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I'm halfway through the MSF Basic Rider Course; I've had one class in the classroom and one class out riding in the parking lot.

When it came to the riding portion, I got off to a rocky start, to say the least. It looked like everyone else had had some riding practice before the class, but this was my first time on a bike. It took me a while to get used to the coordination, and even when I got it down somewhat, I kept stalling out when I'd shift gears or brake. No one else seemed to be having this problem. By the end of the class I was a lot better than I had been at the beginning, but I still left feeling very frustrated.

The teacher asked me if I'd ever driven a stickshift car, and I said no, I've only driven automatics. He said that was probably a big part of the problem, and also agreed with me that it looked like everyone else had already been riding before the class.

So I have a question for any riders reading this: did it take you more than a few hours to learn to shift and brake without ever stalling out? How long did it take you to get the hang of it?

People have different learning curves. You just have to practice it until you don't have to think about it any more. I think that's a big thing too - you have to sorta go with the flow and just let it happen. If you worry about it it's going to hinder your progress.

It took me forever before I learned how to lean a bike down in a curve. It was embarrasing! We've all been there. I hope you pass the course, and if you do, keep in mind that you aren't home free. You're still going to have to practice thos things to make sre you have them down. The course is just the initial step

I agree with what your teacher said, I learned to drive a car on a stick shift and I think this helps a lot in learning to drive anything. Already having a good grasp of the whole throttle/clutch relationship has made life much easier. Give it some time though and don't get frustrated, the more you ride the easier and easier it will get until you don't even notice that you are shifting anymore. Also if you have time to practice yourself, I recommend simply stopping and restarting over and over and over again. Don't bother with switching into 2nd gear, 3rd gear, etc yet, because those are easy once you get the bike moving. Just like in a car, the 1st gear is though most difficult.

Stay calm, rome wasn't built in a day..

I just took the MSF course (final riding class and test was this past Sunday 10/2/05) and I do not drive a stickshift car either and was very concerned about this same thing.

I felt like I stalled the bike during the first class more than the other students so I did a lot of thinking about this before the second riding day. I do not have access to a bike so I had no way to practice.

If you are stalling when you try to move after a complete stop then it is one and/or both of the following:

1) Releasing the clutch too fast
2) Not enough throttle

I thought long and hard after my first class about what I did well and what I did not do well. We had to ride a certain part of the range as slow as we could go using only the clutch to control bike speed. I thought about the fact that I did that part fairly well so for me I concluded it was a lack of throttle.

Going in to the second riding session I had my plan to stop stalling: more throttle. I sat on the bike at the start of the second riding session and started to release the clutch. I felt it begin to grab, then gave it a little extra throttle and away I went. I soon started to realize my starts were not as smooth as the week before even though I was stalling less, and that was actually due to me releasing the clutch too quickly after it started to grab and I had given it the extra throttle. I guess I lost focus when I started to go and just would release it the rest of the way. Once I slowed down the rest of the release to keep it steady I had no issues at all for the final few hours of the second riding day - I did not stall once in that time frame and passed the test without issue.

Another thing you can always do is rent a manual transmission ATV before your second riding day. It is a fun day to go ATV riding and a manual will have a left hand clutch and left foot shifter just like a motorcycle. Although the thumb throttle won't help you practice throttle control for when you get back on a bike.

For stalling when you brake, you just need to remember to pull in the clutch when you are braking to prevent that.

Good luck with riding day two!

I learned how to ride in a parking lot, and had only driven a stickshift a few times. I remember one piece of advice I was given: If you ever find yourself in trouble, pull the clutch. This works almost all the time in cars, but can be adapted to bikes as well. If you are in danger of stalling at low speeds, pull the clutch and get it in the friction zone while giving it a bit of gas.

This was hard for me to become proficient at, but is crucial for low-speed maneuvers.

Also, Rob is right, practice starting from a stop over and over. It's no fun, but it will help immensely.

It takes a while to get both hands and both feet to work together, but stick with it. You'll get it!

I had driven a couple of stick shift vehicles a long time ago, but NOT VERY WELL!!! I hate(d) driving them, personally. I have the hardest time getting into 1st smoothly from a stop. If I'm on a hill, you may as well forget it; so, when I had my MSF class (never rode before), this was a big concern of mine.
I had the issue of nervousness/stalling the first hour or so of riding. We took a break, I sat under a tree by myself and just thought about what was going on, and jsut went over everything in my head.
When we got back on the bikes, after a few minutes I was shifting nice and smoothly. By the time we were done on the first day of riding, I was extremely confident with shifting. Maybe a little too confident. The second day I kept missing 2nd and just going into Neutral. I finally started hitting the shifter harder and got it going again, but I came to one, final conclusion. I can ride a motorcycle a LOT better than a stick-shift car/truck. Unbelieveable. Just give it time.

Heh, well - despite having driven a car for many years - I am quite apprehensive about getting to grips with the handling of old LC!

On Sunday night I started the old girl up in the garage and tried putting her into first and moving off. Well, I didn't really want to venture out the garage down the street (well I do - only not right then and there if you get me!) I moved about two or three feet but I felt if I released the clutch and applied enough throttle to keep her moving I'd be off fairly rapidly... even if only in first gear! So I kept stalling as I don't think I had the confidence to zooop outta the garage.

Remember this is something new you are getting your old brain to learn - there is more than one thing you are having to do at once, so don't be too harsh on yourself!

I think it could be a plus if you've driven a stick, but it's not a deal-breaker if you haven't. They are kinda the same thing... but they are also completely different. It's not like you are hopelessly behind without that knowledge. I don't think there's a lot of shortcuts here - you're just gonna have to practice. I think almost anyone can learn to ride a bike safely. I'm talking about casual pleasure rides here - not everyone is cut out for scraping pegs or dealing with rush hour on a speedy interstate... but just about anyone can ride a scoot around town with a little training and practice. You're just gonna have to stick with it and work. You WILL get it if you put in enough hours on the bike. If you don't pass the first time and have access to a reasonable bike, get someone to help you get it to a big empty parking lot and practice, practice, practice!

Just relax and learn at your own pace. The instructor will help you, too. Here's some encouragement for you...a few minutes ago, I put my bike in the garage. It was not warmed up, and I rode it in at less than a walking pace, touching no feet, and at idle rpms...slightly uphill. Once you relax, and find your comfort zone, you'll amaze yourself as you wonder when that was you were trying to figure it out. Hang in there, everybody has to learn, and you will...if you relax and don't quit.

Don't feel bad! In my class there were a couple students who stalled at the beginning of almost every run and they claimed to have driven sticks. Personally I found the clutch on the bike far easier than the stick on a car, and I think the only help it gave me was knowing I needed to carefully balance engine power with the position of the clutch. If I were you I would just practice that...ride at a slow pace and just play with the clutch while you adjust the throttle, or at idle. Get a feel for how it works and its relationship with the power you're delivering to the engine.

Is there a hill at the course lot? A great practice is to ride the bike up a hill (put your feet down so you wont fall over!) and practice making the bike go up and down the hill and stopping using just the power to the wheel, no brake.