To anyone thinking of doing CSS...

I have locked the front a few times, and done the old release and re-apply. Unfortunatly one time I didn't haver time to re-apply and went into the back of Warthog, oops!

Originally Posted by philbut

I have locked the front a few times, and done the old release and re-apply. Unfortunatly one time I didn't haver time to re-apply and went into the back of Warthog, oops!

What the hell man, too close or going too fast? lol

Originally Posted by Baph

You don't remember the laps in only one gear (say 4th), where you weren't supposed to use the brakes? Or did they not cover that when you were there?

That's about as close as the practical lessons for CSS1 get to braking. IIRC, the "slide bike" is used on CSS2, maybe 3, but I think it's CSS2.

Yes I did the no braking stuff. But that's not a lesson in how to apply the brakes properly, or where to apply them.

Originally Posted by lukemillar

CSS is a cornering school. You get those on roads too right?

Saracasm aside, CSS does teach you a lot that can be applied to the road. Peeople get confused with "It's a track school" because they teach you at the track. That's just a controlled environment, where you can go over the same corners lap after lap to practice, learn and appreciate the things they are telling you. Things like throttle control, reference points, turn-in points etc. are all applicable on the road.

When I did the first level - there was about 3 race bikes and 20 road bikes including a BMW GS!

Yes, it is expensive, but I personally got more out of it with regards to my riding than saying spending 300 quid on shiny yoshiakarapovicarrow end can or some plastic sheets to cover the engine/back wheel etc. At the end of the day people are at liberty to spend their money on whatever they wish, but I wouldn't knock anyone who wants to pay for further training - IAM or CSS, as I believe them to teach different things, which the other does not cover

I was only asking

Okay so you they teach you on the track how to corner but do they have road markings/junctions/crap and/or potholes in the road? Do they teach you how to adjust your cornering ie trade of speed for safety etc to account for all these hazards? Do they teach you forward observations and limit points?
I'm just interested by the way - I'm not being funny

Edit: just seen the answer

Originally Posted by Baph

...The areas that I don't think CSS overlaps with IAM/BikeSafe/RoSPA are things like RoadCraft, hazards, "road positioning" etc.

Originally Posted by ThEGr33k

What the hell man, too close or going too fast? lol

Very heavy rain and he stopped unexpectedly - I thought he was about to enter a roundabout but he decided not to. I have to add we were only going about 20mph. Only damage was my pride and his snow shovel. I aquaplaned for about 3-4 meters!

Originally Posted by philbut

Very heavy rain and he stopped unexpectedly - I thought he was about to enter a roundabout but he decided not to. I have to add we were only going about 20mph. Only damage was my pride and his snow shovel. I aquaplaned for about 3-4 meters!

Ah fair enough.

Saying that I did manage ride into the back of my dad, though that wasnt entirely my fault... We were following a land rover, it indicated left so I went to go round it, then it indicated right and pulled across, slamed on the anchers and go to the right to make sure there is a little more space, Dad does the same thing in front of me and I tapped his exhaust as I stopped. Oh and broke his indicator. Wasnt too impressed with the Land rover tbh.

Originally Posted by Ed

Yes I did the no braking stuff. But that's not a lesson in how to apply the brakes properly, or where to apply them.

I never said that excercise was about the application of brakes. The specific front lock-up excercise is CSS2 (or 3), using the "slide bike."

Originally Posted by ArtyLady

I was only asking

Okay so you they teach you on the track how to corner but do they have road markings/junctions/crap and/or potholes in the road? Do they teach you how to adjust your cornering ie trade of speed for safety etc to account for all these hazards? Do they teach you forward observations and limit points?
I'm just interested by the way - I'm not being funny

A track doesn't have road markings/junctions/potholes - it can have crap in the line, especially if someone's engine just let go. So it's a little hard to teach those things on a track.

The trade of speed vs safety is discussed (mainly the grip aspect as opposed unforseen hazards etc). Forward observations (where to look and when) is definately covered - though this leans more to track application it can be converted to road application quite nicely.

They don't teach Limit Point as in the RoadCraft version, but IMO, you have to have at least a basic subconcious knowledge of Limit Point theory to be any good on the track - since it's all to do with the corner opening up, or closing on you tightly etc.

Originally Posted by ArtyLady

I was only asking

Okay so you they teach you on the track how to corner but do they have road markings/junctions/crap and/or potholes in the road? Do they teach you how to adjust your cornering ie trade of speed for safety etc to account for all these hazards? Do they teach you forward observations and limit points?
I'm just interested by the way - I'm not being funny

Edit: just seen the answer

I know you just did an edit, but Baph is right. Also why I said at the end that IAM/rospa etc. training covers different areas than CSS.

For the record, they don't cover things like how to adjust your cornering for saftey and hazards etc. but that isn't what they are about. They focus on the bike and the rider which is fair enough as what they are trying to do is break down the whole cornering process and rebuild it in it's simplest terms i.e 1 rider, 1 bike and a bend in the road! If road riding is your main focus, then I can see how advanced rider training can beneficial in improving in a different area (that you describe) to what CSS have taught you.

And yes the do teach you forward observation - in level 2. Might not be covered in the programmes that are bouncing around the web at the moment, but the whole of level 2 is dedicated to the rider and vision.

[Stu]

http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/ca...140309ejQF5mKP

HTH

[johnnyrod]

To go back to one of the points earlier, I found CSS useful because even though I thought I was having the bleedin' obvious pointed out to me after 18 years of riding - it turned out I needed it in order to properly understand it. So for that reason I'm going back for level 2. Maybe I'm just a crap rider, maybe I'm not alone, but an actual lesson is a lot different to books and videos, I discovered.