Cliff signed up for the Road Smart II
advanced rider course with Stay Upright to
improve his cornering ability and overcome
his anxieties. The national rider training
school offers a range of courses for learners,
road riders, adventure riders, track junkies
as well as workplace certification for ATVs
and side by sides. The school, established
in 1981, says this course is suited to all
road riders with a full licence as well as
returning riders like Cliff.
“This is a road-focussed course. We’re
at a racetrack, but we’re not out there to
cut laps. And it’s not about lap times,”
Stay Upright Victorian state manager and
leading instructor Chris Sleeman tells the
group of 20-odd students. “Today is about
building up your skills and focussing on
the techniques. Do that and you’ll find your
pace will naturally increase throughout the
day as you become more comfortable.
“The exercises might be confirmation
that you’re doing things right, which is
great, and they might also flag that tweaks
are needed. Either way, the day is yours to
take advantage of – ask us all the questions
you want.”
The exercises are logical, digestible and
designed to teach the fundamentals of road
riding in the real world. These include making
yourself seen in traffic; cornering lines that
work when sharing the road, and creating
space around you. There’s also a strong focus
on developing physical skills such as braking,
cornering and posture, the latter of which
helps riders get more comfortable with their
bike and what it can do.
After a quick classroom briefing, the
day’s itinerary includes observation laps for
instructors to note each students’ general
riding ability; low-speed riding; vision;
posture; obstacle avoidance and lots of
emergency braking, which surprises more
than a few students.
Much of the afternoon is devoted to
understandingthefundamentalsof
cornering, followed by improving road lines
and the all-important individual observation
and feedback from instructors.
The range of machines is a broad cross-
section of bikes in the wild, including fire-
breathing sportsbikes, naked guns, big-bore
adventure bikes, full-size cruisers, a little
Honda Grom and everything in between.
The general range of rider ability is similarly
varied, with some going comfortably hard
throughout the afternoon while others keep
well within their comfort zone. Still, the
pace picks up for all riders.
“We see several experienced riders come
in really rusty but, by the end of the day,
they’re really smooth and strong,” Chris
says.“We see several
experienced riders come
in really rusty but, by the
end of the day, they’re
really smooth and strong”An emergency braking
demonstration shows the
results of front only, rear
only then the effectiveness
of both. Most riders were
surprised by their bike’s
stopping power.