Believe it or not- I’ve been together with my wife Marion since my second year of racing, and we’ve ridden tons of bikes in all those years- she was always a passenger… even on Germany’s famous 13 miles Nuerburgring Nordschleife to smoke guys on big bikes- but she NEVER rode a motorcycle her selves!!!
But since we have that sweet Superbike-Coach rental bike, a Ninja 250- Marion sat on it… declared it as ‘cute’- looked at me and said “…teach me to ride. I wanna make a drivers license!”. From here, I want to pass this three part article on to her to tell the story of how it’s like- and what to do in order to get a motorcycle drivers license:
Here is how to make your M1 drivers license, Part 1 of 3, by Marion Akkaya
First, I went to the DMV to get the booklet (http://driving-tests.org/california/california-motorcycle-manual/) to prepare for the written test. After studying it for a couple of days, I took some free available test online just to make sure not to see where I’m at. I also scheduled an appointment not to waste my time by waiting for hours in line, which is easy to do online: )
When I arrived, I still had to wait in line, but it was much shorter than what I saw on the other lines. I had to fill out some paperwork about name, address, SSN, information about already existing driver license – the usual stuff, than I got a number and I went back to wait until they called my name.
It took about 15-20 minutes until a DMV worker told me that I have to renew my car driver license when adding a motorcycle license. This information took me by surprise because I wasn’t prepared for the test. I paid $ 29 before I got to window A, where they took my picture. Then they send me to the testing room, loaded with about 20 computers. The nice part by taking it online is that it shows right away if your answer is correct and it is much faster. On the other hand it makes you more nervous after a mistake. Some of the questions were common sense, while other just confused me. I passed my written test for the car right away, but had to retake the written motorcycle test. I had to go back in line, pull a new number and wait for probably 15 more minutes before I could take it again, but this time I’ve passed the test!
The good part is that you can retake the test three times before they send you home and you have to pay again. I am just glad that I past and now I can focus on the “little circle” through which I have to go to pass the driving test. I have no clue how to get through it, but I have the best riding Coach I possibly can think of- who will get me through this successfully. I was convinced he’ll be more sensitive with his wife- was I wrong! J
Now, the fun staff started –riding a motorcycle. ‘Coach husband’ started giving me riding lessons. We started first with some easy lessons, how to shift, to break, to steer, and the right body position. He showed me how to turn my head into the right direction instead of looking right in front of me. I learned shifting up without using the clutch, which is not easy in the beginning, but like he says:” what you don’t have to do- you can’t mess up” –and he is right. Believe me it was not easy for him, because I am a bad listener and I am just glad that I haven’t had make any push-ups yet :)
After a couple of days of training with him, he installed a vox radio in my Arai helmet and says “Let’s hit the freeway hon”, and off we went…
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Spend a nice evening with Coach Can at Black Bear Diner and listen to his favorite subject “What’s between those ears”. Come to meet the Woman On Wheels chapter (www.goldcountryriders.com) meet up event:
Black Bear Diner at 2700 El Centro Road, Sacramento, CA 95833
Date: 6/16/2015
Time: 7:00pm
Can Akkaya, Headcoach of the Superbike-Coach Corp, 2014
Many times I am teaching Track Drill 1on1 students according to their skill level in the slow group. This is typically group C, or B-, depending on the track day organizer and race track we’re going with. While my student is pretty much safe and in control, I see almost every time a total disaster for a whole lot of other inexperienced riders all over a track day.
The spectrum I’ve seen in all the years I have been doing this ranges from $300 scratches on the bikes up to totals in material, and with the stuff you can’t repair, it goes from bruises to broken bones, lost jobs, and even up to a lost life. All of that, 99% of the time, for super dumb reasons… panic attacks, target fixation, and overreacting, which are triggered by a ‘moment of instability’ in confidence.
Whoever attends my programs knows what components are the essential nutrients for building ‘confidence’: knowledge, training & correction, practice. Instead, those riders skip all of that, hurting themselves, and even worse… involving other riders in their crash as well. Mostly, their excuses are totally off reality: someone else, the tires, the suspension, or their bike are the top excuses for f..’ing things up massively. This video is a perfect example, which is a YouTube pick from thousands of clips like it:
The gentleman on the video comes out of the pit lane on cold tires on the Laguna Seca Raceway, and starts with not much “foreplay” with more or less useful hanging off exercises. At that point I should mention that one rule of the Laguna Raceway is to not to go on the race line on turn 3 if you’ve just entered the track. But anyway, he feels obviously “ready” to follow a faster rider into turn 5. His track day is done right there, and his friend behind him seems to go down as well… just because of these things: ego, cold tires, target fixation, panic, and overreacting.
So I thought I’d give some tips for less or inexperienced riders who are up to attacking their first track day, in the hope that this will help them and others stay healthy:
If you don’t have a decent amount of street miles under your belt, and you are still working on essentials such as shifting, throttle and brake control… don’t come to the track!
Take a race bike rental to the track. Feel Like A Pro—or we also have track-ready bikes you can rent and insure. These bike are small, and learning comes before torque.
Don’t watch videos from other riders to “learn” the track you’ve chosen. At the end of the day, you’ll feel lost in reality anyway, and videos like the one above will just freak you out.
Be careful whose advice you take, and which friend and riding buddies might accompany you. There is a German saying… ‘too many chefs mess up a meal’.
Don’t change to ‘better’ tires, but stick to the ones you know. Nothing is wrong with them. They are made for millions of riders, and you can go with ‘better’ ones later.
Same goes for the suspension—where many experts deliver advice. Just know that your suspension is totally fine, and that an experienced rider would get a 20 second faster lap time out of your suspension without any ‘adjustments’. All of that stuff you won’t feel for now and it just makes you more nervous. Do it way later, when you begin to feel these things—and then you can really appreciate and use them.
If you are not able to find or keep the race line, stop riding before things get worse and ask the right people for advice. You and other inexperienced riders will freak out because you are extremely hard to pass.
Take advantage of riding with a track day instructor, which is free of charge, or get everything you need from our Cornering School Days or even Track Drill 1on1.
Don’t do 20 mph sightseeing laps. Other inexperienced riders don’t know how to pass safely and quickly. I’ve seen clusters of 10 – 15 riders which f’s up an entire 20-minute session for pretty much everyone. Don’t be the guy!
It’s not your bike! It’s all good—it’s made for millions of riders world-wide. Trust in what you have, and understand that you are the component making the mistakes. Don’t look down to the asphalt or target the dirt outside the track. Relax your muscles and breath out while going into a turn.
I could keep going forever, but that would get into individual issues and problem solving “between your ears”, which is my favorite subject! So why not take it easy, for you and others?!
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20 years after professional racing… 20 years man- but it actually feels like yesterday, and sometimes it seems i have still the 124 octane/racing oil mix of a 250cc MotoGP bike in my nose, while a HRC mechanic warms up that high-end engine at a 120 db.
Success and lap record for Can Akkaya, announces the Werbepost News about his race in Eemshaaven 1994
But you know what?… I’m sad, and I’m mad about myself, because lots of things have changed in those 20 years, and I didn’t keep enough material to just have it for myself- or for people who might think all of that didn’t happen, and some keyboard junky could easily put a question mark over my credentials. Almost understandable, because hundreds of newspaper cutouts are nice, but they are not even to find online on the website of the magazine who wrote it, because there was no internet back then.
Newspaper cutout of the final German Track Trophy season 1991, where Superbike-Coach Can Akkaya became Vice-Champion, 250cc GP class
I shouldn’t have give away almost all pictures of me, made by sports photographer and media, to fans and sponsors. I wished I had spend more time back then to scan and post at least the final championship stand of the German Track Trophy of the 250cc GP class in 1991. where I became Vice-Champion and turned to a professional racer. But guess what… there was no such thing as a scanner existing- and if so- where to “post” it, when there was no Internet- no blog- no Facebook, and whatsoever?! Hmmmm…
So yea, there are even TV, radio, and interviews besides newspaper articles all over Europe about me- but they are catching dust on a archive shelve, and who the heck has those lap records and race results, when race organizers- sport authorities and even press has no interest to pay someone to digitalize old stuff, especially when meanwhile those orgs have taken over- turned- and changed multiple times in 20 years?!
You wonder it’s all in German language- and not laying translated on a New York Times server? Yea- that’s because I’m not a Valentino Rossi and I don’t have the interest of the medias that much. At that point I am actually happy to have listen to my wife Marion, to not throw everything away as I retired- like my last International FIM Race License, which is the 2nd highest license in motorsports on this planet. Imagine someone would say I maybe never raced on a level like that… what then huh?
Btw… I also kept my last racing suit which was designed by MJK leathers in the Netherlands only for me. But I had many fans in Europe, whom started asking them to get a suit like mine. MJK put a ‘Akkaya Replica’ suit on their catalog which was a best seller for many years. For me, it was positively surreal when i was sitting in the truck going to the next race, and some rider passed us wearing that suit- or some fan in a paddock asked me to write my autograph on it. Till today I have fans in Germany, telling me that they still have ‘my’ replica suit and not giving it away- even though they got older and ate too much pizza to fit in :-)
Speyer 1993. Can Akkaya’s with no.9 in his first German IDM race. 60,000 fans watching the most competitive class on this planet- 250cc GP
And yea… I didn’t win many races- I didn’t make a lot of Pole Positions- and I didn’t won big championships… I was just somebody who had to compete in German IDM 250cc GP. You might think that’s comparable with AMA Superbike pro racing? Well- that time gap between the riders in qualifying is not a match to what we’ve been through- when a field of 50-60 European champions and vice champions is only 3 seconds apart from Pole to the last qualified rider on the grid.
Champions Gala 1991, Can Akkaya and Marion Akkaya after becoming German Track Trophy Vice Champion
My very first international pro race was on Assen TT and I lead it from the start- almost won it, if I would have been quite smarter with those lapped riders- but i crashed in the last lap. So tell me how could I possibly proof such things like that?! You might just have to believe me here. And hell yea… I could have won way more races, but I found lots of ways to mess up- which was fine with me you know. In the end I was ‘just’ a guy who won some international races- competed in a field which was frequently filled with a bunch of German MotoGP racers like Martin Wimmer, Tony Mang, Volker Baehr, Bernd Kassner- until i caught Honda Germany’s eyes. HRC guys from Japan came and see me as I kept up for a couple of laps on Assen TT Circuit with some MotoGP pro’s until I broke my left foot.
Can Akkaya official race result of a International race in the Netherlands in 1994. He also set a speed record during the race
No, I didn’t had the comfort to learn from a Coach and to earn the respect from these guys till today, no. I was sitting in the pit and cried, because I did not understand why I was 2.5 seconds faster than ever per Nurburgring lap, even though I needed help climbing up the bike caused by a high-sider the day before in Brno/Cz. I left sweat and blood on all tracks over Europe to get to the point where I almost made it to the big show… MotoGP- but I got hurt again.
That 120 mph on Hockenheimring during the qualifying for the European Championship round in Germany was different as all the other crashes I’ve been through… because it was the first time that I was confronted with ‘death’. But even then, my ‘Never Surrender’ character made me trying to slide off the table in the hospital because I wanted to race next day… that was the first time my wife hearing saying “Please, Can… don’t!”. Till today I have these words ringing in my ears. My fast forward mode was stopped and after that I never found back to the racer I ones was.
Can Akkaya wins an international race in Oss NL and sets the record of the race. He lead the race from the Pole Position to the finish in 1994
I recovered from my injuries and tried to get back, but the total commitment was gone. Technical problems let my results looking bad, so that I wished to rather have crashed than to see the finish. Meanwhile, radicals burned down my fathers textile company in Germany. He was a Turk you know, and since then I was not calling this place ‘home’ anymore even though I was born and raised there. It was the worst time of my life, and I decided to do one more race and to retire. Marion and I went to Poland to some national race event with minimum equipment in a Van- almost the way it all began- and won the race. We went back home- happy, no regrets, and almost relieved.
We got married and our honeymoon brought us the first time to California- and many additional travels to the land of our dreams. I remember how we fell in love with everything and how deep the wish grow on our souls to finally leave Germany for a place which deserves the term ‘home’ much more.
Till then, I started teaching racers in 2004, and the Mohland Verlag in Germany published my Racers-Story ’25 seconds’ in 2006. Working as an instructor for multiple track day organizers and co-developing a program for a top notch racing school ‘Race Factory’, I felt a vocation for it and started Superbike-Coach. Meanwhile the dream came true via U.S. Green Card and we gave up a safe and secured life in Germany to go home- to California on 3rd of November 2008. Risks and costs was immensely high, but we never looked back- nor we’ve regret a bit.
20 years has been gone but I am still living it… this is still who I am, and pro racing is where my experience as a Coach grew- Yes I am rough and though, but this is also why most of my students love me for. However, I’d like to share with you my memories from now on. I truly hope never to regret, because I put my heart into teaching riders in my motorcycle riding school in California, the Superbike-Coach Corp.
Can Akkaya, 5th place German IDM 1993 in Brno Circuit, Czech on his werks supported Moto2 bike
Eat this! :-)
Can Akkaya
Father, family man, ex-professional racer, and headcoach of the Superbike-Coach Corp
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It actually amuses me to see the huge amount of attention other schools, books, forums, and videos spending on the subject called ‘the perfect body positioning’ for street riders. Glancing over to what MotoGP riders like Marc Marquez performs on TV- must be good for the Redwood Rd in the SF East Bay. If it doesn’t look like Marquez… It’ll be damned as ‘crossed-up’ and some rookie rider who was proud showing his first hanging off pic’s will be scoffed by. Read more
As you might remember from reading part 1- I still consider the general motorcycle rider education nothing else as a joke. That hasn’t much changed since then, so I’d like to make riders aware of these things, and not to bend down too early for that shiny thing… it’s maybe not gold, even when it looks like it…
OK, do you agree with me that ‘reading’ a book about the Alps is different as actually ‘being’ in the Alps?! Motorcycle riding is not a static 1- 2- 3- thing… this is loaded with emotions, variables and ‘feelings’. It’s not just black and white- but lots of gray zones. A book can’t make you feeling these things, and it’s on the imagination of its reader how the content… has found a place on his/her mind. In other words… what if you read a book about how to ride a motorcycle- but your imagination gives you a other understanding about it?! The result
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Straight out: I consider the general motorcycle rider education- at least in California, nothing else as a joke. Though, my guess is that the situation isn’t much better in other states. First of- my knowledge comes from teaching thousands of students on the track and street- asking pretty much each of them from who- and where they learned from. I’ll give you some ‘pictures’ according to what I’ve seen where their level at:
There was a 17 year old new rider in one of me ‘Cornering School Day‘ classes and he was taught by “the” certified institution for motorcycle drivers licenses what ‘Trail Braking’ is. Quote: “...it’s applying the rear brake by being on the throttle while entering a turn“. I have no name for that kind of “made-up”- but theories…
No clue theory: “The” certified institution has no idea what Trail Braking actually is, and just made this up… or
No resources theory: They actually know why the best riders on this planet are doing it- but can’t teach it… or
Marketing theory (my favorite): They figured that the Trail Braking process involves front brake usage while entering a turn is actually a conflict to their certified curriculum- to stay away from the front brake doing any leaning. The goal… in order to “sell” to the people that they do “teach” Trail Braking, and to have an effective Google key word driving traffic to their website… they just made their version of Trail Braking up
There was that 65 years old Lady who reached retirement and bought a brand new motorcycle to finally live her dream. She called me to teach her to
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When I arrived, I still had to wait in line, but it was much shorter than what I saw on the other lines. I had to fill out some paperwork about name, address, SSN, information about already existing driver license – the usual stuff, than I got a number and I went back to wait until they called my name.
