It struck me as ironic, the day I put a deposit down on my NiteTrain, I failed the written portion of the exam! After looking at the obstacle course I realized I couldn't pass the riding portion on my Train, so I put a mirror, a squeeze ball horn and a brake light on my 87XR250, licensed it and used it for the test. Anyone in N.west Az that needs to take the test, my XR is available and easy to navigate around the course. The lady came out to supervise the test, looked at the Honda and just "no wheelies please"
Chuck

 

ecvjohn,
Keep us informed on the course. What was good, what was bad, how many folks put their bikes down, what you learned, etc. The first day I really struggled as I had been riding for 30+ years and didn't have anything to learn. After a big serving of humble pie I got my **** together. I ended being dissapointed in myself... Although I had the highest score of the group I missed a couple of the easy ones.... I was still a little bit too know it all.... and I am learning more every day, week, month, etc...

 

Now thats comic genious right there.

 

Our SC test is a little different and involves a slalom, two U turns, starting, slow almost to stop and start agan, upshift and downshift. You are allowed a couple of booboos. Only problem for me was one part of the slalom, gates set too close distance wise and too far apart. Would have had to make a U turn at 2 mph, not exactly a dressers forte. You get 2 runs to pass. The examiner told me after the first run that I did everything except that one gate perfectly and that I could miss one gate and still pass. Second time through, I just whizzed past that gate and on to the next.. Passed.

One thing the MSF course will teach is the friction zone. That helped me more than anything else with my slow speed manuevering, that and practicing in an empty high school parking lot.


Good luck !

Bubba

 

At least you were able to get into a course pretty quickly. You'll be better for it. The course is good, very good actually. I wasn't there for your test, but I'll bet your mistake was as simple as not looking through the turn and looking down...I can take my bagger and with the handlebars turned against the stops, clutch all the way out, turn circles in both directions...this came with practice, and by not looking where I am, or down, but looking through the turn. So much of slow maneuvers is looking where you want to be, vice where you are going.

Let us know how it goes.

Mac

 

Mac,
It sounds like you should be teaching the safety course on base. The MSF course I went thru when I first got my bike was the best school I ever went to while in the Navy.

 

A properly riden Harley can turn in 18 feet, or a little less. Riding is not about how much time you have in the saddle, but about using the proper techniques when riding at slow (parking lot) speed. I can do full lock turn, either direction, without droping the bike, or puting a foot down. Anyone can learn these techniques and master them in 2 weeks. Lack of confidence and lack of true knowledge is what hinders the average rider. Riding is only 10% physical. The rest is technique and mental (that is, confidence in what the bike can do and your ability to make it do that)

3 Ways to control the bike at slow speed:

Proper use of the 1) CLUTCH, 2) THROTTLE 3) REAR BRAKE.

The rider has to maintain the clutch IN the friction zone. Apply sufficient power to the rear wheel, and feather the rear brake to control speed.

Power to the rear wheel actually makes the bike want to upright itself in a slow turn.

Plus, HEAD AND EYES. Look where u want to go (VERY IMPORTANT)

I encourage every rider to attend a local police motorcycle rodeo. You'll see what a properly riden Harley can accomplish. Even the pros drop bikes too. A seconds loss of concentration is all it takes. But, keep your concentration, and you keep complete control of your bike.

OH YEAH.....STOP THE FOOT DRAGGING.[:@]..LOL IT DRIVES ME CRAZY. Foot dragging is a sure sign of lack of confidence and skill, I don't care how long you've been riding.

 

Well I took the MSF course this weekend.

My thoughts on the program are that it is well worth the $$ spent. There were 5 hours in the classroom watching videos and talking followed by a test. The test was easy if you use common sense. Then it was off to the range where I was introduced to my bike for the weekend- a Kawasaki Eliminator 250-

This is a SMALL bike but it was perfect for the skills needed to pass. The range was somewhat tedious for me for the first hour as I already know the controls on a motorcycle, 10 out of 12 people had never been on a bike before. The only other problem I had was remembering that most of the class had never ridden before and thus they were still afraid of the bike and rode everything extremely slow all weekend, even when told to speed up. Most did gain some confidence by the end of the second day.

We learned the proper emergency braking method, obstacle avoidance, slow tight turns, turns at speed, proper head position entering and exiting turns and so on and so forth.

All basic skills were covered. After much practice we took the skills exam at the end of day 2, easy to pass if you listen to what they want. Only one person failed, but he was a know it all that had never ridden as well as the only person to drop a bike all weekend.

All in all a good experience and I learned a few things along the way. I would recommend the class to all riders of any level, just to sharpen your riding skills if nothing else.

 

Congrats to ecvjohn!! I had one older (late 60's) gent in my class who had started off riding Indians and had purchased a Road Star and was he hard headed!! He disagreed with the 70 / 30 __ 80 /20 concept of front brake to rear and twice during the second day showed that by locking up the rear tire and sitting the bike down on a curve. Thank goodness he was going slow.... That got the whole classes attention...
Glad you got the training out of the way! What now, take your license down and get it updated?

 

Thanks TX- Wait for the skills waiver in the mail, go to DMV and trade it for an updated license.