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I took mine the first time in February (it snowed) and failed miserably on the skills test. I considered giving up, decided, "gently caress that, I can do this!" and took the test again two weeks later. Passed like a boss. I've now got almost 7500 miles on my Ninjer, mostly highway. Right now, AS I TYPE THIS, my husband is in his MSF class so he can get his license as well. He's had a permit for a few months now, and is riding a dual sport. The hardest thing for me the first time, and the reason I failed, is that I was really freaked out. I hadn't ridden a bike in years, and had never ridden a motorcycle before except once as a passenger. So my best advice for people taking the course is to RELAX. Chill the gently caress out. Take a deep breath. Ask for help from an instructor. Ignore other people (meaning don't worry that you'll embarrass yourself, not "run into them at full speed"). Just ride and learn and ask questions and get help if you need it. It also helps to keep your arms relaxed. I had so much trouble (and wasn't corrected) because I was death-gripping the handlebars that I couldn't turn effectively. These days I barely use my arms at all. I'm resting them on the bars more than anything, and I hold on with my knees. Try to remember to keep your elbows bent and loose. Check out our Advanced Rider Course: http://team-oregon.org/resources/video/#vids (this video's music is hilarious) They actually use a real (go-kart) course, so you get to go fast, do corners, and all kinds of stuff. I think I'll sign up for it next year.
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Jul 26, 2014 20:14
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 03:09 |
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Yay! Have fun! Try not to deathgrip the handlebars, and remember that no one expects you to be perfect and know all this poo poo from the get-go.
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Sep 25, 2014 01:28
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Weird. It's $200 for ours, and you pay up front. You don't show and don't call? No refund. Drop out? Get kicked out? Show up late? No refunds. We had a guy on mine who bitched and moaned about everything, especially how early the class was (you can choose the morning or afternoon class when you make your appointment). Then on the last day he didn't show up until almost 2 hours after we'd already started. Basically he showed up just before we did the actual test part. Needless to say, he was asked to leave.
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Oct 20, 2014 15:44
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Our guys said they "sanitized" the helmets between uses. I have to assume they meant "lots of Lysol" or something.
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Oct 20, 2014 17:12
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Good luck! Remember to relax, and if you don't get how to do something, just ask. The instructors are there to help you get good (as you can in 2 days) at this, and if you don't understand or it's not working, ask. I wish I'd done this the first time I took the class, The Box would have been a snap.
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Oct 21, 2014 01:32
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Skreemer posted:Some cemeteries are drat nice to go practice in. Just be mindful if there are people about. No sense rolling a wheelie at full throttle with an open pipe during a funeral. Unless that's what the newly interred wanted. "BORN TO RIDE" That's what it's gonna say on my tombstone. And yes, I want an open pipe + wheelies at my funeral.
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Oct 21, 2014 03:53
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Yeah! Congrats! Welcome to the Cold Weather Bros(tm).
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Nov 16, 2014 03:32
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Yaaaaay! I'm glad you liked it. One of us, one of us...
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Nov 22, 2014 20:51
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I can help! 1. You can drop it during the practice, but at least in Oregon, dropping the bike during the test is an automatic failure. During my class, 3 people dropped their bikes during the test. They all had the opportunity to come re-test at the next class, though, so they didn't have to re-pay. 2. They teach you how to shift, and have you go from first to second and back down quite a bit. You're rarely going to be able to go fast enough to get into third, but it's not a big deal. Really, once you know how to shift up and down and you're comfortable, you'll be fine. 3. The way our classes worked was there were morning and afternoon classes. Morning classes started at 8am and went until noon on the range, and then 2-4 more hours in the classroom. While we were in the classroom, the afternoon classes hit the range. You get an hour or so for lunch. Good luck! I was worried I wouldn't like it too, but if you've not ridden a bike before, the first time you actually go is amazing. When you're in control and you're moving on your own steam... I mean, seriously, I started laughing like an idiot and didn't stop for a minute or so.
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Dec 5, 2014 04:17
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Goredema posted:I think counter-steering is the one thing that makes new riders more confused and stressed out than they need to be. Have you ridden a bike above 10 mph? Then you already know how to counter-steer. There is value in eventually analyzing how it works and why it works, but for beginners, it sometimes feels like that old meme, "you are now aware of breathing in and out". You end up over-thinking it and screwing yourself up. This exactly. I was so worried about figuring out how to do it that I couldn't do it. Then, as I was going through a corner and had been distracted from thinking about it, I realized I was just doing it. You don't need to focus on doing it, your body kind of does it for you. Just think about doing a little press, and you'll feel it.
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Mar 29, 2015 23:31
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Goredema posted:Congratulations! The best advice I could give at this point is to be smooth with everything. Don't do anything sudden on a motorcycle: smoothyl lean into a turn, smoothly apply throttle, smoothly squeeze the brakes. It makes everything much more stable and predictable. Seconding this, and also if you commit to do a thing, commit. Don't second-guess yourself, or you will probably fall over, which is what happened to me going up my drive at 4mph. I committed to going up, then had a sudden, "I should stop and get the mail!" thought and thud. Down I went.
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Apr 6, 2015 18:06
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xanif posted:No argument here. Just completed the MSF this weekend and got my license. I picked a dual sport because I am 6' 5" and it had the highest frame and I didn't know anything because I hadn't ridden at all up until that point. Went home and put the plate on the SV650 I bought during the winter and hopped on. Immediately stalled, started it back up, let the clutch out too fast and stalled again, started it back up and tried to do a u-turn and dropped the bike (I didn't drop the bike during the MSF course at all). When I took the MSF the first time, I failed. The box and the cone weave killed me. I never dropped the bike, though. Here's the key: Going slow and learning slow is awesome, but the problem when you're new is that the balance is wonky as hell if you're not accustomed to it. Don't try to ride it yet. Just do those little boring starter things they did in the MSF. Do the clutch/friction point practice on a flat place, if you have one. Just duck walk it for a bit until it feels reasonably comfortable. Then work on going in a straight line and big, wide corners. Don't try to do The Box right off the bat. I tried, and I dropped my bike twice. Don't be like me! Pretend you're doing the MSF as much as possible. They get you comfortable with the weight and balance of the bike well before you ever put both feet on the pegs. Do that for your SV and you'll have a much easier time of it. You're fresh out of the MSF, too, so that's totally in your favor. Go slow, don't try to do stuff that was hard on a smaller bike. Just get comfortable doing slow, wide corners and turns, and get up to 15-20 mph and practice your swerves, gently. That'll help you some with the counterbalancing you need to not drop it when you do start working on The Box.
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May 28, 2015 00:20
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I rode around my road for about 3 days before I got on the highway. It was puckertastic, but after about an hour of riding on a rural highway at about 50mph, I started feeling comfortable and took it on a "real" highway after that. Since then, I have had a burning need for speed.
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May 28, 2015 08:04
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 03:09 |
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Gorson posted:Nothing difficult about it after getting over the initial fear (gripping the controls too tight, mostly), but I like freeway riding about as much as freeway driving, which is to say not in the least. I will gladly take an extra %25-%50 more time and take back roads. You see interesting things and scenery, opposed to the mind-numbing monotonous drone of tires and wind pushing your helmet back. No thanks. This, forever. I was taking the highway home at night on my way home from work, and then I realized I could take the fun route, which I can't take with my stupid electric car. Holy hell, what a difference that makes. It takes me about the same amount of time, but I'm driving through a gorgeous forested area, it smells amazing (unless I get behind yet another rear end in a top hat landscaping truck running diesel), and it's basically a zero-stress 100% fun twisty ride. Road less traveled, indeed.
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May 28, 2015 20:43
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