Start my MSF in a few hrs

[LPC2104]

I start my couse in a few hours and I'm getting pretty excited.  I hope we get to get on the bikes a little tonight.   

[NightRyder]

nope, I dont think so. When I did it, Friday night was all classroom stuff. Sat was half and half and sunday was all (all 3-4 hours) on the range. Still it was the most fun I had for $150 or whatever amount it was.

[pandy]

Congrats!!!!! Don't forget to tell us how it went!! 

[vtlion]

Enjoy yourself.  Its a blast.

I'm signed up for the Experienced Rider Course myself next week.  I figure its good to get polished up after three years.  Not mention I might stand a chance of finding a few new riding pals 

[ajgs500]

Cool and have fun.  Make sure you bring water or gatorade when you start the range, as I found that even in 60 degree weather I got dehydrated very quick.

[LPC2104]

I'll update this as the class goes on to give a future noobie an answer to the future msf questions.  I know there are already a few but oh well.

Last night was class only.  It was kinda boring but went ok.  We have one kid that's been riding for a month and just got a triumph something and he's going to take the skills part of the test on his bike.  Yeah, that's really cool.  Another lady who said she wouldn't answer a sports question because it was a sexiest question.  I think she was just trying to be cute but that stuff really bugs me.  As we were leaving the parking lot, said lady was driving a mini-van talking on a cell phone and almost backed into my friend, he got scared and got on the other side of her (walking) and then she almost backed into a camaro.  Never had any idea.  I'm going to be really alert this morning. 

Class was really easy, questions were easy, and instructor is cool.  Lots of basics like what is a helmet for, SEE, TCLOCS, and other easy stuff.  Nobody needs to sweat over this stuff.  He said he's never had anyone fail the written part and the lowest score was an 88.

That's about it for now.  I start the bike part in about an hour.  I'll report later.  Unless I crash of course in which case I won't say anything.

[vtlion]

looks like you might have lucked out with the weather for today, LPC.  The sun is breaking through.     Hope you have a good ride. 

[afplayboy18]

biggest thing is just have fun...i took the class serious but had fun the whole time.  definetly something you'll remember for a long time.

i like going up to the local college to watch the msf course sometimes...fun stuff.  i remember when i was in it 2 years ago...i see what i did in some of the people there. 

dont forget...definetly post if someone else goes down in your class.  it sucks when some people, no matter how hard they try, just cant get some of the techniques...like working the throttle and clutch.  ive seen people have the hardest times in the class before.

here's a short one about my class:  a guy was doing the part where you ride to the line then stop as fast as you can.  he grabbed too much front brake...did a little stoppie...then jumped off.  bike crashed, he rolled a little bit.  instructor was cool, let him do it over.

[LPC2104]

Class went really well.  The begining kinda sucked but was expected.  We did a lot of power walking and "getting familiar" type stuff.  There were a couple drills I really liked.  We did a fun weaving thing that was a pretty good time.  Then we did another weaving thing that was a lot harder.  The cones were spread out pretty far and it was a lot of low speed handle bar turning. 

We did loops where we were supposed to get the bike to third gear but the girl going in front of me didn't quite get up to speed and I didn't want to pass. 

I sucked at the thing where you have to go btw two tight lines really slow.  I think I was going too slow and looking at the ground in front of me instead of the stop point.  We did the stopping thing but that was really easy.  I did a good job of stopping in the alloted space but he said I was going to fast.  It was a fun time and nothing too difficult.  Nothing to worry about future MSP class takers.

The people are all great too.  My instructor looks like a big Brendan Frasier.

P.S. My legs really hurt.

[ajgs500]

Whatever you do with the figure 8 box thing, dont look at the ground cause that is exactly where you will go.  THis is an exercise in counter steering.

[NightRyder]

aj, what? How is the box an exercise in counter steering? Maybe counter leaning, counter looking (where you want to go vs want to look), counter balancing, but not counter steering.. It is low speed, at low speed you need to turn the wheel, alot. Maybe I'm missing something though..

[ajgs500]

Well i call it counter steering.  When you slide your butt in the opposite direction of the way you are turning.

[Alphamazing]

Well i call it counter steering.  When you slide your butt in the opposite direction of the way you are turning.

That's counter balancing. Counter steering is when you move the BARS in the opposite direction, thus steering the bike the other way.

[ajgs500]

Well whatever it is sort of hard cause it feels unnatural.  I feel your pain LPC.

[NightRyder]

Heh, if you had to counter steer at 3mph, riding a motorcycle would be C R A Z Y !

It would be like almost falling over all the time.. but not.

[sn0rky]

Whatever you do with the figure 8 box thing, dont look at the ground cause that is exactly where you will go.  THis is an exercise in counter steering.

i gave up trying to do that.. so when the test came.. i was all out the lines and everything..
but, everything else i aced

[jackiei26]

I took my test on a cold & windy March weekend.  One rider coach was called "Super Dave" and the other one was Renee.  Between the two of them, they had over 30 years riding experience.  They were pretty cool but Renee was a little strange.  Anyways, when I took my class, there was a Chinese Guy (who took the class with his friend) and he dropped the bike during one of our practice skills on Saturday.  He skinned his knee a little bit and hurt his finger but he was fine.  I had such a hard time doing the figure 8's but a girl in my class who had a little riding experience said that you need to be steady on the speed and trust your eyes.  AWESOME!!!  So Sunday comes and it's test day.  We're taking some time to practice.  I do my first & second skills test and it starts to rain hard (shaZam!!).  Then its sprinkling.  I do my third skills test.  Now it starts to hail (f%$k!) as I go to the line-up and I'm waiting to do the fourth and final test.  But luckily I bought a rain suit and I'm confortably warm.  Only 3 out of 12 people bought rain suits.  Now the Chinese guy who is second to the last to do the third skills test (the quick-stop) must have also jammed his brakes too hard because the next thing I know, he jumps off the bike and it falls to the ground.  Now we all know he just failed the course.  I felt so bad for him because he was doing so good on Saturday.  Last test is turning on a curve (which I had no problem doing during practice).  I start to get chills.  I start off and as I get closure to the curve, I'm looking at the cone at the end of the curve.  But then all of the sudden my brain goes into slight panic with the rain and the hail (can you believe it - - I'm starting to panic NOW??!!??)  I take my focus on the cone and it now moves to the little ice chips from the hail and the rain puddles on ground.  I didn't drop the bike but I crossed the line which cost me 10 points on the final test. 

I did pass the skills test and written test!!!!  YEAH!!!  So what I'm trying to get at is that it was all such a mental thing on the last day.  I was so excited that my hard work paid off.  The course was the best thing and I loved it but it was also the most mentally exhausting and overwhelming weekend of my entire life.  My body and my mind was sooooo tired.  I thought I would go out and celebrate when I got home but I went to bed at 7 pm.

[Queso]

I can't wait for the MSF course! It'll make my insurance even cheaper for one thing  But I'd just like to try out another bike (GZ250's look fun!) Plus I could still use more work on my low speed maneuvers.

[LPC2104]

I can't wait for the MSF course! It'll make my insurance even cheaper for one thing  But I'd just like to try out another bike (GZ250's look fun!) Plus I could still use more work on my low speed maneuvers.

That's what I grabbed.  It's a pretty cool bike but it took me a while to learn where my feet go compared to the GS. 

Low speed stuff is pretty tough but there is only one drill they really work on it.  The first day that is, I still have 5 more hrs and I know that's when we do the 8's in the box.  After class my, my friend with the Ninja 500 did the 8's without too much problem.  Does anyone know what is on the test besides the hard braking and u-turns in the box?

[jackiei26]

I think maybe the quick stop and swerving