| Yamaha Champions Riding School | | Print | |
| Written by Kenn Stamp |
| Tuesday, 16 February 2010 05:01 |
  Riding Schools – worth the effort and worth the expense? By David Podolsky A numbe Most of us have not gone to these schools; most of us are relatively self-taught. Family members or friends have shown us the controls, got us to be able to “operate the vehicle” but the finer points on how to ride are actually pretty hard to come by; riding a motorcycle with skill takes finesse, small movements done quickly, but also smoothly. Not the easiest thing to explain or observe. There are a number of books & videos available and you can get basic instruction at the variety of track days that are available, but it can be hard to determine what it is you are missing once you get going. Other sports are like this as well; swimming, for example. You can watch someone do the crawl- moving arms, kicking legs and turning their head for air every few strokes and then to emulate it yourself. However without getting someone knowledgeable to watch you, observe what you are and aren’t doing it is hard to improve. You may think you’re doing everything right, but an experienced teacher or coach can see you are lifting your entire head out of the water and craning your neck for gasps of air instead of simply turning your head to the side. Riding a bike is harder to observe than standing poolside since your going 60+ mph everywhere. However, I’ve just returned from the Yamaha Champions Riding School and it was eye-opening. The Yamaha Champions Riding School (YCRS) is headed by Nick Ienatsch who is not only an accomplished racer, is the former Editor of Sport Rider magazine and was the lead instructor for the now closed Freddie Spenser Riding School. Nick knows how to ride fast, can analyze/dissect what you are doing, and is able to explain it all in a manner you can really understand.
The class is intentionally small so each student gets enough attention; usually 3 students per instructor. The drills were well thought out and conducted. We went through getting to know the track, how to find your lines through different type of turns, braking techniques, down-shifting and more. Two of the core concepts that were communicated were new to me. One was to really take body position to a new level and how you can help make the motorcycle change direction easier. The other was trail braking, how to use it and its effect on the geometry of the motorcycle. Practicing the drills was one thing but we also had the benefit of them being videotaped. Each student was taped for a lap and reviewed by the entire class and critiqued for both positive and negative execution. It is educational to not only watch yourself but others and their technique. Then the second day we repeated the video drill and saw the improvement; I’m glad to say that I and the other students all had significant gains. I was surprised and happy to find areas where I could use serious improvement, really. I didn’t know what I was doing wrong before! The verdict was unanimous that that my body position was not proper on the motorcycle. My rear end was too far off the seat and I was not correct with my legs or position on the foot pegs. Basically I was sort of twisted on the machine. I worked on this for most of the two days and tried to feel comfortable using this new style after years of having a bad habit. For sure I could tell that what they said was right and was feeling better and better as the new position got to feel comfortable.
Years later my wife who had never skied wanted to learn. I figured I’d be bored on the bunny hill, so I sent her for formal ski lessons and I went to take snow-board lessons. What a difference a knowledgeable person, who has experience as knows how to teach a particular technique can make; especially when they are not your friend. Working with Ken Hill and Dale Kieffer, who were the other instructors we had at the school, was great. These guys both have many years of top level race experience, were former Freddie Spencer School instructors and have been instructing as personal riding coaches for club racers. Even though these guys may not be on the current cover of your favorite magazine, these guys are fast. They are also experienced at watching riders with a clinical and critical mindset to show them what is missing. A couple riding schools closed recently with the down economy and perhaps some riders didn’t really know what to expect for their money. In general these type of schools aren’t cheap; usually $1,000+ per day which includes the use of a school motorcycle. However I can’t say enough about how well worth it the Yamaha Champions Riding School was. If I didn’t go I would have kept spending lots of money doing more laps and still not know what I should be doing to get my riding to the next level. Let me be really clear, I would not have learned what I needed to do next to improve my riding without having the instructors of the Yamaha Champions Riding School riding and working with me. I can’t wait for the warm weather to come so I can practice getting these new techniques to become my “good habits” and raise my game to the next level. David Podolsky races a Ducati 1198S for Chicken Hawk Racing. Competing in WERA, CCS & AMA Sports races. David has won 11 National Championships mostly aboard big twin machines. Chicken Hawk Racing, Michelin, Catalyst Composites, Ducati USA, VP, Shoei, Ferodo, Rev It, Sidi, Seacoast, Ohlins, Speedy Moto, 2 Wheel Tuner, Fuel Cel Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           
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| Last Updated on Tuesday, 03 August 2010 13:51 |
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