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Police Motorcycle Training

motorman4life

motorman4life

New member
Joined
Apr 16, 2005
Location
right behind you...
Moto(s)
WORK: Kawasaki KZ1000P & '07 H-D Road King. PLAY: '07 Honda GL1800 & '88 Kawasaki KX600 Ninja
Name
MM4L
Here are links to the 80 hour basic and 24 hour in-service police motor courses at the Alameda S.O. facility.
http://alamedacountysheriff.org/rtc/classes/evoc/basic80hrMotor/80hrMotor.htm
http://alamedacountysheriff.org/rtc/classes/evoc/motor_insvc/class.htm

Then this is a LEO tactical EVOC course, shooting and riding:
http://alamedacountysheriff.org/rtc/classes/evoc/tacudmotor/class.htm

This is info on their 2-week LEO Dual Purpose (dualsport) class:
http://alamedacountysheriff.org/rtc/classes/evoc/dual_purp_motor/class.htm

All of those are for police only. The following are open to civilians and are put on at the same facility, with the same instructors:
http://alamedacountysheriff.org/rtc/classes/evoc/2day_inter_civ_motor/class.htm
http://alamedacountysheriff.org/rtc/classes/evoc/1day_adv_civ_motor/class.htm

If you are interested, here is a very informative article on police motorcycle training:
http://www.motorcops.com/police_training/officer_safety.asp

Lastly, here is a very basic page and a really great page with some of the patterns, commentary and photos:
Basic: http://www.largiader.com/slow/
Great: http://users.crocker.com/~mwilliams/Parking_Lot_Moves.htm

If I find more, I'll post them in this thread. I posted all of the Alameda stuff, not because they have such a great m/c course, but because I thought it might be of interest to some and I was browsing around there looking for all of the POST patterns. The links I had are dead. Anyhow, while I was searching, I found all of the links to their courses. They do have a fantastic facility... I have just seen some really crappy riders come out of their school.

CHP is still the gold standard in CA. San Bernardino is second. Oakland PD and San Jose PD are probably the best/toughest in the Bay Area.

If anyone has a link to the CHP, San Berdoo or other cone patterns, please add them here!
 
Last edited:
1) Links fixed. Sorry. Forgot about the truncating when I cut and pasted this from another thread.
2) It is sticky.

Thanks.
 
Originally posted by motorman4life

CHP is still the gold standard in CA. San Bernardino is second. Oakland PD and San Jose PD are probably the best/toughest in the Bay Area.

If anyone has a link to the CHP, San Berdoo or other cone patterns, please add them here! [/B]
Click to expand...


Sgt Gene Reese at Sacramento PD has a very strong program as well.
 
Re: Re: Police Motorcycle Training

NorCalBusa said:
Sgt Gene Reese at Sacramento PD has a very strong program as well.
Click to expand...
Where did he train?
 
Now I know what to ask my mom for on my birthday :)

Thanks for the info, I've been wanting to take an intensive class like this to learn how to handle my bike at slower speeds.

One question though, does the Intermediate class provide bikes? I saw that the Police only did, but saw no mention on the intermediate page.
 
Last I heard in December the San Bernardino school was shut down. And Okaland does not have a motor school anymore, at least not for the last couple of years.
 
MM4L - Thanks!

One question: Suppose we civvies practice those layouts - e.g. start with a wider one, work down to the smaller-radius stuff.

What would still be missing between what we've learned, and what you got at CHP school?

(For that matter, what's your dept.? CHP, Alameda County, ...?)
 
saizai said:
MM4L - Thanks!

One question: Suppose we civvies practice those layouts - e.g. start with a wider one, work down to the smaller-radius stuff.

What would still be missing between what we've learned, and what you got at CHP school?

(For that matter, what's your dept.? CHP, Alameda County, ...?)
Click to expand...

Yes, they make you do some crazy stuff at motor school; there is a thread somewhere with a video from a motor school back east. I took an 1100 off-road on a hill that I would usually take a dirt bike and were making u-turns and figure 8's in the Oakland and Berkeley hills.
 
MM4L:

Thank you. One question: is this (the class for non-motor officers) bring-your-own-bike, or what?
 
I have received 3 PM’s with the same question about whether bikes are provided. Someone call and find out, post it here. I believe it would be your own bike, but you can ask if they will rent a bike as I know they do rent them to the LEO students (agencies) as needed. I am unsure whether they would do the same for the civilians, but maybe! So, as I have suggested, maybe someone that is seriously interested will call up and fill us in.

As for schools being closed; that is not unusual during winter months, particularly considering the manpower shortages most agencies are experiencing state-wide. Most departments have allowed their traffic divisions to atrophy significantly in lieu of lay-offs and seeing their patrol staffing dwindle. Oakland is a prime example of this.

As manpower increases and good weather comes around, you will likely see things change. I know San Berdoo had some strife and their head instructor (who was the glue for their program, Mr. Brinkerhoff) quit (or was fired, depending on who you talk to).

saizai said:
One question: Suppose we civvies practice those layouts - e.g. start with a wider one, work down to the smaller-radius stuff.
What would still be missing between what we've learned, and what you got at CHP school?
(For that matter, what's your dept.? CHP, Alameda County, ...?)
Click to expand...
Patterns are truly only a small portion of what goes on at motor school. There is a lot of incline work, pull-outs (ugh!), braking exercises, fast and slow cone weaves, obstacle courses, off-road, wet-weather, tactical (range) training, basic maintenance and diagnostics, pursuit riding and powerslide techniques.

My agency is a closely guarded secret :teeth
I could tell you, but I'd have to kill you!

In all seriousness, my ability to speak freely and openly in this forum and throughout BARF without concern for unwarranted repercussions with my long-time employer is very important to me. My freedom-of-speech ends when someone initiates a retaliatory complaint or uses something I say against me or a co-worker in court and/or my bosses say I am somehow directly or indirectly representing my agency. For that reason, I have asked those that know me to keep my affiliation confidential. So far, so good. :thumbup

As for the patterns. It is easy to develop bad habits doing the patterns. The clutch-throttle/gray area advice as well as the head-and-eyes technique previously mentioned are critical, as well as good riding posture, adequate warm-ups and consistent application of the clutch-throttle. High revving, jerky motions and trying to "muscle" the bike through the patterns are all indications of a problem. The key is letting the bike do the work for you. If, after a long day of practice, your clutch hand is unbelievably sore/tired and your chest and back are not, that is a good indication you are on the right track. If the opposite is true, there is a problem with your technique.

Rather than trying to jump into those patterns, I suggest you mark out a 30’ x 60’ box on clean, level, pavement using cones, small boxes or 1/2ed tennis balls as markers. Ride in and start doing figure 8’s as slow as you can. Get as close as you can to the start of each u-turn (entry gate) and try to cut your exit as tight as possible, keeping in mind you need room to set up for the entry of your next u-turn at the other end. Remember, go slow and keep your head up. Use the entire depth of the pattern, don't short the turn, just pull the exit in.

You will need a partner to spot you and have them incrementally move the exit perimeter in to within a foot of where you are consistently exiting your u-turn. Remeber to avoid unnecessary revving and don't look down at the ground. Keep your head up and use your peripheral vision to pick up the boundries. Periodically re-adjust your box size until it is down to 18’ x 36’.

Ideally, you woud want it to be 16’ x 32’ (on a Kawasaki KZ1000) and you should also be able to do figure 8’s in both directions as well as multiple circles at each end (I call them double and triple 8’s).

I say 18’ x 36’ because with practice you can do that on a H-D Road King and 20' x 40' will accomodate an 8' long 1800cc Honda Goldwing, so there is no excuse on any smaller bike. Once you have completely mastered the 18’ x 36’ box, let me know and I’ll tell you the next step.
 
MM4L - Thank you. I understand about the anonymity bit; it's an unfortunate necessity. I for one find your posts to be almost always interesting and helpful (and friendly), so glad to have you around regardless.

As for the practice, a few further questions:
1. Could you elaborate on the non-'patterns' exercises? (Incline, pullouts, etc etc) Just give us a set of instructions and some approximate standards to go by.

2. What would still be missing, after practicing both those exercises and the patterns?

3. How tight could you figure-8 my Ninja 250? I'm guessing that it's rather smaller than your police cruisers, so perhaps 18'x36' is a bit lenient? I can get it to within a 2x2 set of parking spaces about half the time, doing the MSF BRC style 'box' exercise (enter, U, cross, U)... I think that's normally == 18x36. But that's only half the time or so, for one, and for two I'm willing to bet that I'm pretty unskilled relatively speaking (given my inexperience); I'm curious what a more demanding (but realistically doable) standard would be.
 
There are diagrams out there for the pullouts and incline patterns as well as the other exercises. They are all just designed to push you to your limits and build/test confidence. Anything you can design that will safely do that on whatever bike you ride will get you closer to mastering your ride.

True enough, whatever numbers I could give you for patterns would be moot if you are riding a Ninja 250... it is an entirely different machine, different geometry and rake of the wheel. There is likely some way to extrapolate the correct adjustments to the patterns based upon wheelbase, rake and available lean. If I were being paid $300 an hour, I have no doubt I could work that out for you down to the mm. So... good luck with that. ;)

As for what would be missing... too much to explain in mere words. It is an 80 hour course and you pretty much need to have all of the techniques nailed before you get there or you won't make it (at least that is the case for CHP). I don't have the 80 hours or even 8 hours to draw it all out in diagrams and words. My suggestion would be to go to the two civilian courses offered at Alameda and ask the instructors there. They could likely demonstrate and maybe give you a folder with all of the LEO patterns drawn out (if you ask really nice).
 
Any suggestions as to which model m/c to get to practice with. I don't think it would make any sense to practice on my RC, as I believe I would need a more upright seating position. Any suggestions for a m/c under 1500.00, and a good place to start looking to buy?
 
Runouts are available from private partys,auctions and Dealerships like A&S BMW in Roseville I believe . . . not sure about the price though but a Bmw RT1100 or better yet RT1150 would be a start . . .

Good Luck
 
Buy an old Kawi KZ1000. Plenty still out there for cheap. Reliable and durable, they don't mind getting dropped. Very tight turning radius makes it easy to learn to do cookie cutters on the boards.
 
I just took the Basic and Intermediate Civilian class at the Alameda County Sheriff's training center in Dublin this weekend.
See this thread for details:
http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=173005

As to the question if you need to bring your own bike, the official answer I got on phone was yes. But the instructor said the web info is out of date. They can provide a trainging bike for a fee of $50. Not sure if this applied to LEO students only. To be safe, please call them directly.

I took the class using my Ninja 250. Had some real problem w/ the Eliminator pattern. The instructor tried it and was able to complete the pattern. But he did mention that my bike's steering handle has limited range, which made it very hard for a beginner to complete the pattern.
 
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