| Author | Message | ||
     Pistole_pete |
This past Sunday I took the Advanced Riders Course here in Austin. Truth be told I was fretting the figure 8 boxes, but more on that later. I anticipated being the only Buell there and possibly getting some good natured ribbing from the ubiquitous harleys that would be there. Rolling up, I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me when I saw a fuel-in-frame bike waiting in the lot. The other guy, a fellow named Kirby from Galveston trailored his xb9 up to make a deadline for getting a ticket dismissed, we both were surprised and relieved to be not the only, in his words, "obsolete" bikes there (a term I quietly disagreed with, the 1125's and many other buell's are years ahead of their time despite being on a course towards being relics of the past). There were a couple of Triumphs (Thruxton 900 and a Sprint), a kid on a kawa 6-something, a k1300 and, of course, a couple of garbage wagons. The instructor was your typical goldwing riding silver fox, but he could ride the hell out of it. The CR handled the figure 8 boxes like a dream. If I did the whole exaggerated head turn, I was able to get foot or more inside of the 22' box; taking a more relaxed approach brought me closer but with less pucker...for some reason I thought it would be harder than when I took the basic and used the 125 eliminator, chalk it up to more skill/confidence or having a bike with solid engineering behind it. The one part that made me nervous was the 1 handed riding. First gear, running less than 3k and doing the offset cones - I had fear of surging and laying the bike down. Somehow I kept a speed of 10-15mph and felt nary a surge. People seemed to like the CR's style, I tried to snap a pic of the harley guys looking at it (one of them, an ex marine, in his Leatherneck red/yellow colors) but couldn't get to it in time. All in all a great day, no one got hurt. One bike was laid down, the Thruxton, during the corner stopping exercise (he came to a dead stop mid lean and turned his wheel into the lean when he saw that it was tipping over). His jacket throwing reaction belied the British sensibilities of his bike...perhaps something more on the lines of "I say, old chap, it appears as though an error in my motoring has buggered my bike...chip chip cheerio" would have been more appropriate. I've got a few weeks till my insurance expires and hopefully I'll get my money's worth by way of a reduction from last year's premium. I'm curious, has anyone here taken the course on their buell? What was your experience? Peter | ||
| Reepicheep |
I took the advanced riding class up in Troy, Ohio, and there was another guy there on another XB9SX. Observations: 1) Taking that advanced course on an XB9SX is like shooting fish in a barrel. 2) Taking that course on a Duc 749 (which I would have expected to be like shooting fish in a barrel) appears to have been an exercise in frustration. 3) Taking the course on a GSXR-1000 (which I would have expected to be a major PITA) looked like a major PITA. 4) If one of your instructors rides an S3, he won't kick you out for doing small stoppies on the emergency stopping drill, and will instead give you a thumbs up! DAMHIK.  | ||
| Treefrog |
I took the Experienced Rider's Course back in 03 on a Blast that I used to own. Figure 8s on that thing were a cake walk. I did have to do the emergency stopping exercise over though because the instructor said stoppies were not allowed. The guy on the softail deuce could not understand how I was stopping so fast while he kept blowing through the cones. (he was only using the rear brake, duh) This year I will be taking the ERC and the Lee Parks Total Control class. May take them on both the CR and XT just for fun. | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
I have a couple different perspectives on the ERC course. I took it as a student on my City-x and I also taught it using the City-x for my demos. That bike did quite well, even in the box (sorry "U-turn area"). In FL, the ERC is no longer valid for licensing, but you can still get an insurance discount in some cases. This means it's all riding and covering the small book portion, with no stress of testing. As expected, the city-x rocked in the cornering and swerving exercises. The one handed weave was fine (upright position helps). The braking exercises were a little more challenging. I did not want to do a stoppy on my demo and tended to be a little lighter on my front brakes because of that.  I definitely need to refine that before my next class. The better half (Closetbueller) took it as a student on his Thruxton during the class I taught. That bendy-over Thruxton position would have sent me to the chiropractor stat and he struggled a little during the one handed weave but did great on the cornering and braking. The box was tough for him too, I don't think he made it thru with a clean run. Every time I've played in the box on the Thruxton, there's been some sailor speak happening. Pistole pete how did the Thruxton riding guy do on the box in your class? The Uly is gonna be a whole other monster. I've not even tried to do the box on it, that steering lock seems like quite the challenge just in our driveway. I'll need a whole lotta practice before I teach using that beast. I hope Kathleen (Babired) or one of the other Uly riders chimes in on this thread. It'd be interesting to hear how that curriculum is on a Uly. | ||
| Pkforbes87 |
I took the SBC (like ERC but sportbike specific) on my X1 along with a friend on his gixxer six, and 5 others all on various jap sportbikes. The one that was particularly entertaining to watch was the stretched + lowered 'busa. That bike didn't want to turn corners for some reason. I can't imagine why.. I've also taken the normal ERC on my X1. In both classes the only problem I noticed was that riding a tuber at that low speed and low rpm is quite a rodeo. It was especially bad at the SBC, but I was due for a service and afterwards found that my loose primary chain was the culprit. I hope to take the SBC again this spring on the XT. I don't recall the figure 8 box being part of that class, which is the only drill I'd be concerned with. | ||
| Littlebuggles |
Used to teach the ERC aboard my M2, I got to be pretty good at feathering the clutch while dragging the rear brake and modulating the throttle for the double U-turn box. I also had to hang one cheek off the opposite side (left turn/right cheek)and plant the same side knee against the frame to prop me upright while I leaned outward (counter weighting) as the bike tried to drop into the turn. Holy cow! The rest of the course was fun but I had to practice that move a lot before I was comfortable teaching it. Since I no longer teach I may take the XB through the course and see how much easier it is. I've done the drill in parking lots a little and the STT is so much more balanced than the Cyclone. I think the course would be fun on this bike in a much less challenging "let's see what this bike can do" sort of way. On the Cyclone it was more like "let's see if I can give a proper demo for these guys and make Buells look fun to ride". Reep's observations were dead on. My first class I thought the sport bike guys would do great but those things are, apparently, built more for going fast than slow. Traditionally the dudes on older Honda's (early Magna V45's and 65's) tend to do exceptionally well. Sadly, I never got to work with another Buell rider on the course. | ||
| Babired |
I used to teach the ERC with the X1! Now I teach it on the ULY when I get to teach it. In Maryland it seems the ERC is dead, we have a really low enrollment in the class so If I teach it once a year I'm lucky. Total Control I see lots of Buells which is cool and the classes fill up more. I teach this on my ULY haven't taught it on the X1 yet. K |
