American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 179 June 2014 | Page 10

Harley's dealer-based riding academy
program to use power limited Street 500s
THE Motor Company has trained
more than 350,000 new riders over 14
years and has now changed its training
program with the launch of its new
Harley-Davidson Riding Academy –the
only national rider training program
hosted by Harley-Davidson
dealerships and conducted on an allnew Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
Since its inception in 2000, Harley’s
rider training program has successfully
trained more than 350,000 new riders
with a premium Motorcycle Safety
Foundation (MSF)-approved rider
training experience, and now the
Harley-Davidson Riding Academy’s
New Rider Course provides nearly
everything needed to take the first step
towards motorcycle riding, including
MSF-certified instructors, use of a
motorcycle to learn on, and a
minimum of 20 hours of combined
classroom and range training with a
guaranteed 6:1 student/instructor
ratio. All the students need to supply is
appropriate riding gear.
Harley-Davidson Street 500
motorcycles will be provided for the
training rides.

curriculum and the equipment – to
inspire that needed confidence and
empower new students to have a ton
of fun learning to ride on a HarleyDavidson motorcycle.”
In many states, completion of a
Harley-Davidson Riding Academy
course can exempt riders from needing
to take an additional road test before
becoming licensed, and many
insurance providers offer discounts to
graduates.
In addition to changes in the US,
where more than 180 HarleyDavidson dealers offer training
courses, Harley-Davidson Riding
Academy is expanding globally into
Mexico, China and South Africa.
www.h-d.com/ridingacademy
Additional features developed
specifically for use in the HarleyDavidson Riding Academy include an
industry-first ‘Power Limit Calibration’
that puts a ceiling on the vehicle’s lowgear speeds, allowing only the
maximum rate a student needs in the
course, and a unique ‘Vehicle

Protection Kit’ that allays student fears
of damaging the vehicle in a tip-over.
“Instilling confidence is vital to
preparing new riders to move from the
classroom to the open road,” Angela
Thundercloud, Harley-Davidson Rider
Training Manager, said. “We designed
everything – the experience, the