RTI Rider Training Institute > E-Zine > A Day In the Life...
Rider Training Institute E-Zine
A Day in the Life...
of a Rider Training Motorcycle
I'm a motorcycle, but I'm not just any bike – I'm a rider training motorcycle. It is an exciting life for a bike; I meet new riders every weekend from March to November. Early on a Saturday morning we bikes start to get excited. First the instructors arrive; they wheel us out and line us up so we can greet the students when they come for their two day Rider Training Institute course. While the instructors are setting up the parking lot for the lessons, we begin to see the first students arrive around 8am. Students come in all types, big and small, young and old, women and men. The instructors have met the students in the classroom, but we bikes haven't been introduced to the students yet, and some of them are shy to come and meet us. People stand chatting in groups until it's time to start the course.
One or two of us bikes get to help out with the first lesson. Sometimes we have students that have never been on a motorcycle before, so we always start from the very beginning. Students are shown how to take a motorcycle safely off its side-stand, and how to move a bike around. The students push us around for a bit, getting the feel for the front brake and how our balance changes when we turn. In the second lesson students get to sit on us, get a feel for our weight and balance from the seat. The students take turns with one riding and one pushing, and this is more challenging than it looks. Riding very slow is hard, and takes practice.
Soon we get to my favorite part, when we start the engines! I always hope to get picked by the instructor who is teaching the lesson, so I get to run first, and everyone can me hear me fire up and idle happily as I warm up. Even if I don't get picked to demonstrate the lesson with the instructor, I'll be running soon, when the students get all the bikes running. They learn the best way to start us up to extend our lives and our batteries, and several safe ways to shut down our motors too. Now the bikes are ready to go and the students are getting excited. Before we can really get going, students need to spend some time getting familiar with the clutch. For some students that is hard, and we bikes struggle and stall a few times before the sounds we make become clear to our rider and then they get it all figured out, and we pull away happily. Then we're rolling, under power, and everyone is really having fun.
Soon we are shifting into second gear as well as stopping and starting. I love zipping around the parking lot and the students really enjoy themselves too. We don't need gas until the end of the day, but the students and instructors stop for a break in the morning and afternoon and take and hour for lunch too. We ride all afternoon, learning more about shifting between gears, and riding around curves, getting experience judging corners. The instructors teach and demonstrate each lesson, and then coach each student individually as they are practicing, helping the students figure us out. The instructors are friendly and knowledgeable, and they all love motorcycles; some instructors have taught hundreds of students, and they know how to guide students through a challenging stage in their learning process.
By the end of the day on Saturday the new riders are tired but excited. The instructors talk to the students for a few moments before the new riders go home, then the instructors check us over and gas us up, and put us away for the night. Tomorrow is a big day.
Sunday we are up and out early when the instructors arrive. Students are encouraged through the weekend to try us all out, but usually by Sunday each student has a favorite bike, so on Sunday morning we look forward to our own riders arriving; it's not like Saturday when everyone is a bit shy and nervous. I'm a cruiser, so I have a low seat and a long chassis. Smaller riders find me comfortable, but everyone wants to try out the cruiser style and see what it feels like, so I usually meet most of the students over the weekend. I usually work with more than 20 other bikes, a few other cruisers, sport bikes, standard style bikes, and dual sport bikes too. We are all different, but we mostly get along, and the students enjoy the chance to find out what style of bike they like best.
On Sunday we start out with a warm up exercise, a simulated traffic environment in which students can practice their new skills. It usually starts out a bit rough, since we are warming up and the students are recalling very recently mastered skills. After we're both warmed up, we go onto a part of the course that is very important for new riders. We practice different types of emergency avoidance. Riding on the street can be a very dangerous environment, and learning what to do when an emergency arises is very valuable. Students ride more confidently after this lesson. By Sunday afternoon the course is done, and all that's left is for the students to complete a skills assessment for their license. Most of the students ride easily through the required demonstrations, but sometimes students get nervous or make a mistake, and some just need a bit more practice time, so we get to see them again when they come back to visit on another Sunday.
Then it's the end of the weekend our job as rider training bikes is done; the newly licensed and very happy beginner riders bid us and their instructors a fond farewell. We're always sad to see our riders go, but we have done our best to prepare them for a safe future in motorcycling, and we can look forward to meeting more new riders next weekend.
By Eliminator # 154,
Rider Training Institute Fleet Motorcycle
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