Going to keep it short. I had a great time learned a ton and the S1000RR totally rips. The bike is so compact like a 600 but with insane amount of hp, seat height is no higher than my R6; Very easy to handle and go fast. The brakes are even more impressive than the power it makes.
Thunderbolt is a great circuit! Got a good mix or corners and elevation changes, very fun.
Forgot to add, my Acuvue Oasys worked extremely well, no issues at all.
I could do without that gold color but the rest of it is sooooooooo nice. Friend of mine went to that school a few years ago and couldn’t say enough good about it.
Thoughts on the school? My buddy is doing it next week at VIR.
You get to ride the S1000rr? I still need to even see one of these in person, ugh.
Saw one the other day near Max BMW… so badass. That school looks fun!
Well done! How was the weather?
Were you happy with the school? What points did they stress the form?
Have any issues with the front end lifting off or you rode did in an Aaron fashion? :lol
Not sure if your buddy will be doing their individual events, or the 2 day camp. The first thing I noticed was everyone rides at their own pace, no matter if you are fast or slow; and passing is allowed anywhere on the track as long as you give other riders enough space. None of the drills they teach you requires to only do it at a certain speed. Personally I love how they teach the theory behind the drills, but not in a way overly complicated way. I would say half of their drills in level1 & 2 are about the actual riding techniques, and surprisingly the other half are all basically visual skills, stuff about how you should process visual information and how much of visual information to process, which I find particularly useful.
The on track coaching is awesome, 1 coach to 2 students for the 2 day camp, they get to know you very well even at the very beginning of my 1st day. They know what kind of pace you are doing and will be able to work with you on how different drills apply to me, my speed and a my level of riding.
I must say the school is very very well run and format is very efficient. There is very little down time at all, if any. Your buddy will have a blast for sure.
1st day morning was damp, but it dried out eventually. 2nd day was sunny and not hot, which is very good. I’ve been getting some pointers with my form as my coach knew I am already hanging off riding. Then I did the lean bike got more great pointers.
No issues with the front end lifting off. :lol
Would you recommend it?
How much was it?
I’m really itching to get some more track time, or at the very least bike time :lol
Wow… so jelous. Looks like so much fun.
I would definitely recommend it, at least up to Level 3. Unless you are going racing, you don’t really need to do a level 4. Level 4 basically is private coaching, you tell them what you want to work on or need to improve and they will do a program for you to sort it out.
If you bring your bike, I think it is $450 for any level or $675 with their S1000RR. odds are you will want to pay the extra to ride the S1000RR, unless probably you have your own race bike and that you try to work on you riding with. The S1000RR have a $1250 crash deposit, just don’t crash it and you will be fine :lol.
As much as I like the S1000RR, any 600 will probably be a better school bike, well at least for Thunderbolt. The straight is simply not long enough for such high power machine and the S1000RR will do 140 mph in 3rd, which is about as fast as you can go before T1. As much as I love the quick shift that is standard on the bike, I did all my drills and lapping essentially in 3rd, even the the instructors rarely use 4rd. I mean I can shift prematurely just for the sake of it, but it is kind of pointless. Even in 3rd the bike’s power is more than enough to launch you out of any corner at warp speed.
If you want bike time, should have done the KTM thing at Mid-Ohio. Getting to rip a RC8R on the track for a whole day for that price is a bargain no matter how you look at it. I think the school will be back to Thunderbolt in September. If you are interested let me know, I might do my level 3 too…
rofl:rofl:rofl:rofl
It is addictive. This is why I don’t have a flat screen tv, xbox 360 or a new and badly need new computer. Compare to doing that, all those stuff seemed kind of pointless to spend money on…:lol