Total Motorcycle Community Forums

intotherain wrote: Even though the MSF can be helpful, it is very overrated.

Based on what exactly? Personally I find it amazing that they can fit so much material into it's 15 hour cirriculum. Granted you aren't going to come out with incredible skills to put you in competition with rossi, but the course is brimming with merit in what it teaches in the time it does for the money you pay for it.

storysunfolding wrote:

intotherain wrote: Even though the MSF can be helpful, it is very overrated.

Based on what exactly? Personally I find it amazing that they can fit so much material into it's 15 hour cirriculum. Granted you aren't going to come out with incredible skills to put you in competition with rossi, but the course is brimming with merit in what it teaches in the time it does for the money you pay for it.

I'm not talking about the course's curriculum being overrated, I'm talking about how some people say beginners shouldn't even touch a bike before taking the class, making it seem vital to a new rider. If the person gets a small bike and stays out of traffic, they can learn much from that. I know many people that got a permit long before their MSF courses and rode for months before taking the MSF course and they turned out to be completely fine riders. again, I'm not dissin' the class or its contents...

intotherain wrote:

storysunfolding wrote:

intotherain wrote: Even though the MSF can be helpful, it is very overrated.

Based on what exactly? Personally I find it amazing that they can fit so much material into it's 15 hour cirriculum. Granted you aren't going to come out with incredible skills to put you in competition with rossi, but the course is brimming with merit in what it teaches in the time it does for the money you pay for it.

I'm not talking about the course's curriculum being overrated, I'm talking about how some people say beginners shouldn't even touch a bike before taking the class, making it seem vital to a new rider. If the person gets a small bike and stays out of traffic, they can learn much from that. I know many people that got a permit long before their MSF courses and rode for months before taking the MSF course and they turned out to be completely fine riders. again, I'm not dissin' the class or its contents...

I agree. I rode on country back roads for months while waiting for my MSF class. I was more than a little paranoid but the worst that happened was I went over some rough railroad tracks that lifted my butt off the seat. Heck, I didn't drop the bike until AFTER the MSF class.

make sure your life insurance policy is paid up and you have a will.

intotherain wrote:

storysunfolding wrote:

intotherain wrote: Even though the MSF can be helpful, it is very overrated.

Based on what exactly? Personally I find it amazing that they can fit so much material into it's 15 hour cirriculum. Granted you aren't going to come out with incredible skills to put you in competition with rossi, but the course is brimming with merit in what it teaches in the time it does for the money you pay for it.

I'm not talking about the course's curriculum being overrated, I'm talking about how some people say beginners shouldn't even touch a bike before taking the class, making it seem vital to a new rider. If the person gets a small bike and stays out of traffic, they can learn much from that. I know many people that got a permit long before their MSF courses and rode for months before taking the MSF course and they turned out to be completely fine riders. again, I'm not dissin' the class or its contents...

I got on a bike and spent about 4 hours on it on the road under the tutelage of a hardcore rider of 30 years.

Then I took MSF and realized that I had no business on that bike without the knowledge and instruction I obtained at MSF.

I will strongly contend that MSF is absolutely necessary. Skipping it isn't a death sentence, but IMO there is no excuse to take the risk and skip it.. and learn bad habits, no less.

I've been waiting 23 years and 350k miles to take the msf course.

Sicko wrote:

intotherain wrote:

storysunfolding wrote:

intotherain wrote: Even though the MSF can be helpful, it is very overrated.

Based on what exactly? Personally I find it amazing that they can fit so much material into it's 15 hour cirriculum. Granted you aren't going to come out with incredible skills to put you in competition with rossi, but the course is brimming with merit in what it teaches in the time it does for the money you pay for it.

I'm not talking about the course's curriculum being overrated, I'm talking about how some people say beginners shouldn't even touch a bike before taking the class, making it seem vital to a new rider. If the person gets a small bike and stays out of traffic, they can learn much from that. I know many people that got a permit long before their MSF courses and rode for months before taking the MSF course and they turned out to be completely fine riders. again, I'm not dissin' the class or its contents...

I agree. I rode on country back roads for months while waiting for my MSF class. I was more than a little paranoid but the worst that happened was I went over some rough railroad tracks that lifted my butt off the seat. Heck, I didn't drop the bike until AFTER the MSF class.

Same, rode 800 miles before taking the MSF. The only reason I took the MSF was because it is required by law.

jonnythan wrote: I got on a bike and spent about 4 hours on it on the road under the tutelage of a hardcore rider of 30 years.

Then I took MSF and realized that I had no business on that bike without the knowledge and instruction I obtained at MSF.

I will strongly contend that MSF is absolutely necessary. Skipping it isn't a death sentence, but IMO there is no excuse to take the risk and skip it.. and learn bad habits, no less.

exact same situation for me.

my father-in-law rode my new (to me) bike home from the stealer.

then he said 'get on and follow me'

luckily i had been reading all i could about what to/not to do, because he was the worst teacher ever. it was basically the old 'throw somebody into the water to teach them how to swim'

luckily i only went on a few rides with him before i got to take the MSF.

can a rider ride a lifetime w/o ever taking the MSF and never have a problem? maybe.

is the MSF invaluable in teaching newbies extremely important techniques and gives them the tools to make them a safer rider? DEFINITELY

I'd reccommend that you wait, just because it's great hands on training. A book my be helpful but when you're actually riding it's difficult to determine if you're doing something properly based on something read in a book. With the MSF course some is there to yell at you if you're not looking into where you're heading or if you doing something improper that you didn't notice before.

I bought a bike before I signed up for the MSF, it was a brand new '06 Ninja 250. On the very first day I had it, I went out riding with my friend who had ridden before and had given me an impromptu lesson on how to use a motorcycle. I had never ridden a motorcycle before and never driven a car with a manual transmission. So I didn't realize what a clutch really did. Well long story short, on my first day of having the bike, I dumped it on the ground and put some scratches on the left side.

I was stopped at a intersection, I was ready to go when I stalled the bike. Since I never really rode a bike or drove a manual car, I never really understood how to properly start up a bike from a stop and so I kept stalling the bike. A bunch of cars piled up behind me so I started to panic, I wanted to get out of there fast because people were honking. So I rev'ed it up and then dump the clutch, it jolted like it was gonna stall again but instead of letting go the throttle I revv'ed it even harder, the bike shot out from under while my feet were down anticipating it to stall. So my foot dragged, pulling me off the bike as it shot out from under me. I was so pissed at myself because I panicked and also because I knew I should have taken the course instead of going out.

When I got to the course, I was much more comfortable because 1) I was riding someone else's bike 2) there was no traffic 3) having someone supervise my training 4) we moved at a comfortable pace.

Through the course I learned what a clutch actually does and it doesn't consist of on/off like I had previously thought. I also learned how to initiate turns, which oddly enough is alot more than just turning the handle bars. There's a ton of valuable information and lessons that you'll learn from the course, many of them you'd never experience until it's too late.

storysunfolding wrote:

Sicko wrote:For the first year, ride with the utmost caution and paranoia. Ride like the hold world is out to ruin your day, and above all, ride like you are in constant danger.

I wouldn't stop after the first year. The cages ARE out to get you. That's all you should concern yourself with.

Ride like everyone on the road is out to kill you, even other motorcyclists.

The other day I was riding on the highway with my car, and there was a motorcycle in the carpool lane that was moving very slowly because of traffic. Then here comes another bike lanesplitting going faster than the carpool lane (positioned in between the car pool and my line). The guy in the car pool lane decides to start lane splitting but he fails to look over his shoulder or use his mirror, he barely missed the other motorcyclist by a good 2-3 feet, luckily that guy saw him cut in and slowed way down. This was followed by honking and revving of engine.