The best way to become a biker

NOVICE RIDING COURSE: IT WILL MAKE YOU A SAFER AND BETTER EQUIPPED MOTORCYCLIST

Course will stack the safety odds in your favour.

Due to my very limited experience of motorcycle riding, I was afraid of getting on a two-wheeler. I can drive any car like I stole it but with motorcycles it has been a whole different affair – terrifying, in fact.

The BMW Rider Academy changed all of this when they invited me for a Novice Course at the Zwartkops Raceway.

You may be thinking “How hard can it be? I have been riding bicycles since the age of six”.

But here is the thing – unlike bicycles, a motorcycle can go from standstill to 100km/h quicker than you can read this sentence.

Also, you get no airbags or seatbelts – you are out there in the wind. With a motorcycle, you wear your protection.

Screw up in a car and you might bend sheet metal – screw up on a bike and you might die.

Riding a motorcycle will always include an element of danger – there is no way around that. But there are ways to put the odds more in your favour.

Now, a new rider has a lot of information to take in. There are many ways of learning to ride a motorcycle.

A friend can teach you, you can learn from books, or you can take a motorcycle training course from a safety organization. You will be much safer and better equipped if you take a Novice Riding Course with BMW Motorrad.

Making use of Yamaha 250cc motorcycles, the course has proved to be useful and suitable for new riders with no or limited on-bike experience.

Conducted in a controlled environment, the course provides theoretical and practical training, which covers all the essential elements of riding and preparing new riders for the road.

The good thing is that the Novice Course only requires students to be competent bicycle riders.

No learners’ or riders’ licence is required.

The Rider Academy turned me from a jumpy wreck into a self-assured rider in a single day.

I still have a lot to learn, but the Novice Course has provided me with the right introduction to the joys of riding. BMW Motorrad offers a range of training courses from novice, refresher, proficiency, advanced to high performance.

For bookings or enquiries, visit the BMW Motorrad Rider Academy at the BMW SA website, bmw.co.za.