A variety of vehicular training programs for motorcyclists, motorcycle trail riders and all-terrain-vehicle riders are offered by NIU’s Motorcyle Safety Project.

More than 2,000 novice street motorcycle riders received training from April through October this year, MSP Director Rick Kieltyka said. The two-week training is free to participants, he said.

The MSP, part of the College of Continuing Education, has services extending to 13 county areas of northern Illinois and has been expanded to include northern Cook County, Kieltyka said.

Primary funding for the motorcycle training, which has been in operation for the last two decades, has come from the Illinois Department of Transportation, Kieltyka said.

The $4.00 collected for Illinois motorcycle registration is used to fund the training grant, he said.

owever, off-road training courses, which are composed of trail riding and all-terrain vehicle riding, are tuition supported, Kieltyka said.

MSP also offers a one-day training course in sidecar operation, Kieltyka said. The first such course was offered in October at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake.

ecreational trail-riding workshops provide non-competitive training in the skills necessary to handle slippery, muddy, hilly, densely-wooded or log-covered terrain.

Kieltyka said the mission of the MSP is to reduce the frequency and severity of motorcycle accidents by educating and training new and experienced motorcyclists.

“Our goal is to keep people out of accidents in the first place,” he said.

The instructors for different courses also are trained at MSP and certified by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, Inc.

owever, MSP does not have sidecar instructors but with the help of United Sidecar Association instructors, MSP offers this training, he said.