I nearly forgot about it. Good thing I remembered because you fail if you're tardy even once. It's a 3 day long class. I have all my gear, anything else I should keep in mind or any tips? I'm a little anxious/nervous

 

have faith in the bike...when you're doing the figure 8 inside the box keep your head turned all the way, the bike will follow. also when you're doing the figure 8 try to shift your weight to the outside. helps balance things out.

 

It's all back brake on the slow esses.

 

Keep your head up, where your eyes are pointed is where you're going, bring water, and maybe a lawnchair.

 

Bitches love wheelies.

A lot of the class will seem boring and mundane. Just bear with it. The riding portion of the class can also be slow-paced (pushing the damn bikes, for example), but again, bear with it. Stay hydrated.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bustdesenuts &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">have faith in the bike...when you're doing the figure 8 inside the box keep your head turned all the way, the bike will follow. also when you're doing the figure 8 try to shift your weight to the outside. helps balance things out.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Definitely. I have put about 1000 miles on the RR I purchased 5 months ago and I did not have confidence in those shitty bikes at all. It was quite difficult for me to be comfortable 'throwing' the bike around like the instructors do. The figure 8 was the most difficult for me but its not hard once you practice and there's no way you can fail the course if you're not good at it (unless you fall of course.)

 

Its cake, figure 8 is the hardest but even if you royally eff it up you still will pass. Figure 8 tips - Rear brake, play with the clutch around the turns, have your head all the way around, and the thing people do the most is put their foot down becuase it feels like the bike will fall, as long as your moving the bike will not fall, so keep that in mind if you feel you need to put your foot down. Good luck

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by b18C1_liLkyLe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Definitely. I have put about 1000 miles on the RR I purchased 5 months ago and I did not have confidence in those shitty bikes at all. It was quite difficult for me to be comfortable 'throwing' the bike around like the instructors do. The figure 8 was the most difficult for me but its not hard once you practice and there's no way you can fail the course if you're not good at it (unless you fall of course.)</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's odd. I had way more confidence originally in my MSF class' dual sport then my F4i originally. The dual sport was so small and light it reminded me of riding a bicycle. I set a new time and speed record for the turning exercises on the test and braked faster from a higher speed than ever before on the test. I went out the next week and didn't feel nearly as comfortable at slow speeds on the F4i. High speed was different. 4000 miles in two months and i was good to go.

 

First day was classroom only so I went in with all my gear for nothing . Tomorrow morning 7AM is out on the field and apparently we get to pick from a few bikes. I figure I'll pick the Ninja 250 because that's what I planned on getting. I think I'll take the advice and bring a lawn chair

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by yed &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">First day was classroom only so I went in with all my gear for nothing . Tomorrow morning 7AM is out on the field and apparently we get to pick from a few bikes. I figure I'll pick the Ninja 250 because that's what I planned on getting. I think I'll take the advice and bring a lawn chair </TD></TR></TABLE>

Listen to the instructors. You'll do fine, and don't drop your bike on the test on the last day.

 

What kind of class is it?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jasper_db1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What kind of class is it?</TD></TR></TABLE>
i'm pretty sure it's MSF.

As for picking the Ninja 250. I wouldn't. There was a guy in my class that had been riding a ninja 250 and clocked 5000 miles before even taking the class. He used the provided ninja 250, and he failed. It's still not as maneuverable as the dual sports. At first i was dissapointed i didn't get the ninja 250 because it was the only sport bike. But i was very happy with my little dual sport. It was fun.
Just try not to get a rebel or cruiser equivalent, you'll just end up scraping pegs all day.

 

the nighthawk is a fairly maneuverable bike so just always keep your eyes on where you want to go and go there. Dont look down on quick stops either. By the second day itll be cake so dont worry about it

 

my class had nothing new rebels and ninja250's. everybody passed dispite one girl dropping her bike +10 times during the 2 days, but luckily not during the test.


-edit- hey i just noticed your in las vegas...are you in the cheyenne or the charleston campus?


Modified by Cjanik at 6:50 PM 11/8/2006

 

I never even got a chance to use my lawn chair. It was so hot outside that we just kept doing all the lessons one after another so we could get out of the sun.

I did end up picking the Ninja 250 and I think I had the hardest time at the beginning but I got the hang of it after. Yeah, it took me some effort and leaning more than others to get it to do what I wanted to. Didn't drop it at all! Had a few times where I wanted to set my foot down because I looked at the floor in a turn and got scared but I hit the throttle and got through it.

I'm at the Charleston Campus by the way and it is MSF(I didn't even know it was MSF, the course was listed as "Intro to Motorcycles" or something). 7:30AM tomorrow and field exam. The written was easy, I hope the field exam isn't that hard either.

 

don't sweat it, you spend all day practicing the stuff that's in the field exam anyways!

 

XT225 ftw!

 

GG my Ninja 250 broke down on me today so I had to get used to a different bike. It kept stalling on me and then the engine wouldn't start after a few stalls(not my fault, the RPM's went to 0 and died). I ended up with a Honda Nighthawk, which was easier to handle though so I guess I lucked out. They even had everyone clear the course so I could free ride and get a feel for the bike and gave me some reviews on stuff I already learned on the Ninja. Passed the course :thumpup:

 

congrats