Danny Walker: Building Skills at American Supercamp

Danny Walker is like the ultimate camp counselor. He’s been racing since 1971, and the knowledge he’s gained over the years is passed on at his American Supercamp, where motorcycle riders go to hone their skills.

American Supercamp is designed to improve riding skills and balance while on a motorcycle. Aggressive riding drills teach students to think when they ride, and they improve cornering, handling and confidence.

And, Walker says, those skills aren’t just for beginning riders. Even top Roadracers attend American Supercamp to fine-tune their skills. "We probably make our biggest impression on standard street riders," Walker explains. "Nine times out of ten, your average street rider, when they get into that panic braking situation, their initial reflexes are the wrong ones, which cause that situation to be even worse."

Learning how to react in emergency scenarios, such as a car pulling out in front of a rider, are a lot easier—and less painful—to learn on the Yamaha 125 dirt bikes that American Supercamp utilizes.

"We can put people in that situation over and over and over again on our little dirt bikes, going ten miles an hour with all the gear on. The consequences are just falling down in the dirt. That’s the beauty of our program: being able to take the motorcycle in an out-of-control situation and train the reflexes to get it back in control," Walker says.

Walker has been riding since his was six, and he entered his first race at the age of seven. He concentrated on flat track racing when he was younger, but in 1980 he made the switch to roadracing. He has competed in everything from AMA to WERA Endurance, and Walker was a staple in the American roadracing scene through 1997, when he opened American Supercamp.

The inspiration to open the camp came from observing the way American roadracers learned their craft. "Growing up in flat track, I knew that was how roadracers were training. I thought somebody needed to teach the American style of racing," Walker says.

Many American Supercamp graduates have come back as instructors after building successful roadracing careers. Guys like Jake Zemke, JD Beach and Josh Hayes (who finished seventh in the MotoGP season finale) have all passed on their knowledge to American Supercamp students.

Of all the drills that students learn, Walker says the favorite is the mud drill. "We take our flat track oval and put water on it to make it slicker than snot," Walker says. "We give them pointers on how to deal with the mud, but we take every ounce of their traction away and give them the tools for what it takes to control the motorcycle in that situation. We have a lot of people that fall over when they’re not even moving. Every little action creates a huge reaction. It teaches what your reflexes need to be."

Now, Walker is introducing the Roadracing Factory School with support from LeoVince. It will begin in December with a camp at Fontana. The school will run on roadracing courses using modified Yamaha WR250F dirt bikes, which will be equipped with LeoVince exhausts and X3 "WORKS" carbon fiber. The new school is a chance for Walker to help riders hone their skills with a roadracing focus.

Whether it’s on a road course or a "slicker than snot" flat track, American Supercamp has proven that practice makes perfect. It also makes for a really fun experience.

"The people who come to us to try to learn as much as they can don’t realize how much fun they’re going to have," Walker says of the fun to knowledge ratio. "It goes hand in hand. People who came to learn have fun, and people who came to have fun wind up learning a lot."

Find out more about American Supercamp and the LeoVince-supported Roadrace Factory at www.AmericanSupercamp.com or www.leovinceusa.com starting in December on their new websites "Team" page.

© 2009 LeoVince. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy