Took the ERC...

[benVFR]

I just got back from taking the ERC...

I'm honestly not sure whether or not to give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down.

It seemed like the course was more intended to catch people who didn't take the BRC, and/or have become really screwed up as a result.

This was supposedly the new curriculum. It was still all parking lot stuff. Can't really say I learned much other than perhaps getting a bit better at counterweighted u-turns.

The written portion of the class is very dumbed down. A lot of the riding portion seemed somewhat unrealistic as it was almost completely focused on very, very low speed stuff.

Almost everyone's bike was overheating and acting weird from idling in the parking lot all day too. Definitely didn't help things at all. By the end of the day I was fried and I could barely do stuff I was doing fine at the beginning of the course.

So I passed.. but I'm not sure it was worth it. I think I end up feeling safer/smoother after doing a track day.

Ben

[KevinB]

Yeah, sounds like what heard from a few friends who took it last season. Trackdays all the way.

[Karaya One]

It was all very low speed???

So - people would learn better / faster if the technique was taught at 65 mph?

It is intended to teach people technique. To introduce new ways to handle your motorcycle.

What would you do differently?

[OreoGaborio]

well then.... guess i know which event i'll be doin

[benVFR]

I expected it to be mostly slow stuff, but I guess I just wasn't thrilled at the quality of the instruction.

I was able to identify the areas I was having trouble with, and they weren't able to give me feedback on how to correct the issues. If you were having an issue with something simple like head turns, etc.. they corrected that, but anything much beyond that they weren't giving any feedback.

There seemed to some major rough edges in the course in terms of different required techniques for different bikes. About half the skills were a joke on a sportbike but impossible on a cruiser. (The instructor blew a couple of the demos on these) And then there were a few others which were very easy on a cruiser and very difficult on a sportibke. They didn't seem to know what to tell you for each type of bike, and they just kept reading the script that everyone should be doing the same thing. They were obviously second guessing their notes but they didn't know what to tell us.

One of them had NO idea that a sportbike would have trouble going 5-10mph in 2nd gear without feathering the clutch. I asked about feathering the clutch, using 1st, etc.. and was just told "No you can't do that." Later they started telling us we could use 1st if we needed to, but even then there were still some situations where I was going so slow I needed to feather the clutch and they didn't want us doing so. They also had no idea what to tell us when we kept hitting the steering lock (only the sportbike guys were running into this) on some of the drills. If someone had showed up on a Ducati with the narrow steering lock or super tall first gear they would have been totally up shit creek without better advice.

Ben

[slingblade]

Originally posted by benSV
...One of them had NO idea that a sportbike would have trouble going 5-10mph in 2nd gear without feathering the clutch. I asked about feathering the clutch, using 1st, etc...

... super tall first gear they would have been totally up shit creek without better advice.

Ben

Dang, I'd have been screwed for sure. 5-10mph in 1st on an RC51 w/out feathering the clutch is one heck of a surging ride. I wouldn't even attempt it in 2nd

You did get a lot out of the course though, reguardless of whether it directly affects your riding. It affected your evaluation of riding period

[RandyO]

even the owners manual on the SV sez the lowest operating speed in 1st gear with clutch completly engaged is 12mph... on the other hand, my Yamaha has the torque to idle in top gear (16mph)

[02SuperHawkRdr]

Didn't your other post say that you took this class with Ironstone Ventures?

I took the ERC with them last year and wasn't incredibly impressed with the instructors either. One was an HD guy who thought he was pretty funny and I thought was just an ass, the other (who was the better of the two) rode an old Goldwing.

We were told that we should use second gear for the first part of the final skills test which involved making sharp turns back and forth through a bunch of cones. It was definitely a first gear maneuver and I used first gear for it, but they didn't say anything to me about it.

Anyway, that is why I figured I'd give the SRNE ERC a try.

Oh, and for newer riders like OreoGaborio I would say the class would still be very helpful. I'd just try to make the SRNE one.

[Karaya One]

I think you would have been MUCH happier with the SRNE ERC.

Don't blame the course, blame the instructor's who didn't seem to know what they were doing.

The ERC, done correctly, is a wonderful learning envirment. But - it is only an introduction. There is no way to learn a whole new skill set in five hours.

[ssg]

Originally posted by Karaya One
The ERC, done correctly, is a wonderful learning envirment. But - it is only an introduction. There is no way to learn a whole new skill set in five hours.

I took the MSF BRC with Ironstone and it was awesome. Joe Proia taught the class so that might have had something to do with it? Either way I walked away in development of some good habits.


Took the SRNE ERC last year on a mild modified 954 (read as: no fun @ parking lot speeds) on an airstrip in ~90° temps and nary a cloud in site and had no issues. Of course alot of it had to do with who I rode with and the skillset I had developed along the way. it IS an Erc, so if you have bad habits going into it it's going to be even tougher. However thats what instructors are there for.

Though in my BRC class there was a couple there that just got HD's and they seemed to think it was their class.. They took any opportunity to interrupt the instructor mid-sentence, ask stupid questions about their bikes better left for a dealer, and continuously make jokes about the shitehawk's being so sub-par to what they were riding that it really wasn't even worth it for them to be there..wtf?? Anyways the instructors were constantly waiting for them to pick up their bikes or start them or some lameness like that. If you have idiots like this in a class it can really distract from the instructors focus as well as what you are committing to memory.

Only problem I had was this guy on a Silver FZ1 that kept dropping stuff and asking me to pick it up real slow and then grunting when I did, he was a little odd

I highly recommend you give the SRNE ERC a shot even though you're "experienced" already - might be worth a try. Get some more mileage under your belt and give it a shot.

[RevHappy]

The instructor has everything to do with how the erc will run. Yes, they have an outline to follow but with any class room environment the teacher or instructor here makes or brakes the class "pun intended."

I know of guys that are hell of riders that take the ERC every spring just to brush up on there skills and break away of any bad habits that may form.

I hear what Ben is saying If you want to learn how to ride your bike in extreme cases take a superbike school The ERC is exacty what it is.

[zombie]

I took the ERC down in Bourne and I went into with the mindset of finding out what bad habits I have as a rider and to tighten up on my technique overall.
What I found out was that most of my riding was fine but I nedded to look thru the turn more than I was and to try and be less aggresive (meaning tailgating) as a former motorcyle courier , old habits die hard.

I also left there with more confidence in my overall riding abilty, and while there were people in the class who had no right being on a motorbike at least they were there. Funny thing the H.D guys were the most obnoxious and yet were the poorest riders by a long shot.
One of the instructors wasn't a great teacher but the other guy was fine.

I recommend it to brush up on your overall riding skills and as regards low speed drills , if you can correct them at low speeds and learn what you are doing wrong you will have a better chance at higher speeds to know how to react to a given situation.

The biggest problem overall was the cruiser guys not wanting to look thru the turn as it seemed to upset their sense of style and the best move of the day was the dope on a fatboy that had his feet on the highway pegs and didn't get his feet back in time to downshift and stop and simply fell off the thing ...friggin priceless .. also best rider of the day was given to a girl on a klr250 who was relatively new to riding and picked up her riding immensely and had a great time doing so.

So overall money well spent but I did fall asleep in the classroom section just like back in school

[benVFR]

I did feel like I was riding quite smoothly today, so maybe it did help more than I thought.

Ben