Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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Gen'tlemen In§'truc:1:or§ Although the instructors change fro m time to time, the level of instruction at the Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School doesn't. One or two of the regu lar instructors might not be around when you're there (they may be off racing!), but they will be replaced for the session by teachers who are every bit as capable. Because one thing Schwantz definitely has is a wellrounded staff of professionals who make his school work well as well as it does. And it doesn't hurt that they are all genUinely nice guys. Even Schwantz! I won't comment on the instructors who weren't at my session, but here are The school isn't cheap, but none of the quality road ra cing schools are. The Schwantz School will run you $1500 for th e two- da y package if you use a school-provided bike , o r $1 100 if you bring your own SuzukI. Again, it' s a Suzu ki school, so don't show up with that Honda. Schwantz also offe rs a three-d ay "Wo rld C hampion's Package " that begins with a Th ursday night reception . Th e best part of that school, apart from the actual riding, is no doubt the shindig that the school th rows on the Saturday night· the Schwantz fam ily barbecue with home-style cooking from Kevin's father, Jim, and his mother, Shirley. If you went to AHA Superbike races when the Schwantz family was attending those on a regular basis, you may have sampled Jim's cooking. It's world renowned. The World Champion's package is priced at $2600, which includes the use of the school bikes . KSSalso limits the size of its classes to no more than 30 students. O nce those are split into the two groups, alternating classroom and track time, there are plenty of instructors to go around. You'll find that it's even possible to ge t some one-on-one instructio n, and I even got m ine fro m Schwantz himself. As well as Jamie James . And Tray Batey. You can't beat that . If you attend, you m ight also want to hope for just a little rain in one of your sessions. We had a small storm and all huddled in the classroom until it passed - wa tching old Grand Prix tapes of Schwantz battling the likes of Wayne Rainey, Eddie Lawson an d Mick Doohan . Natural ly, Schwantz was in th ere , and I th ink it was a highlight for mos t of the students. The students the mselves rang ed fro m street riders trying to drag a knee fo r the first time to a few racers who showed up complete with a trai ler, mechanic and tire warmers. I'm certain they all got the instruction they were looking for. The bottom line is that there are currently several top-notch high-performance road racing schools operating around the country, most of which offer quality instruction and plenty of track time. There's little question that most of them will make you a better rider, so it might actually come down to where and with whom you want to spend two or three days. After spend ing a couple of days with Schwantz and Co . at the 2.54mile Road Atlanta course, you'd be hard pres sed to find a be tt e r combinatio n of sta ff and racetrack. eN Former AMA Superbike Champion the guys who were there. Top-notch Jamie James is one of the school's guys - all of them. instructors. Lan ce Holst Lance Ho lst pretty muc h ru ns the show - at least in the classroom. The former Motorcyclist magazine and Sport Rider editor was an accomplished road racer in Colorado and also at Willow Springs, where he once earned the number-one plate . Jamie James The most famous (other than Schwantz, of course) of the instructors is one Jamie James, the two-time AMA Supersport National Champion and 1989 AMA Superbike Champion. The North Carolinan is a southerner through and through, and it's worth the price of admission just to hang out a little bit with James . You won't find a nicer guy. Tra y Batey A true southern gentleman. the Tennessee resident is also one fast motorcycle racer. How does 28 National titles, eight WERA Endurance Championships, and a Formula USA Nat ional Championship sound? Micha el Ma rtin Uke Schwantz, Martin is a Texan. Uke Batey, he's a very accomplished road racer. A former regional motocross star, Martin has several road racing titles to his credit. includ ing several WERA crowns in both sprint racing and endurance. Bra d Coleman Coleman is a club racer from New York who now lives in Georgia . He is also a general manager of a motorcycle shop in North Carolina. Ted Co b b Cobb. another New Yorker who now calls Georgia home. won 86 races in 2000 and eight National Championships. He 's a regular at local AMA and WERA road race events. Ha rry Va nde rl inde n From Hickory. North Carolina, Vanderlinden is another with a ton of riding and racing experience. Vanderlinden is a former National Champion and has race Superbikes and 250cc GP machines. Ke vin Sc hwantz 5chwantz was a fairly decent road racer. Won a bunch of AMA races and then went to Europe where he won a bunch of Grands Prix and something they call a World Championship in 1993. He's not a bad guy either. For more infonnation on the Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School, visit www.schwanrzschool.com. The instructors, school stoff and the graduates. 40 JULY 14, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS 40th Anniversary