On Sunday, I finally completed the MSFBasic Rider Course on my quest to learn how to ride a motorcycle.
It was a great experience. There was a total of 10 students in my class. The class was broken down into 3 sessions: classroom, range & classroom, and range. During the classroom part of the course, we watched some videos and reviewed a motorcycle handbook containing rules and tips on riding safely. On the range, we put those tips/tricks into practice by actually riding on the bikes. We started with learning how to start a bike and getting used to the friction zone on the clutch. We ended the range with learning how to maneuver the Box of Love and how to stop properly in a turn. Finally, the last hour was a riding test where we were graded on maneuvering 4 obstacle courses.
Throughout the course, the instructors drilled into our heads to always keep heads up and pointed towards the direction to go. Always look ahead and use the SEE (Search, Evaluate, Execute) strategy. Ease the brakes and clutch and never jerk them. Mental preparation is the key to riding safely. Speed is good on a bike. And of course, having the proper gear can save your life! I still can’t believe Utah doesn’t have a helmet law! I feel scared for those of you who ride on the highway going 80+ mph without a helmet!
Out of all the exercises, I would say the Box of Love was the most difficult. You have to maneuver the clutch to second gear, then make two tight turns in a small box without going outside of the lines. Sure it might sound easy to a seasoned pro, but for someone who just started riding a couple of hours ago, it was hard!
The only improvement I see to make the class better is to just extend the class. 15 hours was way too short! A lot of the exercises in the range I felt I needed more practice to get right, but couldn’t get that practice in due to the short amount of time. Since there were 10 students in the class and we all had to take turns, that made it even more difficult to put in that extra practice effort.
For anyone thinking of riding a bike, I would definitely recommend taking this class first! Besides the scorching heat (90+ degrees F), the class was a great way to meet other motorcycle noobs and to learn basic skills from the pros. It was fun meeting you guys and thanks to Dave and Kris for the excellent and fun 15 hours of lessons!
Now to complete the written portion to get my license and to get a bike!
This entry was posted on July 31, 2008, 9:34 pm and is filed under Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Basic Rider Course
On Sunday, I finally completed the MSF Basic Rider Course on my quest to learn how to ride a motorcycle.
It was a great experience. There was a total of 10 students in my class. The class was broken down into 3 sessions: classroom, range & classroom, and range. During the classroom part of the course, we watched some videos and reviewed a motorcycle handbook containing rules and tips on riding safely. On the range, we put those tips/tricks into practice by actually riding on the bikes. We started with learning how to start a bike and getting used to the friction zone on the clutch. We ended the range with learning how to maneuver the Box of Love and how to stop properly in a turn. Finally, the last hour was a riding test where we were graded on maneuvering 4 obstacle courses.
Throughout the course, the instructors drilled into our heads to always keep heads up and pointed towards the direction to go. Always look ahead and use the SEE (Search, Evaluate, Execute) strategy. Ease the brakes and clutch and never jerk them. Mental preparation is the key to riding safely. Speed is good on a bike. And of course, having the proper gear can save your life! I still can’t believe Utah doesn’t have a helmet law! I feel scared for those of you who ride on the highway going 80+ mph without a helmet!
Out of all the exercises, I would say the Box of Love was the most difficult. You have to maneuver the clutch to second gear, then make two tight turns in a small box without going outside of the lines. Sure it might sound easy to a seasoned pro, but for someone who just started riding a couple of hours ago, it was hard!
The only improvement I see to make the class better is to just extend the class. 15 hours was way too short! A lot of the exercises in the range I felt I needed more practice to get right, but couldn’t get that practice in due to the short amount of time. Since there were 10 students in the class and we all had to take turns, that made it even more difficult to put in that extra practice effort.
For anyone thinking of riding a bike, I would definitely recommend taking this class first! Besides the scorching heat (90+ degrees F), the class was a great way to meet other motorcycle noobs and to learn basic skills from the pros. It was fun meeting you guys and thanks to Dave and Kris for the excellent and fun 15 hours of lessons!
Now to complete the written portion to get my license and to get a bike!
This entry was posted on July 31, 2008, 9:34 pm and is filed under Commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.