Motorcycle School Gets Riders Off to Safe Start

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — So you think you’d like to own a motorcycle but you don’t know how to ride?
A weekend with Central Jersey Rider Training can take you from never having even started a motorcycle to weaving through pylons on a closed course.
Central Jersey Rider Training holds three-day courses at the Anthony Tony Canale Fire Training Center in Egg Harbor Township a few weekends a year. With the Cape May County Fire Academy not in operation, the Egg Harbor fire facility is available only holiday weekends for the motorcycle course.
Central Jersey Rider Training President Tom Wright said he would like to have a location in Cape May County to hold weekend training, a place with a classroom and large parking lot.
Before starting the rider’s course, students need to get a permit and take the motorcycle written exam and eye test at the state Motor Vehicle Commission. The class begins on a Friday night at 6 p.m. for classroom instruction.
On Saturday morning, students get aboard motorcycles provided by the course, mostly 125cc Suzukis. Riding starts about 7:30 a.m. and continues until 1 p.m. in the parking lot, said Wright.
For people who have never ridden before, they are introduced to how to use the bike’s clutch and throttle. Wright said each exercise builds on the previous exercise.
At 11 a.m. on Memorial Day Weekend Saturday, about four hours into the riding session, students were doing laps around the parking lot and riding between cones learning to turn. The students learn braking and shifting. Students looked comfortable on the motorcycles.
They returned to the classroom Saturday afternoon for a 50-question evaluation covering the course’s instruction up to that point.
On Sunday morning, students return to riding the cycles, learning slow speed maneuvering and quick stops. The day ends with four skill evaluations of students, said Wright.
“If they successfully complete the whole course, then we can stamp their permit and they don’t have to take the test at the motor vehicle commission,” he said.
The state Motor Vehicle Commission will then add motorcycle endorsement to the student’s driver’s license.
“We also try to teach them some strategies such as being prepared, looking out ahead, seeing what’s developing in front of you,” said Wright. “Our intention is to make them start out their motorcycling as a safer rider, aware of the some of the hazards and some of the skills.”
“When the uh-oh moment happens, your first reaction is going to be what you’ve practiced and what’s muscle memory,” he continued.
Some riders avoid using the front brake of their motorcycle. Wright said 70 percent of stopping power comes from the front brake and students are taught how to use it efficiently.
Wright suggests once the students buy a motorcycle, they continue to practice what they learned in a parking lot
About 40 percent of the students are women with student ages ranging from 17 to 79, said Wright. The course takes a maximum of 12 students per weekend, which breaks down, to six students per instructor.
“We explain at the beginning of the course that motorcycling isn’t for everyone, not everyone passes, some people decide for themselves ‘This isn’t for me,’” he said.
Wright said some students have purchased a very powerful motorcycle before taking the course and then discover they have a problem holding up a 125cc, nine horsepower, training bike. He said new riders spend a lot of time getting accustomed to the weight of a motorcycle.
Wright said a number of students are riders that haven’t been on a motorcycle for a number of years. He said the over 40 age group riders are one of the highest groups for crashes and fatalities.
Central Jersey Rider Training is a non-profit organization and the course is approved by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. The course in offered in Egg Harbor Township, Sea Girt and Mercer County Community College.
Classes for June are filled. The cost of the course is $285. For more information, see www.jerseyrider.com or call 877-308-2578.
A one day experienced rider course for those who are licensed is also available to keep their skills sharp.