ROB CRAMER, Special to the Sun

"With more and more young people purchasing bikes, it is important that they find a safe outlet for their need for speed."

by ROB CRAMER

When you purchase a new street bike what do you do? Do you take it out on the street right away and give it a shot at accelerated speeds? If you do you are making a huge mistake. Argyll Motor Sports and Stratotech Park are teaming up to make sure this mistake doesn’t happen any longer, they’re letting riders know how to use their bikes properly before they take them on the road.

If you purchase any bike at Argyll, from Suzuki to Yamaha, you’ll receive free track time at Stratotech Park just outside of Fort Saskatchewan as well as a free Edmonton Motorcycle Road Racing Association membership.

The membership is required to test your bike at Stratotech and the track time can be used during Stratotech’s track attack events and weekends.

"It’s inevitable that riders are going to speed on their bike," says Brent Brons, salesman at Argyll Motor Sports. "This promotion means they can do it in a safe environment after they know all the basics and learn all the precautions."

The idea came about thanks to Fred Jolivet, an EMRA instructor and partner with Suzuki race school, an organization that gets street bike owners to learn the essentials and intricacies of street biking before they use their bikes.

"A lot of guys are going to go on the street with their bikes and act like idiots," says Jolivet. "Instead they can come to the track and get in a crash there and realize how much better the track is."

"Their bike will be scratched up but, like many riders, they’ll make the decision to ride solely on the track and do away with the road altogether."

Team members at Argyll quickly realized that there was potential for a program similar to the Suzuki race school at their store.

A proposal was set up with Stratotech and now the potential for disaster on the roads has been significantly reduced.

"Riders want to ride at accelerated speeds but they need to know how to do it, they can learn how to hug the corners at Stratotech," says Brons.

"The promotion means that riders can keep their license and stay alive."

According to Brons the promotion has been well received and customers are pleased that they have a way to become an experienced rider with introduction to the EMRA and a start at Stratotech.

Dan Beith, owner of Stratotech Park, thinks that the 16 and 17 year olds who often ride street bikes shouldn’t be allowed to even own one, but says that at least they can learn to ride their bike from professionals on a safe track.

"Young kids are making $20 an hour and with all their extra money they’re spending it on fancy toys," says Beith. "They’ll take their bikes on the road and decapitate themselves."

Beith agrees with Brons about Fred Jolivet."Fred is just one of the many talented EMRA members who come out to Stratotech to teach young kids how to ride," says Beith. "His teaching method isn’t harsh but it lets young kids and new riders know the right way to ride a bike and the wrong way.

Track attack events run every Monday night through the summer at Stratotech; and on the weekends of June 4, July 9 and 23 and August 6 and 20.

"It makes me sleep better at night knowing kids are learning how to ride their 120 horsepower machines on the track and not on a dusty road where the horrors of horsepower happen," says Beith.