<FONT size=2><U>A closer look at the Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School</U></FONT>


We left the cold state of CT southbound bright and early, 14 hours later we
arrived at the hotel. Eager to get to the track and be bight eyed and bushy
tailed we checked in at the hotel and went right to sleep. Next morning we
jumped on the truck and drove to the track, which conveniently was down the road
from the hotel. We got there early enough to see all the instructors pull all
the new shiny bikes out, imagine a long row of brand new GSXR 600’s and SV 650’s
ready to be taken out for a joy ride… </p>



<a target="_blank" href="http://www.gixxer.com/ruffianracing/bikesschool.jpg">
http://www.gixxer.com/ruffianracing/bikesschool.jpg</a></p>


However we had brought our own bikes to play, but as my luck would have it, I
had forgotten to put coolant on the radiator so off to the garage I go, only to
see none other than Tray Batey, one of the top riders in the country. Tray
welcomed me and helped me with my coolant issue, he mixed some water wetter for
me and helped me put it in. The bike was set and I had nothing else to worry
about</p>



<a target="_blank" href="http://www.gixxer.com/ruffianracing/the%20bikes.jpg">
http://www.gixxer.com/ruffianracing/the%20bikes.jpg</a></p>


We were all called into the class room where we began registration and soon
were introduced to the staff. Unlike most schools out there, the KSSS has a
broad spectrum of talent as opposed to one of two instructors with a renowned
status. KSSS’ staff includes world champion Kevin Schwantz, Tray Batey, Lee
Acree, Opie Caylor, Brad Coleman, Michael Martin, Ted Cobb, Lance Holts, Jamie
James, Harry Vanderlinden and last but certainly not least Tripp Nobles.</p>


<a target="_blank" href="http://www.gixxer.com/ruffianracing/the%20guys.jpg">
http://www.gixxer.com/ruffianracing/the%20guys.jpg</a></p>


The KSSS begins with an overall assessment of what the participants are there
for, and two groups are then determined, street group and advanced group. The
street group includes a wide variety of riders, ranging from new riders that
want to improve their skills to more experienced riders who want to learn more
before doing track days. The Advanced group includes more experienced riders
ranging from avid track day goes to riders looking to get into racing to racers
looking for improvement to shave seconds off their laptimes.

And now for the down and dirty… The class covered everything from head to toe.
First they start with visual skills, they teach you where to look and how to
avoid target fixation. KSSS focuses on concentration while being on the track
they believe that the key to riding well is more than 90% mental, thus they
encourage you to only focus on the bike and track, and avoid other things that
might distract your concentration. Another point they focused on was relaxing
drills, making sure every student was relaxed on the bike.



One of the most common things on a new rider or new racer is body position. The
school goes into detail on where your body position should be, for this they use
their video equipment, as each student gets to be on video. Instructors at KSSS
will correct your body position based on the footage taken of you on the track,
the main points they focus on is keeping your arms bent and relaxed and
emphasizing on being a part of the bike, thus allowing the bike work as opposed
to fighting with it.



Steering techniques are also taught and demonstrated, instructors explain the
art of counter steering, is it an art? NO, it’s the only way of turning a bike….



Now for the fun stuff, the school breaks down the Road Atlanta racetrack and pin
points all the braking points, turn-in points, apexes, exit points, reference
points, everything you need to know to get around the track safely and fast.
Once you go through this it becomes a game of connecting the dots, the more dots
you have the easier it is to go fast and be safe</p>


<a target="_blank" href="http://www.gixxer.com/ruffianracing/kevin%20t3.jpg">
http://www.gixxer.com/ruffianracing/kevin%20t3.jpg</a>http://www.gixxer.com/ruffianracing/the%20esses.jpg (http://www.gixxer.com/ruffianracing/the%20esses.jpg)http://www.gixxer.com/ruffianracing/group%20by%2010b.jpg (http://www.gixxer.com/ruffianracing/group%20by%2010b.jpg)</p>


We spent 2 days at the school and didn’t want to leave, the experience we had
there was unbelievable, the level of professionalism and friendliness was second
to none. We want to thank Marnie Lincoln for having us and we want to thank
each and every single instructor for being so down to earth and approachable,
you guys are truly stars and for the man himself Kevin Schwantz you are a
champion in many ways… We highly recommend the school; it is by far the best
school in the country</p>

You so lucky.

Great review wish I could go and do it

gixxerdog said:
You so lucky.



I wish!

they offered it to me but I had no chance to go so gixxerfever went in my place http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

WOW thats awwsome

if you guys have a chance i urge you to go and do the school!!! it is awesome!!!!

I am going on may 17-18. I'm pretty excited

That's Great!
I did a racing school in Europe last year. Loved it!
Wanta do another one, only when I can get my hands on a track only bike.
Cheers

How much does something like this cost? Also where is this place located?

margolik said:
How much does something like this cost? Also where is this place located?



Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School: KSSS - Dates and Prices (http://www.schwantzschool.com/dates.html)

Road Atlanta (http://www.roadatlanta.com/index.lasso)
5300 Winder Highway
Braselton, GA 30517

The link is dead for some reason. Is the school better than keith codes?

where is it located... i would go

Definately worth going. I went early Sept. and LOVED it. All the guys are frikkin' awesome, and totally cool to talk with. From sitting with Kevin at dinner and hearing cool stories, and getting personal instruction on the track from Obie and Acree and all the instructors, it was an amazing experience. DEFINATELY worth it.

It's located ~50 mins north of Atlanta.

so its in ga... how long is the class and shit how can i sign up

sign me up i"m ready

what is target fixation???

What was the cost...??

GQ 05GSXR600 said:
what is target fixation???



Target fixation is when someone infront of you wrecks, and you focus on them and not on your line. Focusing on someone wrecking will make you wreck, its very important to hold your line when someone goes down.

When they do go down keep riding like normal, you never ever want to stop on a race track. It can cost you your life!

Ibidu1 said:

GQ 05GSXR600 said:
what is target fixation???



Target fixation is when someone infront of you wrecks, and you focus on them and not on your line. Focusing on someone wrecking will make you wreck, its very important to hold your line when someone goes down.

When they do go down keep riding like normal, you never ever want to stop on a race track. It can cost you your life!




thanks for answering my question....you may have saved my life. http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/thumb.gif

How much? Sounds interesting and I saw a spot on TV about it too.

Lucky you

Just got back from the 3-day champion school, it's was a little pricey, but I learned more there in that 3 days than I would have learned in 3 years on the street. The instructors were cool as hell and all were fast as a scalded cat. They made what I considered fast look like it was in slow-motion and reverse. I mean with guys like Opie Caylor, Ted Cobb, Lee Acree, Tray Batey, Kevin Schwantz and etc... there what could you expect. It was well worth the time and money, and I am already planning on going back next year. One thing to note about the school is, " leave your attitude and ego at home", these guys were passing us in turn 5 at Road Atlanta with one hand on the bars while checking out our form and body position. And I was considered fast by street standards. BTW- Lee Acree is a fearless on the brakes, smooth as hell, and faster than a crackhead running form the Po-Po.
And we all know how fast that is.....

Cool! Make me look even more forward to my 2 day course in June. http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif


Just got back from the 3-day champion school, it's was a little pricey, but I learned more there in that 3 days than I would have learned in 3 years on the street. The instructors were cool as hell and all were fast as a scalded cat. They made what I considered fast look like it was in slow-motion and reverse. I mean with guys like Opie Caylor, Ted Cobb, Lee Acree, Tray Batey, Kevin Schwantz and etc... there what could you expect. It was well worth the time and money, and I am already planning on going back next year. One thing to note about the school is, " leave your attitude and ego at home", these guys were passing us in turn 5 at Road Atlanta with one hand on the bars while checking out our form and body position. And I was considered fast by street standards. BTW- Lee Acree is a fearless on the brakes, smooth as hell, and faster than a crackhead running form the Po-Po.
And we all know how fast that is.....

Ok that link above is dead! How do I get in on this? Are they in Atlanta only or do they travel to other tracks? And again the price thing which I doubt will be answered here....

I'm assuming it's cheaper if you bring your own bike? And I'd also like to know how KS school compares to others like Code's and Pridmore's etc..?

http://www.gixxer.com/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

$1200 for the 2 day camp, $2700 for the 3 day champion camp, $400 to rent a gixxer, $75 for dainese leathers with $500 damage deposit, $50 arai helmet $250 damage deposit, $50 dainese boots $75 damage deposit, $50 dainese glove $75 damage deposit, $100 discounted rental package(Leathers, Helmet, Boots and Gloves) $100 plus Mandatory $500 Damage Deposit.
Yeh this course is not cheap but i hope to check it out one day for sure.

Some day! I will go and take it It's Just so far.

Rookie wanted to know what target fixation is. It is when you put the target on the head of a terrorist, you fix it there well so it never falls off. That's what target fixation is. Thank you

this thread has seem to have died. Well I am def trying to get to his class this year. Please someone give me 1200 bucks!

Found this thread with a search. I'm on my way there for the two-day class in July, so, thanks, two years late, for the original post. Great details and pics.

This will be my 30th Bday present next year. I have all ready told the wife and she will be setting up the deal. I cannot wait...For me the 2 day street class is what I will be looking at going to...Now if I anyone comes across a discount let me know...

Here's my overly-long trip report from my trip to KSSS last week. See the 1st post in this thread for a better & more concise review of the school; this is just something I wrote for myself to help me remember:

Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School Trip Report, July 4-5, 2006
Road Atlanta

General Impressions

Far and away the best feature was the extensive track time with a multitude of instructors leading groups of one to four around at varying pace, sometimes very fast, showing the correct lines & body position. A salient memory will always be the way we clicked all the way up through the gearbox, full throttle, and then turned while wide open in sixth. Although I’ve had my own bike over 150 a handful of times, it was a totally different experience to wring out the bike in top gear on every freaking lap, then turn and go into some hard braking. Gaining that experience alone was worth the price of the school.

The instructors were really friendly guys, very professional, humble (save for a couple maybe), and helpful. I think it all flows down from the attitude Kevin sets. Even though he’s the only rider to ever have his number retired at the highest level of motorcycle racing, he acts like just another one of the guys. He speaks up plenty in the class sessions (Michael Martin was the main lecturer) but doesn’t try to dominate them, says, “try to do this and this”, and stays away from “well I used to do it like this”. He & all the rest of the guys were truly teachers & not just guys telling stories. I was extremely impressed with their professionalism & how almost none of them talked down to us.

Suzuki provides brand-new 2006 bikes for the class, GSX-R600s and SV650s, your choice, and Michelin provided new Pilot Powers for each. The GSX-R600s were amazing, a super sweet chassis that handled like a dream. They were so flickable we could barely believe they weren’t set up at all, just “took ‘em out of the crate & put on tires & stickers”. They also had monstrous stopping power. Just a tap let you know “Hey, I’ll stop you anytime you want.” Very confidence-inspiring.

The SV650, on the other hand, was the complete opposite--what a horrid handling bike. Powerwise, it had good low-end torque but ran quickly out of steam at higher RPM, and that low-end power combined with rear weight bias made for a really vague front end that tended to skip through corners wide instead of planting well. A really good rider like Brian Krett (who races them) could handle the SV, but even he said they bounced all over the place.

The Michelin Pilot Powers were very impressive—plenty sticky. Even the instructor 750s and Kevin’s 1000 had them, and they seldom stepped out or washed out even under some pretty heavy duty cornering by those guys and some mistakes by the rest of us.

The class was self-categorized into Street & Advanced, pretty much split on whether you’ve done track days or not. Half would be in the classroom & the other half on the track at any given time. In pit lane you’d line up in one of three lines, slow, medium, fast, then 3 or 4 instructors would take out the small groups staggered by about 10 seconds, and another 1 or 2 instructors would be roving to either take video or pick up anyone who fell off the pace of their group. Kevin didn’t ride in the mornings but was out there in the afternoons as one of the roving instructors.

The Fast Advanced line was too fast for all but maybe one or two guys. In fact they wisely discontinued it by the end of the second day because everyone I talked to who got in that line, myself included, said they were just doing all they could do to keep up with the instructor, proper line, technique, or safety be damned.

I made the mistake of getting in that line for the first real track session of Day 1, and on the SV650! (The actual first session was a “slow” introduction to the track, and even then we broke 100 in the back straight.) To be honest I can’t even really remember the first session because Number 2 sticks out in my memory. Since they encouraged us to try both bikes I decided to get on the SV650 early & get in the slow line, but I confused myself. You see, there were three line-up lanes, 1, 2, and 3, going left to right, one being fastest & three slowest. Michael had told us this in class before we’d ever seen these lines, and he also told us that when we’re on the track and a faster group is going by, get to the left. He said these things perfectly clearly in the classroom, but I got them mixed up when I went down to line up & got in the left what-I-thought-was-slow lane. Wrong! Instructor Harry took it pretty easy the first couple laps but when Brian the SV Racer rotated in right behind him he took off like he was on fire. Stupid me pegged that stupid SV trying to keep up through Turn 1, an uphill righthander, and the front wheel went skipping wide. Fortunately there’s a lot of track there so I recovered to go straight up the hill and took a horrible line through 2. Turn 3 is blind as you crest the hill, then it suddenly appeared as a hard right (whereas on the proper line it’s barely a kink). The bike suspension was unloaded from coming over the top, so it wasn’t planted enough for me to give it any steering input. It felt like it was floating. I decided to completely blow the corner & went straight off into the grass (too much on the front brake, by the way; I’m lucky I didn’t lock it up & crash there). I thought that was a better decision than the certain lowside and the subsequent automatic flunk-out that comes with crashing, but it only makes me a 90% moron instead of a full-blown one. Harry saw me in his mirrors and slowed it down for the rest of the way in. Back in the pits we discussed my mistake—no reprimand even though I almost wadded the bike.

What I learned

In brief, to find reference marks on the track surface (not trees or anything that might look different depending on what line you’re on),look well ahead, and be smooth on the controls & with body positioning. Before the school I thought the way to be fast was to act a little like young Kevin Schwantz, barrel deep into the corners, point it in the right general direction and gas it. The more mature Schwantz & his team teach track knowledge and smoothness instead, which is much better since none of the rest of us have the talent to ride the way Kevin did. I also learned Kevin Schwantz is a great & humble gentleman, a great champion, runs a top-notch school, and that there’s no better way for me to spend two days of my life.

Final Notes
A rider was killed in Turn 5 in a WERA race two days before we got there. Tragic, but they deliberately never discussed it or crashing at all, which I think was wise.

I took a picture of one of my classmates, Gordon Henderson (a British guy who’s temporarily working in the States), with Kevin at the end of the class & emailed it to him. Here is his response:

Thanks for the picture - fantastic!What a great couple of days. I can’t remember enjoying anything so exhilarating, exciting and adrenalin pumping since my very first track day. I guess we get so involved in the corporate business life that to do something so exciting with no distractions was quite unique. I felt so relaxed driving home, didn’t even look at the Blackberry and got home around 10pm.I must say, the school was better than expected. There was an emphasis on safety but at the same time, if you wanted to ride with the top advanced group and really push yourself to the limit, that was our own decision. We both made that decision and ride in that top group and I will admit, I was at (or maybe beyond) my safe limit at first. The last ride of the second day was certainly the one I remember most. The three of us and the instructor put in some great laps, passed the other groups on the track, and certainly put the trust in each others riding ability. I was 3 feet from your back wheel going down the back straight at about 145mph, through the blind kink and getting ready to brake for turn 10a. I was totally reliant on your line and sure you were not going to make any sudden braking or manoeuvres. That is trust in a fellow rider!

Hmm, I wonder if ol’ Gordo would’ve been so confident if he’d seen me blow Turn 3 and go sailing off the track the previous day... :)

Here is the web site for the school:

http://www.schwantzschool.com/2008site/index.html

Prices 2008
2-Day KSSS with use of Suzuki bike $1,800*
2-Day KSSS with own Suzuki bike $1,400
World Champion's Package with use of Suzuki bike $2,900*
Dainese Leathers Rental $75*
Arai Helmet Rental $50*
Dainese Boots Rental $50*
Dainese Gloves Rental $50*
Discounted Rental Package (Leathers, Helmet, Boots and Gloves) $100*