Bonneville America Forums Forums Off Topic Discussion Forums Lounge anybody take a 'riders edge' class?

the reason I am asking if anyone here has taken one of the 'riders edge' classes HD offers, as I recently went on a ride with several people who had, and they picked up some odd and possibly dangerous riding tips. I wondered if this was a local phenomenon or a general curriculum for the whole program.
here are some of the things they talked about that jumped out to me (any they actually rode this way):

get into the highest gear quickly and leave it there.
do not down shift into corners, use the brakes only.
use the rear brake only, never the front brake (apparently you could flip right over the handle bars!)
there was some other odd stuff about group riding they had also been taught, like riding 2 by 2 to keep cars out of your lane.

maybe just a different way of doing things but I was not overly comfortable with some of it, (especialy watching them ride in the twisties) and that is how the conversation about the training got going.

Why would they say/teach such dangerous things!

Holy crap, goes against everything that is correct.

man i barely touch my rear brake unless i have to stop in a real hurry! downshifting into corners is my brake! LOL and i trust very few people to ride two by two, just an accident looking for a place to happen.

Are you bein serious or is this just a spoof the pirates thread? On the other hand I totally believe that harly oriented classes would teach that sort of nonsense.

So I'm guessing alcohol isn't that much of a factor in their riding ability, just piss poor instruction.

Sounds like bullshine to me. I dont think they took the coarse. Sounds like some of that I know everything spit that I hear all the time.

Yeah, but on the PLUS side to all this, I DO hear the instructions they give ya at this class about the proper manner of loading and unloading your motorcycle into a trailer are second to none!

(...though yeah, other than that they ARE also known to be "just a little off-the-mark" in some of their "details")

I call B.S. There is no way that any responsible orgianization would allow these sorts of practices to be taught, it goes beyond negligent and borders on criminal. I don't know about the Harley course, but I'll bet the instructors are trained by the same people who certify the organizations we use to instruct our Massachusetts Rider Training Program which is required by law for anyone under18 looking to obtain a MA motorcycle endorsement on their license. I have taken several advanced rider training courses, (there were no classes in the dark ages when I started riding).
Our state sponsored courses are fantastic, (I've sat in on several). I'll talk to some people who've taken the Harley course but I hope you set your people straight.

Chances are good Mag spoofed us here. However I've spoken with two different HD riders who stated they never use the front brake for fear of a washout
I bet the HD service departments loves those guys.
New rear brake job $300 bucks every 500 miles or (5 years ) whichever comes first

Well, ya know Mike, in THEIR cases there probably IS a greater chance of that happening to them.

(...because I've noticed, and ESPECIALLY up around here in the twisties, the majority of Harley riders I come up behind don't seem to know how to ride very well to BEGIN with...uh huh, just ask most of 'em what "Late Apexing" into turns means and they haven't got a freakin' clue about that EITHER!!!)

Why, THANK YOU, Kevin!

(...but I have to say I'm NOW a little more "proud" of my most RECENT comment in this thread!!!)

Not spoofing. these are NOT people that I normally ride with. It was a work related riding opportunity ( at a vendor shop) and I thought what the heck, I'll go, they loaned me a bike, off we went.

They were/are terrible riders, that is why I asked questions later (tactfully). I dont know that any of what they said was factual about the training, but from my view the riding did pretty much look like it. Of coarse they could have just learned/not learned to ride on their own.

I did not hear the words apex or countersteer at any point.