First ride!!! and no experience! =\

[Shorts]

Hey, I'm taking the MSF in Aug too. So, a little time to get comfy on the bike is good.

I have a thread in here somewhere titled "signed up for msf, now nervous!". There are a couple posts in there stating what kinda riding they did in MSF class.

While not exact, I think low speed manuevers with tight turns, then emergency braking are the big items they stress. and overall good technique through at speed turns.

[sharpmagna]

If you're going to be riding in the streets, you SHOULD practice swerving maneuvers as well as the quick stop in a parking lot. Those are two things you are judged on in the MSF BRC and they are the ones that are very important for crash avoidances. Get used to how your bike handles in those situations before you actually have to put them into action. Once you've done to the point it is comfortable, then you won't have to waste split seconds thinking about it, your body will just do it.

[bok]

things to practice:

when braking use both brakes.
using the front brake you should "roll on the pressure" basically engage it with your pinky and then your ring finger then middle finger then index finger. you can use this technique fairly rapidly but it won't engage that brake so quick that it locks up instantly

practice countersteering. basically look left, push left and then maintain pressure on that bar. at low speed you will counterbalance with your body leaning right while you go left. it's a pretty natural thing and tough to explain...look at my Post Your Pics link (in my sig) for pictures of what countersteering looks like

practice shoulder checking when you come to a stop...mirrors don't always show you what is behind you so get in the habit of looking back there for idiot cagers whenever you stop

look where you want to go. this is key to riding. if you get used to looking away from the danger lightpoles/sticks/debris/etc when it is small and not fixating on it, this will help later in traffic. Your bike will go where you are looking so always look where you want to go and not at the ground. keep your chin up, stick a grapefruit under there if you have to to train yourself to keep your head up.

[HungPower]

Second time riding since the last time I posted. Yeah I've been working a lot and didn't have a lot of time to ride at alll but once I got home at 6 pm today and it wasn't so hot at around 7, I whipped out the bike and went to the nearest parking lot =D. So I did a few weaves in and out, and I did a few figure 8's and quick stops but I didn't know what else to do exactly. I guess I should be practicing the swerve eh?

To swerve I assume I would break quick t hen do a turn right or left then straighten the bike? I'll give it a shot next time but anyways, I had gotten bored of the parking lot after about an hour or so. Then I went back into the streets and tested out the acceleration on my bike. I whipped it up to 50 miles really quick and drove int he nearby streets and some main roads. Not so bad, and even t hough it's my second time riding I felt really comfortable. Yes it's good to be confident but if you're too confident you can end up dead eh? I know most would advise me to practice a lot more int he parking lot or get my msf class finished before taking it into traffic but mannnn is the parking lot lonely =\.

Great fun and the more practice, hopefully I get better. So I gotta get swerves down, anything else someone would like to suggest to me in the meantime?

[Kal]

Doing that over here would result in being prosecuted for No driving licence at least, quite possibly no insurance either...

If the judge is having a moderate to bad day then thats it for the bike and your licence...

[Kim]

To swerve I assume I would break quick t hen do a turn right or left then straighten the bike?

Please at least get the book Proficient Motorcycling before your course starts. You need to learn to separate breaking from swerving. You can't do both. Oh, and don't "assume" anything.

[bok]

you need to seperate actions when you are just learning.

to deal with an obstacle in your path there are basically three ways to do it:

1) go around it
2) go over it
3) stop before you hit it

combining braking and going over it can be bad if the object were something like a flat pop can...now your front tire is locked up on the can and your wheel becomes a ski

braking and swerving hard can cause low side

trying to swerve and fixating on the target can cause you to try and swerve but actually go over the object

when i was just learning i did all three at once...the effects were not pretty.

you can brake when going over an object or when in a corner, but in a panic stop you want to be as upright as possible

[HungPower]

Third day and first time I busted my bootay!!! woo hoo lol. I was in a hugeeeee vacant parking lot at a sears with a friend and we were both riding it around. I was taking it up to 50 - 60 miles, doing swerves, figure 8's inbetween 2 - 3 cars, quick stops, etc. etc. While swerving, I'd go straight to a lamp post or some stationary object at approximately 15 - 30 miles, i'd brake using both brakes, let go the brake, swerve left then swerve back right. Now I've been very successful for about 3 hours doing this over and over but there was this one lighit post that got me! =\

What happened was that I was heading straight towards it at about 30 miles then about 5-10 feet away, I'd break and after I'd break and got a little bit closer, I'd swerve left, then swerve right to avoid the object. Now here's what got me. At the bottom of the light post was a lot of sand and gravel that I hadn't noticed from afar, but when I made that second turn to correct my allignment, my bike just like went the other way and i fell to the ground with my hand supporting myself. I myself left basically unscathed except for a sore right elbow and a scratch on my knee but what a good experience ^_^. Oh and I did order proficient motorcycling via half.com, 15$ baby!, and I'll definately be reading that up. I'm glad for everyone's input and now I gotta go replace the right signal light that broke off loll.

[Reflex439]

Ouch, using a stationary object for this type of training is like using a buddy at the firing range to sight in your scope. Moving the aimport closer and closer each time until he can hear it wizz by to let you know you've got it pretty close

Spend $100 and go buy some cones, and set them up and use that. If you make a mistake, all you do is go set the cone back up. No bike repairs needed, no road rash, or worse. The $100 you spent will be offset by the bike repairs you won't need to do.

[jonnythan]

Why aren't you taking the MSF course where they actually have professionals teach you how to do things like swerve and corner?

And wtf possessed you to use a staionary object that can kill you as an "obstacle" for practicing a maneuver you don't even know how to do?