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Due to an alarming number of United States service members being killed or significantly injured on sportbikes the United States Air Force has mandated that all motorcycle riders who ride any motorcycle that is classified as a "Sportbike" take the Motorcyle Safety Foundation's Advanced Riders Course...
So that people understand the point of view this review is comming from I will go into a little of my personal history. I have attended a dozen or so track days, been to a few rider schools and was even a lucky enough to do a couple novice races. I feel I have a pretty firm grip on performance motorcycle riding but there is still much for me to learn.
So as to follow through with Air Force policy, I found myself in attendance of a locally put on MSF ARC course. It was an interesting experience that I felt obligated to share with the rest of the hayabusa.org community.
Firstly when I arrive at the class I notice that the only other sportbike there is a Buell XB12. I had decided to take the my GSXR The rest of the bikes were composed of a Goldwing, 2 V-rods and various other models of Harley Davidson. Apparently I should have taken more consideration for the classes labeled "sportbike" as I think this would have made a positive impact on my experience. I rarely meet an individual who rides a non-sportbike who enjoys the same aspects of motorcycling as I do.
The classroom portion of the class was a filled with allot of good information. The instructors were great guys who facilitated group discussion rather than lecture out pre composed material. Topics covered were things like line selection through a corner, body position and even talked a little bit about trail braking. It was interesting to see that virtually the entire class had no idea what trail braking was. The only information they presented that I took exception to was application of the rear brake. Although I learned absolutely nothing new about riding a motorcycle, I could tell that most of the other riders were picking up some useful information.
The rider drill portion of the class was kind of fun... I guess. Most drills typically involved 3 bikes on the course at any given time and I found myself unable to do the drills completely most of the times because I was constantly being slowed up by the other students. No big deal. A few of the Harley guys were really having a good time out there practicing their braking, swerving and leaning. It was kind of neat to see them experience these kind of things. I did suggest they find away to add just a little big of speed to some of the drills as I think this would greatly enhance the course, pretty weird to practice trail braking with a 25-30mph starting speed.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the day for me was the insights I was gaining on the other riders, particularly on the topic of what causes a motorcyclist to crash in a corner for no apparent reason. To me the answer is clear. With very few exceptions if you crash in corner it is 100% the fault of the rider. I heard excuses like it's the suspension, it's the tire, it's gravel... I guess I was amazed by the general attitude of the class that seemed to not want to take responsibility for the majority of events that happen on a motorcycle. I can't help but start to think that maybe most riders think like this.
In conclusion... It has been so long since I've interacted with normal everyday riders and I think I forgot how much I've really picked up from doing trackdays/rider schools. I think this course is perfect for the guy who has a grasp on the basic controls of a motorcycle but still needs a little help. However if your comfortable leaning way over on a corner and running a pace that will can get you carted off to jail I think you'll get much much more growth as a rider out of attending a track day.
So that people understand the point of view this review is comming from I will go into a little of my personal history. I have attended a dozen or so track days, been to a few rider schools and was even a lucky enough to do a couple novice races. I feel I have a pretty firm grip on performance motorcycle riding but there is still much for me to learn.
So as to follow through with Air Force policy, I found myself in attendance of a locally put on MSF ARC course. It was an interesting experience that I felt obligated to share with the rest of the hayabusa.org community.
Firstly when I arrive at the class I notice that the only other sportbike there is a Buell XB12. I had decided to take the my GSXR The rest of the bikes were composed of a Goldwing, 2 V-rods and various other models of Harley Davidson. Apparently I should have taken more consideration for the classes labeled "sportbike" as I think this would have made a positive impact on my experience. I rarely meet an individual who rides a non-sportbike who enjoys the same aspects of motorcycling as I do.
The classroom portion of the class was a filled with allot of good information. The instructors were great guys who facilitated group discussion rather than lecture out pre composed material. Topics covered were things like line selection through a corner, body position and even talked a little bit about trail braking. It was interesting to see that virtually the entire class had no idea what trail braking was. The only information they presented that I took exception to was application of the rear brake. Although I learned absolutely nothing new about riding a motorcycle, I could tell that most of the other riders were picking up some useful information.
The rider drill portion of the class was kind of fun... I guess. Most drills typically involved 3 bikes on the course at any given time and I found myself unable to do the drills completely most of the times because I was constantly being slowed up by the other students. No big deal. A few of the Harley guys were really having a good time out there practicing their braking, swerving and leaning. It was kind of neat to see them experience these kind of things. I did suggest they find away to add just a little big of speed to some of the drills as I think this would greatly enhance the course, pretty weird to practice trail braking with a 25-30mph starting speed.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the day for me was the insights I was gaining on the other riders, particularly on the topic of what causes a motorcyclist to crash in a corner for no apparent reason. To me the answer is clear. With very few exceptions if you crash in corner it is 100% the fault of the rider. I heard excuses like it's the suspension, it's the tire, it's gravel... I guess I was amazed by the general attitude of the class that seemed to not want to take responsibility for the majority of events that happen on a motorcycle. I can't help but start to think that maybe most riders think like this.
In conclusion... It has been so long since I've interacted with normal everyday riders and I think I forgot how much I've really picked up from doing trackdays/rider schools. I think this course is perfect for the guy who has a grasp on the basic controls of a motorcycle but still needs a little help. However if your comfortable leaning way over on a corner and running a pace that will can get you carted off to jail I think you'll get much much more growth as a rider out of attending a track day.
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