California Motorcycle Safety Foundation Course

[LilNinja77]

Sadly, the quality of service people get when taking the MSF-B often isn't up to par with what it is claimed to be. IMO you can get out of the class whatever you are willing to put in to it. I went in a COMPLETE noob, having never even ridden dirtbikes, let alone scooters or actual *gasp* streetbikes. I had done my fair share of online and paper research during the preceding months, mainly just because I was so excited and wanted to learn as much as possible during my time there. The classroom portion definitely was the worst part, mainly being a very slow series of highlighting and reciting, and watching what looked like 80's PSA style-videos. BUT, I also took the initiative to ask specific questions that I already had memorized in my head, and was able to get them all answered; there-by even gaining knowledge from the classroom boredom.

I really don't have anything negative to say about the range portion, other than the fact that it needs to be longer and more in-depth. These courses are really stressed with time and class-size, now more than ever; and in my specific course I think they did a very admirable job with what limited time was available. The only two people who did not come out of the course with a pretty good level of comfort on the bike, I really don't think could be taught how to ride with any amount of training. Of course, one of them had already bought a Honda Shadow a few weeks before the course.

I often hear people complaining that they didn't learn any "secrets" of riding, or that they thought they would be shown advanced techniques or something........and sorry but that's thier own silly fault. The course is directly advertised as a beginners course, designed to teach the basics of riding a motorcycle. They have an advanced course, but really it is merely a higher-difficulty adaptation of the beginners' course in which you use your own motorcycle. The speeds and increased, the braking distance and turning radius decreased, and some extra tidbits of knowledge are thrown out for you. If you really want advanced techniques and high-dollar training, go sign up for a trackday. Me, I was more than satisfied with what I got for my $150, but that's just me.
Ride safe

[Moedad]

Originally Posted by alanmcorcoran

...Moedad and I paid $250.

That's my only real complaint. Last time I was on a motorcycle was back in the 70s, and those were dirt bikes, so I didn't mind taking the class. Our instructors out on the course were an interesting contrast (we didn't get our classroom instructor for the riding part). One guy was a young laid back guy who was into...I forget what exactly he called it...some kind of manipulation of your neck bones that was supposed to completely destress you. The other instructor was older and either still was or used to be military. He was totally to the point, by the book. The young guy would make good-natured jokes about his unswerving use of the material.

The BIGGEST benefit was being able to provide a small amount of comfort for my wife that I wasn't just blindly striking out on my own to become a middle-aged rebel without a cause.

[alanmcorcoran]

...my initial comment was I didn't recommend it for experienced riders. It's a complete snooze until midway through the second day. (I did say it was a better value for complete noobs.)

My comments were aimed at folks like Patrick, who I think would regret shelling out the money and the time. I know primal said otherwise, and he may be right. I think it comes down to whether one has read Proficient Motorcycling or not.

If you've ridden 500 miles, you may pick up some good hints, but the David Hough books are much better for that IMO. In fact, MSF and Hough don't even agree on a lot of safety/technique issues. Hough recommends "covering" the brakes (and sometimes the clutch) and I got yelled a few times for doing that. Also, I piped up with a diesel fuel/on-ramp scenario from Street Strategies and the instructor flat out said, "I don't believe that happens." I just kept my info to myself from that point onward.

I mainly took the course to reduce my wife's anxiety about me riding, and, until I flip over into a guard rail, hopefully it will do that. Beyond that, it felt like extended traffic school without the air conditioning.

Yes, I managed to do the figure 8 for the test (I actually got a perfect score in the class), but having only attempted it about 4 times prior, I wouldn't be surprised if I couldn't do it again. I may work on that a bit after I get my license and can legally ride at night in the local school parking lot.

[Moedad]

Originally Posted by alanmcorcoran

My comments were aimed at folks like Patrick, who I think would regret shelling out the money and the time. I know primal said otherwise, and he may be right. I think it comes down to whether one has read Proficient Motorcycling or not.

I agree. It IS a very basic class. And expensive.

[LilNinja77]

Alan, you're completely right about it being good to cover the controls, and I don't think any experienced rider will argue about that. I'm not claiming to be an experienced rider, having only ridden for a little over 1 year, I'm just saying. Especially in traffic, covering the controls can reduce reaction time dramatically. The reason the MSF instructors (I'm told) try to keep people from doing it, is because they don't want a complete novice to be covering the brake, panic, and then lock the brakes up and potentially harm another student.

It CAN happen, in my course one student locked the brakes and went down right in front of me while staging, and I swerved hard enough to scrape pegs to avoid running over him. The same student was covering the brakes while doing the slalom, and made the mistake of looking down at a cone as he passed it. When he started to lose control, I guess he did what many people do in a car........grip the controls as hard as humanly possible.....well the brake lever was in his grip so obviously things got entertaining at this point. He didn't drop the bike but came damn close. Yet again I was following him and got to play "dodge the sitting duck". The next day he T-boned another student while staging.....I was on the opposite side of the parking lot safe and sound. BTW, he failed the course :tongue:

It's an incredibly good idea to regularly practice basic skills in an empty parking lot. Straight line braking, braking while turning, swerving, U-turns.......all are essential to practice. Don't worry too much about making a perfect figure-8, they just do the 8 to make you do a U turn in both directions quickly. Practicing the U turns one at a time is fine, I can't think of any realistic situation on the road that would require you to pull a figure 8, unless you're just trying to make the other drivers dizzy as you dance around them :2tup: Good luck with your practice!
Ride safe

[alanmcorcoran]

...numerous times the bike-droppin' Vietnamese chicks would get dangerously close to the ass end of my GX while thinking through the braking controls. Made me a bit clenchy. Also, after seeing some of the other more experienced riders go down, I was thinking, "you know, it would be a lot smarter if I dropped one of their dinged up thumpers instead of my pristine, fresh-from-the-dealer, purring kitten."

Fortunately there were no incidents of either kind.