Motorcyle Training

Motorcyle training. Learn what a course in motorcycle training can teach a student. An advanced course in motorcyle riding can help you improve your abilities dramatically. Our OHV training expert, Bill Uhl,...

An advanced course in motorcyle riding can help you improve your abilities dramatically. Our OHV training expert, Bill Uhl, who has more than 48 years teaching experience, says with all the motorcycle accidents that happen every year, professional training is what saves lives.

"Again with all the machines you teach the physics of riding; you start out with the basic function of the machine, and then the basic skills of how to start, stop and turn the different types of machines. This is done in a controlled environment at a safe speed," Uhl says.

Not just the professionals take the advanced level motorcycle riding courses. It's for anyone who just wants to learn more.

"I've taught competition riders, then I've taught trail riders, recreational riders, and people who like to ride on single track trails to the mountain. I have taught all those different types of people overtime," Uhl says.

Uhl says motorcycles are the hardest machines to learn.

"Motorcycles have the steepest learning curve of all the equipment - motorcycles then snowmobiles. After that are ATVs. You need a very keen balance with the motorcycle; you need to understand your limitations, your speed, so you can have throttle and clutch control," Uhl says.

There are some important facts every rider should know. An advanced motorcycle motorist will do the following unconsciously: go slow to go fast.

"What that means is if you fall down on your ride, it affects the rest of your ride. Your overall time between point A and point B will be longer if you went slower throughout the whole ride. So go slower to go fast. This means, be cautious; think before you act if you haven't trained your body. It will automatically adapt to any given situation. Think before you jump into something; ride within your known skill level. I teach people to look at a situation and know whether they can accomplish that or not on that given day. Everybody has bad days, and one day you may say, 'yes, I can do that. I will do it with no problem.' Then, the next day, they look at the same type of obstacle, and they don't feel comfortable. I encourage my students to trust their instincts and trust their feelings," Uhl says.

In the advanced motorcycle riding level, Uhl makes his students minds strong and confident. However, Uhl says, you can't achieve that until you get the basics down first.

"Don't let your ego get into the way. You will get hurt. Ride within your ability. Ride to have fun for you, not to prove to everybody else that you can or can't do something. We are all teachers and we are all students in life. When we stop being the student, as a teacher, we stop learning in life. There is something in your mind and in your feeling that when you start to hesitate, you try to start to analyze it too much, Then, you create your own problems. If you gradually build upon your skill base, you're all the time challenging yourself. I still challenge myself after all these years. I learn something every time I go out. I never stop learning. That is what fun is to me. That is what is exciting, Uhl says.

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