Touring, Sport, and Cruiser Motorcycle Education at Superbike-Coach

Tips for a good start in the new riding season

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Tons of tips are available on the internet.  Some are good- some are bad… real bad.

Actually so bad, that it might end up in a disaster when you follow half-knowledge people.  Advice number one… don’t listen to someone on a forum who thinks that using the rear brake makes more sense today as it made sense 20 years ago…. no- it still doesn’t make sense, because rules of physics don’t change.  I understand that all of these “good” advices sound plausible for the newbie, and especially this is why you should spend less time listening to them.

If you are all set for the new riding season comes down to three factors;

1) riding experience;  The experience (and this includes also close calls, crashes, and tons of feeling) is the only thing can’t be taught, but all of it makes the rider. You gotta go through this on your own.

2) knowledge;  Can be taught in schools (there are good and bad ones), videos (not on youtube though), or books (good source)… and you’ll learn only if you admit to have to learn- even if you think you’re a heck of a rider.  I’d prefer a school, because reading about climbing is kinda different as really hanging on the edge of a cliff Read more

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Coach’s Viewpoint

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Honestly, I was shocked when I first came to America to make my dream come true.  You ask why? Well, the first time I commuted from the East Bay to San Francisco on a motorcycle, I was confronted with California’s laws and rules of the road. Furthermore, I had new experiences to process with lane splitting, city chaos and the Oakland Bay Bridge. The DMV circle test and the written exam were not difficult, but they did not prepare me for riding on California roads. I adjusted quickly. But as I considered ways to ride safely in California, as a European Championship professional and racer coach I had the training and skills to adapt quickly, but here is my point…what’s going to happen with a rookie who’s just started riding on the street, even though he learned to ride at the MSF course instead of going through the DMV circle test?  He might not have enough time to give his butt a quick goodbye kiss.

Then, I couldn’t wait to hit the road in California’s canyons. Ready to let the R1 horses rip on my first Sunday ride. To my surprise, all the cars were gentle and attentive, which is a marked difference to Germany’s drivers, believe me. But here I was confronted with fallen trees, deer, gravel, bumps and holes in the pavement as big as Read more

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Definition Of The Ideal Line

Definition Of The Ideal Line

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Let’s find it out…

In racing sports, the racing line is the route the vehicle must take in order to minimize the time taken to complete the course. When analyzing a single corner, the optimum line is one that minimizes the time spent in the corner and maximizes the overall speed (of the motorcycle) through the corner. If one used the path with the smallest radius, that would minimize the distance taken around that corner. However, by fitting a curve with the widest possible radius into the corner, the higher speed which can be maintained more than compensates for the extra distance traveled.

The apex or clipping point is often used in motorsport, though other racing sports such as skiing and bicycling have similar concepts of an ideal line. The apex is often but not always, the geometric center of the turn. Hitting the apex allows the vehicle to take the straightest line and maintain the highest speed through that specific corner. It is also the tightest part of a corner. Within the context of motorcycling, the apex is referred to the point where the motorcycle is closest to the inside

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January 2014 Newsletter

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Welcome folks, the January 2014 newsletter is out, and yes ‘It’s all about riding motorcycles in 2014’

The subjects are

  • The new website of course
  • The Coach Blog
  • The Wheelie and Knee down classes this year
  • Also about the cornering school day
  • Our Racing Program
  • And also about our ‘Laguna Seca Special’ in August and the ‘California Tour’ right after

If you didn’t receive our newsletters, you can get them all in here: http://us7.campaign-archive2.com/home/?u=442a5138ee28d389a0492ca61&id=b8322d8a22

Best,

Coach Can

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Superbike-Coach 'Crazy Can' Can Akkaya

Just another new year resolution

Just a new year resolution

New year is here… oh hold on, racers think in ‚racing seasons‘ actually… you don’t become old that way you know.  It’ll just reminds you that you have something like an „expiration date“, especially as a pro. Time is a factor in many ways in racing.

However, the Christmas food was fantastic of course, as also the New Years party hangover. Now let’s get back on the treadmill  to get rid of that fat belly and to stick with the self-imposed new year resolution “to make the breakthrough this year” and that’s a top priority goal, every racer has to have, from the novice to the top-no Read more

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3rd of November

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The 3rd of November 2008 was the date on our one-way flight tickets from Frankfurt to San Francisco. That’s the date on which Marion, Jill and I waved our friends goodbye, and on which we hugged our parents with tears flowing.  It’s the date on which Jill just was 4 years old and did not understand what the hell was going on. The 3rd of November was the most surreal day of our lives, full of ups and downs of excitement and emotions.

Just a couple of days before that particular date, we celebrated a goodbye party in an apartment where we used to live temporarily while we sold our house. The stuff we wanted to keep was already on its way through the Panama Canal, in a wooden 8x8x10 box. Some stuff we couldn’t sell was auctioned to our friends under heavy tequila influence at the party.  They supported us that way, because actually nobody needs a broken hand mixer. It was a hilarious party in that now-empty apartment, but there was always a cloud over it, with our friends looking in our eyes and asking a virtual “Are you serious?!” and “When are you coming back?!”. In the morning, or more accurately in the middle of the hangover, the answer was confirmed and clarified…there was nothing that could stop us. Read more

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