Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Don't be shy, you can tell us. If you did, were you in a state where you had to pay an outrageous amount of money to take the course? Here in New York the going rate is about $300-375. I'm pretty sure that most failed on the road course and not the written part. I've heard horror stories of people getting kicked out of the class for dropping the bike, what do they expect if its your first time? I don't know about you guys but if an instructor told me to leave the course after dropping $375 in the class I'd probably slap em.

We had 2 people "drop" their bikes. Both were from excessive braking. The instructor let them retake the failed portions after class for no charge.

Out of 20 students only one lady failed when we did ours. She kept having to put a foot down in the figure 8. Personally I came a little close, lack of confidence, so I went a little fast in slow straight line test, and I hit a pylon in one of the curves.

Something about the MSF course irks me. The only reason I looked into taking the MSF course was to get my motorcycle endorsement. When I read about newbie's first hand accounts of the course I just can't shake the feeling that I'm going to be short-changed. Few hours of class-room discussion and a few hours of basic riding. I feel like I can just find a basic manuevering page on the web with instructions and practice the moves on my own. I just feel like the main purpose of the course is to teach people about the clutch. From what I've read, I don't feel I'll be getting my money's worth. Then again, I may be wrong.

I took the MSF course and I thought it helped a lot. I'm 17 and had never been on a motorcycle before. The road course was quite difficult, there was an experienced rider and he had troubles. I think a lot of it is to teach about the clutch. There was one person who dropped their bike because they braked hard with the front wheel turned but she still passed. I think it's kinda hard to fail the class.

My clas was 1 hour in the room 16 on the bike. We were taught starting, shifting, braking, emergency braking, emergency evasion, hill starts, hill stops, tight turns, wide turns, shifting in a turn both up and down, signalling, hand signalling, shoulder checking, posture, slow speed turning, group riding techniques and signalling. It was worth the $400 I shelled out and I would have paid more.

I'm confident that it's helped me avoid at least 4 accidents that would have been caused by other drivers.

The purpose of the course is to:

1) Learn the basics if you want to.
2) Get rid of a mark on your license.
3) Get an insurance discount.
4) Get discounts at local stores (or at least around here you can..)
5) Get out of the riding portion for your license.

It cost me ~$200 here.

If you drop the bike during a test, you fail. Otherwise they didn't care (I dropped it three times outside of the tests -Excessive braking-, not once during the test. Whoo).

Or at least that's how they did it here.

I 'failed' the course the first time I took it... Aced the written test, missed one of the key excercises on the road test. I'd never ridden a motorcycle before, but was familiar with clutch/shifting. I just didn't get confident with the excercise in class and so, didn't do well on it in the final test. The cornering speed one.

I was given the opportunity to retake the road test the following weekend for no charge. I'd taken the class the last weekend it was available, an instructor came out to give the retake to me and the other person who did not pass... she dropped the bike on her retake, I just missed the same excercise.

That said, I learned enough in the class to go out and buy a used bike two weeks later to ride.

I'm trying to figure out what it is you're worried about. You've got to screw up really bad or truly be a danger to yourself (or others) and/or be acting like an A$$ to get kicked out of the class.

Just show up, pay attention to what the instructors are teaching - half the folks in my class had been riding already, and even THEY learned stuff they didn't know - and you'll do fine.

Look into the BRC II which is a modified one day class for folks with some MC experience (either many years ago, or on the dirt, etc). It has little/no classroom time and is one day only. Less expensive too, I believe.

P

Vit0r wrote:Something about the MSF course irks me. The only reason I looked into taking the MSF course was to get my motorcycle endorsement. When I read about newbie's first hand accounts of the course I just can't shake the feeling that I'm going to be short-changed. Few hours of class-room discussion and a few hours of basic riding. I feel like I can just find a basic manuevering page on the web with instructions and practice the moves on my own. I just feel like the main purpose of the course is to teach people about the clutch. From what I've read, I don't feel I'll be getting my money's worth. Then again, I may be wrong.

What site are you reading about msf on? I'd bet the comments about the msf on this site run 20/1 on the positive side. Reading about motorcycling technique is great. I've done it and I encourage others to do so. but it's not even close to being a substitute for hands on professional training with someone who knows what they are doing. Also, I don't know what a few hours is to you - we had about 6 classroom hours and a full twelve on the bikes.

Could I have learned on my own? I'm sure I could have one way or the other, but I bet my skills are better at a faster rate because of the class. I didn't have to take a skills test with some functionary at the DMV. And I got a discount on my cycle insurance. Frankly, it was pretty fun. Who knows - you might feel like you wasted your time if you take the class - but you're definitely wrong that the purpose of the class is to teach noobs about the clutch. Like I said the other day, it never fails to amaze me that some people want to undertake an activity that will ultimately cost them many thousands of dollars and that can be quite dangerous yet they balk at dropping a couple hundred bucks and a weekend's time. Good luck either way.

I learned without the MSF course. That said, I still think it's worth a decent chunk of change. First you get to experience riding a motorcycle before going out and buying one (lots more change unless you have a really nice friend.. or one with a crap bike) so you can decide if it's for you. Second, they have a very structured way to teach you many important skills in a short period of time. Third, the discounts you can get on your insurance and riding gear can apparently cover the cost of the course in many areas (worth checking into). Fourth, you meet lots of people in your area that are starting to ride and might give you a few extra riding partners.

I didn't take the MSF for a few reasons. I couldn't get into one. The one that I could have gotten into was 100 miles away and $200 more than the local one (I'm cheap). Also, I feel that the local ones build too much confidence in your abilities. Have you ever heard the saying about basic training? "Teaches you enough to get you killed." My friend tracey took the course and even though she hasn't ridden since then (August) she still feels that she's a better ridder than my friend john who has been riding for two years, didn't take the MSF course, but practices MSF excercises from this handbook ( http://www.msf-usa.org/downloads/Riding_Tips.pdf ) every saturday before going riding.

All that said, I plan to take the MSF experienced rider course when it's next available and I'm signing my girlfriend up for a MSF beginners course as soon I can, maybe the Harley verison though.