Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126079
(Top left)" Ass istant Prof" Harold works out on the high-cente r hurdle while (bottom)Walt Napier coaches: (AboveIA su rvivable encou nter wit h total panic. Trials at East Bakersfield High Most Rider Ed courses parallel Driver Ed. They take the student from classroom to highway by way of parking lot ranges with heavy emphasis on traffic laws. This one is different. The teenagers enrolled in Coach Walt Napier's riding class seldom see pavement and never see traffic. They start from scratch on a brace of totally stock Honda TL125 trials bikes, wobbling out across the football field on their first day , and working into progressively more difficult trials-type maneuvers. Napier says "Our philosophy is to teach 'em to ride first, and laws second." Considering the mind -set of most teenagers, that's probably quite alright with the kids. too . The whole program, entering its second year at East Bakersfield . is a living testament to the work of one man. Ro n Sp r a yb er r y. Trials organizer and trials pa rent . Ron was the prime mover behin d trials development in and around Kern County . architect of countless favorab le land-use plans on public: lands in the area. Then he was stricken with lung cancer. For awhil e it seemed that if the cancer didn't kill him. the treatment might. He had to quit riding. quit working, almost quit living for more than a year; but the one thing he held on to was a dream of trials riding being taught at the local high school where his boy Harold was' a student. . The fact that Ron was a parent opened doors that would have been slammed on an ybody else. One by one he overcame the standard objections . Money? He arranged for the donation of the bikes. Noise? He demonstrated for all how quie t the little trials Hondas were. Insurance? He reminded them that as long as the machines were on campus, they were covered by the school's regular liability policy for all athletics. He leaned on everybody from the principal on down . He won over the Dean of Curriculum. who had to give the final "Go : ' And he got Walt Napier, a P.E. instructor, to go through the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's core course for educators. Bikes , a qualified instructor. administration approval . BINGOI The class was in business . Napier, who 'd scarcel y ridden before, now has a bike and is as ent husiastic as Ron . He says he hopes the concept of teaching trials riding will mushroom. "Nothi ng could ha ve come about without th e work of parents." he adds. He takes a multi-racial. bi -Iingual mixture of students . a potential powderkeg . has th em rid ing a motorcycle for the first tim e in their lives, and has them accepting discipline readily (which for some of them is contary to all the ir past records). "T he best discipline is taking the bikes away ," he explains. " I've only had to bench the class once :' As the class, boys and girls together. go through sections one by one. trading off bikes. helping each other set and replace markers , Napier muses, " If we could get this across the country. how many lives would we save?" He's not idly blue-skying, His . present class knows throttle control, balance, and weight shift. They can ride a narrow teeter-totter and jump a small curb. They can hit a ditch at moderate speed and slide confidently on gravel. While Suttles had maintenance problems with street bikes dropped on parking lot asphalt, Napier's trials bikes are practically ding-free . It 's not because they don't get dropped. It 's because they're narrow, light and forgiving. The worst "mishap" we witnessed was one first -time rider, his second try on the bike . riding into one of the player's benches because he forgot to squeeze the clutch to get fully stopped. You can m ake horrible bloopers without hurting yourself or the equipment. As I take leave, Harold Sprayberry. who is an AT A Amateur and a part time tea ching assistant to Napier, is demonstrating on the high -center obsta cle with his Sherpa T while students take a few last cracks at offcamber turns before the period en ds. When these kids do learn traffic laws, it will be frosting on their already welldeveloped riding skill. survival in a policy,vacuum Ifs not a beautiful necklace . . . but as a motorcycle control cab le it's GREAT! £-ZSLID£H is a replacement ca ble for mos t stoc k dirt bikes and othe r univers al applications. It's constructed of the finest mater ials to give s mooth and effortless movement. No lubrication required. FEATURES : • • • • • • Woven stee l inner wire Nylon inner sleeve Wound stee l conduit Cotto n sleeve insulat or PVC oute r jacket Cad mium plated fittings $3.95 sugg ested retai l pri ce Dealer and Distributor inquiries welco me Chides Importing Co. P.O. Box 837 Cupertino, CA 95014 (408) 446-2002 ~ WL. DEALERS .. .. ·UATTENTION· • IEIlCl~ Y OU ARE HA VlNG • FIN DIN G • • DI FFICULTY ·DKW.SACHS· • MOTORCYCLE PARTS • • • YOU CAN NOW ORDER DIRECT (D EA L ERS ON LY) • • HERCULES DIST. LT D. Mason A ve., Chatsworth , Cr;} 1. 91311 • Phone (213) 882·8272 982 7 • ~ • ••••• can..a m HONDA H 0D A K A Honda of Glendora 1 . 4 27