Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

For $175. Keith Code w ill share his secrets. Can a rider who isn 't national ca liber teach people to go fast7 On the amateur level. yes. The Ke i t h Code Rider Improvement Program: Can "going laster" be taught? By John Ulrich I didn't always believe that a rider could learn to radically improve his lap times and his fin ishing positions in amateur roa d races - by sitting in a room with an instructor for three Holeshot? St eel Shoe $45.00 5 t l,)0 $ l .0 U 1 ·5 1111t $.1 .0 0 800.. MiO.00 S '<'es G t o 1 3 U W ,Q Pl A ll Pi .ce s. ct u s C .O .D . s, Po st a c e .. 8~n ke PiP e s * Se a l s. Pll i l u n -:- . Mo t c - cv ct c co ve -s , O,S,C OIJkes, W tl C(: IS. Hlibs . SP I OCkctS &. rn o t c 16 1 141 735·0540 7 MAELY ENTS .. Rt . 2. Bo . 75 B R530 Bedfo rd M t r Way . Coron a. CA 91720 hou rs. It sounds unlikely. Incr ed ibly. not only is it possible. but the Keith Code Rider Improvem ent Program did just tha t for m e. And . judging by improved perfo rmances of other graduates. the system taught by Code has wor ked eq ua lly as well for them . Try this o n for size : Another student took seven seconds off his Ontario Motor Speedway long co u rse lap times after his sessions with Code . Before and after . t he student rode the sa me . ide nti ca l. n o t h i n g -c h a n g e d m otorcycl e . T he e xp er ie nc e is not a typica l. Alr eady. this so u nds like a pai d ad vertiseme nt. It isn't . Some riders find wh at is sta ted above ha rd to beli eve. It is. St ill . th e Keith Code R ider Imp rovement Program ta ug ht m e to deal wit h m y uncerta inties a nd in consisten cies. It helped m e becom e an aggressive, co nfident. ca pa b le-ofwin ning club ra cer in a "eTV short ' ti me. When I talk about being capab le of winning . I don 't mean on little production bikes with top speeds o f less than 100 miles per hour. There isn't m uch of a tri ck to riding a 125 fa st a ro u nd Ontario . or even to winn ing 32 stra ight raees on a DKW . Instead . I'm ta lking about riding fast ma chines ca pa ble of going Faster than 130 m .p.h.. espe cia lly big.bor.. street bikes. Aft er fin ishing Keirh Code's co urs e . I took six seconds off m y previous b..st la p tim e o n the Ontario lo ng co urse . riding t he sa me b ike before a nd after . More im po rt a nt . I was . a b le t o understand what m ade th e differ en ce : ho w to pilo t a fas t bike a rou nd at a good cl ip : a nd wh at to d o when u n fo rsee n prob le m ~ ca me u p . T ~e resu !t : a la rge . Imp r,:,veme nt . on co n.slSlencr. reducing typi ca l la p t.lme va ria nces m a l O-Iap ra ce fro m eig ht seco n ds to one second . My oi d pe rso n a l lap t ime rec o rd was a n u n cornpe t it ive Supe rst rce t ;l :23 o n th e lo ng co ur se . i\l y pos t-course pe rsonal la p t ime rec ord stan ds today at 2 : 17.36 . a nd co nsiste nt 2: IHs a re no problem. T hat time was faster than the Open Sup crca fv [Su perst rect. ) win ner's time o n i\Iay I and was fast eno ug h to win the Op..n / 600 cc Four St roke GP co m bined race overa ll. in fro nt of an H-l5 cc GS750 Suzuki (whic h finished fo urth in the AF :-' I Six lI o ur Open cla ss behi nd three tea ms o f Ai\IA pr ofession als) a nd several ot her m uch qu icker . larger m oto rcycles. i\ly m ach in e? A 500cc C B-lOOF Hon da . Enough test imonial. \\'h o is t h is Keit h Cod e . and how do es he teach riders to go fast er ? Code. 3 1. was until n-ccn t lv a clu b R id i,;g a r a ce r -ru ncd -p ro. Ra cecra frers Z I last July. Code led the Am e rica n Mot orcycl ist Assn. (A i\1A.) Superbike Prod uction ra ce at Laguna Seca for se ve ra l laps . eve nt u a lly finish ing second behind Su pcr b ikrPro du ction C ha mpion Reg Pri d m o re . It was Code's best -ever rid e . and he hasn't been a b le to do a nyt hing since a t Su pe rb ike Prod uction races. Code adm its he isn't na tio nal ca lib er . and th a t he need s mu ch m o re p ractice rid ing Superb ikes before he will be . Last week . he lost his Racecrafters sponsorshi p to Prid m o re . , Bu t at t he same t im ... Cod e is confid..nt about h is CO UrSl'. " After a rider has an u nd ersta nd ing of the fundam entals o f road ra cing." sa ys Code, " then it's a ll his pe rson al a bility after t ha t. H is ability will get hi m as far as he will go . T h.. point is. he's severely limited in what he ca n do without understanding. " If you t a ke 10 riders o f equal ability ." co nt inu es Code . " a nd five understand the basi cs of road racing . and five have 'rnisunderstoods' in th eir road racing co nce pts. the riders who understand will consistentl y beat th.. riders who do not understand th e basics. T ha t 's wha t m y co urse is a ll about - tea ching th e basics a nd gi "ing riders a short cut to develop th eir abi litie s." program wh ic h Co de's admitted ly is bas ed u po n his followi ng of th e Ch u rc h of Scien tology's systems o f ga uging hum a n perform ance consists of three pans. T he S50 Basic Rid er co urs e is just that - basic. It co vers th e pans and fu nc tio ns of a m ot orcycle. and wha t it feels like to o pe ra te one . It get s th e student th ink in g a bo ut th e pi ece of m ach inery between th eir legs. T he SI25 Qu alified R id er co urse follows t he Basic Rid er co urse. a nd inclu des sec tio ns ent itled : How To Go Fast ; T he Barriers to Im pro vem ent : Barriers - T he Rem ed y; W hat You See; A No te on Steering: Abo ut Bra kes: How to Fal l. A third pan of the co u rse is o n- track supervision . (It 's included in the S I25 Qualified R id e r co u rse fee ) Code no rm all y ta kes students out to W illow Sp rings Ra ceway for pract ice and instru ction . I didn 't get a cha nce to ta ke thi s pan of rh e program . and went ra cing with just th e classroom secti on u nd er my belt . It took th ree hours for me to finish the classro om pans of t he program . bUI how much time is spent is up to th e ind ivid ua l student . T he secrets - rh ev r..a lly aren 't secrets . but th e basi cs cvcrv c1 ~b racer needs to . but rarely does . 'know - li<; in the writt en m at erials. Taking t he co u rse is a hi za r r e . o ne-o n -o ne st u d e n t z t e a c h e r i n t e rc han g'j punctu at ed by lo ts of looking up words in a d ic t ion a rv. Co de m ak es su re students u ndl'r;tan d every wor d ' in every co urse sec tion . Ge ms of inform a tion pop u p . wich ex pla nation a nd de monstratio n: " " Defin ing where you do something gives you a sta ble p la ce to m o ve ou t fro m .

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