There are several great track schools out there, and I wouldn’t pretend to know which one is the best because I’ve never taken any of them. With that said, when I was at the launch of the 2020 S1000RR at Barber, BMW had some of the staff of California Superbike School in attendance in a support role and I was very impressed with them. Once the launch was over, BMW left the new models with CSC for them to use in their class…which means they have to get rid of the old bikes!
As the school puts it, “California Superbike School is selling 30 2018 S1000RR’s. Most are HIGH MILEAGE, meaning between 20,000 and 30,000 miles. Some with less. Original bodywork gets stored and then re-fitted on them so the bodywork is 9/10. You can get the bike delivered in street trim or track trim. Comes cleaned and serviced with new Dunlops. Twenty of them are black/gray, 10 are tri-color. Twelve are sold as of today (18 left). Prices will range from $9,500 for the highest mileage to $14,000 for the nicest ones with low mileage (low for us is under 10k miles).
People with particular requirements and lists of specific demands usually get low priority from our mechanic who is the one who manages the selling of the bikes. This means that it’s not a back and forth negotiation. He gives you the specs and price and you say “yes” or “pass”. He will of course answer all questions about the bike.”
The new S1000RR is outrageously fast. But if I’m being honest with myself, the 2018 model is still faster than I’m capable of riding, and it’s hard to argue with a ~$10k price point. The electronics are stunning – one of my favorite anecdotes from the launch was a story from Dylan Code, who mentioned what happened when the school switched from the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R to the BMW S1000RR for their student fleet. One would think that the increased power and weight would pose additional challenges for students, but in the first year of the switch, the crash rate dropped by 40%.
If you’re interested in one of these S1000RRs, reach out to: chiefmechanic (at) superbikeschool (dot) com
If I’m going to say a bunch of nice things about California Superbike School, I should probably also mention that they’ve recently released their schedule for 2020. If you’re like me and are interested in giving them a shot, click here to see when they’ll be coming by your local track!
Have any of you taken it before? What was your experience like?
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