7seven7
Well-known member
I recently took the "Surviving the streets" advanced riding course at TMP and totally loved it. I had a huge smile on my face on the way home, despite riding through a thunder storm.
Here's my background. I started riding July of last year with no previous experience on a motorcycle. Got my m1, took the course at humber, and started on a ninja 250. I put almost 9k on it, prior to moving up this spring to a ninja 650. I consider myself a responsible rider although i am still a newb! The main reason for starting on the smaller ninja was to gain confidence. After 9k I thought I had seen what the bike could do and wanted more. The difference in power after moving up was significant but I found myself a lot slower in corners than when I was on the smaller bike.
I heard about the course through the forum and decided last minute to register.
The word "track" is intimidating to some people (myself included). The possibility of dropping the bike, a crash, or having to explain to the insurance company about any damage was running through my head. It seemed like everyone in my group shared the same worries. One lady only had 500km on her brand new cruiser, she ended up riding that thing like she owned it for years. The track was clean and even, there were people watching the track and a med team on stand by. If i were to crash, I would rather do it there than anywhere on the street. It's the ideal way to improve your riding, practice new skills without worry of cars making left turns or trucks swerving into your lane. Totally controlled environment left me feeling safe and able to focus. The speedo was covered so everything was based on how the bike felt. At the end I felt more comfortable holding my line and experiencing lean angles way past what I thought was my limit. I'm sure the bike had more, but I was satisfied regardless.
There were 3 riders per instructor. The instructors gave good feedback and advice to each specific rider, based on experience level, bike or goal. By the end of the day every rider had improved significantly. The course is driven more towards cruisers and sport touring but I never felt out of place being on a sport bike. Everyone was out there to learn, and they did.
The course covered:
High speed emergency braking
-something you want to practice first before a real emergency
-done at high speeds at your own comfort level.
Collision avoidance
-counter steering
-swerving
High speed cornering
Throttle control
At the end I felt that I learned more in one afternoon than I did riding 9k on the 250. I had so much more control of the bike and more confidence in leaning. It also made me realize that there's no way in hell I outgrew that 250, I probably wasn't even close to riding it to its potential. On the upside I'm growing in to the bigger bike just fine. I just got back from riding 507 and wicked time! (safely of course)
I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to improve their riding.
The only thing I would suggest is maybe a little more time practicing dowshifting, otherwise the course covered exactly what I needed.
Keep the shiny side up!!
Here are some stills my gro pro captured during the course
The last few laps "free session".. It was nice to have the track all to myself.
I think I'm addicted and now considering intro to track in August.
Really missing my 250 right about now..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsjgalvbJtM&feature=youtu.be
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Here's my background. I started riding July of last year with no previous experience on a motorcycle. Got my m1, took the course at humber, and started on a ninja 250. I put almost 9k on it, prior to moving up this spring to a ninja 650. I consider myself a responsible rider although i am still a newb! The main reason for starting on the smaller ninja was to gain confidence. After 9k I thought I had seen what the bike could do and wanted more. The difference in power after moving up was significant but I found myself a lot slower in corners than when I was on the smaller bike.
I heard about the course through the forum and decided last minute to register.
The word "track" is intimidating to some people (myself included). The possibility of dropping the bike, a crash, or having to explain to the insurance company about any damage was running through my head. It seemed like everyone in my group shared the same worries. One lady only had 500km on her brand new cruiser, she ended up riding that thing like she owned it for years. The track was clean and even, there were people watching the track and a med team on stand by. If i were to crash, I would rather do it there than anywhere on the street. It's the ideal way to improve your riding, practice new skills without worry of cars making left turns or trucks swerving into your lane. Totally controlled environment left me feeling safe and able to focus. The speedo was covered so everything was based on how the bike felt. At the end I felt more comfortable holding my line and experiencing lean angles way past what I thought was my limit. I'm sure the bike had more, but I was satisfied regardless.
There were 3 riders per instructor. The instructors gave good feedback and advice to each specific rider, based on experience level, bike or goal. By the end of the day every rider had improved significantly. The course is driven more towards cruisers and sport touring but I never felt out of place being on a sport bike. Everyone was out there to learn, and they did.
The course covered:
High speed emergency braking
-something you want to practice first before a real emergency
-done at high speeds at your own comfort level.
Collision avoidance
-counter steering
-swerving
High speed cornering
Throttle control
At the end I felt that I learned more in one afternoon than I did riding 9k on the 250. I had so much more control of the bike and more confidence in leaning. It also made me realize that there's no way in hell I outgrew that 250, I probably wasn't even close to riding it to its potential. On the upside I'm growing in to the bigger bike just fine. I just got back from riding 507 and wicked time! (safely of course)
I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to improve their riding.
The only thing I would suggest is maybe a little more time practicing dowshifting, otherwise the course covered exactly what I needed.
Keep the shiny side up!!
Here are some stills my gro pro captured during the course
The last few laps "free session".. It was nice to have the track all to myself.
I think I'm addicted and now considering intro to track in August.
Really missing my 250 right about now..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsjgalvbJtM&feature=youtu.be
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
