Finished the MSF Course! (barely)

I signed up for the MSF Beginner course before I bought my bike on 5 July, finally had the course this week. For the most part it went well, and I didn't have too much trouble, except for two things: one of the test items is doing two U-turns inside a box, in second gear, without touching the ground with your feet. I had trouble keeping the engine from stalling (was driving a Suzuki street/dirt bike, which had the tallest saddle of all the bikes they had) and was told to keep some gas on and drag the speed down with the footbrake. Wasn't used to doing this, and found it a bit difficult to remember that AND "counterweight" the bike (tip the bike but not the body). But here's the really frustrating thing: at 6'5", I was way too tall for that bike! To make those two turns you had to crank the handlebars completely over, which I couldn't do without smacking my knee. By the time I remembered to swing my knee out of the way, I was already outside the box. On the left turn, my knee always struck the horn, so the horn was sounding during the entire left turn (my fellow students, and the instructors, found this quite hilarious). It was pretty frustrating, but no matter, I passed the course (as did everyone). The three gals in the class were far and away the three best drivers. One gentleman about my age had bought his first bike, a large Harley, three weeks prior and took it around the block 2 1/2 times, layed it down and broke his jaw; his jaw was wired shut the whole course but he was able to talk. He was timid at first but did quite well at the end.

I'm STILL not sure what countersteering is! Some of my books say I should actually turn the handlebars the opposite direction from where I want to turn, these guys were saying I should push down on the handlebar, in the axis of the front forks, not actually turning anything (but tipping the bike). And both seem to work! I gained a lot of confidence on the rapid swerving and lane-change exercises we did, so I'm not going to worry about it any more.

Glad I did it, glad its done! :thumbup:

congratulations!!! well done.:rockon::rockon::thumbup:

Countersteering is simple to do but practice is required to do it right!!

When your riding in a straight line (maybe a car park just to be safe) push slightly on the handlebar grip with your right hand. This will move the wheel to the left while the bike will automatically tip to the right sending the bike to the right. The same applies to using the left hand.

Some people will argue that pulling the left hand closer to your body will have the same effect...it does alright...but you have less control when doing it this way. Pushing on the handlebars is far safer.

You really need to do this for yourself and I bet within one minute you'll know what countersteering is.

+1 scorphonic

Go buy Total Control by Lee Parks. It will really give you a big leg up on your riding skills to practice the drills.

Here is the deal, with out a countersteer the bike will not turn. You have to remember that when the dumbbutt in a F-350 towing a giant obnoxious boat tops a hill flying and all up in your lane. You have to push the bar at him to live.