Took the course, definitely worth it.  I'd never ridden before, and it cleared some of my misconceptions/misinformation out before I developed more bad habits.

As to the rain, it warns you on the sign up sheet here that the class goes on, rain or shine, so ya takes yer chances.  They do cancel for severe bad weather, like ice and such though.

And yeah, bring water and sunscreen.  I sunburned the heck outta my face the first day of the class!

As an MSF RiderCoach, I of course highly recommend the course.

I'm scheduled to teach this weekend, as a matter of fact, and there's a chance of rain predicted both days.

I always tell my students that rain is a bonus, as it gives them extra real-world riding experience!

Bill's attitude dismays me, of course. He's said some pretty wise things on this forum over the years, but in this regard, I think he's way off base.

Unless you have taken the course, Bill, you do not know. Only AFTER you take the course are you even qualified to speak about it. Now perhaps you need to quit dissuading those who, unlike you, are actually willing to learn.

Once again, Bill, you are attempting to obfuscate the issue. By your own statements, you have not taken the Motorcycle Safety Course. Until you take it, you are not qualified to talk about it.

bill67 wrote on 08/06/10 at 10:05:51:


More BS bill.  You aren't gonna win this one.  You CAN'T say it is a waste of money because you haven't been there.  

Yes, people learned to do things without training courses before, but training courses are taught by people who learned things the hard way.  They pass their experience along to inexperienced folks to save them the possibility of problems.  How did you learn not to brake in a curve?  A wreck?  I'm glad an instructor told me and I didn't have to experience such a wreck myself!!

I took the advanced rider course here in PA.  Actually I really think it's called the Experienced rider course.  

You take it on your own bike in PA.  I was the only one with a Savage.  I was the only one who max'd the course, no points deducted.  

I already had my license and took it as a refresher.  Yea Bill,  I knew most of the stuff  , but........  

The Panic stop stuff was a "oh yeah, I forgot about that" on the stopping but also getting it into first gear at the same time.   And the Panic stop on a turn was another one.    Locking it up correctly in a turn, and getting it to 1st so you can get out of there is a hurry took several tries to get it right.  

Knew most of it, but it was good to jog the memory. Since it's Free in PA, it was really good practice.

The figure eight (actually a partial figure eight) was super easy on the Savage.  But an old, old guy on a BMW cruising Boat of a bike dropped it.  Odd thing was the bike didn't get a scratch on it because it's designed to be dropped.  It has these rocking chair runner type things on the sides.  The bike just sat there rocking and the guy got off.  4 guys to get it up right.

These schools should get their sh!t together one says don't brake in a curve the others tell you how to lock your brakes in a curve,I'll to it my way brake in a curve but not lockup brakes in a curve.

Cars and motorcycles today handle a lot better than they did in the 60s,And the newer tires help that a lot.