https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/ots/mmsc/rider-training/Pages/civilian-police-motorcycle.aspx
Having completed the Lee Parks Total Control a couple years ago, we were looking for something "more", and this was it! I always wanted to learn how to shoot and ride at the same time... just kidding .. this class is more about strategic cycle handling skills in difficult stress-induced and tight, narrow situations.
Our instructor ... Mike ... I think it was ... was excellent. He was always enthusiastic. He greeted us at the range when we arrived, provided water and snacks and set up the course cones. He rode a large Victory Vision and demonstrated the exercises for us. I figured, if he can do it on his giant bagger, I can do it on my little FJR1300....
The mix of students was interesting. It ranged from experienced to ... well ... could use some more experience. Two women, ten men. A couple Harley's, a couple sportbikes, a couple adventure touring bikes, a couple Gold Wings, and my Yamaha.
The first thing we did was to protect the bikes. It was made clear that he expected some of us to drop our bikes, and he had fire hose and gorilla tape available. The spills would be low-speed, so it only necessary to cover up the parts that touch down.
First up we did a figure eight then swerve followed by a swerve, using no more than a 28-foot wide space (i.e. the space of two road lanes). This lead immediately into a 90-turn in the width of a sidewalk. Most of us performed well on these, tightening up the figure eights to as little as 18-20 feet. The girl on the Harley had a particularly hard time with this, dropping her Harley frequently. Paul and I did well, and the guy on the Yamaha Super Tenere blew everyone away!
Next up were the offset cone weaves. There are two versions - the 30 mph one and the very slow but much tighter one. This is where most people had problems - the guy on the Harley ex-police bike dropped it at lease once per trip through the slow offset cone weave. I quickly learned to wait until the other participants were mostly through it before I entered it, or I'd have to have slow down and wait for them exit. The idea is to keep moving and use the inertia of the bike to keep it upright ... but some of the less experienced riders (like the little BMW F650GS) tended to go slowly through the cones, using lots of clutch and balance skills, keeping the bike nearly upright, to make it through.
On the 30mph weave, Mike had a radar gun which he used to verify we were hitting high enough speeds. He would us this later too, on the 45-mph brake and escape exercise.
Once in a while we would be gathered into a string and just rode in large circles for five minutes at 30mph to get some airflow, to help cool down the bikes. It was about 103F on the tarmac on this day.
Next we did some group riding techniques using hand signals, lining up, taking off, etc. We don't ride in large groups nor demand this type of conformity so this was sort of pointless to me.
Next up, we did the "Iron Cross". This is a little more complicated so I drew a diagram:
We did it both ways. I like this exercise quite a bit!
Throughout the day some of the previous exercises were still available, so while we were waiting for students to get through one, we could go back and practice another.
Another exercise we did was the "immediate left or right turn". From a stop, with only ten feet in front of the bike, we had to start and make a hard left or right turn. After this Mike made it a bit harder ... we would come to an "instant" stop then continue. An "instant" stop was tough ... imagine slowing down, then hammering both front and rear brakes to completely stop the wheels, and as the suspension rebounds, continue forward into the hard left or right turn. Without putting your feet down. This takes some practice!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVAz5Zk3PFE&feature=related
Ok ... brake and escape. This puts everything together. We started at slower speeds (25 mpg) then worked up to 45 mph or so. The idea to ride fast, then perform an emergency braking exercise, followed by a hard right then left swerve, then a series of 180-degree turns. By themselves, each part wasn't tough, but putting them together WAS tough. I would enter the exercise with the "hard braking" exercise which invariably gets my adrenaline going. Then, the hard swerve and 180 degree turns requires a different mental state. Making this transition in my brain was tough, and Mike explained that was the point of the exercise. It also simulated a traffic crash ... let's say the car in front of you stops very fast. Then, to avoid being smashed by the car behind you, do a hard left/right swerve and get between the cars in front, down an alley, or off onto the shoulder. A common way to die on a motorcycle is to get rear-ended by a doofus not paying attention ... this exercise teaches us the skills to prevent that.
At the end of the day we had a few fun competitions. The first was a "slow ride". I failed miserably the first time because I misunderstood the instructions ... "no clutch" I thought .. so I idled through it and beat everyone. Second time I got it right, but just couldn't balance the heavy FJR1300 very well. The winner was the guy on the F650GS who feathered his clutch through all the exercises.
The second competition was a relay through the Iron Cross. Mike split us into two teams. I think he was hoping to make them even, with Paul and I on opposite sides, but we got the guy on the Super Tenere. The rules were as follows:
1. Each team rides half the Iron Cross. There are potential collision points!
2. Knock over a cone, and you have to straighten the cones before you can hand off the flag.
3. Put a foot down, and you have to start over!
4. You can leave the Iron Cross, but you have to re-enter where to exited it.
Thus ... the strategy is to never ever put your foot down. It is better to leave and re-enter than to put a foot down. It is better to knock down cones than to put a foot down.
This turned into a game of blocking the path of your opponents, trying to cut them off so they have to put their foot down. Also, half-helmeted competitors had the upper hand in being able to bite into the hose (used as the relay flag) with their teeth to make the flag handoff fast. The rest of us were fishing around in our jackets for it.
Paul's team got a great start, despite my attempt at blocking him. Then I fumbled our flag. But the guy on the Super Tenere was our ace in the hole, and we won.
So ... what did I think? I think this was a great class! The cost of the class was $75. Mike explained that it usually $150 but they received a grant from the Fed's and were able to reduce the cost. In my opinion, this class should be taught by two instructors. Despite Mike's skills and enthusiasm, he didn't have much time to coach individual riders who were having trouble. Had there been a second instructor available, that instructor could focus on the students who were having trouble. Therefore, I can only recommend this class to someone who has already taken and grown bored with the ERC and also completed a course like Lee Parks' Total Control. While that class costs $300, there are two instructors and there is a lot of time with them to really learn the some of the more advanced techniques. This CPM class, with one instructor, is thus more geared towards practicing and fine-tuning your existing skills.
There is a Level 2 of this class, which is about 5 hours and costs less. It reduces the space in which we can perform these exercise, and also performs some of them side-by-side. We'll see whether I take that class ... I think next year I'm going to focus on the Zalusky DCTC sessions again, on the SV650.
It was made clear that he expected some of us to drop our bikes, and he had fire hose and gorilla tape available. The spills would be low-speed ... gorillahose.blogspot.com
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