MCAS focuses on sports motorcycle safety

  Yuma Marines will soon get their first look at the Corps' latest motorcycle training course, developed to reduce the number of motorcycle deaths.

  The station's first sport bike rider courses, developed by the Naval and Army Safety Centers in conjunction with the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF), are slated to begin Monday and Tuesday.

  The course is designed to increase riders' skills so they are safer on the road and better equipped to handle these fast bikes, said Scott Pearce, station traffic program manager. However, the course is not meant for beginning riders as it focuses on advanced driving tactics.

  These skills are meant to improve defensive driving and personal risk management, not encourage Marines to try riskier maneuvers, said Paul Lasco, class instructor.

  The one-day course is divided into an approximate three-hour classroom segment and five hours of hands-on training.

  "The classroom segment focuses on the behavioral aspects of riding, such as attitude, and includes discussions about braking proficiency, cornering techniques, traction management and characteristics unique to sport bikes," according to the MSF Web site, www.msf-usa.org.

  The hands-on portion builds on these topics by allowing riders to develop and improve their braking, cornering and swerving skills.

  These skills are important because many sport bike wrecks occur when riders take curves too fast, said Lasco. Anybody can drive fast in a straight line, but the real test is how riders take sharp turns and winding roads.

  Although the sport bike class is more challenging than previous courses, Lasco points out the key to understanding everything from the class is a willingness to learn.

  Every Marine is going to walk away learning something, said Lasco.

  The class is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the classroom instruction held in Building 460 and hands-on training at the Yuma Civic Center parking lot.

  Marines interested in enrolling in the class must show proof of completion of the basic rider course, proof of valid insurance and registration and pass a bike inspection  by the class instructor.

  To sign up for the course, Marines can call Belinda Henson at 928-269-5699.

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This story is reprinted from The Desert Warrior, the newspaper of the Marine Corps Air Station.