Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Hey all. I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada and I'm planning on getting my motorcycle license and a bike this summer. However, all the local courses are booked up solid until half way through summer, and I would like to start learning to ride earlier than that. I have several friends who are experienced riders (one is a local sportbike racer), and the recomendation from them is to buy a cheap, small bike (used) and start learning right away on my own. That way when it comes time to take the course, I'll be familiar with the basics, and will be able to concentrate on more advanced techniques like obstacle avoidance, etc.

The type of bike I'm looking to buy is something along the lines of a Honda hawk 400 (80's) or something similar. I sat on a couple nighthawks and they felt perfectly sized (I'm about 5'6", 150lbs). Also, I'm going to be moving to a small town (pop 50000) for the next year, so there will be lots of places to learn without having to worry about traffic getting in the way. Does anyone see a huge problem with starting to learn before the next available course starts? From the sounds of it, the test for the class 6 sounds pretty simple, and I souldn't have much trouble learning how to handle the bike (I'm an avid bicyclist, and occasionally drive a bike engined race car, so I'm familiar with controls and shifting and such).

Well certainly many people have learned to ride without the course, however you might look at taking the course as accelerated learned as opposed to the school of hard Knocks.

In BC we have a graduated licencing situation where the learner, (learners permit issued after a written exam) must always be accompanied by an experienced rider over the age of 25 and is limited to travel at speeds under 60 kms hour until such time as he/she takes the approriate test and passes. Even after that survival is dependent upon smart operating and those who have taken the safety training are going to have a better understanding of the inherent dangers.

What I am saying is that you can do it, however there is a lot of value in taking the course.

Just to clarify, I am planning on taking the course. The problem is, I can't take if for a few months, and I just want to get a head start. Also, I have a car license and have been driving for about 4 or 5 years, including autocross racing with the local sports car club, and helping build a formula SAE race car (powered by a 600cc honda F4i motor). In alberta, if you have a class 5 (car license) you can learn under the supervision of someone who has a class 6 (bike license). I have a few friends who can help me out with this.

One issue i run into is I would have to have a friend test ride a bike I was going to buy, and then ride it home for me if I do decide to buy it. But I'm sure that won't be hard to arrange for a case of beer.

The problem with trying to 'get a head start' in learning on your own or from friends is that you often learn the bad habits of others and have to UNlearn them before you can master the correct technique.

Most folks get 'sloppy' with technique with time. A fact of life. Don't put yourself behind by trying to get ahead.

P

I tend to agree with Lion Lady. I just finished my class a couple weeks ago. We had about half the class with experience. On the first day we started with simple friction zone control and duck walking the bike. Those with experience made the rest look bad and behind the curve. However, when we actually started the drills they were having a lot of trouble following directions and completing them as the instructors wanted. Things like putting the left foot down on a stop and stopping in first gear. They had developed their own habits and they are hard to change. You may want to try to get into an earlier class as a walk in. Four people failed to show for mine and four walk ins got to take the first class of the season.

stock28 wrote: ....Things like putting the left foot down on a stop and stopping in first gear......

I thought one of the survival tactics was to leave the bike in 1st gear at a stop, in case someone tries to rear-end you......

Posthumane wrote:Just to clarify, I am planning on taking the course. The problem is, I can't take if for a few months, and I just want to get a head start. Also, I have a car license and have been driving for about 4 or 5 years, including autocross racing with the local sports car club, and helping build a formula SAE race car (powered by a 600cc honda F4i motor).

Okay. Just so you know, Riding a bike ain't anything like driving a car, especially once you get into traffic. You must learn to deal with entirely new situations that won't occur when you are driving a car. Bet you never had anyone trying to "share" your lane with you while in your car. If you don't position yourself right on the roadway, it's gonna happen if you're on a bike."

Posthumane wrote: In alberta, if you have a class 5 (car license) you can learn under the supervision of someone who has a class 6 (bike license). I have a few friends who can help me out with this.

One issue i run into is I would have to have a friend test ride a bike I was going to buy, and then ride it home for me if I do decide to buy it. But I'm sure that won't be hard to arrange for a case of beer.

If he/she is much of a friend it shouldn't cost you a case of beer. 'less of course, you're planning of drinking it with them.

i agree with starting on your own causing bad habbits that will need to be unlearnd. alot of people in my class were dirt riders and were used to using just a few fingers on the brake and clutch(some used index/middle fingers some used pinky/ring finger etc) and they had to learn to use all fingers. the instructors were correcting them every 5 seconds.

one of the dirt riders ended up dumping his bike doing a quick stop, most likely because he was using his own finger grip technique, Or because he was using the proper way and was not used to doing it that way.

Thanks for the replies guys, I appreciate the feedback.

I am aware that riding is nothing like driving a car. I do ride a bicycle to school often (20km one way, parly on busy roadways), and I have had to deal with stupid drivers in that situation. This is not to say that I think I am experienced enough to just get a motorbike and ride, I just thought that having some time on 2 wheels in traffic and a fair bit of mechanical experience with cars / bikes would flatten the learning curve a bit.

What I was thinking was get a bike when I can, start out sitting on it, getting familiar with the controls, friction zone, brake balance, and eventually trying to do slow speed techniques in parking lots.

I wouldn't ask my friend to TEACH me (exactly for the reasons that were mentioned), but rather I would try to teach myself techniques properly as described in riding books/websites. The only help I would request from my friend is in testriding/buying a bike, and possibly supervision (as required by law) while practicing. This way, by the time I got to the course, I would have a bit of confidence on a bike so I could do what the instructors tell me without worrying about tipping over or something.