Msf Class

[e.z.nightrider]

Well after years of trying I finally got in. The class is the weekend of 7/13. It took 1 1/2 hours to register SWMBO, SWMBOIT (she who must be obeyed in training, my daughter), and myself. In illinois the class is $23, or basicly free it's a $3 registration fee and a $20 deposit that you get back at the sucsessfull compleation of the class or you can donate it to the program to keep cost down for others. Also for newbees a completion certificate means no written or road test at the DMV, just pay your money and sit for that pretty picture. What a deal, low cost, cheaper insurance, and you don't have to fight the DMV (much).

Ed Z.

[HobbyMan]

You are lucky. Around here the basic class is usually about $180 non refundable. The class is worth it though. I had other insurance discounts that were better than the MSF discount. The class got me a lot of store discounts at motorcycle shops. That was nice.

[planedick]

Good investment...

I took the MSF class here in Cantaffordya, cost $110, one 5 hr class during the week and two days of riding their bike in a parking lot. I thought that since I was an experienced rider of over 40 yrs it would be easy. I didn't know how hard it would be to unlearn all those bad habits picked up in those 40 yrs. I really should go take it again.

[e.z.nightrider]

That's what I'm affaid of. While I've always take saftey seriously, I've read the saftey column in Rider for years. I've also read Proficient Motorcycling, More Proficient Motorcycling and The MSF'S Guide to Motorcycling Excellence. That's where I learned about countersteering ect. After each winter i take a day to practice riding skills at the local high school. But all of this is base on what i've read so I JUST CAN"T WAIT to see all the bad habits I've picked up or WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING WRONG ALL THESE YEARS IN FRONT OF MY DAUGHTER (my wife is in a different class).

Ed Z.

P.S. I also can't wait for that first "that's not how my dad showed me."

[eroellig]

I had my MSF class about a year and a half ago. In my case, I had never been on a motorcycle before. I just got the itch and took the class "just in case". I found the XS a few months after I took the class. Before that, I had ridden a bicycle a lot in my youth, but that was about it.

I had a blast during the class and had a nice comment from my instructors. While I was tooling around the course on afternoon, they asked some of my co-students if I had ridden before. I was also pleasently surprised to tie with three others for top score on the written test and got second highest in my driven test (I didn't take a high speed corner as fast as they wanted me to....)

That said, I still have not ridden a motorcycle so much as 1 block down a street. I have no illusions about knowing diddly squat about diddly squat. I'll be reviewing my MSF manual and trundling the old gal over to a nearby large parking lot to try and remember what I learned in my class. Some nice rides on some quiet roads to get used to riding will be in order.

I'm looking forward to it....

Eric

[JWSanders]

The MSF class was the best motivation I found for getting me back on my bike after I spilled it. I only wish I had taken it before laying it down. Didn't take long at all to see exactly what I did wrong.

Countersteering...whodathunkit?!?

I only wish it was as cheap as that here....$175 was money well spent, but hard to want to spend it again. I'd actually love to though. Hell, if it was that cheap here, I'd probably go every year, just for the hell of it.

They do offer an experienced riders class here that I'll likely be taking this spring or summer. It's only $85 and touches on a lot of things the regular class doesn't. Group riding, heavy traffic, etc.

[prometheus578]

Regardless of the cost... if you learn one new thing that might save your butt, consider the cost an investment on your life.
Most courses have their own bikes for you to ride. It's a lot easier learning (and taking the tests)on a lighter bike, like a Honda Shadow or a KLR650.
Have I been? No. Maybe this summer.
Sluggo took the course before I gave him an "E" model last year, which was a load offa my mind.
I would have felt badly had I given my brother a bike and he got in a wreck... and ruined a good machine!

[Pain]

My fiancee and I took the class last summer. Here in WI, you can take a tech college calss, for a bit over $100, but they fill up fast and we don't plan well. So we took a private course for over $300, but it was still worth it.

We had about 5 hours of classroom, and a lot of time on the range. Passing the class pretty much gaurenteed a Motorcycle endorsement.

They had bikes for everyone, but once they learned how many miles I have on my xs, they let me ride it in the class. Felt kinda strange to have the big bike (It was the H, with the full vetter set-up), amoung all the little 250s, riding in figure 8s and trying not to scrape anything in the corners.

[Pat Kelly]

That's always fun. I stopped by the local DMV on a Saturday (they were closed) and took my E with the touring set-up on it over the riding course. There was a guy there on a smaller sportbike watching me. He asked how was I able to do that, he had just tried and couldn't stay in the lines and keep his feet up.
Experience.
My wife kept dabbing her foot when she was testing using our XL250 Honda. She'd get pissed when I'd try to show her how to do it. I'd be on my E doing figure 8's in the street in front of our house. Much tighter that the DMV course.
Last time I did the driving course was around 1980 on a Suzuki TS185. Instructor called me a "show-off" for asking which tire he wanted to stay between the lines. Front and rear tires will track different lines in a turn. He told me to use the front wheel. I went up the straight to the circle, stopped, turned the wheel and continued around the circle keeping the tire contact patch between the lines. He was impressed but not amused.
We used to do "street trials" with our street bikes (my 400 Honda) in the parking lot at a slow tire store I worked at. I got to where I could roll-up to wall, touch it with the front tire (actually bounce off it) and roll away without putting my feet down. We set-up a course around the service bays and see who could take the longest to complete the course without 'dabbing' a foot. They gave-up when I eventually could do clutch forward, front brake bounce back, clutch, brake, over and over and stay in a 3 foot spot.
Then one day I took my unicycle to work...........