Melbourne, FL -- (ReleaseWire) -- 05/24/2018 --Designed to mimic the experience of actually being on the road, Honda's latest offering makes it possible for new riders to gain experience without the risk of being on the road and for experienced riders to practice evasive maneuvers without risking themselves or their bikes.

Motorcycle simulators are not a new idea. Honda first began developing them in 1988. The original concept was to allow riders to be put into critical situations and experience the results of their actions on the riding simulator before they faced them on the highway. The intended end user, at that time, was police motorcycle officers and others who might be called on to push their machines to the limit on a daily basis. These were the first generation of riding simulators to be seen.

After several more years of research and development, they were put into mass production in 1996. Then in 2001, the second generation of ride simulators was released with the aim of making them available to the general public as part of a company-led campaign on rider education.

The development of small, reliable servo motors between the generations made it possible for riders to not only practice the manipulation of all the standard controls found on a motorcycle but to experience motion along all three axes and to actually feel the wind in their face.

The new, third-generation simulators have advanced in almost every way. The ride carriage has been completely redesigned to not only give a more realistic motion experience; it is easily swapped from a full-size street bike to a dirt bike and even a scooter. This makes the one machine multipurpose and adaptable to a larger array of riding scenarios.

Perhaps the biggest advancement has been the reduction of the weight and size of the overall machine. Thanks to advancement in modern electronics, the simulators are now no larger than an arcade game, despite having a larger screen than ever before.

The new simulators have also borrowed heavily from the video game industry and the CGI system as used for flight simulators to produce a more realistic visual experience and to allow multiple views to be made available when reviewing the results from a simulated ride.

Students will now be able to work through their riding lessons step by step, analyze their actions, compare them to ideal performance parameters and then replay the scenario with enough random elements changed to make it a viable test of what they have learned.

From the perspective of the end user, these machines are full of wonderful advancements that will make them easier to use and more educational. At the same, the price tag has been lowered to a level that will put it within reach of smaller police departments, school systems and civilian rider programs across the country.

We asked Florida motorcycle lawyer and rider advocate Brad Sinclair for his take on the release of this new rider simulator. He had this to say, "I think it is one of the best moves I have seen from the motorcycle industry in a long time. The only way to really learn to ride is to get on a bike and go. If that bike can be in a simulator where nothing but your pride gets hurt, that is all the better." He continued, "Considering the comfort level today's young riders have with technology of this type, I believe it could go a long way toward creating safer riders and saving young lives."