Total Motorcycle Community Forums

I went to the Suzuki dealership and they had a shiny used GS500F. I sat on it and fell in love immediately. I hear it's a great beginner bike, despite being over 250cc's.

But all of that aside, would anyone be able to tell me what to expect during the MSF course? Any stories?

Just search for MSF on the board. There are literally dozens of blow-by-blow accounts.


It went something like this for me:

4 hours in class learning about.. stuff. 4 hours on "the range" with the bikes. Walking the bike around, rocking back and forth by feathering the clutch, getting up to speed, braking, maximum braking, cornering, and shifting.

Second day 4 more hours on the range. More cornering, shifting, swerving, figure 8 box.

Take the test in class, end of story.

I'm in NY and it took about a month for me to get my road test waiver so I could get my license.

Like he said, there is thread after thread after thread on different accounts and opinions of the MSF. Personally, I loved it. About the same experience as Jonnnythan. My course was a Thursday class, Saturday range and repeated the following week. In PA if you pass the written and riding in the MSF, you get your Class "M" licence.

Good Luck and Stay Safe Out There!

There's probably about two MSF posts per page at the least. Myself, I thought it was pretty good. I wish we'd had more time to practice stuff on the bikes before the test but eh, they were lenient so I guess it doesn't matter too much.

That's why the MSF basically qualifies you to ride around in a parking lot at 20 miles per hour. You need to still practice after it.


And call now if you're planning on taking it. They seem to book up months in advance. I had to wait 3 months for mine.

Motorcycle Safety Foundation Basic RiderCourse Highlights

All the MSF stuff has been covered so let me be the first to say..... Great Bike Decision!!

Congrats on finding a bike you love. Have fun & enjoy the course.

Thanks everyone! Looking forward to getting started.

I agree, great bike decision. I will be buying my first bike within the months and i had my heart set on either the 600 katana or ninja 650f. but after getting some feedback from more experienced riders I've decided to get a gs 500f(unless something better presents its itself in the same category except the ninja 250 or 500).

Does anyone know if the gs500 is a good platform for mods?

Check ot the wiki: http://cgi.stanford.edu/~sanjayd/gs500/

Not too many things you can do; but, like everything, "how far you go depends only on your dough"