biker training course (VRO training at the KNMV circuit)

[Cloggy]

I've finally got myself on a further training course for the bike (after talking about it for years )
The VRO course is run by the KNMV (Royal Netherlands motorcycle association). It's a days course given at a purpose made track in Lelystad (normally used by police riders). It includes a variety of topics including braking, cornering & manouvering.

I'm taking it this coming Saturday (24th March).

I'm really looking forward to it :cheer:

 

[Cloggy]

Re: Finally got myself on the VRO biker training course (KNMV)

Here’s an account of my day:

I left home at 07.00 to go to the test centre in Lelystad. I was there just before 08.15 when the course started. The course is given by the KNMV. They are well known for the quality of their courses and also organize many motorbike events in Holland.
They use the same test facilities as the police use for bikes and cars during the week.

View attachment 41068

When I arrived, we were divided into four groups of six and were introduced to our instructor (Henri) whilst having a coffee.

We started by watching a safety film of an accident caused by a motor cyclist who didn’t pay attention, and asked questions about it (at this stage I was having doubts about what I was doing discussing some pretty basic observation stuff) .

Luckily shortly after this we went out onto the track and we started with a slalom. We started riding it in our own way, but the instructor slowly changed our technique until we were riding like he was: legs against the tank, eyes on the horizon, turn our hips in the right direction counter steer and maintain a ‘calm and relaxed’ sitting position, keeping our torso upright and using the same technique for the u turn at the end of the straight, whilst turning you should look in the direction you want to go in (upto 90 degrees).

The instructor did a demonstration by showing us what would happen if he rode without hands and pulled hard on a cord that was connected to one side of his handle bars, so we could see that the bike would right itself, explaining that the bike always returns to its upright riding position (as long as your travelling fast enough (>50km/h).

Then we did braking practice we were told to maintain a relaxed riding position and eyes focused on the horizon (this was a reoccuring theme, he explained about target fixation and how you will hit anything you focus on for more than a moment) . He demonstrated how more effective the front brake was in comparison with the rear brake, so we should use the front brake with only a touch of rear brake. This was obviously easier for me as I have abs. He also pointed out how much we all considerably improved by practicing, which is why we should always practice as often as possible.
It was also shown that by releasing the throttle whilst approching a potentially dangerous situation could make a big difference in your braking distance.

Then we did the evasion maneuvre, which was firstly braking hard (between the cones) pull the clutch in, release the brake at the end (when facing a line of cones, placed across the road) to slalom around the obstacle, just to keep us on our toes he would vary the direction we had to swerve, giving a signal at the last minute.

Then we did the seesaw, using the clutch on the way up (controlling speed) and the rear brake on the way down. It had to be done under control, and at the end come to a complete stop and then ride off without putting our foot down.

We then practiced balancing whilst riding, we had to copy what the instructor did whilst riding down a straight part of the track we started by standing on the foot pegs, then riding with our knees on the saddle, then lifting one leg over and sitting side saddle and after that back to the normal riding position.
We had a great lunch, sandwiches soup and a “Kroket” a Dutch speciality.

In the afternoon We did a stability exercise, firstly riding for a short distance without hands (at a constant speed). After this we had to ride over a plank and then a motorbike tire (this was to show how the bike will right itself after the initial wobble). afterwards we did it again without hands .

We then did an extra breaking excercise, riding through a patch of sand. Firstly as if I had no abs, which means, braking hard, releasing when reaching the sand and then reapplying the pressure afterwards to stop. After this the people with abs could use it, which meant just pulling the brake the whole time.

We then went back for a coffee and to talk about cornering. We followed the Dutch four K system, which translated means: Look, Prepare, Lean and Power out. They showed a film of someone riding a very twisty road, which showed the point you should be looking at, this was done by using a computer Mouse to shift the focus point (this was a pretty neat program).

We learned about the racing line but more importantly the riding line for the road.
We also discussed the S bend (two corners after each other) and how you have to adjust your First corner to allow you to accellerate out of the second corner.

We then went out onto the track to do some riding. We used the main circuit with the addition of a couple of windy roads added on. In total we had about an hour of track riding, with the instructor gradually increasing the pace , this was definately the best part of the day, with everyone finishing with a

The instructors all used Yamaha bikes, a couple of FJR’s and a XJ6 (FZR for you guys on the other side of the pond) well as we all know they are great bikes :rockon:.

I had a great day and would definately recommend this type of course to any one wanting to learn more about riding above and beyond the standard European riding test .
After this I met up with a mate of mine who happened to be picking his bike up in the east of Holland, we had a burger together and then rode back to Alkmaar .

It was a very tiring day, but great fun.

 

[Reed]

I wish we had a course like that in the U.S.!! The only one that I know of is ride like a pro. Does anybody else have any experience with anything like this in the U.S.?

 

[degake]

It looks like it's equal to the courses offerd by VROM and DRO in Belgium :thumbup:

Always fun to get some extra experience (Or a track day )

Grtz,


Degake