Superbike school in Singapore

[Stoned]

Hi guys,

 

I'm currently doing a school project on race schools in light of the planned race school that was announced together with the upcoming Changi Moto GP track.

 

I need some public opinions from passionate bikers so I figured this would be the best place to seek it. Not sure if this is the right section though.

 

Should a race school indeed open in Singapore in tandem with a Moto-GP compliant track, would you patronise it?

And how much would you be willing to fork out, in terms of time and money, for such a course?

 

The course should theoretically include essential track skills such as getting your knee down, as well as other safety-focused skills such as popping and controlling wheelies and drifting. A week long intensive course should be assumed to inspire confidence in the skills learnt while a two day course would be assumed to be introductory at best.

 

How much value would you attribute to learning those skills, combined with sufficient practice over the duration of the course to give you enough confidence to use those skills in actual track sessions or in dangerous road situations, such as a skid.

 

Please do take some time to participate in the poll, and also to offer your opinions if any. Thank you!

Edited October 14, 2009 by Stoned

[antartica]

sounds interesting...

even if it costs a little more than our neighbours, it saves the time, hassle and cost of going over

 

waiting to see if any outcome

[Stoned]

Just an added piece of info. based on the nearest race school I found with fellow forumers' help.

 

A typical course there costs 70,000 Baht (SGD$2908) for a 3 day course

and 20,000 Baht ($831) for a 1 day course

 

Just something to consider when filling in the poll.

[redbeacon]

Hi guys,

 

I'm currently doing a school project on race schools in light of the planned race school that was announced together with the upcoming Changi Moto GP track.

 

I need some public opinions from passionate bikers so I figured this would be the best place to seek it. Not sure if this is the right section though.

 

The course should theoretically include essential track skills such as getting your knee down, as well as other safety-focused skills such as popping and controlling wheelies and drifting. A week long intensive course should be assumed to inspire confidence in the skills learnt while a two day course would be assumed to be introductory at best.

 

How much value would you attribute to learning those skills, combined with sufficient practice over the duration of the course to give you enough confidence to use those skills in actual track sessions or in dangerous road situations, such as a skid.

 

Please do take some time to participate in the poll, and also to offer your opinions if any. Thank you!

 

Should a race school indeed open in Singapore in tandem with a Moto-GP compliant track, would you patronise it?

 

Absolutely!

 

And how much would you be willing to fork out, in terms of time and money, for such a course?

 

With the exception of starter- or first-level courses (see below), I wouldn't expect a school to come cheap as these kinds of schools teaches one to engage in performance riding; something which don't come easy in itself, the rider himself, and also -- management of the school.

 

Of course, I wouldn't want the figures to be astronomical as well - a couple of thousand dollars may be way more than an arm and a leg, it kinda begets a "high class service" which in my opinion is too overrated (not in its literal sense though)

 

How much value would you attribute to learning those skills, combined with sufficient practice over the duration of the course to give you enough confidence to use those skills in actual track sessions or in dangerous road situations, such as a skid.

 

I'd answer this question with what I feel what I should expect out from this "school" that you're mentioning, and answer your questions with a few "end of the day" expectations that explain the different loose topics and the value or advantage that it should bring for those who attend this school:

 

This school should offer courses in levels; the first one being introductory, subsequent ones tackle other aspects of riding to sharpen ones' riding and give him the tools (knowledge) he needs to engage in advanced or performance track riding.

 

The first level should involve skills that apply to how one should understand and handle the bike, as well as vision and eyeline -- in fact, this is what gets mentioned repeatedly in the driving centres and it actually is used worldwide in advanced road riding or track riding schools and doctrines as well.

There should be more that that "race school" management may inject onto this first level course that they may think is essential - the list is not exhaustive.

 

At the end of the day, this first-level course IMO should enlighten its students and satisfy them in the sense that:

 

- Road riders can understand and handle their bike better, and have some skill when they need it most, like habitual counter-steering to counteract obstacles.

 

- Track riders can understand and handle their bike better, instead of being intimidated by a racetrack and its environment. Also, they are empowered with the knowledge to learn how to make their beginner's rounds on the racetrack with confidence, and not being a confused rider on one.

 

Subsequent levels should narrow its lesson agendas to precision riding, so much that it may be racetrack oriented only.

 

I'd expect this good "school" to touch on topics such as body posture, cornering "lines" and best practices, habits that apply to big displacement bikes (like gear shifting/blipping), revisiting track slang and shop-talk (like for instance, an "apex" = a physical or imaginary 'centre portion' of a curve or a rider's line)

 

And at the end of the day, in addition to what a rider has learnt in first-level courses, higher-level courses like these IMO should make the inspired rider to be comfortable doing his rounds on the racetrack, while being confident in increasing his speed around straights and corners, and shaving minutes off his lap times while at it.

 

And to top it all off, one-on-one or one-on-few track coaching too in later stages.

 

Of course, these would be my two cents worth and I actually haven't had the chance to try out higher courses yet - I'm pretty much hoping for such a school to come by.

 

P.S. Raptor is already conducting a riding clinic for bike/sportbike riders with smaller displacement engines (2B) at the Tuas' medium-sized circuit, I'm sure he's got more topics on his plate than what I have here. Perhaps you can approach him with regards to your research?

[fivefive]

something in this line willbe fun

 

http://www.ducati.com/news/09/news001/news001.jhtml

[Insomni4]

All in all, its still go 1 big round back to ------------> $$$$

[Stoned]

Redbeacon, Thank you for your exceptional reply! I really wasn't expecting that much input from anyone actually, and your post is very useful indeed.

 

We're looking chiefly into how track riding skills promote road safety, and while you have backed up most of our arguments with your opinions, I will also look up raptor to see what he has to say regarding our project's pitch.

 

 

Fivefive, that's roughly what we're talking about. But we're coming at it from the angle of road safety benefits of such courses.

 

 

Insomni4, I think something close to Singaporeans hearts is definitely money. The cheaper the better right? But as I was researching the typical price for such courses worldwide, they definitely do not come at the price most people are willing to fork out for it, based on the poll. But for the sake of the project, such data is important too.

 

If indeed a race school does open here, projected costs of courses should easily run into the thousands. If anything, it probably will be more costly than Thailand, where variable costs are cheaper.

[skahxiong]

best is can liase with banks for loan ? or come up with some installment scheme , this is a really fantastic idea but you know not all riders in sg has alot of money. So installment scheme may sound nice

[sh3rman]

should have different courses at different prices that teach different things..

therefore it can be affordable to the masses..

yet advance(more exp) riding lesson can be taught to intermediate learners.

[static369]

I will surely patronize it. I don't mind paying more if the bikes are provided.

[Stoned]

sk'ahxiong and sh3rman,

yes I think affordability is definitely something that is very central to a superbike school. And I think if one is to be successful in Singapore it must be able to tap into a variety of income-groups.

 

Considering the cost and Singaporeans love for hire-purchase payments, installments could indeed be an interesting idea. The idea is of course to have as many people take the course as possible so anything that helps people to afford it would be a definite plus.

 

static369,

I think it's a given that bikes should be provided. I don't think you'd dare to go all out, which I think is necessary to learn advanced skills such as what would be taught, if you were using your bike with $5k worth of accessories for example.

[antartica]

would there be options for children too?

this way we can start moulding the next world champion from young...

[sh3rman]

yea.. and they'll bring in foreign talents like the rest of sports..

hopefully they bring in rossi.

i dun mind being neighbours with him

[conjurer]

i notice the BMW (car) driving course in malaysia which is a 1 full day course is RM1500.

 

http://bmw.com.my/drivertraining/#

 

Even though a 1 day course is not much, at RM1500 it can be considered affordable and those interested to learn more, can go for a longer course if one is available. i believe a course in singapore for motorcycles touching on an introduction to riding on the track could be implemented in 1 day and at an affordable rate. I suspect that anything more than S$400 would not be acceptable for a day's course.

 

not sure if you know who is kevin schwantz but this champion and legend is running a racing school and a 2 day course with T shirts and DVDs, etc. thrown in is US$1800 and a superbike is supplied as well.

 

http://www.schwantzschool.com/index.cfm/p/2-day-motorcycle-school

[Andox]

I welcome a stunt school.......

[Sn0w_MaN]

In singapore i guess not up to the extend of race / track school. I remember once on 1 of the bike magazine they should how they encourage parents to let their young children to ride and learn scrambler, that is when they 1st starter out those courses, event and even bike for young children.

 

I believe for race / track school should hold back for future as i feel that singapore rider are not ready yet, 2nd no enough space, 3rd malaysia charge cheaper in petrol, foods, track venue, 4th if race school start in sg then i think ppl will abuse the skill to try on singapore road which might create more problem.

 

Give another 3-4yrs let the F1 race leave singapore, let the resorts and casino and done up then follow by all these hot wheels.

[redbeacon]

In singapore i guess not up to the extend of race / track school. I remember once on 1 of the bike magazine they should how they encourage parents to let their young children to ride and learn scrambler, that is when they 1st starter out those courses, event and even bike for young children.

 

I believe for race / track school should hold back for future as i feel that singapore rider are not ready yet, 2nd no enough space, 3rd malaysia charge cheaper in petrol, foods, track venue, 4th if race school start in sg then i think ppl will abuse the skill to try on singapore road which might create more problem.

 

Give another 3-4yrs let the F1 race leave singapore, let the resorts and casino and done up then follow by all these hot wheels.

I understand where you are coming from.

 

Perhaps these concerns would apply if setups like these would be headed by a national governing body.

 

There may be room for privately-owned ventures (as in when somebody elsewhere wanna set up a school here); but let's hope that the new Formula 1 track would entice some businessman / track-riding team to start such a school.

[Sn0w_MaN]

redbacon - well i hope you dont mistook my meaning, it's not a bad thing to do that in sg i will be glad to join the course as well. Well privately-owned ventures also have to go through gov body for approve, in the end they will still consider the pros and cons.

I hope for the best for this to come true, soon we will just look like macau