Ride Into the New Year
story: Amber GalushaA RIDE THROUGH THE MOTORCYCLE TRAINING INSTITUTE IN RED BLUFF
Imagine cruising along back roads, rolling over oak-studded hillsides or winding along the Sacramento River, exploring new places and spaces. Now imagine doing this sightseeing not from the confines of an automobile, but from a motorcycle.
As you ride, sunlight glints off chrome handlebars, the wind swirls around your body, bringing in the spicy fragrance of riparian woodlands. Overhead, a Great Blue Heron glides under a bright blue sky. Your view of the world is wide open. You experience a freedom you’ve never known.
While many of us throttle into January making typical New Year's resolutions like joining a gym or trying the latest dieting trend, some of us will make resolutions that challenge us in new and fun ways, like learning to ride a motorcycle.
To help you get off to a good start, Motorcycle Training Institute in Red Bluff offers classes year-round. Site owner and lead instructor Harry Slater and his rider coaches are certified by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation and the California Motorcyclists Safety Program. Anyone eligible for their learner’s permit – 15 ½ is the minimum age requirement – is welcome.
It was at this early age when Slater began riding. “In 1985, training wasn’t a prerequisite to receive my motorcycle endorsement,” says Slater. It wasn’t until years later, while he was a U.S. Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, when Slater took a rider’s course. “This is where I had my first exposure to any sort of motorcycle training. In order to ride your motorcycle on base, you had to take a two- or three-day class,” says Slater.
Not only did the class show Slater the value of receiving professional instruction, it motivated him to teach similar classes after his service with the military ended.
In 1996, Slater went to work with Harvey and Judy Lacy, founders of Motorcycle Training Institute. “Harvey took me under his wing,” says Slater. “He is an asset to the program and his high morals and ethics are what built the site.” While under Harvey’s tutelage, Slater taught classes and learned the business. After several years as a coach, he bought the site from the Lacys.
Slater continues to operate the institute with the same standards the Lacys established. He credits Harvey for the site’s strong foundation, and he attributes the program’s lasting success to a proven combination: excellent curriculum and dedicated instructors. “Our program is amazing, and what makes it that way is the people who teach it,” says Slater.
During the two-day course, students are guided through a comprehensive step-by-step program that combines five hours of classroom instruction with 10 hours of range riding. “On average, 97 percent of students pass the course,” says Slater. Upon passing, students are presented with their DL389 certificate (which may waive the riding skills test requirement for the California DMV). After successfully completing the DMV’s written test, new riders receive their motorcycle endorsement.
Excited to help students succeed, Slater carries on the legacy of his mentor. “Without Harvey’s help, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” says Slater. And without Slater’s guidance, students wouldn’t learn the skills necessary to accomplish their goal, or resolution, of learning to ride.
Armed with the knowledge and confidence they gain at Motorcycle Training Institute, new riders are able to join other freedom seekers on the road, mounted on their steeds of steel. •
Motorcycle Training Institute, Red Bluff
(530) 440-9766
mtiredbluff.com/MTI/Home.html
Photos courtesy of Harry Slater and Stephanie Woitas
