Centennial College Course - Not Worth It

[Knight_Rider]

Hey guys,

I've been coming to this forum for over a year now, but decided to register today so I can express my opinion regarding the centennial m1 exit training course. I recently completed it, passed and everything, but was not happy with a number of things. Here's a brief explanation in no particular order:

1. INSTRUCTORS: While some of the instructors were helpful, the lead instructor ran the course like the military. This is because he still thinks he's in the military. He reminds everybody of this fact at least 3 times a day. This approach takes away from the fun one should have during the long and exhausting two day course.

2. INSTRUCTIONS: Instructions, at least for new riders, are hurried and vague. While there is time allotted for repetition of skills, the initial explaining of each exercise and skill needs to be demonstrated with more accuracy and detail. They take a more of a "get on the bike" approach, which is good at times, but not so good with the more complicated skill sets.

3. PARKING LOT: Absolutely horrible. Uneven, cracked, gravel, you name it.

4. BIKES: Maybe worse than the parking lot. There is a selection, but the newer cbr 125 get grabbed fairly quickly. Then what you're left with is older, malfunctioning cbrs, titans, marauders. Some of these bikes operate with chokes, again, not particularly helpful to the newer rider. Clutches are pretty bad. And after speaking to a few people at the course, many of the bikes don't shift into neutral while they are running, which means your left hand is pretty sore by the end of the day, holding in that clutch lever. Oh, and when the riding portion of the course begins, they gathered all 35 of us into the parking lot, and let us loose to pick the bike we wanted. If you want a newer bike, be prepared to sprint for it because others will.

5. FAILURE RATE: From what I recall, there were about 8 people who failed the course. These people have the opportunity to redo the test one week later only if they pay $50. There are two problems here. First, this is the highest failure rate I've heard of after having discussed failure rates with other riders who have taken the test with RTI and Learning Curves. I believe this may have something to do with the quality of instruction. Second, there are other courses around that offer free retests. How realistic is it to expect someone who failed the first time, and doesn't own or have access to a bike, to pass the second time around with a brief 45 minute practice session prior to the test?

In the end, my advice to those in search of a satisfying m1 exit course would be to look elsewhere. If you have any questions about Centennial let me know. I'd be more than happy to answer them for you.

[Johnny5]

Your experience sounds very untypical. I went there last summer and found all the instructors great. And the parking lot is a bit bumpy yes, but it's larger and more continuous than the ones at some of the other schools, and has the permanent grid marked on the ground which is good. I also thought the school itself was nice for the in class stuff. I enjoyed the experience there greatly and found it highly valuable and well worth it. I would understand someone who failed complaining, but if you passed hey be happy!

[ThrottleThrow]

my experience with RTI was great, instructors where nice and friendly, bikes were in great mechanical condition considering the training they were used for. parking lot was horrible at Seneca King campus but i think they dont do it there anymore anyways.

[Knight_Rider]

Your experience sounds very untypical. I went there last summer and found all the instructors great. And the parking lot is a bit bumpy yes, but it's larger and more continuous than the ones at some of the other schools, and has the permanent grid marked on the ground which is good. I also thought the school itself was nice for the in class stuff. I enjoyed the experience there greatly and found it highly valuable and well worth it. I would understand someone who failed complaining, but if you passed hey be happy!

Hey Jonny,

Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy about passing. Not so happy that I gave them my money though.

Perhaps there have been changes over the course of the year. Some instructors were good as I mentioned, but the bad overshadowed the good.

[Trice87]

WOW, I think you were in my group there on the course... April 20-22? Yes, I recall Four (4) failed, and about 2-3 dropped out, because they felt riding was not for them after falling multiple times. Instructions were perfect (I was a novice, never rode before going into it).

Instructors: I can't say for the rest, but the few I dealt with was amazing! They give you constructive criticism to help you improve. The main guy was being very military, but he didn't really teach the course, and provided that we all PAID for the course, I would NOT want to wait for someone to be tardy as he put it...

Instructions: I thought they were very thorough with the instructions, and even opened up the floor for questions after the demonstration to make sure that you knew what you were doing, I recall our class as the instructor constantly kept saying "Boy this is a quiet group" and if you're not going to speak up... then don't complain about instructions later...

Parking lot: I liked having the cracks, gravel and uneven floor... Do you think you'll be riding on perfectly paved roads all day? ...

Bikes: Most bikes were fine, I didn't get a chance to speak to people who had bike troubles, Mine didn't have the N light, no big deal, if you had the feel for the clutch.

Failure Rate: Like I said, Four (4) people failed, a few others dropped out, but I would rather see people fail, then to have them unsafely on the road...

Summary: I don't think you should badger a school because you had a bad learning experience because you chose not to speak up when the floor was opened for questions and clarification.

[Kedo]

2 views for the same event. Who to believe ... lol

[cbcanada]

I took the course last year and was fine with it. Instructors were great. I dont mind instructir being in the military. It keeps the course on schedule, direct and serious. Inrather have that. I wasnt there to hang out or have fun. I was there to learn

Most bikes have problems going into neutral time to time.. Mine more then others! and the city roads are bumpy and have pot holes.

Unless you plan on buying a brand new 2012 bike and only ride on a track. Then all of the things you mentioned make for a realistic experience to prepare you for the road.

I would recommend the course

[AF4iK]

I went to Centennial last year and have nothing but praise for them. The lead instructor for my class was Bryan (big dude). He was cool as were all of the other instructors. There was this one guy though--apparently their boss (Mike I think)--who strolled out onto the parking lot one day with a coffee. He added zero value. All he did was insult the students and instructors for about an hour or so before going back inside to jack off or do whatever he does. Maybe he was just having a bad day but that's the only negative thing I remember and it sticks out.

[mystifier]

When I took the M1Exit there maybe 4 years ago, I thought it was great and very helpful for someone who had never been on a bike like myself. Like someone mentioned about the lot, do you think riding on the street will be perfect even roads? You're gonna have pot holes galore in Toronto along with a million other things to look for.

I do agree some of the instructors can be a little off... I guess the problem is that they are motorcycle riders at the end of the day- not teachers.

With that said, last weekend I took the M2 Exit at Centennial and thought that was a huge waste of money. But I somewhat knew this before going in so I can't complain.

[MadPoet]

I have nothin but good things to say about the school and their instructors. I had a blast last year being drilled over and over into Perfecting the exercises. I have to agree with previous posts, with all due respect to your unfortunate experience, badgering a school that may or may not change from one year to the other (as per you) is not exactly rational. This may happen to any school and if every bitter student wouldn't recommend the school they went to, then no one will take courses in any school. You are definitely entitled to your opinion and i would accept your review of the course as just that, a review. In the many reviews that I have heard first hand of the same school, yours seems to be the one to ignore.

I am glad however that you passed an good luck riding safely.

[TdotMurderer]

My 2012 has a choke, roads are never perfect, most bikes are hard to find neutral until you know them, and the world is full of type A personalities. Just wait till you get into the work force.

[Baggsy]

Might there be more incentive to pass below par people if they get a free retest?
After all someone has to spend the time with them.

[Knight_Rider]

Trice,

It's okay for someone to voice their opinion on a subject. It's not badgering. I'm not criticizing others' opinions who enjoyed the course. This was my opinion as I stated in the thread.

There were more than 4 failures. I spoke to them and can directly account for that. And I don't expect real world driving conditions in a parking lot for new riders, which is why I thought the parking lot could be better, especially for those who have never been on bikes before.

[TekNinja81]

I did my course at Centennial in May 2010, and for the most part they were pretty decent, but after watching Learning Curves' course and hearing about some of the differences they teach, I felt as though Centennial left out a few rather important things.

Actually, Centennial taught us a few things that were flat-out bad habits, at least during the weekend I was there. The instructors there taught us to keep our *heels* on the pegs and aim our toes OUTWARD from the bike! They said this was to avoid accidental brake/shift input, which makes sense, but it's terrible foot positioning. I figured maybe it was just a beginner thing; but they kept it up throughout the course. So immediately they've taught riders horrible foot positioning vs the proper "ball of foot on the peg" technique which I was taught later by another rider. They never taught us how foot positioning effects riding.

They also seemed to focus too much on using "just" the rear brake for a large portion of the course, and basically tell you that if you even *touch* the front brake, you're going to go cartwheeling down the road. lol. I do get the point of this, as new riders are likely to grab a handful and either endo the bike or dump it, but they pretty much didn't allow us to use the front brake until we got to the emergency braking lessons -- I'd have much preferred they ease everyone into it rather than throwing it at us when grabbing a handful would be almost necessary for riders who'd never used the front brake before...

Despite these issues, the course was pretty informative and though they did seem slightly rushed at times, the instructors were generally friendly and happy to answer any questions. I think my class had 1 failure and 1 dropout (girl who'd been doing very well crashed HARD on day 1, tried to go on but couldn't, think she'd hurt herself), and my instructor had been boasting that they almost never have any failures... I got a laugh out of him, he was quite obviously smoking weed in a scented wrap while we were on the course.

Anyway, every course has at least some differences, some good and some bad; if I were to recommend between Centennial and Learning Curves (which my GF and several friends went to), I'd recommend Learning Curves first as they really go the extra mile for their students.

BTW: I will definitely agree that the condition Centennial's bikes are in is atrocious. Just keeping the bikes *running* all weekend was a big challenge for many. I was on a Titan 150cc and got used to it after a while, but the bike could barely maintain idle rpm's even after adjusting the idle screw, I had to be on the throttle almost constantly which distracts from other factors of riding. Does help to learn how to ride in less than ideal conditions, though.

[wearelopey]

All of the bikes in all the courses that we supply have trouble shifting into neutral. Why? Because a lot of them are either new bikes that haven't been broken in really. Or they have been dropped and bashed around their whole little lives.

Even us instructors have to sometimes turn the bike off and fiddle with the shifter in order to get it into neutral... Nothing we can really do there.

And pertaining to introducing the front brake so late in the course. Slow maneuvers are supposed to done using only rear brake, clutch feathering, and throttle control. Anything done in low second gear on a cbr 125 in a small parking lot area would be considered a slow maneuver.

The only time you need the front brake is when coming to a stop, which we allow people to use the front brake anyways. That in addition to the fact that yes, it is surprising how many people don't have a feel for the front brake and simply grab at it (often opening the throttle while doing so). Which is no good for instructors or students a like.

[suprPHREAK]

All of the bikes in all the courses that we supply have trouble shifting into neutral. Why? Because a lot of them are either new bikes that haven't been broken in really. Or they have been dropped and bashed around their whole little lives.

Even us instructors have to sometimes turn the bike off and fiddle with the shifter in order to get it into neutral... Nothing we can really do there.

And pertaining to introducing the front brake so late in the course. Slow maneuvers are supposed to done using only rear brake, clutch feathering, and throttle control. Anything done in low second gear on a cbr 125 in a small parking lot area would be considered a slow maneuver.

The only time you need the front brake is when coming to a stop, which we allow people to use the front brake anyways. That in addition to the fact that yes, it is surprising how many people don't have a feel for the front brake and simply grab at it (often opening the throttle while doing so). Which is no good for instructors or students a like.

Plus One.

[kamikaze]

I took my course at Georgian College in Barrie, The bikes there were a mixture of CBR125s, Honda Titan 150s and Suzuki 250 cruisers (marauder iirc). I didn't hear of anyone having any sort of mechanical troubles. The Titan i had didn't have any neutral or starting problems, I just hated that it had a center stand and the rule was when parking bikes if yours had a center stand, you had to put it on it.

The first retest was either free or $20, I can't remember. There were only a couple people that failed, and one girl washed out on the first day. I think they put her on the wrong bike, she was barely 5ft tall and maybe 100lbs with gear, and they put her on a titan. she couldn't hardly touch the ground, and she dropped it a couple times trying to get it on/off the center stand. I think they should have put her on a cruiser (we didn't get to pick our bikes, they were assigned)

[rbjeepthing]

I took my course at Georgian College in Barrie, The bikes there were a mixture of CBR125s, Honda Titan 150s and Suzuki 250 cruisers (marauder iirc). I didn't hear of anyone having any sort of mechanical troubles. The Titan i had didn't have any neutral or starting problems, I just hated that it had a center stand and the rule was when parking bikes if yours had a center stand, you had to put it on it.

The first retest was either free or $20, I can't remember. There were only a couple people that failed, and one girl washed out on the first day. I think they put her on the wrong bike, she was barely 5ft tall and maybe 100lbs with gear, and they put her on a titan. she couldn't hardly touch the ground, and she dropped it a couple times trying to get it on/off the center stand. I think they should have put her on a cruiser (we didn't get to pick our bikes, they were assigned)

Had a similar experience as well at Georgian which was nothing but good.

I had done the course years ago but my wife wanted to get into riding last year so I agreed that a refresher would be good. There were 20 people for the weekend. The lead instructor asked who had ridden before and I was the only one who put my hand up. I thought wow this is going to be a boring long weekend but I was completely wrong. Not only did they manage to get everyone to pass except one they also made it interesting for me and catered to my previous riding experience by making me go as slow as possible and then having me do the snake as fast as possible against one of the other instructors.

I always recommend everyone taking the courses and will continue to do so.

[rich6969]

Knight_Rider everyone has a Opinion. To you it's not worth it, to others it may be the best money spent not adding even maybe saving there lifes from something they learned that day at the course....... unless your driving The night riders car "Kit" who does all the thinking for you, your gona need to find the tricks to finding your neutral on your bike and if you think that parking lot sucks wait till you hit the big roads and the obstacle that come with them.......

[Trice87]

Trice,

It's okay for someone to voice their opinion on a subject. It's not badgering. I'm not criticizing others' opinions who enjoyed the course. This was my opinion as I stated in the thread.

There were more than 4 failures. I spoke to them and can directly account for that. And I don't expect real world driving conditions in a parking lot for new riders, which is why I thought the parking lot could be better, especially for those who have never been on bikes before.

Your opinion stopped after number 5. about Failure rates. You went onto making suggestions to ruin the reputation of the school, advising people not to take a course, offering information on a course/school that you're bias on, that's when I decided to give you some information...