U.S. and Japanese servicemembers dance to celebrate the opening of a motorcycle training range Friday, March 11, 2016, at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo. (Seth Robson/Stars and Stripes)
U.S. and Japanese servicemembers dance to celebrate the opening of a motorcycle training range Friday, March 11, 2016, at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo. (Seth Robson/Stars and Stripes)
Yokota deputy occupational safety manager Masaharu Kawagishi and 374th Mission Support Group commander Col. Scott Maskery cut a ribbon to open a new motorcycle training range at the western Tokyo air base, Friday, March 11, 2016. (Seth Robson/Stars and Stripes)
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — A motorcycle training range that opened Friday at Yokota Air Base will help servicemembers near Tokyo hone their skills ahead of the summer riding season.
Last year, air base officials ran motorcycle safety courses on the “golf ramp” — a large expanse of tarmac normally used by taxiing aircraft east of Yokota’s main runway.
The new range, on the west side of the base, includes plenty of open space for riders to practice turning and stopping.
The facility will be open to airmen, Marines, soldiers and sailors at bases in the greater Tokyo area, said Col. Scott Maskery, 374th Mission Support Group commander.
The opening of the range was among a number of safety-focused events at Yokota on Friday, including motorcycle-riding, dog-handling and crash-simulation demonstrations by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police and fire-safety events by U.S. and Japanese firefighters.
Twitter: @SethRobson1
