My wife and I from Wisconsin took trips to Washington,Maine,and the Florida Keyes.This year we plan to ride to the south west corner on the country,California.I've been riding for over 40 years,over 200k+ miles,in all kinds of conditions,but as I'm getting older,58, I feel my confidence level isn't what it used to be.Does anyone feel like that.Did anyone take an advanced riders course or get one of those rider videos?Was it beneficial? Thanks

 

I took 2 Basic Rider Courses and an Advanced Course over the past 5 -7 years too keep my skill level up. You will learn something worthwhile from those classes. I plan on taking another Advanced Rider course this year as well. The Advanced Course is excellent because you can use your own bike for it.

 

I took the Advanced Rider's course at CCHD in Madison. The instructor's were Madison and Dane County motorcycle cops. It was a good course. The instructor's brought their real world experience to the class. For the money I would recommend it to anyone that has some experience. I am only in my 40s, but I never had a rider's course before. I've had my license since 1982, so it was good to take one.

 

Although I teach the Basic and Advanced riders courses and have for the last 5 years, I get myself into a course at least every other year. It gives me a chance to have someone else look for any bad habits I may have picked up. I firmly believe that once you think you know it all about riding, your bike or some unaware driver are going to show you different. Never stop learning! I have picked up countless tips from other riders during these courses, I don't bring all the knowledge to the classroom or the range. I think you will be quite amazed at the little things you pick up. Good luck with what ever you decide.

 

In response to your post about advanced rider courses, here is a post I made last month pertaining to the "Ride Like A Pro" course:

A couple of months ago, I read about an advanced riding course on HD Forums called Ride Like A Pro--Instruction in Police Style Motorcycling. Based on the recommendations of a few people on this forum, I signed up for a class. Today was the day I took the course; and I can say without reservation that it is an excellent course.

I already considered myself an experienced and good/advanced rider. But having heard that you will learn special techniques that will help you negotiate tight turns at slow speeds without dumping your heavy, touring bike, I figured that I could benefit from such a course. Well, this course teaches those techniques and more. Additionally, you have the option (for an additional charge) to use their bikes, in case you are afraid of dropping your own bike. I opted to use their bike, and I'm sure glad I did. They have used police bikes (Kawasaki) that are perfect for learning errors. On a tight, righthand U-turn, I didn't give it enough gas and proper use of the foot brake; and, sure enough, I dropped the bike. I can't imagine how I would have felt had it been my own bike that I dropped. But with their bike, I simply picked it up (using the excellent technique that they taught us), and tried the turn again until I could do it with proficency. Not having to worry about dumping the bike was a complete peace of mind.

Anyway, I think this is a very worthwhile course. The course costs $150 plus an additional $150 if you use their bike. My class started at 8am and finshed at 12:45pm. The instructor said that you can come back and repeat the course without charge. In fact, one of the guys in my class was a repeat student. There's detailed and clear instruction for each exercise, followed by a demonstration by the instructor, and then student participation. There is plenty of repetition with good individual attention by the instructor before going on to the next exercise. And each exercise builds upon the last which helps ingrain the skills learned as you go through the course.

I strongly recommend this course. I live in the Los Angeles area; so I took the Ride Like a Pro West Coast course that was nearest me. My instructor was Mark Paz. Here's the link to the course website: www.ridelikeaprowestcoast.com. The phone number is 310-617-0825.

 

I second the ride like a pro course. I've taken numerous, and have not found anything that I've benefitted more from! I've taken the msf courses...they were good...especially during the time I took them. Since you've got alot of time under your belt the RLP course would be very beneficial. It's very similar to the early police motor's courses.

Late,
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I'll have to admit that I've been riding for almost 30 years and always thought the 'hard knox' method was fine. A few friends and I took the course last summer and was absolutely amazed at all the things I did wrong. Every exercise made me smile a little more as it brought out the true ability of both myself and the bike. From tight turns to panic stops to emergency weaving - we covered it all Who would have thought the sound of scraping floorboards could be fun.

Anyhow, later that summer we had taken a trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive and I could hear that instructor through every curve! By far the best course I have ever taken and will continue to sign up for it in the future.

 

Gary, I know exactly how you are feeling. I've riden Motorcycles most of my life. Even raced a few years. I'm 67 now and retired. I remarried about a year ago. My wife loves to ride with me. We bought an Ultra Classic for touring. The first bagger for me since I've always rode sport bikes. I started thinking more about safety with my wife behind me. I ordered Ride Like a pro. It's a great video! It helped reinforce things I already knew, but had not practiced faithfully. I recommend it to anybody. well worth the money. Good luck and ride safe!

 

Stanfordman I have to ask you, how many times in the real world do you NEED to make a righthand U turn? Is that something you do regularly? And if it is ,do you need to do it so fast that you might drop your bike? I've read about this course and haven't found a need to do some of the things they tell you is important. To me it's just a "look what I can do"for no real reason. If you have been riding for 30 or more years and drop your bike alot or can't turn around, It's time to hang it up.,,

 

Highly recommend I took the course and you would not believe what you will pick up. I had been riding for years and we are creatures of habit and sometimes they are bad habits that we have. It is a good re-freshener course.