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MSF Question
Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 1:07 pm
by stevep
My wife is iving me the MSF class for my Birthday (H%@* Yeah!)
But the Comm. College offers it on a Friday night and a Saturday day. Is this long enough, and are all MSFs the same?
I looked on the MSF website and this college is not listed. It's Durham Tech in North Carolina if there are any locals out there. I know the local Honda dealer uses a comm college in another county.
Should I have her book another class or is this common?
Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 1:22 pm
by jstark47
In New Jersey the MSF BRC is offered by both the state (free) and three private providers (for fee). One provider offers both two and three day versions - it's the same course, you put in longer days on the two day version.
Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 1:37 pm
by sharpmagna
yeah I've heard the classes are offered in 2 and 3 day versions. I think it breaks down to 6 hours in class and 10 hours on the range. Good luck and have fun!
Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 2:28 pm
by pacedawg
I took one in Jersey as well. The one I took was over three days but I actually think that I might have liked the two day course better. The reason I say that, is that right when I was getting comfortable with riding the bike it was time to end the session and come back tomorrow. All in all, it was very beneficial.
Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 11:53 pm
by stevep
jstark- nice bike! The red little devil on my shoudler is still telling me to go ahead and get a scrambler for my first bike. The dorky me in white is in disagreement.
Thanks for your help. The Harley dealer offers like a six day course or something like that, of course it is just as over priced as their bikes, so I think I had it in mind that 2 days seemed short.
Thanks-
Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 4:01 am
by RUDE-MKM
I also took the class in New Jersey @ Camden Co. College. They say 3 days but it's more like 2 days in total. Friday night which was only a couple hours of class work & then Saturday road work in the morning from 7:00 am until 12:00 & then class work & writen test from 12:30 until about 2:00 or 3:00 & then back Sunday @ 7:00 am for more practice & then take road test until a little after noon. Over all it was fun & informative other then it being almost 100 deg. out when I took the class over the summer.
Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 4:16 am
by storysunfolding
It's weird that a MSF course isn't listed on the MSF website. I'd contact them and ask if they actually have trained instructors.
My MSF BRC that I took last weekend with the g/f was 2 days. 7am-6pm the first day (hour break for lunch and then regular breaks) then 7am-4pm the second day. The first was definately a long day.
Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 4:33 am
by Lion_Lady
I just went to the Durham Tech website and found their class listings for the MSF course.
http://www.durhamtech.edu/html/current/ ... safety.htm
From what I'm reading in the session offering, the class is Friday, Saturday AND Sunday. Four classroom hours on Friday, and full days Sat and Sun (both classroom and range) It appears from the 'required equipment' list that they are an MSF site.
It is up to the course provider (in this case Durham Tech) to make sure that the MSF has the correct information to post on the national web page.
Do not expect to complete the class and immediately be prepared for regular daily commuting or a cross country trip. You'll have the skills you need to ride in circles in a parking lot. It is then up to YOU to hone the skills using what you've learned in the class.
Pam
Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 4:45 am
by sharpmagna
Lion_Lady wrote:Do not expect to complete the class and immediately be prepared for regular daily commuting or a cross country trip. You'll have the skills you need to ride in circles in a parking lot. It is then up to YOU to hone the skills using what you've learned in the class.
Yup totally agreed. Right after I got my waiver form the riding coaches, I call my buddy at work who is also a MSF Riding Coach/Instructor and told him the good news. He responds back, "Congratulations, you are now certified to ride in a parking lot!"

Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 5:06 am
by storysunfolding
+1. The MSF teaches you some fundamentals but you're definately not ready for the road even if you were the ace in your class. We had a guy that stalled all day, could barely do the exercises and was probably the third to worst rider in our group. He passed with only 1 point against him. He didn't do it well or pretty but that's the case. We also had a guy who looked amazing through the course but still got 9 points against him in the test.
Two sayings I used to see here alot
"You have $10 worth of concentration. When you start out you are using $9 on getting the controls right, watching you speed and trying to remember how to do things and only $1 watching the road around you. You're ready for the road when you're only spending $1-2 on control and the other $8-9 dolars paying attention to the road"
"You start riding with a full bag of luck and an empty bag of experience. You want to fill your bag of experience before you run out of your bag of luck"
Once you can kill a parking lots BRC exercises, extra exercises you find online or in books like proficient motorcycling and then you can still kill them when your practice buddy makes them uber hard THEN you're ready for a back road.