- This topic has 12 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 15 years, 7 months ago by WeaponZero.
Well, I finally took the first day of the MSF course!
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September 8, 2008 at 4:37 pm #2056WeaponZeroParticipant
Here in PA, there’s a long waiting list to take the MSF course since it’s free. I signed up 3 months ago and finally this saturday completed the first day of riding. The choices of bikes were: Suzuki GZ 250, Kawasaki Eliminator 125, Yamaha TTR-225, Yamaha TW200. I chose the Suzuki GZ250 and it was a bad choice.
I now know that the “feet forward” cruiser riding position is scary, to me anyway. It felt like I had no control compared to my SV650 and was unable to lean like I had to in order to complete the turns. The transmission was sloppy and made it hard to find neutral. The worst part I think was that the bike I’m used to riding has a reverse shift pattern (1 up, 5 down vs 1 down, 5 up) and I had a LOT of wrong shifts due to that. Having to go through that course on a bike that felt like it was being held together by rubber bands and elmer’s school glue rather than bolts and welds really made me appreciate the handling on my SV that much more. There were so many turning exercises they asked us to do that I had a lot of trouble with on that small bike that are second nature to me on my SV. I looked like it was my first time on a bike because I just couldn’t get comfortable on the GZ250. Even by the end of the day I showed very little improvement because I just couldn’t get comfortable on that small bike. The swerving cone exercises were a nightmare and my rear wheel kept running over the small cones because I just couldn’t turn the bike due to the position my feet were in and the way my body sat on it. I would describe the bike as “too light”, although that may just because I’m used to something bigger. The lack of weight actually made me feel more UNcomfortable on the bike and made it harder for me to control.
Overall I had fun, I learned a lot, and I’m glad I got comfortable with a motorcycle clutch before I went in. It took me 2 days of practicing with my bike in an empty parking lot before I could start it without stalling it and if I hadn’t just gotten that out of the way I would not have made it through this day’s class. I drive a manual transmission car on a daily basis so I’m quite comfortable with a stick shift but it still took me two days of practicing on my own bike just to be able to start without stalling.
I would recommend that anyone who hasn’t ridden before to practice starting from a dead stop just to get comfortable with a motorcycle clutch before going to this class. They move along pretty quickly and if you don’t get the hang of it in about 5-10 minutes you’ll be lost. And being able to drive a stick shift car well does not necessarily translate to being able to work the clutch on a motorcycle well.
September 8, 2008 at 5:19 pm #11824WeaponZeroParticipantOur instructor was a cool guy. Name was Bernie Hauger (pronounced Hogger) and he insisted everyone call him by his last name. He rode a 1982 Honda CB900F with saddlebags and a touring windscreen. He would jokingly refer to the 2 girls who brought along their automatic transmission scooters as “cheaters” because half the exercises didn’t apply to them, but he still made them go along anyway. It was funny because their automatic transmission scooters couldn’t slow down to the required speed for the “clutch control lane” exercise.
Also, being on those bikes really showed me how much I rely on torque to carry me through, and those bikes just didn’t have it even at those low speeds.
September 8, 2008 at 5:46 pm #11828AndrewParticipantYou may want to try one of the dual sport bikes then as they should have standard seating positions.
September 8, 2008 at 6:07 pm #11832BuddParticipantYou may want to switch your shift pattern back to original, unless there is a specific reason you changed it in the first place.
“I am the best there is at what I do, and what I do ain’t nice.”-Wolverine
September 8, 2008 at 6:11 pm #11833WeaponZeroParticipantI didn’t switch it. I bought it from a guy who set it that way because he also had a track bike and track bikes are required to be reverse pattern, so he modified his street bikes for reverse pattern since it’s easier to only use one. He showed it to me both ways and let me try it both ways. Reverse pattern felt more natural.
September 8, 2008 at 6:36 pm #11834BuddParticipantI don’t think it is a requiremnet but a preference for track bikes. The reason being that it is harder to upshift in the middle of a turn or something like that. Now we have to adjust our advice to you. To emergency stop, pull in the clutch, squeeze the front brake, apply pressure to the rear brake and upshift. That just sounds weird. wait, does upshift refer to the number or does it refer to the movement of the foot?
Now you have gone and got used to riding that way and you are doomed to ride motoGP.
“I am the best there is at what I do, and what I do ain’t nice.”-Wolverine
September 8, 2008 at 6:41 pm #11835WeaponZeroParticipantUpshift refers to higher gear, not higher foot movement
September 8, 2008 at 7:35 pm #11837BuddParticipantNothing like having to look left and turn right as on an on ramp.
“I am the best there is at what I do, and what I do ain’t nice.”-Wolverine
September 8, 2008 at 8:51 pm #11847ilnamParticipantIn Illinois there are motorcycle Basic Riding Courses (administered through the Illinois Department of Transportation, Division of Traffic Safety) offered in February and March at a variety of high schools and community colleges. When they open registration, seats go extremely fast. I think it costs $20, which you can choose to donate, or get refunded back at the completion of the course. I’ve wanted to do this for years, but I never sign up in time. Chicago has a couple other riding schools that are offered during the entire riding season and are easier to get into; however, they cost around $300. I recently did one of these and it’s nice because the Secretary of State officials come to lot where we practiced and give us an M license endorsement if we pass the appropriate courses.
September 9, 2008 at 3:02 am #11857AmorylParticipantwhat about the light bikes that made them feel harder to control? did you feel like you were just going to wrench it out of line?
seems to me the biggest issue you had was more with the style rather than the size, and perhaps the maintinence of the class bikes.
September 9, 2008 at 3:56 am #11863AndrewParticipantAgreed. I like my Ninja and the Nighthawk from class was a good 250cc bike. Didn’t care for the Rebel.
September 9, 2008 at 5:55 am #11870NoobacycleParticipantI took the MSF course on a GZ 250. I was the last person to arrive at the track so all that was left was a GZ 250 that had busted instrumentation and a huge dent in the gas tank. I didn’t mind it since the clutch worked well for me and I did rather well with that bike. I just wouldn’t want to ride something like that on a major highway.
September 9, 2008 at 1:37 pm #11874WeaponZeroParticipantAmoryl: the light bikes felt like there was nothing beneath me. I’m a pretty big guy and I think I weighed more than the bike I was on, which is a bad thing. It just felt like I wasn’t riding something that was designed to be able to support my size and weight.
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