Since everybody has one...

[earwig]

If you are running though the gears pretty easily on your own already you'll be able to sleep though the first 1/2 day on the range in class

Hmm well, as you can see from my avatar I uh...couldn't wait...Just curious as to how everyone went about their own learning experiences. I appreciate the responses and opinions, thanks. Personally, I think I'll be alot less tense by the time I get to the range in 3 weeks.

[MrGompers]

[quote="earwig"]I took the DMV test on a rented 50cc scooter before ever riding a motorcycle and passed ... many people in my msf class were not newbies either but like you said, most of them didn't want to worry about passing the dmv test.

I don't think the issue in Conn is the difficulty of the test. Its the availabilty of the test. AFAIK, the test dates are going out 8 - 12 weeks. Which is a problem since the permit is only for 60 days & can only be renewed once per year. If you get your permit early in the year you may not leave yourself enough time to take it. As you can see a catch-22 situation is developing here. Your permit could actually run out before you can take the test. But, if you don't have the permit you can't take it. Plus they will cancel all tests due to weather. If that happens you'll have to wait for another date. Which is eating more of your permit time.

[Z (fka Sweet Tooth)]

I personally waited until I took the MSF course, but thats because it was ALL new to me. I also didn't own a bike that I could handle at the time and wasent going to buy one untill after the class. My husband offered to show me some basics so that I wouldn't be overwhelmed at the class but that would have resulted in divorce, im sure!

[basshole]

If you have a bike and access to an empty parking lot I certainly would take advantage of it and practice. That's truly the only way to get better. Maybe you could mimic an MSF riding course and prepare that way.

[sv-wolf]

The system is different here. First you take your CBT (Compulsory Basic Training), a one day course to see if you are capable of riding on the road without killing yourself or anyone else. Without passing the CBT riding on road is illegal. After the CBT you can ride on the road on a 125cc machine but nothing bigger unless you have an instructor with you. But there are restrictions on where you can ride and until you pass your test you have to carry 'L' plates to warn other road-users that you are a novice.

Given the differences here, I reckon that once you have passed your CBT it's a good thing to take a course within a reasonable period of time before going on to take your test to get your licence (you're unlikely to pass without it), but I see no reason why you shouldn't practice on your own. Yes, you'll likely pick up some bad habits, but unless you plan to wait two years before taking a course, they are not things that you are going to get too set in before someone can correct you. And in the meantime you'll get some experience of handling the bike.

[SuperRookie]

That 500Ninja is alot of fun I tell ya. It's got some low-end torque but not too much that things get out of hand. I have no problem running through gears, braking...been practicing downshifts...90 deg. turns from stops...Now the hard stuff is the 3-4mph stuff. Counterleaning feels wierd as heck and I found out I have a "bad side" wtf? I'm righthanded...slow, tight circles going counterclockwise is a snap...whereas clockwise I feel all mentally challenged...it's just harder for me do it and I don't know why...

[Kal]

I have just spent 20 hours one on one with instructors trying to polish out the bad habits I have picked up in the last two years.

On my test out of the 5 faults I got picked up on, 3 of them were what was left of those bad habits.

Get on the course and learn their way of doing things as soon as you can, its a lot easier than 'unlearning' a habit.

MSF dosnt sound that bad, it sounds more or less like a CBT just on bigger bikes.

[SuperRookie]

Gee...337 views...30 pollsters...it's true...generally, only 10% of any targeted demographic will respond to polls, queries, flyers, advertising, etc. It would have been interesting to see what the "true" numbers would have borne out. I guess most viewers looked at the avatar and thought "what the heck am I responding for, he's already on the bike"

Anyway, Kal...care to enlighten me on the bad habits you picked up and are now shaking off?

[shawnhpi]

well i did it the not so smart way also..

I tought my self how to ride with no exp riders around and only bike exp i ever had was riding a PW80 and i managed to fall off that (and this was a year before i decided i want to get a bike)...but it was in a low vehicle area and dead end streets..

And only was given one word of advice.. not one word but they guy said keep ure hand on the throttle but put it in the position like ure almost full throttle then grab.. So this way if you panic you you cant give it any more throttle.. I did that for about a half a week while learin the gear shiftin.. then another week went by and i went out on the open road.. slow and steady.. and a year after that i finaly got my full lic (its to easy to get one here in NY) and now im on my 3rd season of riding..

thats my story..

Shawn.

[Dichotomous]

heck, I hit the neighborhood street fresh, figured out the clutch after 5 stalls, kept it to 25mph to start with, took the 90 degree corners, such like that, got comfortable and the next day I did a 2mi stint down the bigger road outside the development at 40 then 50. Didnt seem to be a problem at all, maybe it was my bike being so nooby friendly, maybe it was years and years of flying down ski trails on a mountain bike or railing mountain passes at 60 on my road bike.... It scared me at first to twist back the throttle but there were no cars around and it was too cold for the packs of roving kids to get in the way. I recently tried some slow moving excercises in a very sandy and dirty parking lot and wasnt impressed with myself, but oh well. I have about 1,000mi under my tires and most of it twisty vermont back roads with springs dirt and gravel on them and lots of march and april winds trying to throw me across the road. Might not be the best way to start, talk about jumping straight into it! but then again I am on a very low power bike and its very forgiving and I think I have a fair expertice in two wheel handeling without motors, suprisingly most of it seems to transfer over pretty smoothly.