Читать книгу Proficient Motorcycling - David L. Hough - Страница 26

Now and then you’ll exit a restaurant to find someone circling your machine, a little wide-eyed and irrational, perhaps drooling at the mouth. When you hear the typical questions about fuel mileage, engine displacement, and prices, you know you’re talking to someone infected with the motorcycle bug. Do the newbie a favor by pointing him or her toward the nearest rider training course. If the novice decides to become a motorcyclist, that initial training provides a good foundation for gaining experience.

I wish I could be more enthusiastic about today’s standard rider training courses, but I believe that the quality of training has slumped in many states, with the emphasis having been shifted away from giving the new rider the tools to deal with riding in the real world, more to getting a new rider licensed and ready to buy a new bike as quickly and efficiently as possible. Training sites with veteran instructors seem to do a good job with the latest simplified curriculum. I’ve also heard from instructors who are embarrassed at turning out students who passed the simplified test but obviously weren’t ready for the road. The good news is that some state programs are taking more responsibility for their training courses, and some are even developing their own training to meet the needs of local riders.

Rider training courses can give you a big dose of information all at once. The trouble with knowledge is that it’s a lot like French bread—it doesn’t stay fresh very long. You can gain a lot of fresh information from motorcycle magazines and books. A year’s worth of monthly reading adds up to a healthy dose of information to help stack the motorcycling risk deck in your favor. A lot of motorcyclists miss out simply because they don’t take the time to read what’s available. A number of veteran motorcyclists have told me they clip and save helpful articles in a notebook to study again on cold winter nights. You’d think the veterans would have learned it all by now, but that’s not the way it works. The veterans are still around because they continue to refresh their knowledge.

I used to teach the MSF Experienced Rider Course (ERC), and I was an enthusiastic supporter for a long time, encouraging everyone to take the ERC and take it again every couple of years as a refresher. But the “new and improved” version of the ERC eliminated most of the crash avoidance strategies and control dynamics instruction, and I’m disappointed with the results. If you’re a relatively new rider, take the ERC. In my opinion, the latest ERC will give you an opportunity to practice your control skills. But if you’re an experienced rider, it won’t give you much of what you need.

Fortunately, there are some alternative street riding courses available, including Lee Parks’ Total Control Advanced Riding Clinic, Atlanta Motorcycle Schools Street Smarts course, Bob Reichenberg’s Streetmasters Motorcycle Workshops, and the on-road Stayin’ Safe Motorcycle Training developed by the late Larry Grodsky. There are also a number of track schools that focus on controlled cornering and braking at real-world speeds, including Keith Code’s California Superbike School and Reg Pridmore’s CLASS Motorcycle Schools.

Most important, there are several books about riding skills available, including the MSF’s Motorcycling Excellence Second Edition, Lee Park’s Total Control, and Nick Ienatsch’s Sport Riding Techniques. So perhaps the best “training” for an experienced rider is just to study the books and practice the skills on your own. I’ll provide references for the books and riding schools later on.