Session One
Track familiarization and sighting: Learn the track. Take it slow, give yourself a lot of room between you and the rider in front of you. While memorizing the track, practice looking through the turns, keeping a light grip on the bars and planning for each corner…let nothing sneak up on you right now…go slow! You may see some “X’s” on the track at the entrance to some of the corners…these are just reference markers. DO NOT TURN IN AT THESE X’s IF YOU ARE NOT COMFORTABLE DOING SO! Ride in any gear, and use your brakes as necessary.

Session Two:
Sensing your speed and location: this is the famous NO BRAKES drill. Keeping your bike in 2nd or 3rd gear, which ever gear works for you, run the course concentrating on where you are on the track when you roll off the gas, when you turn in, when you get back on the gas, and pay special attention to FEELING how fast you are going when you do all of these things. Continue to look through the turn, AWAYS LOOK WHERE YOU WANT TO GO. The really fast guys/gals, FEEL how fast they are going, and KNOW where they are on the track at all times. If you come into a corner and feel like you are going too fast, use your brakes to scrub off some speed and come in slower next time, come in FEELING like you could have come into the turn faster, come in a little faster next lap.

Session Three:
Counter steering: During this session you will no longer just turn the bike, you will make a conscious effort to “COUNTERSTEER” the bike into the corner. Simply push the inside bar (right bar for a right turn), opposite the direction of the turn. By breaking the act of turning into what it really is, we can later work on when we do it and how fast we do it…This also allows us to separate the act of turning from all of the other things we do coming into a corner. Make sure you are still looking through the turns.
Ride in one or two gears and use light brakes, concentrate on the act of steering the bike.

Session Four:
Entry speed and Getting on the Gas: This session we are going to come into the corners a bit faster, counter steer the bike, and get on the gas. Motorcycles are set up to handle well with a higher % of the total weight on the back tire, say 60% rear to 40% front. All of your controls effect that weight ratio considerably. Hard on the brakes put most if not all of the weight on the front wheel (Stoppie), and high acceleration puts most or all of the weight on the back wheel (Wheelie). The bike will handle cornering loads best somewhere near that 60/40% weight balance, and your job as a corner junkie is to get it there. The best way to do this is with your right hand. The moment you are done steering and the bike is leaned over into the turn, GET ON THE GAS! Don’t snap it on like a switch, roll it on smoothly, and once on, keep it on until you get to your next braking marker. This is a good session to also work on finding your comfortable entry speed. Use your brakes to set your speed…work up to it slowly adding a little bit of entry speed every lap on every corner until you stop feeling like you would have come into the turn faster. On the race track that is the worst feeling…you tip the bike into the turn and realize you could have come into the corner way hotter…you will learn to HATE that feeling. Of course the opposite, you tip the bike into the turn and realize that you came in way too hot…that feeling sort of sucks too. ;)
Use all gears, and light braking.

Session Five:
Body English or Hanging Off: Leaning off the bike, or dragging a knee isn’t just so you look cool, the real reason for it is to help free up some of your bikes ground clearance. Dragging the knee can also help save the bike in a bad front end push, but we can talk about that later. Keeping a light grip on the bars, (Gripping them tightly will cause your body weight while hanging off to undo the counter steer you put into the bars and make the bike go wide) slide your weight towards the inside of the of the turn, tip your inside knee outward, and grip your outside knee into the side of the tank area…knee is what is holding you onto the bike. Stay on the balls of your feet, look through the turn and get on the gas, sliding your self back onto the bike as you straighten it up at the corner exit. Practice keeping your upper body loose and let the bike do its job. Doing this will allow the bike to be leaned over less, saving your expensive hard parts from grinding on the ground, while allowing higher speeds through the corner…did I mention that it looks really cool!
Use all gears, and light braking.

Session Six:
Keep it separated: Everything we have practiced so far requires a lot of your attention, and the best way to do all of them well is to separate each task required of you so you can concentrate on them individually. So during this session practice getting everything you need to do to set up for the turn done before you counter steer the bike so whe you do start your turn you can concentrate on your angles, body position, front and rear tire traction, and most importantly getting on the gas. So split it up…when you sit up to brake, get your butt slide over on the seat, push you inside knee out, keep your hands and upper body relaxed, turn your head to look through the turn, counter steer the bike into the turn, and get on the gas…this is your to do list for each turn.
Use all gears, and light braking.

Session Seven:
Throwing it in: “Throwing it in” is snapping the bike over into the turn quickly and efficiently. You can save a lot on your lap times if you learn to do this well, and this same type of fast counter steering can get you out of way more dangers on the street than your brakes can. This requires some practice, a lot of concentration, and is the reason we what you to get everything else done (braking, body English, etc.) before you get to your turn in point. All you are doing here is speeding up the act of counter steering. Simply make one decisive steering input and get on the gas. Sounds really easy, and with practice it will be. I know I am doing this one right when I can hear the “Smack” of my knee slider hitting the pavement.

Session Eight:
Late braking: You have all heard the term “late braking.” It is self-explanatory, you are hitting the brakes later…the art is in the when to hit the brakes. The reason for late braking is simple…on the track the more time you spend on the gas and the less time you are on the brakes the faster your lap time will be. Practicing late braking on the track will also help you know what your bike is capable of in an emergency braking situation…and it’s fun. So, for this session work on moving your braking markers closer to your turn in point. The idea is harder braking, later into the turn, and less or no time coasting into the corner. Make sure you are done will all of your braking before you tip the bike into the corner…we don’t want the front end to push. Trail braking or using the brakes to help the bike turn in by compressing the front end on the brakes or sliding the back end to help square off the corner is something for another day…but that looks really cool too!

Session Nine:
Race lines and squaring off the corner: There are a lot of ideas on the best line through a corner, but the line you feel most comfortable taking is the best for you. Also, the type of bike you are riding makes a big difference on what works. Some bikes make better lap times by carrying tons of corner speed and straightening the turn, other bikes make better lap times by squaring off the corner (getting the turning part of the corner done super fast and getting the bike stood up and on the gas as soon as possible). We will discuss the different lines during the classroom part of this session, and you can practice trying different lines and using the X’s at the turn to areas of each corner to get a better feel of where you want to be at each corner entrance.

Session Ten:
Zen Time: You have been on the track long enough get a feel of what your strengths are and some of the areas you may need some more work. Use this session to really concentrate on what you need to improve on. Ask questions, ask for a control rider to go out on the track with you to work on something specific. Relax and HAVE FUN!