Spent Sunday morning taking the MSF ERC (Experienced Rider Course) and thought I’d do a review for those wondering whether or not the class might be for you. The coach told us that there are 3 versions of the ERC. One that is classroom time, one that you test out of and the one we were taking which is skills practice. The class lasted 5 hours and was all riding.
There were 12 bikes in the class. Riders and bikes covered a wide range. There were fully dressed Harleys, a KLR, a Gixxer, a Ducati and a variety of cruisers. Ages were from mid 20’s to a guy so old he didn’t know what model bike he was riding.
We didn’t discuss backgrounds but at least a couple of riders said they had been riding since the 60’s.
I took the Basic Course 2 ½ years ago and had been riding for about 6 months before that, have somewhere between 20-30,000 miles behind me. Due to a physical limitation I had taken the BRC on a scooter so no shifting. I was curious if going back and doing the course on a mc was going to be different and/or if I would learn something new. It wasn’t and I didn’t.
My Husband (V) was with me. He rode BSAs and Hondas way back, returned to riding a couple of years ago and has ridden 10-15,000 miles in that time. He’s never taken any sort of riding class.
If you have taken the BRC the exercises in the ERC are going to be very familiar to you. Quick stops, swerves, slow riding and pauses, cone weaves, cornering and of course, the dreaded box. The only thing that was different was they had us do one of the early exercises only holding the bars with one hand. It was a gentle cone weave and turns. I really didn’t get the point of having us ride one handed and it was optional, you could keep both hands on the bars if you wanted.
The figure 8 box was two sizes. I didn’t get the measurements but we started larger and worked our way into the smaller size. Having flash backs to the BRC I thought this was going to horrible. It wasn’t. V had no problem get his mid size cruiser though it and he has never done a figure 8.
So was it worth the $90 each it cost us?
V thought so. Being he is all self taught he learned things. I’m proud of him, he was easily one of the best riders out there.
For me, eh, not so sure. It was practice, which is good. I don’t do parking lot practice but so many of those maneuvers I use regularly, if not daily, that I don’t feel I got a lot out of it. One of the coaches approached me after class and told me I had impressive riding skills.
I am not saying I am all that great, there are
plenty of skills I need to work on, these particular things are just things I use regularly.
So if you are thinking about it honestly evaluate how you ride, do you practice swerves, quick stops, cornering and other maneuvers that are going to save your hide when the unexpected happens? If not the class will be good for you. From what I observed of the other riders most of them were going to benefit.
