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in a parking lot, around in circles...

Had half the riding portion of my MSF today (the rest, and last day for that matter, is tomorrow) and had a good time doing it too.

I did drop the bike once....with no engine on, no speed, hell the ignition wasn't even on.

The instructor made us lean over on the bike (like you would when swerving). I failed to take into account the fact that we were just kinda sitting there and leaned a bit far. The bike fell on my ankle (no damage).

That was the worst spill of the day, and the only spill for that matter.


I also passed the written (got 100, not that it really matters though. 75 is same as 100) so now I just gotta go tomorrow, get my thing saying I passed, and I'm good to go. Then get a job and a bike and some more practice...

I found using the clutch the hardest. Just not a natural feel. Gotta remember to pull it in, shift, let it go slowly, remember what gear you're even in and it's a lot to think about. Though I guess it'll get to be a second nature as I ride more.

The clutch and shifting (though I think the shifting was due to my shoes not fitting under the shifter very well to go into 2nd and up) were the hardest parts for me. That and smooth starts and stops.

By the way, is the bike supposed to jerk a bit when starting and shifting?

Shiv wrote:in a parking lot, around in circles...

Had half the riding portion of my MSF today (the rest, and last day for that matter, is tomorrow) and had a good time doing it too.

I did drop the bike once....with no engine on, no speed, hell the ignition wasn't even on.

The instructor made us lean over on the bike (like you would when swerving). I failed to take into account the fact that we were just kinda sitting there and leaned a bit far. The bike fell on my ankle (no damage).

That was the worst spill of the day, and the only spill for that matter.


I also passed the written (got 100, not that it really matters though. 75 is same as 100) so now I just gotta go tomorrow, get my thing saying I passed, and I'm good to go. Then get a job and a bike and some more practice...

I found using the clutch the hardest. Just not a natural feel. Gotta remember to pull it in, shift, let it go slowly, remember what gear you're even in and it's a lot to think about. Though I guess it'll get to be a second nature as I ride more.

The clutch and shifting (though I think the shifting was due to my shoes not fitting under the shifter very well to go into 2nd and up) were the hardest parts for me. That and smooth starts and stops.

By the way, is the bike supposed to jerk a bit when starting and shifting?

In time you will learn to ride the clutch so ya have smooth gear transitions

most new riders are a bit jerky at first..practice practice practice !


Well done

stay safe

What he said. When you get your own bike you can adjust the shifter height and the clutch handle pull distance to a degree, so it'll fit you better. But everything new takes a while to adapt to. The jerkiness will pass... also you'll acquire a feel for what your bike is doing and shift without even thinking about it. Knowing what number gear you're in really doesn't matter.

Keep it up sounds like you've passed already!

Well I passed.

Have my thing saying I passed and all that good stuff (exempts me from the riding portion of getting my license, still have to take the written at the DPS).

I dropped my bike 3 times today. I hold the record for my class O.o

In the morning I was still kinda groggy and just had slow reflexes, my bike went flying when I added too much throttle. I paniced and let out the clutch which made it go faster, and it was just a good way to wake up in the morning...

The other two times was cause I braked improperly and the handle bars swerved to the side and down it went. I'm alright, kept standing during all three times, just had the bike go down.

So I passed. Gotta get a job now so I can afford a bike for myself.

And work on braking a bit more...kind of an important skill.

Frankly, I'm a little concerned after reading your last two posts. My class covered shifting pretty well. We shifted down to first to stop and shifted up and down while cornering. I'm a little surprised you are still so confused about the concept. I'm also a little surprised that you dropped the bike three times in class. We had two people drop their bikes once, but not three times. Please, when you get a bike, spend a lot of time practicing in an open lot before you venture out onto the roadways.

Yeah sounds like you might want to get a total beater for your first bike and get lots of parking lot practice.

I only managed to drop once during my MSF, same thing that happened on your second and third drops, locked up the front during my fist emergency stop and lowsided.

I plan to practice stopping a lot. I never dropped it going fast (hell most of the time I was practically standing still).

Just those damn handle bars always wanted to go in a different direction.

But like I said I got better towards the end.

And the only confusions about shifting is like turning and stuff (cause they had us on one exercise go from second to third in a turn and then downshift to second on a straight away) and whether you could stop in second without harming your bike.

They taught us to stop in first, but never explained what might or might not happen if you stopped in second or higher. Nor did they say that stopping in any other gear was necessarily a bad thing, just that we should stop in first. (and considering we only did up to third on one exercise and second and first for the others it wasn't a big thing at all).

But see on the second/third gear shifting one we weren't going very fast at all. A lot of people didn't want to keep pace and we couldn't pass them so it was probably 10-15 mph when we hit third.

Hey, dont worry about it, most people drop their bike more than a few times. Though I would agree with everyone else, get a used bike without a fairing, make it a cheap one. Six months from now you should be able to get a bike without worrying about dropping it, except very rarely.