KEIGWINS NOVICE SHOOL, THUNDERHILL RACEWAY

As always, this is a wonderfull event that I look forward to as for many attendees, this is truly their first sortie on a track, and the improvements can be dramatic to say the least from 4 minute laps down to the sub 3 minute area. Many bikes are ridden, not just sport bikes and that makes things even more interesting :)

Day one involves setting up every bike at the school (50-60 bikes), lecturing in the classroom and then being part of the instructor demo.

Bike set up can be as simple as a "No - there's nothing to adjust other than tire pressure and geometry" through to a 10 minute initial set up followe by multiple visits. The bottom line for day one is to make sure that every bike is optimized so that instructors know that they can get from the students what they are asking for becuase the bike is correctly set up and not part of the equation. It takes a lot of work sometimes on these days with the times that riders drop by the end of day one, but that leaves day two open with very little to do. Note that all the bikes have to be done before 2.45pm when I start classroom lectures........

In the classroom, the focus is always two simple points for every to avoid information overload:

1. Is your bike safe to ride based on the fork and shock springs you have on the bike right now.

2. When was the last time that you serviced the fork and shock oil.

It is fun to see how many people never consider what suspension they have on the bike - much like a car it seems like it should be one size fits all. Unfortunately on bikes this is not true, so teaching students how to measure sag and then putting riders on one bike of varying weights always creates a lot of debate. Add to this that BMW is the only company service manual that specs suspension oil changes, and you get the picture of incredulity on some faces. The information just ins't out there, so the classroom lectures really help make people aware of what they need to take care of and look out for when buying a new or used bike.

Some feedback from the school:

Dave,
I just wanted to thank you again for the service you provided me at the Thunderhill track days April 5 and 6.
Due to your suspension assistance I was able to improve my best lap time by 7 seconds. The advice you offered, in how to break the track down into sections to better understand the components was invaluable. That was some of the most helpful information I've received, at any track, from any instructor. Perhaps you could add sage advice to the suspension logo.

I hope I have an opportunity to utilize your services in the future.

Chaz Verrall
Ugly Zebra striped GSXR 750