Motorcycle training classes seek to increase safety, reduce fatalities

Chris Hawkey loves hopping on his motorcycle and going for a ride.

“I enjoy the freedom of being on a motorcycle,” said Hawkey, the co-host of KFAN Radio’s “Power Trip Morning Show” and a local country music performer. “I love the speed and all the crazy things about it.”

Hawkey also knows he takes a risk every time he hits the road.

“It’s the most dangerous thing I do every day,” he said. “I have to depend on everybody else paying attention to me, and I know that is not happening. I have to pay attention for both of us.”

Though he’s been riding motorcycles for more than 40 years, Hawkey knows he needs to keep his riding skills sharp. On a recent Sunday, he took a refresher class offered by the Minnesota Motorcycle Safety Center that, since the 1980s, has been offering courses for riders of all abilities, from novices to experts. The hands-on courses cover everything from braking, stopping, counter-steering, making tight or U-turns and how to control the bike in traffic. Some classes include online modules.

Riding coach Lara Holland said classes allow riders “to brush up on motorcycle skills.”

The push to get riders to enroll comes as motorcycle deaths in Minnesota hit 29 for the year as of last Wednesday and are on pace to surpass the 82 who died in 2022, the most in 38 years. The safety center’s mission is to prevent motorcycle deaths and injuries by providing rider education, training and licensing

Hawkey recently bought a new Harley Davidson Pan America, which rides quite a bit differently from his old Road King. It also has been nearly 30 years since he took a riding class, and he knew it was time.

“The worst thing you can do when you are a motorcycle rider is become overconfident,” Hawkey said before his class in the Hennepin Technical College parking lot. “I think it is a good idea, even for people who have been riding for a long time. You are learning things that will make you safer on the road. I will come out of here feeling that I am a better motorcycle rider.”

Malfunction sidelines pride-themed bus

For the first time ever, Metro Transit wrapped one of its buses with pride-themed artwork and put it in service on several routes during June. The bus also was widely featured on social media.

The agency planned to showcase the bus during the Twin Cities Pride parade June 30. But an unexpected malfunction discovered the night before the parade idled the bus. Technicians worked through the night in hopes of having it ready but were unsuccessful, said Metro Transit spokesman Drew Kerr

“Unfortunately, repairs could not be completed in time and an alternative bus was used,” he said. “This was a disappointment for us, and we have offered our regrets to Pride leadership.”

Metro Transit assumed the cost of wrapping the bus as part of a promotional exchange with Twin Cities Pride, Kerr said. He did not provide a cost.