MSF Course today

[Kuhnfyoozed]

Just got home from my first day at my BRC. I'm really excited for tomorrow, but I have to wake up at about 5:30 to get there on time

[RhadamYgg]

Just got home from my first day at my BRC. I'm really excited for tomorrow, but I have to wake up at about 5:30 to get there on time

Way cool - we share the dates for our BRC. It was a good first day, but in some ways I wish they had brought a bike in and pointed stuff out. Not that I don't know what most of the controls are already.

Most of the people in my course have been riding a bit already - illegally in some case.

One guy - he's been riding for 10 years without a license! Then it just so happens that one of the coaches is a cop and another person in the class is a cop... But they didn't take him away in cuffs anyway. They probably expect this kind of thing.

RhadamYgg

[Thumper]

but I have to wake up at about 5:30 to get there on time

Ugh. I never would have been able to do it if I had to get up that early. Luckily, I got the afternoon session.

I hope you guys have fun!

[jstark47]

Way cool - we share the dates for our BRC. It was a good first day, but in some ways I wish they had brought a bike in and pointed stuff out. Not that I don't know what most of the controls are already.

Most of the people in my course have been riding a bit already - illegally in some case.

One guy - he's been riding for 10 years without a license!

Don't worry about those guys. In some cases, they're worse off than you are - they've got years of bad habits to unlearn.

[dean owens]

... but I have to wake up at about 5:30 to get there on time

durn, where are you taking it. i would assume you're taking it a wake tech. how early does the class start?

[edit]: almost forgot... good luck. i'm sure you'll do fine.

[Brackstone]

I had the two day and I had to get up at 5:30 as well to get there by 7:00.

[Kuhnfyoozed]

We started at 7:45 am today, and I hopped onto one of these:

Suzuki GZ250

We took the written test today, and I aced it. Tomorrow is the riding exam. I just can't wait to get back on a motorcycle.

[RhadamYgg]

I was on a Kawasaki Eliminator. Despite being such a small bike, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be...

Of course, just about all the bikes at this place are broken in some way and this bike is no exception. Sometimes it is very hard to put it in to first gear.

Did the written exam at the end of the day today. They didn't grade it, but I should manage the 80 or better I need to pass.

Huh, I wish I knew the test was going to be today. I was going to study tonight to take it tomorrow.

RhadamYgg

[Kuhnfyoozed]

So...I passed! With flying colors, too. I got a 100 on the written exam, and almost aced the evaluation. I overshot on the emergency braking, but every time I practiced it I got it down to 11 or 12 feet beyond the cue cones, so I think I just had a bad run on the actual exam. I nailed the U turns and the swerve.

My bike was probably the worst one on the range, according to one of my instructors. The transmission would always get stuck in between neutral and another when going from 1st to 2nd or vice versa, and caused me to stall the machine several times. The clutch cable was so maladjusted that my friction zone began at my hand's full extension, but even considering those two major problems, I had the 2nd highest score on the evaluation.

Now I am off to the DMV in the next week to get my endorsement, and continue saving up for a bike. I still haven't convinced my parents that I can ride safely, but my dad has mentioned that he appreciates the maturity I've approached the situation with. I am going to continue saving up my money and trying to convince them to give it a chance; if they won't let me ride now, I will buy a bike after I graduate high school next year and move to college with it. I think I would rather learn at home where the roads are familiar and I know good parking lots to practice in, and I'm hoping that my parents see it the same way; however, I am prepared to wait if I must. Good things are worth waiting for, and a year is not a lot of time in the grand scheme of things.

...but I would still prefer to ride now

[RhadamYgg]

So...I passed! With flying colors, too. I got a 100 on the written exam, and almost aced the evaluation. I overshot on the emergency braking, but every time I practiced it I got it down to 11 or 12 feet beyond the cue cones, so I think I just had a bad run on the actual exam. I nailed the U turns and the swerve.

My bike was probably the worst one on the range, according to one of my instructors. The transmission would always get stuck in between neutral and another when going from 1st to 2nd or vice versa, and caused me to stall the machine several times. The clutch cable was so maladjusted that my friction zone began at my hand's full extension, but even considering those two major problems, I had the 2nd highest score on the evaluation.

Now I am off to the DMV in the next week to get my endorsement, and continue saving up for a bike. I still haven't convinced my parents that I can ride safely, but my dad has mentioned that he appreciates the maturity I've approached the situation with. I am going to continue saving up my money and trying to convince them to give it a chance; if they won't let me ride now, I will buy a bike after I graduate high school next year and move to college with it. I think I would rather learn at home where the roads are familiar and I know good parking lots to practice in, and I'm hoping that my parents see it the same way; however, I am prepared to wait if I must. Good things are worth waiting for, and a year is not a lot of time in the grand scheme of things.

...but I would still prefer to ride now

I passed as well, but I must be getting older and harder to learn things. I ended up with 15 points and one of the other guys that I thought was going to ace the riding test - ended up with 17 points.

But the instructors indicated that it wasn't a big deal - that one of them graduated the BRC with 18 points and that two years later he was able to take the ridercoach class and passed that.

So, anyway, I'll be getting my endorsement this week and hopefully I'll be getting a bike next weekend.

Oh, I have to say - the course and the experience has been a really great experience.

But I'll say this - I need to practice a lot before I have the same capabilities with a bike that I have in a car. I just want to take a spray paint can and mark up a parking lot with the course and practice on early Sunday mornings.

I'll tell you I was on my toes waiting to find out if I passed the riding portion of the test.

Need to practice practice practice....

RhadamYgg