Winter Wonderland Redux in OK???

[draketrumpet]

So, tomorrow and the day after (Sat. & Sun.) I'm supposed to be having my MSF course. Only problem is all the happy weather people are saying it will be Christmas Eve and Christmas all over again. *sigh* If they're right, this will be really depressing. If they don't change the course, look for me in my bright orange winter coat on top of my leather jacket. Maybe I'll wear my snow boots too what a sight that would be. Now if only I can find my thermals....

[psycoreefer]

Wow, that stinks! From my experience whatever the weather they do the course. At least you'll have the confidence that if you rode in that crap you can ride in anything.

Your only saving grace may be that all the MSF stuff is low speed, so the wind won't be that bad.

[draketrumpet]

Your only saving grace may be that all the MSF stuff is low speed, so the wind won't be that bad.

Snow. Widespread blowing snow. High near 36. Windy, with a north northwest wind between 22 and 26 mph, with gusts as high as 37 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

Don't think the wind will be light if I'm sitting still.

[draketrumpet]

And its cancelled....

Just got a phone call from the MSF things. Probably the smart thing to do by cancelling the class, but now I have to wait until May 15-16 Now the real pickle:

Do I take a 3 hour ride on the freeway down to Hurst for MOM rally without having taken the MSF? I've been riding for a while and feel pretty confident in a lot of ways, but you never know what you're missing until its probably too late.

[psycoreefer]

Are you legal to ride?
I took the MSF course to get my "M" endorsement, if your not legal then I'd look into trailering it if you really want to go.

If you are legal then I'd say go for it. Free way riding is easy and most of the stuff you learn in MSF is low speed handling, and tips for busy/city driving. Keep your eyes up, look as far ahead as possible, watch out around the on/off ramps and try your best to maintain a safe following distance and you'll be fine.

[draketrumpet]

Are you legal to ride?

Yes. In UT you only need to have a bike and successfully navigate an obstacle course under 15 mph (except when you speed to 20 in a straight line and then do a hard brake). That plus a written exam that says you understand how to theoretically handle, maneuver, and stay safe while on the road.

I passed this test with a small 50cc bike (incidentally, had I taken the test a month later, I would have only been authorized for small bikes) and when I moved to OK, the endorsement transferred. Some states waive any riding test for the 'M' if you take the MSF course.

When I got my 11, I decided that I should take the course to refine my skills and purge any bad habits I may have picked up along the way. I had planned on not going on the freeway until after the course, but I already have once, just for a little ways, and I've seen plenty of highway @ 60+ in the meantime.

I'll likely still go, I just wish I could get this course done with.

[CatatonicBug]

As long as OK accepts your endorsement as legal, you're fine. The safest place for a bike is on the freeway anyway. That is one of the reasons all the MSF stuff is done as slow speeds. Anyone can go at 70mph in a straight line. It's the slow stuff that gets tricky.

[XSokieSPECIAL]

Hey Drake......

...when I went in to get my endorsement all I needed to do is pass the computer based test ( simple common sense ) and go for a ride with a DPS guy following me telling me what to do through an intercom speaker thingy that clipped on my jacket. The whole thing all told took about an hour, hour and a half.

No worries!

I even rode my 11 there by myself an no one said anything about it.

[cywelchjr]

When I got my endorsement down in Az 30 years ago, it was basically ride in a circle, go in a straight line away from the tester and turn around and come back upshifting at least twice and then down the same and stop. Took less than 30 min including the written test. Then the Army insisted that I take the MSF course (there was only one course back then) which as it turned out was given by my platoon sgt. and taken on your own bike back then. Mine was a 75 CL360 that I still regret having gotten rid of, and he demonstrated the quick turn at 30 MPH on his full dress Honda 750 with one hand in the air with us standing inside the square he was coming at.

He scraped pegs both ways but we were impressed with how that big heavy bike swapped lanes like that.

The funny was a guy on a BMW airhead that when he let out the clutch would rise about 6 inches before moving forward. Boy did he have fun on the precision course stuff.

Of course remembering the things that me and my buddies did on our bikes on the post, I'm not sure that having us take the MSF course was enough . We did a lot of stupid risky stuff that I would chew someone out if I saw them doing it today.

[oseaghdha]

So, tomorrow and the day after (Sat. & Sun.) I'm supposed to be having my MSF course. Only problem is all the happy weather people are saying it will be Christmas Eve and Christmas all over again. *sigh* If they're right, this will be really depressing. If they don't change the course, look for me in my bright orange winter coat on top of my leather jacket. Maybe I'll wear my snow boots too what a sight that would be. Now if only I can find my thermals....

HAHAHAHA!!!

You have have that @#E$%^&!
I just got rid of it.

[Wildkat]

HAHAHAHA!!!

You have have that @#E$%^&!
I just got rid of it.

We're supposed to get it tonight too...
WTF?!?!?


Drake... come on down... We won't be going on any rides that involve too much skill (if we even have time to go on a ride)...
You should be fine...

[DJinNH]

So, tomorrow and the day after (Sat. & Sun.) I'm supposed to be having my MSF course. Only problem is all the happy weather people are saying it will be Christmas Eve and Christmas all over again. ....

Meanwhile, here in New Hampshire, it's suppose to get up to near 70 degrees F today.

I remember when I took a Motorcycle Safety Course back in 1980 (NH), one day that we were out riding in circles, etc, it cycled from sun, rain, snow, sun, rain, snow, a few times. I guess it was a good way for us to learn riding in a variety of weather.

[BigDick]

Just got a phone call from the MSF things. Probably the smart thing to do by cancelling the class, but now I have to wait until May 15-16 Now the real pickle:

Do I take a 3 hour ride on the freeway down to Hurst for MOM rally without having taken the MSF? I've been riding for a while and feel pretty confident in a lot of ways, but you never know what you're missing until its probably too late.

Being in the Air Force I have taken both the basic riders course and the experienced riders course offered by MSF, the experienced course doesn't teach you much that the basic course doesn't. Neither course teaches you a whole lot you can't find out on your own, the best thing the courses provide is a "safe" controlled environment for you to push and develop your skills.

Some of the exercises you do, you do get up to ~20 (maybe 25 mph) but no more than that. The best things they teach you are how to properly take different types of corners and how to take a succession of corners.

If you'd like I do have some MSF literature, the old booklets they'd use to cover the course (they aren't current, what they use today) but they still have a lot of the same information in them. I am NOT a MSF instructor, I just inherited the information. I AM the Motorcycle Safety Representative for my squadron though. *shrug* dunno if that makes me more qualified than the average bear to give riding advice.

Just let me know about those books, I'd have to go into work to get them, then bring them home and scan them. I might do that today, it depends on if I feel like getting out into that cussed white fluffy stuff. We got ~2-3" too.

[draketrumpet]

This was the glorious view when I got out of bed 3 hours later than I would have to go to the course. I guess that is one good thing about not having it.


BigDick,
Thanks for the offer. I'll do some poking around online in my extra 18 hours of not going to the course to see if I can dig up anything and post any questions somewhere on the forum, so don't worry too much about those unless you think they are the best books ever written on the subject or were especially helpful.

DJinNH,
Be careful. Yesterday it was 70 here and I went on a nice ride and a short hike with the fam. Today the high is 33 and snowy.

Kat,
Thanks. I am pretty sure I'll come anyway. I'll be hooking up with some others in Norman on their way down. Safety in numbers.

[newc4]

MSF prep

Two skills you can work on.

For slow speed maneuvering, find an empty parking lot, light industry is usually closed on Sundays, and practice riding through the parking curbs while working your turn radius down to one parking spot. Alternate turning left and right. I did this with my son to prep him for his MSF course.

For higher speed maneuvering, I work on my counter-steering which isn’t exactly intuitive. I look for a lightly traveled road and practice last second avoidance of manhole covers, access covers or oil spots on the road by CS. Then I start leaning with CS into the sweepers. As I get a feel for the road and bike I do this at greater speeds. As always, watch for loose gravel, sand, etc. Lotta of that right now after all the road snow treatment.

As others said, freeway riding is relatively benign since all the traffic is going the same direction, though when things go bad there can be tragic consequences.

Good luck and ride safe.

Darrell