Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Well...it's FINALLY getting close. My MSF classes start this Friday, and go until Sunday. Been waiting since early June for these puppies to come!
Got my eyes on a Suzuki M50 a week or so after I pass (assuming I do) the class. If that ends up not working out, there's a nice Yammie 650 Custom just down the road I'm looking at, too.
Wish me luck, and any pointers/tips (other than stay awake and don't fall over) are apprecaited!

- B

Just relax and pay attention. You will learn so much in three days. Just remember, it's only the beginning and you will need a lot of parking lot practice afterwards.

Best advice, just have fun. From my experience, some of the exercises (on the range), no one REALLY perfected. Most were more just to get the concept than anything else. So don't worry if you don't perfect something.

Woo-Hoo!!! Down to ONE HOUR OF WORK, but the class is still three hours away. Counting down the minutes!
Tonight is just going to be in-class work, but tomorrow morning is when the "fun" starts. Looking so forward to it!
Thanks, so much, for everyone's advice and tips...even thought I don't post that much, I've learned a LOT from reading other users' posts. I have a feeling that once I get going on my own bike, I'll be posting a lot more and be able to participate more meaningfully in more topics...until winter hits anyway.
Again, thanks everyone and wish me luck!

- B

Enjoy brbolin!

Relax & have fun. You may even be surprised! On the course I took that started on a Friday nite, we were on the bikes in less than 30 minutes from class start.

Let us know how things go!

Best of luck! I'm taking the classes, too, tomorrow and Sunday. The hours are from 7:30am to 7:30pm both days, rain or shine. Everyone I've talked to that has taken them say it was well worth it. Out of curiosity, check out the class bikes and see how many of them have been dropped. Just hope I don't embarrass myself and add a few scrapes!

Like everyone else said, have fun and don't worry about the figure 8 like I did. I didn't even come close to staying in the box and still passed. I liked the class cause I never road before and needed to learn the basics, but the test seem to be a joke to me. Everyone passed. Even the really scary riders (like me).

Relax and have a good time. The figure 8 was the most difficult thing for me as well. I went outside the box. But, they were the only points I gained and passed #2 in the class. We had one person ace the riding section but, he had been riding for a couple years and was finally taking the class to get his insurance reduced.

I hadn't been on a bike in almost 20 years (I rode a friend's off road bike twice when I was 16). It was a great learning experience. I can't wait to get myself a bike and start riding next spring.

Well...took the class and PASSED!!!
It was a GREAT time! Having never ridden before, and only sitting on bikes in showrooms making "Vroom-Vroom" noises, this was a big change for me. First night was just classroom stuff for about 4 hours. Second day was riding on the bikes for 5 hours, then the last two hours finishing up classroom stuff. Last day was bike for 6 hours, riding test, written test. Needless to say, I was not concerned at all with the written (got 100% on it)...the riding test, on the other hand...
We didn't practice the figure 8 until the last day. I nailed it on my first try...but after that I couldn't hit it worth POO!!! On the test, itself, I only lost a few point because my front tire barely went out of the box. If we weren't in the "small box" I would've been fine.
Ended up getting the best score in the class, and on the cornering (isoceles triangle), I nailed that puppy...and had the best time through it.
On the way home Saturday after class, driving in my truck felt very wierd. I wanted to use the clutch and shift with my foot the whole way home. I caught myself clutching and shifting when I dozed off on the couch, too!
Needless to say, I was a little sad when the class was over Sunday, as I don't have a bike to practice with yet. I rode a "newer" (hadn't been used in the class yet, and was still nice and shiney) Kawasaki Eliminator. Only a 125, but still was nice. Since I'm looking at cruisers, I thought it'd be good to take the test on that thing. There were three other Suzuki 250 cruisers there, and the rest of the class (about 8 bikes) were some sort of ugly, old Honda 250 dual-purpose thingy or something.
Anyway, anybody wondering weather or not to take the class, YES, take it. If nothing else, it was a BLAST! Even if things don't work out and I don't get a bike for a while, I'm very glad I went ahead and took the class.
One concern I had, though...when I went for my "evaluation" after the riding test, the guy said, "when you first started, you were one of those that we were concerned with making it through. Once you'd go through the exercise two or three times you'd nail it from then on. It's riders like you that we really like having here. It just proves that someone is listening to what we say. Great job!" When he started it sentence out that way, though...I was a little concerned!
Thanks, everybody for all the tips and support! Hopefully will be on the road before long (come on bank...don't let me down!).
Oh, another concern I came across...is it bad that I can ride a motorcycle a HECK OF A LOT BETTER than a manual transmission car?

- B

Yay!!! BIG Congrats there!!! Now come the joys of bike buying and ownership! Hope everything works out for you in that area too. As for the manual trans car, just don't run over any bikers