Questions for Keith Code - Round Two

[Keith Code]

Level IV training

Keith,

Sorry if this was asked before, but could you go into more detail about the Lvl 4 training and who you would expect to be taking that kind of class?

mrslug,

I'm not completely sure what your question is but I suspect you think that our levels are based on experience and they aren't.

The only riders accepted for Level IV training are those that have done Levels I, II and III. There are no exceptions.

I'll give you an example. Josh Herrin came to school year before last and started at Level I and last year did Levels II & III. Going over the basics the way we present them didn't seem to ruin his riding.

Is that what you wanted to know?

Keith

 

[mrslug]

mrslug,

I'm not completely sure what your question is but I suspect you think that our levels are based on experience and they aren't.

The only riders accepted for Level IV training are those that have done Levels I, II and III. There are no exceptions.

I'll give you an example. Josh Herrin came to school year before last and started at Level I and last year did Levels II & III. Going over the basics the way we present them didn't seem to ruin his riding.

Is that what you wanted to know?

Keith

Yes sir. I have done Level one with CSS. Guess when I come out to see you on 4/28 and 4/29 of this year, I will be taking Lvl2 and Lvl3.

Thanks again and see you in April.

 

[Keith Code]

Level 4

Yes sir. I have done Level one with CSS. Guess when I come out to see you on 4/28 and 4/29 of this year, I will be taking Lvl2 and Lvl3.

Thanks again and see you in April.

I realized I didn't answer your question. Level 4 is a custom program for the individual rider. Levels 1, 2,& 3 are set format, you already know how Level 1 went so expect two more days and ten more technical riding skills under your belt from Level 2 & 3.

Level 4 is all about integrating and polishing up the 15 to 20 skills you have already drilled at the other levels.

Keith

 

[Lovedoc]

Keith, I'll be doing level 3 and 4 next month at a 2 day camp. Whats involved in developing the Level 4 plan?

 

[Keith Code]

Level 4 plan

Keith, I'll be doing level 3 and 4 next month at a 2 day camp. Whats involved in developing the Level 4 plan?

Lovedoc,

Once you finish L3 you'll fill out a sheet with about 12 questions on it. We look at what you wrote and compare that to how you were riding and come up with a program for you.

Level 4 students have two coaches. Their on-track coach and also a consultant who works with each L4 rider between sessions.

Also, we usually are able to squeeze in an extra ride for each of the L4 riders so they have some extra time to work on their individual program steps. Some places like Laguna that's a problem because they limit the number of bikes on course.

Keith

 

[silverbelt]

Keith, I was curious why there are so few infineon dates on the CSS schedule, and the dates where you are there, is later in the year where whether is unpredictable. I am sure you'd have no problems filling all available spots during mid-year.

Secondly, in L2, is time allotted to go back and refresh the L1 basics?

 

[mrslug]

I realized I didn't answer your question. Level 4 is a custom program for the individual rider. Levels 1, 2,& 3 are set format, you already know how Level 1 went so expect two more days and ten more technical riding skills under your belt from Level 2 & 3.

Level 4 is all about integrating and polishing up the 15 to 20 skills you have already drilled at the other levels.

Keith

Keith,

I took the Lvl 1 class in 2000 or so and I learned more on that day then the 15+ years of riding I had done before. I am hoping Lvl 2 and 3 will be just as informative.

My ultimate goal is to do a NRS and get my AFM license. Does CSS offer a NRS after Lvl 4?

 

[Keith Code]

dates

Keith, I was curious why there are so few infineon dates on the CSS schedule, and the dates where you are there, is later in the year where whether is unpredictable. I am sure you'd have no problems filling all available spots during mid-year.

Secondly, in L2, is time allotted to go back and refresh the L1 basics?

Ya, October, November and December. We've had good luck with weather in those months before except last december, we got rained on one day.

Why don't we have other dates? The track claims its because of the car schools taking them all.

Keith

 

[Keith Code]

NRS

Keith,

I took the Lvl 1 class in 2000 or so and I learned more on that day then the 15+ years of riding I had done before. I am hoping Lvl 2 and 3 will be just as informative.

My ultimate goal is to do a NRS and get my AFM license. Does CSS offer a NRS after Lvl 4?

Not for the AFM. I think someone like Kiegwins or Zoom Zoom has one, check out their sites. If you wanted to race CCS or WERA our school covers your new rider school.

Keith

 

[Keith Code]

NRS

Keith,

I took the Lvl 1 class in 2000 or so and I learned more on that day then the 15+ years of riding I had done before. I am hoping Lvl 2 and 3 will be just as informative.

My ultimate goal is to do a NRS and get my AFM license. Does CSS offer a NRS after Lvl 4?

I was just thinking of the history of AFM NRS. I was on the national board of the AFM for several years in the 70's and one of the things I did was start an AFM NRS, I believe it was the first time it had been done, at least it was in the southern chapter, not positive about AFM North.

Anyhow, before that there was no NRS. You showed up one Sunday for a race. (almost all races were Sunday only then), you payed your money and listened to the flag talk and whatever else the race director had to say and you raced. There was tech inspection of course.

My first AFM race was at Ontario Motor Speedway, one of the best tracks ever built. I was on a modified 500 Honda 4. I wound up on the first row of my first AFM race somehow. Guess who else was there...Yvonne DuHammel, and Hurley Wilvert and Jim Evans on their factory Kawasaki triples. Them and me, we were the first row.

Keith

 

[bikerdr]

Well don't leave us hanging! How'd it turn out?!?

PS - Used the level 1/2 pamphlets you hand out after class at my track day at Sear's last Friday, they were a great guide to keep me focused on getting better and not just "trying to go fast around the track." Thanks for your guidance!

 

[mrslug]

I was just thinking of the history of AFM NRS. I was on the national board of the AFM for several years in the 70's and one of the things I did was start an AFM NRS, I believe it was the first time it had been done, at least it was in the southern chapter, not positive about AFM North.

Anyhow, before that there was no NRS. You showed up one Sunday for a race. (almost all races were Sunday only then), you payed your money and listened to the flag talk and whatever else the race director had to say and you raced. There was tech inspection of course.

My first AFM race was at Ontario Motor Speedway, one of the best tracks ever built. I was on a modified 500 Honda 4. I wound up on the first row of my first AFM race somehow. Guess who else was there...Yvonne DuHammel, and Hurley Wilvert and Jim Evans on their factory Kawasaki triples. Them and me, we were the first row.

Keith

Wow, nice history.

Well regardless of whether or not you have a NRS for AFM, taking classes 2,3 and 4 certainly cannot hurt me.

See you in April.

 

[Keith Code]

how did it go

Well don't leave us hanging! How'd it turn out?!?

PS - Used the level 1/2 pamphlets you hand out after class at my track day at Sear's last Friday, they were a great guide to keep me focused on getting better and not just "trying to go fast around the track." Thanks for your guidance!

bikerdr

you are joking of course...by the time the flag was waived the three green things were about half way down the over 1/2 mile straight, I was probably getting into second gear.

 

[Zerox]

I'm about 8 seconds off the fastest guys in the club (Stanton ,Earnest ,Randolph ,Hill ,ect) I'm doing around 1:41-1:42's at Infineon

A 1:39 at Infineon is ridiculous fast, that's close to a lap-record pace with the current AFM config (the slower AMA T1 and T9). You are only 2 seconds behind the elite guys, not 8 seconds.

Love the 'back in the day' stories, Keith, keep'em coming.

 

[Keith Code]

Traction Control

I was just wondering what you all think of traction control.

Here's my question:

Does the fact that a Moto GP rider can pin the throttle, at practically any lean angle, reduce the mystique for you of riding a 240 bhp motorcycle that weights 325 lb?

I'm writing an article about it and I've surveyed riders at the school but was curious about how BARFERS felt about it.

Keith

 

[Z3n]

I was just wondering what you all think of traction control.

Here's my question:

Does the fact that a Moto GP rider can pin the throttle, at practically any lean angle, reduce the mystique for you of riding a 240 bhp motorcycle that weights 325 lb?

I'm writing an article about it and I've surveyed riders at the school but was curious about how BARFERS felt about it.

Keith

No. I feel that it is a different form of skills, unique to motogp, that's interesting and technical in it's own way. It puts winning and consistancy on both the rider and the machine. In some ways, it's a better showcase for the machines themselves.

The evolution of riding will change as technology advances, and it's interesting to see one potential dimension of the future of riding a motorcycle. It's compelling and facinating in it's own way. It differs from the "pure" motorcycling of the 500cc 2 strokes or of the 990's, but it is still amazing to watch.

It's different, but I would say if anything it adds to the mystique of the bikes. What does that ducati have that allows Stoner to do such amazing things with it? It gives the limelight to the bikes as well as the riders, and more importantly, the interactions of the bikes and the riders...Stoner stepped up to plate in a big way in the first race, whereas Melandri wasn't even within the top 10.

But then again, i'm far from a motorcycle purist. I love anything with an engine and 2 wheels.

 

[Lovedoc]

I don't feel traction control diminishes the achievements of the rider, they will simply utilize the safer power delivery to push the envelope somewhere else. I also respect the skill required to harness the fury of the 500 strokers and the brutal power of the 990's. Time will make those machines and men legends while the sport moves on.

Dorna and the manufacturers have the right and the responsibility to offer the best product they can. The public will watch something else if that product becomes too predictable.

I wouldn't mind if some of that technology someday made my bike a little safer either. I'll never have a fraction of the skills of Casey Stoner, but I'll bet I'm just as fond of leaving the track in one piece.

 

[Alexey]

I was just wondering what you all think of traction control.

Here's my question:

Does the fact that a Moto GP rider can pin the throttle, at practically any lean angle, reduce the mystique for you of riding a 240 bhp motorcycle that weights 325 lb?

I'm writing an article about it and I've surveyed riders at the school but was curious about how BARFERS felt about it.

Keith

As a fan, it's a little frustrating knowing there is now a very ethereal dimension to the sport that's virtually impossible for an outsider to know anything about directly. As others have said, it's not as though it turns motorcycle racing into a video game though. I believe it was Capirossi that said in an interview that it's possible to turn TC way up and make the bike virtually uncrashable. But at the same time, when you do that, you're no longer able to get the last bit of performance. We're still in the early stages of this technology, as hardware and software is rapidly developing. So who knows what it'll turn to in 10 or 20 years' time.

As a street rider and club racer as well as a computer geek, I'm actually excited by the prospect of being able to plug my race bike into a laptop and fine tune my traction control settings, same as I can dial in suspension settings now. I think, in the long run, it'll mostly make the game more complex, not simpler. All in all, I'm in favor of it.

 

[kxmike]

Anything that takes the danger out of racing...makes it a little less exciting and diminishes the impressiveness of the feat (in my eyes). I'm all for tecnological advances and safety (the sport would suffer without these changes)...but I can't help but feel that as the danger decreases ...so does the excitement level.
(This is coming from someone who used to race a 500cc 2 stroke dirt bike and totally loves IOM racing)

 

[Alexey]

Quick note I'd like to add. Yesterday, I was watching Wind Tunnel and they were talking about 2008 being the first year in modern F1 without traction control and brake assist (ABS?) technologies. I have no idea how they are able to police it at that level with any degree of confidence, but assuming no one's cheating, the footage looked pretty spectacular. And it's a bit sad to see supposed past heroes struggling to stay on the pavement without all the fancy electronic gizmos... But hey, a modern fighter jet is simply unfliable without the computer(s).