Motorcycle Rider Training in 1968 - The Nelson Trainer
May 15th, 2008 by Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider"
When we last looked at rider training, it was the Jawa dual control motorcycle from 1959. Shown here is the Nelson trainer, designed by Bernard G. Nelson of Maine in 1968. Instead of dual controls out on the street, this is simply a set of rollers that the trainee rode until the instructor deemed him or her safe enough to venture out on a real motorcycle on an actual road.
I get the feeling they were trying too hard to come up with a technical solution to a problem no one was trying to solve. Was it really that hard to just ride around a parking lot first?
Posted in Motorcycle Safety
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8 Responses to “Motorcycle Rider Training in 1968 - The Nelson Trainer”
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May 15th, 2008 at 11:30 am
It would be weird to lean over and not fall while standing still.. id love to try that. It would probably scare my pants messed.
May 15th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Uh…yeah…I would not want to ride that thing.
May 15th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Kneeslider,
Youre right, whats so hard about riding around a parking lot?
My first experience with “training” went like this:
“ok right hand gas, brake is the lever, left hand clutch, right foot brake, left foot shift 1 down 4 up, have fun…. helmet? you dont need a fricking helmet! watch out for the cars, watch your speed dont get pulled over, see ya back at your house!”
I was 20 miles away from home…. a nice combination of highway and city streets. they left me there, without a clue as to how to start it, and within an hour i was home.
some things you have to figure out on your own, be they right or wrong, no one can teach you anything except you.
May 15th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Motorcycle training 101 - circa 1968 .
One Yamaha Trail bike (YA-6) + One dirt trail leading to One cow pasture = One Lifetime of Fun and Excitement!
May 15th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Is that a Honda 305 Dream she’s riding?
May 16th, 2008 at 8:08 am
@Clive: Would that contraption even *allow* you to lean over? It doesn’t look to me like it would.
cl
May 18th, 2008 at 1:13 am
I believe the bike to be a Bridgestone Surfrider 7 or varient…good thing it wasn’t one of the other BS siblings due to the rotary transmission; 1 down, 2 down, 3 down, 4 down, neutral, 1 down, 2 down, etc…or vise versa. Ah, yes. Back when standardisation meant any one of many control variations!
-GB
May 19th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
My whole family went on vacation the same day I took delivery of my first bike (CL125S) from a co-worker. I had strict instructions to keep it in the garage all week until my mom and dad got home. Yea right. I was definitely “self-taught.” After a shoulder plant into a neighbor’s front hard, I quickly figured out how countersteering worked.