Skip Barber Superbike School Powered by KTM - Orange Crush

Braking, The Haney Way
Everyone knows how to go fast in a straight line on a motorcycle-just turn the throttle. But how does one know when to brake? For how long? Or just...how? This is where Haney and crew differ from the rest. Proper braking with both the front and rear is thoroughly explained by the entire coaching staff with visuals as to how the tire responds under braking and how you can use that to trailbrake (a technique no school aimed at novice/intermediate riders teaches) more efficiently. Track drills begin with threshold braking, while upright, to understand how hard one can squeeze the lever. Afterwards, the drills move down the track to the Andretti Hairpin-the double apex left turn that's perfectly suited for trailbraking. In short, assuming you're at 100-percent braking capacity-which is also the tire's maximum amount of adhesion-a percentage of braking ability needs to be released for each percentage of lean angle being initiated. Once at the apex lean should be at maximum with little to no braking whatsoever. Instructors situated at turn two could easily spot whether or not a student was doing the drill properly as the brake lights were still functional on all bikes. Further, instructors following with a forward facing camera could also record when a student was on the binders and for how long.

The Point Of It All
Throughout the school the motto was "accuracy over speed." Fitting, as the former no doubt leads to the latter. And while there was a lot of information to be learned in just two days, it can sometimes be forgotten that the overall objective is to have fun. Thankfully, that message wasn't lost at the Skip Barber Superbike School as after each session students would return to the pits with a beaming smile on their faces. Sure the school has some teething issues to sort out, like the aforementioned track sharing with the cars and every rider circulating at the same time, but our visit was just the third class for the new school. That being said, one expects a lot for $2599. We're happy to report that it's money well spent-the curriculum is solid, the atmosphere is engaging, and you're riding at Laguna Seca. Kinda hard to beat that.