best way to learn to ride?

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marshalsimz · Mon Aug 08, 2005 7:11 pm

im a noobie and i want to learn to ride(gitting my bike thuresday) what would you say the best way to learn to ride is.(dont have lisence yet)

tool around in a parking lot?

thanks for the help

#2 Unread post by **Sev** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 9:59 pm

MSF course.

#3 Unread post by **nelamvr6** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 11:09 pm

MSF course.

iwannadie · Tue Aug 09, 2005 12:02 am

riding around in a parking lot with no instruction will teach you alot of bad habbits that will cause you problems later on and ruin the whole experience most likely. you also risk dropping your bike, if you drop the bike at the course noone cares.

fork over the cash and go enjoy the riding class

#5 Unread post by **cb360** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 3:46 am

Wow. Iwannadie and Sevulturus never agree about anything

But they are right on the money here. You can learn to ride without the MSF - and many do - but you are going to learn more and faster and better at the MSF. Depending on where you live it will probably allow you to skip the licensing test and it may save you on insurance. Even without the other two benefits it will definitely make you a safer and better rider.

Tue Aug 09, 2005 3:55 am

I'm a noob myself and, don't even have a bike yet but, I'm half way through my MSF Basic Rider Course. I would definitely recommend it to anyone. Also, depending on your location, the MSF is free. In Pennsylvania, the class is covered by the permit and licensing fees. It only takes up 4 days (five hours each); Two classroom and two riding. If you complete the course here, you also receive your license. The testing is written in. I'm assuming this is the same for all states. Some advice to other new riders... take ibuprofen or some other non-drowsy pain reliever before your riding portion. I've got some mighty sore muscles!

#7 Unread post by **Sev** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 4:08 am

A long hot shower plus 3 regular strength or 1 extra strength ibuprofen after your days riding will take care of any pains that you might have. IB is an anti-inflamatory, and your muscles will swell due to a buildup of lactic acid after being stressed in unusual ways. The shower helps them to relax, this is a never fail cure for me after an especially long ride, though I find I need it less and less as I get used to the new bike.

MSF in Alberta cost me $400 through NAIT, and it was worth every penny, 2 days at 8 hours each, no inclass, as you get the book beforehand and go through it. We had 4 instructors for 16 students, and two of them (the instructors) raced for Kawasaki, one is retired, the other still races.

By the end of the second day they had us doing the "on bike parking lot tests," as practise for the DMV people who came by during the last couple hours of the day to test us. But the set up was twice as tough as what we needed to know to pass the tests. Basically if you had to do a 2 meter slalom we were practising on a one meter one. Made the tests really easy.

If you had a valid car license (class 5) then all you had to do was pass the tests that the DMV people set up, there was no street test portion. Then you just pop into any DMV and do the written, your updated license will arrive in the mail within 2 weeks. The mail thing is standard in Canada now, something about DMV's making to many fake ID's.

Anyways, there is no real reason not to take a MSF course of some sort, especially if it's free.

stock28 · #8 Unread post by **stock28** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 5:06 am

Take the MSF. You will learn more in those few days then you could learn on your own in a year. There are so many little things that they will teach you that you would never think of on your own as well. You will also learn a lot of safety tips to help you survive on the road.

JustJames · #9 Unread post by **JustJames** » Wed Aug 10, 2005 6:33 am

Take MSF, then pratice in parking lot.

If you can't find MSF course in your area or taking too long to wait, then find someone "MATUAL" and experience enough to guide you in parking lot.

flynrider · Wed Aug 10, 2005 7:55 am

Did anyone mention taking the MSF course?

I learned to ride before the MSF course existed and pretty much had to learn from own mistakes. I wouldn't recommend that method at all. I dumped it a lot in the first few months, then slowly figured it all out. The problem with that method is surviving the learning process. I've still got a few weird looking X-rays from it.