My MSF class experience
Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2011 5:55 am
I took the MSF course recently (completed and passed last night) and I thought I’d give a report on the class and how it went.
For the sake of setting the stage, I had not been on a bike for 25 years. Nor had I been in a classroom session for a couple decades. I was excited for this class for numerous reasons!
I took the MSF course at the Honda Training Center in Colton, CA. The facility, the equipment and the instructors were all first rate. They had all necessary equipment you needed for the class; long sleeve jerseys, helmets, gloves, boots and safety glasses. There was no charge for equipment use. Safety was the primary emphasis and that entailed more than just riding skills. Shady areas and misters were available, as was cold drinking water. There were ample breaks so the heat (and it was hot!) wasn’t much of a factor.
My session was Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM. The first night was all classroom. They handed us each a nice workbook with all the information in it and the sample test questions in the back. Class participation was more or less forced as every person was given sample questions to research and then discuss out loud. I was a little panicky at first, making the whole process too hard on myself. Everybody was highlighting stuff and taking notes. It was too much to process until I took a breath and realized how stupid easy the questions were and the answers were all right there. I followed along, participated and at the end of the night, passed the test with flying colors!
The second evening was the first on the bike sessions. It was blazing hot out there on the asphalt, but everybody was so excited, it didn’t really matter. The little 250 bikes they provided were all pretty new. There were no Rebels in the fleet; they were XR230L and CRF230L, which is basically the same thing except with street tires. I grabbed a CRF and was happy enough with it for what we were doing. I think all the bikes there had less than 1K miles on them, so they’re fairly new.
We first went over all the basic controls, then we actually engaged the clutch, put it in gear and rocked the bikes. Once everybody mastered that, they had us ride around doing drills only in first gear. As others have stated, the first night is just real basic stuff and pretty easy to get through. Everybody in our group passed through to the second riding day.
The following evening, it was brutally hot again out on the asphalt. This time, there was a little more grumbling among the students, but we wanted to get it over with, so away we went. As promised, the second riding session featured more complicated exercises and covered a lot of material. The instructors gave us plenty of breaks to cool off and talk about things. After we went through the instructions and drills, they set up a practice session where we could work on three of the four skills that were on the test. I did pretty well during the practice and then they lined us up for the test.
We were evaluated on four areas. The first phase was u-turns and then a high speed swerve. They put you inside a box in which you are to first make a left hand u-turn, then a right hand u-turn, exit the box down a fast run to the high speed swerve. I’d had difficulties in the u-turn, so I didn’t expect to do that perfectly. It went pretty well, but I just touched the line on the last turn. I headed down the straight and totally choked on the swerve. That made me upset with myself because I had executed it just fine during instruction and practice. I was beating myself up pretty well as I got in line for the next phase, which was high speed stopping. I was pretty sure I would do fine on this, since I had done well in practice. The biggest thing was not to slow or begin stopping before the prescribed mark on the tarmac. I did it just right, except I forgot to downshift when I stopped. The fourth and final phase was cornering and I was pretty confident in that. I knew I needed to pretty well nail it if I were to pass. I thought I did OK, so I parked my bike thinking I had a decent chance at passing, but with mixed emotions about it.
They had us go to the classroom and talked to us individually about our scores. They told us up front that not everybody passed. You’re allowed a total of 21 points you can accumulate in the four trials and I saw three people have to retake at least one trial and that’s 15 points right there. While I waited my turn, I prepared myself for the worst. By the time they called me in, I had decided retaking the second night would really be a good thing, if it came to that. It turns out I passed. Having accumulated 18 points, it was by the skin of my teeth, but I passed.
I didn’t come away from the class with much of a warm fuzzy. I’m not real proud of my effort. I don’t feel like I’ve mastered enough to be safe in the streets. Not even close, to tell the truth. Even if I had aced the riding portion, I’m just not convinced that’s enough. I’m not taking anything away from the program, the instructors or the equipment. What I’m saying is; there is no way this basic course should be enough for a person to get turned loose in traffic. I’m giving a lot of thought about seeing if I can re-take the second night of riding, even though I passed and even if it costs a few bucks. It would be worth it in my mind to at least ace the riding portion.
The thing I took away from this class is the need to practice and practice a lot. The next step for me is to get my license, then get a bike, then practice, practice, practice before I ever take to the streets. I think I will take the advanced class after I feel more comfortable with the skills taught at the class.
All in all, I felt I got my money’s worth out of the MSF course. It’s the bare minimum a person should do prior to riding. I found that I was in the minority as most of my fellow students already had their learner’s permit and had been riding prior to taking the class. The class was my first time on a bike in 25 years. OK, not really, I rode a bike around the block (without a license) about 11 or 12 years ago. Still, whatever skills I maintained all these years were pretty rusty and need more work!
Be safe out there!
Mark
For the sake of setting the stage, I had not been on a bike for 25 years. Nor had I been in a classroom session for a couple decades. I was excited for this class for numerous reasons!
I took the MSF course at the Honda Training Center in Colton, CA. The facility, the equipment and the instructors were all first rate. They had all necessary equipment you needed for the class; long sleeve jerseys, helmets, gloves, boots and safety glasses. There was no charge for equipment use. Safety was the primary emphasis and that entailed more than just riding skills. Shady areas and misters were available, as was cold drinking water. There were ample breaks so the heat (and it was hot!) wasn’t much of a factor.
My session was Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM. The first night was all classroom. They handed us each a nice workbook with all the information in it and the sample test questions in the back. Class participation was more or less forced as every person was given sample questions to research and then discuss out loud. I was a little panicky at first, making the whole process too hard on myself. Everybody was highlighting stuff and taking notes. It was too much to process until I took a breath and realized how stupid easy the questions were and the answers were all right there. I followed along, participated and at the end of the night, passed the test with flying colors!
The second evening was the first on the bike sessions. It was blazing hot out there on the asphalt, but everybody was so excited, it didn’t really matter. The little 250 bikes they provided were all pretty new. There were no Rebels in the fleet; they were XR230L and CRF230L, which is basically the same thing except with street tires. I grabbed a CRF and was happy enough with it for what we were doing. I think all the bikes there had less than 1K miles on them, so they’re fairly new.
We first went over all the basic controls, then we actually engaged the clutch, put it in gear and rocked the bikes. Once everybody mastered that, they had us ride around doing drills only in first gear. As others have stated, the first night is just real basic stuff and pretty easy to get through. Everybody in our group passed through to the second riding day.
The following evening, it was brutally hot again out on the asphalt. This time, there was a little more grumbling among the students, but we wanted to get it over with, so away we went. As promised, the second riding session featured more complicated exercises and covered a lot of material. The instructors gave us plenty of breaks to cool off and talk about things. After we went through the instructions and drills, they set up a practice session where we could work on three of the four skills that were on the test. I did pretty well during the practice and then they lined us up for the test.
We were evaluated on four areas. The first phase was u-turns and then a high speed swerve. They put you inside a box in which you are to first make a left hand u-turn, then a right hand u-turn, exit the box down a fast run to the high speed swerve. I’d had difficulties in the u-turn, so I didn’t expect to do that perfectly. It went pretty well, but I just touched the line on the last turn. I headed down the straight and totally choked on the swerve. That made me upset with myself because I had executed it just fine during instruction and practice. I was beating myself up pretty well as I got in line for the next phase, which was high speed stopping. I was pretty sure I would do fine on this, since I had done well in practice. The biggest thing was not to slow or begin stopping before the prescribed mark on the tarmac. I did it just right, except I forgot to downshift when I stopped. The fourth and final phase was cornering and I was pretty confident in that. I knew I needed to pretty well nail it if I were to pass. I thought I did OK, so I parked my bike thinking I had a decent chance at passing, but with mixed emotions about it.
They had us go to the classroom and talked to us individually about our scores. They told us up front that not everybody passed. You’re allowed a total of 21 points you can accumulate in the four trials and I saw three people have to retake at least one trial and that’s 15 points right there. While I waited my turn, I prepared myself for the worst. By the time they called me in, I had decided retaking the second night would really be a good thing, if it came to that. It turns out I passed. Having accumulated 18 points, it was by the skin of my teeth, but I passed.
I didn’t come away from the class with much of a warm fuzzy. I’m not real proud of my effort. I don’t feel like I’ve mastered enough to be safe in the streets. Not even close, to tell the truth. Even if I had aced the riding portion, I’m just not convinced that’s enough. I’m not taking anything away from the program, the instructors or the equipment. What I’m saying is; there is no way this basic course should be enough for a person to get turned loose in traffic. I’m giving a lot of thought about seeing if I can re-take the second night of riding, even though I passed and even if it costs a few bucks. It would be worth it in my mind to at least ace the riding portion.
The thing I took away from this class is the need to practice and practice a lot. The next step for me is to get my license, then get a bike, then practice, practice, practice before I ever take to the streets. I think I will take the advanced class after I feel more comfortable with the skills taught at the class.
All in all, I felt I got my money’s worth out of the MSF course. It’s the bare minimum a person should do prior to riding. I found that I was in the minority as most of my fellow students already had their learner’s permit and had been riding prior to taking the class. The class was my first time on a bike in 25 years. OK, not really, I rode a bike around the block (without a license) about 11 or 12 years ago. Still, whatever skills I maintained all these years were pretty rusty and need more work!
Be safe out there!
Mark