One of the frustrations with what i try to do is some people criticize or dismiss a
life-saving technique saying it's not applicable to them because it's a "racetrack technique".
What if i told you that by implementing some racetrack techniques,
you could keep riding at the exact same speed your riding now, but with less risk?
If you are anywhere on the internet; Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, you've probably seen clips from
the Yamaha Champions Riding School promoting their new online riding program, ChampU.
Now, I've long been a supporter of the Yamaha Champions Riding School, and in case you're not
familiar with the program, the Yamaha Champions Riding School evolved from the Freddie Spencer
Riding School and is helmed by Nick Ienatsch. A very accomplished racer in his own right, but also
a long time moto journalist. Which makes him extremely knowledgeable as a rider,
but also just as good at distilling complex concepts down into concise,
understandable language. Now, I was really fortunate because the Yamaha Champ School was
born at my home track here in Utah, which is how i first became familiar with the program. But one of
the things that drew me to it in the first place is their data-driven approach to instruction.
They look at what the best racers in the world are doing and integrate those techniques into
the school. Techniques that allow the best riders in the world to navigate corners at
unimaginable speeds for us mere mortals, those techniques can absolutely be applied
to a street rider going a fraction of that pace. - Do you think the bike knows if you're on the
street or you're on the racetrack? You think it knows? No. Do you think the tires know?
This is why you start to think about this. When you've heard,
oh Champ School... they teach racing techniques. Everybody; bike doesn't know. Tires don't know.
- Listen I can attest, as someone who spends a lot of time on tracks, but my true love is chasing
down every canyon between here and there. Race track techniques absolutely work to reduce risk
and enhance the control we have over our bikes. No matter if it's diving into the Corkscrew at Laguna
Seca, or the ugliest and tightest, decreasing radius, gravel strewn S-turn somewhere deep in
the backwoods of Oregon. The same techniques work exactly the same in both places. And this
is a big reason why i have long been a supporter of the Yamaha Champions program. Now, normally the
cost to attend a two-day Champ School is around two thousand dollars, and is only taught in a few
locations around the country. It's completely understandable how their instruction is out of
reach for so many riders. Not to mention so many riders tend to mistakenly think a track school
doesn't apply to them as a street rider. So, during the COVID pandemic, when the world was
shut down, the Yamaha Champ School apparently got busy addressing both of those concerns,
and developed an online program called ChampU. And last I looked it was less than a hundred dollars.
I wanted to know what this more accessible, online program had to offer. So, with my own money,
I bought myself a pass and proceeded to work my way through the online Champion program. So, what
did I think of the program? Did I learn anything? - All right riders.
- Do I think you should give it a go? Well, not to give it all away,
it was better than I thought it was going to be. And yes! Yes, you should sign up. No matter if you
are a nugget who just bought your first 390 Duke, just getting your motorcycle legs underneath you,
or an old graybeard salty dog with a hundred thousand miles on your current Road King,
ChampU is well worth it. To start things off, they quantify things that I hadn't really thought of as
a thing. So, here's an example of what I'm talking about. The school is broken down into, I think,
13 different topic areas, and the very first topic of discussion is called Mental Approach.
They started talking about having a mantra that you say to yourself when you ride.
- So as we're here getting ready to go for a ride, we're thinking about the first Core Champions
Habit, which is being in the moment. Really having a plan, and having a mantra, or something that
really clicks you into the present. - Get a mantra. That is this drill.
You've got to get a mantra going. You've got to get something that you'd say
or do before you get on your motorcycle. - And I'm thinking, that's silly I don't have
a mantra. I'm not so sure about this. And then I went for a ride and it dawned on me; I have a
dozen or more different mantras I use depending on what I'm struggling with or what I'm working
on. Wait for the weight. See everything, look at nothing. Don't surprise the tire. Let the corner
come to you. So, um yeah, right off the bat I was wrong, and the program was helping me quantify
some of my own riding techniques. So, i'll just go over here and eat my slice of humble pie.
Years ago a student came up to me and asked, "how do I go through corner whatever," and someone
standing near me jumped in and said "you need to be in third gear, brake to the second corner
marker, apex it early and go WFO just before you touch the third rumble strip." And I was like,
whoa, whoa, whoa! Let's talk about this corner for a moment. Describe this corner
to me. Is it uphill or downhill? How are you entering it? Is there traffic? I was kind of
frustrated with the helpful bystanders advice because it was very pedantic and very specific.
Riding corners is like real time problem solving with a thousand different variables ranging from
our own skill, our tire condition, speed, temperature, surface condition, our entrance
point, etc,. Instructions should give us tools to help us solve those problems on our own,
when there's no braking markers, or apex cones, or giant x's taped onto the ground to tell us when to
perform different operations. And I think this is where ChampU just shines. They are not teaching,
in their own words, rote sequences. - We're going to ride the bike based
on direction not based on where it is on the race track. We're not going to go to the brakes there,
and turn in here, and use the brakes till this one point. That's not how we ride. We don't ride
by rote. We're riding the bike based on direction. So the best riders in the world know this. I need
to control my speed no matter what variable happens. Whether I get in here too quickly,
pull on the brakes too soon, have a light fuel load, a heavy fuel load. Whatever is changing
in our sport, which there's always things that are changing, we control our speed based on direction
and we get the bike pointed no matter what. - They're giving us tools to help us put the
motorcycle where we want it and how to make corrections. And guys, this is something I've
always believed in down to my very core. Teach in a way that the student learns how to continue to
coach themselves. How to analyze their own performance, and how to make corrections.
How to make the best decisions, and in the case of motorcycles, how to reduce risk and have more fun.
So, on one hand, I walked away from ChampU thinking, "huh, great minds think alike.
We're saying a lot of the same stuff, even if phrased or presented differently." But also
they said a lot of things better than I have. And here's another example. Taking the ChampU
made me realize that I may have been explaining something to you guys, in not quite the best way.
If you've watched my videos I often say; - and ideally we continue trailing on that
front brake until we arrive at the apex and we can see the exit of the corner.
- After going through ChampU, I think that phrasing may have done you guys a disservice.
It wasn't as clear as I think I thought it was... as clear as I thought I think... as clear as it
could have been. I think using the word ideally may have implied the wrong thing. When I was using
that phrase I was thinking about a race track environment. You know, ideal conditions. Where
we are trying to slow until the point where we can get back onto the gas. Finding and respecting the
slowest part of the corner. But, and here's where I think i could have been better. How many ideal
corners do we see? Especially on the street. I'm afraid that my gravitation to ideal didn't give
permission to use maintenance throttle in those situations where we are comfortable with our speed
and our direction. In those corners where we may not need to continue slowing down, but can't quite
see our exit yet. Where ChampU did it better, is they make it very clear that maintenance
throttle can often be a very important part of a corner, especially those long sweeping corners.
Honestly, I go to maintenance throttle mid corner all the time. Hell, I even go back to the brakes
mid corner if I need to. So I hope you guys don't judge me too harshly for this. I've always said
that if a new and better way comes along, I'm not going to get too attached to the old way,
and I'll adapt. I try really hard to research and come up with what I believe is the better way,
and the way ChampU described trail braking was better. It's more flexible while not taking away
options for dealing with the unexpected. - All right. Hey, the whole idea is you no
longer ride a bike hoping. Emotionally hoping. You ride it technically. As you approach the corner,
you roll off to the brake lever, use the brakes into the corner until you're happy
with two things. Speed and direction. When you're happy with the speed and direction,
come off the brakes you go to neutral throttle. Your radius holds until you can see the exit,
take away lean angle. Next corner, do the same thing. This is life changing and it's industry
growing. Radius equals miles per hour. - Listen guys, I don't want to go into
too much detail about each of their topic areas because I sincerely believe it really is in your
best interest to take the course. It's really extremely cheap for what you get out of it. But
one thing I do want to say is if you decide to sign up, and i hope you do... so when you do
sign up, don't rush through it. There are 13 topic areas, each with several videos,
40 videos I think, each topic area has exercises that you can work on in your garage and on your
next ride. It took me a couple weeks to go through the online program, because I really wanted to
digest and process the information before moving on to the next topic. But guys, I gotta tell you,
and I feel the need to stress this, I'm not getting paid for this. There's no coupon code that
credits me, and no money comes my way if you sign up. Making these videos isn't my full-time
job. I do this because I love this sport, and it was so hard for me as a new rider to find
credible and quality information to help me become a better faster and safer rider. In all honesty,
this program is exceptional. I keep thinking what I would have done to have access to this content
years ago. So, yeah, I think all y'all should sign up. It's really, really good.
I put a link to the program in the description, as well as a link to Nick's book, Sport Riding
Techniques. If you've taken the Champion Online Courses, leave me a comment to let me know,
what was your favorite concept they presented. Thanks so much for watching, and ride well.