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Motorcycle Safety and Awareness
Welcome to think bike, the podcast about all things motorcycle and the voice of motorcycle safety and awareness in Alberta. Your host is Liane Langlois.
Liane:Hey, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of Think Bike. On this week's episode, we have brought in a gentleman by the name of Leroy Victor who has created a whole new kind of way of learning the techniques and skills in motorcycle riding. And his organization is called Moto Instincts and we at AMSS feel that this is a really good add on to the learn to ride courses. It's gonna give you a little bit more depth.
Liane:But I'm not gonna talk about it because I'm not the brainchild on it. Welcome to the show, Leroy.
Leeroy:Hey. Thanks for having me. Happy to be here.
Liane:So before we get going, some of you will have already heard his voice as he is doing some quick tips after some of our episodes this year. So thank you for that input. Let's start with who is Leroy and what got you into motorcycles?
Leeroy:So I'm a pretty creative and reserved person. I've I've always though had the inclination for more tilted to extreme sports. When I was younger, I guess it started with skiing and snow snowboarding and video games. But then as I got older, I started to transition to martial arts and paintball. And finally, when I landed on motorcycles, my heart was one.
Leeroy:And what what got me into it, I I was actually hooked on motorcycles before I even started riding one. You know, they they warn you about drugs in school, but they don't warn you about motorcycles. And for for me, what happened was I was actually just started to look at 600 cc sport bikes online, and they were captivating. And eventually, when I was 17, after I've taken my safety course, my dad helped me secure my first motorcycle, an eighty four seven fifty Nighthawk for $600. I was off to the races after that.
Liane:Never looked back.
Leeroy:Never looked back. That's right.
Liane:What are you riding now?
Leeroy:Right now, I'm on my fifth motorcycle. It's a 2020 BMW s 1,000 r r.
Liane:What's been your favorite one so far?
Leeroy:Well, that's a good question. They were good for different reasons. The the first sport bike I had was actually a '95 r six, and it was a purposed repurposed track bike that was for the street, and it didn't have any it didn't have a speedometer or a tach. So that was an interesting learning experience. I think that taught me a lot.
Leeroy:But, I mean, this current motorcycle I have, the technology that's into it is as far surpasses anything that ever ridden. So definitely the BMW is my favorite at this point.
Liane:Yeah. Technology on motorcycles has come a long way and I'm still on the fence of if it's a good thing or a hindrance. I guess that really depends. Let's talk Moto Instincts. What is it and what made you decide to create this?
Leeroy:So it was kind of a I wouldn't say an accidental development, but the way that I started out and then what it's turned into, it has morphed quite a bit. But to answer your first question, Moto Instincts is a pro a project that teaches riders how to identify hazards, manage risk, and develop their motorcycle skills. It's a nine point program breaking down every rider skill into separate courses and then applying the Apex Safety System, which is a three step rolling safety system designed specifically for motorcyclists in motion. When I initially started Moto Instincts, it was because of my prior line of work was in the heavy equipment industry, and I found that I really enjoyed mentoring new workers. And so I started to apply my methodologies there to riding motorcycles.
Leeroy:And the main reason I developed Moto Instincts is that I just hate it that the sport that I hold so dear to my heart takes the lives of fellow riders year after year. And with my experience and my personal experience and the way that I look at training and risk management, I do believe that we could do better or do more or at least offer more information for those who want to really master the skills of riding, whether that be from a standpoint of risk management or skill development.
Liane:So basically, the reason why I created AMSS because the sport that I love takes so many lives, that passion behind creating this is similar to why you created Moto Instincts.
Leeroy:Yeah. That's why we're best friends.
Liane:Aren't we best friends? Hey. We're breaking news on this podcast. We kind of get into like the online content and really what people can expect from this and some other exciting news that you have for this year, I think we can both agree that the Learn to Ride course holds a place in training still and that is something people should also consider?
Leeroy:Yes, absolutely. So I actually myself took one of those safety courses, the Learn to Ride courses, and I would never go out and say that they are unneeded or that they don't do a good job. I think they are a great introduction to motorcycles, and they give you a great foundation to build off of. With the learn to ride courses and the current licensing system, I do believe that it gives you the skills to pass your class six exam, but then you're at that point, you're on your own. And in my opinion, that's where the real learning starts is when you're out in the wild per se.
Leeroy:And a lot of motorcycling is a do it yourself sport. It you can create your own adventure. And part of the way that I've designed Moto Instincts is for riders who have their class six, and it's bridging the gap between there and becoming a fully competent motorcycle rider so that you aren't subjected to retroactive learning situations, which can result in crashes or close calls.
Liane:Right. But a lot of the stuff that you're teaching is, or that you have put together for courses would be kind of online. We'll start there. So how would that work for people that might be interested in this?
Leeroy:So there's, like I was saying, there's a nine point program that I offer. It's the different skills that build up what it is to be a motorcycle rider. And as far as skill development goes, you don't know what you don't know. And with the online curriculum, it allows you to be more aware of the different intricacies of what it is to be a motorcyclist and how to develop your skills. And in so doing, just because it's on your radar, you'll be actively on the right path to developing your skills and being able to manage the risk of your environment.
Liane:And you could do that at your own pace at your own time, instead of being defined into like specific times, the live courses are for either learn to ride or advanced rider training through the schools.
Leeroy:That's correct. Because I'm sure that we would both agree that mastering the art of riding, it takes many seasons even if you're practicing. And the cool thing about Moto Instincts, like you correctly pointed out, is depending on where you are or what you want to learn, you can hone in on that type of skill by going through the online curriculum and applying it to your everyday writing. And you can build your skills that way where you want to.
Liane:So what are some of these nine points that you're referring to that people can learn about?
Leeroy:So there's the different skill categories. The first one is risk management. The second is your habits and your mindset. The third is actual motorcycle skills. The fourth is roadway skills, which relates to how your motorcycle interacts with its environment, with your pavement and your roadway hazards.
Leeroy:And then you have traffic skills, which is reading and reacting to traffic. Then animals, pretty self explanatory. After that, you have your vision and your weather skills, and then miscellaneous skills, which is different skills or hazards that don't necessarily fit into other courses. And then at the end of my program, the end result that I want every rider to achieve is to so the Apex Safety System permeates all courses within Moto Instincts. And what it does is once you apply the safety system to all the different skills, it allows you to manage the dangers of riding subconsciously while you're in motorcycle flow state.
Liane:Yeah, we all tend to get sometimes a little, I sometimes get a little distracted when I'm driving or I'm riding and I'm like, I don't remember when I passed that waterfall or did I run a red light? You know, you just lose that focus every once in a while. Is what you're trying to teach through your online courses going to help with that mental state of mind when you're riding?
Leeroy:Well, does. And one of the this is sort of how it breaks down is with when you're doing something such as riding a motorcycle, you enter a flow state where you're taking in visual information and you're turning it into physical action as you progress through your environment. The problem is if you aren't exposed to different types of information or skills or hazards or risk management, all the information contained in Moto Instincts, what'll happen is while you're in motorcycle flow state, start to you develop either bad habits would be the worst case scenario, or in another way, you develop negligence or unawareness for different types of hazards or skills that you could be working on. What that results in is stunted development or just risky behaviors. And it it's not necessarily done out of done on purpose, but the lack of information doesn't put doesn't place these different aspects of riding a motorcycle into your awareness.
Leeroy:And the idea is once you are aware of these different skills and ideas and you apply them readily, all of these become part of your flow state. And flow state's a subconscious process. So it will not completely, but a large part of your learning capabilities and your conscious thought will be turned off while you're in flow state. And so the problem is if you aren't consciously developing your flow state, you can just succumb to all these different shortcomings that I'm talking about.
Liane:Do you think that with the evolution of technology and motorcycles and the way traffic moves and changing legislation and whatever else that Moto Instincts would be continually evolving in your courses or do those like nine points kind of stay the same no matter what?
Leeroy:I mean, I think it would be naive to say that it'll never change because part of the reason I developed this whole program is because I have an open mind and I was seeing problems and I tried to offer solutions. And that'll be an ongoing an ongoing aspect of Moto Instincts. But that being said, my my program is designed opposite of general safety systems and training programs that I've encountered. So, generally, what you have is rules, laws, or regulations that are applied onto reality, and they don't always they don't always work down at ground level. And that type of methodology is more rigid in its construction, more closed mind thinking, not that it's ineffective, but I believe that in some instances, those types of ways to develop programs fail to adapt when they could.
Leeroy:And an example of that is a lot of the training methodologies and the licensing for class six riders, it really hasn't changed in twenty to thirty years. And a point before I forget is with with Moto Instincts, I think the core concepts will not change. And the reason is it's based off of the psychology, the biology, the physics, and the risk management that make up motorcycle riding. And also, the a lot of the strategies are derived from the root causes of motorcycle crashes. So being built from the ground up rather than top down, it allows Moto Instincts to really target the the drivers of motorcycle riding, and that's not gonna change.
Leeroy:It might change a little bit with technology, and there might be different types of either, say, autonomous driving or different types of changes to the roadways. But if you're basing a program off of the fundamental building blocks governed by nature, that's not going to change.
Liane:Right, exactly. And human nature is still human nature as well. So yeah. And I know that I think we met originally through the New Riders Edmonton group. I think that's when you were first kind of brought to our attention at AMSS and then you were so willing to give my board a presentation of what you are and we're happy to be supporting Moto Instincts to give a little bit of exposure because we feel the more education, better, the more resources, the better.
Liane:When you're within the New Riders Edmonton group, I know that you have coached and mentored some new riders on your own time and of course without a fee because there's rules and regulations around licensed instructors and stuff. And this is different because it's online. But the breaking news, if, if you are allowed to talk about it, is you will have a bit of a practical hands on as well. Correct?
Leeroy:That is correct. So I've been I've been chatting with the RadTorque Raceway, and I have been given a green light to rent their space. That's the the road course as well as the DriftPad to run motorcycle simulations to complement the online curriculum. Because but part of the the way that humans learn an active skill, there's two components to it. You get your knowledge or your information, but then you also have to practice.
Leeroy:And that essentially wires your nervous system in a way where you can actually utilize it in real time. And while I do think that some motorcyclists just want to do it their own way and they'll be able to read the information and apply it, there is a large cohort of people that not just want it but would benefit from having these closed course simulations. And it will allow me to not just help riders build their skills, but I can artificially create scenarios and safely expose them to hazards or the least amount of risk. Like, for example, simulating stability hazards or and or introducing people to how to deal with traction hazards. It's much better to do these types of simulations in a closed environment rather than having to deal with emergency situation without having built the muscle memory and having built the habits.
Leeroy:Because what will happen is when you have a spike in fear, your fight or flight response kicks in, and you'll often just relate to your your highest level of training. And so if you haven't even read about something or you haven't practiced the motions that would be involved with that type of evasion, the chances of you making it through that situation are quite slim.
Liane:And so the way you're kind of going at this is these like on course or like practical hands on things. So it's running similar to what a track day would, which is, you know, not necessarily licensed instructors, but still able to operate as a business. But at the same time, you are trying to work with the government to get this as a recognized course, correct?
Leeroy:That is correct. I've read the regulations and the way that I understand it is that if you're on a closed course and you're not teaching if you're not teaching different strategies or different giving applying information that helps people prepare for and pass their class six, then you're allowed to run a motorcycle driving school. It's the same thing if you've ever come across businesses that run race schools or even stun schools in some areas. If it's on a closed course and it's not pertaining to the current licensing system, then you're falling outside of the government regulation.
Liane:But it would be great if it could get recognized at the same levels the Learn to Ride courses are because it is an add on really.
Leeroy:Yes. And that's ultimately what I'm going for. I want to be incorporated into the current licensing system. I just have more hoops and more I have to do some, what I would call the theory development because I've done a lot of work on developing these different training methodologies and now it's applying it in a way that it'll be it could be in addition to the the current system. And I would love to present it to the government once it's really polished because that's the end goal.
Liane:Perfect. So what would be your elevator pitch for the riding community to pay for an online resource? Like, why what what would what would it be that you feel would make them go, yeah, I need that?
Leeroy:It is so there it depends. There's a few different types of riders, but ultimately, if you wanna develop your skills as quickly as possible, you have to do that with different types of training methodologies. So the online curriculum, it allows you to develop your skills as fast as possible so that you can not only get more enjoyment and be the envy of your riding group, but also ride safer too.
Liane:Yeah. No. And that's what we want everybody to do.
Leeroy:Yes.
Liane:Okay. Let's switch off of Moto Instincts for a second. And you've been riding for a long time.
Leeroy:Yes.
Liane:Have you ever had any close calls or incidents that may have also been a factor in driving, creating Moto Instincts for teaching purposes?
Leeroy:Absolutely. Almost my entire the the root causes of crashes and the the safety system I developed and my my knowledge of the the physics and the biology and the risk management and all that, it's from a direct result of either my own experiences or watching others' experiences. And myself, I've experienced one crash, and that led to the creation of a couple of the deadly risks of riding, I call them. Those are the root causes of the crashes. But more to that point, I I was actually it was a single vehicle collision.
Leeroy:I was riding home after a night shift. So I was riding with an unfit mental state, and I was approaching an intersection where it's a really long light, and it was currently green, and so I was traveling towards it too quickly, which is approaching intersections at too high of a speed, another deadly risk of riding. And because of my unfit mental state, I didn't recognize that it had actually rained throughout the night. I was kinda I just wanted to get home. It was a bad shift.
Leeroy:It wasn't all there. And I did notice that the slight skiff of rain had mixed with it was in an industrial area. So there's a little bit of mud on the roadway. So all of these factors landed up me locking my front tire, and it threw me onto the ground. And, thankfully, I was wearing all of my gear, but I still landed up fracturing my wrist and dislocating my thumb.
Leeroy:And it was right at the beginning of motorcycle season, so I was choked.
Liane:That's always the worst. I mean, people we've been having some milder kind of winters. And, well, we have the one what I call hell week of minus 35 through the winter. And then all of a sudden it's really nice out and people are talking about getting out in February and stuff. And I'm like, oh, those roads aren't really the best.
Liane:Nope. But it's like everybody's comfort level is different. I respect that. I know you do as well. You know, long as I've been riding for, I still am not getting my bikes out until street sweepers, but you know, makes their own decisions.
Liane:And yeah, so that sounds like it was a fun little oopsie for you.
Leeroy:It it was an oopsie. And that's what so my this is what has allowed me to build my program from the ground up. It's obviously not just that crash, but I actually watched my younger brother crash. I watched one of my or I didn't watch one of my friends crash. He was behind me.
Leeroy:But one of my friends crashed when he was getting into riding. And as when I was a heavy equipment operator and I did all the mentoring, I because people are learning, you have it doesn't happen all the time, but you have your little near misses here and there. And then when I was a supervisor in the mining industry, I got to do accident reconstruction. And so between these different factors, it's allowed me to distill what the common denominators are among incidents for machines that are in motion.
Liane:Awesome. Where's your favorite place to ride?
Leeroy:Oh, so this last past summer, my favorite ride, it was from what's it called? From Nelson. You take the ferry across and then go down to Creston. That's probably the nicest ride I've I've been on in a while. The Mayotte Hot Springs Road is fantastic as well.
Liane:Yeah. The the ferry you're talking about, that's on the 3 A between Balfour and then across and up to Creston. Yeah.
Leeroy:Yeah.
Liane:That's a that's a good road.
Leeroy:Oh, it's so nice.
Liane:I ride it every year myself. There's a lot of great roads in the Kootenays. Just to wrap up, because I like really appreciate the time that you're taking for this and also, you know, all those helpful quick tips after half of our episodes this year, but how can people get in touch with you?
Leeroy:Easiest way is through social media, more active on Facebook, getting my YouTube channel going. If you want to find some information on there. It's a great way to keep up with the risk management ideals and different types of little snippets of lessons. You can also check out my website at motoinstynx.com and all my contact information's on there. Be look forward to chatting with anybody and helping them reach their motorcycle goals.
Liane:Awesome. I look forward to more chats with you in the future. And thank you again, Leroy, for all your time.
Leeroy:No problem. Thanks for having me.
Liane:Alright, everybody. Stay tuned for the mixed bag. On our mailbag today, again, another question that keeps coming up and it seems to come up at this time during the year. So Darren in Edmonton was asking about the learner's permit. All right.
Liane:It is a myth. It is a big myth. There is no learner's permit for a class six license. Your class 754321 licenses, everything but six is actually your learner's license. That written test that you do not required until you need to do the road test to get your classics license.
Liane:Now with that said, keep in mind, you only have one year from the time that you do the written to when you have to road test. So please stop thinking it's a learner's permit because it's not. If the police have pulled you over and try and ticket you for that, please go to court because that is not legislation. And sometimes, God bless our police officers, they've got a lot of laws to remember and sometimes that's a confusing one, but it is not a ticket. So again, the written permit is just for the road test.
Liane:And for a lot of more great information on licensing, please go back to Think Bike episode 30, getting your class six. And that's our show for today. To make sure that you don't miss out on any of our upcoming podcasts or listen to previous ones, make sure you click on subscribe or follow wherever you get yours. If there's a topic you'd like us to cover or a guest you think would be great on the show or even a question for the mailbag, let us know. You can connect with us on all the socials.
Liane:Email us at info@ab-amss.org or reach out through the website at a b dash amss dot org. Thanks for listening to Think Bike. From us, always remember to ride smart, ride safe, and think bike. See you out on the road.