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11/01/2006 - The new Honda Motorcycle Trainer

Honda has committed to getting its new Motorcycle Rider Trainer in every Honda dealership within the next three years.

The aim of Honda's Motorcycle Riding Trainer is similar to that of a flight simulator. For years, these have been used in aviation to train and test pilots in complete safety, teaching them what to do in emergency situations so that - when it happens for real - they instinctively know what to do.

Back in 1989 Honda had developed a prototype motorcycle simulator, which by 1993 had become Honda's advanced and fully computerised Riding Simulator. This machine not only had three-dimensional graphics and realistic controls, but it also tilted as you steered. The only problem with the Riding Simulator was its complexity and cost.

In April 2004 Honda became the only manufacturer of motor vehicles to sign the new European Road Safety Charter, which is dedicated to improving road and traffic safety. With this in mind Honda wanted to produce a smaller, more affordable simulator which would reach a much wider audience and be used in dealerships and training centres.

From next year on, the Motorcycle Riding Trainer will undergo limited trials in the UK, which will eventually lead to one of these in every Honda dealership within the following three years.

Honda's Riding Trainer is simply a standard personal computer (PC) linked to life-like motorcycle controls, including handlebars, clutch, throttle, front brake lever, pedals, gear lever and rear brake. All the controls are mounted to a light-weight tubular frame making the system light-weight and relatively portable. A number of training situations are included with various training modes in differing environments. On-screen the rider will see and hear a realistic three-dimensional world around them.

The system can train novices in basic hand/foot co-ordination or it can be used by more proficient riders as a learning tool to recognize and deal with hazards on the road. The use of a playback facility also lets the rider and instructor see what happened, what went wrong or what they did correctly, therefore improving the educational benefits of the system. Scooter riders can use it, too, as at the press of a button the clutch lever becomes a brake lever.

It's another example of Honda setting the safety trends in motorcycling. The airbag-equipped GL1800 Gold Wing - which has been in development for the last decade - will be in the UK in the summer of 2006, while Honda also plans to have ABS or other advanced braking systems on all of their motorcycles by 2007.