Ramey “Coach” Stroud’s 'Your First Ride'

Beginning rider book available in digital for free now

After seeing so many ‘so you want to ride a motorcycle’ type books on the market, Ramey “Coach” Stroud decided it was time to do one of his own. After all, he’s not Jay Leno, he’s a lot more than that.

Coach has trained countless numbers of riders over the last two decades in the art of riding motorcycles. Whether it’s a street bike, dirt bike, sidecar or scooter, we’ve never known a single sage who knew his way around the mechanics of motorcycle riding techniques across so many genres like Coach.

As an example, Coach spent two days providing seminars during the Rally in the Gorge in 2012. Four separate seminars were provided in body placement. One for sport bike, one for sport touring, one for dual sport/adventure and one for scooter riders. Each seminar was decidedly different making it obvious that he really knows his stuff.

On his property near Oakridge, Oregon, he’s provided dual sport and dirt bike training for over a decade.

Taking all his knowledge, Coach set out to not only produce a quality first-time rider manual, but to offer it for free on top of that.

The book is accessible in several formats online at his site http://ridecoach.com. Because it’s a digital book he’s also embedded links to YouTube posts that help the reader better understand through video the points he’s making.

Unhindered by the constraints of any industry organization or government entity, Coach lets the curriculum roll how he sees fit.

His first suggestion is to consider learning how to ride off-road, before going to the pavement. The theme continues throughout the book with most of the examples being displayed using dirt and dual sport motorcycles. Many riders who were brought up the same way agree, this is a smart strategy.

After a review of the controls and discussion of risk assessment, he addresses gear selection to protect your body. But before moving into the on-bike portion, he stresses getting some training locally by an accredited state instructor. Good advice again.

Throughout the on-board training sections, more details come to the surface that aren’t shared during a state-approved course. Clutch usage, acceleration theory, and braking techniques all get well-detailed coverage.

Learning to ride is a lifelong journey. If there was one thing missing from the book (and because it’s digital, he may easily add this later) is a compendium of where to go for further learning, such as books by the likes of David L. Hough, Lee Parks, and others.

If you’re a seasoned rider, take a look at the book regardless. If you’re inclined, make a point to pass it on to anyone you come across who is pondering getting into the sport.

In 2017 we’ll be supporting Coach’s effort with a link to the book from our sponsor's section on the right hand of all our pages.

Tom Mehren/January 2017