Tulsa Police Providing More Advanced Motorcycle Training Classes

The Tulsa Police Department has some new grant money to offer advanced motorcycle training for citizens. It complements the basic training riders need to get a motorcycle license.

The new $25,000 grant pays the cost of training, so the police department can offer classes to the public for free.

There are plenty of choices when it comes to motorcycles, but Lisa Brogdon, a riding coach with Myers Duren Harley Davidson, said every rider should make the right choice about training.

"If you're trained and you have some experience on a training course, with some coaches who are trained in how to ride in the safest way possible, it makes you more comfortable,” she said.

Whenever a Harley is sold from the dealership, Brogdon encourages riders to get the training, get a license and get refresher courses along the way.

The beginner course they offer is 25 hours long, on a special training bike. The course automatically qualifies people for the motorcycle endorsement on their license.

The course offered by the police department is for people who already have a license.

"A lot of stuff that's safety oriented, just to help people become a better rider,” said Sergeant Paul Melchior, TPD.

Melchior, with the motorcycle unit at TPD, said accidents can often be prevented with better training, and help riders survive the accidents that do happen. Their classes focus on emergency stopping.

"It's not a beginners' course, it's a safety course that we offer,” Melchior said. “And every rider that takes part must already have the M endorsement on their license and provide their own motorcycle."

Brogden said it's not uncommon for riders to think because they can start and drive off they can do it safely. She said, like any machine, a rider needs training to do it right.

"It's just a machine. You just have to communicate what you want it to do,” she said.

The department offered the course for the first time this past year. The grant money will pay for six, full day classes next year.

The next basic courses through Myers Duren are in a couple of weeks. The next advanced course through the police department, which is free by the way, is next spring.