For Larry Caron, there’s one statistic that says it all.

Of the people who take the motorcycle Basic Rider Course, which involves at least 10 hours of actual riding, 35 percent never ride again. They just don’t feel safe atop a motorcycle, for one reason or another.

It’s a discovery better made in the controlled environment of a BRC course, Caron says, than out on the highway.

“That’s the purpose of the course,” says Caron, an instructor at Roy’s Driver and Rider Education, “to find out if it’s for you. Not everyone is meant to be a motorcycle rider.”

Bureau of Highway Safety figures show that of the 32 people killed in Maine motorcycle crashes last year, 40 percent had been through just a one-day instruction course that involved no hands-on training.

Only 17 percent of those killed had been through the BRC, with its 10 hours of actual riding. And 43 percent of those killed had no training at all.

People who have been around motorcycles for a while tend to agree: a person can’t learn to ride one expertly through book study alone. A new law requiring hands-on training for new riders received mostly support across the biker community.

“People tend to squawk when things are made more difficult,” said Caron. “But really, it’s made more difficult for all the right reasons.”

Bud Caouette, who runs Auburn-Lewiston Motorcycle Rider Education, says there’s really no comparison between the Basic Rider Course, which provides hands-on training, and Motorcycle Safety Education, which is classroom only.

“We teach you how to corner, how to turn your head to get where you want to go, we teach emergency evasive moves …” Caouette said. “It’s a night and day difference between the two courses.”

The MSE course typically spans eight hours and involves book study and a test. The student never mounts a bike. The Basic Rider Course, now required by the state, condenses the classroom work to five hours.

“And then we have 10 hours of motorcycle riding time,” Caouette said.

Ordinary riders agreed that new bikers just won’t learn to ride safely if all they are getting is instruction from a book. The new law, they say, is long overdue.

“I find it absolutely ridiculous,” said Megan Charest of Auburn, “that an 18-year-old boy hopped up on too much testosterone can go out and buy a 1200cc death machine after merely sitting on his ass for eight hours in a classroom. I knew how to ride a dirt bike and I still voluntarily took the two-day (BRC) course. And after two days of riding on course, there were people who still shouldn’t be on two wheels.”

According to Caron, who teaches the one-day and two-day courses, hands-on training is far superior because it allows the instructor to identify a new riders’ weaknesses and then explain how they can be corrected.

Former Maine State Police Trooper Rayne Poussard welcomed the new law, saying that anyone who wants to ride on public streets should be trained physically, not just academically.

“I have been told Maine doesn’t even require the operator to wear a safety helmet except for a passenger under a certain age,” he said. “Why not require a safety/proficiency checkout and an approved safety helmet on all operators and passengers? A motorcyclist in an accident usually suffers very extensive and expensive lifesaving measures at the hospital and at a great cost to the taxpayers.”

According to Caouette, even one who has been riding a motorcycle for years will learn something from BRC training. He sees it over and over. Riders who think they know it all will later admit that they did not.

Gail Scipione Shelley is one of those. The Auburn woman had been riding for 15 years before she went in to take the BRC course.

“I hate to admit it,” she said, “but I really did learn a ton of cool stuff in the class. I think everyone, especially new drivers should be required to take the course. It has already saved my ass on a couple of occasions – just a little tricks I learned in the class. So, yes I think everyone should have to take it. It really is helpful.”