Florida Motorcycle Safety Course
 

Will be going through the course this coming weekend. I need to for lower insurance rate, get endorsement on license and so I can drive on Navy Base where I work. Not sure I am looking forward to it actually because of the long 2 days in a row, in the heat of the day in full gear. Get there at 6:30 am and go until 4:30 pm Saturday and Sunday. 6 pm to 9 pm Friday though. I can at least legally ride my bike back and forth there. Doubt they will let me use my own bike.

Don't know about Fla .. but the one i took in Tennessee was fun... and possibly the best money i spent in that year .. and it was also summer and rained a bit .. but we had som very enthusiastic students and darned good instructors that could critique with out criticism ... Hope you have an enjoyable experience also

Have fun at the MSF course. When I took the class, on the motorcycle days, they gave us breaks after two sessions to give us time to rest and rehydrate.

in oregon they will let you use your own bike as long as you show proof of insurance.

Your paying the money to scratch up someone else's bike. At least thats the way I look at it.

Dump the bike once in the course and its paid for. My wife dropped hers several times when she went. She was upset enough with out it being her new baby.

In the class I took the only person who dropped their bike was the most experienced rider in the class.

If I remember right they will let you ride your own bike in the beginners course in Tallahassee FL

I took the class here in Orlando at OOSI and they frowned upon you even riding your bike to the class. You had to use their bikes (rebels, eliminators, and 2 enduros). We had 2 ladies in the class who showed up JUST to keep a 3rd lady company. They actually told one of them to not come back the second day, and the other one had to learn on a little Honda 50 CC scooter because she couldn't get the shifting and foot brake down pact. Everyone in my class passed, although it seemed like 1 or 2 shouldn't have. But I guess the class is more designed to at least tell you HOW to do the stuff than it is to ensure you actually know what you are doing.

That was how it was when I took the class last summer as well. We had 2 people fail; one for running in to another student, and one for dropping the bike during the final test. But out of the 10 others that passed I would say that at least 2 or 3 more should've probably failed. I'm not saying that 'cause I didn't like them, I got along with everyone in the course; but they genuinely didn't have a good deal of control over their motorcycles. There's a difference between knowing how to control a bike, and getting plain lucky that you didn't drop it or stall out......and IMO anyone who is watching can tell the difference rather easily. But, what do you expect with more and more people signing up for the courses......

Also, 3 or 4 of the students in my course rode their own motorcycles to the course. One lady rode on the back of her husbands' Yamaha FZ1, and he hung around and watched us both days out on the range. The instructors didn't seem to mind.
Ride safe

The instructors are given criteria for the test. If a student meets the criteria they pass. Its not about turning out expert riders its about keeping you form running into a tree or killing yourself by some other method.

I rode a GZ125 in the class that had the throttle cable routed wrong and the engine would speed up to 3000 rpm when I made a hard left turn. You can imagine what the box was like with that.

GZ125 is not a typo.

Exactly my point of concern......the riders I was referring to only passed by pure luck, it was quite obvious to myself (and several other classmates) that they were having a great deal of difficulty operating their motorcycles and were not what you would call "in control" of their machines. I don't say that as a way of looking down on them, I just say it in the pursuit of safe riding. A lot of people don't understand that just passing the BRC doesn't suddenly make you a skilled street-rider, they get the completion card and then just jump on the street without giving themselves any further training. Like you said, it's just about teaching the bare-bones basics, it takes time and miles to really learn the ins-and-outs of street-riding; and the only time you really stop learning is when you stop riding....either by choice or by death.

Being good friends with two ex-MSF instructors has really opened my eyes on how things have changed within the MSF over the years as more and more people have picked up motorcycing as a means of transportation. Like I said, with the classes filling up and having waiting-lists, what can you really expect......All I know is regardless of riding experience, it's a great idea to brush up on critical riding manuevers and techniques on a regular basis. I try to make it out to my local abandoned warehouse about every 2 or 3 weeks as a general rule. If the drivers are being especially dumb (like now, in the summer for instance), it can be a weekly trip. The warehouse is on the back-roads way to the grocery store, so it's just part of my routine. Spend a couple minutes just re-learning the limits of the tires and brakes, and then I'm on my way. Just my .02
Ride safe

you mean GZ250?

No he didn't mean GZ250.

No I meant GZ125. Same size. Looked the same except for the instrument cluster. speedometer, tachometer and a lighted indicator for each gear so you didn't have to guess what gear you were on. I could not find out where it came from. The dealer that claimed to supply all the bikes. didn't know. I got to ride this one after my clutch went out. in the Honda I was using.

I understand your concerns. The do fail people here. No one failed in my class. However on test day we picked up an additional student that was taking the test for the third time. She made it.

Ask your instructor friends if they have any restrictions on what they can tell the students in the classroom.

I don't think they spend near enough time on how to avoid getting yourself into a situation where an accident is likely.

If you haven't read these you might find them interesting.

Proficient Motorcycling: The Ultimate Guide to Riding Well
David L. Hough http://tinyurl.com/2bd228

More Proficient Motorcycling: Mastering the Ride
David L. Hough http://tinyurl.com/2ukmn5

I love both those reads :tup: , my MSF buddies loaned them to me when I first started riding, along with A Twist of the Wrist (I forget the author).......IIRC one of them was on video.

Yes I agree about the need to teach more pro-active than re-active techniques, problem being that doing so would require a much longer course more than likely. And yes they are limited on what they can tell a student in the classroom. Many of the things taught are simple "yes and no" guidelines, intended to just steer the student in to a more safe riding habit. Take the "Don't use rear brake in a turn" rule for example. There are many times where it's fine to use rear brake in a turn, but because it's a bit more of an advanced technique that a complete newbie might crash trying to do, the instructors are themselves instructed to teach that it's a no-no. Truth is that very few aspects of riding are a simple black/white yes/no deal, it all depends on the specific situation you find yourself in. Of course you know this Badbob, I'm just narrating it.

BTW, people around here fail too, they just fail at life :tongue:
Ride safe

and you all fail at getting my crappy jokes

I have Twist of the Wrist as well.this is also a good book.

Well....I completed the course this past weekend. Finished first in the class believe or not. Only got 5 points for going to slow on the 135 degree turn (had to do it under 7 seconds and I did it in 7.2 seconds). What do they expect, it rained an hour before we started the test. Aced the written part of the test. Had two people wipe out on the fast braking and downshift to first gear test. Too much front brake and not enough rear brake and it was wet. They can re-take it again within 60 days, just not the same day. The only part I kind of struggled with was the two tight turns (figure 8) in the 20 foot box and don't put your feet down. I blamed it on unbalanced saddle bags, LOL.

They were mainly using Kawasaki Eliminators (125cc). There was one GZ250 (2007 model) and one big heavy dude had to use a Enduro 125 (street legal motorcross) and they let me use my own GZ250. My left hand was completely wore out after the first day cause of all the clutch practicing we had to do. I did like the way they taught the extreme newbies how to clutch or use the "friction zone". Helped them get started easier. Got boring for me.

Good job :tup: I like hearing what bikes they use at different locations. When I took it, there were 12 bikes.......4 gz's, 4 eliminators, 2 nighthawks, and 2 suzuki enduro's............I was SOOOOO hoping they would have a Ninja 250 when I took it. Looking back, I can see why the Ninja's aren't common in the courses, they require quite a bit more finesse and would be a lot easier to drop for a newbie. Congrats!
Ride safe