Alameda County Sheriff’s Civillian Motorcycle Course

This is a great opportunity to improve your skills on a motorcycle. My only complaint was that there were a few nooBs in the intermediate class that were gumming up the works. The Intermediate class is no joke and you should have a good amount of miles under your belt. If you regularly fight your way through SF rush hour/​ballpark traffic and split across the bridge without contact or dieing, you should be able to hang and get some value.

I just took the beginner’s class with two great instructors, Matt & Brian. They have extremely refined skills in motorcycling (they make tight turns look like child’s play) and did a great job teaching, demonstrating, and telling us individually what we need to improve.
People with experience from riding for 1 year to 20+ years were in the class. Do not take this class without taking MSF first. This isn’t meant for true beginners. If you haven’t learned the basic skills of riding, take a foundation safety course before you enroll in this class.
If you’re not used to riding on platforms and older bikes, you might want to bring your own. If you don’t want to risk dropping your bike on tight turns, rent theirs for $ 50. The rental bikes are old, 1000cc Kawasaki’s. I rented the one Honda Rebel, a good bike for us short people. If you’re 5’4″ and above, the Kawai’s will be fine.

I just completed the Intermediate Civilian Motorcycle Course at the Regional Training Center. It doesn’t matter how long you have been riding or how good a rider you think you are, you can learn some valuable skills through this course. The Instructors are well versed, knowledgable and have created a well thought out and taught course. Take this course, practice what they teach you and you WILL be a better and safer rider.

I took the Basic class yesterday with Raliegh and Jack. They were not only funny, extremely informative and helpful but also very caring. After laying the bike down a few times and getting frustrated, Jack took the time to help me 1:1 for a bit to get my skills back up to join the group again. The class was so helpful, the facility was nice, the option of renting a bike ($ 50 in addition to the class price) was priceless. Those things are clunky, old beaters so don’t worry about laying them down. I give the instructors and the class 3 thumbs up! :D

Just took the basic class with Raleigh Patterson and Herb Fuentes.
This is not a beginner’s class, and they challenge you will skill builders from the minute they get you on the bikes.
This was an outstanding experience, and I look forward to going back for the Intermediate course, once I’ve had a chance to master all of the skills I learned today.

Motorcycle Competence 911
Everyone has Mad Sklz in a straight line, especially with a good road surface and no unexpected problems. Only a few have skills that stand up to any sort of real world test. But the Alamedia County Sheriff’s Department is working to change this.
Highly talented, trained, and constantly practising, motorcycle police officers are one group with fantastic street skills. Getting to, and then through, motor training is a big deal. After qualification, most motor officers actively practise, and of course ride eight to ten hours a day, four or five days a week, in all sorts of situations and traffic and often at high speeds. That’s a lot of of know-​how. And the Alamedia County Sheriff’s Training Center is willing to share it.
The Alameda County Sheriff’s Training Center, which trains motor officers from all over California, offers a civilian version of their motorcycle officer training course. Same instructors, same facility, just a little condensed. It’s a wonderful example of a police agency reaching out to civilians and an opportunity worth taking advantage of.
Here’s an idea of the curriculum, but (especially in intermediate and advanced) expect the unexpected
The course runs on weekends, with beginner on one day and intermediate on the next or intermediate one day and advanced the next. I did the basic, intermediate and advanced courses. Sometimes it was fun (like skidding the rear tire doing full lock U-​turns on a steep hill during the advanced course), sometimes it was humbling («nice try Bill, but you need to do it again»), but it was always challenging. Most importantly, it left me better prepared to react quickly and effectively to Something Bad, be it a car heading into me or a UPS truck suddenly stopped in the middle of the street. I also got to meet some great people (many with 30 years of policing under their belts) and hear a few cool stories at lunch.
Cost is $ 150/​day. Motorcycles can be rented for $ 50/​day. You can also use your own bike, though I’d expect to drop it once or twice. And no, they don’t care if you drop their bike.
The course runs rain or shine, and while shine may be more pleasant, rain is probably more valuable… it will leave you feeling more confident and competent when you do get caught in the rain.
To sign up go to the website at
click Schedule and then click on Civilian Motorcycle. Be sure to put n/​a by things that don’t apply (like agency) and send it in. The website can be a little a hard to navigate (and I suspect the civilian side of it understandably doesn’t get the attention of the police side), so if you prefer you can call the center directly to see what’s available and make a reservation. The person to talk to is Vickie Swenson and the number is (925) 551‑6970. You can also try this link for schedule
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If offered when convenient, I’d suggest just starting with beginner. The instructor student ratio is high enough that if it isn’t challenging enough for you it would probably be tuned so it was. If beginner isn’t being offered when convenient and you are pretty confident you could do a u-​turn on a narrow two-​way street you are probably ready for intermediate.
The training center will assign teachers based on number of students enrolled. If you sign up and don’t show they’ll loose money, and if they loose enough won’t be able to continue offering the program. If you sign up, show up or at least call ahead and cancel.
Tip: This course is a good example of ‘chill and enjoy.’ You will be turning your head a great deal in this course. I have the bad habit of tensing and raising my shoulders. Problem is, raised shoulders and head turns don’t mix well… I know, I put an amazingly painful kink in my shoulder when I did the basic course. It happened again when I practiced some of the moves I had learned in a parking lot, so I know its not coincidence. However, when I made a point of keeping my shoulders low and relaxed I had no issues.
A little bit of bragging: I was one of the first two people to pass the advanced course. Considering how hard I struggled in the intermediate course I’m not sure anyone was expecting this. Score one for a little perseverance plus demanding but supportive instructors.