Life "after" Motorcycle Safety Training Course!

[Sixpackgal28]

Well I passed !! Spent this past weekend - Friday evening and 9-5 Sat and Sun. taking the course. Passed with respectable results and no demerits.
Probably the hardest thing I have ever done and I have done some challenging things !
Previous to taking the course I had NO experience driving stick shift, NO motorcycle experience (other then riding in circles in a parking lot on my bike (2011 FZ6r) with my BF. (and I dropped it).
I was VERY impressed by the course - amazing what they teach you in 2 1/2 days! However smaller bikes - Kawasaki 125 Dirt Bikes are what you train on.
My question is: Now that I am all "safety'd up" - I find I am still very nervous about taking that to real life and getting on the road.

I had my bike out again tonight in parking lot and it takes some getting used to - larger and more heavier bike.

I would love to hear from some other people regarding their experiences and how they felt after the course !! ??
:rockon:

 

[Botch]

The course was a big help to me too, even though I'd been riding a few weeks (fizzer was my first bike). There was a church parking lot a block from my home and I spent a lot of time there before venturing out into the road too much, take your time! The biggest thing they taught me was to use the rear brake, not the front, when you're puttering around a parking lot and making sharp turns, that's probably why you dropped yours when you did.
I did have one problem during the course, the box you enter and do kind've a figure-8 turn. I was on a Kawasaki "dual-sport", and the sharp left-hand turn brought the horn button right into my knee, so I was sounding the horn during the entire left-hand turn of that part of the test. It really rattled me, I almost didn't pass, but the other students and even the two instructors found great humor in the whole incident...

 

[long101]

I just took the course a few weeks back, I had never been on a bike prior. It gave me enough confidence to go and pick up my fz6 and ride it 2 hours home. It would have been an hour ride but I was too afraid to go on the highway . You really do need a good 12 hours in a parking lot just getting use to stuff. Well worth the 350 bucks.

 

[Botch]

Ewps. I usually log into this forum with the "New Posts" link; I just now noticed I barged in on the "Ladies Only" forum. Sowwy! :spank:
(I didn't look, I swear!)

 

[Erci]

Girls only or not, this is a common situation many of us find us in.
I hope your instructors told you that you are now qualified to ride in a PARKING LOT

If you're not comfortable with riding on the street yet then don't! Practice the same exercises you've been shown in last day of class in a safe and quiet environment until you feel really comfortable. Don't sweat the u-turns too much, but shifting, stopping and swerving should should all feel natural. If you can set up a curve and practice counterstreeting in both directions, it will be very helpful.

 

[Verharen]

Congrats! It's a big milestone and you should feel great about your success. I thought I was a big girl after graduation but quickly realized I needed to take small steps before getting out the variety of situations that face all riders. So I recommend going slow and easy on your sportbike after "mastering" the little school cruisers. The worst thing would be to lose your love of riding because you exceeded your personal riding level. The best thing is that it rises if you work at it!

I rode up and down and around my rural road and treated the local parking lot like a simulated city street for a couple of months. I'm not saying I didn't get out a few times, but not very frequently until I felt comfortable with smooth control of brakes and throttle, entering and completing turns, using my signals, navigating obstacles, practicing active eye scanning, using my weight and counter steering to a level of adequate confidence.

One of my worst mistakes included following my riding partner when I wasn't sure what he was doing. Turns out he wasn't sure either! Also, as a short female sportbike rider, I am still very careful to look where I am coming to a stop - I don't have the extra strength nor leg length to hold the bike well if my foot slips on sand or I stop over a hole/ditch.

It's the challenge of getting better with each ride that keeps *my love of riding* alive. It is the knowledge and respect I have for my own limitations that may keep *me* alive. Go at your own pace. Talk to other riders. Practice the stuff that makes your heart skip a beat. You wouldn't own a sportbike if you didn't enjoy adventures! Isn't is AWESOME!!!!!!!:Sport:

 

[lytehouse]

All the above is sound advise and I don't have much to add but "Congratulations"!!

I rode around my block alot before I ventured out too far.
And we're here if you need any more advice or help. Good luck, stay safe, and have fun! :cheer:

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Congrats, and I actually prefer having students who have never ridden before or never operated a clutch. I think it's easier for me to get them to learn how to ride. No bad habits, I can get them to ride the correct way from the get go.

You have to ask yourself why did you drop the bike? What caused you to drop it? Is it because you didn't have the handlebars straight when you were coming to a stop? Possibly not keeping your head and eyes up? Yeah, it's the little things.

Keep practicing your skills in the parking lot. Develope that muscles memory. Get use to your bike! Then move onto your neighborhood streets, surface streets, busier streets with faster speed limits, and when you're finally ready, the freeway. But I suggest that you try the freeway during off peak hours, maybe early Sunday morning.

One of my most memorable Basic Rider Classes. All Female, just turned out that way. Unfortunately, one female rider did not sucessfully complete the rider evaluation. It sucks, but you get use to failing riders after a while.

 

[Gelvatron]

Just like when you got your divers license, practice somewhere a little less populated until you feel comfortable ten take easy streets working on lights then into traffic etc and so on if you feel comfortable it will be easier to preform that's why we buy comfortable beds am I right? But seriously practice until your comfortable and the slows add more variables

 

[Sixpackgal28]

Wow ! I feel better already ! Thanks everyone for the amazing feedback and confidence boost !
Very helpful and yes, one step at a time.
Love this site !
:cheer:
CA =)

 

[darius]

Congrats and :welcome:

Be sure to check out the FZ6R forum if you haven't already.

I demo'd an FZ6R last year. Very nice smooth bike! :thumbup:

 

[LFZ6]

Congratulations! I really enjoyed the course myself and feel like I learned alot from it. I would love to take the defensive riding one too.

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Ssky0078]

You will get used to the weight of the bike. Also if the seat height isn't perfect for you then you can check into a lowering link. If you have good contact with the ground with your feet it makes it easier to control the bike coming to a stop and taking off which is often when a bike gets dropped.

I would say the most important thing is confidence. You have to feel confident and secure in what you are doing. If you don't then your body will be kicking out a bunch of stress hormones which actually make it more difficult to keep a clear head and ride safe. This is what Keith Code refers to as SR's or Survival Reactions. The 2 times I crashed Survival Reactions played a definite roll, more so in the second one, but still part of it because I was riding beyond my skill and not totally confident.

So practice in the parking lot till you feel you are good, then get out on some remote roads or neighborhoods at low traffic times. Go to parks that have slow corners that you can get used to feeling speed and leaning but not too fast. Then go nuts out in traffic. Whatever it is, develop a plan, then find a way to enact it. This also will keep the stress down because you have developed a healthy expectation of what you will be doing so that you can build confidence in non-stressful situations so that when the stressful situations arise you have muscle memory, etc that will guide you. In my first crash it was the muscle memory from the BRC that saved me from flying off a cliff.

Cheers, hope you have fun and ride safe

 

[Sixpackgal28]

Since my last post, I have been out 3 times round my neighbourhood and feel much more confident with each ride! Usually add in some parking lot training at local arena as well !
:cheer:

 

[FIZZER6]

I just took the course a few weeks back, I had never been on a bike prior. It gave me enough confidence to go and pick up my fz6 and ride it 2 hours home. It would have been an hour ride but I was too afraid to go on the highway . You really do need a good 12 hours in a parking lot just getting use to stuff. Well worth the 350 bucks.

Holy cArp! when I took the MSF course it was 2.5 days but only cost $120. Them there's crack prices!

Definitely learned a lot when I took the course back in 2006, granted I already had my M-permit prior to the course and had been practicing on my brother's Ninja 250 up and down the roads around our house.

Slow speed turns were the toughest for me to master because prior to that I had only ridden dirt bikes and was used to putting my foot down and gassing it to spin the back tire to make a quick U-turn....quite a bit different on a street bike.

 

[Karate.Snoopy]

Excellent advice so far, to add

Get the right gear. Do not cheap out on this. It will save your bacon and boost your confidence.

Get your self a copy of one of the several books on motorcycling such as books by David L Hough, Lee Parks, Nick Ienatsch, Ken Condon. I read the first 3 and got them from my local library. Mr Hough's book is a must have for a new rider(IMHO) especially tuned for Street riding and how to be safer. I ended up buying the 3.

Get into a habit of often checking your bike for tire pressure,oil etc etc
Always look where you are going .

"Once the helmet drops the BS stops"

Oh Welcome to the show and have fun :rockon:

 

[Susan]

I was lucky to have some dirt bike experience and a patient, experienced husband when I got my first street bike, because we don't have an MSF course in our community.

Congrats on passing the course, and I love that you're keeping things slow to start with.

The things that helped me gain the most confidence after I got my learner's permit were 1. just basic (slow) practice of all the parts of the skills test and 2. keeping my head up and looking where I want to go, as opposed to looking right in front of the bike.

Something to think about when you're riding with someone more experienced: I'll never be the rider dh and some of our riding buddies are (not enough testosterone?) and I'm fine with that. Always ride your own ride and don't feel like you have to keep up with whoever's in front. Then you'll have lots of years of great rides ahead of you. :cheer:

 

[Verharen]

Get your self a copy of one of the several books on motorcycling such as books by David L Hough, Lee Parks, Nick Ienatsch, Ken Condon. I read the first 3 and got them from my local library. Mr Hough's book is a must have for a new rider(IMHO) especially tuned for Street riding and how to be safer. I ended up buying the 3.

Awesome book recommendations! :thumbup: I have a couple by Parks and Ienatsch but I hadn't seen David L Hough's books before. I just ordered "Proficient Motorcycling" for my kindle. Based on the first chapter preview, I really like the way he sets up the proper mental perspective for riding. Until I found this forum, I felt I didn't fit in with the egos and attitudes of most other riders. I just needed to find the right crowd! You are my peeps!! :cheer:

Keep all the great suggestions coming! We're all still learning even after years of riding. Right?

 

[Erci]

Keep all the great suggestions coming! We're all still learning even after years of riding. Right?

Yup! Can never know everything. Never stop learning! :thumbup:

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Yup! Can never know everything. Never stop learning! :thumbup:

I'm actually taking a Precision Riding Course next week. $350! Modeled or duplicated from the police motor trainings here in Idaho. They say they will teach riders where to put the bikes, when they want to. But I already can do that. It's the most advanced class that this state has to offer, it is not a MSF class. It will be interesting to see what the "Best of Idaho" has to teach me.