I've mentioned Midwest Police Motorcycle Training (http://www.midwestmotorcycletraining.com/) a couple of times in other threads, but I thought that it might be better if I just posted a review of the school. It's a long read, so I apologize in advance.

Quick background. Last year, at the age of 40, I thought it would be a great idea to get back into motorcycling. It had been 18 years since I last rode. I only rode for two seasons and maybe put on 2,000 miles. So I considered myself a new rider. I took the MSF BRC last year and promptly went out and bought a Kawasaki Concours 14. Excellent starter motorcycle. I quickly found out that the Kawi was horrible two up and so I traded it for an Ultra Classic. Even better motorcycle for someone with almost zero experience. Also, I'm riding around with my wife as a passenger. How we survived, I have no idea. Never had any close calls or anything, so I got lucky. I have no problem if you think me an idiot for my decisions. Because I was.

After my initial excitement about being a "biker" wore off, I realized that I really needed some training in order to operate the behemoth Ultra Classic safely, especially with my wife as passenger. I found Midwest Police Motorcycle Training and signed up for the first session they were offering in 2013.

The school offers three levels of training for civilians as well as motor officer training. The school is run by Doug Wolfe, a retired motor officer who ran the motorcycle safety program for Michigan State University (amongst a lot of other things). Also teaching at the school are Larry Schultz, a retired motor officer and Doug's son, Ben, who is currently a motor officer. Ben wasn't teaching during my session, but look him up at Lockandlean.com, he is a fierce competitor on the police motorcycle rodeo circuit with a number of major wins.

For civilians, as I mentioned, there are three levels of training and you have to progress through each level to get to the next. The advanced level 2 is the same as what motor officers go through but without the guns, traffic stops, and other police work. I attended the primary level 1 class which is 4 days of training. You spend the first 4 hours in a classroom and the remainder on the range. You can rent a Police Road King from the school for an additional fee. I strongly recommend renting a motorcycle from them as you're going to be dropping it if you're anything like me.

In the classroom session, the instructors explain everything you will need to know about how to operate the motorcycle at all speeds. They also spend a lot of time discussing advanced concepts in motorcycle dynamics. Doug Wolfe is a court-recognized authority on motorcycle dynamics and an accident reconstruction expert. He's got a lot of information that you're just not going to get anywhere else.

The level 1 primary class is based around 5 cone exercises, braking exercises, and curve negotiation.

The cone exercises are: inline cone weave, rolling 90 degree turns, 90 degree turns from a stop, figure 8, and u-turns. The exercises are set a little wider than police standards for all but the inline cone weave. That's not to say they're luxuriously wide exercises, quite the contrary. The u-turn is set at 20 feet and I believe the figure 8 is 18 to 20 feet, I can't say for sure as their figure 8 is a copyrighted exercise and we weren't given the dimensions. The 90 degree exercises were done in 6 foot wide lanes.

The braking exercise is a phased exercise and goes like this: rear wheel braking starting at 15 mph and going up to 35 mph, combined braking (front and back) starting at 15 mph up to 35 mph, brake and evade where you get up to speed, brake to low-speed and then maneuver through a set of cones simulating an escape (15 mph up to 35 mph), and the last phase combines a lane change with the brake and evade.

The last part of the school is curve negotiation and braking in a curve. We weren't able to do this part as it requires riding on the streets to a private road. The weather was mostly rain and some snow during our class so the roads were never in good enough condition to allow us to safely do these exercises. Plus, you have to pass the braking exercises to be allowed out on the road for class and again, the weather held us back from doing enough braking exercises where the instructors felt confident enough to put us out on the streets. Again, it's about your safety.

The training at this school is simply top-notch. Most of you have seen the videos on YouTube of motor cops whipping through tight cone patterns like they were on a bicycle. Well, how would you like to learn how to do this from a bunch of guys who actually do it? They hold absolutely nothing back, every technique is explained and demonstrated. I can't explain the exhilaration I felt when I was finally able to run the entire course clean. Even though I didn't pass the course (back spasms on the last day), I got my money's worth and then some. I avoided a crash because I was able to stop. I haven't dragged a boot or duck-walked my motorcycle. I don't have to worry about planning a route through the gas station so I can safely get to a pump. If I see a parking spot, I take it without worrying about if I can make the turn. I don't have to find a side street to turn around on if I miss a turn. I could go on and on, but you get the picture.

By the way, when I got home from the class I traded in my Ultra for a Fat Bob. That's a whole 'nother story. But, the short of it is that my wife didn't really want to ride any more and the touring Harley's just aren't comfortable to me. I'm too tall or something. The Fat Bob feels like I'm sitting in it and it's just so damn fun! But, before I traded the Ultra I did practice on it and I was as proficient on it as I was on the Road King at school. And truth be told, the Fat Bob is actually more difficult to maneuver at low speed because of the forward controls and steering rake. That thing really wants to tip over, and fast!

I'm not affiliated with the school in any way other than I'm an incredibly satisfied student. I'll definitely be going back next year. I want to pass the advanced course!

Sorry for the long read, but if you made it this far, thank you for reading.

 

Great review. I am 45 and have been riding for nearly 25 years with no training but ths MSF class. I would take a course like this to brush up on my skills. In fact since I got this new much bigger than I was used to bike (RG), I have been looking for a local course but may have to settle for some slow speen practicing in an empty parking lot.

 

Thanks for the review. Just wish it wasn't so far away.

 

Your review is spot on...I took the first course about two months ago...honestly it was tough, I did pass and plan on going back next summer for the level two class. The OP is correct, rent a motor if you take the course. You will drop the motor, believe me I know. And don't ever call a motorcycle a bike..it's a motor or motorcycle...I would highly recommend this training to anyone.

 

Sounds similar to a course I took a couple of years ago. For those in the West, here are links to my reviews if you think you might be interested.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/gener...1-and-2-a.html

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/gener...3-and-4-a.html

I, too, am a very satisfied student. Glad you enjoyed your school as much as I enjoyed mine. I can't think of many riders that wouldn't benefit from taking a class like this.

 

Nice write up, to bad it is not closer to me

 

I took the class in mid May and it was worth every penny. I plan on attending the advanced next year. The class is very humbling. You don't realize how much you don't know or realize. Great write up. We only had 4 people in our class and they don't ever have a lot. They focus on quality and truly believe in what they are doing. I'm a much better rider because of it. I still call it a bike though, just can't get use to calling it a motor.

 

I looked into one here that was held in Troy MI. I never took it because: 1) It's very expensive especially if you rent a bike. 2) The classes are held on week days which means time off work. 3) The first class is very similar to the MSF advanced course. And 4) As a civilian rider I really don't need to be able to make a u turn locking the forks and scrapping the floor boards. Don't get me wrong, I would like to take it I just don't think it's worth that much money. It was 2-3 thousand dollars for the entire course renting a bike.

 

thanks!

 

The primary level 1 course is $850 with motorcycle rental. It's four days long, 8 hours per day. That's 32 hours. Cost per hour = $26.65. But you're right in that if you were take all three levels of courses the total cost would be over $3,000. Of course, this assumes that you can pass the first course so you can take the second, and then pass the second so you can take the third.

The primary level 1 and 2 classes are scheduled so that two of the days are Saturday and Sunday. This would cut down on the amount of time you would need to take off of work. But yeah, it's a four day course for the first level so you're going to need to take some time off of work. The next two courses are 5 and 7 days long.

The first class is nothing like the ARC by the MSF.

As a civilian rider, I need to have the ability to make full lock turns at low speed. That's not to say that I need to whip around in cute little circles, scraping my pegs every time I ride. But, there will come a time when I need to take evasive action and make some tight maneuvers to do so. I'll be ready.

If you don't think the cost of the course is worth the money, that's fine. But let me ask you this, how much is your insurance deductible? How good is your disability insurance? How much time can you take off of work due to accident and injury? Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that taking this course guarantees that you'll never have a crash. But the probability goes way, way down.

Some guys would rather spend their time and money doing modifications and upgrades to their motorcycle. Me, I'd rather spend time and money upgrading my skills. Personal choice, that's all.