Re: superbikeschool question

[Darron Spohn <dspohn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>G'day,
>
>Of the people who have gone to this school, how many have ridden
>their own bike, and who rode the school's bike? And for those who
>have ridden their own bikes, what was it.
>

I haven't ridden my own bike in the Superbike school, but I did ride 
my own bikes at the same track within a few weeks of taking the 
SuperBike School on the school's ZX6R.

I rode my wife's Ducati Monster 750 at the Streets of Willow Springs 
with Fastrack Riders in early October. In late October I attended the 
Superbike School and rode their ZX6R. Then in early November I went 
to a CLASS school and rode my Sprint RS. These were all at the 
Streets of Willows

The Ducati flicked into corners the quickest, and was wonderful 
through the esses from turns nine to 10. But it was a bit twitchy in 
turn three. The ZX6R was more stable than the Monster, but didn't 
flick quite as quickly. Since the Monster 750 and ZX6R are within a 
few pounds of each other the difference is probably a combination of 
the narrower tires and wider bars on the Monster. The wider bars 
probably caused the twitchiness entering turn three, but rider input 
may have been a factor too.

]The Sprint was superbly stable everywhere. More cornering clearance 
than the Monster, but not as much as the Kawasaki. I never dragged 
anything all day on the ZX6R. On my Sprint I managed to touch the 
pegs a few times, and wore some nice scuffs on my boots' toe sliders. 
I dragged the pegs everywhere and even the exhaust pipes a few times 
on the Monster.

Overall, riding the Superbike School bike is a pretty good deal. You 
don't wear out your own tires (I had my dealer install a set of 
Dunlop 207GPs on the Sprint for the track days) and Code gets a 
discount on parts from Kawasaki if you crash and have to pay for 
repairs.

I also rode my Sprint RS at Laguna Seca twice in November. At the end 
of the third track day my tires were pretty well toasted and needed 
replacement. Factoring in the cost of the tires, and labor to mount 
the GPs and remount the stock Bridgestones, riding my own bike cost 
me an extra $130 per day for the tires alone. This does not include 
the cost of replacing the antifreeze with Water Wetter and then 
having antifreeze put back in the cooling system after the track 
days. Factoring that in adds about $30 per day.

The upside to riding the school's bike is you don't need to worry 
about wear and tear on your own bike. The downsides are you don't get 
practice on your own bike, and the students on their own bikes get 
out first each session, so the students on the school's bikes usually 
got in one less lap per session.

Darron Spohn
Hollister, CA
'00 Sprint RS

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