the MSF course i took was the Rider's Edge course offered by Harley. The use Buell Blast 500's that are very well maintained. Good instructors, that make it fun to do. The nice thing about it also is if you fail either the written or riding test they will work with you to reschedule a retest, and it doesnt cost anything to retest. I didnt have to do that, but I know someone who did, she has a retardo work schedule, but they still got her in there, and now she's all licensed up.

 

i wanted to take the MSF course but couldn't, because the course offered in my town only had classes mid-week (like tuesday-wednesday or wednesday-thursday) and i couldn't get two days off of work and school for it. so i did it the old-fashioned way... i watched as many YouTube videos as i could find on riding for beginners, sat on the bike a couple times until i got used to how it felt and where the controls were, and just took it out for a ride one afternoon with my fiance following behind in her car (incase i needed someone to call 911). i was surprised at how easy it was to ride, the only thing i had trouble with at first was making slow-speed turns. my '92 Katana was EXTREMELY top-heavy, and i'd nearly fall over every time i made a slow-speed turn (i'm sure i looked like a dumbass catching myself with my feet all the time). i would recommend taking the MSF course because if your DMV's riding test is anything like the one i did here in Lubbock, it's MUCH better to avoid it if you can.

i did the test on my old Katana, and the previous owner had put a Vance & Hines full exhaust on it and this thing was annoyingly loud. well, for the test i had to bring a "follow driver" and the test administrator sat in the passenger seat and they followed me. rather than telling me to ride around, do some lane changes, make some right-hand and left-hand turns, come to some red lights and stop signs, etc... she said "when we honk once, turn left, when we honk twice, turn right". once i got up to speed, over the exhaust and wind noise coming through my helmet, i couldn't hear the horn at all. so she signalled for me to pull over and was freaking out because i had missed a bunch of turns. i told her i couldn't hear the horn over the wind and exhaust, so she told me to watch my mirrors and she would signal which way she wants me to turn (by sticking her hand out the window). so in order to pass the riding test, i literally had to keep my eyes glued to the mirrors, hoping they would stop vibrating when i pulled in the clutch so i could see which way this ***** wanted me to turn. it's the most un-safe i've ever felt on my bike because she was asking me to watch my mirrors more than the road in front of me. her response was "when you're riding, it's just as important to know what's going on behind you" and i asked her when i'd ever be in a real-life situation that would require me to keep my eyes glued on the mirrors more than on the road in front of me. i passed the test,but she had the nerve to tell me that i had poor control over the motorcycle and needed to get my hearing checked (which i just had a couple months before and my hearing is perfect). she told me "this is the way the test has always been done" and i asked her if she'd ever read a short story called The Lottery... it took her a couple seconds to understand what i was saying, and she got all pissed off and just threw the sheet at me and told me to go inside to get my picture taken.

sorry for the rant, but the riding test was completely f***ed and i wish i had been able to do the MSF course to avoid those 'tards at the DPS office

 

thanks for the input guys... i passed!! the class was awesome... i had a very good experience, no one was an overly bad driver... except maybe one.. he skirted by with 20 points O_o.. and a girl dropped her bike once, on the first exam because she was excited about doing the u-turn box and locked the front tires after the swerve...

now i have to take my written and i get my endorsement, then all i need is a bike....

 

Yeah, that help me a lot back in 97'. j/k...

I was the star student in my class, I owned the other three older ladies in all aspects. But they all did pretty well though, the instructor was very cool and patient. The bikes were in decent shape, you can tell some of them had been dropped before though, but they all started fine and everything worked on them. My class though didn't give you a license if you complete it, they would lend you their bikes to test with at the DMV. That sucked so bad, I wouldn't recommended any MSF classes that do that. I had to reschedule 4 times to have the bike at the DMV for me to test with, and I still didn't get a chance to take the test. First time was a reschedule, because the guy bringing the bike had an emergency, second time the guy didn't show up because he was told my test was the following Saturday, the third time the guy showed up at the wrong DMV, and the fourth time finally the guy was there with the bike. BUT... there was a student taking the test before me and I had to wait for him to finish. This student failed miserably as he dropped the bike. After which the bike wouldn't start... [:@]. I gave up.

 

msf is gayyy yyyy yyyyyyyyy i hear that make u sing Y M C A

 

Exactly what is so good about the MSF class? I hear all this praise about it from so many people, from rookies to street and track veterans. Im by no means an super excellent rider, but I like to consider myself fair, if not good at the very least. I find it hard to figure out exactly what I could possibly be taught that is going to help me that much to where it will make that a better rider. Anyone care to elaborate on what makes these classes so highly regarded?

 

I highly regard my class because both of my instuctors had only been down once. Both could attribute it to youth and stupidity. One of the teachers was over 40 and the other was over 60. One rode an 80's Bimmer dual purpose bike (on/off road) that he could put through the corners faster than any squid on a crotch rocket. Given the straights, the rocket would obviously pull, but he won the battle IMO. Technique is why these courses are highly regarded. Some places do not take proper care of monetary allocation and, unfortunately, give some riders a bad experience. However, there are quite a few well managed MSF programs that will teach you a lot on bikes that are cared for.