Good news all: This weekend I took the MSF Basic class and passed. I'll be going to the DMV tomorrow and will have a motorcycle license in my hand not long after that. Note: Long post.

The course consisted of classroom instruction, range time, more classroom, and then more range time. The classroom instruction included some basics about the types of motorcycles, motorcycle controls, the physics involved in controlling the bike, traffic safety strategies, and why it's bad to ride drunk/high/fatigued/upset.

The range time started with familiarization with the controls, then finding the "friction zone" which I'm used to calling the sweet spot with the clutch, then to on to starting and stopping, low speed turns, higher speed turns, lane changes, crossing obstacles, and emergency maneuvers. We finished up with a skills demonstration. There were 12 people in the class, and 11 successfully completed the course. Our one DNF tried hard, but hadn't been on a bike of any kind (motorized or not) in 20+ years and couldn't quite keep up with the learning curve and had to go about halfway through the first range session. Several students already own motorcycles, and one had about ten years of dirt bike experience. He probably had the easiest time of it. I aced the written test (as did about half the class), and I found the range exercises to be challenging, but not excessively so.

Some observations:

The bike I qualified on was a Honda Rebel 250 (with all of 750 miles on it). Aside from a 30 second ride on a CBR450 10+ years ago, the only other two wheeled conveyance with which I can make a comparison is the 21-speed slick tire-equipped former mountain bike I ride regularly. The experience left me very favorably impressed-with my bicycle.

Of the 12 bikes used in the class, there was a roughly even split between Rebels and 250 Nighthawks. There was also a single Suzuki that seemed to be a near clone of the Rebel. The Rebel is more of a cruiser style bike and the Nighthawk is more of a standard. Short people like myself (At 5' 2", I was the shortest person in the class, though not by much.) were directed to the Rebels.

I didn't find the Rebel lacking in power, but we also never got over 25 mph the whole time. At 15 mph in 2nd gear, the little 234cc engine feels and sounds surprisingly strong, though some research I did indicates they run out of steam pretty rapidly after about 60 mph. This would make it a poor commuter for getting from home to Reno, as there is a 7% grade with a 55 mph speed limit and 65 mph traffic followed by a 10 mile straight with a limit of 70, and traffic at 75-80, between here and there. I also found it somewhat lacking in cornering ability, as I scraped a peg on one of the cornering exercises while not even turning particularly hard. This came unexpectedly to me, and was quite unsettling. However now that I've done it once, and realized that the pegs are hinged so scrapping one isn't as serious as it seemed at first, the next time it happens shouldn't alarm me (much). The lean limit on the Rebel is something like 35 degrees. I routinely exceed this (sometimes by a lot) on my bicycle. I also think the suspension is too soft for the type of riding I'm interested in.

Wet weight on the bike is about 330 lbs. While this sounded heavy to me before I rode it, it didn't feel that way in operation. The bikes I've been looking at that I like are not much heavier.

The little Honda has a seat height of 26.6 inches. Depending on how wide a bike is, I could easily do another 2 inches (maybe a little more) and still get both feet flat on the ground. Getting just the balls of my feet down, I could manage seat heights of 30 or 31 inches. This means that with a little seat shaving, I could probably operate most of the motorcycles on the market. This was a major concern of mine before taking the class. Cruisers have low seats, but I want something that turns.

There were a lot of smokers in our group, including one of the instructors. Smoking and motorcycling are both risky activities, so it doesn't surprise me that people who do one also tend to do the other. Smoking and motorcycling also happen to both be extremely popular among military personnel, though I'm sure the brass would prefer that we didn't do either.

My left forearm is sore from two days of pulling and holding the clutch in over and over, and over, and over... It'll be better in a day or two.

The first range day I wore a pair of steel toed boots. This proved to be a mistake, as it was difficult to get my toe under the shifter for upshifts. The second day I wore boots without a steel toe and had a much easier time.

Last word: Good course, glad I took it. Now I need (preferably in this order) a steady job, a place with a garage, and a motorcycle.

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

Congrats,

Be carful until you get some "real world" experience on a bike, and have fun.

Definitely. To quote our instructors, "You have now proven that you are qualified to ride in a parking lot with adult supervision."

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

Yup, I've been riding for almost 40 years and I can still manage to scare myself on occasion.

What really scares me is the fact that my 15 year old daughter wants a motorcycle license as soon as she gets her drivers license in a few months.

Yep!

Nope!

I have recommended this site to others in the past.
Save this link to your favorites. This guy knows his stuff.

http://www.msgroup.org/default.aspx

I like that. You are now qualified to start learning how to ride a motorcycle!

The Rebel and Nighthawk are largely the same mechanicals draped with different cosmetics. Both have the same creaky old 250 twin. It makes about 15Hp, top speed is 60ish MPH. They're not bad learners, but not really suitable for highway travel.

Many folks start on the Kawasaki Ninja 250. It's about 300lbs as well, but the high revving 250 makes more than 30Hp. The nice thing about the little ninjette is that it's very tame a low RPMs - low being anything much below 8,000! Above that point the extra power comes available. So it makes a good starter bike, but is also one that can be ridden on the highway and for somewhat longer trips. My wife rode one for a year before graduating upwards and liked it a lot. They're inexpensive and reliable, and widely available used. Probably the best starter bike we have in the U.S. market

When I took my motorcycle test (at the strip mall on Parker Rd just southeast of Cherry Creek park entrance, Craig) the guy taking the test in front of me in a large touring Yamaha bike ran it straight into the building, tipped it over and fell off. He actually asked the tester at the end whether he passed or not.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I have recommended this site to others in the past.
Save this link to your favorites. This guy knows his stuff.

http://www.msgroup.org/default.aspx

I have now bookmarked that site, and already did quite a bit of reading on it. The MSF apparently listens to him, since some of the exercises and course content he complains about are no longer part of the course.

I went to DMV today and have my temp license in hand. The permanent ones are printed at a central location (in Lost Wages IIRC) and then mailed to the person. They said 7-10 days.

__________________
Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.

Way to go. I'm going to do the class sometime this summer (BRC, Basic Rider Course).

Any thoughts on a first bike?

__________________
'07 Yukon 2500
'13 Subaru Outback 3.6R
'13 Orbea Carpe 9-speed

Currently Benzless
Formerly: 300TD, S600, E55, 560SEL

---= The forest breathes, listen.
-Native American elder

I'm probably going to take the MSF course this spring / summer. They have several classes a week around here from the very large motorcycle population.

However...I don't think I'll go straight into ownership. I can't imagine still learning and trying to not get hit by all the crazies out here. I'd guess that 1/4-1/3 of the population is born with a cell phone attached to their heads.

As to the bikes, I had been considering the enduro and supermoto's, but those might be a little bit of a stretch for those with shorter inseam lengths. Can't hurt to sit on one, see how much the suspension compresses (you can often adjust it too, or modify the linkages so it will sit lower). I took quite a liking to the DRZ-400S / 400SM (slightly biased to the SM).

__________________
1982 240D, sold 9/17/2008
1987 300D TurboW124.133 - 603.960, 722.317 - Smoke Silver Metallic / Medium Red (702/177), acquired 8/15/2009
262,715 and counting

This was mine:

Just make sure that you buy proper gear: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgKoXzbw13E&feature=relmfu

LOL, mine was actually a "full size" Suzuki 100 enduro, when I was about 14. I had to wait a couple of years to (legally) drive it on the roads.