Coach Can Akkaya helping his student with adjusting his controls for better feel and comfort
This past week, thanks to being furloughed from my regular job, I was able to take some time and join Coach Can Akkaya of Superbike-coach on one of there specialized classes...Road Skill 1-on-1. These types of classes Coach Can offers, allows a more personal touch and instructions for his students to learn skills that lead to being better/saver riders. Coach Can and his student arrange a mutual spot to meet at then they go to a local parking or empty lot to talk and kick things off.
Much like their classes held at the Little 99 go-kart track in Stockton, Ca each student fills out the needed waivers and other needed paperwork the Coach starts off Introducing himself and talking a little about his history and experience that he brings to each of his students. From there, Coach sends his student on a few practice runs that include turning, shifting, and braking. Once he sees what he has to work with, Coach goes into a little more detail and even into a quick emergency braking drill.
This first part can last about an hour but it's important. It's during this time Coach can determine whether or not his student is ready for the "public roads" part of the class. Why is this important you ask? After all the student did pay for a "road skill class" and a parking lot or an area behind some office buildings isn't exactly a "road". It's simple...Coach Can looks out for his students and, as we all know, public roads aren't exactly the safest place to ride, let alone teach a newbie...if he doesn't feel they are ready, the lessons continue where they are at until he either feels the student is ready or until the class is over.
Next, Coach and student head out on public roads to some nice canyon roads to get into the cornering aspect of his class. Based on where they are, they could find themselves traveling a little further, but once there, they stop for a few minutes to take a break and talk a little bit about what Coach wants to do. From here, Coach has his student lead the way, riding like they normally would so he can see what needs to be worked on...usually LOTS.
Once down the road a bit, Coach and student will stop and chat some more, explaining what Coach see's and how to correct it. From there, Coach then takes the lead so his student can see for themselves what Coach was saying and explaining. If possible, they'll find a section to go over a couple of times, just for fun...(the 4 pics below are of the same corner, Coach first then student)
All in all, it was a AWESOME day and I got a chance to see another part of Coach Can's Superbike-coach School. The student, "Wayne", is an AWESOME kid too and had only been riding for about 7-8 months (starting on a Hyosung 250 then to his current ride, a Yamaha FZ06). He had taken a riding school that allows students to by pass the DMV riding part and get their Class M license should they pass, but also kept an open mind for what Coach Can was going to do and it showed. He was soaking up Coach's info and was really engaged with Coach Can, so much so that this class, from my perspective, went from feeling like a class to friends just out for a ride on the BEAUTIFUL day...when that happens, you KNOW it was a GREAT DAY.
These "Road Skill Classes" are a GREAT way to get started with Superbike-coach and the skills learned transfer well into their Cornering Schools. Depending on the student, sometimes its actually more beneficial to take their a road skill class before jumping into the cornering classes...and vice versa. For information on how you can get into all this fun simply go to Coach Can's Superbike-coach website at www.superbike-coach.com. Click on the video to see what today was all about and the absolute FUN we had plus visit the gallery to see the pictures taken: SBC Road Skill 1-on-1 (5-21-20)
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