The bad motorcycling habits popped up on the curves.

Some people tended to look in and down when they should have kept their heads up.

Others rigidly stared straight ahead like their heads were held in braces, when all they had to do was casually turn their necks so they could see what was beyond the curve.

Some braked before hitting the curves. Some didn't, depending on their confidence in their skills.

However, braking during a curve is a no-no. It's like touching a spinning gyroscope. The likelihood grows of losing control.

What instructors Dan Peterson and Bert Hauser looked for on the Flathead Valley Community College pavement was whether the cyclists used both brakes - right hand for front wheel, right foot for back wheel. The front provides 70 percent of a motorcycle's braking power. The rear adds the remaining 30 percent.

Hauser and Peterson wanted their 10 students to use both brakes at all times so when trouble happens, a cyclist's reflexes automatically hit both brakes.

The pair and others teach a two-day basic motorcycling course on weekends throughout Montana. At Flathead Valley Community College, those sessions take place three times a month from April through September.

Montana State University Northern offers this basic course for $135 and an advanced course for $65 throughout the state. People can register by calling 1-800-922-BIKE or going to motorcycle@msun.edu on the Internet.

A session last weekend in Kalispell drew 10 students ranging from beginners to experienced cyclists wanting to fine-tune their skills.

Four youths - ages 14, 16, 19 and 21 - needed the class to get motorcycle endorsements for their driver's licenses.

Kalispell Police Sgt. Mark Mulcahy attended to upgrade his skills, hoping to become one of the city's motorcycle officers when the city adds them to the force next year.

Trini Garrison of Eureka showed up with her husband, John, so she could learn to ride and accompany him on his cycling trips.

Joe Davis of Kalispell had ridden motorcycles for more than 20 years, but took the class to tweak his fundamentals, such as keeping his head up and looking ahead through curves.

"There's a lot more to it than it looks," Davis said.

Right hand - throttle and brake. Right foot - brake. Left hand - clutch. Left foot - gear shift. Other controls to be flipped by fingers. Dials to keep track of.

And all this doesn't include keeping track of the road ahead and the cars around. Lots of times, a rider's vision tends to fixate on one point.

Peterson compared riding a motorcycle to playing a drum set - hitting the high-hat and crash cymbals, snare, tom and base drums with coordination and in rhythm.

"It has to become second nature. As a beginner, there's a lot to think about," said Alana Strangward of Somers, who has ridden for a couple of years but is taking the class to get her motorcycle endorsement.

A rider's natural tendency is to stare down at the handlebars and dials … and sometimes the ground.

"If you look down, you can't see where you're going," Hauser told the class. "Where's the motorcycle going when you look down?"

The class chorused: "Down."

A motorcyclist is very vulnerable, especially if he or she collides with a car or truck. Two wheels are less stable than a car's four. No roof or sides are there to form any cocoon for safety. A helmet and long-sleeved and long-legged clothes don't match steel for protection, although they can spell the difference between some scrapes versus serious injury or death.

"There's a saying among motorcyclists: 'It's not if you go down, it's when you go down," said Savannah Hollopeter of Somers.

Montana's motorcycle accidents grew from 307 in 1997 to 400 in 2004, according to the Montana Department of Transportation's Highway Traffic Safety Office.

In 2004 there were 18 motorcycle deaths through late September, while this year there have been 27 in the same period. With roughly 40,000 registered Montanan motorcyclists, that translates to a fatality rate of less than 0.1 percent.

Flathead County leads the state in motorcycle deaths this year with five. The Flathead number does not include Randy Moddrell of Kalispell, who died in a motorcycle accident in Glacier County in August.

Moddrell was training to become one of the MSU-Northern motorcycle course instructors.

There also have been at least five Flathead County motorcycle accidents involving deer in recent months, including one death when a cycle swerved to miss a deer.

Peterson said Flathead County accident statistics can be linked to this area being a popular recreational region heavily traveled by motorcycles.

"There's a national park here, lots of trees, lots of deer, lots of cornering. … Right here is so beautiful to ride, but it's rough country," Peterson said.

Davis said: "One thing I learned about riding is to look for trouble before it happens."

Somers mother Terri Strangward took the course two years ago with a daughter. Two more daughters took the class last weekend. The women hope to go on family motorcycle rides with their husband and father, Barry.

"The thing I like about this class is that it stresses defensive driving," Terri Strangward said.

Most students taking the course during the year are adults. That's because there's a lack-of-cool factor for a young cyclist to take a class on Motorcycles 101, the instructors said.

The course pushes and drills basic habits such as smooth clutch work, watching ahead properly, good braking - like a basketball team that stresses fundamentals in practice so a player reacts automatically and correctly during a game.

During a repetitious drill of slowing, stopping and starting up through a curve, Peterson said: "This is where it pays dividends, where everything becomes automatic."

All this translates to cyclists enjoying safer rides, drinking in the intangibles of speed, risk, wind and openness that attracted them to motorcycles in the first place.

As Alana Strangward put it: "The freedom. The power. It's the adrenaline. It's like a challenge to yourself.

Reporter John Stang may be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at jstang@dailyinterlake.com