MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Camp Pendleton has implemented a new strategy in the ongoing effort to combat the high rate of fatalities on motorcycles by inviting professionals to teach Marines and sailors how to handle their sportbikes.
The California Superbike School visited Camp Pendleton Jan. 12 through 15 to teach more than 170 Marines and sailors professional motorcycle-riding techniques.
Keith Code, director of the California Superbike School, brought his team to Camp Pendleton to teach service members world-class riding skills to help them reduce their risk of motorcycle accidents.
The first two-day course was designed for advanced sportbike riders, and teaches them better cornering and breaking skills, said Kevin L. Frantum, lead instructor, base motorcycle safety.
Costing more than $2,200 per person in the civilian sector, the course was provided free of charge to 30 selected Marines and sailors on base so they could return to their units and teach their fellow Marines and sailors what they learned.
The second two-day course tested riders’ skills around the coned track set up by CSS and was offered to a larger group of service members.
“We have been training Marines since 2006,” said Code. After this course, we will have reached more than 350 military students, he added.
Recognized as a world-class motorcycle school, the CSS opened in 1980 with the goal of becoming one of the elite professional schools in the motorcycle enthusiast community.
According to the CSS Web site, the school has taught more than 100,000 street riders, including 15 U.S. Superbike Champions. California Superbike School currently operates on four continents, offering full rider training for almost any type of motorcycle.
“This program is very valuable to Marines; everybody will learn something new here,” said Frantum. “No matter how good you are, the instructors at CSS will make you a better rider.”
The advanced sportbike course CSS provided is one way the Marine Corps is emphasizing safety and responsibility for motorcycle riders. The main intent of CSS is to train riders so that they can teach others, reducing mishaps.
In fiscal 2008, 25 Marines were killed in motorcycle accidents; 22 were on sport bikes, according to Col. James Grace, director, Headquarters Marine Corps Safety Division.
California Superbike School discovered, perfected and put to use the most successful riding techniques in existence, according to the CSS Web site. Keith Code and his team also invented and implemented training aids such as the “lean bike” and “panic brake bike,” which were used by Marines to test their riding skills.
The training bikes are custom built, and utilized as an extra measure of safety. These safety precautions help riders work on their body positioning and become more comfortable with the motorcycles.
“I learned how to manipulate the brake, improving my braking distance,” said 1st Sgt. Adam H. Yakubsin, first sergeant, Company C, 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division. Yakubsin is also a motorcycle-safety-course instructor on base.
The CSS coaches divided riders into small teams to go through the different stages of the course. Closely monitored by the coaches of CSS, each rider utilized training aids to get in the comfort zone, then applied those skills on their own motorcycles.
None of the Marines who went through the CSS course have been in an accident since 2006, said Will Eikenberry, chief mechanic, CSS.
“Even for the motorcycle instructors on base this is a great aid; they will incorporate the skills that they learned, and pass it on to their students,” said Frantum.