Our Instructors' Qualifications
Being a Stayin’ Safe instructor isn’t easy. Coaching riders in an uncontrolled environment requires the ability to continually scan the landscape and predict potential activity while also evaluating a lead rider’s actions, keeping tabs on following riders, demonstrating proper technique and providing continual and constructive radio commentary. All of our instructors have extensive experience teaching both new and experienced riders. Most of them have been long-term MSF instructors. All of our core instructors worked closely with Larry Grodsky through the years and now serve as instructor trainers for the emerging generation of Stayin’ Safe instructors. It’s a special breed of instructor who has the wherewithal and good judgment to conduct on street training. We’d like you to meet our pros …
Eric Trow,
Principal/Senior Instructor
Eric has been a continually active motorcyclist since his first solo jaunt on a Honda Z50 behind his grandfather's motorcycle shop in Southwestern Pennsylvania. He spent many years riding off road (in the summer months Eric and his brother Rob would ride dirt bikes all day long and then tape flashlights onto the handlebars when the sun went down so they could ride for a couple more hours). When he graduated high school, he also graduated to street bikes. Through the years, Eric continued to concentrate on his riding skills - not specifically to become a safer rider, but to become a better rider. He began studying techniques and taking courses and was soon recruited into the Motorcycle Safety Foundation program. After several years of MSF, Eric began working with Larry Grodsky's on-street Stayin' Safe program, working with riders who have the desire to take what they've learned through MSF or by reading and applying it to the street with real-time instruction. When he is not teaching, Eric enjoys riding and wrenching on his vintage Indian motorcycles or heading for the back roads with his wife Amy. He is also a marketing professional. Among his accomplishments are multiple award-winning driver safety programs he developed for the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
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Pete Tamblyn, Senior Instructor
As a youngster, Pete honed his estimable riding skills while offroading in the Tennessee hills. So when asphalt was later invented, it was only natural that he apply his craft to the pavement. In the years since, he’s done just about everything on a motorcycle--from flat tracking to dualsporting to long distance touring. He’s also worked extensively as a motorcycle tour guide, leading tours of Mexico for Pancho Villa Moto Tours and showcasing his beloved southern highlands to travelers from Norway to New Zealand.
With Pete’s guidance, we set up our first “Safe in the Smokies” ride back in 1995, and he still delights in leading our guests to hidden nuggets that few visiting motorcyclists ever get to see. Pete’s far more than a tour guide, however. He’s a highly skilled rider with more than a decade of experience delivering on-road radio commentary. Pete is also a stained glass artist, a former Peace Corps volunteer in Africa, and at one time pursued a career in public health administration. At any given time, he may own as many as twenty motorcycles (although he's currently holding at a dozen or so).
Randy Kuklis,
Senior Instructor
Randy began riding in the mid 1970’s, when his father, a Washington DC police officer, brought used bikes home from police auctions. After years of commuting in bumper to footpeg Beltway traffic, Randy decided, in 1992, to take the MSF "Riding and Street Skills" course. Two years later he became an MSF-certified instructor.
After six years "in the trenches" Randy sought to bridge the gap between real world riding and standardized parking lot courses, so, along with teaching buddies Mike Wisniewski and Ray Sundman, he took Larry’s instructor course. The three then put in place an 80-mile long on-street course geared for the novice rider but modular enough that experienced riders also gain valuable information.
You'll find Randy teaching aboard either his Honda GL1800 Gold Wing or the rare Yamaha GTS (the model with the trick "RADD" front end!).
Leon Winfrey,
Instructor
Leon Winfrey is like the mailman who goes for walks on his day off. His day job is training and developing instructors to teach rider education. When he is not training instructors, Leon teaches local MSF courses, and explores the back roads near his Wisconsin home or saddles up his motorcycle for a track day. Leon spent several years assisting Larry Grodsky on Stayin' Safe tours, and his knowledge and exploration have helped make the Wisconsin tour a reality.
Ian Shuttler, Instructor
Ian started riding in the UK on his mother‘s 50cc moped, commuting to a weekend supermarket job. With permanent employment he advanced to a 90cc step through Honda Cub. In spite of this inauspicious start he is still riding 35 years on and a very experienced rider with over 350 000 miles ridden in the UK, Europe and the US. In the early 1980s he became involved with the Kent Advanced Motorcyclists Group, the first dedicated motorcycle group of the Institute of Advanced Motorcyclists (IAM) and trained to become an observer and help other riders prepare for the IAM Advanced Motorcycle Test via on-road advanced coaching. Following on from this he worked with several other early IAM groups, training other motorcycle observers in the south of England before moving to southern Germany. Here he enjoyed 13 years of alpine pass heaven along with exploring most of mainland Europe, often in the company of fellow IAM observers and examiners. On his return to the UK, he re qualified as an observer with the Thames Vale Advanced Motorcyclists Group of the IAM before being relocated again! The UK’s loss is our gain as Ian has now been riding in Connecticut for the last 4 years and he brings a different perspective but long experience of advanced on-road coaching to Stayin’ Safe. He is well versed in passing along the skills contained in the UK Police Riders Handbook, ‘Motorcycle Roadcraft’ and is happy to discuss all aspects of the ‘System of Motorcycle Control’. To understand what it is like to ride 1000 miles in 24 hours he recently completed a Saddle Sore 1000 and is a new member of the Iron Butt Association. Ian is an analytical scientist by profession and a senior executive for a major instrumentation manufacturer.
In addition to our core team of lead instructors, we also have a growing list of assistant instructors, each with essential qualifications and each personally trained by one or more of our experts.
Interested in becoming a Stayin’ Safe instructor?
If you have interest and experience teaching motorcycle skills and safety, have strong riding skills, demonstrate good judgment and are able to multitask, we may be interested in learning more about you. The best way to start is to personally participate in a Stayin’ Safe training tour. There’s no better way to get familiar with our program and to see a Stayin’ Safe instructor or two in action. That also gives us a chance to get familiar with you as well. If you’re still interested, let’s talk. Contact us by email or by phone and let’s explore the possibilities.
