Glen Edmunds, using the Science of Riding, has designed and manufactured the Anti-Crash Rider Training Aid (ACRTA) motorcycle. The ACRTA is used for on road and off road training in the Glen Edmunds Advanced Driving program. The catalyst for the design and development of the ACRTA are the environmental conditions under which Glen conducts his training. Much of the Glen’s training happens in remote areas where the tarmac is at a premium, these areas normally have a bush airstrip of a football pitch.
The ACRTA allows the rider to explore the limits of braking and steering safely on or off road, without the danger of falling off, braking something or damaging the bike – let’s just say it’s “insurance friendly”.
When designing the ACRTA, to ensure the rider is able to get the full benefits of the training, Glen built a crash test dummy from fiberglass. The crash dummy added 75 kilos of sand to the weight of the bike. Glen introduces him/it (the dummy) at the end of every exercise. Doing so shows riders the comparison between single and pillion riding. The dummy is necessary because many motorcycle taxis in Africa often carry as many as four passengers, cows, or large furniture.
The next problem that needed to be addressed was, unlike in cars, where often a trainer can sit in the vehicle with the student, this was impossible on a motorcycle. In this scenario, the trainers couldn’t see what the rider was doing and which controls they were using i.e front brake, clutch and rear brake. So Glen and his team devised a system of lights mounted to the front of the training motorcycle that showed the trainer what control was being used. When the student pulled the front brake an amber light showed, a rear brake displayed a red light and pulling the clutch displayed a white light.
A eureka moment occurred when, although the trainers suspected that no front brake was being used and NOW, with the light system, they could actually see that the rider never used his front brake at all, and often pulled the clutch at the same time negating whatever compression braking there was, and making the bike difficult to steer.
No matter the vehicle, two, four, or 18 wheels the Science of Driving is the same, it’s just how it is presented, constants are always Speed, Weight Transfer, Levels of Grip and G’s, motor car or motorcycle present the facts, prove the facts, demonstrate and as all VDI students have heard drive the math or in Glen’s case “ride the math”.
This motorcycle, or ACRTA, is designed and built in Kenya by Glen Edmunds, there are other such machines that are far more sophisticated, complicated and are able to do much more, but most Skid Bikes require large areas of tarmac, operating in Africa, Glen had to be resourceful, the bike had to be basic, strong and above all reliable, we needed something that could be used anywhere as long as it was flat (ish),
Building a machine like the ACRTA was a test of patience and resolve. So it was built with that in mind.
Glen used the math associated with the Science of Driving, added the Science of Riding “Viola” a course appeared, a course that will produce a professional rider who has had their driving skills objectively measured and tested to a standard that conforms to those defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers, ISO, and NHTSA.
You can contact Glen on Facebook and on LinkedIn.
Glen is an International Security Driver Association (ISDA) Member and VDI affiliate
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