Anybody ever get kicked out of......

[ArmyGurl]

The MSF course? Wow that cant happen can it? Well yes it can!! Im living proof. Apparently the MSF course on post is mainly geared towards getting the people who have bikes their card so they can bring their bikes on post. For those of us (myself and another girl) who have never even driven a stick shift (manual) car, it quickly becomes apparent that they are not there to teach u that. :( However they did offer to give us one on one lessons on a different day so that we could come back and take the course (which took me four weeks to get into). I did pass my test with a 98% though (missed the FINE-C question cause i was in the bathroom....hey a girls got to pee sometime):shocked:

Since my redeployment, one of my major goals have been to take that course so I can eventually get my :spyder: However now my goal is to learn how to actually operate a manual clutch transmission. Thankfully I have a friend willing to let me "train" on his bike. Very VERY risky on his part but im grateful. Im also thinking of purchasing a used Kawasaki 250 to get more training and just so i can have a bike of my own so I can practice anytime. :clap:

Oh and to answer the question that i know most of you have...YES im still alive and im finally back home and im being run crazy by a house full of little women. I dont know who's in charge most days :dontknow:

I hope all of you are doing well and when things calm down (when will that be?) I will get on here more often.

BTW, i saw my first :spyder: up close and personal today!!! Had to go to savannah to do it but it was worth it.

And even though i only rode about 100 feet on a motorcycle, Im proud that i was able to do that without killing anyone, and i looked :cus: good doing it in my new PPE too :yes:

Have a good nite, everyone!

[nyfdtsdemt]

Was this a military sponsered class ?

Get back to me

[pphantom538]

Thank you for your service. You'll love the open air ride when you get your bike.

[Dudley]

Thank you for your service. Ride with a smile, help others to smile, and Ryde Safe!

[IMRU3]

Don't despair, ArmyGurl. I also did the MSF course back in 2005. I never had any stickshift experience driving a car or riding a motorcycle prior to this two-day class. I was able to pass the written and actual riding course and they gave me my certificate when I completed it. I immediately went to DMV that day and got my M class license. My first bike was a Honda Rebel 250cc. I was able to develop and gain confidence in riding for about a year. Then, I upgraded to a 2008 Honda Shadow 750cc. I alternate riding with the Spyder and the Honda.

Don't give up on it. You can do it!!! Have fun!

[Lamonster]

Just yesterday I was thinking about you and where you might be right now. Having two boys in the Marines I have a special love for those who server our country. :thumbup:

Funny story about my oldest boy Lance. He never felt the need to get his drivers license even after he turned 18. Lance is kind of special. He's a very smart kid but he can destroy just about anything he touches. When we first moved here to TN he was on his Honda 250 and his brother was on his Honda 100. Now understand I have 30 acres here but some how the two boys manged to run into each other head on in the middle of my driveway. Lance totaled out his 250 and pretty much nothing happen to Nathans 100.

Now you get an idea why I never pushed him to get his license. Well one day he was doing some recruiting with his Sargent (this was before Boot Camp) and he calls me up and said "Guess what Dad, I got my drivers license" :yikes: Now the boy has never driven any of my trucks and as far as I know has never driven any kind of car. His Sargent took him to a parking lot and gave him about a half hour driving lesson and said we need to go get your drivers license now, so he did. Turns out he failed the test but seeing he was headed right from there into Boot Camp they fudged the test for him and gave him his license.

About three weeks after Boot Camp Lance gives me a call and said "Guess what Dad, I just rolled a Hummer!" :yikes: Yep, that's my boy. :D

Don't know how I took that turn but I'm glad to see you posting again and I know one day soon you'll scratch that itch to get a Spyder. Say hi to them little women for me. :doorag:

http://www.bigbikeriders.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=11&pictureid=159
http://www.bigbikeriders.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=11&pictureid=158

[NancysToy]

Hi ArmyGurl. Just thinking about you earlier this week. Figured you were back home again and too busy with the kids to even catch your breath. It is wonderful to hear from you. Welcome back to the US of A!

If you find a standard, beginners MSF course oriented toward the public, they seem to be more focused on teaching the basics. Find one that does not start you on something like a Buell, or other big bike. A little 250 cc ride is a fine learning platform. My wife was in somewhat the same boat. She knew how to drive a car with a clutch, but had no bike clutch experience. My attempts at teaching her failed miserably. She signed up for an MSF course with a great deal of reservation, but lots of determination. She already had her Spyder and was determined to learn to ride it. The instructors worked every single one of that course of students through it. Some seemed hopeless at first. Lots of pure beginners, too. My wife had at least ridden an auto clutch bike, so she was placed in the group that had some bike experience. Intimidating! Still, they took the time to get her comfortable. She started out scared to death. After a day of classroom and two days of riding, she was obviously more at ease, and handled the clutch, brakes, and throttle smoothly. A few days of Spyder practice in parking lots, a couple of days on our neighborhood streets, and she struck off on the road. Hit the highway the next week.

Remember that a good MSF instructor wants nothing more than to get you through the course. They don't like failure any more than you would. You just need to check the community college, local bike shops, or MSF schools to find the right fit. My wife went to a dedicated school. Search around and hopefully you will find the right instructors, too.
-Scotty

[BRPjunkie]

When my wife took the MSF class, there were two versions. A five day course for complete novices and a weekend course for those who had ridden some. The five day course was much more forgiving to new riders, but the three day course had some expectations that you knew the difference between a clutch and brake lever. Not sure if that format still exits, but they did disqualify a couple of riders from the weekend course because they were slowing things down too much and told them to sign up for the novice class.

[shunkmanitu]

The MSF course? Wow that cant happen can it? Well yes it can!! Im living proof. Apparently the MSF course on post is mainly geared towards getting the people who have bikes their card so they can bring their bikes on post.

Are you taking the course just for your own or is there some requirment? The riding portion of the course is not valid for much of its content for the Spyder. It is the "Heads-up" & "Pay Attention" part that seperates the average auto herder from a long lived RIDER of ANY high performance ride. The shifting really is easy to learn, Sunkawakanwi lerned her former stick shift car in about an hour and figured out a standard MC 5-speed quickly.

At least the Naval Air Station Pensacola does not require the course, just a MC endorsement on the DL for any three wheeler. That can be obtained in most FL locations with their modified trike exam. This worked out well for me since it had been a number of years since I had the advanced course ahd could not find my card. Physical limitations won't let me pass the two wheel course anymore.

Good luck and good Ryding!

[ataDude]

Welcome home and.... THANKS!


The MSF course? Wow that cant happen can it? Well yes it can!! Im living proof. Apparently the MSF course on post is mainly geared towards getting the people who have bikes their card so they can bring their bikes on post. For those of us (myself and another girl) who have never even driven a stick shift (manual) car, it quickly becomes apparent that they are not there to teach u that. :( However they did offer to give us one on one lessons on a different day so that we could come back and take the course (which took me four weeks to get into). I did pass my test with a 98% though (missed the FINE-C question cause i was in the bathroom....hey a girls got to pee sometime):shocked:

Since my redeployment, one of my major goals have been to take that course so I can eventually get my :spyder: However now my goal is to learn how to actually operate a manual clutch transmission. Thankfully I have a friend willing to let me "train" on his bike. Very VERY risky on his part but im grateful. Im also thinking of purchasing a used Kawasaki 250 to get more training and just so i can have a bike of my own so I can practice anytime. :clap:

Oh and to answer the question that i know most of you have...YES im still alive and im finally back home and im being run crazy by a house full of little women. I dont know who's in charge most days :dontknow:

I hope all of you are doing well and when things calm down (when will that be?) I will get on here more often.

BTW, i saw my first :spyder: up close and personal today!!! Had to go to savannah to do it but it was worth it.

And even though i only rode about 100 feet on a motorcycle, Im proud that i was able to do that without killing anyone, and i looked :cus: good doing it in my new PPE too :yes:

Have a good nite, everyone!

[ataDude]

Lamont... tell your two Marines THANKS for me. :2thumbs:
.


Just yesterday I was thinking about you and where you might be right now. Having two boys in the Marines I have a special love for those who server our country. :thumbup:

Funny story about my oldest boy Lance. He never felt the need to get his drivers license even after he turned 18. Lance is kind of special. He's a very smart kid but he can destroy just about anything he touches. When we first moved here to TN he was on his Honda 250 and his brother was on his Honda 100. Now understand I have 30 acres here but some how the two boys manged to run into each other head on in the middle of my driveway. Lance totaled out his 250 and pretty much nothing happen to Nathans 100.

Now you get an idea why I never pushed him to get his license. Well one day he was doing some recruiting with his Sargent (this was before Boot Camp) and he calls me up and said "Guess what Dad, I got my drivers license" :yikes: Now the boy has never driven any of my trucks and as far as I know has never driven any kind of car. His Sargent took him to a parking lot and gave him about a half hour driving lesson and said we need to go get your drivers license now, so he did. Turns out he failed the test but seeing he was headed right from there into Boot Camp they fudged the test for him and gave him his license.

About three weeks after Boot Camp Lance gives me a call and said "Guess what Dad, I just rolled a Hummer!" :yikes: Yep, that's my boy. :D

Don't know how I took that turn but I'm glad to see you posting again and I know one day soon you'll scratch that itch to get a Spyder. Say hi to them little women for me. :doorag:

[SpyderByter]

A special thanks to all who serve and those at home who's loved one's are serving.

"rolled a hummer" ???

That had to take some hard driving! I think that would be one of the hardest 4 wheeled vehicles to roll........

[Director]

Just yesterday I was thinking about you and where you might be right now. Having two boys in the Marines I have a special love for those who server our country. :thumbup:

Funny story about my oldest boy Lance. He never felt the need to get his drivers license even after he turned 18. Lance is kind of special. He's a very smart kid but he can destroy just about anything he touches. When we first moved here to TN he was on his Honda 250 and his brother was on his Honda 100. Now understand I have 30 acres here but some how the two boys manged to run into each other head on in the middle of my driveway. Lance totaled out his 250 and pretty much nothing happen to Nathans 100.

Now you get an idea why I never pushed him to get his license. Well one day he was doing some recruiting with his Sargent (this was before Boot Camp) and he calls me up and said "Guess what Dad, I got my drivers license" :yikes: Now the boy has never driven any of my trucks and as far as I know has never driven any kind of car. His Sargent took him to a parking lot and gave him about a half hour driving lesson and said we need to go get your drivers license now, so he did. Turns out he failed the test but seeing he was headed right from there into Boot Camp they fudged the test for him and gave him his license.

About three weeks after Boot Camp Lance gives me a call and said "Guess what Dad, I just rolled a Hummer!" :yikes: Yep, that's my boy. :D



Lamont, I am glad your son was not more seriously injured. I hope he and your other Marine stay safe and unharmed. God bless 'em for their service! :thumbup:

And ArmyGurl, good luck with your quest for a motorcycle endorsement and a Spyder. Once you have it, you will absolutely love it! These things are an absolute hoot!

Best regards,

Bruce

[xpeschon]

This is a requirment for her if she plan's on driving her bike ON POST anyway.. Soldiers are somewhat in a special catigory when it comes to riding a Motorcycle,,,, In order for ANY SOLDIER or CIVILIANS or GOVERMENT CONTRACTORS to ride on post they must have passed and completed the MSC.. All Armed Services post offer it free of charge however there are very few civilian instructors and the list is as long as TEXAS to try and get into the course, its not the soldiers faults, the problem lies in instructors... Once a soldier passes the course they will be able to recieve a SAFETY STICKER that is dis-played on the bike allowing them to enter post..... Its CRAZY folks thats for sure... I work on Fort Leonard Wood MO, home of the Engineers, M.P's and Chemical guys and I attended the course prior to me retiring in 2002, so therefore I am allowed to drive my bike on post.. In a nut shell this is how it works on an Armed Services Post/Base...
21 years Retired Combat Engineer Army.

Joe

[Dudley]

Well, I am one of the people on here who never took any kind of driving course, car or motorcycle. Somehow I have survived 50 years of driving, over 40 years on motorcycles. My son learned to drive on hard packed dirt in the mountains around Tucson. When I finally let him do some learning in town, he said, "This feels weird!" He joined the Army at 17 and is still in at 25, going for 20. He took the Motorcycle Safety course, but that didn't help his motorcycles. He had one Kaw Ninja stolen in 3 weeks, the second one in 4 days! He got a Honda CBR1000RR, and got T-Boned coming out of Ft Bliss. That probably saved his life. He had maxed out the CBR at 185 mph. Had the wind gotten him just right he would have been pealed off the bike and killed. I wish the course could teach someone common sense. My son is leaving for his third tour in Iraq the first week of May. He is in Combat Arms as a CAV Scout.

[Smylinacha]

The MSF course? Wow that cant happen can it? Well yes it can!! Im living proof. Apparently the MSF course on post is mainly geared towards getting the people who have bikes their card so they can bring their bikes on post. For those of us (myself and another girl) who have never even driven a stick shift (manual) car, it quickly becomes apparent that they are not there to teach u that. :( However they did offer to give us one on one lessons on a different day so that we could come back and take the course (which took me four weeks to get into). I did pass my test with a 98% though (missed the FINE-C question cause i was in the bathroom....hey a girls got to pee sometime):shocked:

Since my redeployment, one of my major goals have been to take that course so I can eventually get my :spyder: However now my goal is to learn how to actually operate a manual clutch transmission. Thankfully I have a friend willing to let me "train" on his bike. Very VERY risky on his part but im grateful. Im also thinking of purchasing a used Kawasaki 250 to get more training and just so i can have a bike of my own so I can practice anytime. :clap:

Oh and to answer the question that i know most of you have...YES im still alive and im finally back home and im being run crazy by a house full of little women. I dont know who's in charge most days :dontknow:

I hope all of you are doing well and when things calm down (when will that be?) I will get on here more often.

BTW, i saw my first :spyder: up close and personal today!!! Had to go to savannah to do it but it was worth it.

And even though i only rode about 100 feet on a motorcycle, Im proud that i was able to do that without killing anyone, and i looked :cus: good doing it in my new PPE too :yes:

Have a good nite, everyone!

When your friend teaches you I also have an AWESOME video I can send you - it's called Ride Like A Pro. I am friends w/ the woman rider in the video. Her husband is a retired Police Motor Officer. I have 3 or 4 videos - you need to watch these - they are AWESOME - it will show you all how a clutch works. If you like I can send them to you - just PM me if you want and I'll mail them right out to ya. I'm actually off tomorrow so if you get this tonight - let me know and I'll go to the UPS store. These videos are great - teaches clutch and throttle, motorcycle safety, defensive driving - you can also search "ride like a pro" on YouTube just to get a feel for what they teach. But the "friction zone" that they talk about so often also applies to a manual Spyder. Let me know.

[Roaddog2]

No joke here I know a lady were I used to live in Waterbury
when these courses first started in CT.
The inrollment form didn't even state that you at least had to now
how to ride a bicycle and she didn't neven think about telling them
she never rode one :dontknow: you will do alright get some practice in:ani29:

[Smylinacha]

Just yesterday I was thinking about you and where you might be right now. Having two boys in the Marines I have a special love for those who server our country. :thumbup:

Funny story about my oldest boy Lance. He never felt the need to get his drivers license even after he turned 18. Lance is kind of special. He's a very smart kid but he can destroy just about anything he touches. When we first moved here to TN he was on his Honda 250 and his brother was on his Honda 100. Now understand I have 30 acres here but some how the two boys manged to run into each other head on in the middle of my driveway. Lance totaled out his 250 and pretty much nothing happen to Nathans 100.

Now you get an idea why I never pushed him to get his license. Well one day he was doing some recruiting with his Sargent (this was before Boot Camp) and he calls me up and said "Guess what Dad, I got my drivers license" :yikes: Now the boy has never driven any of my trucks and as far as I know has never driven any kind of car. His Sargent took him to a parking lot and gave him about a half hour driving lesson and said we need to go get your drivers license now, so he did. Turns out he failed the test but seeing he was headed right from there into Boot Camp they fudged the test for him and gave him his license.

About three weeks after Boot Camp Lance gives me a call and said "Guess what Dad, I just rolled a Hummer!" :yikes: Yep, that's my boy. :D

Don't know how I took that turn but I'm glad to see you posting again and I know one day soon you'll scratch that itch to get a Spyder. Say hi to them little women for me. :doorag:

http://www.bigbikeriders.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=11&pictureid=159
http://www.bigbikeriders.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=11&pictureid=158

AWESOME pics - tell the boys thank you for me! Our oldest is like yours - destroys everything he touches LOL but we love him dearly.:2thumbs:

[ArmyGurl]

A special thanks to all who serve and those at home who's loved one's are serving.

"rolled a hummer" ???

That had to take some hard driving! I think that would be one of the hardest 4 wheeled vehicles to roll........


You'd be surprised but it really is quite easy to roll a hummer due to all of the extra weight added to the vehicle for protection. Wow after hearing most of these stories, im so glad everyone made it out of these accidents without serious injury.

Lamont, I got to meet a lot of marines while in Kuwait, great group of guys (crazy) but great. My cousin is a major in the marines and i got to meet up with her while i was overseas. Im glad your sons are safe and tell them Hi and stay safe! :firstplace:

I would love to see those videos!! I'll pm you my address right away. Any little bit helps!!:clap:

Yes the class i took was on post, and if i had known that it was geared more towards riders that had a clue about bikes i would have taken the simulator course instead. The instructors are great, just not enough of them for one on one instruction for that class. The line to get into the course is months long because as mentioned in another post, Soldiers HAVE to go to the course in order to drive their bikes on post. Cant wait to get some experience under my belt and go back and blow them away with my awesomeness (yes thats a made up word but it works :2thumbs:)

[nyfdtsdemt]

While in Tn I took the MSF basic with my intruder 800 it was not too bad. I was told :spyder: wouldn't fit and they were right i attempted to make some of the moves needed to pass and could'nt so here is a PIA (plan of action) one the rider in TN told me he has the same issue so he took the ADVANCED MSF with HD of Collierville and fit fine thru all the turns but..............it is more of a high speed course......i have never taken it so......but he is injured/retired SF from the army.......he took his advanced MSF to the base in Memphis and they gave him his decal.


Hope this helps!

[obiwanbill]

Was a Navy officer during Vietnam Days. Never took the basic course, but after years of riding, I fell into teaching a class on the base. Years later I took the 2 day Advanced course, based on the book Motorcycle Excellence. Old Dawg learning new tricks, I gained more confidence in driving thru twistees, "panic" stops on curves and wet roads. Now that I am getting a Spyder SE5 in 2 weeks, I'm thinking of taking the advanced course again.:clap:

[irish2themax]

I am a retired naval officer and Vietnam vet myself. I took the MSF course in WV....perfect score on the written exam and was doing okay on the range. THEN...my 65-year old brain had to deal with the clutch, shift pedal, front brake, throttle, and rear brake pedal simultaneously. I couldn't seem to coordinate all of them. All the while thinking, WTF am I doing? My SE5 has no clutch or shift pedal, and no front brake. So, before I killed myself, I dropped out.

WV now has a 3-wheeler license option. My understanding is that they put you on the road while they follow. If you pass, you get your license. If not, back to the drawing board.