On July 1, 2022, the day before the lesson,
I was in Osaka and the temperature was 38°C.
I wonder if tomorrow’s lesson will be okay.
July 2, 2022.
One month has passed since our last small group class.
The temperature at Suzuka Circuit today was 30°C from the morning. Take care of yourself and do your best without overdoing it!
Today is the “2nd Sporty Ride Lesson” again.
Who’s here today?
Today, there were 20 bike freaks riding bikes in this scorching sun (lol).
I looked around and didn’t see anyone I recognized.
I don’t know what level they were.
In recent lessons, I’ve been finding and observing skilled people,
but I wonder who my target will be today?
This is also my first time seeing an instructor.
I’ve seen them before, but I wonder what kind of lesson they’re having.
Briefing
Usually, we’ll have a simple briefing and get on the bike quickly!
That’s how the class usually goes, but they gave a very detailed explanation.
This time, this was the only motorcycle lesson.
Since there was a lesson for professional drivers, it seemed like the start time would be adjusted.
It’s already over 30°C outside, so a slow start would be okay.
My challenge today is to “make quick turns!”
Also, I need to be conscious of the rear tire when going around, as I was warned about last time.
Sweating profusely in the garage ^^;
Since we had some time before the start,
we had an explanation of “fuel” in the garage.
Checking the brakes
Checking the tires
Checking the lights
Checking the remaining fuel
However, sweat was pouring down the face of the instructor as he explained this.
Of course, so were we. The garage was like a sauna.
He told us a little bit of trivia.
When checking the horn,
if you hold it down with your hand it won’t ring.
This is useful when you want to check the horn in a residential area early in the morning.
After the explanation,
we finally chose the bike we’d ride today and went outside.
It’s cool.
Today’s partner is the CB400SF No. 15.
The brake lever is close! . Easy to grip!
Unusually for a vehicle here, the brake lever isn’t bent! .
Warming up
It’s just after 10:30,
and as usual I start with a warm-up.
My recent rule is to warm up without using the accelerator too much,
and to focus on swinging my body around.
Especially when taking a right turn, if I’m not conscious of it from the start, my body will lag behind,
so I actively drop to the inside.
Braking practice
Braking practice involves repeated braking practice from 40km to 20km, and target braking at 40km and 50km.
Repeated braking
I wonder how many times I’ve done “repeated braking” now?
I’ve gotten used to it.
I remember that the first time I did it, my inner thighs were sore.
When practicing braking, you’re often told about your riding posture.
The general idea is to lean down to accelerate and stand up to decelerate.
In my case, it’s close to the image the instructor gave me,
and I imagine it as an up and down movement.
Imagine bending and straightening your spine.
Hulnch your back when accelerating, and straighten your back when decelerating!
When I try to focus on moving back and forth or bending and straightening my arms,
I end up pressing down on the handlebars.
My knee grip loosens.
Targeted Braking
I was surprised at how well I was able to brake with target control!
Both instructors praised me (^^).
Maybe it was because of the position of the brake lever.
It seems that I’m good at controlling the brakes at a close position with a certain amount of grip.
Until now, it’s been the opposite^^;.
Turn practice
I practiced doing a 180-degree turn around a single pylon placed far away.
There are probably a variety of ways to tackle this turn, but I practiced going in wide and then coming up small next to the pylon.
If you make sure to place the bar ends against your stomach, on the back of the pylon,
you’ll be able to turn nicely.
When making a right turn, you’re braking, so
your toes will sometimes touch the ground.
When that happens, move your body inward to stop the bike from tipping over.
This was advice from my instructor last time.
It’s already coming in handy!
Straight Pylon Slalom & Offset Slalom
Now, onto the problem of straight pylon slalom.
I think I’ve solved the messiness from last time,
so I’ll give it a try right away.
It was right!
The image of leaning the bike over was different to what the instructor had in mind when he gave me advice.
Last time, he advised me to step on the inside of the turn,
but thinking about it later,
in my case, I had the image of putting my outside thigh, my hip joint, diagonally forward!
This is totally skiing (lol). Put your outside foot first!
I think this straight pylon and offset slalom will require more energy than the course slalom that comes later,
so I’ll cheat with the straight pylon.
Conserve energy by driving in 3rd gear
I ride in third gear with minimal brake and accelerator operation.
Once I get used to it, I can turn and exit without even using the rear brake.
I’m feeling good today!
When I’m riding well, I don’t get tired easily.
Oh, I can even go in fourth gear!
It’s easy because I don’t have to accelerate or decelerate much!
But when I got too excited and went off the bike,
the front tire got caught in something and it was a scary experience.
I wonder why?
Just as I was riding along like that, I heard a loud scraping sound from behind!
The CB1100 behind me was scraping along like a slalom (scary).
I love offset slalom,
so I enjoyed it.
Here again, I received praise from the instructor.
“Today’s instructor is the type who praises me to death.”
The final step: “Course Slalom”
Now it’s time for the much-anticipated “course slalom.”
We checked out the course with a familiarization run.
There were fewer turns than last time.
I’d lost my energy in the heat, so this seemed like a comfortable run.
As usual, the group who wanted to go faster went ahead,
and I started from the middle.
First, I checked the running line.
Huh? I caught up.
I’ll put some distance between us for the next start.
After a break, there were 30 minutes left.
I was accompanied by the instructor.
I indulged and was given two runs, one in front and one behind.
I received praise for how well my body moved on both right and left curves.
Personally, I was in good shape today,
so it was the first lesson in a while where I was able to run comfortably.
As a side note,
during a chat during the break,
I found out that someone was also taking the “3rd Technical” the next day.
He was definitely a lot older than me.
He was really energetic.
After the lesson,
I asked him,
“What does the technical lesson feel like?”
He said,
“You’ll make a U-turn on the S-curve that you always ride.”
“Please give it a try. I was able to ride it today, so it’s fine.
But if you don’t like tight turns…”
A U-turn on an S-curve?
What does that mean?
So, if the date works out, I’ll go and see the “3rd Technical Ride Lesson.”
That’s it for my STEC lesson notes.
