Midlife Crisis Bike...

[Shiv]

Either the classes vary wildly on cost

They do. I think in Michigan it's either free or $15.

Here in Texas it cost me $180.

I heard that up in Canada it can be anywhere from $400-600.

And like Kal said, ~$700-1000 in Europe.

[dieziege]

This is probably not going to translate well but

Yup, I think you missed the point. Or maybe I did. What I was really trying to express was that at least one MSF class in the universe (and I suspect more than one) was conducted with the assumption that everyone was riding, and the people who weren't had VERY poor success rates (one in three passed). Look at it this way... the class had four types of students. The distribution was pretty even amongst those types. The pass rate was not evenly distributed. Nor were the grades.

type .............................................. pass rate ...... avg grade of those who passed
no motorcycle, no experience ..... 33% .............. 8
motorcycle, no experience .......... 100% ............ 4
no motorcycle, experience .......... 100% ............ 6
motorcycle, rode to class ............ 100% ............ 10

We assume that a better (lower) score indicates higher skills. Otherwise the whole thing is silly. So what's the message? If you want to get the most you can from that class, you should have a motorcycle and learner's permit *BUT DO NOT USE IT* before you take the class.

Is a sample of one statistically significant? LOL! Of course not! That's why it was only my $1.05... I charge a lot more for accuracy. But I have reason to believe that that's just how those classes are conducted here.

I was playing catch-up. I passed... but not with the skills I would've had if I'd had a ridable motorcycle and a learner's permit. It wasn't because I don't know how to shift... I've got about 625,000 miles driving stickshift cars... I can double clutch a non-synchromesh truck transmission up and down through gears...heck, I knew how to shift a motorcycle...I rebuilt the transmission of a '79 XS1100 a few years ago and that gave me a pretty intimate understanding of how motorcycle shifters work. It wasn't because I can't ride a bicycle. It was because the whole course was set up to allow people with motorcycles to pass a legal hurdle without taking the DMV test. That and line the school's pockets. I was trying to get basic skills and by the time I'd done something 2 or 3 times they were moving on to the next exercise.

Now just to scale things I was signed off to solo an airplane after 7 hours of instruction. That means I was ready to fly an airplane by myself, no instructor in the plane, in less time than the MSF class was supposed to take. I may be conceited, but I'm not actually slow. In my conceit I think riding a motorcycle around some cones is a little bit easier than flying an airplane around a moderately busy airport.

[vulcanguy]

Talk about mid -life crisis I guess I'm way past that. Began riding at 55
on a Vulcan VN750. Passed MSF with a crappy score of 20 but in my own defense I'm so friggin' old I didn't realize they were running the test and I thought we were just practicing the run prior to taking the test!!!

Well at any rate take a look at the Vulcan 750 they're reliable and cheap!!

[keysman]

Compared to other things we spend money on, the MSF course seems inexpensive for what you get. I'll agree $225 bucks is nothing to sneeze at but I think it's worth it for the training that the class provides. I was also happy to pay the $214 (at the time) to avoid having to take the riding test at the DMV. That option would have been too nerve wracking for me. I think I would have been too nervous to pass.

As for taking the class a second time, if I didn't feel comfortable that's what I would have done. If somone had suggested I repeat the first day I would have done that too.

The MSF class isn't the best thing in the world but I think I am a lot better off having taken it than I would have been if I had not taken it.

[sapaul]

So you pass the MSF and then think you can ride. Nah. I rode competition trials for twenty years before I got the road bug again. What did I know. BUGGER ALL. Riding a bike on the road takes a whole new set of skills that differ from anything else. Driving a cage, bus, truck or bicycles does not qualify. If you want to brush up on your bike skills then get an old beater bike or dirt bike but do not confuse these skills with the skills you need on the road. you do need confidence but not arrogance, healthy respect but not fear. The less time you spend on the road worrying about gear shifting and braking and indicaters and lifesavers and, and ,and the more time you spend anylising what is around you and what your next move is, the safer you will be. Your bike choice will be relative to that. The easier that bike is to ride, the more time you will have. My R1150RT BMW was without doubt the easiest bike I have ever ever ridden and all the controls became automatic within weeks making time for the other skills that I still had to learn and am still learning although I have changed my bike since. I say apply any and all resources when that mid life crisis bites. Lets be honest we are a lot smarter than we used to be and should by now know a trick or two. I personally will not buy a bike that I have not ridden or had a pillion ride on. Come on, we forty plus guy's are smart. Make a plan.

[yoda731]

Interestingly enough, I just earned my two cents to add on whether to practice on your own before the MSF.

When I signed up, I didn't think I would have ridden a bike before the class. So, wanting to be as confident as possible, I signed up for a one hour private lesson between the written part and the riding part of the course. But, then I decided to take the bull by the horns and bought a bike, and have been riding it in our parking lot. Don't take me wrong-- I am not ready for street riding, and I am not claiming to have mastered anything. But I have become confident that I can smoothly control my bike at low to moderate speeds in a controlled environment, and am working on low-speed maneuvers with modest success. I had thought this would help me when I went for the one hour lesson today. And I suppose in some ways it did.

But, for the life of me, I couldn't work the fricition zone on the Buell Blast I used in the lesson today. And I have to wonder if it was because I am used to the clutch on my bike, which I have adjusted several times to where it works easily for me. In the lesson today, I would say I stalled it at least 3 out of every 4 times trying to get going in first gear, and spent (?wasted?) a good part of the hour just trying to get started for each exercise. Once I got rolling I felt fine, and the instructor said I did well and should fare well in the class. But it was AWFUL trying to get used to that clutch.

Related to this, what do you old hands think-- are the bikes used in the classes likely to have been throttled down or set to a lower idle speed to try to help learners go at slower speeds? I do not want to blame the bike for my inexperience. On the other hand, I had many opportunities to hit the starter switch, and is often took two or three tries to start her up even after she was warm, and once running I had to give a significant twist on the wick to get her moving without stalling.

Thanks, let me know what you all think.

[JediNut]

I was talking with a friend who is going to be getting a bike with her boyfriend. She has been riding for a while, he took the MSF course and rode his brother's bike TWICE...25 years ago.

He has his mind set on a Yamaha Stratoliner (1856 cc)!!! Is he nuts, or is there something magical about this big bike that makes it easy for a newbie to handle???



-JN

[Shiv]

I'd dare say he's nuts.

But cruisers (I'm assuming it's a cruiser as I've never heard of a sport bike with such a large cylinder, never heard of a cruiser either actually but..) are generally heavy and don't have quite the sharp power band that a sport bike does. So maybe not.

[DirtyD86]

Talk about mid -life crisis I guess I'm way past that. Began riding at 55...............................
.....................defense I'm so friggin' old I didn't realize they were running the test and I thought we were just practicing the run

hey now, age is all in the mind. if you have the mentality that youre not too old to be climbing onto a motorcycle every day, youre still young.

[vulcanguy]

I have always felt that way ....hell my g/f is just 40..........

But everytime I get into bed she says that she feels "old age" creepin' up on her.