the Price of Motorcycle Classes

The class consisted of one five hour classroom session, and two "range" courses of about five hours each, where you ride on motorcycles provided by the school. The class is aimed at new or newer riders, and covers basic riding skills like effective braking, accident avoidance, turning, shifting, and so on. As you might imagine, a lot of information on accidents was covered, and they ran down different types of protective gear. If you complete the course, you get a certificate which gives you a discount on your motorcycle insurance. More importantly, taking this class waives the requirement for the riding part of the DMV test.

About half the people in the class had ridden motorcycles at least some before, and the other half were brand new to riding. By the end of the class, everyone had learned how to ride the bike and was pretty comfortable. They even had us ride over obstacles like a big railroad tie to show how to keep in control of the bike. I had ridden a motorcycle a little bit before, but after the course I felt a lot more confident.

Taking a course like this is a great way to try out motorcycle riding before you buy a bike. It lets you get familiar on the school's bikes, which are smaller ones, rather than on a brand new bike that you're afraid of breaking.