By Aaron Brand

Motorcycles come in many shapes, styles and sizes: Chopper, cruiser, street bike, crotch rocket, sport bike and the like. And like cars, their distinct form is unique even if the same overall concept applies for all.

In a similar vein, motorcycle riders also vary—from moms who want to two-wheel around with newfound freedom because the kids are out of the house to young professionals desiring a thriftier way to get to and from the office. All, though, hunger to eat up the open road on a motorbike.

A recent motorcycle riding class on a mid-August Saturday had a dozen hopefuls training on a corner stretch of asphalt in the Central Mall parking lot.

They sputtered, sped and zoomed around the makeshift courses for two days, learning the basics of good motorcycle riding aboard single-cylinder, 125 cc Kawasaki Eliminators.

Motorsports Training Center conducts these courses in Texarkana, Tyler and Longview, Texas. Passing the basic course and skills evaluation waives the Texas DMV riding portion of the test to get a motorcycle endorsement on the driver’s license.

“When they come out and take this class, then they truly know how to ride,” said Earl Coppinger while looking on as the class practiced on the pavement on an unusually cool summer day. Perfect weather for riding on a Saturday.

Coppinger and his wife, both retired, run the program. He loves teaching people how to wheel around town on a motorcycle. “There’s nothing like seeing that look on their face when they finally get it, that ‘Ah ha’ moment,” he said.

For motorcycle instructors, it’s not only a fun job, but it’s also important to promote safety and good riding.

“It’s really built on a building block kind of process, so in the classroom we start with the basics: Why do you want to ride? And after we’ve looked at that a little bit we talk about what you need to be prepared to ride,” said Coppinger.

Through five modules of 16 exercises, a skills practice session and a skill evaluation, students learn the risks of riding on the street and good practices for the road. Learning takes place in the classroom and right on the pavement, the parking lot providing a safer, structured place to learn compared to the road.

Risks on the real road include the surface, for example, or fixed obstacles like signs, posts, curves and traffic. Then there’s the aggressive, rude driving to be found in a bigger city like Dallas.

On the street, there can be an extreme amount of risk—minimized by the right gear and a safe approach.

For a new motorcycle rider, all of these risks are something to consider, said Coppinger.

“We look at what level of risk they’re willing to accept,” he said.

One effective mitigating factor where risk is concerned is the gear, such as helmets and gloves, said Coppinger.

“It’s saved thousands and thousands of motorcyclists over the years, and unfortunately that’s the number one way of motorcyclists being killed is head injuries,” he said.

Does the willingness to accept risk change once the motorcycle students get outside and practice riding? It sure can.

“One of the things I like to find out is why do people really want to ride? If they’re here because they’re just trying to save gas, that may not be a good enough reason to expose yourself to that kind of risk,” said Coppinger.

For many, there is an urge to get around more thriftily with gas prices as sky high as they are now.

“We get a lot of students that it’s nothing more than their husbands want to get them off the back of the bike, so they’ll send their wives here. If it’s not (the student’s) idea they never pass,” he said.

For some, getting on the road dissuades them from going further.

“A lot of time they get out here and they find they really aren’t willing to expose themselves to that risk. And that’s okay,” Coppinger said.

As he puts it, that’s preferable than finding out at the intersection of Richmond Road and Interstate 30.

“We provide them with a very low-risk, low-stress environment to learn how to ride and learn whether or not this is something they really want to do,” said Coppinger.

And he says for the people who learn to ride, it’s worth it.

“To a lot of people it looks like fun, and it truly is ... If you take all the risk out of it and you learn how to ride and you’re geared up properly, it’s probably the most fun thing you can do with your clothes on,” said Coppinger. “But you know it can be a dangerous situation if you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s just like anything else.”

He now sees many folks buying motorcycles who, unfortunately, just don’t know how to handle them. Bikes now are three or four times larger than the ones from the 1960s when he first rode. Bikes may overpower the skill level.

Motorcycles can hit 150 mph right off the showroom floor, he points out.

“Let me say they try to do it sometimes,” Coppinger said.

But for others who have done the training right, it’s a gift.

Coppinger said one woman told him she wanted to learn so she could ditch an abusive boyfriend, one who would often take her riding. She wanted to get away.

“After the class was over she came over and she told me, ‘You know you gave me something no man has ever given me,’ and I said, ‘What is that?’ And she said, ‘You gave me my freedom.’”

Andrea Jackson (or “A.J.”) of New Boston, Texas, jumped into the lessons because she loved riding on the back of a motorcycle. This was her first day on a bike as the one controlling its destination.

“So far, it’s ... okay. A little intimidating on some parts because it’s brand new,” she said while taking a break between lessons, noting the bigger turns were the most challenging maneuver. And she wasn’t quite ready to speed up.

“My ultimate goal is to get the kids grown, get the vehicle paid for, and this is going to be my Christmas and birthday present this year,” A.J. said. She’d like to get a Harley Dyna Wide.

Army Sgt. Robert Hawk, originally from Oklahoma and now in Texarkana, was one of her classmates.

“I always really wanted to do it, you know, but never had the courage or whatever you call it,” said Hawk.

He was feeling pretty confident by mid-afternoon Saturday. “By the end of tomorrow I don’t think I should have any issues confidence-wide,” he said.

He was keeping an open mind, willing to learn and have a good time.

“You come out here hard-headed you aren’t going to learn anything,” Hawk said.

About his own choice to take up riding, Coppinger said: “I didn’t play guitar very well. And I wasn’t big enough to be a big football star, and I realized that some girls like guys that like motorcycles.”

As an instructor, Coppinger and his fellow teachers (on this day it’s Tim Franklin and Dr. Barry Nutter, as well as George Shelden, who’s learning to be an instructor) deal with people who come from a variety of backgrounds. Their ages have ranged from nearly 16 to a man born in 1921, who longed to ride a motorcycle after his wife passed away.

“Each student has their own individual needs, and we try to meet those needs on an individual basis,” said Coppinger.

There are key concepts though, such as the proper steering techniques, that are essential to learn.

“What we tell them in the beginning of the class is riding a motorcycle is about 10 percent physical—you know, shifting, turning, breaking and all that—and about 90 percent mental,” said Coppinger.

He trained 700 motorcyclists last year and will have about 1,000 this year. Interest in riding is growing, and he wishes he had more locations to conduct training.

Out on the course, his three teachers ran the new students through their paces. Some of them may have “unscheduled getoffs,” as Coppinger puts it, which aren’t really crashes—more of a falling over. People are geared up from head to toe.

“Ninety-nine percent of them aren’t going to have any problem at all but occasionally we do have one fall over,” said Coppinger.

As the students ride they confront different courses. Cones are spaced here and there to simulate different types of turns, weaves and ways to ride (and, importantly, breaking and accelerating). The riders’ Kawasakis chatter with a low, rumbling purr as the group takes off.

Before tackling a new course, Nutter told them how to approach this fresh set of tasks.

“After some time, and I’ll signal, you’re going to begin to weave around the cones,” he said, instructing them to maintain an adequate following distance and slow down on the turns. After several minutes of that direction, they had to go around the cones the other way, reversing course.

“If you look down at those cones you’re riding, you’re going to run them over. Okay, so don’t look at them. Remember that target vision. You look where you go,” Nutter said. He likened it to “dancing through those cones.”

Later, Coppinger explained the groups ride the turns both ways, noting one direction will feel more natural than the other to the riders.

“They have to do both ways so that brain and that muscle can all work together so they establish that foundation,” he said.

Progressively, most students begin speeding up through the exercises and gain both authority and confidence over the vehicle. They look like naturals. On this first afternoon, just a few riders seem tentative, testing their vehicles slowly through turns.

The next day, a couple students appear they may not ace the skills test.

“As we go on it progressively gets more difficult,” Coppinger said, observing that by the next day, Sunday, the students will look much more professional on a bike.

“By tomorrow they’ll be ready, because overnight what will happen is they’ll consolidate the information they learned today, and it kind of soaks into their noodle and they’ll come out and they’ll ride like a champ tomorrow,” he said.

And it’s true.

On Sunday, most of the fledgling motorcyclists look well on their way to mastering the ride. They have the correct form sitting on the bike. They break correctly. They keep a steady throttle. They’re keeping their speed up, turning comfortably.

All of that adds up to the right kind of riding.

“Given enough time and enough instruction, just about anybody can ride a motorcycle,” said Coppinger.



(You can take basic motorcycle training classes in both Texas and Arkansas. Completing and passing the skills test will waive the riding portion of the test needed to have your driver’s license endorsed for motorcycle riding in either state.

Many insurance companies and motorcycle manufacturers offer a discount and rebate for completing the course.

In Arkansas, call Arkansas Motorcycle Safety at 501-519-0061 or visit www.arkansasmotorcyclesafety.com. In Texas, call 903-561-8371 or visit www.motorsportstc.com.

Course fees: $200 in Arkansas and $190 in Texas. The proper gear and a motorcycle are provided for class-use in both programs.)