Lee Parks Total Control Clinic Review

[taxonomy]

I took the Lee Parks Total Control Advanced Riders Clinic over the weekend in Troy NY.

I have to say I have always considered myself a "good" rider, that is that I have pretty good form and rank low on the squid-0-meter. For me, I have not improved a whole lot in the past several years. This year I wanted to break through the next level of riding.

Track days are appealing but I felt to get the most out of one that instructon should come first. After looking around I chose The Lee Parks class after seeing it in Rider. It's not too far away in Troy NY.

It was definitely the right choice! The class is broken down into steps with about 60-40% classroom to range time. My class had a 2:1 student to instructor ratio, this was incredibly useful. It meant a lot of riding time with instant feedback.

By the end of the weekend I was able to consistently drag my knee and keep it down as long as I wanted. The pegs on the SV are beveled.

For many people doing that would be enough but I understand so much more about how I ride and what changes I can work in to make my street riding more successful. I know how far my motorcycle will go and am a lot calmer on the bike. I have to say it was a great, great weekend. I now really look forward to a track day knowing I can apply and refine my skills. I really look forward to my next group ride (likely with the Yankee Beemers) knowing my skills will allow "keeping up" to be a much more relaxing affair.


I cannot over recommend this class. I hear it may be offered in conjunction with Tony's Track day.

If your riding has plateaued and your looking for something to break through this could be it for you. For my part I got and read Lee's book and tried to apply the skills before I got there. Having this base allowed me to get a lot out of the class. I think the book is better aimed at street sport riders of good ability than to the Keith Code "Twist" books which are more track oriented.

The combination of reading and practicing made for a big leap in my skills level.

The guys in Troy are a good bunch and have the skills and ability as teachers. They kept the class fun for people at all levels and it moved right along. With such a high teacher-student ratio there was a lot of individual attention. They covered a lot of ground.

The On bike body positioning (on your stationary bike in the parking lot they set you into optimal cornering position) showed me a lot of stuff it would have take me forever to learn on my own by experimenting. It was so useful. There were many things like this.

I took my girlfriend out for the weekend and we did some car camping at cherry plain state park and visited Howe Caverns the day before. We visited an awesome junk yard on Rt43 in NY that has only 50+ year old cars and trucks in it that will be a real attraction for motorheads!

We went out to a couple of good restaurants while in the capitol region. The Troy visitors center lends bikes out for free to visitors so she road around while I was in class.

My review 5/5 stars!

[BLACK SQUIRREL]

Are you learning cornerspeed or Just getting your knee down?

I am confused is it a race Class ?

[taxonomy]

It's many different things, like throttle control, body positioning, transitions, vision, and several other things. You learn them separately and put them together. It's not a race class but it's also a not an MSF style course.

Several people took the course on cruisers and they got different things out of it.

I was always kind of unsure of that what the optimal body position for cornering, where my elbows should be etc. I never really thought about turning my lower body, for example.

I only mention getting a knee down as I think for a lot of riders it's a milestone. I read about it, but never really thought I'd actually do it.

For me, in the knee down thing in class it just kinda happened. A little surprising actually. The main point of it is that I was comfortable with the bike at that lean angle and I find it hard to imagine how I would have become comfortable leaning a bike that far over otherwise. I gradually learned over the course of the day that it was OK to lean it over like that. I had the rest of the basics in place. Piece by piece it came together.

You can use these skills for anything you want. You sure could use them to go faster, you could also just increase you're envelope of safe riding. Riding back in from NY there was some very questionable pavement on RT116 West of Plainfield. I felt much easier about going inside them holes in the road knowing my bike would easily handle it. I was far from speeding but I just felt so easy and in charge after having had the bike so far over. Do what you want with the extra riding headroom I guess.

[Kitt]

there wer 2 instructors for every one rider? how much was the course?

[taxonomy]

Sorry, should have read 2:1 Student to Instructor ratio. Not the other way around. I've edited the orgional post to reflect this.

Still, a great deal at $295 for the day. it ran from 8-5. I took the "practice day" all range, no classroom the next day for returning students only. which was about half the price. It helped cement things into place.

Total Control Advanced Riding Clinic

[TTD]

Agreed... it's a great course with great people (who just happen to also attend our trackdays).

Not to give it all away... but you might be able to do a Total Control course one day and a trackday the next... or vice versa... starting with our July event.

[S4R_GRL]

What did you need to do to prepare the bike for the class? Is this like a track day, tech inspect, etc?

[taxonomy]

Tech is basically the same drill as an MSF course. You need to show an M designation on your license and there's a basic inspection of the bike. You don't need to tape anything. You need full protective gear, meaning you need boots, pants, jacket and gloves. ATG.

The best thing about the course is that it builds up slow, and I was knee dragging at maybe 25-30 MPH. It's not crazy speeds. I don't think I would have gotten there at 3rd or 4th gear speeds. I would just have been to afraid of the belt sander pavement.

People that put a knee down regularly may scoff but let me tell you, for those of us that don't or haven't suddenly, when you lean a bike over that far it's a revelation about what the equipment will do. When you can suddenly hold it down there it's nutty.

If this is offered in conjunction with a track day you will learn so much, it will be the best investment you can make in motorcycling. As a stand alone course it's worth going to, especially for "good" riders that need to make that leap of faith to trusting their equipment. That's really what I got out of it.

There was a point where I had the bike down on the peg feelers and I was screwing around with body position to try and use less lean and keep it off the peg feelers. I dunno, actually screwing around with and tuning that was far out. In the end I had levered the rear wheel off the ground enough to step it out. I handed the pucks back and went home early. I had gotten what I'd paid for.

Let me say that this was only one weekend of motorcycling, and I probably could not go out and replicate it on my own. Never the less it was eye opening and gives me something to practice. I am more excited about riding than I have been in some time. I remain a novice rider.

I am excited to follow this up with a track day and see what it translates to at speed. I'll still take the ERC this year if I can find the time. I'd take the ARC level 2 for sure. I think for the majority of non racing riders on this list serve this class is a logical step for those looking to upgrade the software.

[S4R_GRL]

Thanks, I'm signing up.

I had a get off last year on my Kawi n West VA, steep corner, increasing radius, decreasing camber. After that I (previously bought) rode my Ducati.
I just got back on the Kawi and I really love the bike. In the corner, the transmission cover scrapped and stood the bike up, then target fixation
set in on the side of the mountain. I have really been looking for a class
like this (i.e., slower pace than a track day and more one on one). I need to
become familiar with the leaning of the bike and learn what the bike can
do for me.

[taxonomy]

Here's a couple of pics from the weekend. taxonomy - SV

Great! Glad to hear you're going!

[Doc]

I definately want to do this as well. Hopefully this year.

[Ken C]

I took Lee's course back in 2001 (?) and was very impressed. I came into it skeptical that I would learn anything after racing anf teachin MSF for many years. I ended up learning quite a bit (some of which I pass on to TTD participants).

As Tony said, keep an eye out for a joint effort between Tony's and Total Control.