This is my second consecutive year at California Superbike School. The same time last year, I completed CSS L1 to L3 at MMRT, Chennai – along with BHPians deepfreak15, shyamg28 and Narula123
BHPian CrAzY dRiVeR recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
This story will be divided into two parts –
1. The good – The first half (1.5 days) at CSS, including the ride to Chennai, where everything went so well and …
2. The bad and the ugly – The second half (1.5 days) at CSS where the bike suffered fuel pump breakdowns and was later transported back to Bangalore.
Part 1:
This is my second consecutive year at California Superbike School. The same time last year, I completed CSS L1 to L3 at MMRT, Chennai – along with BHPians deepfreak15, shyamg28 and Narula123 as well. While Deepak brought his KTM RC 390, Shyam did it on the Suzuki VStrom 650 and Varun on his Kawasaki ZX10R – I had attended school with my Triumph Tiger Sport 660. Overall it turned out to be a brilliant experience – and I had vowed to get back to school whenever budget and situations permitted.
This year I did not have company – but decided to go ahead anyways. Actually, three of us Team BHP moderators (KARTHIKK, AXE77 and I) were signed up to attend – but the other two had to back out for different reasons. Hopefully next year! Since I didn’t have any track sessions for the last one year- I decided to repeat L1 to L3, instead of opting for L4. Hopefully next year for that too!
As mentioned above, last year I took the Triumph Tiger Sport 660 to school. I thought I made a good decision to take my Adventure Sport motorcycle instead of taking a rental from the CSS folks. It made me understand my bike far better and helped me be better prepared to push its limits in case a situation arised! That said – I had an absolute blast on the track as well – the Tiger Sport 660 never posing any limitations for a rider with my skill level. The 660 motor was an absolute hoot – just like a triple is expected to be! Even the somewhat average quick shifter experience during touring rpms turned out to be a non-issue, both up and downshifts working perfectly at higher rpms. If I had to point out one main weakness, it was be the suspension – the softness of an adventure style motorcycle can’t be ignored. Considering the touring capabilities of this machine – I was frankly very deeply impressed by how it handed the track. Full report here – https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/super…ml#post5712120
That said – This year the timing of this purchase was such that I could easily take the Duke 390 instead for the track! I still wanted that inline3 experience, but then the curiousity of knowing the KTM “Ready to Race” pedigree up close got the better of me. After quite a bit of back and forth between the two options – I finally decided on the KTM.
The Ride to Chennai:
As mentioned in the previous page, bike was serviced at Gear Gear Motorcycles prior to the CSS week. A day before the ride – I just cleaned and lubed the chain, and dry washed the bike:
Arranging the luggage on the day of the ride and immediately realizing the Tiger Sport could have been a much more practical choice – with the panniers and saddlebag combined. Why so much of luggage? Because I didn’t want to wear the leather suit and ride for 6 hours on the highway, that too on a non-supersport motorcycle.
After quite a bit of back and forth between the two options – I’m finally off on the Duke, starting from bangalore by 1:30PM, with a bag one too many!!!
Reached Chennai by 6PM on the evening prior to CSS, my hotel being a cheap inexpensive one, but with cleanliness and all the required basic amenities. Thanks to Shyam for the suggestion as he stayed here last year! Made some good friends here – a story for later.
CSS Day 1/3:
All three days have a very similar format – starting with a briefing session, followed by classroom sessions and 20 minutes on the track to implement what was taught! What truly differentiates CSS is the quality of the trainers and the attention they are able to provide to the students. The detail they are able to extract when riding behind you is quite unbelievable.
The Day starts early at CSS. We were at the track by around 6:45AM, for registration + vehicle / riding gear checks:
Quite a good crowd even before the Chennai sun climbs over the horizon:
Parked the Duke between some of the similar competition:
While I go to drool at a 790 Duke that turned up this year:
The bikes for the judges, sponsored by Triumph:
Most bikes lined up, starting with a large lineup of superbikes. Interestingly, S1000RRs dominated the scene this year as compared to ZX10R last year:
Humble Duke among the biggies:
Morning briefing session in progress for the entire squad:
A truly international lineup of coaches this year as well:
Rolling out on to the track for the first time in a year:
Classroom sessions in progress:
Taken by none other than Dylan Code this year:
Going back out on to the track to practice some of those theory sessions:
Initial rounds are slow, many keeping pace together:
Slowly drifting apart alone once the pace picks up:
Learning the lines and the rider inputs for the Day 1 basics:
Soon starting to gain more confidence:
No complaints with the tyres this time around as well – although it is clear the the Road5s are made for touring – it doesn’t feel out of place for mild track use as well. I can’t wait to try the Duke with more stickier rubber though!
CSS Day 2/3: A Day for Vision:
Day 2 started with steering drills, with long queues waiting for their turn:
Happy and rearing to go, my smile visible despite the helmet, and paunch visible despite the suit! Lol
Steering drills in progress for me:
I received good feedback for the steering drills this time around, which was a confidence boost. I guess the KTM played a good part in this, the bike dipping in fast – in a way that’s almost telepathic!
The confidence starting to reflect in the lean angles for the rest of the day:
Body positioning was to be on Day 3, so continuing the upright stance which i was anyways used to!
By lunch time at Day 2 – Things were turning out to be a riot on the Duke 390!
To make things even better – we were following a guidebook which featured me on the cover! Wohooo!
Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
