Travis to offer sport bike safety course

  • Published
  • By Airman Kristen Rohrer
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  The sound of someone's horn and red taillights are all that can be seen and heard as rush hour traffic hits. 

An impatient driver hurries to get home after a long day at work, weaving in and out of traffic, runs a red light and collides with a car he didn't see coming. 

It is this kind of mishap the new sport bike safety course will help prevent. 

The new safety course was developed and is taught by Master Sgt. Dennis Kuhn, 52nd Equipment Maintenance Squadron, Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. 

Besides instructing the class, Sergeant Kuhn also races professionally in Europe and has many years of experience riding and racing sport bikes. 

"This is a safety course that offers help in changing the mental aspect of riding; it helps students ride smarter and also gives riders added skills that are shown to be lacking in accidents," said Sergeant Kuhn. 

The course is part "classroom" teaching and part hands-on training, where the students take what they've learned and apply it to the course. The course features multiple corners and turns and the riders learn how to ride the course safely, even at increased speeds, explained Sergeant Kuhn. 

During a week long training program, Sergeant Kuhn certified nine instructors to be able to teach the course at Travis as well as two instructors for McChord Air Force Base, Wash. and two instructors for Fairchild Air force Base, Wash. He will continue to certify instructors at other bases around the country. 

Once the trainers at a base are certified, the class will be held as often as the base chooses to offer it, with the eventual goal being that it will become a mandatory course that all servicemembers owning a sport bike must complete every year and after a deployment. 

The class sizes are small, with only 10 riders per course. Individuals interested in taking the course must first have completed at least one Motorcycle Safety Foundation course. Once riders have completed that requirement, they can sign up for the class at the base safety office, which is currently developing the schedule for Travis. 

Today, many servicemember casualties are attributed to vehicle accidents, many of them involving motorcycles. Continual learning of the skills to ride sport bikes safely is critical to survival, explained Sergeant Kuhn. 

"The course was developed and designed with demographics in mind of what was injuring and killing riders and giving them the tools to be able to handle a sport motorcycle safely."