MSF Course Orlando

[dabrown]

Bio: Male /32/Married w/3 Kids
Profession: Software Engineer
Riding Exp: Dirt Bikes as a kid / No Street Experience
Location: Orlando, FL
School: All American Motorcycle Training
Rating: A+

1st Class: My experience in class for the first night was interesting when watching the videos and answering questions in the book. By the time class was over I was still concerned on just how much I would learn from this course even though I knew we would ride on Saturday at 6:30am. The instructor is a Florida Highway Patrolman Cycle Officer, and he made sure that we understood that was his profession and not his role for this class. All around he was a stand up guy.

2nd Class/Riding Day: The first hour we became familiar with the bikes by rocking back and forward learning the "Friction Zone". We had mostly 125cc bikes and a couple of Buell Blast (No Longer on my list of bikes). There were a couple of guys that had plenty of riding experience and maybe 4 people never touched a bike out of a total 9 students. Next we made small riding improvements throughout the day which slowly but surely made me realize that many people have "ridden" a motorcycle but not good enough to be considered a good rider. Just because I had ridden a dirt bike at extreme RPM's off-road did not mean that I knew how to control and ride a bike safely on the road. Learning how to properly stop the bike and learning clutch control for tight maneuvers is a lot more important than being able to ride top speed. This class taught the fundamentals and everyone learned a little something new this day. The beginners did very well with learning how to change gears, and I am not sure if this was because they were naturals or the class is just laid out to teach everyone no matter the experience. Either way this class was perfect for new riders.

3rd Class/ Final Riding Day:
After the day before I felt comfortable on the bike and was looking for something more. Well that was until the Box and Swerve parts of the class. The box is where you found out the importance of clutch control and balance. The swerve portion brings reality to the course to remind you how serious riding should be taken and how skilled you have to be to avoid danger. By the time we took the test it was clear that the class should be a must for everyone who wants to ride a bike, and a lot more practice is needed before just jumping on a bike to ride.

Final Thoughts:
I decided to look into getting a bike to commute to and from work since my wife and I downsized to one vehicle during the housing market. My first thought was to research first and then make a move. I found this forum and read the post by GUTTERbOY last week. I signed up for the class that Wednesday and attended the class session two days ago. I passed the class and decided my first post here should give back to the boards. I did not go into detailed because some of this class should be experienced firsthand without spoilers. Overall I can't say enough to express how much I would recommend this class for anyone! If you are reading this and you have never ridden, take this course first. Also before buying your first bike take this course and get a feel for your seating preference. Riding in the hot sun for so many hours is exhausting and kissing a gas tank on some sport bikes may not be what you truly are looking for in a bike. Thank You to all for the site and information and I hope I can contribute more with my future post on my bike search!