Taking MSF course

Submitted by Michael T on Thu, 11/19/2009 - 05:31
in

Finally signed up for a local course. is there anything i should know or work on to not look like a goober

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Focus on three things

eternal05's picture
Submitted by eternal05 on Thu, 11/19/2009 - 08:32.

When you're out riding on the MSF range, keep the following three things at the forefront of your mind at you'll have less trouble:

1) Your eyes hold the key to everything. Keep them up and look where you want to go. ALWAYS! But not just where you want to go in the next half second. Your eyes should be looking for where you want to be in the next 3-5 seconds. That means that in a turn, you look as far into the turn as you can. In a slow-speed u-turn, that means you look all the way behind you as your beginning the turn.

2) Don't hold onto the bike with the handlebars. How will you make 1mm changes in throttle if your hands support your bodyweight? Loosen up! Grab the bike with your lower body and try to be as light and loose on the bars as you can. It will REALLY help things like throttle control while turning the bars, clutch modulation while in full-lock, etc.

3) Be smooth! Everything you do should be smooth. Your throttle inputs, your steering, your braking, your feathering of the clutch, it should all be smooth. That means you should try to avoid any lurches or jolts in your riding (i.e. too abrupt on or off the throttle, sloppy gear change, etc.).

If you're anything like most

WeaponZero's picture
Submitted by WeaponZero on Thu, 11/19/2009 - 14:29.

If you're anything like most MSF students, the hardest thing for you will either be the emergency stop or the box (essentially a U-turn in a small, confined space). Pretty much every student struggles with one of those two exercises (usually the box). You'll go over both of those on your 2nd day of riding. Everything else is pretty much a cakewalk.

In regard to "look where you

eon's picture
Submitted by eon on Thu, 11/19/2009 - 15:49.

In regard to "look where you want to go", what they really mean is point your chin where you want to go. In other words, your eyes are looking straight ahead and you turn your head.

Other than that my advice is to not worry. The course is designed for absolute beginners. Go there with the intention of having fun and learning. Don't go with the intention of passing a test or else you will stress out and likely fail. Being relaxed is the key to a lot of the exercises.

You can do some of the bookwork online before you get there if you want to get a head start but it is not necessary. It's not exactly rocket science.

Oh, be sure to take the test

WeaponZero's picture
Submitted by WeaponZero on Thu, 11/19/2009 - 16:49.

Oh, be sure to take the course on one of the dual sports rather than one of the cruisers/standards. You'll have WAAAAAAAY more fun. Trust me on this.

Yamaha TW200 and Yamaha TTR225 were the ones they had when I went. I did it on the TW200 and WHOO WEE was that thing FUN compared to the GZ250 I first tried.

to not look like a goober

Elwood1960's picture
Submitted by Elwood1960 on Thu, 11/19/2009 - 18:28.

"""""to not look like a goober"""""
_____________

Brown paper bag? LoL

Go in with a wide open mind. Trust your instructors and do what they say. When they say "head turn", better to much than to little! Trust them . . the system they teach does work each and every time it is tried!

The other thing . . relax. Have fun . .don't put to much pressure on yourself. You will not be perfect in one weekend, one year or even one decade. So relax, enjoy the experience and trust the methods they teach you . .you'll do fine. (-;

edit:
The first thing they do is the "clutch" . . . and to many people think they are teaching you to get into first gear. That is not true, they are teaching you the friction zone.

When you use the "friction zone" right in that very first duck walk . . using the "clutch" to deliver power to the rear wheel and NOT the throttle . .you can go as SLOW as you darn well want to. Get that part right and the rest of the day is a breeze. You are not doing the box in "first gear", you are "in the friction zone" . . . . . . .

When you are in the friction zone, you can rev the engine and power delivery to the rear wheel does not change. These bikes have a wet clutch . . . they are made for that kind of use.

2006 Harley Davidson Dyna Wide Glide
Sales, Peterson's North Miami Store

okay thanks i figured it

Submitted by Michael T on Fri, 11/20/2009 - 03:35.

okay thanks i figured it would be pretty self explanatory but just wanted to cover my bases :)