What a success this event was with 21 motorcycles turning out to participate in the Motorcycle Skills Training Day co-ordinated and run by members Glenn and Debbie.
This was the first attempt by the V.M.M.A. to provide Motorcycle Skills Training for all levels of riding ability, the City of Casey assisted by providing their new Driver Education Centre which included classroom, toilets and open car park area that was closed off to other users during the skills training.
The following members attended Glenn, Debbie, Matt, Jane, Chris, Sharyn, Dave, Viv, Dennis, Anita, Richo, Dean, Terri, Gail, Gary, Cliff, Noel, Wazza, Taxi, Eric, Mark and Kerri.
The days activities commenced in the classroom at 9.45 a.m. with Glenn introducing both himself and Debbie and then explaining the aim of the day which was to have fun with no pressure but also learning more about your own riding capabilities along with motorcycle dynamics.
Everyone appeared cautious as Glenn explained and sketched on the white board the various skills we would be undertaking, leaving the classroom we headed for the open car park area which was closed off for our use and appeared to have hundreds of cones all over the place.
Look at all the worried faces in the classroom as Glenn explains the days activities.
The first task was to ride around cones placed in a circle sized similar to a roundabout, but riding in a anti-clockwise direction which is opposite to a roundabout. This does not seem a difficult task, but it is a task a road rider would not normally carry out, hence riders were very cautious the first few times around the cones until they became familiar with the maneuver, we then moved onto riding a particular path through cones placed so that you had to ride slowly and balance the motorcycle through some very tight corners. Once again there were many dabs of feet on the first runs, but as the riders circulated around the course they became less and less, Glenn asked the riders to move their weight on the bike and observe how it affects the handling through the corners.
Glenn with is pupils!!!!
Just prior to lunch the task had changed to plainly riding to the right and left of cones lined up in a single row whilst maintaining a constant throttle opening, then listen to the motor sound change due to being on the centre of the tire and then on the side wall going around the cones.
Now is was back to the classroom for lunch and another prep talk prior to heading back out for the afternoon session, Debbie thank you for arranging our lunch.
Glenn spoke of the apex of the corner, how we should be approaching a corner in relation to braking, selecting the correct gear, turn in point and the acceleration point out of the corner. It was explained and demonstrated the various techniques used in cornering both on the road and on the race track all which depend on your style of motorcycle, skill ability and ego.
In the afternoon session the cones in a single row were continually placed out wider so that the riders had to ride around them as though the cones were the apex of the corner, thus making the ride to decide of their turn in point and to keep the throttle positive with some braking to keep the bikes suspension loaded.
At the conclusion of the afternoon session Glenn and Debbie were thanked for their time and effort in providing the V.M.M.A. with this Motorcycle Skills Training Day of which all agreed they all enjoyed themselves along with learning riding skills without the pressure of failure or embarrassment.
Before you ask the question, NO we did knock all the cones over they are meant to be lying down!!!
Prior to departing riders participated in allowing others to have a ride of their motorcycles around the car park for there were various styles of motorcycles such as cruisers, sports, dual purpose and touring, Anita made the most of this session riding nearly every bike, Sharyn was lucky to get her bike back for it looked like Anita was taking it home.
In the future there will be a number of actual on the road rider training, each of these will have a limit to the number of riders due to the fact they will be on the road and safety is the foremost concern.
Once again a big thank you to Glenn and Debbie.
Reported by CW
