| Author | Message | ||
     Barker |
Anyone? I need to know. Please be honest. Coach training begins the last weekend in march.  | ||
| Buellinachinashop |
I'd imagine that you'd knock your head ona wall trying to educate the know-it-alls. That and more of your free time being taken. | ||
| Brumbear |
How is your patience with the newbie types? I personally wouldn't want to try to teach a mother or say a kid to ride if they don't seem the type, cause if I certified them knowing they really shouldn't be doing this but make the requirements I would feel kinda crappy cause its only a matter of time sometimes only minutes till they pankacke or worse thats just me though | ||
| Woody1911a1 |
not MSF but for several years taught the basic pistol safety course here in mass and if it wasn't for the time commitment , i'd still be doing it . found it quite rewarding . if you have the time i'd say give it a go . it will probably turn out to be a good learning experience for yourself . | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
The good out weighs the bad big time! What sucks?  Some people just don't get it. No matter how hard you try to explain or show them they will never get it. Teaching in the rain.(Its good for the students but sucks for us) Teaching with someone that is long winded "My name is BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH... 30 min. later "BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH LETS RIDE" To be honest with you, its a good time. Your motorcycle habit just became a tax write off. The only thing I would tell you to avoid is teaching every weekend. If you don't look forward to doing it, DON'T! It will be a pain in the a$$ for you and your students will suffer. You need to be positive 100% of the time. Learning to ride may be a dream for one if not all of your students and you don't want to screw that up for them. | ||
| Barker |
I want to do it , but until now my list of reasons I should not was very short. I just want to make sure this is what I want to do, and i understand what I'm getting myself into. I'm excited, but I'm going to miss march badness.  | ||
| Thumper74 |
Ahh... fond memories of Wafflehouse at 7am... | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
The biggest problem I've seen is that it removes 99.99% of the spontaneity from your riding schedule. You either don't teach enough to make it worth your time, or you teach so much that you never get to ride. I've seen this from the other side. Mike Upchurch and Chad Hargis both teach. Both make some decent money at it, but both have to structure when they are going to teach months in advance. The problem is that every weekend the weather is perfect, they have to teach. Every time they have time off to ride, the weather sucks. Part of what makes riding fun is not having to schedule when you want to ride. Sometimes it's getting home from work a little earlier than you thought you would, that smell in the air, that rare cool day in July, that really crappy day when you just need to ride. If those are on days where you are scheduled to teach, you're screwed. You have to live vicariously through that 48 year old mom who's husband just bought her an 883 duck walking around in a parking lot doing friction zone drills. If you do it, I suggest that you limit the days you will be teaching at first. Do three or four weekends for starters. You can always pick up additional shifts from folks who would like a sub if you want more. There is a reason your motorcycle expenditures are deductible. MSF is work. Work that you might love, but work nonetheless. | ||
| Barker |
"you teach so much that you never get to ride" Thats my big fear, and it starts with not going to Badness. Right now my goal is to teach 4-6 classes this year. | ||
| Cringblast |
I would have to say that have been a newbie I appreciated the patience of the MSF coach's. They made the course business like, no nonsense and were very cool. If ya got the patience, I'd say go for it. Props to ya if you do ! C. | ||
| Oldog |
Your love for the sport and your skill are reasons that you should, You control the sched, so you control how much to teach. | ||
| Buell_nm |
I started to coach a year ago, and I haven't found a down side to it yet. I decide how much or little I wanna work, I pick which months (I don't do heat well so I stay away from the really hot ones,) and I also usually pick mornings to avoid the hot part of the day. It has improved my riding, and I always have a good time, I haven't run into hardly any people that are horrible. Even the ones that have been sent to the class by the courts are usually good to deal with. | ||
| Naustin |
Well, the best reason I can think of for NOT doing it, is being stuck in a parking lot all weekend instead of riding. `Course, if you only have to do it a couple of times a year, it'd probably be fun. | ||
| Thumper74 |
I really enjoyed my class. I had been riding for a little while, but I was deathly afraid of my rider exam. I took the class and found out that my instructor rode a Buell. Wolfridgerider was my instructor. Everyone had a great time. When I get my time in, it's definately something I would like to do to pass on my experience to a new generation of riders. I mean, look at the fun I'm having. Yes... Fat man, little bike.  Mark advocates strong street racing launches      | ||
| Torquemonster |
Id say do it. You have the opp. to positively influence new riders and become part of the key memories they associate with riding. You may even have the opp. to spread the good word of Buell-ism. (you KNOW your students are gonna ask you what you ride) There will be more Badness, you WILL get riding time (sometime), and its not forever. | ||
| Littlebuggles |
You should expect to put in some serious effort for the IC, mine was pretty grueling anyway. I also had a co-worker who made it through two police academies, he bailed out of the IC last year because it was too tough for him... Sometimes it's pretty stressful when you have slow learners, the ones that do well enough to not kick off the range (but just barely). Range safety can be a huge headache. How 'bout 95+ in the sun, on hot asphalt, ALL weekend. You'll want to be double gellin' in good boots to deal with that. Those are the hardest things for me to get over every time I head out to the range Teaching is a blast, and seeing someone you think doesn't belong near a bike from looking at them ace the final exam is pretty cool. And those students who just don't get it... many times you get to see it finally click in as the get an exercise right, well that's just sweet! Really the pros out weigh the cons most the time. I don't mind the rain much myself, it's a nice break from being roasted in the sun, which I do all summer. I have been snowed on, I don't care for that at all. -Mike | ||
| Mikethebike72 |
Just do it. The pros have outweighed the cons for me since 2003. | ||
| Garrett2 |
how does one get involved with this? what kind of pay is it? | ||
| Rainman |
I agree with Mikethebike72. I've been doing since May 2001 and, yes, it gets to be a pain, but I've had some great times. It's a challenge to figure out the best way to teach someone and what it is they're doing wrong, but luckily I've screwed up so much in my own riding that I've made all the normal mistakes. You'll enjoy it. Just don't do it three weekends out of the month for nine months. Don't ask how I know that. | ||
| Gomo |
I am heading into my 4th year of teaching and I haven't lost my passion for doing it. The first year I taugh a ton of classes to get the system down. Now I average once a month for about 8 months of the year with a couple ERC's tossed in there. I never got into this for to make a living at it, I just enjoy teaching and riding. I have been fortunate to fall into other things because of teaching (Safety Editor for American Iron Magazine, Speaking at HOG state rallies, personnal seminars, etc), and I would have to agree with those who say go for it. Sure you will get a student or class that will just make you nuts sometimes, but you will always learn something from that as well. I have never had a student (even those who may not have passed) tell me the course wasn't worth their time. And I can easily say that my riding skills have improved 400% since becoming a RiderCoach. There aren't many places where you can do something rewarding for youself and others, have fun doing it, and make a couple of extra bucks for more parts. Enjoy........... http://www.skilledrider.com | ||
| Nevrenuf |
barker, i agree with anyone who says you should. youv'e got a great personality, like to be around people and you definitely know how to ride. our daughter is thinking about it too. she just hasn't made the move yet. and if you show off a little on your abilities if front of the newbies, whose to say they wouldn't get a kick out of the sliders arking. | ||
| Slitherin |
I've got news for ya, if you're not 100% sure this is something you absolutely want to do, do yourself a favor and don't. I cannot begin to tell you the work involved in getting certified. It is NOT like any certification I've ever been through. It is intense and very challenging. That being said, it is one of the most rewarding experiences you'll have. To be able to teach someone (soccer mom even) the skill of operating a motorcycle from not knowing how to work a clutch to riding around on their own in less than 5 hours is just amazing. Do you put people out on the street that may need much more practice before I would ride next to them? Absolutely. However they at least have the proper knowledge in their head vs the misinformation given to them by someone who has no idea what they are talking about. Plus without the class these people would be out on the street anyway on a permit learning from square one. In PA the only thing the M endorsement changes is that you can ride at night and you can ride another person on the bike with you. 99% of the people attending class that own bikes and only have a permit have already ridden at night and had someone on their bike prior to the class. Nobody can tell me that someone coming out of a MSF class is more dangerous than one who did not take the class. Our riding season here in PA is at best from April-October and I can teach as little or as much as I want. Pay is great for doing something you love to do. | ||
| Newfie_buell |
I did it for almost 5 years and won't be doing it anytime soon. Between the politics and bull crap from other so called experts it didn't make it very much fun in the later year. Rewarding seeing a new person ride a bike for the first time - YES. The amount of time it takes up during riding season is amazing as well. I remember standing on a hot parking lot in 60 degree heat thinking what a nice day for a ride while friends drive by. A friend opened up his own training facility and from time to time I go help him when he is short. The only thing I can say is go get certified and judge for yourself. | ||
| Cruisin |
I just submitted the paperwork myself to become a RiderCoach. In Vermont it's all managed by the state and it's an awesome program. I've wanted to do it for years but could never dedicate the time to it. I'm finally able to do it and can't wait. |
