Advanced Skills Course

[BladeBoy]

In am thinking about doing the Stay Upright Advanced Skills Course, has anybody here been to this one and was it worth the $320 ?

[Zombie]

Dont know about NSW but the Stay Upright thats local to me is CRAP!

[ty]

Matchan's been to one and recommends it.
I'm going to one on 29th August.
From what I've heard they're much better than HART, and the HART course I went to I could only say was average.
ty

[JamesLaugesen]

I've never done Stay Upright or HART but from what I've heard they're pretty silly compared to Aussie Superbike School - "Cornering School". I did Level 1 with Samhasa636 and it was absolutely awesome.
Heaps more pricey though.

[Glen]

They're angled at different purposes, Superbike School will teach you cornering skills in a much more focussed way, whereas Upright will concentrate more on road skills ie Basic cornering principles(they won't teach you when to hang off the side etc but more fundamental cornering), real emergency braking (excellent idea), obstacle avoidance etc.

Any training is worthwhile but think about what you want to achieve. If you want predominantly to improve your road skills and safety then I'd do Upright. If it's going around corners quickly then SBS is the go.

My opinion for what it's worth. I'd do Upright first to get the basic control things right (if you need to) and then move on to SBS to improve cornering, vision, overall bike control etc as the dollars become available and if you think it's relevant.

[Pabs]

I've heard the "cornering school" is the best one,from non Kwaka riders.
Check this site out and go to (riding tips)http://homepage.ntlworld.com/webzxr/zxr750r/index.html

[matchan]

In am thinking about doing the Stay Upright Advanced Skills Course, has anybody here been to this one and was it worth the $320 ?

g'day Mark,

I've done both the Advanced and Cornering/Braking courses with stay upright, a few years ago now, they were 260 back then.

The advanced course is excellent, I would recommend it to anyone especially those just starting out or returning after a long stint of not riding (as I was). The advanced course is all about road riding, not going fast at the track it tends to attract all sorts of riders & bikes with all sorts of backgrounds so don't be worried about being "fast" or "last" just go and enjoy it! I also found this to be a good way to get out on the track again without being worried about having to go as fast as possible which may or may not be a plus for you.

The cornering/braking course was totally different content, it was about being fast at the track, same as the superbike school I expect, it was good with lots of track time, but did not present as well as the advanced course (content not withstanding). I will be interesting to compare to ASBS as I am doing that on friday and I fully expect it to be much better from everything I've heard.


Matt

[Poyda]

I did the cornering andbraking course back in december last year. It was absolutely awesome. I learnt so much in just one day that i'm going back again soon to get more out of it.

The courses are now more track focused, but they also tell and show you how to incorporate the track technique into your raod riding, so i'm frequently hanging off the bike, just riding to and from work.

The advanced course is basically developing your skills further, and they also set up your bike to suit you and your riding style.

When you book the course, if its at Oran Park, make sure it's going to be run on the GP circuit, because the "southern" circuit has 6 left turns, and only 1 semi-noticable right

[Gosling1]

Oran Park GP Circuit without doubt the best 'Road' race track in NSW. Ride it while you can people, it is on its last legs. Probably be a housing development within 5 years, if not sooner.

I enjoyed every minute of every lap around that place, EC is good, don't get me wrong, but is very 'clinical' compared to Oran GP, which is by comparison bumpy, has off-camber corners, has a blind kink over a rise (the infamous Dog-Leg) , a bridge, ripples in the fast corners, jeez what else could you want in a 'road'-race track ??? Its the ducks guts ......

cheers
DogLegDave

[Glen]

Totally concur Gos. Oran Park is one hell of a lot of fun, once you get out of the habit of ducking every time you go under the bridge.

Most memorable/forgettable moment was racing another Marshall on a ZX9 and just going way to hard into the dog leg and sticking my own ZX9 across the grass on the inside (Phaaark those ripple strips are big).

Another priceless moment was shadowing another rider across the bridge, then the righthander, going what I thought was quick and then having Garry McCoy on an R1 (doing a special guest appearance at a Breakers ride day), come around the outside,take his left hand off the bar, give us a wave then slam the throttle open and light up the back coming out of the right hander.

It's a great track.

[Morden]

I'm not sure if they still run ut, but I did a Cornering and Breaking course at sandown (near Dandenong in Victoria for those who don't know it) in 2002. The "rider enfourced" speed limit was 100km/h, but they can't book you on the track, and by the end of the day they were looking the other way if you wern't too much over (ie no 250km/h wheelies down the main straight in the beginers group). Tyhe advantage of this, smaller indemnity insurance premium for the opperator, and cheaper cost fr the users. Cost about $60 from memory, a heap of the netrider people did the course with me, so you may find more info there.

It was with a group called SMART Training, but the web address i've got doesn't seem to work anymore... google maybe?

[Pabs]

Mark,I will be interested in a course,if you want to make it a group thing,or not.

[Gosling1]

Most memorable/forgettable moment was racing another Marshall on a ZX9 and just going way to hard into the dog leg and sticking my own ZX9 across the grass on the inside (Phaaark those ripple strips are big).

It is just fantastic I reckon, loved it from the first time I went out. Would have been grouse riding with Gary McCoy !!! I love the run off the bridge, it is really good.

Most pants-shitting moment for me was during warm-up for a PCRA round. Had only done 2 laps, then 3rd time around, still waking up, warming the tyres etc, not really 'in the groove', but belted up and over the Kink almost 1 metre to the right of the 'correct' line.

I ended up doing a dance along the white line, less than 1 foot off the grass , at about the ton shit, did I get my line right for the rest of the day after THAT !!

For those members who haven't ridden at Oran, in order to get the 'Kink' correct, you need to aim at an imaginary apex on the rise, as the actual 'kink' is not in sight until you crest the rise, and its too late to change directions then !!!

cheers
RaggedEdgeDave

[Glen]

[quote="Gosling1] Would have been grouse riding with Gary McCoy !!! [/quote]

I don't know that you'd actually call it riding with Garry McCoy, more like being on the same track at the same time.

I've also been smoked by Anthony West, riding a Ducati superbike through turn 1 at EC and Kevin Curtain on an R1 through turn 9. You really appreciate the skill of these blokes when you think you're going alright and they go around you like you're a stationary blob of crap in the middle of the track.

[Gosling1]

fair enough heh how come you get to ride at the same time as these megastars ?? HUH ?? c'mon, 'fess up

cheers
StarryEyedDave