Have you ever been taught how to ride a motorcycle outside of a driving school?
“What are lessons after you get your license?”
“A place for paper riders?”
No, that’s not it.
Unlike cars, the reason there are so many self-inflicted accidents on motorcycles is overwhelmingly a lack of skill.
“Falling over when stopped at a traffic light” or “Falling over on a small curve” are common occurrences.
I fell over right after my first motorcycle was delivered!
Some people have made videos about it, but in some cases it’s no laughing matter.
Motorcycles are a great sport that uses your whole body!
It takes practice.
What you learn at driving school is just the beginning.
To use an analogy,
you buy a camera and press the shutter halfway to focus.
If you press it all the way down, you can take a picture.
That’s the end of the driving school.
If you keep taking pictures like that, you won’t get a good one.
Let’s go to school to take good photos!
That’s the purpose of a riding school.
Riding schools may seem intimidating, but at HMS, run by Honda, you can rent bikes, so you can train with peace of mind.
Please try training.
Even one lesson can have a dramatic effect.
Reasons to go to school
I’d always wanted to go to a riding school, even before I had my own bike.
I was curious about whether my riding method was correct and what level I was at.
However, I didn’t have any reason to take lessons since I don’t usually ride, but then my son started riding bikes and I became a returning rider myself. I also wanted to see how my son rode, so I decided to take lessons as a leisure activity.
STECのライディングレッスン概要
STEC riding lessons are divided into three stages.
| 1st | Beginner Town Ride Challenge Course | Intermediate Touring Ride Challenge Course |
| 2nd | Intermediate Sporty Ride Challenge Course | |
| 3rd | Intermediate technical ride course | |
| Skills Certification Course |
For more details on each lesson, please see the Suzuka Circuit Traffic Education Center website.
But you might be thinking, “Is that all?”
I thought the same at first.
But in reality, the content is incredibly in-depth.
Lessons are from 9:30am to 4:30pm for all courses.
The price is a flat rate of 14,850 yen.
By the way, my son, a university student, got a student discount and paid 8,500 yen (cheap!)
After taking one lesson, you will receive one stamp.
You can use it to get a 500 yen discount on your next lesson.
Is it possible to take many lessons and get the whole lesson for free? (Do I have to take 29 lessons?)
No matter how skilled you are, if it’s your first time participating you will receive 1st place.
The “Beginner Downhill Ride Challenge Course” is, simply put, for people who have a license but can’t ride.
This course is for “paper riders” rather than “paper drivers.”
People who regularly ride motorbikes should apply for the “Intermediate Touring Ride Challenge Course.”
I took the 1st exam twice.
I took the 1st class for the first time with my son in late May.
I took the second class by myself in late August.
After an orientation, we did warm-up exercises and did somersaults on a mat!
We practiced what to do when you fall over…
We picked a bike from the garage and started the lesson!
The content of the first and second classes is compared in the table below.
That’s right, even though it was the same 1st class, the content was different.
The content is changed to suit the rider taking it.
Lesson Content
a.m.
| May | August | |
| Number of participants | About 13 people, about 3 of whom are repeat customers? | About 20 people, about half of whom were repeat riders, including me, and 4 were female riders. |
| Warm-up run | Warming up by slowly driving around the outside for a few laps, crossing the pylons | We started with the course slalom on the inside. After part of the course slalom and a few laps around the outside, we split into two groups, and the group we were split into had some kind of lesson on the straight course at the back. The group I was with continued warming up. |
| U-turn | Right U-turn | No U-turn practice |
| brake | Starting at 40km/h, practice stopping next to the target pylon using three patterns: rear brake only, front brake only, and front and rear brakes. You will be warned if you stop too short. | Sudden braking from a maximum speed of 70km/h. This also serves as acceleration practice, so make sure to accelerate firmly. |
p.m.
| Pylon Slalom | We went around the pylon slalom that was built around the perimeter. There were pylons spaced 5m and 7m apart, and randomly placed pylons. After a break, we also drove on a course that was like an offset slalom, placed in a Z-shape.。 | There were apparently many requests for tight turns, so a tight turn section was added to the middle of the outer pylon course. Passing through it is optional. This time, an offset slalom was installed from the start. |
| Course Slalom | After the familiarization run, you can switch between fast, normal, and slow at your discretion. Run until the time is up and then finish. | The second half of the course was different from the May one, and additional pylons were set up. We ran until the time was up and finished. |
It may be hard to understand, but this is a lesson where you can ride to your heart’s content.
If you feel tired, it’s OK to leave.
Just ride at your own pace.
Personally, I felt that the August lesson was at a higher level.
Perhaps this was because there were more repeat participants?
However, many of the participants were not used to riding, and individual instruction and double-riding instruction were given, so there seemed to be a big difference in the skill level of the riders.
After the lesson
In the May lesson, it was pointed out that I was using too much force in my arms and that it was difficult to turn in right corners.
I wasn’t satisfied with the course slalom either, so I was fired up to try again.
In the August lesson, I was surprised that we started on the course right from the warm-up, but I think we were assigned to different levels.
I still couldn’t turn in tight corners, but I was able to relax my arms and my right corners got a little better.
In the second half of the lesson, we were taught how to use our upper body, but it seems that this was something that would be taught in the 2nd lesson, and we were told, “Please don’t take the 1st lesson again (lol).”
The third time was 2nd.
I took the lesson again with my son, so I’d like to write it down before I forget.
This concludes Suzuka Circuit Traffic Education Center riding lesson memo #1 and 2.
