FEATURE
HONDA RIDER EDUCATION CENTER
P110
move forward a few feet and
stop safely. With the students
aboard the bikes, the instructor
bravely stands in front of new
riders so they can catch them
if they get a little too rambunc-
tious with the throttle. After
starting and stopping for a little
while, students move onto a
large oval, experiencing more
freedom.
Continuing to burn in the ba-
sics of starting and stopping into
the brain, cones placed around
the oval mark where riders are
supposed to slow down, then
stop.
After mastering the oval,
students move onto more com-
plex drills, like weaving through
cones. The instructors really
emphasis mastering the basics
and all the drills incorporate a
wide range of skills to improve
overall ability.
GRADUATION
At the end of the day, it was cool
to see riders who had never
ridden a dirt bike go from zero
to hero, navigating around the
dirt facility with an ear to ear grin
controlling the bike confidently.
In reality, motorcycle riding is not
hard especially when taught cor-
rectly. You really don't want your
next-door neighbor to teach you,
no matter how experienced he,
or she, says he is. Just watch
the movie "On Any Sunday" and
you'll understand.
The day's instruction ends
with an awesome ride around
the off-road portion of the facil-
ity, which features single track,
hills and small mud puddles,
giving students a taste of the fun
that is waiting for them out in the
hills and their new skills.
For this story, we focused
on the kids. I took my six-year-
old son, who has spent a lot of
time on an Oset 12.5 electric
trials bike and a piston-powered
Yamaha PW50. They set him up
with a Honda CRF50F, a bike
that is slightly bigger than his
PW50, so he had a little bit of
trouble touching as comfortably
as he does on his PW50, but the
instructor was very accommo-
dating and patient, helping him
(but not too much so, he would
learn) when he needed it.
Even for riders who know how
All the basics
are taught
here. Even
experienced
riders can
learn a lot.
