Attended the MSF begginers course over the weekend

No real surprises or revaluations as I've read every book about riding a bike and watched every video I could for the last several years. I've also been practicing all the low speed skill stuff for months on my bike. The biggest problem I had was the ergonomics on the stupid little Honda rebels they had us on. My legs made it almost impossible to do the U-turn box. I couldn't get my knees out of the way of the handlebars.

It was however very interesting to see the progress of the few people whom had never ridden a bike before. It was great to see how the basic concepts work when people work through the mental block, especially looking through the corners.

One interesting little story that happened. I took the riders edge class through one of the local HD dealers. At the end of the class they gave us a tour of the dealership and in the dealership they had a huge antique bell mounted on a support beam. Our instructor asked for a volunteer to ring the bell for the class and we were all supposed to clap and cheer. Well it was agreed that the four women in the class should ring it together. They all had a hand on a rope and gave it a big yank, and the mount broke. This 150 year old 4' diameter brass bell fell twenty feet down directly unto the tank of a brand new $25,000 bike. Everybody was in shock, craziest thing I've ever seen just lucky no one was hurt.

I didn't take a MSF course this last time, just a riding test(on your own bike) Did manage to come within an inch or so of doing the u-turn in the small displacement box......on the Kawa.

Otherwise, I was shocked with how many people could barely balance/turn/stop.....

My wife and I teach the course near me. it's pretty satisfying to take someone to who never road a bike and have them putting around my the end of the course.

Learning how to ride is a life long process.

When I took my course we had a choice of a couple bikes, mostly rebels, but there were two Suzuki DR200s. I grabbed one of those and had no problem with doing anything out on the course. Although I was the only person to fall when the rider in front of me stopped at the end of the tight u-turn box and I thought it would be a good idea to stop mid u-turn.

These were all rebels with the exception of one ratty old buell blast.

In a few years take a serious look at the Advanced course. One day, half the cost of the Basic; VERY informative.

On the agenda.

I can't recommend the MSF courses enough! Such a great learning experience/environment. I wish they were required by law for getting a license to drive any motorized vehicle.

yamaha wrote: I didn't take a MSF course this last time, just a riding test(on your own bike) Did manage to come within an inch or so of doing the u-turn in the small displacement box......on the Kawa. Otherwise, I was shocked with how many people could barely balance/turn/stop.....

When I got my bike license, at least half of the group failed.

In reply to Zomby Woof:

1 person failed just the riding test and subsequent retest out of my group of around 50. I think 15 or so failed the first try but got it right the second try. Out of everyone there, I had logged the second most miles on my learners permit.....and I'd only held the permit for a month.

Watching a stretched busa and Harleys attempt the agility test was amusing though.

I saw several people get their license that could barely ride, and that was concerning to me. I'll be attending an ABATE beginners course this year to refresh my membership/support a friend of mine who doesn't own a motorcycle, but wants to get her license. She failed it the first try(dropped the bike due to being unprepared for the balance) so I am getting my honda spree running so she can learn the balance/handling before we go take the course. I'm trying to get her to buy a new Yamaha R250 when it comes out.

I took the intermediate course when I got back into riding. I managed to do the agility course and U-turn on the RC51.

In reply to rotard:

The stretched busa did better than the Harleys did, but both were still amusing to watch.

rotard wrote: I took the intermediate course when I got back into riding. I managed to do the agility course and U-turn on the RC51.

I always wondered what they would think of the creative use of front wheel lock and rear wheelspin to pull off a tighter radius. On one hand... impressive blending of controls... on the other... nobody likes creative types making the whole lot stink like a tire fire.

In reply to nicksta43: yo man - long time no gt5 =)

any vids or books you'd recommend right off the bat for me - im gonna take msf in april, and ive never rode a motorbike before

I think it's one of those things you have to learn by doing, sort of like using a manual transmission or riding a bicycle.

In reply to ohms:

pm me your address and I'll send you this book I have. Can't remember the title of it off hand but it's a good one.

rotard wrote: I think it's one of those things you have to learn by doing, sort of like using a manual transmission or riding a bicycle.

Quoted for truth.

You can read all day but its more of a hands on learning process. The #1 problem I observed that people new to motorcycles have is the balance/body positioning for high and low speed turns.

nicksta43 wrote: The biggest problem I had was the ergonomics on the stupid little Honda rebels they had us on. My legs made it almost impossible to do the U-turn box. I couldn't get my knees out of the way of the handlebars.

You just kinda gotta stand up a little, hoist yourself a little bit backwards with your knees. I don't know if I am describing it correctly but I am a large man and I showed an ex-gf how to figure-8 her Rebel in her alley behind her garage. That's kind of what I had to do. Just stand up enough to get my legs out of the way.

My current GF has her slot for the BRC in a few weeks. She has her permit, we've been riding a bunch. She is chomping at the bit. I'm taking the ARC in the beginning of May. I very desperately want to go for the Rider Coach certification, but with the training schedule for me and the teaching schedule I'd need to do... I just don't want to give up that many weekends with my daughter. She's 7, so soon enough there will be weekends she wants to go do stuff other than play with daddy. That'll probably be the time.

Anyway, I took the course about 10 years ago with my ex-wife. I'd already been riding for 10 years, but I still really got a lot out of it. I couldn't support it more. I keep hearing about all of these classes and groups failing... That was just not my experience. Everyone in my particular class was very enthusiastic, both the instructors and the students. We had a woman crash into a day on the Saturday training, and they both came away in good spirits. "Oh, well, okay, I guess crashing isn't quite as terrifying as we thought!" They both improved LOTS on Saturday and Sunday morning, both passed the test.

I am really excited to do the ARC. And whenever it happens, equally excited to eventually teach it. I very support the course and the Foundation.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I always wondered what they would think of the creative use of front wheel lock and rear wheelspin to pull off a tighter radius.

Problem there is that you aren't allowed to put your foot down! I don't think I could lock the front wheel and light up the rear with both my feet on the pegs!