[jonnyc21]

Originally Posted by Sting32

IT can depend, if your club makes beginner all the time... My club seldom has beginner, so what has happened is the novice line eased up a lot, so he's probably right.

My 17 year old recruit is about the same after 5 weeks since he bought his 280. he can almost jump onto a parked car, but if I make him turn tight to jump a 12-18 inch log, he's in trouble

I cannot stress enough, IMHO turning and balance, WORK ON IT. if you can turn (98 of 100 people that is) and keep balance to execute the obstacle you do with a 3/4ths mile "prepare/runup to" you will be damn good very soon. But doing figure 8's for 98 of 100 people, seem boring, especially the younger people. I spend hours, practicing turning techniques, and BTW, Ive been riding for 40 years, I enjoy it, most dont.

Interesting that you bring up turning, the first 4 times I was on the bike (not on a course) it was just in the yard with a flat section and 2 hills to play on forcing me to turn tight, figure 8 level turns and balance. I loved the challenge of making the turns as tight as I could and learning to stop and keep the bike balanced. (Still working on both.)
I found the tight turns he had me doing challenging and fun! I learned how to do them better and better as the day went on. Having to go over a log, up a hill, or down a dip right after a turn was something I new I would have to do but doing it was quite a bit different than I had expected, again fun.

I on the other hand don't think I would be able to jump onto a parked car... :)

Thanks for the advice and I will remember to keep working on the 8's, including on hills, and the balance. (It felt great the first time I stopped the bike and kept it up without moving for more than 60 seconds, longest time so far was about 3 min.)