3
This summer, Harley Davidson offered veterans and first responders a free ride through the new rider class. It was like a $320 value. Of course I signed up.
We took the class at Sheldon's HD.
Six of us were in the class. Two were experienced riders who wanted to get the MC license endorsement at the end of the class and didn't want to ride their big hogs to the RMV for the test. Two of us were older guys who hadn't been on a bike in many years and needed a good refresher. Two were novices.
We rode the Street500 Harleys for the class.
Talk about a fun little bike! The tall guys (well over six feet) were funny, they had to sit on the back of the seat and their knees were still above the fuel tank! They were reminded of their youth, when they were riding minibikes. The bikes had enough power that we all agreed that if we lived in the city or didn't do much highway riding or touring, this would be a fun bike to have. They were all blacked out with black cowls around the headlight, so they looked like miniature SOA bikes. Of course if you like the Jap bikes with all the plastic on them, you won't like this, so no big deal. I like naked bikes and bobbers, so for me and those of us in the class, they were cool bikes to play with. For a new rider, it's perfect. Light, quick, sips gas, and liquid cooled.
We learned some great stuff, like very slow speed control, high speed emergency maneuvers and braking, and handling turns.
My best tip was using your head to look way into the turn, and pressing on the grips to lean the bike into the turn. This in practice, helped me handle turns much better.
We all got our MC license endorsement at the end of the course, got certificates for reduced insurance rates, and 15% off over-priced items like helmets, gloves, and jackets.
If you're thinking about taking a course like this, I highly recommend it. It wasn't boring. Two nights (4 hours each) in the classroom and two full days (8 hours each) on the bikes.
All of our class participants, even the experienced riders, took away great habits and skills.