John S. Hegamyer is a certified Motorcycle Safety Foundation RiderCoach and coaches at training sites throughout Virginia.

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Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste…….. pleased to meet you, hope you guessed my name!
Courtesy of Mick and Keith

Hey guys, I'm not really a man of wealth and very little taste, but I'm still pleased to meet you. My name, by the way, is John S. Hegamyer. I hope you'll be joining me here for a few tips on riding skill improvement in the upcoming months and beyond. Thanks especially to Biker eNews and the sponsors for allowing me to offer these words. I sure am glad to a part of the site and look forward to seeing all of you out on the road. Let's band together and show our support to the sponsors while we're out on our bikes and enjoying the motorcycle community.

My motorcycling career began at a young age on dirt bikes and mini bikes. Finally I got to ride my brother's Bultaco Alpinas, a 350 two stroke that had a ton of torque. After that I was definitely hooked and right after I turned sixteen I got a motorcycle license and hit the road. Suzuki was making a line of bikes starting with GS and they were a blast. Fast in-line fours with baskets of horsepower and they handled great. I put a pile of miles on that GS 750 and by the grace of God and good luck I'm still here to talk about it.

The Harley bug bit, first a 1200 Sportster leading up to an Electra Glide Classic, mystic green and black, man she was a beauty. That bike carried me across the country a couple of times, most notably a December trip from Missouri to Virginia and back to Missouri. Needless to say I love to ride, even when it's a little chilly out. I've been fortunate to have a few bikes of different styles, touring bikes, cruisers, dual sports, and the whole gamut. Lately I've been interested in the adventure touring scene and currently ride a Buell Ulysses. Believe it or not, my wife picked the Buell over another Electra Glide and we love to rack up the miles on it.

Well that's the bike part, what about the riding skills thing? In the late Eighties I took my first course taught by Motorcycle Safety Foundation instructors. Going in I didn't think they could teach me anything about riding; I just needed a safety card to ride on a military base. Boy was I wrong; these guys rode big Gold Wings and could darn near pirouette with them. Then they told me that you could make a few bucks teaching motorcycle safety and got bikes at cost just by being involved in safety training. Say no more, where do I sign up? Sadly, they no longer give huge discounts on bikes to instructors and truly only a few bucks, oh well. It's all about promoting the lifestyle anyway.

It took a few years before I could get in an instructors class, so in the meantime I tried to learn what I could and kept taking courses when and where available. Now I am a Motorcycle Safety Foundation RiderCoach, that's the politically correct term for safety instructor. Mainly we're responsible for teaching the Basic Rider Course, an entry level course designed for new riders, but it also affords the opportunity to complete the required testing for motorcycle licensure in the state of Virginia. There are other courses offered like the ERC (Experienced Riders Course) among others that we'll discuss in later installments. We'll also discuss the importance of rider training and the statistics of trained riders in the state.

Lending a hand to keeping motorcyclists riding safer and smarter is a great source of satisfaction for me. It is a pleasure to see a person that has never ridden before develop into a rider with limited skills. I have yet to find an experienced rider who has completed a BRC that didn't learn a new skill. I can't stress enough that no matter how long you have been riding, it is always a great idea to get involved in some type of training periodically. Even if you take a class just to meet new friends that share a passion for motorcycling, sign up for a class, learn a new skill, get involved. Don't forget that some insurance companies offer discounts to those riders that participate in a safety training class, nice deal huh?

I have always enjoyed stringing words together and thought this might be a neat way to promote safe riding and get a chance to contact more people and hopefully prevent someone from becoming a tragic report on the news. Besides, my wife thought it would be a good idea to try my hand at writing, and I know enough not to argue. Yes dear, that's a shout out to you! I've got to give her due credit, especially because she rides on the back of my bike and I don't want an angry passenger. Not a good thing.

We'll cover a lot of topics, some basic, some more advanced. I hope as we get into skill development exercises that you will make time for practice, maybe learn a little, and most importantly continue to enjoy motorcycling. I also look forward to sharing some road tales and maybe even some sightseeing information along the way. I hope to be adding some pics soon too. Let me know if you have any specific interests and maybe I can help.

Take a skills refresher course and ride safe out there!

Next issue: Braking not breaking!

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