FAST Riding School


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Chucker

Active Member
Went to the FAST Riding School yesterday at Shannonville Motorsports Park, just outside of Belleville, Ont. The owner and course instructor is Michel Mercier, 3 time Canadian Superbike Champion. One of the the track instructors was Andrew Nelson, who ran in the '09 World Superbike Championship and placed 2nd overall in the '10 Canadian Superbike Championship.

It was an awesome day. Rode a 2011 R6 racebike. Learned a lot, and also have a better appreciation for what the pros do. The 3 track instructors were pushing us to our limits while they were taking a liesurely ride. On 1 lap, I was following Nelson by about 10 feet through turn 1 at about 140 km/h, knee just about on the pavement, and looked ahead at mid turn to see him with his hand on his hip, looking over his shoulder at me. I'll definitely be doing this again.

These pictures are from mid-day. The photographers weren't on the track for the last session, so we didn't get to see how much we improved, but our lap times were significantly faster.
 

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C

Chucker

Active Member
Cautious_Corner said:
That's amazing very jealous! Good for you how much did that cost?


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The course is $300 if you use your own bike and gear. They require the bike to be set up in the same manner as for track days. They require full race leathers, gloves, and boots. If you use their bike and gear, it's another $259. Optional insurance on their equipment is $109, which makes your deductible $199, instead of $2000.

All said, it was $668 + tax, went from 8:30 until 5:00, and consisted of 1 hour in class and 7 track sessions, each with a pre-track lesson and a post-track report. 3 of the track sessions following the instructors. You leave with a certificate that allows you to get your road racing license.

Check it out FAST Riding School Home Page - Welcome!
 
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Detrich

New Member
looks like it was an awesome experience! i wonder if they have that over here in SoCal. i'd gladly pay $670 to (a) not risk having to dump my own bike on the track, and (b) also to have a max $200 deductible if I dump their bike. that's very reasonable.

i've heard keith code's school requires a $1500 deposit just on the bike alone. :O

what r your thoughts on riding the R6, and did it wet your appetite to upgrade? :)
i'm in the middle of deciding whether to sell the FZ right now, because looking ahead, i dunno if i will ride it as much. plus, if i want to someday get an R1, i just can't afford to keep paying for the insurance & upkeep. im' very sentimental about my things tho. so, it's always hard to decide.

great to hear u had such an awesome experience at the track. i need to look for something like that over here too, so that i can try it out.
 
C

Chucker

Active Member
Detrich said:
what r your thoughts on riding the R6, and did it wet your appetite to upgrade?
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On the track, it was great. I don't think I'd ever buy one because, as you can see, I'm a little cramped on it. I found it great for track riding, but I think it would drive me nuts on the street. Plus, I'd never be able to do on the street what I did on the track, which is where they shine.

I also had the option of the ZX-6R, GSX600-R, SV 650, or Ninja 650. I'm not sure if I'll try a different bike if I do it again. I probably will next year, and may try the ZX-6R. Have a while to decide.
 
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angelsneverlose

New Member
Thats sounds like a blast OP! I also race, and attend track days often. I ride at NHMS which is a small, quick, but very technical track. My track bike is also an R6 which is simply amazing on the track, but very unforgiving on the street (uncomfy). This year actually I was bumped up, and now ride in the advanced class (fastest) :).
 
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angelsneverlose

New Member
Chucker said:
On the track, it was great. I don't think I'd ever buy one because, as you can see, I'm a little cramped on it. I found it great for track riding, but I think it would drive me nuts on the street. Plus, I'd never be able to do on the street what I did on the track, which is where they shine.
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I agree very much with the bolded, as i said i DD an R6 sometimes, but also use it as my track bike. they are Fantastic on the track, but tough on the streets. As too the fun factor, well, there is no other place where you can hit 140mph legally down a strech, and then brake for you life, lean it enough to get the knee down, followed by the giant smile of success!!:D
 
C

Chucker

Active Member
I'm still not too sure I would do this on my 6R. I don't think I could successfully push it the way I pushed this R6, and anything less would have completely changed the experience. Next time, I expect to start my day where I left off and improve from there, which definitely takes my 6R out of the running.
 
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High Park

New Member
Took the same course 3 weeks ago (late Christmas present). It is excellent - although a whole lot of information to process, being in the slow group and all. One great thing they do is mark the entry, apex and exit on every corner, with cones and chalk. Let's you concentrate on keeping the head up and looking through. Although that's hard enough... Also rode the R6 and second those comments. It was fantastic on the track - light, super quick and easy to go side to side. But the low gears are tough to drive smoothly, and the clip ons, while great on the track, are pretty tough to do a shoulder check from (unless you like to look under your arm, not over). Would not want it on the street. Well, probably not. :)

I agree the instructors were excellent - they adjust to each rider's level, and are helpful without making you feel incompetent.

I am curious how you figured out your speed. My speedo was disconnected and everytime someone asks me how fast I was going I don't have much of a point of reference. Since I was making decent revs from the sound of it in fourth gear in the front and second straights, I figured it was fairly quick, but it is so different from the windblown highway feel that I don't have much basis for comparison.
 
C

Chucker

Active Member
High Park said:
I am curious how you figured out your speed.
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One of the guys there was driving his own GSX-R and was in my group. He periodically checked while we were following Andrew Nelson. He was able to give us entry speeds and after that we could assess our speed on most parts of the track.

Turn 1 - 140 kph
Turns 2, 3, 4 - 100 kph
Turns 5, 6, 7 - 60 kph

This was around mid-day, so we were a little faster than that during our last track session.
 

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XTRAWLD

New Member
FAST and Racer5 seem to be the best courses out there for track learning. I plan to give it a go next year. I hear nothing but good things about FAST. My instructor for my M2 and M2 Exit mentioned it several times for people that want more advanced skills. Glad you had an opportunity to head out Chucker!
 
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