[Craw]

I want to do an MSF course in Los Angeles, but all the links I found are dead. Does anyone know if they still exist around here?

Or, how would I go about learning how to ride a motorcycle? I've always wanted to. I don't really have that many friends that ride, so that option isn't that viable...

I wish I had learned a long time ago...

 

[CoMo]

The J.C. I go to Mt. Sac(www.mtsac.edu) I go to offers a course on motorcycle safety/riding. The college is right by Cal Poly Pomona if that helps at all with location. If you are willing to register and pay for the class, drive etc. its worth a glance. Hope this helps at all, let me know if thers any ?'s.

 

[lovebunny]

its not hard. just like driving a stick but the clutch and shifter are reversed.(meaning oyu shift with your foot and clutch with your hand) oh and the front brake is on the right side so be careful

 

[Craw]

its not hard. just like driving a stick but the clutch and shifter are reversed.(meaning oyu shift with your foot and clutch with your hand) oh and the front brake is on the right side so be careful

I understand the concept of it, and am pretty familiar with the way everything works. I'm pretty sure that if i were to muddle around with a bike I can figure it out.

But I want to learn how to do it safely the first time out...and I'm hoping a course will be good for insurance companies and whatnot.

Ultimately my goal would be to take the course, get a beater cheap ass bike to learn on, get my license and go from there...

 

[COmtbiker12]

How old do you have to be for most of those courses? I wouldn't mind doing that and getting my license as well, then that would give me an excuse to save up and get myself the Norton that I want.

 

[Craw]

How old do you have to be for most of those courses? I wouldn't mind doing that and getting my license as well, then that would give me an excuse to save up and get myself the Norton that I want.

From what i've seen it's 15 years old minimum.

But other places may differ..

 

[LordOpie]

its not hard. just like driving a stick but the clutch and shifter are reversed.(meaning oyu shift with your foot and clutch with your hand) oh and the front brake is on the right side so be careful

you're the kind of a-hole that gets people killed.


Take the course or suffer the squid.

 

[Spunger]

I wanna say if you take the course and pass it that it fullfills your driving portion of the motorcycle test. You just gotta take the written and if you pass you got your license.

I've been thinking about doing this and getting a bike. The only problem is the insurance prices for a motorcycle are so friggen high for a decent quality bike. You can get a street legal dirt bike and pay next to nothing every 6 months but I don't want a enduro bike, I want a CBR649 or something to start with It's much more, like a grand a year. It better save me a load of gas money in order to pay that high of insurance. I'm 23 going on 24 and almost said I'll just wait and see if my insurance goes down, and if so, then I'll jump on it.

Even at my age I'd still take the course. I dunno what the DMV requires you to do for a driving test with a motorcycle besides riding in little circles, but better to be safe then sorry. Cali is so sunny all the time it'd make sense to have a bike.

 

[Percy]

Get a dirt bike,ride it on the dirt for a while,like 6 months or so,to get familiar with the controls etc before venturing out onto the road where all those nutters in cars and trucks are!
I did it this way,and it means you're not concentrating on which lever does what and which gear you're in while approaching a Stop sign!
Oh,and dont buy a 1000cc bike first,death lasts a long time dude,and it arrives real fast on a litre bike.

Plus,dirt bikes are fun!

 

[Arm On Fire]

Do you have any friends that are willing to teach you a little bit about riding?

Get the cheapest bike you can find, 1978 Honda CB400 will work, and have your buddy drive it to a empty parking lot.

With all the appropriate safety gear (Helmet, long pants, long sleeve shirt, gloves, boots that go above your ankle.)
Sit on the bike, turn it on, pull in the clutch (left lever), with you left foot, put the bike into first gear (usually down on the left foot pedal)
Place left foot back on the ground. Right foot should also be on the ground.
Now slowly let the clutch out until you feel the bike start to creep forward, you shouldn't even have to twist the throttle at this point (Right hand grip twisted towards you will increase engine RPM).
When the bike starts to go forwards, pull the clutch back in and pull or roll the bike back, practice this for a while, to where without any throttle you learn how to modulate the clutch to get the bike to move forward. You will probably stall it a few times, but this will really hone your clutch modulating skills, and avoid embarrassment once you get on the road and in traffic.
Lesson 2: stopping
Lesson 3: shifting
Lesson 4: turning

Once you master these, you can sell the CB and get something better if you want. You don't need much of a bike to go fast and hurt yourself or others though.

Think safety.

Dan -taught a few friends and my wife how to ride