Iron Buffalo Motorcycle Training, Commerce City

Erik Erikson, owner and chief motorcycle-safety instructor at Iron Buffalo Motorcycle Training, began his love affair with two-wheeled motoring in 1976. He was serving in the US Air Force, which required him to seek out a certification along with all other enlisted motorcyclists and the wisecracking pugs that rode in their sidecars. After taking several classes that didn’t fulfill his expectations for a comprehensive motorcycle-training regimen, he decided to strike out on his own. He was certified as an instructor by Motorcycle Safety Foundation in 1987, which eventually named him its Chief Instructor of the Year in 1996.

Today, Erik and other his fellow instructors share their decades of experience through training courses that arm riders with the knowledge and skills to safely operate a motorcycle on our nation’s streets. Certified by the MSF and the Colorado Department of Transportation, the basic- and experienced-rider courses both build on the theme of safety. In the two-day Basic RiderCourse, new or unlicensed riders use hands-on practice with the school’s motorcycles to learn street strategies and how to avoid obstacles and polish braking skills. At the end of the two days, students can take the Colorado motorcycle-license test as a part of the course and redeem their license at a DMV, in lieu or calling your cousin who’s really good at Photoshop. For the Experienced RiderCourse, students bring their own bikes to work on advanced skills and illustrate the more theoretical aspects of riding, such as cornering, maximum braking, and emergency swerving.