California Superbike School India is a hit!

Feb 1, 2011
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3 min read

The best known motorcycle training programme in the world, California Superbike School was in India last week and it helped several motorcycle enthusiasts in the country refine and hone their riding techniques within the controlled environs of the MMST race-track near Chennai

After a successful stint last year, this year the California Superbike School returned to India in a bigger, better and more affordable manner. Founded by the best known motorcycle riding instructor and author of the iconic Twist of the Wrist series of books, Keith Code – the school specializes in training riders for racing as well as safe street-riding purposes. The effort is a brainchild of T.T. Varadarajan, (Managing Director of Preethi Mixer & Grinders) and an avid biker himself, who took charge of bringing the school to India last year in order to help several riders train and hone their motorcycle riding skills and also sponsored a few riders in the first year of the school in India.

This year again Preethi took the onus along with help from TVS company and Red Rooster Racing team, to bring the school to India and thanks to their efforts, the school’s return was much more organised and grander than last year. A total of 45 motorcycle enthusiasts turned out from all parts of the country to coach under Keith Code, who was himself present this year to train the Indian riders along with his team of experienced trainers. From top level Indian motorcycle racers to newbie bikers, everyone was a part of the four day camp. The school offers four different levels of training on how to corner and ride a motorcycle to its true potential as well as staying safe. All the techniques taught by the school greatly help the rider to ride safely and responsibly on road as well as on the track.

The California Superbike School was founded in 1980 by Keith Code and it has trained over 1,50,000 riders including those in MotoGP, World Superbikes series and various other road-racing series. Until now the school has done over 30 million track miles and has presence in over 27 countries! It’s a fantastic initiative that helps one build over his or her riding skill to evolve into a safer yet faster rider. There are four levels and each rider, regardless of his previous experience in racing or street riding, has to undergo all four sessions. The rider can choose to take all sessions at one time or split them over a period of time as per convenience.

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The training includes classroom sessions as well as on-track practice and the coaches give individual attention to all their students. There is no racing or competitive riding involved in the course of the training and every entrant has to strictly adhere to the school’s safety parameters. Twice that the school has been to India, the venue has been the MMST race-track in Sriperumbudur near Chennai as the 3.717km long circuit is the only superbike-friendly racetrack in the county as of now. The school is intent on returning to India again next year, and if enough sponsors step in, it could be a bi-annual event.

It is a fantastic effort which introduces new riders to correct motorcycle techniques and helps them evolve into better, safer and faster riders after practicing and learning the basics under controlled environment of a race-track. It is about time that big corporate entities realize the potential of motorcycling and its obsession amongst the younger generation in a country which has 60% youth population as well as world’s second largest two-wheeler market waiting to burst into the performance motorcycle band.