News

Prez Says - September 2026

Jeff Ricker demonstrates proper leaning techniques with ZARS coach Allen Peterson

Our club, the BMWMOCM, just hosted the Advanced Rider Training with ZARS on August 22. This was a great opportunity to train in a class limited to fellow BMW riders and have professional coaching. Training was at highway speeds on the Driver Training Facility track. This controlled environment better facilitates learning by eliminating road hazards and allowing you to practice riding skills on the same curves or road features repeatedly, thereby having a better chance of imprinting the skills into muscle memory. As you probably know, I am a proponent of motorcycle skills development and practice to improve riding safety. As the Motorcycle Safety Foundation states “the more you know, the better it gets”. The journey to skills development and improvement is never-ending and quite rewarding. We had a full class of 15 club members in August. Perhaps we can make this an annual event. In my last Prez Sez, I mentioned that we should practice to improve riding skills on our own to make each of us a more confident rider. This confidence makes riding more fun and safer. In this column, I will discuss what I do on my own to practice riding skills. This may not be appropriate for you, nor is it a recommendation, just an outline of what I do that you may find useful in establishing your own practice. I also want to emphasize that practicing on your own is very important but only augments training. A good coach can see what you need to work on and provide meaningful feedback. I practice every time I go out for a ride. To get the most of practice, I practice with intention. In my jacket there are cards that identify a particular skill or attribute I want to remember. I look at a card before a ride to provide a little structure and remind me of what to do. These cards say things such as:

Posture (meaning back straight, head up, balls of feet on the pegs, arms relaxed, grip motorcycle with knees, support with body core - not leaning on hands). Relaxed hands (meaning not gripping the handle bar but a relaxed hold on the hand rests). Cover the front brake (meaning ride, always, with two fingers on the front brake and clutch). Braking, easy on easy off -- 5%—5% (meaning I engage the front brake 5% before braking and release the brake to 5% to ensure there is a smooth transition. This is from the Yamaha Champions school: “#1 cause of front tire slides in corners is underloaded front tire." Smooth, balanced stops. At stops, I try to make it “as gentle as a butterfly lands." Tune out negative self-talk. Don’t judge or critique your skills while riding. Just observe. Easier said than done. Is my mind wandering? ANTICIPATE! Smooth throttle control. Smooth on and off. Look out, scan back. Anticipate continuously. Precisely pre-position myself for 1) safety 2) traction 3) the vanishing point. Rev matching on downshifts. Downshift before braking.

Sometimes, I also do some structured drills such as figure eights and quick stops. I always need to do more of these. Sundays are good times to practice these as most school parking lots are empty. Most of the year, the fairgrounds have huge empty parking lots every day of the week. There are additional drills from the MSF and MotoJitsu that I sometimes do. These will be referenced at the end of this column. Riding on the streets or roads allows me to practice my anticipation. Anticipation of what the other road users will do and what surprises I will find on the road: animals, debris, gravel, an old brake shoe in the road, dropped firewood. I keep reminding myself of the MSF rule, 2-4-12 (2 seconds following distance, 4 seconds urgent action planning, and look 12 seconds ahead). There seem to be quite a few morons dispersed among courteous drivers out there. I remind myself that the morons are provided as a "pop skills test" both in anticipation and on rare occasions, evasive maneuvers. If something happens that I didn’t anticipate and was not prepared; why? Again, practicing on your own is important but do not discount or skip formal training with a good coach. Practicing is an important part of the equation. But I think you will gain the most from doing both. Formal training without practice is equally not very effective. Aside from past ZARS training and the Yamaha Champions school, here are a few resources that I have used and recommend:

The on-line Yamaha Champions training. As an MOA member, you get a discount for this. They have a general course, a street skills course, and even a physical fitness course. I found all of these very useful. The MSF has a series of self practice drills at: https://msf-usa.org/do-it-yourself-practice-drills/ The Art of Smooth Riding by Jim Ford (he did a class for our club several years ago). Motorcycle Roadcraft, the Police Rider’s Handbook, from the Police Foundation. Twist of the Wrist II by Keith Code. MotoJitsu by Greg Widmar. The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Galley. Finding Flow by M Csiksezentmihalyi

I hope you find this useful; more than just confirming that I am a very dull person. In reality, riding is one of my greatest joys and I constantly strive to get better and find more joy in riding. Maybe it is the same for you. In closing, to paraphrase a warning from the research team of Dunning and Kruger, the less skill you have, the more skillful you think you are (and the more dangerous you are to yourself and those around you). And the opposite is true: the more skilled you are, the more you realize your shortcomings and the need to learn. Always, ride safe. Jeff Ricker BMW Minnesota Club President