Grumblings from a soon to be rider

[mcgalinmd]

Kyna,

one of the best things you can do is just go and sit on that bike, shut your eyes, and identify the major controls such as the handlebars (seems dumb), brakes front and rear, clutch and gear shifter by touch.  If your bike has a fuel shut off valve, practice finding it without looking down.  You can also practice "dry" shifting - i.e. shifting while the bike is off and your are standing still.  You can do all this with one foot on the ground or both feet.  Also, practice FINE-C start up procedure and the TKV (thumb, key, valve) shut down procedure.  Start up the bike like you are going to ride and shut it down like you are stopping.  All of those things comprise the first 30 minutes of the class.  Being confident in where the major controls are and how to start and shut the bike off are big.  You have that down before you go and you'll be WAY ahead of many people. 

And don't worry - even though you won't be riding the same bike in class that you own (I assume) all the controls are in th same general areas, maybe minus the choke and the fuel supply valve (if you've got one).  Feel free to PM me at any time - i'll help out where I can.  I've been teaching for 5 years, starting on my 6th and have taught folks from 15 years and 9 months to 72 years old how to ride.  You can do it!! 

[Kyna]

I just had my first day on the bike for my MSF course.  I was on a V-Star 250.  It was great.  I really enjoyed riding and learning how to actually use the controls effectively.  I killed the bike at least twice, but I can proudly say I remained upright the whole 5 hours.  I'm going to spend every night this week practicing.  I found "swerving" to be one of the most difficult things, only topped by the Figure 8s.  I only had two clean runs on those two practices but I was so excited afterward.

Thanks for all the helpful hints people passed along.

Get a copy of David Hough's Proficient Motorcycling book and read it. It covers much of the same material as the MSF course, and the explanations of how the techniques work are excellent and more detailed than the limited time in your MSF course will allow.

This book is great btw.  I've found it really informative.  Thanks so much. 

[jdubbs32584]

I just had my first day on the bike for my MSF course.  I was on a V-Star 250.  It was great.  I really enjoyed riding and learning how to actually use the controls effectively.  I killed the bike at least twice, but I can proudly say I remained upright the whole 5 hours.  I'm going to spend every night this week practicing.  I found "swerving" to be one of the most difficult things, only topped by the Figure 8s.  I only had two clean runs on those two practices but I was so excited afterward.

Thanks for all the helpful hints people passed along.
 

This book is great btw.  I've found it really informative.  Thanks so much. 

Keep it up girl! I'm glad the first day went well. You're doing great! 

[mcgalinmd]

Alright!!!  PM if you need more tips----i'm here to help with all my fingers and toes crossed! 

Keep it up girl! I'm glad the first day went well. You're doing great! 

[ro-monster]

 

[somegirl]

Glad to hear it's going well!

[Kyna]

I was practicing today for my final MSF class on Saturday.  The boy's dad is letting me use his beater bike to practice on.  After only two trips down our driveway I dropped it.  It's been down a lot, so I wasn't nervous about scratching anything.  But I hated that I couldn't lift it back up on my own.  I stopped after that, I was too rattled to keep going.  It was so frustrating.  I know what I did wrong, so at least I'll learn from this.  I want to practice but I feel intimidated driving on our uneven driveway.  I'm scared to practice swerving here and of all the things we did in class that is the thing I most need to practice.

I'm just frustrated and needed to vent, plus a little embarrassed about dropping the bike. 

[mstevens]

Dropping the bike just means you've got that out of the way.

[mcgalinmd]

Don't worry about dropping it, happens all the time at class.  And since you did it at home, you don't have to worry about doing that in front of your classmates. 

Get someone to ride it to a parking lot for you.  Practice all you want.  School parking lots are great this time of year because they are pretty much abandoned.  Don't give up!

[somegirl]

I'm just frustrated and needed to vent, plus a little embarrassed about dropping the bike. 

Don't worry, happens to all of us.  Check out the comments in this thread.
http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=4978.0

[Kyna]

I've been reading that thread.  It's nice to know I'm not the only one dropping bikes.  I'm glad I dropped it at home instead of in front of a bunch of people, but man it sucks not to be able to lift the bike.  I tried but had to wait for Ducatiloo to get there and help.

I can now say I've riden a standard and a cruiser.  I think I like the riding position of the standard better.  With the V-star my feet were out in front of me more, and I felt like it was harder to counter-weight when I wanted to.  I'd like to try a sport bike sometime soon, just to see how it feels.

[jewels]

Don't feel bad, I dropped mine this weekend.  I have been riding 3-4 years but I don't normally ride that much in the winter.  Every year I feel like I am relearning certain things and this weekends lesson was you don't need that much front brake.  Hang in there, you are doing great.  You have prepared yourself a lot more than most people.  Just remember to have fun.

[Kyna]

I passed!  I'm going to the DMV on Monday to take the written test and then I'll have my license.  I came home to a very cute ice cream cake with "Congratulations!" written across it and a motorcycle cruisin' across.

[somegirl]

Excellent, congratulations Kyna!  We knew you could do it! [moto]

[m0t0g0th]

A motorcycle license AND cake - DOUBLE score!

congratulations!