| Author | Message | ||
     Skntpig |
My girlfriend is taking her Rider's Edge MSF course. She did the two days bookwork and today was her first day on the course with the blast. We bought her a blast and she wants to try to practice today. Tomorrow she takes her last on course day along with the riding test. Are there any ideas of what a common skill most new riders need help with? Is there a course layout I could set up with tape in a parking lot? She's only been on the bike 3 times so it will take many many more times in a safe lot before she takes to the open road, even if she passes her first test. It's been so long since I took mine I forget the course layout and didn't even require a class. Thanks in advance | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
don't worry about it... she will have done everything she needs to do for the riding eval multiple times before the exam at the end of the day tomorrow. Let the instructors to their job... ya don't want to get to many cooks in the kitchen... I know you want to help, but more than likely... you will cause her more stress. | ||
| Skntpig |
Yah that's the problem. She is asking for my help. I didn't see the practice lot but apparently there are 12 students and it's Way Too Small. She said you would only get a chance to try a skill 2 or 3 times and if someone in front screwed up...She got even less. She literally has less than 6 hours on anything with a motor and 2 wheels. She wants to practice so just looking for input. I guess I will keep working with all the basics and common sense. I'm certainly not trying to replace the instructor, just make her more comfortable on it with seat time. -Now when she wants to roadrace and get that knee on the ground I can help her work on her drive and braking, but it's a bit early for that. | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
"don't worry about it... she will have done everything she needs to do for the riding eval multiple times before the exam at the end of the day tomorrow" +1000!!! She needs to relax, rehydrate and chill out in the a/c if she is taking the class in Florida, get a good night's rest, and focus on having fun while learning tomorrow. Even though she is on the same style bike for the training as her "real world" bike, most coaches I know recommend staying off your own bike 'til you are thru the skills evaluation. Has to do with developing the muscle memory on your "test" bike. I tend to agree. Once she finishes and has her endorsement, it'll be your job to ride around with her in familiar places. Places with little traffic and predictable traffic patterns are best so she can hone her fundamentals. Enjoy! Motorcycling is better when you can share the adventures with people you care about! BeLinda. | ||
| Skntpig |
I told her she should rest and just go tomorrow. She said she just wants to try to shift from 1-3-1 again because she only got to try that twice in her life (and screwed up both times) and practice swerving with rear friction. Should I really tell her no... Her bike is literally a totally stock blast. Can the clutch and throttle pull, neck bearing friction etc. be that much different that it's gonna screw her up? I'm not trying to argue, just understand the concept. I knew I would find experienced instructors here. Keep up the suggestions. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Should I really tell her no... yep... just tell her to relax... and do what the instructors ask her to do... Tell her to watch the riders in front of her that are being successful and try to see how or what the are doing to make it... "Look so damn easy" she sounds stressed to the max and you need to get her to go with the flow... chill... relax.... Its motorcycle riding... it should be fun | ||
| Hybridmomentspass |
1-3-1? I dont remember that when I took my course, though thats been over a decade ago. After this is all done just go find a nice, large parking lot to play around in, and like others said, take her on roads she knows that are light with traffic so that she can get real world experience onthe bike Good luck to her on her test and hope you two have many thousands of miles of safe and fun riding! | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
"yep... just tell her to relax... and do what the instructors ask her to do... Tell her to watch the riders in front of her that are being successful and try to see how or what the are doing to make it..." Again +1000 what wolfridgerider said. If she is a bit of a perfectionist, assure her that we don't see or expect a ton of perfect scores on the eval. We tend to get human beings in our classes, and we as a species are prone to make mistakes, especially when we are a) learning a new motor skill, b) nervous or c) both. Take her out or make her a nice dinner tonight, or do something she likes to do so she relaxes and does not dwell on mistakes she "might" make tomorrow. | ||
| Sifo |
I agree with relax about it. Your mind can only learn effectively for so long before needing a rest. If she really insists the thing I would be concerned with would be the ability to shift, brake, and figure 8s. I think you can duck walk the figure 8 and still pass. | ||
| Skntpig |
Gotcha. No riding today. Good food, rest by the pool, water. She has armored leather and mesh jackets depending on just how hot it is along with proper boots, helmet, gloves. I was kinda pissed off when I asked her if anyone else had a mesh jacket. "Nobody else had any jackets so I didn't wear mine."  She has never been able to get on my bike without a jacket but leave it to her classmates to get her thinking it's OK. I almost wish she would have gotten a small scrape or bruise instead of thinking a long sleave shirt is riding gear. Maybe we should see if they offer a trade in for her Shoei for one of those HD pirate bandanas.  Sorry rant over. Time to show her the deer vs. XB thread<Edit> Tomorrow. Thanks for the advise again. (Message edited by skntpig on May 07, 2011) (Message edited by skntpig on May 07, 2011) | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
No problem. Hope she has a great day riding tomorrow! Funny thing about the mesh jackets: most classes are completed without incidents, so the required long sleeves are sufficient. Classes that we have "real live teaching moments" that reinforce use of proper gear generally have said incidents occurring at slow speeds. Stuff like slowing down too much and the bike falls over. Grabbing the front brake with handlebars turned in the u-turn area. Not falls at a normal road speeds. Every now and then we have a student go down "at speed". A few months back we had a guy go down in a 12 - 15 mph swerve, result of a front brake grab. Was wearing a long sleeved button down shirt. Required stitches. He came back about a month later, guess what he was wearing: Mesh armoured jacket and matching riding pants. He said his trip to the ER cost WAAAAAY more than his new riding ensemble. Food for thought....keep us posted on how she does! B. | ||
| Sifo |
Time to show her the dear vs. XB thread<edit> Tomorrow. Show her this bambi incident. Just a warning, it in addition to pictures of some nasty scrapes, it also shows a deer cut right in half. If that is likely to upset you, don't click! http://xlforum.net/vbportal/forums/showthread.php? threadid=8450 | ||
| Syonyk |
Eh, don't worry about the jacket and the class. I'm sure she'll be fine when back out with you. My gf started riding a month ago, and has a bone stock Blast as well (well, weight reduction from some of the turn signal covers having fallen off... on the list to fix). One thing that's been really useful is a set of communicators that will do bike to bike chatter. We've got a set of SMH10s, and they're wonderful. It makes group riding a whole lot easier, since she can ask questions as we're riding, I can point stuff out, and we can chat while touring. What are the tires on the Blast? The stock Dunlops are really, really bad tires (especially if they're more than a few years old). They grip road grooves like none other and the bike tramlines badly - this is very disconcerting for new riders. We stuck a set of MT75s on and other than them being a bit lacking in total mileage, they're awesome tires. They also will stick through anything she throws the bike at. A few other comments on the Blast regarding things you may not be used to: - Check the oil hot. Or you will overfill it. It drains down. - It uses oil. It actually uses a /lot/ of oil. I'm seeing about 8oz/300mi use on ours. With 2 quarts or so of oil total... keep tabs on it closely. I think it mostly blows it out the breather instead of burning it, but either way it ends up "not in the engine." Remind her that the class isn't teaching her to be a perfect rider - it's teaching her the basics so she can go out and learn the rest safely on her own. And then go ride  Take it easy at first, and remember the Blast isn't happy over 75-80. It can go faster, but it will take ages to get there, and a headwind or hill will slow it right back down. Slow neighborhoods are good at first, and then main roads at slow times - weekend mornings are good. And just ride. A lot. My gf is around 1k miles in her first month of riding, and we're both loving it. | ||
| Britchri10 |
I took my MSF course on a 125 Suzuki something a couple of years ago. The clutch feel is totally different to that of a Blast. (My main ride was a Blast at the time) The Blast clutch felt like more of an "on/off" proposition than the Suzuki's. So, don't go confusing her with two different feeling clutches prior to the actual test. Like everyone says, relax and don't ride the day before & on the day listen to the instructors. Also, ATGATT. If someone wants to ride in a long sleeved shirt, fair enough but we had a guy drop his Suzuki @ approx' 5 MPH during the test and his left elbow looked a lot like raw steak afterwards. Good luck for the test & remember, learning how to ride correctly will take a little time & a lot of practice once she has passed the test. Chris C | ||
| Skntpig |
Sifo: That's the thread I was going to show her. Duh, I can't spell deer. Syonyk: I have a brand new set of MT75s to put on her blast on Monday. I kinda like the idea of the headsets but don't want to 1. spend a fortune, 2. stick anything to the outside of my Arai that I can't totally remove when not in use. Any suggestions would be appreciated before I research the interweb. Fltwistygirl: Thanks for your help. Maybe one of her classmates will come out of class with a hamburger elbow and show her what can happen. I think she has a pretty good idea, just surprised she decided to go with less protected today. Guess it's a peer pressure thing. Brichri10: She is taking the class on all stock Blasts. Her Blast has a slip on, but otherwise stock. I know different models vary greatly. I'm excited and will let you all know how she does. We have practiced this week in a large parking lot close to the house but not for long. It's going to take her a long time until she's comfortable to move on from that lot even when she passes the class. She's smart and doesn't want to jump right into the side of a van, and really enjoys riding 2 up w/me. | ||
| 99buellx1 |
Work clutch control. That is most of what has been covered in day one. Do NOT WEAR HER HAND OUT, or day 2 is going to suck near the end of the day when she needs that clutch control for the ride test. Shifting is very minor for importance right now. It will get more practice tomorrow, and is not scored on the test anyway. | ||
| 86129squids |
Had a customer once who bought a Blast from me- he swore that going to Avon tires over the stock Dunlops was a huge improvement. +1, chillax with your honey, take all the time needed... Good Luck! | ||
| Swampy |
Avons, Pirellis, ANYTHING but the Dunlops~! When the stock Dunlops wear out she will have enough experience to really appreciate ANY other tire! | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Can't wait to hear how she does! | ||
| Buellboiler |
the figure-8 in the tight box would be a good choice to practice. The slolum would also be good. The panick stop with solid control at the stop (feet down quickly). These are the areas that my class mates failed. | ||
| Syonyk |
Syonyk: I have a brand new set of MT75s to put on her blast on Monday. I kinda like the idea of the headsets but don't want to 1. spend a fortune, 2. stick anything to the outside of my Arai that I can't totally remove when not in use. Any suggestions would be appreciated before I research the interweb. I got a set of SMH10s for us. The mount to the helmet with a clip setup that is removable (though I normally just remove the actual module - it comes off as well). They've got about a 1/4-1/2 mile range under most conditions, and work very, very nicely. The reason I went with these over several other communicator designs is that they're designed to be used with gloves on. They have a big jog dial you can press, and a button on the back. Many of the others have a bunch of small buttons, or do stupid stuff like "Redial the last dialed number to show you Bluetooth to your phone is working." Unacceptable... The big jog dial is nice - all the normal functionality is done through that (intercom, start/stop music, volume), and it's really easy to work with winter gloves on. The clips that mount to the helmet come in a few different varieties with different earpiece/microphone options. There are two options for the earpiece: In-helmet speakers that are actually quite good, and a standard stereo headphone plug. My gf uses the speakers and they're just fine. I use the headphone option because I have a nice set of noise blocking headphones I normally ride with. For the microphone options, there's either a boom mic that is attached to the clip bit, or a small button mic that can be attached inside the helmet. You *can* use the boom mic with a full face helmet - my gf does this, and the only downside is that I pick up a bit of wind noise from her. I'm really enjoying them, and they make riding with her *much* more enjoyable. I paid around $300 for the set on eBay, and I think it's totally worth it. It prevents her from feeling disconnected while riding, and lets me point things out while riding. Also, it's useful for when conditions get a bit crappy - she can let me know that her hands are getting cold, or that she's low on gas, or (whatever). You can certainly get away without it, but if you're planning to do any serious amount of riding on two bikes, I'd really, really suggest it. Plus, if you can talk while riding, it seems to raise the "together-time" factor a bit. Which is always a good thing.  | ||
| Skntpig |
She Passed the driving test. We didn't practice but I was going to leave the decision up to her. She was tired so we just chilled. She only has the written test tomorrow night and has the day off to study. It's going to be a while until she is really road worthy but enjoying the journey. | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
Congrats! No rush getting her riding in traffic. Let her take her time getting her fundamentals of controlling the bike down. The things she was tested on: Swerve, quickstop, cornering-those are things for her to work on. The u-turn-well, she needs to be able to control the bike at slow speeds, but doing that well most likely will not save her bacon in traffic. It will help her look cool in the parking lot at Publix, however! Tell her to pop in here and say hi! BeLinda. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
That's great! How do they do the written test in Fla? For the peeps in Ohio.... we send them home with it... its open book and they can only miss 2... BUT... if they miss ANY, we give them the test back and have them correct it.... so when its all said and done, everyone should have missed zero. Swerve, quickstop, cornering-those are things for her to work on. I'll second that! | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
Wolfridgerider- No open book test here or in MN. That is wild that OH lets you do that. My primary school here (FL) uses a two day class format, and we finish up the last segment of classroom including the test on day 2 after all the riding is done. Depending on which location of the 3 I am at, we pick up in day 2 classroom with either Q 70 or Q 109. How many days does your class run? | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
For the state its 3 days. 4 hours one night and we do the whole book (6 to 10pm) Riders Edge is 4 days. Most classes we get everything done book wise Thursday and Friday and save Alcohol for Sunday after the range so we can get the fun awards done. | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
OH runs the same as MN, then. Except the open book part of it. And if there are weekday classes some MN locations use the same 2 day format as my sponsor in Florida. Everything is privatized here as well. Schools are owned/run by private firms called sponsors, but the state oversees, audits, and conducts our RC updates. How much do classes cost in OH? | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
25 bucks... I wish they would charge 75 or 100 We would have less no shows Riders Edge is over 300 bucks 16&17 year old get in for free and go to the head of the walk in line because they have to take the class by law if the want to ride a motorcycle That's great.... if they show up on Saturday to ride. I had a few military guys that would have got the class IF it hadn't been for the under age riders.... the kids showed up on Saturday... rode a couple of exercises and quit.... I can't tell ya how pissed I was.... | ||
| Ezblast |
In Cali - rider's safety course is 250 and it goes up from there - heck there are cheaper track days than rider's safety classes. EZ | ||
| Skntpig |
The written test wasn't open book but she studied and got a 100. She's excited and still a bit leery of taking it to the open road. There's going to be a few more sessions in the big parking lot, then just back roads in the neighborhood. It should give her just enough surprises including squirrels, pavement colored gravel in corners, etc. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Congrats on the 100%! She may think its to early... but a trackday does wonders for riding skills... just say'n | ||
| Skntpig |
OOOO I know. I took her to watch her first trackday in the end of Feb. She couldn't believe what she was watching. This was before she ever tried to ride. She said you know that was a girl you passed. She was doing good. No reason chicks can't go fast... | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
don't get her hooked on trackdays.... 2 people in one household... that would be HUGE drain on the pocket!! LOL |
