Times article on motorcycle class

[Onno]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/automobiles/14CYCLE.html

Several interesting points here. It reminds me a lot of the motorcycle riding class I took years ago, which hammered home defensive driving skills, and that falling was a matter of when, not if. It also gives some evidence to confirm my sense that a lot of people who buy oversized motorcycles in middle age don't have much a clue of what they are getting into, other than a 'lifestyle.'

[thwart]

Yeah, it's a big thing here in the Midwest. Make some money, get a big Harley (made here in lovely WI), and go riding... so a lot of the 3 (or 4... ) car garages have a big H-D inside. And they are BIG. And yes, for some crazy reason there seems to be a positive correlation between extra-large SUV ownership and having a Harley.

Too bad these folks don't adapt a biking (as in non-motorized) lifestyle instead. They'd do a lot better health-wise. At least in my experience, few people seem to do both.

And, as you'd guess, most don't put on a ton of miles.

I hear rumors that they're going to do something legally about the open pipe/loud Harley exhaust thing. About time, I'd say.

Sorry, Sunday morning not-enough-coffee rant...

[Ginger]

WOW. $350 for the class?


Last time I took it the Motorcycle Safety Foundation charged 25...I think they still do, maybe 50 tops for the beginner course. They provided the bikes. Takes the same amount of time and that class in the article uses the same freak'n material.

That said, it's an excellent class. You learn lots.

[Dave]

The cost of a training class depends on who sponsors it and whether the state pays a portion of the cost as a safety promotion. Most courses are a real business venture, where the people doing it are trying to make at least a partial living from it. The course I took from T3RG cost $250, which is about average these days. I took my training before buying a motorcycle. I only rode for a year (3500 miles) and decided it wasn't my thing.

http://www.t3rg.com/

[djg]

I took the course years ago in Pennsylvania and seem to recall that there was just a nominal fee. I thought it was very useful -- hardly instant expertise, but definitely worthwhile (and would have been worthwhile at a few hundred bucks too).

[link]

pace riding (http://www.micapeak.com/info/thepace.html) ...a lot of crossover info to cycling

No more moto... I sold my R1100GS beemer with 70K miles of group offroading adventure riding.
The birth of Leah last year was the reason ...daddy priorities.

[Bruce H.]

Smart move Link,

I did the same thing a long time ago. Wife got pregnant and I gave away my 750 Honda. When my daughtert reached 22 I started to get the itch again. After discussing touring with my wife, I bought a K1200LT from BMW. I found I was still quite capable of riding and felt better about a big touring bike thinking I could be seen better. Well, so far it's been 3 seasons and almost 17,000 miles and I have found that my concentration on the bike is much greater than before. I do not trust any drivers. I eyeball everyone I can see that is making a turn (especially left turns) and am acutely aware of everything around me. That said I am all too aware that it is extremely dangerous and hope I do not end up a statistic. As more people buy and ride motorcycles, I notice a large increase in accidents including deaths.
But I love it too much to quit
Bruce H

ps..you will have time to ride after your family grows up. I am very glad I watched my daughter mature into a fine young woman, now ih grad school.

[djg]

pace riding (http://www.micapeak.com/info/thepace.html) ...a lot of crossover info to cycling

No more moto... I sold my R1100GS beemer with 70K miles of group offroading adventure riding.
The birth of Leah last year was the reason ...daddy priorities.

Yeah, I was ... um, let's say, encouraged .. to sell the old KZ1000 when my wife was expecting our eldest daughter. I guess that's over 10 years ago now. It's ok.

[Pete Serotta]

The Motorcycle Safety Foundation is a wonderful class for beginners and there is an advanced class if you have been riding a year or more.

It is not for race tracks but real world cycling.
it for all riders (the experience class/2nd class)

[Orin]

The Motorcycle Safety Foundation is a wonderful class for beginners and there is an advanced class if you have been riding a year or more.

It is not for race tracks but real world cycling.
it for all riders (the experience class/2nd class)

I did it a few years back. Even after learning to drive in England where they are a lot more fussy about the driving test and doing some time on the track with the local Audi club (eventually instructing novices), there were still gaps in my knowlege which the MSF course pointed out. I won't say filled because that's a lifetime endeavor!

The course is well worth the time and money whether you seriously plan to ride a motorcycle or not. A lot of the issues are the same for bicycles.

Around here, it costs more for a non-state sponsored course, but you'll get in one a lot faster. When I took it, the wait for the state sponsored course was several months.

Orin.

[bigern11]

Greetings! Odd that my first forum post would be m/c related and not about cycling, but I love them both. In the early 90s, after 20 years of motorcycling experience, I took a Reg Pridmore safety course at a local race track. I'd have to say my reasons for taking it were motivated by a need for speed rather than an opportunity to improve my skills, which I thought were quite adequate. I was humbled by what I didn't know and after 17 years and 10 more classes, I continue to learn and improve my riding abilities every day. I strongly believe that these courses are essential to keeping the motorcyclist alive and should be mandatory before receiving your m/c license. And they are a kick in the pants…..what a rush to drop down through the "Cork Screw" at Laguna Seca!

[Ginger]

Yep, all the classes really open your eyes to what you know and what you don't know. And I found that my motorcycle skills really helped my descending and cornering skills on the bicycle...did nothing for my climbing skills...ah well.

After 8 years of riding, and 7 years of not riding anymore, I still love the motorcycle. Can't seem to get back on one though. It's not the bike, it's the other drivers.

[torquer]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/automobiles/14CYCLE.html

It also gives some evidence to confirm my sense that a lot of people who buy oversized motorcycles in middle age don't have much a clue of what they are getting into, other than a 'lifestyle.'

What struck me about the article was the number of people in the class who were already motorcycle owners; some, no doubt, experienced riders looking to brush up their skills, but others totally new to riding: buy a $15,000 Harley or Beemer, then go get a license. Brilliant!

Gimbel's ride yesterday encountered some motos whose owners could have benefited from the class: bunch of a dozen or so sport bikes passed us on a blind, uphill curve. I doubt the loud pipes on the last guy's Sportster would have saved the life of the first riders had they encountered an oncoming SUV typical of that part of the world.

[Oirad]

Hello,

First time poster on the Serotta forum who rides and commutes by bicycle and also rides a motorcycle (Ducati 748). The MSF course is really helpful (although that sounds more expensive than when I took it 8 years ago) and gets you off on the right foot. You learn mental habits that stick with you. There is, moreover, plenty of crossover between cycling and motorcycling, mostly in the form of awareness of traffic flow and anticipating problems. I found that years of cycling made me a better motorcyclist (no accidents, keep my fingers crossed) and that motorcycling made me a better automobile driver (like I got eyes in the back of my head), atmo.

Oirad

[Avispa]

WOW. $350 for the class?

Last time I took it the Motorcycle Safety Foundation charged 25... That said, it's an excellent class. You learn lots.

The Scooter I ride is big for a scooter (a 250cc) so, one must have a motorcycle license to ride it in Florida. I took a riding course and it was the greatest thing I could have done before riding the scooter!

Ginger, the course cost me $150, and they provided everything!

..A..

[Ginger]

Hello,

First time poster on the Serotta forum who rides and commutes by bicycle and also rides a motorcycle (Ducati 748). The MSF course is really helpful (although that sounds more expensive than when I took it 8 years ago) and gets you off on the right foot. You learn mental habits that stick with you. There is, moreover, plenty of crossover between cycling and motorcycling, mostly in the form of awareness of traffic flow and anticipating problems. I found that years of cycling made me a better motorcyclist (no accidents, keep my fingers crossed) and that motorcycling made me a better automobile driver (like I got eyes in the back of my head), atmo.

Oirad

I was talking to someone the other day and they were talking about an article that listed off things going on in cars going down the road and he said to me: "Do you know that people watch porn in their cars?"
"Well, yeah. People do a lot of stupid things in their cars. I see that going on almost any night I'm out driving."
"You see it? How?"
"I'm always scanning the road and other cars to see what the idiot next to me is going to do next. Holdover from the mortocycle days."
"They really watch porn?"
"Yeah...and they do all sorts of things other than pay attention to what they're supposed to be doing, driving. Exactly what are you watching when you're driving?"
"The road ahead of me."

uh huh.

And the point isn't that people watch porn in their cars, it's that scanning what other drivers are doing on the road has helped me avoid more than one driver who wasn't paying attention to the task at hand.

[Blue Jays]

Bicycling makes one a better motorcyclist. Motorcycling makes one a better bicyclist. Both make one a better automobile driver.

[ericspin]

Avispa, what kind of scooter do you ride. I could get interested in that. I have been riding my motorcycle (Yamaha FJR 1300) to work a lot since the weather is beginning to change and i love the mileage factor. Travel all week for the equivalent of a day or two's worth of gas in my truck.

Eric