YCRS reviews from racers?

I'm toying with the idea of attending a 1-day class with YCRS at High Plains next week. It's BYOB and $500, which is much more affordable than the typical weekend ones they have with their bikes. However, my biggest fear is that the money will go to waste. I've been reading some reviews on their facebook page which are all great but it seems the majority of the reviewers are either street riders or novice/beginner track day guys.

I'd like to hear some reviews from advanced guys, or even better, from racers. Is it worth it? Have you learned anything new in the class? Have you noticed an improvement in lap times or racecraft shortly after doing the YCRS?

 

Have you read through this thread already? Might be helpful.

http://forums.13x.com/index.php?threads/yamaha-champions-riding-school.334783/

 

I am a mid pack Expert, not really all that great, but enough to know what side the clutch is on and I am consistent. 19's at Summit, 35's at VIR, etc. Haven't been to RA in like 2 years but I'll know more after this weekend.

YCRS taught me the "why" behind the "how". Not sure if that makes any sense. I was highly skeptical and didn't want to go at first, because like you and Ricky Bobby, all I wanna do is go fast. They will not teach you black voodoo. They won't cast a spell on you to make you a better rider. But they will explain how the bike is designed, why it's designed that way, and how to extract the most [traction and speed] out of any motorcycle you ride.

I took YCRS on a Thurs/Fri, and went straight from NJMP to Summit to race. I dropped a second off my times. I set new PB's at the tracks I ride. I started track riding in 2012. I went to YCRS in 2015. 2015 was the first year I didn't crash. I haven't crashed since.

Will YCRS make you immune to crashing? No, of course not. Obviously. But it sure helps with being able to watch a crash, and being able to dissect that particular crash and figure out the WHY. If you ride at the limit, all the time, every lap, you will eventually break that ceiling and crash. Not even Rossi/Marquez/etc are immune to the limits.

Quite honestly, at my current point, I'm pissed I didn't go earlier. Because I've crashed far more than $2k in bike and gear damage over the years. Far more. I have no doubt that had I gone after my first or second TD, I wouldn't have crashed nearly as much as I did my first couple of years.

You don't know what you don't know, and the $500 one day is a great chance to see what it's all about.

 

Well shit, now I feel like an idiot. I normally do some searches, but I thought "what's the chance that someone asked the same damn thing recently?" so I didn't do it this time. As it turns out...I'm a dumbass....should've known better than to ASSUME lol

 

Given all the other topics that get discussed and reposted on here, I don't think it's terrible to have two on this.

WB had some interesting input there. I really want to get to the two day weekend sooner rather than later...

 

I did the school last year and was a big fan. Someone from any skill level can learn stuff there.

 

FWIW, I spoke with their Operations Officer recently. He said the best student was one that could start the bike, ride through the paddock using all the gears, come back and park it...no bad habits to break. Conversely, the worst students brought their own bikes and were constantly fiddling with tire pressures, suspension settings, etc.
So, bring your own - ready to go, or use theirs...

 

I didnt read the responses. Search for my name and ycrs. In short do it.

 

I would much rather bring my own bike anyway just because I'm familiar with it and won't be as worried about crashing. But I get the point about the bad habits. I've been told that even by our local track day coaches, that a lot of times they prefer to have beginner riders rather than people who have 20 years riding experience, because the newbies don't have any bad habits to break and they learn a lot quicker.

The only inconvenient thing would be that my bike is a race bike, so it doesn't have a kick stand and it has slicks. I'm not sure how they feel about that. I would hope they'd be ok with it.

 

I'm with Rob. Do It.
It will be the best $ you spend on self-improvement.

 

I've read some of your reviews from the link posted above, which I didn't see before. I'm pretty convinced now after reading comments on that thread. It's just a matter of finding another buddy to go with. Although I'm a bit discouraged because they said gates won't open the night before. Which means getting a hotel, and the track is in the middle of nowhere so it would be quite the drive....in other words, more inconvenient and it gets to the point that half the total cost would be spent on gas and hotel. I always prefer to stay at the track whenever I go somewhere farther away (i.e. not my local tracks).

 

Im crossing my fingers myself,to go do it over winter out west.I figured any extra help I can get and riding on track while the rest of MD freezes its ass off during winter has to be a good thing

 

Denver isn't that far away, I stayed at a hotel by the airport and I think it was less than 45 minutes to the track. Better sleep too.

 

I'm doing YCRS Monday and Tuesday next week. I'll report back...

 

There is a lot of starting/stopping on the track. I will admit that it takes a little getting used to, because if all you know is track days and races, you never stop on the track. Ever. And you do it quite a bit with YCRS. The lack of a kick stand isn't that big of a deal, just prop the bars up against the tire wall or whatever. Mild inconvenience. I also had slicks (Pirelli's) and was deathly afraid of cold tire crashes, but to be honest, you're not putting down consistent fast laps, and trying to user warmers is, well, a wasted effort to be totally honest. You won't be pushing it hard enough for it to be a problem. You are not there to set a PB, you are there to learn, and you don't learn riding at 100%.

I completely see why they strongly recommend riding their bikes to the 2 day course. As a veteran track day junky and racer, I keep my bikes clean. Not Broome clean, but they get an "average" detail before every weekend. They are good to go. I don't Q-tip the corners of the bodywork, but you know what I mean. There are many people with bikes that are ready to fall apart. And nobody, not the YCRS staff, and not the students, want to be bothered with some moron wrenching on his bike "oh, oh, hold on guys, just this quick thing..."

The YCRS bikes are showroom clean, maintained, and always have near-new (if not brand new) tires. You just hop and ride. And Q3's are the perfect tire for the school, with very little warm up time needed and all the grip you need to run 3-4 consistent, fast laps.

 

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Unless it has cartridge kit forks. Then you're just a poser and they'll laugh you off the track

 

What about gold Carrozzeria forged aluminum wheels?? But only the front since the rear cracked and was replaced with an OEM

 

Legit

 

Only 5% of you dirt slow assholes can use carts anyway.