Sam Bernstein Chopper Shop - Season 3 Episode 3 - video Dailymotion

Beasley Digital

Sam Bernstein Chopper Shop - Season 3 Episode 3

Transcript

00:00One of the great things about the Call Sam Chopper Shop is, well, the chance to win a

00:09custom chopper. And while winning a bike may boil down to simple luck, knowing how to ride

00:14one properly is another thing altogether. So whether you're a beginner, intermediate, or

00:18experienced rider, it's important to keep your skills sharp to stay safe on the road. So today

00:24we're taking a detour to look at a motorcycle training program that is quite literally the

00:29authority for Michigan authorities.

00:35Amidst the chaos of curving, swerving motorcycles, stands the man with the plan, Doug Wolf, president

00:42and lead instructor of Midwest Police Motorcycle Training.

00:46I've been riding motorcycles since I was about 14 years old. And in 1997, I learned how to ride

00:52them correctly when I went to the police motor school in Fort Wayne, Indiana. I've been a police

00:57motor instructor since 1999. I first went to Michigan State University, took the program

01:03up there and ran it until 2007. In 2008, myself with Larry Schultz formed the Midwest Police

01:10Motorcycle Training Program and we've been here ever since.

01:13Located in Auburn Hills, Michigan, they offer programs for both civilians and law enforcement

01:18officers. With a bevy of bikes and pylons aplenty, Doug puts these off-duty boys in blue to the

01:25test. Cone, you dig it?

01:27The slow speed course is basically how to control your motorcycle at what we call walking speed,

01:33which is below seven miles an hour. We teach them that the only brake they use to control it

01:39is the rear brake and that they keep their feet up except when they stop and then they only put their

01:44left foot down. They keep their right foot on the rear brake. We teach them to negotiate through very

01:50tight, close maneuvers to simulate maybe riding around a crowd of people at a dealership or at an event around cars and so forth.

01:59Despite riding at slow speeds, this course is no walk in the park.

02:06And if at first they don't succeed, these students got to pick up their bikes and try, try again.

02:12It takes no skill to go a hundred miles an hour in a straight line on a motorcycle.

02:19The skill is when you have to stop and if you don't know how to stop, you're probably not going to have a very harmonious outcome.

02:26From my experience over 24 years, the biggest problem we have with people who come here is their inability to break the motorcycle correctly

02:36and to break it in the distance that we allow at the speed they're going.

02:40The road speed is part of all of our slow speed curriculum. We include road speed in every course we teach.

02:47All the police officers are trained at speeds of 40 miles an hour and they actually do what we call a transition at the end of their escape.

02:57We only teach that to the police.

02:59Practicing, braking and escaping at road speed are critical skills to avoid potential hazards.

03:06With their wisdom combined, Doug and his team help these officers become better riders by the end of their 80 hour training program.

03:15And as these students take a break from the course, Doug has a tip for you to stay safe and ride wise.

03:23This week's safety tip is target fixation. Target fixation is one of the leading causes of motorcycle crashes.

03:31Target fixation happens when a rider is going down the road, sees an object that could cause him harm if he hits it,

03:39and continues to lock his eyes on that object. He will hit the object.

03:44The way to avoid that is once you've identified the problem, you move your eyes to the left or to the right,

03:51whichever way you choose to go around it, and do not look back at that target.

03:56If you look back at it, you will drive back into it. Your eyes are your camera. This is your computer.

04:03Your eyes or camera tells the computer what to do. Your computer tells your hands and your feet how to respond

04:11to make sure you follow the direction of the camera. So if you look at something, you're going to hit it.

04:17You must look away to avoid it.

04:20In the next episode, we travel to greener pastures to see this painter's process for paint in progress. Giddy up, partner.

04:33Doug sure knows his stuff. No wonder he's the go-to for the boys in blue.

04:37Yeah, in fact, he's such a knowledgeable resource, we've asked him to share more of his wisdom in upcoming episodes.

04:43So look for more from Doug in our Ridewise Safety Tips segments for the remainder of this season of the Call Sam Chopper Shop.

04:49Awesome! Now let me share a little wisdom. Head over to CallSam.com, follow the links to get your Raffle tickets.

04:55There's options to buy more, to save more if you really want to increase your chances to win.

05:00Thanks for watching. As always, we'll see you next time.

Sam Bernstein Chopper Shop - Season 3 Episode 3

Category

Transcript

Recommended