How to Teach Motorcycle Riding
You take on a great responsibility when you teach someone to ride a motorcycle. It isn't that the skill is so hard to learn; it's that it takes a much greater degree of steady concentration for motorcycle riding than it does for driving a car. Along with the technical skill, you have to teach that attitude, as well.
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Instructions
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Teach your student to get used to the motorcycle and the need for balance. Have her sit in the seat, put the bike in neutral, and practice pushing with her feet across a paved, closed-off area until she gets used to moving and holding the bike steady.
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Tell your student how to shift into first gear, and have him then ease off the clutch and ease on the throttle to get the motorcycle going. He can keep his feet down for balance as his riding takes him slowly across the practice area and back, stopping and starting at regular intervals, as many times as necessary to get comfortable with the clutch-on/clutch-off process.
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Practice in first gear until she feels comfortable putting her feet on the foot pegs and is able to balance the bike at that slow speed. Only when she is at ease riding the motorcycle in first gear should you move up to higher gears.
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Have him shift into second gear only when he is fully comfortable in first gear. In a prearranged area, have him ride the motorcycle in large circles, with no sharp turning. Again, have him start and stop at regular intervals, so he can get used to using the clutch and throttle.
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Tell your student that steering is, for all practical purposes, more "in the butt" than in the hands on a motorcycle. Have her remember what it's like to balance a bicycle and then use the same part of the body as she feels her way into turns.
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Explain "countersteering" as your student practices slow turns. Explain that, in a faster turn, the rider leans into the turn, but at turns slower than 15 miles an hour, it can help to shift his butt to the outside of the turn to maintain balance. Have him practice slower and faster turns, using the clutch and the throttle in combination to maintain balance.
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Tips & Warnings
Explain that the whole process is very much a "feeling" your way through the thing, and that there is nothing to be afraid of. Riding a motorcycle is much more demanding than driving a car, but only because it requires the rider to be much more engaged in everything that is going on around her.
Before sending your student out on the road, warn him that many drivers tend not to see motorcycle riders. Have him get into his head the idea that, when on the motorcycle, he is invisible to everyone, and that he must watch every car and approach every intersection with eyes wide open and senses alert for changes in the traffic pattern.
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Comments
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papajoe
Mar 06, 2009
Excellent introduction for beginners. Especially since most beginners have a hard time trying to learn counter-steering. The butt trick (weight shifting) opens the door to counter-steering which will come more natural after a few min in the saddle. A heads up about it is usually all they need at first.Learning the clutch can be challenging for some beginners too. I've seen the old rocking the bike forward and then back by barely letting out on the clutch with a little gas and then letting off the gas and pulling back in on the clutch before the bike moves too far forward work well for this. It?s a funny looking drill but it may help them find that, "sweet spot," a little easier.Great job on the write-up! -
STKru722
Sep 24, 2008
How is that 99.99% wrong?? What they are trying to say is that turns are controlled more in body position than in where you turn the bars. Go ahead and tell a new rider to turn the bars where they want to go when they are riding at 50mph and watch them steer into a ditch in the opposite direction. I would hate to see a new rider out on the road that you taught to ride, Jim. Very good basic overview, but if you are going to teach someone to ride, this should all be common knowledge. Nonetheless it would serve as a good checklist so things more experienced riders take for granted are covered.
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STKru722
Sep 24, 2008
How is that 99.99% wrong?? What they are trying to say is that turns are controlled more in body position than in where you turn the bars. Go ahead and tell a new rider to turn the bars where they want to go when they are riding at 50mph and watch them steer into a ditch in the opposite direction. I would hate to see a new rider out on the road that you taught to ride, Jim. Very good basic overview, but if you are going to teach someone to ride, this should all be common knowledge. Nonetheless it would serve as a good checklist so things more experienced riders take for granted are covered.
