Lee Parks Advanced Riders Clinic

So this past Saturday (March 13th) I attended Lee Parks Advanced Riders Clinic. It was a blast. The class was from 8AM - 5PM, followed by course review, rider review and suspension setup (very detailed) between 5PM - 7:00PM. Following is an account of my experiences.

I left San Diego around 6:30AM and rode up to Irvine for the class. An hours ride up to the Irvine Convention Center. The class is held in the parking lot, making the entire riding experience very controlled and secure. We had two instructors for the day, one being Lee Parks himself. When I got there the other instructor was clearing the parking lot of sand and other crap with one of those leaf blowers. There were a total of 10 students who attended the class. The instructors checked all the bikes and reduced tire pressure to 30psi (front & back) on all bikes. Once everyone was squared away the day started.

The class has a great mix of theory and riding practice. I found the theory very enlightening. Lee delivers these theory sessions in a lively manner with lots of anecdotes. The entire atmosphere is relaxed and any and all questions regarding riding are entertained. The theory sessions covered are,
1) Throttle control
2) Braking
3) Vision - Spotlight vs Floodlight
4) Fear - Here Lee goes into the riders psyche. I liked this very much. Could draw a lot of parallels to my riding experiences.
5) Turning
6) Body Position
7) Riding lines
I may have missed some, but the above covers about 80% of the class course material.

The practical aspect of the course involved,
1) Throttle Control and Braking - All this is done in a straight line. Slightly more difficult than it sounds. Instructors watch you closely and look for jerkiness. The key is to apply right amount of throttle and braking so as to keep the suspension centered. This plays a big role during aggressive cornering.

2) Vision - Using small orange traffic cones, a circle was created. Riders had to go around this circle with their head turned left/right depending upon direction. The head had to be turned such that your chin is touching your shoulders. Going around the circle showed us how even with eyes darting around trying to look in front (subconscious reaction) your line around the circle starts to waver.

3)Turning - This built on vision. First before getting on the bike, we were asked to do an exercise which involved picking up a bottle. The bottle was first kept close to us, we were asked to look at it, then close our eyes, walk upto it and pick it up. This was then repeated by increasing the distance between me and the bottle. As the distance increased my accuracy dropped. I was mostly coming up short. The practical application to this exercise is recognizing turning points and then negotiating the turn by looking into the corner at your exit. So once you are on the bike and going around the circle again, the turning point is marked by a green cone. You recognize it, and then about 10-15 feet away you turn your head, look into the turn and negotiate the corner. Not as easy as it sounds. Looking into the corner helps anticipate unknowns around the bend much faster.

4) Body Position - This is the aim/goal of the entire class. We first practiced the right hanging of technique on our bike. This involved my group holding the bike and tilting it on Lee's command and Lee directing me on my body position. Once all of us were comfortable on a stationary bike we started to ride around the circle practicing the correct hanging off procedure around the circle.

Remember that the circle I am referring too is pretty tight one and negotiating the circle is not as easy as it sounds. Pretty much as tight as the most technical canyons I have been to.

Once we got familiar with the circle we did the same with a figure 8. This involved moving from side to side and hanging off immediately. We also practiced continued hang off where in if we had tow left handed or right handed turns back to back, continue to hang to reduce amount of movement on the bike and causing the suspension to get upset.

During the Body Position exercise, Lee was taking photographs with a high speed camera. Which we reviewed later to figure out our mistakes.

Finally, at the end of the day we had a detailed session on suspension setup. This I found the most helpful.

My thoughts:
Overall I am really really glad I took this class. In retrospect, I should have taken this class before Level 1 of California Superbike School. I would recommend this approach to anyone else who is thinking about this. Personally, since I also got to meet Keifer Sutherland at Superbike School I came out on top :tongue:

Warnings:
Make sure you tire has sufficient tread.
Make sure your cooling system is working. There are times when you will be standing in line idling waiting for other students to finish their lap.
Take the class as early in the year as possible. Given it is a parking lot, the black top gets really hot and you will get roasted.
Wear good protection.

Pictures:

 

Thanks for this post. I want to take this class, it's coming to Indi. Most important question. Did you get your knee down!

 

Damn it! I wish you did not ask me that question. :tongue:

No, I did not but was about 2-3 inches between knee and ground. I just could not get low enough. However, there was a girl at the course who got her knee down. There is a really high possibility that you too can get your knee down.

But the key is the lessons learnt are in my opinion simply amazing.My understanding of riding has improved way way more after this class.

 

always up for rider training, but interested why you didnt spend another $100 for California Superbike School which is run on a track...?

 

I already did Level 1.However, I am really not ready for track speeds. Lee Parks classes are the step between ERC and California Superbike or any other track based school. The parking lot environment is at a slower pace and easier to learn on in my opinion.

 

Cool...thanks for the post. I've been wondering about that course. I'm going to take the first Mike Sullivan course here in Spokane in May. Can I ask how much the Lee Parks course you took was? Thanks.

 

325. But I believe the amount changes as per the venue.
http://www.totalcontroltraining.net/HTML/Schedule.html

 

Yeah, that's about the going rate I guess. The Mike Sullivan one is going to be $300 for all day. Then they have a track day the following day for $185 which is encouraged of course. Gets me thinking maybe I should take a course like you took before getting on the track. Here's a link to what I'm going to do:

[ SULLIVAN RACE SCHOOL ]

I'm doing level I first...

 

I love La Jolla btw...have a good friend I went to dental school with that has a practice downtown La Jolla...I think he is stinkin rich!

 

I am a total noob. I have been riding for a little over two years now. My first bike was a VStar 650 and a year later I bough the VFR. As soon as I bought the VFR I wanted to get some additional training since it is much sportier bike. Looked at the Lee Parks school, and I wanted to take that first. But, the dates just would not open. I could not wait any longer and wanted to be better rider before I ended up doing some stupid shit. So I tool the Superbike school.

Now I don't know how long you been riding and how comfortable you are with your bike. But for a newbie like me I would suggest something like a Lee Parks school before a track day.

Yeah, La Jolla is beautiful. I don't stay in downtown La Jolla though. Closer to it near the UCSD university.

 

Great class for sure. I advocate Lee Parks' BEFORE more advanced traing if you know track speeds will be too much to learn in.

Mr. Parks training has helped me for sure.

BZ

 

I'm with you Xeipher...I'm in my third riding season, started out on a Vulcan 500, then Vulcan 900 2nd year, Viffer now (still have my 900). Just like you, when I got the VFR I realized that I don't know squat about cornering, throttle control, braking, etc. If you get a chance (maybe I'll get you a copy if you want) watch Keith Code's "Twist of the Wrist II" DVD. The acting is horrible and it's corny as hell, but has some great information and a bonus clip on setting SAG.

 

Thanks. I bought the DVD before attending Superbike School Level1. I completely agree with you on the horrible acting and corniness :biggrin:. I have to rebuild my suspension to get to the optimal amount of SAG setting. On my list of stuff to do.

 

I want to congratulate you. It's very refreshing to hear someone set aside completely their ego and objectively appraise their own skill level. With your attitude I have no doubt your expertise will advance very quickly. Well done.

 

Xeipher, et al

Sounds like a great way to spend a Saturday. Lee Parks will be teaching in my area May 8, which is the week after I take the Experienced Rider Course.
Do you think having one class right after another might be overwhelming/hard to absorb?

I don't mean to hijack, thanks for the recommendation on the school.

 

More Classes

So has anyone else taken this class recently, or taken a Level II Total Control Class or one of the New Track Clinics?