BIKES: Cornerspeed; A Day At School On The R6 Project Bike

Motorcycling Lifestyles

BIKES: Cornerspeed; A Day At School On The R6 Project Bike

Neale Bayly hits the track for some important riding instruction.

Neale Bayly | Posted August 10, 2009 Charlotte, NC

For my school, I loaded up my long-term test Yamaha R6, packed my leathers, and hopped in the trusty rusty bound for VIR. (Photo: Neale Bayly and F&S Enterprises)

Why? Sitting in the pits at my local track day recently staring at two freshly wadded 1,000cc sportbikes, the question kept coming back to me. Why? Why had two bikes crashed in the first novice session of the day without either of them making it past turn two? The one closest to me was sporting a full Titanium exhaust system with the appropriate Power Commander and the other a set of fresh Michelin Premium Race Tires. Again the question why?

All I could think of was as a motorcycle journalist, have I done enough to promote riding schools, further education, and sensible sized starter bikes? Thinking through the situation in front of me, I vowed to head straight to the nearest track school and continue my education. Hopefully, another article could shed some light on the situation, and what I was witnessing here at the track could be avoided. It can’t be fun to spend ten grand on a sport bike, a few more fixing it up, buying leathers and gear for the track, and then not even making one lap. Not to mention going home to the missus trying to explain why you need another few grand to fix the mess. Putting in a call to Aaron Stevenson at www.cornerspeed.net, I had my school booked the next day, and with Aaron teaching a class at Virginia International Raceway in the following weeks, I didn’t have long to wait.

For my school, I loaded up my long-term test Yamaha R6, packed my leathers, and hopped in the trusty rusty bound for VIR. Aaron has a good deal with a local hotel, and after a few hours shuteye, the morning of the school dawned clear and sunny. On arrival at the track, I quickly unloaded my bike, took it and my gear through tech, and headed to class to continue my education. Over the years I have taken a number of schools with everyone from Kevin Schwantz and Jamie James, to Ed Bargy and Keith Code, not to mention solid entry-level track classes at Sportbiketracktime.com events and always learned something new as I attempt to unravel the mystery of speed. Every school has a different approach, but whether a novice, intermediate, or expert track rider, they all have a tremendous amount to offer.

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