me having a very nasty conversation with a tree.

Well worth the money

Ian

Iv been thinking about this for a very long time and if I was looking at ways to make my bike go faster I could easy spend £300 on that with tuning to find a few seconds a lap. If I went on the course and found a few seconds a lap id think it money well spent. But looking around at other things like Ron haslem race school it’s a lot cheaper and you get to use their bikes. Any way these are all points to be weighed up. And I think personally im still at the point where I need to lean the track first to go fast. On a track evening at Donny I found 10sec a lap by trying different lines and knowing what corner came up next. So for now im going to stick with that approach when I feel IV got the best out of the bike and my skill ill look again at doing something like this.

Thats not saying any thing bad about the css or any other race school by say I wont lean any thing now its just my stance.

Thank you to all the responded to my first post about the topic and whats come up now

Just got an SMS from Phill who's at Donington for the DD meeting. He qualified 8th overall and 2nd 583 which is pretty good (I've never achieved that... :( ) so maybe it can bring somme food for thought to that topic...