Elgin Airforce Base Motorcycle Instructor?

[sedelen]

I worked at George AFB in '81-'82 and all I did to acquire a sticker for my 1100E was to produce my I.D. card and driver's license, without any hoops to jump through.

Every base had their own program, or lack of. I lost count of all the courses I had to attend. Two at Keesler, one in Elmendorf, at least two at Homestead, and each one I went to they all said it would be the last one I would have to attend, really?

[duaneage]

Elgin AFB is the largest base in the US by area, only Clark AB in the PI was bigger ,alas it's no longer ours.

I have fond memories of riding bikes from Keesler to Ft Walton Beach for the weekend, staying on base for free with friends, and rocketing back on I 10 at triple digits.

Those were the days.

[themess]

I worked at George AFB in '81-'82 and all I did to acquire a sticker for my 1100E was to produce my I.D. card and driver's license, without any hoops to jump through.

A friend's first assignment was at George. I visited there briefly in 77, I think. It seemed pretty relaxed for a military base.

[sedelen]

Elgin AFB is the largest base in the US by area, only Clark AB in the PI was bigger ,alas it's no longer ours.

I have fond memories of riding bikes from Keesler to Ft Walton Beach for the weekend, staying on base for free with friends, and rocketing back on I 10 at triple digits.

Those were the days.

I made numerous trips from Keesler AFB to Titusville, Orlando, and Homestead Florida. I-10, I-75, I-95, and the Florida Turnpike were all frequently traveled. I-10 was a really nice road to travel, triple digits at night was the norm, whatever vehicle I could find going the fastest I'd be 1/4 behind it. My only concern was the armadillos, racoons, and deer crossing the road. Once I was following this pick-up that was going 110, straight through the tunnel in Mobile, Alabama, trying to make it back to get to class on time. That was many, many years ago. I was young and
crazy I guess. 110mph would be a rare occaison now, never mind sustained.
Pic of my Skunk and friend at Keesler, cira 1979.

[DanTheMan]

According to the stickers on the fork leg that bike was registered by an airman (red sticker, not NCO or Officer who would have had blue or gold) at Eglin AFB, Florida in 1987 and he / she had also passed the on base safety course.

Parethetically, I always hated putting stickers on my bikes and always fabricated aluminum brackets that I usually mounted to the brake caliper mounts to put the stickers on. The Sheet Metal shop was a good source of materials as they always had lots of scraps of aircraft grade aluminum sheet to scrounge from.

I was a military MSF Instructor for the USAF during the 80s and in the US we used small bore loaner bikes from local dealers which weren't registered for the street at all. Once a year or so we'd swap them out for new ones from the dealers and they'd sell the ex-class bikes as used demo bikes. At least once that I know of a student was so taken with the little Suzuki 250 she was riding in the course that she made a point of buying it when it was taken back to the dealership. Overseas the servicemembers would ride their own bikes in the courses.

My son-in-law is Air Force, he has his MSF card, but my daughter wanted to get her m/c license too. At March RAFB in CA, there are no program bikes, they had to provide their own. She was riding her hubby's Rebel 250, and on the final day, about excercise 11 or so, the fork seals let go, handling went down the tubes. One of the rider coaches had a rather new KLR 650, she finished up riding his bike, (she's never ridden a motorcycle before), and was even able to successfully do the u-turns in the 20' box. My daughter is real smart, catches on quick, and good at everything she does. She made me proud, she almost aced the skills test on an unfamiliar big bike.

[Chris]

I sure enjoyed reading everybodies memories of "the good ol' days" and hearing about how things have changed too. I've been trying to mix motorcycling and the military since 1971 and here I am at Grafenwohr, Germany still at it. Those who wrote that the military (especially the AF) were basically against motorcycles are absolutely right. Also correct was the point that essentially every base or command had its own set of rules. I've spent most of my time associated with the miltary overseas and that's just another whole layer of oversight and control. I've been at some places where motorcycle riding was banned outright as in Thailand. Much more common is for the military to put so many hoops up to jump through that they hope you'll just give up and not ride such as at Yokosuka Navy Base over the last ten years. Here at Grafenwohr currently things seem surprisingly free with USAREUR having just removed the requirement for a MSF safety course to be licensed. In fact, currently all you need to do is have a valid US motorcycle license and attend a three hour orientation to add a motorcycle endorsement to your USAREUR POV license. And as loud et said, Bavaria is like living in a postcard with great roads and wonderful food and beer. I can't wait for the spring and summer. My old 1200 Bandit that I brought over from Japan will finally be able to act like a real big bike out on country roads instead of city riding all the time.