Farkling you.
Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 6:31 pm
We all spends all kinds of dinero on shit for our bikes to make them accelerate faster, turn better, stop quicker and make them more comfortable. The one thing it seems we rarely spend money on is us. A box stock of FJR (hell, practically any bike) rarely gets ridden to it's full capability. How often have we seen somebody by a 600 sportbike only to see them upgrade to a 1000cc bike within a year. Do you really think they can even come close to the performance envelope of that 600?
So last year I took a Lee Parks Total Control Level 1 class. I've written about it here before so I won't rehash that, but the takeaway from it is that it made me realize that even some of the most basic skills I had got lazy with over the years. As a bonus, I came out with a big bag of new skills to practice. Money well spent. After the course I spent some time practicing in the local parking lot on my little 2-fiddy's in the same college parking lot they teach the noobs who want to get their license. Trail braking, loading the bike for a turn, simple body position stuff. On one of my practice sessions, I had an audience. It was one of the course instructors who just happened to be driving by, saw me and sneaked in the next lot down. I had been practicing trail braking. He came over with a big smile on his face while I practiced doing figure 8's.
He didn't have a freakin' clue what I was practicing but wished more people would do it. He was sure I was going to map out at the speeds I was attacking the corners on this little course. I wasn't even close to riding full blast.
This past weekend I did the Lee Parks Level 2 class on the new FJR.
Honestly, I don't think I got anywhere near as much out Level 2 as I got out of level 1. Not to say that it wasn't worthwhile, but the skills gained were more refinement then new skills. Power shifting (actually, clutchless upshifting, which I do quite a lot anyway), panic stops, still more body positions, decreasing radius turns and a few more of the more complex situations we can find ourselves in such as obstacle avoidance mid turn - which is always a good thing to know how to do.
My buddy David who taught the Level 1 course was nowhere to be seen, instead it'd be Nancy (hubba hubba to quote Don) and Christine Firehock whom I'd never heard of before. Apparently she's a hot shit rider for Ducati, a product manager for a HD and carries an AMA license. Trust me, they both can ride the absolute shit out of a motorcycle. Yzermans buddy Jeff was there as the only other FJR rider. A BMW1600GTL, a couple of various sized GS's (including a 500 Suzuki), a middle aged guy on an tricked out R1 (Glad he was getting instruction because he REALLY needed it) along with this pretty boy (the instructors seemed to think so) on a loud assed softtail.
Anyway, the FJR can shift clutchlessly so smooth that the instructor doesn't believe you shifted at all. It'll panic stop so fast that you will leave eyeballs marks on the inside of your visor and happily drag the pegs all day long on stock tires. Two guys went down during the day. One in the parking lot (oops) the other guy was still in the middle of a near full lock panic stop and turned his head to look at the instructor. BLAMMO! SKID, SLIDE. Lucky for him he was only sub 5mph when it happened.
All in all a good day of instruction that put some bookends on combining some skills and a handful of new ones. Money well spent? I think so. I'm a different rider than I was 2 years ago. I can be faster, safer and more comfortable and isn't equipment or bike dependent. Those skills can transfer to any bike I choose to ride. They're the ultimate farkle.
So last year I took a Lee Parks Total Control Level 1 class. I've written about it here before so I won't rehash that, but the takeaway from it is that it made me realize that even some of the most basic skills I had got lazy with over the years. As a bonus, I came out with a big bag of new skills to practice. Money well spent. After the course I spent some time practicing in the local parking lot on my little 2-fiddy's in the same college parking lot they teach the noobs who want to get their license. Trail braking, loading the bike for a turn, simple body position stuff. On one of my practice sessions, I had an audience. It was one of the course instructors who just happened to be driving by, saw me and sneaked in the next lot down. I had been practicing trail braking. He came over with a big smile on his face while I practiced doing figure 8's.
He didn't have a freakin' clue what I was practicing but wished more people would do it. He was sure I was going to map out at the speeds I was attacking the corners on this little course. I wasn't even close to riding full blast.
This past weekend I did the Lee Parks Level 2 class on the new FJR.
Honestly, I don't think I got anywhere near as much out Level 2 as I got out of level 1. Not to say that it wasn't worthwhile, but the skills gained were more refinement then new skills. Power shifting (actually, clutchless upshifting, which I do quite a lot anyway), panic stops, still more body positions, decreasing radius turns and a few more of the more complex situations we can find ourselves in such as obstacle avoidance mid turn - which is always a good thing to know how to do.
My buddy David who taught the Level 1 course was nowhere to be seen, instead it'd be Nancy (hubba hubba to quote Don) and Christine Firehock whom I'd never heard of before. Apparently she's a hot shit rider for Ducati, a product manager for a HD and carries an AMA license. Trust me, they both can ride the absolute shit out of a motorcycle. Yzermans buddy Jeff was there as the only other FJR rider. A BMW1600GTL, a couple of various sized GS's (including a 500 Suzuki), a middle aged guy on an tricked out R1 (Glad he was getting instruction because he REALLY needed it) along with this pretty boy (the instructors seemed to think so) on a loud assed softtail.
Anyway, the FJR can shift clutchlessly so smooth that the instructor doesn't believe you shifted at all. It'll panic stop so fast that you will leave eyeballs marks on the inside of your visor and happily drag the pegs all day long on stock tires. Two guys went down during the day. One in the parking lot (oops) the other guy was still in the middle of a near full lock panic stop and turned his head to look at the instructor. BLAMMO! SKID, SLIDE. Lucky for him he was only sub 5mph when it happened.
All in all a good day of instruction that put some bookends on combining some skills and a handful of new ones. Money well spent? I think so. I'm a different rider than I was 2 years ago. I can be faster, safer and more comfortable and isn't equipment or bike dependent. Those skills can transfer to any bike I choose to ride. They're the ultimate farkle.
