Ok, so I finished the msf course this weekend and passed much better than I thought I would.  
The two in class sessions were a snooze.  Bad old videos and I'm so into researching things before hand that there was no new info.  And many silly sets of standing beside the desk in a half squat pantomiming the controls... too funny.
The on bike sessions were exhausting.  4+ hour stretches on the bikes with only minor brakes was a test of endurance.  And it was intimidating because even the folks who had *never* been on a bike before managed to never stall or drop a bike!
The bikes were beaters, the one I got made me run home and happily shift into neutral on the gs... no matter how clunky it is sometimes, the class bike was so bad that I was cheating as soon as the teachers stopped having us put our left hand up to prove we were in neutral.    
Also the range was not "standard", but modified a little smaller, which they didn't tell us at the beginning.  All the curves and circles were standard, but the straight aways between were shortened.
My best friend and I (taking it together made it much easier) also figured out more than half way thru the last session that the instructor who "seemed familiar", plays in both our other main hobbies!  Way too funny and a bit mortifying to know that we'll be reminded of our cursing and spluttering and mess ups! lol
All in all, well worth the time and trouble to sign up for the course and the $$ to register.
I'm going to try to get my bike to the range when it isn't in use and run my bike through all the painted lines.
Now to find the time to stand in line at DMV and get the license squared away.
Oh, and to find room on the frame for the cool "iron horse" sticker.
lol

Congratulations!

Your description of "pantomiming" reminded me of something from MY class.  Did they ever have you use one thumb and forefinger as a handlebar & lever combo (brake or clutch) and then "Squeeeeeeeeeze" with the other hand?  It felt kinda silly, but oh well.

Let us know when you're LEGAL!

congrats. They actually gave me grief for lettignmy forearms sit on the edge of the table when pantomiming...it was so tiring.

hehehe..

I remember that part of them making us crouch and basically imagine about riding a bike. They made us do it over and over again because some guy was too proud to stoop to that level. Anyway he finally did it.. and yeah we had to make the "engine" sounds too.

It was fun.. More fun cause there were hot women in that class.

Congrats!!!  

rotfl
We did have to squeeze our own hands... we did not have to make motorcycle noises.
They should have some toys like toddler's driving consols or something.  Then we could at least chew on the plastic keys.
Hopefully I can milk one last day out of my summer babysitting hookup to spend at the DMV... otherwise I have to wait until the kids start kindergarten and hope there are no big lines.
Then I shall terrorize the roads... and everyone will blame it on my friend on the gxxr. bwah ha ha!

Quote from: ladybridHopefully I can milk one last day out of my summer babysitting hookup to spend at the DMV... otherwise I have to wait until the kids start kindergarten and hope there are no big lines.

Make an appointment online! in and out in a jiffy (did I just say jiffy?!?).

Yah, still have to have at least half a day as DMV is across town against tourist traffic.
I wish I'd appreciated the ease of drooly non-walking babies when I had to deal with DMV last time... loud spastic 5 year olds are *not* going with me!

Congrats  I am glad I didn't take the MSF class after your description.  Does boring come to anyone else's mind?  ]

I would have been waaaaaay too tempted to do a stoppie on a toilet like that, or worse just to freak out the instructor.  I used to ba able to wheelie an old GN250 from a standstill (I hear they use them sometimes in MSF classes).

Congrats again, I hope you learned to be observant and safety oriented.

It's worth it to have insurance lowered and not have to do the DMV driving test... and to have the rowdy crusty old instructor on the enormous goldwing (who has 17 grandkids from 3 marriages and pulls a full camping trailer for trips on his bike) holler about how he can do every single thing on the range on his bike.
If you are really experienced, I could see how it would be easy to get most of the info second hand, and practice the skills on your own.
Wrists down.
Don't cover brake.
Turn your head to the extreme and look thru turns ("I'm looking, I'm looking dammit!").
Don't brake in a turn.
etc.
The experienced/advanced rider course appears to be the same range stuff, just on your own bike... so if you can get access to all the painted lines without the fee and the instructors, you can practice it all on your own.
If you are new or returning to riding it's a good thing for the on-bike stuff... if you are a long time rider, I'm not sure that short a course would brake any bad habits you might have.
lol
And wheelies and freaking out instructors was pretty much the only automatic fail for the course! ha!

ps.  I always always always always... did I mention always? cover the front brake with a finger or 2 (depending on how fast/crazy I feel).  I figure if Pridmore or Mladin cover the brake then its good enough for me.

Now when I say cover, I mean finger resting on top of the brake lever -NOT dragging the brake by squeezing a little.

My favorite MSF memory was when a tall skinny African american (who already owns a bike, just wanted his license)  was doing the corners and somehow squeezed the clutch, leaned back a little(which gave it throttle), he freaked and dumped the clutch. AHAHA the instructors were laughing so hard because of the look on his face. hehe   he just got the front wheel off the ground maybe 3-4 inches.  And the other amazing one was when a older gentleman was taking the course with his wife so she could ride (he did all the riding before then) and he dumped the bike 3 times!!!!!!! this guy has been riding his wife on the back of his bike for years and he cant handle a 125cc bike doing a staggerd weave?!?!  

oh yeah, and Congrats!!  

I took the course with a friend of mine and his fiancee.  He has been riding a Yamaha YZF 600R for about 2 years or so.  She wanted to learn and I was just starting riding so we all took the class together.  I had been riding for about 3 months by the time the class was available.

We were practicing the panic stop drill when Brian asked the instructor if we got bonus points for a stoppie.   :lol: I was taking the class on the GS he was on his 600R (before they lowered the max. engine size to <500cc.).   The instructor who was cool as hell just smiled and said "after the class".  As soon as the diplomas were handed out and everyone left, Brian was pulling wheelies and stoppies on the lot where we just practiced all of our drills.  The instructor giving the thumbs up every now and then.