Rider safety course today...

[ghostntheshell]

Spent the day tootin' around on a 150cc honda. Great time.
Learned a lot of stuff.
Next class is tomorrow - and by monday I should be ready to have my max insured! At least I'll get one month of riding in this year

 

[kaboom]

Spent the day tootin' around on a 150cc honda. Great time.
Learned a lot of stuff.
Next class is tomorrow - and by monday I should be ready to have my max insured! At least I'll get one month of riding in this year

Good to hear......

Let us know how tomorrow goes.....

And that first ride on the newly insured Vmax:clapping:

 

[zippo6]

Spent the day tootin' around on a 150cc honda. Great time.
Learned a lot of stuff.
Next class is tomorrow - and by monday I should be ready to have my max insured! At least I'll get one month of riding in this year

My wife took the course last weekend and passed her road test Wednesday! Good luck on the course!:clapping:unk:

 

[tugla]

is this class for getting your license or for rider improvement??? always good to fresh up on your skills.

 

[ghostntheshell]

Well, today was the final day!
I passed the test! (This test both upgrades my license - and counts as the completion of a safety course - which reduces insurance premiums ( by A LOT with some companies).

I got to see 5 solid bails during the past two days. Two were endo's.
The one makes me laugh in retrospect ( an accident is never funny until everyone is OK - not being a jerk ).

The guy was a chinese guy and looked and dressed like a 50's greaser. He had a white t-shirt, black greased hair. Very thin. His helmet reminded me of speed racer X. It was a half face in the shape of a foot ball - with this HUGE tinted black visor. Almost like a helicopter pilot helmet.

The exercise was simple: (1.) Accelerated into mid second gear (2.) Drive a straight line towards the instructor. (3.) The instructor points either to the left, or the right, and you proceed to push steer at speed. At no time are you to hit the brakes - as this was an exercise in learning how the bike moves at those speeds and the driver input required to make it happen.

The guy accelerated fine. The instructor point left - and he proceeded to lock up his front wheel. He almost managed to stop but slowly went over the handles bars as the bike toppled.

I know accidents aren't funny, but once we knew he wasn't hurt, we had a good chuckle over it.

He also learned from his mistake and passed the test today



I hope to be on the max soon. Soooooooooooon!

 

[zippo6]

Well, today was the final day!
I passed the test! (This test both upgrades my license - and counts as the completion of a safety course - which reduces insurance premiums ( by A LOT with some companies).

I got to see 5 solid bails during the past two days. Two were endo's.
The one makes me laugh in retrospect ( an accident is never funny until everyone is OK - not being a jerk ).

The guy was a chinese guy and looked and dressed like a 50's greaser. He had a white t-shirt, black greased hair. Very thin. His helmet reminded me of speed racer X. It was a half face in the shape of a foot ball - with this HUGE tinted black visor. Almost like a helicopter pilot helmet.

The exercise was simple: (1.) Accelerated into mid second gear (2.) Drive a straight line towards the instructor. (3.) The instructor points either to the left, or the right, and you proceed to push steer at speed. At no time are you to hit the brakes - as this was an exercise in learning how the bike moves at those speeds and the driver input required to make it happen.

The guy accelerated fine. The instructor point left - and he proceeded to lock up his front wheel. He almost managed to stop but slowly went over the handles bars as the bike toppled.

I know accidents aren't funny, but once we knew he wasn't hurt, we had a good chuckle over it.

He also learned from his mistake and passed the test today



I hope to be on the max soon. Soooooooooooon!

LOL, agreed.... and that is funny! Ya know, being that he's ok! :clapping:

 

[[email protected]]

I took one of those this summer in hopes to lower my insurance. I was a bit miffed when I found out my discount. 2 effing dollars! HA.

Anyways, class was entertaining but frightening at the same time. In Pennsylvania, if you take the class and pass the test at the end then you get your motorcycle license with no restrictions. There were a few people there that had never ridden before the class and were pretty shakey on the course. I couldn't believe it when they walked away with the ability to hit the streets on any bike they wanted. A few hrs of training in one weekend is NOT enough for a complete and total newb to be allowed out in the real world on a bike IMO.

The instructors were nice people. They had quite a few people stop in to say hi while they were teaching. One of the visitors was a middle aged couple. Both had fullsize HD's. I believe the guy had a road king. Well, the wife just passed this class and went out and got a brand new dyna and decided to stop and see the instructor to show it off and say thanks. She dropped it three times before leaving the parking lot. At one point, she lost it off of the side of the asphalt and dropped down a little hill. She was lucky the bike fell over the opposite way or else she woulda been hurting a lot worse. Before it was up off the ground the last time she was bawling and the husband was yelling at her. The husband finally helped her out, got the bike up and they sat for awhile while she composed herself. I was expecting them to leave on 1 bike instead of 2 but she did ride it out of there. But to me, that is scary and people like that should not be on the road yet. It takes more than a weekend to learn to ride.

I've been doing it since I was a little kid and I'm still learning how to be better and safer. At least thats what I tell my wife.

 

[zippo6]

I took one of those this summer in hopes to lower my insurance. I was a bit miffed when I found out my discount. 2 effing dollars! HA.

Anyways, class was entertaining but frightening at the same time. In Pennsylvania, if you take the class and pass the test at the end then you get your motorcycle license with no restrictions. There were a few people there that had never ridden before the class and were pretty shakey on the course. I couldn't believe it when they walked away with the ability to hit the streets on any bike they wanted. A few hrs of training in one weekend is NOT enough for a complete and total newb to be allowed out in the real world on a bike IMO.

The instructors were nice people. They had quite a few people stop in to say hi while they were teaching. One of the visitors was a middle aged couple. Both had fullsize HD's. I believe the guy had a road king. Well, the wife just passed this class and went out and got a brand new dyna and decided to stop and see the instructor to show it off and say thanks. She dropped it three times before leaving the parking lot. At one point, she lost it off of the side of the asphalt and dropped down a little hill. She was lucky the bike fell over the opposite way or else she woulda been hurting a lot worse. Before it was up off the ground the last time she was bawling and the husband was yelling at her. The husband finally helped her out, got the bike up and they sat for awhile while she composed herself. I was expecting them to leave on 1 bike instead of 2 but she did ride it out of there. But to me, that is scary and people like that should not be on the road yet. It takes more than a weekend to learn to ride.

I've been doing it since I was a little kid and I'm still learning how to be better and safer. At least thats what I tell my wife.

+1 to that! :worthy:

My wife's been practicing all summer in parking lots, then just completed the course last weekend. Now that's she licensed we can LEGALLY ride the streets around home to get her experience level built up. It's a long slow process, but well worth it! Although my Max does NOT like putting along behind her.... It seems to get upset and wants to go.... imagine that? :rofl_200:

 

[ghostntheshell]

Yep. Couldn't agree more.

Here in Ontario, you simply need to do a written test to get your M1 which allows you to go out and ride - but staying off the major highways with speeds over 80kmph. You may not have alcohol in your system nor can you carry a passenger. You may not drive after sunset.

The kicker is - you can drive whatever you want on the same streets as other people - with no formal training what so ever. Essentially it's you teaching yourself how to drive a motorcycle out in traffic.



The way I see it? This safety course should give you the abilities mentioned above. Because after the 16 hours of riding we did over the two days - *most people* could
(1.) Accelerate (2.) Shift gears (3.) turn the motorcycle (4.) Emergancy brake (5.) Emergency steer - which I would say are the STARTING abilities required to enter the general public.

Even though I drove dirt bikes as a young teen, I realize that driving around on dirt roads and through farmers feilds doesn't cut it in the concrete jungle.

My first ride with Veronica is going to be to a local parking lot. I am going to practice low speed manouvers. Braking. And turning before I even think about taking her out into traffic. I am going to get to know her very well.

That being said - I can hardly wait

 

[Thevmaxrider]

Congrats on passing the course! I took the same one you did a few years ago and it was helpful for sure. Good idea practicing a bit!

 

[ghostntheshell]

*my microsoft paint rendition of his look *

 

[jfeagins]

It takes more than a weekend to learn to ride.QUOTE]

Say what? What are you talking about? :ummm: I was BORN RIDING. :rofl_200:

Seriously, those riding courses come in handy. I tried to teach my wife (girfriend at the time) to ride 15 years ago. We ended up in a small sideways wheelie from a stop sign and landed on our side across the street in the ditch. I screamed a tiny bit when the bike twisted my ankle (I was dumb enough to try instructing from the back seat) and she began crying. It took over 12 years for her to even want to operate a bike on her own after that. But when she did, I wouldn't even consider instructing her. I made her enroll in the local bike classes and now, 3years later, she confidently rides her 1832cc Rune or her 1500cc C90T Boulevard anywhere/everywhere.

 

[Redbone]

I think it's a good idea to do a full checkout of the bike for any maintenance needed. Then go out and practice turns, braking and accelerating at a low speed b/c I know I get rusty over the winter. I don't need to find out how rusty I am at 80 mph on a corner that still had some sand left on it!

 

[tugla]

+1 to that! :worthy:

My wife's been practicing all summer in parking lots, then just completed the course last weekend. Now that's she licensed we can LEGALLY ride the streets around home to get her experience level built up. It's a long slow process, but well worth it! Although my Max does NOT like putting along behind her.... It seems to get upset and wants to go.... imagine that? :rofl_200:

go figure ey, a vmax that wants to go and not putt hahahah. let her get a 2km head start then chase her down:rofl_200: she might be impressed by the move:rofl_200:

Yep. Couldn't agree more.

Here in Ontario, you simply need to do a written test to get your M1 which allows you to go out and ride - but staying off the major highways with speeds over 80kmph. You may not have alcohol in your system nor can you carry a passenger. You may not drive after sunset.

The kicker is - you can drive whatever you want on the same streets as other people - with no formal training what so ever. Essentially it's you teaching yourself how to drive a motorcycle out in traffic.



The way I see it? This safety course should give you the abilities mentioned above. Because after the 16 hours of riding we did over the two days - *most people* could
(1.) Accelerate (2.) Shift gears (3.) turn the motorcycle (4.) Emergancy brake (5.) Emergency steer - which I would say are the STARTING abilities required to enter the general public.

Even though I drove dirt bikes as a young teen, I realize that driving around on dirt roads and through farmers feilds doesn't cut it in the concrete jungle.

My first ride with Veronica is going to be to a local parking lot. I am going to practice low speed manouvers. Braking. And turning before I even think about taking her out into traffic. I am going to get to know her very well.

That being said - I can hardly wait

congrats on the test, good job

 

[ghostntheshell]

I have some time to kill waiting for the paint install