Do not recommend.
Not sure how long this post will be, it's 4:39am and I can't sleep.
Anyhow, my son turned 16 in Novemeber and got his M1 about a month ago. There was no point getting it in November given the time constraints of it. So after he got his M1 I looked for the Connestoga rider training course as I did it years ago and thought it was great. It was well run, very organized, the instructors were not only pleasant, but were consistent with their instructions and worked well together. There were no egos and you were actually encouraged to have a bit of fun with the bikes. All the bikes were smaller displacement that had many bumps and bruises so if you played a bit hard and dropped it, no one cared. In short it was both fun and as educational as a parking lot course can be with speeds under 25km/h. Unfortunately the course is no longer offered.
Fast forward many moons to this weekend and my son is doing the course through RTI as it was the only course I found that was offered locally. Before I discuss RTI I should give some history on my son's riding ability for most here that don't know him. He started doing track days at 12 on a CBR 250, started racing in SOAR at 13 on the 250, and after 2 or 3 race weekends I got him an R3 to race as the 250 was painfully slow. He progressed well and at 14 he won the lightweight championship on the R3 at SOAR. At 15 he raced in both SOAR and CSBK on a Ninja 400. There were some issues with the bike and he didn't do great in CSBK, but still finished 2nd in SOAR even after missing a race weekend. This year he'll be in SOAR on a Daytona 675 and Aprilia RS660, and in CSBK on the Ninja 400 and RS660. I'm not writing this the brag about my kid [mostly
] it's to convey that knows how to ride and handle a bike. He has a bit of experience even though he is still young.
Back to RTI. Every compliment I wrote regarding Connestoga can be ignored with respect to RTI. The instructors are inconsistent with their instructions, and instructor B is quick to point out mistakes that they think you are making even though you are doing exactly what instructor A is telling you. For example, my son was told to do a section in mid 2nd gear by one instructor and when he did it, another instructor chewed him out and said it was supposed to be done in first. When he raised his *** off the seat to stretch a bit, again chewed out that he should be seated the whole time (this is stupid and potentially dangerous advice). At the end of a stretch of parking lot an instructor told him he could choose which way he went, the instructor at the end again chewed him out for not going the correct way. This happened to him all day long. How bad of an organization do you have to be to take a 16 year old motorcycle enthusiast and make them NOT WANT TO RIDE A MOTORCYCLE?!?! This organization is doing the exact opposite of what they are supposed to do.
I am no Karen, I don't think my kid is the best thing to happen to earth, and lord knows he can do dumb $#!+ that I do ride his @$$ about, but he is a good kid and this really shouldn't be happening.
If you're a new rider that isn't looking for an insurance discount, and are considering a rider course, I would strongly recommend you take a track based course rather than a parking lot course. You won't get your M2 out of it, but in my opinion you will learn a lot more.
5:27am, rant over.
Not sure how long this post will be, it's 4:39am and I can't sleep.
Anyhow, my son turned 16 in Novemeber and got his M1 about a month ago. There was no point getting it in November given the time constraints of it. So after he got his M1 I looked for the Connestoga rider training course as I did it years ago and thought it was great. It was well run, very organized, the instructors were not only pleasant, but were consistent with their instructions and worked well together. There were no egos and you were actually encouraged to have a bit of fun with the bikes. All the bikes were smaller displacement that had many bumps and bruises so if you played a bit hard and dropped it, no one cared. In short it was both fun and as educational as a parking lot course can be with speeds under 25km/h. Unfortunately the course is no longer offered.
Fast forward many moons to this weekend and my son is doing the course through RTI as it was the only course I found that was offered locally. Before I discuss RTI I should give some history on my son's riding ability for most here that don't know him. He started doing track days at 12 on a CBR 250, started racing in SOAR at 13 on the 250, and after 2 or 3 race weekends I got him an R3 to race as the 250 was painfully slow. He progressed well and at 14 he won the lightweight championship on the R3 at SOAR. At 15 he raced in both SOAR and CSBK on a Ninja 400. There were some issues with the bike and he didn't do great in CSBK, but still finished 2nd in SOAR even after missing a race weekend. This year he'll be in SOAR on a Daytona 675 and Aprilia RS660, and in CSBK on the Ninja 400 and RS660. I'm not writing this the brag about my kid [mostly
] it's to convey that knows how to ride and handle a bike. He has a bit of experience even though he is still young.Back to RTI. Every compliment I wrote regarding Connestoga can be ignored with respect to RTI. The instructors are inconsistent with their instructions, and instructor B is quick to point out mistakes that they think you are making even though you are doing exactly what instructor A is telling you. For example, my son was told to do a section in mid 2nd gear by one instructor and when he did it, another instructor chewed him out and said it was supposed to be done in first. When he raised his *** off the seat to stretch a bit, again chewed out that he should be seated the whole time (this is stupid and potentially dangerous advice). At the end of a stretch of parking lot an instructor told him he could choose which way he went, the instructor at the end again chewed him out for not going the correct way. This happened to him all day long. How bad of an organization do you have to be to take a 16 year old motorcycle enthusiast and make them NOT WANT TO RIDE A MOTORCYCLE?!?! This organization is doing the exact opposite of what they are supposed to do.
I am no Karen, I don't think my kid is the best thing to happen to earth, and lord knows he can do dumb $#!+ that I do ride his @$$ about, but he is a good kid and this really shouldn't be happening.
If you're a new rider that isn't looking for an insurance discount, and are considering a rider course, I would strongly recommend you take a track based course rather than a parking lot course. You won't get your M2 out of it, but in my opinion you will learn a lot more.
5:27am, rant over.
