MC-related: Jason Pridmore's Star School
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 11,615
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From: North Richland Hills, TX
I attended this today, and it was great! For all you non-motorcycle folks, Jason Pridmore is a Suzuki factory-sponsored AMA Superbike racer.
I've been to a couple of other schools (Keith Code, Texas Sportbike School) previously, but this one was by far the best. In addition to Jason and all the other great instructors, Rich Alexander was teaching too. Jason & Co. had great attitudes & were friendly and approachable - much appreciated after experiencing Keith Code's personality firsthand. I feel my skills have reached the point where it's hard to make quantum leaps, but I learned and improved more than expected, esp. since I was concerned that my sprained and broken ankle would be a problem.
The highlight of the day was taking a couple of laps on the back of a Katana 750 w/ street tires (a fairly outdated, relatively low performing bike) w/ Jason @ the controls. I couldn't believe the lean angles he achieved w/ 2 people on board, and he was sooooo smooth, I felt like it was electric powered. His shifts and braking were barely perceptible, and it def. gave me a new benchmark to work towards!
I'm beat! After ~500 miles on Saturday's drive, plus 365 miles round trip Sunday/today & 100+ track miles in hot leathers, I'm ready to relax @ work for a few days!
Bottom line, if you ride a sportbike, check this school out - it's more bang for the buck than anything you can do to your bike, and I'll be back!
http://www.starmotorcycle.com/
I've been to a couple of other schools (Keith Code, Texas Sportbike School) previously, but this one was by far the best. In addition to Jason and all the other great instructors, Rich Alexander was teaching too. Jason & Co. had great attitudes & were friendly and approachable - much appreciated after experiencing Keith Code's personality firsthand. I feel my skills have reached the point where it's hard to make quantum leaps, but I learned and improved more than expected, esp. since I was concerned that my sprained and broken ankle would be a problem.
The highlight of the day was taking a couple of laps on the back of a Katana 750 w/ street tires (a fairly outdated, relatively low performing bike) w/ Jason @ the controls. I couldn't believe the lean angles he achieved w/ 2 people on board, and he was sooooo smooth, I felt like it was electric powered. His shifts and braking were barely perceptible, and it def. gave me a new benchmark to work towards!
I'm beat! After ~500 miles on Saturday's drive, plus 365 miles round trip Sunday/today & 100+ track miles in hot leathers, I'm ready to relax @ work for a few days!
Bottom line, if you ride a sportbike, check this school out - it's more bang for the buck than anything you can do to your bike, and I'll be back!
http://www.starmotorcycle.com/
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Joined: Oct 2000
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Agreed...
The Pridmore STAR school was the best time I had on a motorcycle- talk about a huge leap in skills!
That whole steering with the pegs thing... I did end up getting it about 3/4 of the way into the day, and it's changed the way I ride my bike- definitely for the better.
I'm what you would call a timid motorcyclist. But- with the skills I learned at the STAR school, I'm a much better rider and less stressed on the road- I'm able to concentrate on the cars and who knows what around me...
Definitely recommended... as a supplement to Keith Code's books.
The Pridmore STAR school was the best time I had on a motorcycle- talk about a huge leap in skills!
That whole steering with the pegs thing... I did end up getting it about 3/4 of the way into the day, and it's changed the way I ride my bike- definitely for the better.
I'm what you would call a timid motorcyclist. But- with the skills I learned at the STAR school, I'm a much better rider and less stressed on the road- I'm able to concentrate on the cars and who knows what around me...
Definitely recommended... as a supplement to Keith Code's books.
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 17,288
Likes: 39
From: Nashville
I *need* to go to a superbike school!!!! i have about 15k miles of motorcycling (not that much, but...) with no accidents.... i seem to pay attention...i like living...ahah
I did drop my bike at a wet intersection one time at about 15mph aftering hitting someones wet patch of oil..(not from a honda).
Anymore all bikes are tooo damn fast... 600's are in the mid 10's at 125mph+...sheesh.
Scot
[Edited by Scot on 05-16-2001 at 08:50 AM]
I did drop my bike at a wet intersection one time at about 15mph aftering hitting someones wet patch of oil..(not from a honda).
Anymore all bikes are tooo damn fast... 600's are in the mid 10's at 125mph+...sheesh.
Scot
[Edited by Scot on 05-16-2001 at 08:50 AM]
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Hey Scot-
Agreed...
600s are getting rediculous. Very fast, very light, very dangerous if used incorrectly. The current generation can get you into a heap of trouble without much prodding.
By the way- I just sold my Yamaha R6 and bought a new Ducati Monster 750... Like you, I like living... yadda yadda yadda... and the R6 was just *TOO* fast- not that I didn't have fun with it, but I think I would have had a limited lifespan if I had kept it, if you know what I mean. I don't live for speed on a bike- the cars do that for me...
The Monster 750 will be a much more relaxed ride- great for goofing of on...
Agreed...
600s are getting rediculous. Very fast, very light, very dangerous if used incorrectly. The current generation can get you into a heap of trouble without much prodding.
By the way- I just sold my Yamaha R6 and bought a new Ducati Monster 750... Like you, I like living... yadda yadda yadda... and the R6 was just *TOO* fast- not that I didn't have fun with it, but I think I would have had a limited lifespan if I had kept it, if you know what I mean. I don't live for speed on a bike- the cars do that for me...
The Monster 750 will be a much more relaxed ride- great for goofing of on...
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 17,288
Likes: 39
From: Nashville
Nick - I agree......to get any new sport bike...the only slow (really not that slow though)bikes are those stupid Ninja 250's and the Fakie Ninja EX500's..... Katana 600's are too heavy for a beginner and everything else is like riding a missle!
I see in our paper about motorcyclists getting killed and it is usually a 19 year old on a ZX7 or something equally fast..Invincible.....until they hit the telephone poll.
Scot
I see in our paper about motorcyclists getting killed and it is usually a 19 year old on a ZX7 or something equally fast..Invincible.....until they hit the telephone poll.
Scot
Thread Starter
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 11,615
Likes: 1
From: North Richland Hills, TX
I agree w/ y'all about motorcycle performance. A modern 600 is perfect for the track...anything more will just remind me what a wimp I am.
I sold my old R6 b/c it "made" me ride too fast on the streets w/ its preference to be kept between 10,000 and 15,500 rpm. It was a blast (and the perfect track bike), but I felt it was asking for trouble. So I traded it for a R1 w/ the philosophy that I could cruise on it a little easier. That worked, but the wheelies got much bigger and longer.
So I sold it and decided to get off the street before I got a ticket or crashed. If I get another street bike, I'd go for an SV650S so I could have fun at somewhat lower speeds. Since I've been interested in the SV, I asked Jason Pridmore about it (his school has several in addition to the GSXR's), and he said it's his choice for a great streetbike. He said the GSXR's/Hayabusa, while awesome bikes, are too much for the street, and he'd never want a 750/1000 for public roads. He even said he'd rather race the SV if he could make a decent living doing so! It's really cool to see an top-notch pro w/ such a responsible attitude!
I sold my old R6 b/c it "made" me ride too fast on the streets w/ its preference to be kept between 10,000 and 15,500 rpm. It was a blast (and the perfect track bike), but I felt it was asking for trouble. So I traded it for a R1 w/ the philosophy that I could cruise on it a little easier. That worked, but the wheelies got much bigger and longer.
So I sold it and decided to get off the street before I got a ticket or crashed. If I get another street bike, I'd go for an SV650S so I could have fun at somewhat lower speeds. Since I've been interested in the SV, I asked Jason Pridmore about it (his school has several in addition to the GSXR's), and he said it's his choice for a great streetbike. He said the GSXR's/Hayabusa, while awesome bikes, are too much for the street, and he'd never want a 750/1000 for public roads. He even said he'd rather race the SV if he could make a decent living doing so! It's really cool to see an top-notch pro w/ such a responsible attitude!
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