MSF BRC riding test - what is it?

[Spicy McHaggis]

The wife is taking the MSF BRC this weekend, and he final test is tomorrow (they did the written on Friday night).

What is the BRC riding test like? She has a hard time doing the figure eights at low speed, almost always rides out of the box.

She did fine with everything else, but the figure eights is bugging her and she's worried it's a pass/fail type thing.

What can she look forward to tomorrow?

Thanks!

[Sicko]

Yep, the figure 8 is part of the final. Lots of people had trouble with it. One girl dropped her bike twice. They still passed her even tho dropping the bike is supposed to be instant failure.

Tell the wife to just stay cool and everything will be ok. Worrying won't make her do better. She just needs to concentrate on having a good time out on the range and everything will be ok.

[Veda]

The test is points based. So if she goes out of the lines during the figure 8's but does everything else fine she will pass.

[storysunfolding]

She has a hard time doing the figure eights at low speed, almost always rides out of the box.

She did fine with everything else, but the figure eights is bugging her and she's worried it's a pass/fail type thing.

What can she look forward to tomorrow?

As said it won't fail her by itself. If she turns her head, using smooth clutch/throttle control and counter weights she should have no troubles.

I'm surprised that she's done them already. For the MSF BRC all figure 8's in the box are done on day 2

[jstark47]

Quoting myself:

In New Jersey, the test in the MSF course works like this: you start with 100 points. You need 80 points to pass. They deduct points for various mistakes, the more serious the mistake the more points. Everybody passed in my class, there were some people that had never been on a bike before. You take the test on the same (small) bike you've ridden through the course.

Lots of people obsess about the figure 8 in the box exercise. It's 8 points. You can totally screw up and you still have a 12 point margin for the other exercises before you fail.

I think going out of the box just once, or maybe that's just running one wheel out of the box, doesn't even lose you all 8 points.

[IcyHound]

Don't obsess about the box. I was in tears over mine while we where practicing because I was so horrible and not able to even do a general vague figure eight, more like a drunken throttle filled dash in random directions across the parking lot. It was godawful.

Our instructors reinforced over and over and over to IGNORE whatever you do in that box and continue with the rest of the test. They did everything in their power to tell us that if we aced the other three things the box wasn't going to fail us without saying it flat out.

In the end I passed the box with flying colors. Bleh. Tell her to turn her head and trust the bike. Its rather hard at first but worth it in the end.

[C-1_Biker]

I went outside the box once and it only knocked me down 1 point. You can miss 21 points, so its pretty hard to screw up the box so bad you fail.

[Shorts]

I'm surprised that she's done them already. For the MSF BRC all figure 8's in the box are done on day 2

During our class this weekend, our RiderCoach let us tag the box on as the last drill the first day. She said since that is the biggest concern and scarey exercises for most going through BRC, she wanted to get us on it so we could get it out of our heads lol

I went out of the line and got -5.

[storysunfolding]

During our class this weekend, our RiderCoach let us tag the box on as the last drill the first day. She said since that is the biggest concern and scarey exercises for most going through BRC, she wanted to get us on it so we could get it out of our heads lol

I went out of the line and got -5.

I wouldn't be a fan of that. The way I see it is that you should end the day on a happy note. The exercise before the u turn is easy and reinforces the skills of the day. It makes people want to come back.

There's also a limit on how much you can learn in one sitting without a disconnect. It's also better to work on skill development in a certain time frame. When you start the day with 10 you start developing the gross motorskills needed to complete it. When you finish at the end of the day and review it your working to fine tune those skills. With a longer period of time between teh two, it's not as effective. Thank you cognition, you were the best class ever.

I also find that coaches that play down the u-turns do the best. People get their heads so wrapped around the axle because everyone told them that it's hard that they make it harder than it actually is to do the box. To any newbie or person about to take the MSF- Just relax and take everything a step at a time.

[darsek]

We also tried the dreaded box at the end of the first range day.The instructors didn't make a big deal of it but once you try... you know. I didn't get to practice it as much on the second day as I would have liked (one time before the test!!). Anyway I went out once and I put my foot down once, I passed.