Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Great post, Skier.

shane-o wrote: Im gettin scared, we have a person who has gone out and bought a hypersport for a 1st bike and cant make a simple slow turn and the mere thought of a U turn is an impossibility....I mean WTF am I missing here ????

VX im not flaming you here dood, Im honestly scared for ya safety.

AGAIN, i can make slow turns and U turns... i can also do circles, just not as small as the DMV circle.

the DMV circle is not simple to do on my bike.

the guy who coached me last month can do it on his busa. im amazed. ...but he said it took him a long time to be able to do it.

and even he said it's not a good test of overall riding skill. he said if you're into stunts, it would help practicing this circle but otehr than that, it's doesn't really prove you can ride safely on the streets.

this coming from a very experienced and good rider. he told me i made a good choice by registering for the MSF.

based on the little experiences i have, i totally agree w/ him. MSF is the way to go not the DMV. the DMV bike test is not a good test.

heck! even the written test is not a good one as our MSF instructor told since they are made by guys who make test and not by guys who actually rides.

i really fail to see how not being able to do a tricky circle tell that im not gonna be safe on my bike. tricky since it's tricky to do on SBKs and other large bikes.

also, you have to look on the front wheel at the DMV circle since if it moves away from the lines, you fail! on the streets, it's not good to look at your front wheel.

like i said, on traffic, my slow speed skills are enough. on parking lots etc. that i need a little more work.

swatter555 wrote:I would bet 100 bucks that half of the people giving VX trouble would also fail the test the first time on a top heavy bike.

My only point is that the test is a poor one. The level of difficulty between the MSF course and the DMV test is not even close. If both are ways to get a license, then why are the difficulty levels so different?

When I took the test we didn't do a circle, there is no circle here in Alberta, what we did have was a figure 8, in which you enter through one gate and exit through the same one, meaning you do two connected circles without putting your foot down. While I do not remember the exact dimensions I do recall that the inside pylons for the gates were about 1.5 bike lengths apart, and the outters were just over two bike lengths. We had to stay between the pylons to pass the test, and putting a foot down meant you needed to start over. If you failed 3 times you were cut and had to try again next week.

You know, I think the big thing for all of us is to practice, practice, practice. Everyone rides quickly quite often, and it is easy. You will always get a lot of practice going quicker. What we all need to do is spend time in the parking lot. Do quick stopping. Do swerving. Do figure 8s and u-turns. It's that easy. Complaining about the 8 box in the MSF class is silly. I've seen big sports bikes and big old Harley dressers do the box. A skilled rider who spends time knowing his bike at all speeds and conditions is a safe rider.

You have to "react" to situations - not think about them. You don't have time to think. If you've ever dropped your bike (or crashed) you know what it feels like to react. The more ready you are to react, the better those situations turn out.

scanevalexec wrote:You know, I think the big thing for all of us is to practice, practice, practice. Everyone rides quickly quite often, and it is easy. You will always get a lot of practice going quicker. What we all need to do is spend time in the parking lot. Do quick stopping. Do swerving. Do figure 8s and u-turns. It's that easy. Complaining about the 8 box in the MSF class is silly. I've seen big sports bikes and big old Harley dressers do the box. A skilled rider who spends time knowing his bike at all speeds and conditions is a safe rider.

You have to "react" to situations - not think about them. You don't have time to think. If you've ever dropped your bike (or crashed) you know what it feels like to react. The more ready you are to react, the better those situations turn out.

i do practice braking skills, throttle control, turning skills like figure 8.

but regarding figure 8... i practice it bec of head positioning, throttle control, body angle, etc but not because i wanna do a small figure 8.

You get it!

It's not about doing a small figure 8, or circle, it's the fact that you have the control of the bike TO DO IT!

That's what the test at the DMV is trying to prove that you have enough control and knowledge of your bike to be on the street. Not that you can go really slow in a circle.

WOOHOO!

i got it now!

Now go out there and practise so you can do the circle It'll help you a lot at higher speeds.

And I want to compliment Vermilion for being one of the best new posters. You ask a lot of questions and you are not insulted easily. You really seem to be interested in learning from those who know, and I think you likely help a lot of new members who ready threads you created or joined. You are excited about riding and have some silly ideas about your image, but that's not odd for a young dude. Cheers.

scanevalexec wrote:You know, I think the big thing for all of us is to practice, practice, practice. Everyone rides quickly quite often, and it is easy. You will always get a lot of practice going quicker. What we all need to do is spend time in the parking lot. Do quick stopping. Do swerving. Do figure 8s and u-turns. It's that easy. Complaining about the 8 box in the MSF class is silly. I've seen big sports bikes and big old Harley dressers do the box. A skilled rider who spends time knowing his bike at all speeds and conditions is a safe rider.

You have to "react" to situations - not think about them. You don't have time to think. If you've ever dropped your bike (or crashed) you know what it feels like to react. The more ready you are to react, the better those situations turn out.

Well said..... I dont have much to say on the subject because im new at riding but I will vouch for the Figure 8 teaching you how to handle your bike at slow speeds. Thats essential where I live because of the massive traffic. Anyways enough has been said on that. Going back to the original post, dude im sorry you dropped your bike, my heart goes out to you.