BMW US Rider Academy Review: Street Survival 2-Day

[biker1263]

1. Summary (tl;dr)
   1. This is a review of the “Two Day Street Survival On-Road” course at the BMW US Rider Academy, taken in mid April 2025
   2. I suppose what everyone would want to know is “Would I do the course again” and/or “Would I recommend it to others”. On the positive side, the facilities, the bikes, the track, the instructors, and the drills were all very good. The students in my class were all serious about improving their skills, and good companions as well. On the “room for improvement” side, I think we could have squeezed in a bit more time for drills, as well as for discussions on safety topics.
   3. It certainly isn’t a cheap experience, although it seems to be less expensive than the competition (assuming you have to travel to those courses).
   4. So, all in all, yes - I’d probably do it again. And I’d recommend it to others. Obviously, if you’re on the east coast and you can drive there (saving on airfare and car rental) - and if you can get the BMW MOA rebate - it brings the cost down materially.

1. Venue:
   1. The course is located at the BMW Performance School in Spartanburg, South Carolina. BMW has a huge production facility there as well.
   2. BMW runs courses for both cars and motorcycles. Details on the motorcycle courses are at BMW US Rider Academy.
   3. The track is top-notch. There is a good size track (with curves and elevation changes) for motorcycles, and a larger track for cars.
   4. The facilities are top-notch. There is a large, modern building that houses classrooms, offices, and a cafeteria.
   5. The School serves a really complete, delicious, homemade lunch both days.
   6. The course provides plenty of drinks (water, gatorade, etc) and snacks during your time on the track as well.

1. My Class and Instructors
   1. There were about 10-12 people in my class, all guys and one woman. Most of the guys were in their 50-60’s, and had a lot of riding experience.
   2. There were a total of 5 instructors, one of whom is a woman. Everyone had a lot of riding experience, as well as a good amount of teaching experience. One of the guys was a participant in a recent “GS Trophy Challenge”.
   3. The motorcycles provided were the latest models available. Lots of folks rode 1250GS. A couple folks rode 1300GS and 900s.

1. Course Structure and Drills Taught
   1. Both days started at 8:30, and we were on the bikes by 9am. Each of the drills was preceded by an instruction discussion by the instructor, and also a demo of the drill by an instructor.
   2. For most of the drills, the entire class did the drill, one by one - and received feedback from the instructors. Each of the drills took about 20-30 minutes, and each student was able to complete 3-5 attempts, with feedback.
   3. We stopped for lunch for an hour (12-1). The course ended around 3-4 both days.
   4. We took a fair amount of breaks, and a couple of extended breaks each day. In my opinion, we could have used that time a bit more wisely (e.g., additional drills or safety discussions).
   5. As best I can remember, the first day consisted of:
      1. Starting at 8:30. Introductions and review of the day’s agenda
      2. 15-30 mins of bike familiarization, best practices of putting the bike up/down on center stand, rider posture, fingers on clutch & brake
      3. 15-20 mins of “bike yoga” (i.e., ride side-saddle, stand on opposite peg, etc)
      4. Drill: Slow as you can go in a straight line (3-4 mph)
      5. Drill: Tricycle turns in cones
      6. Drill: Exaggerated slow turns
      7. Drill: Obstacle course (i.e., navigating an obstacle, standing stop, foot down, exaggerated slow turn)
      8. Drill: Boxed circles and figure 8s
      9. Drill: Fast counter-steer (~30 mph)
      10. Drill: Avoiding an obstacle ahead with clutch
      11. Drill: Emergency braking
      12. Drill: Emergency braking with avoidance
   6. As best I can remember, day two consisted of:
      1. Starting at 8:30. Review day’s agenda
      2. 15-20 mins of “bike yoga” (i.e., ride side-saddle, stand on opposite peg, etc)
      3. Drill: Emergency Braking
      4. Drill: Exaggerated turning (“chin over wrist”)
      5. Drill: Two person around the circle using different riding positions - push, standard, and exaggerated (“chin over wrist”)
      6. Drill: “Lighten” the front wheel (i.e., go over obstacles)
      7. Drill: Emergency road->off-road->road transitions
      8. Drill: Early/mid/late apexing in curves
      9. Drill: Slow down in curve
      10. Drill: Emergency braking in curve
      11. Open ride with new motorcycle models.

1. Cost and Value
   1. I booked the course in January 2025, and the cost was $1800. It has since been raised to $2200. Similar courses, like California Superbike School (which the RIder Academy recommends) and Champ School, are even more expensive.
   2. There were a good number of people that flew in for the course. My airfare was $400, and car rental was $250. Hotels are pretty cheap - I stayed at the Courtyard Marriott for ~$110/night.
   3. If you are a member of BMWMOA, you can get a rebate of $200 towards training, which helps a lot. Note that the rebates are available as long as funds last - so it might be hit or miss towards the end of the year. As an aside, you can join for free for the first year, and then it’s a really reasonable annual fee after that.
   4. To be clear, this was my first track experience, so it’s really difficult to judge the cost and value factor. Were the facilities better than some huge parking lot? (Yes, much better). Were the instructors good enough? (Yes). Were the bikes top-notch and safe? (Yes, and I wasn’t worried about damaging them). Could more topics have been covered? (Maybe). Could we have had more time at the track? (Maybe).

1. Miscellaneous
   1. The course focused on street riding skills and drills, as advertised. It did that well. However, it didn’t spend a lot of time on motorcycle safety practices - as is common with some courses you can find locally, such as ABATE or in msf-usa.org. For example, we didn’t spend a lot of time on methods to scan traffic (SIPDE), lane positioning, line of sight, bike safety checks, best practices for riding in traffic (e.g., approaching intersections, etc), inclement weather, being visible, etc. If you’re looking for that, it’s not formally covered - but there is an opportunity to discuss topics with your classmates.
   2. Some of the instruction leveraged the newer technology on the motorcycles - in particular the ABS braking technologies. This is great and to be expected, but if you ride older bikes without this technology - or different brands, these technologies might not be useful or relevant.
   3. We ended Day 2, they brought in (almost) all of the new models (including scooters, electric scooters, k touring bikes, etc), and let everyone test drive whichever one(s) they wanted. This lasted a good 30-45 minutes. Everyone had a great time, and was able to leverage the track and stress the new bikes. However, for me, I would have rather spent time on additional drills or continued training.
   4. At one point, the instructors mentioned that they taught the “Spiegel Method” - at least for certain drills. They were referring to Bernt Spiegel, who is a German author of a number of motorcycle books. I actually bought his best known book (might be the only one in English), and it seems really interesting so far. It’s “The Upper Half of the Motorcycle: On the Unity of Rider and Machine”, and is available on Amazon. It wouldn’t be a bad idea if the School gave each student a copy of the book - or any book on safety/riding that they admire..

 

[zer0netgain]

Thanks for the review. Price is one of the things that made me think twice, although I believe meals and lodging was included in what I was quoted. Whether this is worth it depends on the itemized charges (I don’t need a fancy hotel and my restrictive diet means complimentary breakfast has no value).

I did sign up for one of the one-day on road classes to be held at the National in Lebanon.

 

[davemoto]

I went to the MOA training at the performance riding academy November 23 and this post by Biker is a good synopsis of the program. The course I attended was split between on road techniques and off road riding. Been riding for decades and never had attended any formal training until this event. I found it to reinforce much of what has kept me safe and I learned a great deal of new stuff as well, especially the off road portion as it’s been years since my dirt bike days.

The instructors were all top notch and excellent communicators without the bravado and attitude of superiority which can interfere with transfer of knowledge. They were very attentive to those who had difficulty as well as encouraging to those who were ready for more. They use “challenge by choice” which allows riders to take their own decisions on just how hard they wanted to try a task, if at all. Some skills were difficult to ride and lots of the bikes took a dirt nap when accomplishing them. That is one of the best parts of these courses it’s all done on their bikes (you choose the bmw from many models and they are all in good condition) and if you scratch it, no problem, wreck it, they just bring you another one. This alone allowed me to be more daring in the maneuvers than when I practice on my own machine.

Bottom line is even though appears a little pricey (my cost included hotel and most meals, so not really) I want to go again. Only reason I didn't go again last year was the timing of courses and only one I could make was already full. The pic is out on the track during a short break. The BMW facility is very well done in all respects. If you are considering attending, just do it.

 

[professorb]

Great write=up and review...!
I was in that class with you -- and had a ball! This was the third BMW U.S. Rider Academy course I have taken, the second hosted by MOA. The classes run by/for MOA members are superior to the classes run just by USRA -- which is saying a LOT because the entire program and facility is about as good as it can get. Our host, Bob A. was fantastic, and made sure we enjoyed lots of social time and some great dinners together.
I'll keep going to the MOA sponsored USRA events as long as I can afford them, and the orthopaedics are working correctly!

 

[professorb]

Here's a picture of the April MOA Premiere Training group! Good times, great people!!

 

[skibum69]

Davemoto you felt the 2 day one each of road and off-road was worth it? Did you think it was enough time for each discipline?

 

[davemoto]

Yes the mix of on and off road was ok for me. I could have done more dirt and sand stuff but it was a really good start. Made me want to go out and get a GS. Heading home I thought how much they stuffed into the time frame and just how sore I was from the GS experience even though I didn’t fall, doing it the right way uses a lot of energy and perhaps some dormant muscles.

 

[visian]

Made me want to go out and get a GS.

That is the basic idea...

The off-pavement training at the BMW PC is the best you can buy. Their trainers are particularly adept at dealing with people of all skill levels.

 

[SGTBILL]

... just how sore I was from the GS experience even though I didn’t fall, doing it the right way uses a lot of energy and perhaps some dormant muscles.

I guess things haven't changed with rider training. I was lucky to attend the BMW off-road riding course at Hechlingen, Germany back in 1996 while we lived in Heidelberg, Germany. That course was in a former quarry and was quite challenging. I picked an F650 for my ride. My friend Craig decided on the new R1100GS. Most of the instructors rode one of the 50 or so R80GS Basics they had in the quonset hut.

We also started with some warm-up exercises/stretching in the morning before the riding sessions. I was in the US Army and in pretty good physical condition at the time. The same apparently was not the case for others in the course. After a long day of classroom and range riding we had a dinner and everyone was off to their Pension rooms. On the morning of the second day as we lined up for stretching and warm-up several riders decided then it was too much and left the field.

So make sure you are stretching and warming up well ahead of your training dates. You can't start that part up as you arrive at the course.