[Marshy]

End of day 2 of the MSF basic rider class and all I can say is sweet!!!!!! I love motorcycling. I have never been on a motorcycle before and have never used manual transmission. Learning all about the clutch and gear shifting was a lot of fun. I just wanted to go faster and faster putting more into the throttle.

The first day was kind of boring since we just watched a movie and read a booklet but the test was take home and we have 3 chances to get it right. We all had 250cc Honda nighthawks which were a lot of fun.

One thing I realized was that these bikes have plenty of power and the suggestion that a beginner should go less than 600cc is right on. While talking to a lot of people in the class who were mostly into cruiser style bikes I realized that they all felt that a 250cc or 500cc engine would be too underpowered. One woman was talking about getting a 1100cc bike because her friend felt that she would get bored of a lower cc bike to quick!!!

Another thing I really don’t understand is how these classes are not mandatory to get your license. While I didn’t find it too difficult to pick up the concepts and feel of the motorcycle, I would definitely not feel comfortable learning from or teaching another friend to ride a motorcycle or just getting on a motorcycle and learning myself. All the exercises we did were really useful.

Overall it was a great day and I cant wait till tomorrow.
-Gabe

[smadaakram]

I’ve had my learners for a month now, and i want to take the msf course really bad, but i work night shift and can’t get my work schedule and any of the local classes to work together : ( so i’ll just have to get mine the old fashioned way.

//@R!<

[Marshy]

I actually had a different problem, I cant take classes on saturday which are when they all are on. I finally found a class 2 hours away from my house from 9:30am-1:30pm Tuesday thru Friday. The drive sucks but I think its worth it. Keep trying, it took me a year to find this class.
-Gabe

[WendySkeleton]

Glad you had fun.

Okay, people saying how they want to ride a 1100cc motorbike on their first go are crazy. It just goes to show how people don’t do their research first. Yeesh.

[shaggles]

I don’t get the ‘you’ll get bored’ attitude towards smaller bikes. First of all how could riding a motorcycle ever be boring? I can’t think of anything quite as exciting as riding on the freeway on a bike whose top speed is 75 mph.

[megaspaz]

/me mumbles about something about wanting a yami yzf r1 as a first bike at one point in his life…

—
If there’s anything more important than my ego
around, I want it caught and shot now…

[Marshy]

Well I passed the course on Friday. Overall it was a great experience. All I have to do now is scrap up enough cash to buy a bike. Wish me luck.

I am also a bit conflicted. I talked to a guy I know who has been riding for probably over 30 years. I told him I want to go for a low cc bike, he told me I shouldn’t worry about the cc’s and that the torque is more important to worry about. He told me I should find a bike that is comfortable and fits me rather than focusing on cc’s. What do you guys think?

-Gabe

[yerkool]

you should not worry about how many cc’s under the seat, stick to what the teachers at MSF have been telling you,they at least show some love bro! and you’ve paid them to show you what’s the real world of motorcycling about. the guy that you’ve spoken too thats been in it for 30yrs has an old school mentality. someone in the past also told me the same thing, he told me to get something thats comfortable and that fits me. Well! your not trying on a pair of levis jeans here,this is about your life that could end alot faster than you thought cause you made the wrong choice by sitting on a comfortable 1000cc that happens to fit you…..needles to say after crashing on a 250cc , not riding for at least 10yrs tells me I should stick to 250cc until I regain enough of my riding skills back. I am a fortunate guy to be able to tell you this after the crash, all is well with me just road rash on my right leg and some minor on the left leg, I was fully dress for the unexpected ocassion so nothing happen to the rest,no medical bills and nothing broken. and that was at 20MPH. Low liter bikes are forgiving and teach you important skills you will need to survive the stupidity’s of most cage drivers. in my case EGO and past confidence on skills that have not been use for 10yrs cause the 20MPH crash! stay humble and stay on course if you know what I mean.

[Author]

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