Rider Training Explored
Reprinted from the January, 2009 BMW Owners News, with permission of the BMW MOA and Roger Wiles
By, Roger Wiles
This month, MotoSafe features a conversation with David L. Hough, motorcycling-safety author and researcher, about the current state of motorcycle-rider training. Professionals within the moto-training community hold a variety of opinions about appropriate curricula and instructional methods. MotoSafe hopes this dialogue will provoke thought and commentary about your personal training experiences outcomes.
MotoSafe (MS): Lots of BMW MOA members are also rider training instructors and coaches (RiderCoaches) teaching Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) courses, but you’ve been very critical of MSF curricula, especially in your articles in Motorcycle Consumer News. Why are you so down on the MSF?
David L. Hough (DLH): I’m disappointed by what the MSF has done over the past decade or so. Back in the "good old days" I supported the MSF, and believed in the curricula. For many years I was an MSF certified instructor, teaching mostly the Experienced RiderCourse in the Seattle area. I’ve offered ideas to the MSF in a spirit of cooperation. But over the past ten years the MSF has changed radically, and I’m saddened by what has happened.
MS: You’ve been very critical of the MSF’s latest novice course, the Basic Rider Course, or ’BRC.’ Most states are using it. Is there something wrong with it?
DLH: The BRC is very ’bare bones.’ It provides a framework that can be filled in with lots of information. If the coaches (instructors) are very experienced, they can add whatever the students need. But if the coaches are inexperienced, the students can get a very abbreviated course. I know instructors in states such as New Mexico and Washington who are very proud of the way they conduct the BRC, but they are embarrassed when they see what is happening in other states.
MS: Isn’t the whole idea of the BRC to have standardized training? Aren’t all states required to teach MSF courses the same way?
DLH: Well, there’s lots of room for added material—when the coaches aren’t being watched. I know some instructors who ’juice up’ the BRC when no one is looking, and suddenly revert back to the official instructor guide when the MSF sends someone out to grade their work.
MS: Both Oregon and Idaho use Team Oregon’s Basic Rider Training (BRT) course. Do you think the BRT is better than the MSF’s BRC?
DLH: Whether it’s better or not isn’t the important question. In my opinion, what’s important is that every state be free to choose or develop courses that meet their needs, without interference by an industry group. For instance, Team Oregon looks at Oregon crash and fatality statistics, and uses that data to decide what to teach. I think that’s a better approach than having one standardized course throughout the USA.
MS: The MSF initiated a lawsuit against Team Oregon for what they claimed was using the MSF’s ’intellectual property.’ What’s happening with that now?
DLH: The MSF dropped the suit, with various conditions attached. Team Oregon will be free to continue offering their various courses developed at Oregon State University.
MS: You taught the ’old’ MSF Experienced Rider Course for many years. What do you think of the new ERC?
DLH: I find the ’new’ ERC lacking in what an experienced rider needs. In my humble opinion, it focuses too much on novice riding skills, and doesn’t cover enough about controlling the situation. My biggest disappointment is that the classroom sessions on riding in traffic were eliminated. For truly experienced riders, mental strategies are just as important—maybe more important—than physical control skills. Yes, the old ERC needed some updating, but not the slicing and dicing it got. I don’t think it’s dishonest to describe the new ERC as a novice course ridden on your own motorcycle.
(MS comments: The MSF’s Experienced RiderCourse—Skills Plus and License Wavier —provide a degree of ‘classroom’ content to provide exposure to the mental strategies competent riders need to ride more safely; while the focus in an ERC is on riding-practice, this mental-strategy component is often found to be the most valuable by students.)
MS: Isn’t the ERC adequate for experienced BMW riders? After all, we offer the ERC at the International Rally.
DLH: The ERC is ’adequate’ for someone who has only modest skill levels, but it doesn’t include much that answers the needs of today’s experienced riders. When I say ’experienced,’ I’m thinking of someone with five or ten years and maybe 50,000 miles. In my opinion the new ERC is pegged at riders with one or two years and 5,000 miles.
MS:So, are you suggesting we should be looking for a course that’s at a somewhat higher level?
DLH: I think that’s what we’ve already done with skills seminars at the International Rally. Experienced riders can absorb some mental skills from a seminar that they can take out to the road later.
MS: But are skills seminars really training’?
DLH: There are lots of things riders can learn in a ’classroom’ setting, such as traffic and surface hazards—stuff that would complement and add to what’s offered out on an ERC range. In my mind, ’classroom’ includes seminars, and also articles published in ON and electronically. I’m glad to hear that the MSF has been working on some seminars.
MS:But don’t we need to include actual riding practice on our bikes?
DLH: Sure. I’d like to see skills practice, but not necessarily what’s included in MSF courses. In terms of practicing riding skills, I think we should focus on cornering, because cornering errors seem to be implicated in the fatality numbers. I’d suggest painting down a cornering range (such as the one I’ve included in More Proficient Motorcycling
MS:Do you think that the MOA Foundation should become the ’training arm’ of BMW MOA?
DLH: Up to now, we’ve had skills (’safety’) information appearing in a haphazard way, whenever someone decided to say something. For a number of years I had the soapbox, the column that I called Between the Ears in Owners News. I’d very much like to see The Foundation take responsibility for developing—or at least coordinating—skills articles for ON, and seminars that could be offered at the big rallies and also made available to state and local clubs. The seminars could also be put into styles suitable for publication in ON and for posting on a Web site. For an example of this, I have some stuff posted on SoundRider.com. (www.soundrider. com)
MS: Are there training courses other than the ERC that you would recommend?
DLH: There are a number of training courses available now, especially for the truly experienced rider. Lee Park’s Total Control Advanced Riding Clinic is available at different training sites around the country. Walt Fulton III offers the Streetmasters Motorcycle Workshops in California. Bret Tkacks of Puget Sound Safety in Tacoma has a new course available, Advanced Street Skills.
[There are links to resources at the bottom of this page]
MS: Aren’t these just track time for ’wannabe’ racers?
DLH: Absolutely not. Both Streetmasters and Advanced Street Skills are conducted at raceways, but they focus on skills that are applicable to the street. The Total Control course is conducted on large parking lots at various training sites around the country, and it’s been offered in conjunction with BMW rallies.
MS: Many of us have heard of the track schools taught by ex-racers such as Reg Pridmore, Keith Code, Freddie Spencer, and Kevin Schwantz. Do these courses teach skills that a street-riding BMW rider would find useful?
DLH: The ex-racers teach what they know, which is going fast around corners. Definitely, we can all benefit from learning better cornering skills. After all, about half of motorcycle crashes are single vehicle, mostly with the rider losing control in a curve. The limitation of the track schools that focus on cornering is that they don’t deal with common hazards. On the track, there aren’t any embarrassing problems such as loose moose, or slippery railroad crossings.
MS: Any other courses you would suggest?
DLH: The late Larry Grodsky created his Stayin’ Safe on-road course, and his instructors are continuing to offer it in the Pittsburg area. They ride south into the West Virginia mountains. Stayin’ Safe is conducted on public roads, the key being instructor-to-student communication by radio in real time. The book, Stayin’ Safe, is now available from Whitehorse Press. Stayin’ Safe is a collection of the late Larry Grodsky’s columns, compiled by Pete Tamblyn, one of Larry’s head instructors. Atlanta Motorcycle Schools has several different courses, and they also do on-road training.
MS: Isn’t there a course taught somewhere on the east coast by off-duty motor officers?
DLH: Yes, a new training company, Motorcycle Riding Concepts, was set up in the Washington, DC area. I understand all the instructors are active duty motor cops. They offer a variety of courses, from novice through expert. They also offer individual training. They feel their training prepares a rider to cope with heavy traffic such as that in the Washington, DC area.
MS: So, why aren’t these courses better known? Is there some clearing house for training courses where we could go for information?
DLH: Sorry, I’m not aware of any national listing that keeps track all of the different courses. Other countries do that, but apparently no one does it in the USA. Unfortunately, the MSF sees the private training schools as competitors rather than allies. I’d very much like to see the different rider training organizations become better known, and one step in that direction might be for training schools to start attending the SMSA conferences and rubbing elbows with the MSF and state motorcycle safety administrators. Or, perhaps the American Motorcyclist Association might see this need as something they could accomplish.
MS: What can BMW riders do to help this situation?
DLH: One thing we could do immediately is report back to MotoSafe on our training experiences. If you’re aware of a training course we haven’t listed here, send us the particulars. Better yet, take the course and tell us what you think of it. Personally, I’d like to see a special forum on the BMW MOA Web site that would have a category for training feedback, say ’riding skills’ or ’training.’ Perhaps MotoSafe could publish a list of training sites once or twice each year and provide some sort of rating based on feedback from members.
MS: Your latest book is out now, the second edition of Proficient Motorcycling. Would you swallow your pride and suggest any skills books by other authors?
DLH: Sure. I’ve retired from Motorcycle Consumer News, but Ken Condon
continues to write a monthly skills column. Ken has a new book coming out in 2009, Riding In the Zone (Whitehorse Press). I really like Nick Ientach’s book, Sport Riding Techniques. Lee Parks has his book Total Control. Reg Pridmore has his Smooth Riding book. For a relatively new rider, I’d suggest Motorcycling Excellence, Second Edition. And of course, for sidecarists, there is the book Driving A Sidecar Outfit, second edition.
MS: David, our thanks for your thoughts and for the many lives your work has touched!
Resources:
Training Schools
Advanced Street Skills
(888) 539-7545
www.smartcornering.com
Lee Parks Total Control Advanced Riding
Clinic
(800) 943-5638
E-mail: leemparks@yahoo.com
Keith Code’s California Superbike School
(323) 224-2734
Internet: www.superbikeschool.com
Reg Pridmore’s CLASS Motorcycle School
(805) 933-9936
Internet: www.classrides.com
Freddie Spencer’s High Performance
Riding School
(888) 672-7219
Internet: www.fastfreddie.com
The Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School
(800) 849-7223
Internet: www.schwantzschool.com
Motorcycle Riding Concepts
(703) 491-9102
Internet: www.saddleupva.com/cart
Penguin Road Racing School
(978) 297-1800
Internet: www.penguinracing.com
Streetmasters Motorcycle Workshops
(805) 464-0544
Internet: www.streetmasters.info
Stayin’ Safe Motorcycle Training
(202) 857-8384
Internet: www.stayinsafe.com
Atlanta Motorcycle Schools
(770) 573-9902
Internet: www.jkminc.com
Books and Publications
Motorcycle Consumer News
P.O. Box 6050
Mission Viejo, CA 92690-6050
(949) 855-8822
Internet: www.mcnews.com
Subscriptions: (888) 333-0354
Internet: www.custmag.com/mcn
Motorcycle Safety Foundation Staff. Motorcycling Excellence, Second Edition: The Motorcycle Safety Foundation’s Guide to Motorcycling Excellence: Skills, Knowledge, and Strategies for Riding Right. North Conway, N.H.: Whitehorse Press, 1995.
Ienatsch, Nick. Sport Riding Techniques: How to Develop Real World Skills for Speed, Safety, and Confidence on the Street and Track: Phoenix, AZ: David Bull Publishing, 2003
Sidecar Safety Program. Driving a Sidecar Outfit, Second Edition. Port Angeles, WA 2007: Printwerk Graphics and Design, 1000 Richard Road, Dyer, IN 46311 Telephone (800) 736-1117
Parks, Lee. Total Control: High Performance Street Riding Techniques. St. Paul, MN: Motorbooks International, 2003
Pridmore, Reg. Smooth Riding the Pridmore Way
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The views expressed in MotoSafe are not necessarily representative of the BMW MOA, the BMW Owners News, or its staff. The views in this colum are solely those of the author or authors.
The BMW MOA Foundation’s “MotoSafe” is intended to present responsible viewpoints on thoughtful and safe motorcycling skills and practices; the authors, the Foundation, the BMW MOA and the Owners News do not guarantee readers’ personal safety and take no responsibility for readers’ application of this material. Professional motorcycle safety trainers are invited to submit articles for inclusion in the “MotoSafe” column. Please contact Roger Wiles (roger@rogerwiles.com) for submission guidelines and instructions. The BMW MOA Foundation is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt Public Educational Foundation dedicated to increasing and promoting the safe and enjoyable sport of motorcycling. Tax-exempt donations to the Foundation will provide funding for current and new Foundation Projects & Programs. Contact Foundation Headquarters at: PO Box 3982, Ballwin, MO 63022 - (636) 394-7277 for further information