The California Superbike School
www.superbikeschool.com
800-530-3350 or 323-224-2734
Class: Superbikes
Who Runs It:
Keith Code began giving riding lessons more than 30 years ago. He has trained champions and citizens (the Playboy editor who does our road tests was one of his first students). Through the California Superbike School, Code has introduced more riders to quality track time than any other outfit in America.
Where It Is:
Home base is Willow Springs Raceway near Los Angeles, but the CSS circus now travels the globe, hosting lessons at legendary tracks in nine states, often before or after World or AMA national events, as well as in Australia and Europe.
What You Ride:
2007 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R
What You Learn:
Code teaches you how to see a corner and how to turn a blur of reference points and lines into something as quiet as a chessboard. To combat fear and panic, he breaks riding into simple acts. How do you steer? If you answer "lean" go immediately to the emergency room. To go left, you push the handlebars to the right. It's called counter-steering. Keith explains the physics in between track briefings, conducted in a casual Socratic style. Some of the lessons are basic laws of physics. For instance, when you apply the brakes, the weight shifts forward, causing the rear tire to unweight, so use the front brake. Code teaches students how to choose the proper line in a corner, how to turn long carousels into two apex corners and what happens when you go over a rise.
Crux Move:
In one exercise, Code has students put the bike into fourth gear and ride around the track without touching the brakes. You have to learn to judge entry speed by speed alone, not by how white your knuckles turn when you grab the brakes. It is hair-raising, but the point definitely gets made. At the end of the day, when you are shifting gears and braking with surgical precision, your lap time will be a few seconds faster.
Cost:
One-day courses start at $650, and two-day camps range from $2,200 to $2,250 depending on the track; courses are cheaper if you bring your own bike
Photos: Courtesy California Superbike School
