Couldn't figure out where to put this post. I thought technical made sense because it's technical as far as riding skills...

Anyhow, I'm heading off to the Alameda County Sheriff's Office 1 day Basic civilian motorcycle training in Dublin, CA (about an hour from San Francisco). Although it's their basic course, they say it's not for beginners. Price includes use of retired police KZ1000's. It's taught be motorcycle cop trainers, so I'm sure we will get some good techniques drilled into us.

I've heard great things about it, and I'm sure it's going to be challenging. I think most people drop their bikes at least once. I'm actually kinda nervous about it, but that's exactly why I should go. If I can come away feeling confident making slow speed manuevers on a KZ1000, with good technique, then I'm sure it'll make the Versys feel like a scooter.

Here's a link https://sheriffacademy.com/classes/e...N-MOTORCYCLE-2.

Great idea, I'm sure you will improve your skills a ton!
Not sure if it's a fit for Technical, seems like General Versys to me.

We pretty much worked on u-turns most of the day. Starting at 30 foot radius, down to 20, then 18. The 18's were hard. That's what I gotta practice. We did some emergency braking. For those of us that ride non-ABS bikes, they call it threshold braking. The idea is to get just to the threshold before the tires lock up. On ABS bikes it's a non-issue.

It's amazing how true it is that keeping your eyes up at the horizon and where you want to go (not at the road where you want to go) and turning your head far gets those u-turns nice and tight. When I was out there practicing, and the instructor is hollering, "look at me! look at me!" my eyes went to him, and I fell right into that u-turn with ease. Amazing! I've always known the importance of looking where you want the bike to go, but I really, really experienced it today.

If nothing else it has shown me what I need to practice more of, and that's really the point of taking these courses. We don't always know where our weaknesses are and a course like this can help shed some light on areas that need more practice.

I started to become a better and safer rider today, but I really become a better and safer rider when I go to an empty parking lot and practice!

If there's anyone in SF that's up for some parking lot time drop me a line!

...and if this thread needs to be moved, I'm happy for a mod to move it...

Glad you took something from the class but we learned the U-turn in a box and emergency braking in our basic MSF class. For an "advanced" class, I would have expected more.

To be honest I think I was expecting a little more too. It wasn't an "advanced" course, but a "basic" course. It was definitely not a class for people with no riding experience. They assumed a certain amount of comfort with motorcycles coming into it. Most of us could make a 30 foot radius u-turn right from the start, but I think few could make the tighter 20 foot turn comfortably. The 18 foot u-turns were done in what they called "The Eliminator" or a "W" pattern. That was definitely difficult, and I was eliminated...



I think what I got from it was better technique when making the maneuvers, allowing for better and more comfortable slow speed skills. I could not have made it through The Eliminator before the course, but now I know that I can with a little more practice.

It might not be for everyone, but I'm glad I did it.