Newbie questions

[jumico]

Ok I am currently taking an MSF course. I have taken the written part and I have done part of the riding today. I'm finishing tommorow and will hopefully passs. So far its pretty dissapointing. I'm 16 and everyone else is at least over 21. It seems like everyone has somesort of experiene except for me. I have zero. It was kinda embarasing being the slowest learner and stalling and stuff.
I have a few questions.
First when braking to a complete stop. When do I apply the clutch lever? Don't I apply it first and then brake? Or do I just close it after I'm stopped?
Does anyone have any advice on wide turning? On the part where you have to weave in and out of the cones I have trouble turning sharp enough. It feels like I'll drop the bike if I turn too much.
Is there any other advice?

[Jamers!]

First when braking to a complete stop. When do I apply the clutch lever? Don't I apply it first and then brake? Or do I just close it after I'm stopped?

well when going to a complete stop i like to down shift through the gears so you clutch in and out to shift then when in first and getting to a crawl ill just clutch in and use brakes as i see fit.

Does anyone have any advice on wide turning? On the part where you have to weave in and out of the cones I have trouble turning sharp enough. It feels like I'll drop the bike if I turn too much.
Is there any other advice?

confidence. just lean a tad bit and turn the bars. Bike can do it as long as you put your faith in your machine. Just go at a nice speed, feel comfortable and crank the bars as far left or right as you think you need to.



JWF

[FlyerPhil]

Does anyone have any advice on wide turning? On the part where you have to weave in and out of the cones I have trouble turning sharp enough. It feels like I'll drop the bike if I turn too much.
Is there any other advice?

Just keep your head up and look where you're going. You'll know where the cones are, even though you're looking up. If you focus on the cones, it'll be harder to turn and you'll wobble more.

I stalled the bike a TON my first day of the class. I stalled it on the second day too but far less. Just GIVE IT THROTTLE and EASE the clutch out. Take a step or three with the bike until its moving, I mostly stalled it when I put my feet on the pegs before it was moving.

I'm finishing tommorow and will hopefully passs. So far its pretty dissapointing. I'm 16 and everyone else is at least over 21. It seems like everyone has somesort of experiene except for me. I have zero. It was kinda embarasing being the slowest learner and stalling and stuff.

My MSF course had a couple guys who'd been riding liter sport bikes on permits for 7 years. I had no riding experience. You CAN'T look at the course as a competition with the others in your class. You're there to learn FOR YOU and you can't let their ability or your worrying about slowing the class down affect that.

[Scoutmedic]

Listen to your instructors and don't be afraid to ask questions. I was one of the 3 in my MSF with no prior motorcycle experience. The rest of the class had all either ridden in the past or currently owned bikes.

In my MSF for the rapid stops, they had us squeeze the clutch, downshift into first and apply the front and rear brakes at the same time. It sounds difficult coordinating all of your limbs at the same time but, after nailing it a time or two, it starts to come naturally. Just make sure you have the clutch squeezed in before you slow down too much or stop the bike because it's going to stall if you don't.

As for the weaving, that came pretty naturally to me. Not sure why other than I rode my bicycle a lot when I was young maybe. But, I agree with the other posts. Keep you head up and trust the bike and your instincts.

Good Luck and Enjoy yourself!

[Ninja Geoff]

You'll do fine. There was one lady in my MSF class with no experiance. Though she passed, she wasn't totally confident and scored a 19 on the riding part. There was another guy with no experiance, but totally gung ho and %100 confident in his lack of skills. He got a 12 (which is better than a 19). I do admit, the rest of us WITH experiance scored better than those without, but even the lady who'd been riding a DR200 dual sport for 2 years scored worse than me and this other kid who had been riding dirt for less than a year, she was lacking confidence for some parts, i believe she got a 8. The two of us "kids" (we were both 19, younger than the rest by at least 7 years) got higher than everyone else, even the dude who'd been riding for a good 5+ years. Our trick was that we had confidence. So just buck up, don't be afraid of crashing (if you do, you'll be fine, you're going slow enough) and just listen to what your instructrs are saying and the good advice already given by the other members here.

The HARDEST thing on that test is the figure 8's, hands down. Just take them slow, and counter balance. With practice you can have your bike leaned over 40 degrees and going straight, with you hanging off the other side with the bike crawling so slow it's close to stalling, with the foot that's under the hanging bike sitting on the seat. And if you DON'T pass the course, take it again and try even harder.

You CAN'T look at the course as a competition with the others in your class. You're there to learn FOR YOU and you can't let their ability or your worrying about slowing the class down affect that.

This is some of the BEST advice you can ever get, regardless of your experiance, how you ride, and what you ride.

[ShellB340]

Hello I just joined to this site so bare with me:) My husband and I decided one day we were going to get motorcycles and with the internet,local shops,forums we have come to the final decision of purchasing Kawi 250r. Neither one of us has prior experience with motorcycling so we decided to sign for the MSF course. So juminco this ones for you,,,It shouldnt matter what age you are or what experience you have vs. others for that matter. You signed up for your own reasons when you scheduled the course and keep that in mind. Everyone that is there is prob there for simular reasons. Whether there is experience or not from 1 individual to another you are all going to come out more knowledgeable and safer than before you started the course whether you pass or fail. Age shouldnt be a factor in the least, Keep your chin up and good luck!!!! Our MSF course is sched in July:)-Cant wait!!!

[Jamers!]

Hello I just joined to this site so bare with me:) My husband and I decided one day we were going to get motorcycles and with the internet,local shops,forums we have come to the final decision of purchasing Kawi 250r. Neither one of us has prior experience with motorcycling so we decided to sign for the MSF course. So juminco this ones for you,,,It shouldnt matter what age you are or what experience you have vs. others for that matter. You signed up for your own reasons when you scheduled the course and keep that in mind. Everyone that is there is prob there for simular reasons. Whether there is experience or not from 1 individual to another you are all going to come out more knowledgeable and safer than before you started the course whether you pass or fail. Age shouldnt be a factor in the least, Keep your chin up and good luck!!!! Our MSF course is sched in July:)-Cant wait!!!

glad to have have at the site man. Great starter bike. Do you have it already? If so post some pics man. Might i ask why you became intrestead in riding.


JWF

[Apitoxin]

This may be a dumb question, but do you have to possess a permit before you can take the MSF? Does it matter? How long must you have your permit before you can use the MSF waiver to get your license? (7 days to my knowledge.)

Thanks.

[Dragonhawk]

This may be a dumb question, but do you have to possess a permit before you can take the MSF? Does it matter? How long must you have your permit before you can use the MSF waiver to get your license? (7 days to my knowledge.)

If you are just starting out and want to know the right "order" of steps to do things in, please take the time to read this page on my site:

http://www.californiabikenights.com/learn.php

Hello I just joined to this site so bare with me:) My husband and I decided one day we were going to get motorcycles and with the internet,local shops,forums we have come to the final decision of purchasing Kawi 250r. Neither one of us has prior experience with motorcycling so we decided to sign for the MSF course. So juminco this ones for you,,,It shouldnt matter what age you are or what experience you have vs. others for that matter. You signed up for your own reasons when you scheduled the course and keep that in mind. Everyone that is there is prob there for simular reasons. Whether there is experience or not from 1 individual to another you are all going to come out more knowledgeable and safer than before you started the course whether you pass or fail. Age shouldnt be a factor in the least, Keep your chin up and good luck!!!! Our MSF course is sched in July:)-Cant wait!!!

As for the MSF course and what to expect, check out this post I made on that topic:

http://www.californiabikenights.com/php ... c.php?t=13

[roscowgo]

The reason you are taking the MSF class is to get some experience. or however you spell it.

Nobody at your class sprung from the womb wearing racing leathers and dragging their knee. And if they did. i so dont want to see the highlights on espn. Don't sweat it