Ride Like a Pro

[moshe_levy]

Anyone here ever take the franchised course? It's available in Florida, Georgia, Texas, California, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, and my home state of New Jersey. I'm taking it Sunday for an upcoming MCN article. Just wondering what your experiences have been.

 

-MKL

[Wooster]

MKL,

Sorry, no "Ride Like a Pro" attendance here; I'll look forward to your summary (please) after this weekend. I did view the video and recall the emphasis on rear brake to steady the bike in slow speed manouvers and riding the clutch. As my old oilhead's brakes are not linked, I can appreciate the rear brake as a steadying influence yet am hesitent to use the clutch for low speed control as my motto is ride it like it has to last forever.

Amateur Wooster

[tallman]

Seen them several times.

Impressive riding.

No course experience.

[RichEdwards]

The creator of the course (Jerry Pallidino) lives nearby. He's a retired motorcycle cop . The course emphasizes slow speed riding in a parking lot environment and is done on Harley-Davidson motorcycles. I've seen demos at local cycle events. I much prefer courses given on real roads at real speeds (like our own "Ride Smart" course originally designed by David Baker and taught by him and others for the last few years.)

[moshe_levy]

Just got back. I think a better comparison than on-road real-speed type courses (which are typically multi-day and 10x the price) is RLAP and MSF-ERC. In that regard, I must say, I came away more impressed with ERC and my progress there within the 5 hours of that course than repeating MSF again. More details later....

 

-MKL

[motorman587]

Ditto, riding the rear brake is old school. Motor cops are changing the way they ride at low speed, which is no rear brake, for that reason. Wear and tear = $$$$. I teach at Florida Public Safety Institute, which is taught no rear brake exercise. BMWs are great a low speed where there is no need for brake for speed control. All throttle and clutch control.......

[RichEdwards]

on-road real-speed type courses (which are typically multi-day and 10x the price)

 

Ride Smart is usually given in a place like the area around the Cherohala Skyway. Morning instruction is followed by practical experience on these roads which is filmed by instructors who follow each student. Evening dinner comes with a viewing of everyone's riding video and group discussion of what was done right and what could be improved. The price is FREE.

[Jake]

Or have Tom Roe ride 10 feet behind you at breakneck speeds with his thumb perpetually on the PTT button "Keep your head up, relax those arms...more gas, more lean, MORE lean, MOOOORRRE LEAN - PUNCH IT!!!!"

 

Problem with free is you can't ask for a refund when you poop your pants...

[moshe_levy]

Rich-

 

That sounds GREAT! Any further info or a link?

 

I've taken and reviewed the Jim Ford Rider's Workshop (A+) and was thinking next of the Stayin' Safe course. Both will run you a pretty penny for a few days of instruction - worth every cent, but not the $100-150 of ERC or RLAP, and neither focuses exclusively on slow speed. Apples and oranges.

 

As for the rear brake technique, no it's not new, but I'm not convinced about the cost aspect for a commuter like me. How often do we have to make tight u-turns or s-turns? So if I feather my rear brake on those rare occasions, I may wear my pad (which on my previous RT, lasted 55,000 miles and still had meat left) a little faster. No biggie. It might turn into a biggie if I were an officer doing that day in and day out on the department's dime though.

 

One thing that can't be argued is that these motorcops are amazing riders. 18 foot circles were no problem, and full-lock floorboard dragging s-turns were made to look easy. By the end of the class a student (current MSF-BRC instructor) on a Harley Springer with apes at shoulder height (the hairiest edge of legality here) was whizzing through the 18 footers and figure 8s with ease. I took a picture because when I saw him roll in, I didn't believe he would be able to make it halfway through the course in that riding position, nevermind show the rest of us students up.

 

I'm sure newer methods are effective as well. The common denominator is practice, practice, practice.....

 

John, if you have more data on what you teach, please share. Might make good fodder for my article.

 

-MKL

[ratfink]

A few years ago at BMWRA rally in Boise the local and State Police set up a dumbed down Police training course and coached riders through it. It certainly helped me with the concept of keeping the head up and looking as far ahead as one can.

 

Trail riding has also helped my skill as a road rider.

 

I'm saying this because I don't think riding on a track or highway are the only places that can develop better riding skills or more importantly get one in touch with the basic physics that govern motorcycle function.

[Quinn]

Moshe, how do you compare the hands on training with the videos?

I've always reccommended the videos as an adjunct to the MSF.

 

---

 

 

[moshe_levy]

The course is basically the same layout as the DVD, with a few less excercises (no threshold braking, no countersteering - strictly low speed parking lot drills). The DVD is good because it shows common mistakes students make, not just the gold standard instructional staff at work (at least my 5th edition does, anyway).

 

I've been taking ERC every year just to shake off the cobwebs, but for my money, I'll now take RLAP over MSF ERC any day of the week. I'm really glad we have a choice now. Having the instructors there was really a boon. They picked up on all sorts of small details you can't catch yourself doing, and by the end of the class, all of us were better riders. It is more challenging than ERC in every way, and all takes place in the parking lot. You don't lose hours of valuable time in the classroom talking about alcohol consumption, safety gear, and other subjects which by now we all know about. The proficiency level of the students was also higher in general vs. the ERC. These guys were all pretty serious, and all had a good deal of experience under their belts.

 

It was a 5 hour course, and we logged on some 10 miles of riding - a good deal, considering you never get out of the fricition zone in first gear in any excercise. I never logged ERC mileage but I bet it's less than 10 miles, with easier drills to boot. No contest where I'm going next year.

 

I think a course like this, yearly, is a good idea. And every year or two, if affordable, one should take multi-day real-time road course like Jim Ford's, which I enjoyed immensely. Man, that was some of the most fun I've ever had on a bike. I've got to go back but it's out of reach right now. I still have to learn track days, off road, and a host of other things. This really is a lifelong endeavor!

 

-MKL

 

PS - Of the 6 students we had today, one was an MSF instructor. The RLEP instructors said there is usually at least one in every class. Says something.....

[RichEdwards]

Rich-

That sounds GREAT! Any further info or a link?

 

Moshe,

Didn't find any info on this past summer for the Ride Smart course. Since it depends on BMWST.com volunteer instructors, it doesn't go without their efforts. I'm pretty sure it was offered in the summer of '09. Maybe one of the instructors will chime in with some information....

 

[johngugel]

Does anyone offer a "wet" riding course, as in rain wet? I really need to know the capabilities of tires so I feel more confident in the rain.

[DunRTer]

The Western Australian police, sponsored by Honda, used to teach us slow-speed handling at the Police Academy. The emphasis was on attitude, counter-steering, emergency braking,and trailing the rear brake in feet-up U turns etc. But they also wanted you to leave the clutch alone, so the braking was purely to control your speed.

 

This was okay on my old carby R100RT, which had impeccable low-speed running characteristics, but I find on my current bike it sometimes needs a bit of clutch feathering to maintain smoothness. Also, my old bike got about 50-60,000 miles out of the rear pads, while this buggar chews them up every 8-10,000.