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I got hooked up with doing cornerworking for the California Superbike School from a guy I ran with in March when we did the Boston Moto thing. I dragged Adam (upnadam) along for the ride and we both did two days out of four. I would have done all four, but running CMP on Monday was a priority and I needed Tuesday to recoup, work on the bike, and change some tires. I roasted the rear Monday at CMP and there was no way in hell I was going to attempt to ride on it again!
I put a new rear on, but left the front, which had 4 days on it at that point.
The bike started making some strange noise at CMP Monday, so I ended up pulling it apart Tuesday evening also to see if I could see anything. This resulted in me reinstalling the oil pan and stator cover around 9:30 that night and finish loading up around 10:30. Never did find that noise problem though.... I did not sleep worth a damn, but got up at 4:30 and left the house around 5am to head to VIR....... I ended up running into Adam right as we got to the track and we unloaded by the garages. We did the cornerworker meeting at 8am and got ready to head out for either our corner assignments or the track if we were riding the 1st session.
The way this works is that the cornerworkers staff T1, 4, 5, 7, 10, 14, and 16. We rotate with three cornerworkers riding at any given session and the others at the corners watching the students and calling in issues we see. Of course, this also means you have your bike with you at the corner, so no tire warmers! The payment for doing this is the free track time. We rotate through the student sessions and then get 45 minutes to an hour free time during lunch! Running with the students is actually very cool becasue you are suppose to be doing the same drills as the students, such as 4th gear only, no brakes, or 3 gears and light brakes. It really gives you a chance to learn how to carry speed without relying on hard braking before the corner, and since the students are pretty slow, it also gives you PLENTY of practice setting up for passing! There is a wide variety of experience on the track, from fast riders to painfully slooooooow, so you have to be careful, but it's fun running with them! The big key is to give them PLENTY of room and not interfere with the instructors and students.
I was to ride in the 1st session and then head to T1, and since the was also the 1st session for the students on the track, they were doing an orientation lap and then coming into the pits. Thank GOD for that since I smelled oil when I came in! I looked down and my stator cover was leaking BAD! I pulled over to the mechanic area (The school mechanic is Will, and since I am a Code Grad also, they did not mind helping me) and proceeded to pull the belly pan off, and pulled the stator cover and resealed both sides of the gasket with RTV and put it all back together successfully in about 20 minutes! :cheers2: for trackside repairs! Of course, this meant I missed my 1st session, but no big deal really.
I got one more session during the morning, and then it was on for lunch! I immediately felt like I was "In the zone" and bringing the Fury on this day! I had a blast out there running, but Adam was taking his time getting use to some new stuff on his bike, so I played with others. Bill, the guy that hooked me up with this whole thing, runs pretty fast on his Daytona 675 and there was a guy there on a 600RR that was fun to run with as well! I shot some great video and will be editing over the next few days!
I ended up riding 2 more sessions that day as well and just had a blast in general! I had a school instructor come by me on a student bike in the last session and tried to follow him for the last lap which was really cool! He showed me a couple things and lines that were a bit different.
That evening, we hung out and had probably the best pizza EVER at Millies and then had some brews before calling it a night!
Thursday started off with Adam doing some bike maintenance, and then the routine repeated itself. I was not feeling quite as good Thursday probably due to some dehydration and lack of sleep, but was still running decent for the most part. I had a really good run with Adam during lunch and again later doing a "3rd and 4th gear with light brakes only" drills where Adam was working on body position. I also took my camera out with me Thursday and got some pretty good shots of most of the cornerworker guys and just had a good day in general! My front tire started pushing pretty bad, so it was limiting my corner entrance speed, but I still managed some decent runs. That was the 6th day on the front, and I rarely run them more than 3, so it's pretty well done!
Doing the cornerworking thing was very cool. If the drill was no brakes, and you see them on the brakes, you call it in. If they are passing close, you call it in. Body positioning, crap wrong in general. It was all very cool to be part of since you are an integral piece of the student's development and learning throughout the course. Towards the end of the 2nd day, I was in T1 at one point and a student bit it hard coming out of T1! On the radio instantly while grabbing the yellow flag! Rider down hard! T1. Instuctor on site!!!!!! It was pretty cool to be part of the "behind the scenes" stuff!
Highlights...... Watching Keith Code and Dillan Code running together on Wed was amazing! Sooo smooth and fast with Father and Son just dicing it up! A couple other instructors were on ZX10's and were just amazing to watch! It really puts into perspective how things are SUPPOSE to be done and just how smooth and fast these guys can run! I got a chance to work on my camera skills as well, and wish I could justify spending money on a REALLY nice body and lens set up, cause I enjoy doing this stuff too!
Overall....... What can I say? Free track time ROCKS, and doing it in this type of environment was really cool, because it gives you a serious chance to work on things and learn. Many, many thanks to Bill for thinking about me when this came up and including Adam! An awesome time with everyone was had!
Set up at the track... I bought a small 4X8 trailer for use with my WRX instead of hauling the big trailer around all the time!
Bike maintenance....
Jason, on his 600RR...
Adam, running max speed!
Eric, running his 1098. That bike sounded SOOOOOOO good!
Bill running the 675. He is pretty damned fast on that thing!
This is probably the best Adam rode both days! Please note the presence of the rather large black dude on the Kawi chasing him! Like Adam said....
"I am just a skinny white guy being chased by a BIG black man with no where to go but to run in circles!" Keith was like 6'5" and just dwarfed that bike!
Adam coming into T5 trying to run from Keith, the big black guy!
A couple of the Code instructors out playing on the course. These guys were soooo much fun to watch and FAST!
Noell was one of the corner workers as well. She is Jason's wife and was a VERY cool chick to be around!
More pics here....
I put a new rear on, but left the front, which had 4 days on it at that point.
The bike started making some strange noise at CMP Monday, so I ended up pulling it apart Tuesday evening also to see if I could see anything. This resulted in me reinstalling the oil pan and stator cover around 9:30 that night and finish loading up around 10:30. Never did find that noise problem though.... I did not sleep worth a damn, but got up at 4:30 and left the house around 5am to head to VIR....... I ended up running into Adam right as we got to the track and we unloaded by the garages. We did the cornerworker meeting at 8am and got ready to head out for either our corner assignments or the track if we were riding the 1st session.
The way this works is that the cornerworkers staff T1, 4, 5, 7, 10, 14, and 16. We rotate with three cornerworkers riding at any given session and the others at the corners watching the students and calling in issues we see. Of course, this also means you have your bike with you at the corner, so no tire warmers! The payment for doing this is the free track time. We rotate through the student sessions and then get 45 minutes to an hour free time during lunch! Running with the students is actually very cool becasue you are suppose to be doing the same drills as the students, such as 4th gear only, no brakes, or 3 gears and light brakes. It really gives you a chance to learn how to carry speed without relying on hard braking before the corner, and since the students are pretty slow, it also gives you PLENTY of practice setting up for passing! There is a wide variety of experience on the track, from fast riders to painfully slooooooow, so you have to be careful, but it's fun running with them! The big key is to give them PLENTY of room and not interfere with the instructors and students.
I was to ride in the 1st session and then head to T1, and since the was also the 1st session for the students on the track, they were doing an orientation lap and then coming into the pits. Thank GOD for that since I smelled oil when I came in! I looked down and my stator cover was leaking BAD! I pulled over to the mechanic area (The school mechanic is Will, and since I am a Code Grad also, they did not mind helping me) and proceeded to pull the belly pan off, and pulled the stator cover and resealed both sides of the gasket with RTV and put it all back together successfully in about 20 minutes! :cheers2: for trackside repairs! Of course, this meant I missed my 1st session, but no big deal really.
I got one more session during the morning, and then it was on for lunch! I immediately felt like I was "In the zone" and bringing the Fury on this day! I had a blast out there running, but Adam was taking his time getting use to some new stuff on his bike, so I played with others. Bill, the guy that hooked me up with this whole thing, runs pretty fast on his Daytona 675 and there was a guy there on a 600RR that was fun to run with as well! I shot some great video and will be editing over the next few days!
I ended up riding 2 more sessions that day as well and just had a blast in general! I had a school instructor come by me on a student bike in the last session and tried to follow him for the last lap which was really cool! He showed me a couple things and lines that were a bit different.
That evening, we hung out and had probably the best pizza EVER at Millies and then had some brews before calling it a night!
Thursday started off with Adam doing some bike maintenance, and then the routine repeated itself. I was not feeling quite as good Thursday probably due to some dehydration and lack of sleep, but was still running decent for the most part. I had a really good run with Adam during lunch and again later doing a "3rd and 4th gear with light brakes only" drills where Adam was working on body position. I also took my camera out with me Thursday and got some pretty good shots of most of the cornerworker guys and just had a good day in general! My front tire started pushing pretty bad, so it was limiting my corner entrance speed, but I still managed some decent runs. That was the 6th day on the front, and I rarely run them more than 3, so it's pretty well done!
Doing the cornerworking thing was very cool. If the drill was no brakes, and you see them on the brakes, you call it in. If they are passing close, you call it in. Body positioning, crap wrong in general. It was all very cool to be part of since you are an integral piece of the student's development and learning throughout the course. Towards the end of the 2nd day, I was in T1 at one point and a student bit it hard coming out of T1! On the radio instantly while grabbing the yellow flag! Rider down hard! T1. Instuctor on site!!!!!! It was pretty cool to be part of the "behind the scenes" stuff!
Highlights...... Watching Keith Code and Dillan Code running together on Wed was amazing! Sooo smooth and fast with Father and Son just dicing it up! A couple other instructors were on ZX10's and were just amazing to watch! It really puts into perspective how things are SUPPOSE to be done and just how smooth and fast these guys can run! I got a chance to work on my camera skills as well, and wish I could justify spending money on a REALLY nice body and lens set up, cause I enjoy doing this stuff too!
Overall....... What can I say? Free track time ROCKS, and doing it in this type of environment was really cool, because it gives you a serious chance to work on things and learn. Many, many thanks to Bill for thinking about me when this came up and including Adam! An awesome time with everyone was had!
Set up at the track... I bought a small 4X8 trailer for use with my WRX instead of hauling the big trailer around all the time!
Bike maintenance....
Jason, on his 600RR...
Adam, running max speed!
Eric, running his 1098. That bike sounded SOOOOOOO good!
Bill running the 675. He is pretty damned fast on that thing!
This is probably the best Adam rode both days! Please note the presence of the rather large black dude on the Kawi chasing him! Like Adam said....
"I am just a skinny white guy being chased by a BIG black man with no where to go but to run in circles!" Keith was like 6'5" and just dwarfed that bike!
Adam coming into T5 trying to run from Keith, the big black guy!
A couple of the Code instructors out playing on the course. These guys were soooo much fun to watch and FAST!
Noell was one of the corner workers as well. She is Jason's wife and was a VERY cool chick to be around!
More pics here....
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