Ducati Monster Forum

Well, i went to riding school for my road test and since my bike isn't tagged yet, had to ride their bikes for the test. needless to say they were shit bikes.

the first was a 125cc cruiser style. i had NEVER been on this style bike and first impression was it hurt. my back was uncomfortable and my arms hurt from trying to keep me pulled upright. pluss the steering was WAY too light since there was no weight on the front end. I did horrible. almost overshot a corner due to the COMPLETE lack of usable brakes. and zero power.

next was the Yamaha FJ600. older bike but similar style to the Monster. but that's where the similarities end. I am pretty certain the tires pressures were low sinc ehte bike felt really squiggly. the bike was top heavy and the motor was weak. all in all gave me a very uncomfortable turn in feel since i thought the bike was going to fall over. there was NO linear turn in like the monster. it just went from up to falling flat. scary. and i did crappy in low speed manuevers cause of it.

i am really pissed at myself for trying the test this way. i should have been more patient got my own bike on the road and then taken it.
i didnt fail but i have to do one more session of low speed city riding to pass. probably due to the way i handled the crappy FJ.

lesson learned here is I have a great bike. the Monster (old and new) WAYYYY out handle other similar bikes. That FJ scared the crap out of me turning.

any advice on handling a low tire pressured FJ in the city???

Is it possible to bring a tire gauge with you next time and ask them if you can check the pressures before your test?  It doesn't seem fair (or safe!) that they would ask you to ride a bike with low pressure.

+1 to the above.  In no way can they expect you to ride a bike w/ underinflated tires and score well.  You are perfectly w/in your rights to ask them to inflate the tires to the manufactures recommendations.  I remember when I was taking my test, the POS they gave me would lock the rear if you even thought about touching rear brake.  I mentioned this to an instructor who did nothing.  So I told him to ride it around the course, he did, locked the rear several times and nearly dumped it!!!!!!  They gave me a different bike to ride after that.   [laugh] 

Thanks. i think what you are saying is what i'm thinking is that i need to treat it like i would my own bike. making sure the bike is up to par mechanically so it can be ridden correctly.

i have to assert myself i guess. just nervous. you know the whole teacher/student thing.

so i ended  up going to another location, threw the bike in back of a van and took the test on my bike. no probs. even had a chance to ride in some 30s weather. woah what a difference with really cold tires. spun the rear in second accidently. FUN  [moto]

so now the bike is registered. and i'm all legal again..

now just need all the snow/ice to melt!

Congratulations!!! [thumbsup]

Congrats Raux!!  Here's hoping you get some nice weather soon. [beer]

Congrats!

Was this the riding test at an SMF class? In CA they don't let you use your own bike for the beginner SMF class that waives the riding test at the DMV unless it's under 250cc (I think) so you couldn't ride your monster for it anyway. The bikes at the SMF class I went to were kinda crappy too but luckily they had a little Shadow 250 that I could handle well for me to use. Then on the last day w/ the tests the tallest guy in the class took my Shadow and I got stuck w/ a tall dual sport that I could barely touch the floor on!  >:( What a punk! I almost failed the test because on the swerve test ( the last test) I turned around to look at the teacher so quickly that I lost my balance so I jumped off the bike and pushed as hard as I could to keep it up.  [roll]

Pssst, it's MSF, not SMF. ;)

The OP is located in Europe and has a totally different system.

for the american's living here they can take a test throught the military that is basically a simplified MSF riding test. but we also have to have an up to date (within last 3 years) MSF card from a certified MSF course, again taught by the military. the other option is to take a german fahrschule (driving school) riding test. AND if you fail the military test you HAVE to take the fahrschule course. the fahrschule is the problem in this case. well there were a lot of problems. but the fahrschule bikes SUCKED. and the military didn't even provide bikes, hence i took it with them.

long story short. i got my test done, i'm legal and i have a plate. now i just need ice off the road.