Just like many of you, I have been riding for most of my life. For me, it started at age 15 on dirt roads with a used Yamaha 125. Cruising along with the wind in my face, feeling like king of the world and I was hooked. In college, it was a Yamaha 650 and then a 750. I rode everyday. I often took the two hundred fifty mile trip across the state of Michigan to visit family. When I got married and had kids, I was riding a Honda 1100. The bike became cheap transportation to work. In short, I rode everyday possible for over twenty years and never had any formal training.

That changed when my wife decided she wanted to ride too. I tried to teach her and found that in my twenty plus years of riding, I had not learned anything more than survival. My efforts to teach her how to ride only resulted in frustration for both of us. After several attempts, I finally gave up and took her to a MSF safety course. In one weekend, they transformed her into a competent beginning rider. I watched from the sidelines in happy amazement. So happy in fact that I asked what I had to do to become a part of the program. The next thing I knew, I was in a beginner class just like the one she took.

Sitting on the little 250, I was thinking “Beginner class? I don’t need no stinking beginner class”. By the end of the weekend I found out that I didn’t have twenty years of riding experience. What I had was one year of poor experience repeated twenty times. I learned how to swerve around the potholes that I had been hitting for twenty years. I learned how to use my front brake. I learned that muscle, wobble and brakes are not normal when taking a fast curve. I gained confidence that I never had. Before long my wife and I were taking cross country trips by motorcycle and I was teaching MSF classes on weekends.

Today I teach MSF classes with my wife and my son, also now instructors, and really enjoy it. Beginners are lots of fun to teach. Sharing the joy of motorcycling is an experience I feel privileged to be a part of. But even more so, I love to see people come to me with the same attitude I had and watch their faces when they experience a proper education. They come for the insurance discount or maybe just to get the license, but leave with a true understanding of how education can enhance their joy of riding.

The registration for the beginning and advanced MSF courses are now on line and registration has started. Statistics show that 90% of motorcyclists involved in accidents did not take a class. Do yourself and your loved ones a favor. Learn to ride the right way.