Just finished my MC Safety Course and have to say.

[Othergods]

Thank God I ride a Buddy!

It handles like a dream compared the the 125 Kawasaki (Enforcer?) I rode during the couse. Those things were so clunky and lumbering, definitely not a fun ride.

I passed so I will be going down this week to upgrade my temporary MC License to the full endorsement woot!

[sotied]

What were the highs and lows of the MSF course?

Anything really tough?

Anything ridiculously easy?

Give us the recap...I already have my license but I'm doing the course this weekend just to become a better rider.

And yes, I'm nervous about using their motorcycles.

Thanks!

[schroeder]

Do they have scooters to use for the test or must you use a manual shift motorcycle?

[ericalm]

Do they have scooters to use for the test or must you use a manual shift motorcycle?

Depending on where you take the MSF (or, alternately, your DMV riding test), you can take it on a scooter. I'm pretty sure you can do both in Ohio. Scooters are mentioned in the link below:
http://www.motorcycle.ohio.gov/faq.htm

[apetit]

I, too, just finished my rider course, and I have to agree: The Buddy is a much nicer ride.

Low of the course: The "Box". You enter one corner, make a turn that points you to the corner you entered on and make a turn that takes you out on the opposite corner you entered. Hard for me to describe, but it was the worst part for me. The instructor commented that he'd seen people park the bike and leave the class when this came up in the riding test. Keep your speed steady and LOOK where you want to go and it should be alright.

Dropping a bike: Don't do this during the final test. It is an automatic fail. Minor drops during the course (minor?) are tolerated. I did drop once during an exercise and the instructor was cool about it. He just pointed out that the bike goes where you look and I looked down after a quick stop, and the bike went pretty exactly at the spot I looked at.

High of the course: Swerving. Get going at a good clip (15 mph or so) and swerve to the right or left to avoid an "obstacle." Kind of scary to think of, but quite easy and fun.

Their motorcycles worked fine for me. Given the possibility of dropping one, use theirs.

Overall, I would rate the course as a minimal requirement. It is too short in my opinion. One night (4 hours) of classroom work that covered a lot of what is being discussed here. No real theory on why motorcycles work (counter steering: Oh you'll see when you ride). The riding training was good, but more time spent practicing with the guidance of an instructor would be useful.

[Othergods]

I, too, just finished my rider course, and I have to agree: The Buddy is a much nicer ride.

Low of the course: The "Box". You enter one corner, make a turn that points you to the corner you entered on and make a turn that takes you out on the opposite corner you entered. Hard for me to describe, but it was the worst part for me. The instructor commented that he'd seen people park the bike and leave the class when this came up in the riding test. Keep your speed steady and LOOK where you want to go and it should be alright.

Dropping a bike: Don't do this during the final test. It is an automatic fail. Minor drops during the course (minor?) are tolerated. I did drop once during an exercise and the instructor was cool about it. He just pointed out that the bike goes where you look and I looked down after a quick stop, and the bike went pretty exactly at the spot I looked at.

High of the course: Swerving. Get going at a good clip (15 mph or so) and swerve to the right or left to avoid an "obstacle." Kind of scary to think of, but quite easy and fun.

Their motorcycles worked fine for me. Given the possibility of dropping one, use theirs.

Overall, I would rate the course as a minimal requirement. It is too short in my opinion. One night (4 hours) of classroom work that covered a lot of what is being discussed here. No real theory on why motorcycles work (counter steering: Oh you'll see when you ride). The riding training was good, but more time spent practicing with the guidance of an instructor would be useful.

Well this pretty much sums up my thoughts on the course.

My high was cornering the 180 degree was uber fun.

The figure 8 uturn box was evil to me, I never did it right. During the test I purposely took it real wide out of the box to ensure no dropping the bike = an immediate fail. It cost me 10 points but the other skills were no problem. The other parts of my test was a fast stop, a swerve to the right and a 135 degree corner to the right.

I was ready to write off the possibility of ever buying a motorcycle after the class until I found the Aprilia Mana 850 today (I just did not like all the shifting, seemed like to much going on; both hands, both feet, just did not seem fun like the Buddy is)

http://www.apriliausa.com/modelli/road/ ... asp?id=124

Now I may just have to buy one in a year or so as a younger brother to my Buddy.

[jmazza]

I was ready to write off the possibility of ever buying a motorcycle after the class until I found the Aprilia Mana 850 today (I just did not like all the shifting, seemed like to much going on; both hands, both feet, just did not seem fun like the Buddy is)

http://www.apriliausa.com/modelli/road/ ... asp?id=124

Now I may just have to buy one in a year or so as a younger brother to my Buddy.

wow... i know NOTHING about motorcycles, but have been finding myself drawn to them lately. I must say, that Aprilia sounds pretty sweet. Different transmission options, underseat gas tank, storage compartment!, and great looks... wow.

[ericalm]

I was ready to write off the possibility of ever buying a motorcycle after the class until I found the Aprilia Mana 850 today (I just did not like all the shifting, seemed like to much going on; both hands, both feet, just did not seem fun like the Buddy is)

http://www.apriliausa.com/modelli/road/ ... asp?id=124

Now I may just have to buy one in a year or so as a younger brother to my Buddy.

wow... i know NOTHING about motorcycles, but have been finding myself drawn to them lately. I must say, that Aprilia sounds pretty sweet. Different transmission options, underseat gas tank, storage compartment!, and great looks... wow.

The Mana is a pretty awesome bike. one more reason I'm looking forward to the local Vespa dealer carrying the Aprilia scoot & MC lines. A couple ModernVespa members have Manas.

Aprilia's Piaggio cousin, Gilera, makes a scooter with the Mana engine: the GP800, the fastest production scooter on the planet. There are no current plans to bring it to the US, but who knows? Previously, there were no Gileras sold in the US, until the MP3 500 came over as a rebadged Gilera Fuoco this year. The boom may open things up a little more.

[gt1000]

What were the highs and lows of the MSF course?

Anything really tough?

Anything ridiculously easy?

Give us the recap...I already have my license but I'm doing the course this weekend just to become a better rider.

And yes, I'm nervous about using their motorcycles.

Thanks!

http://www.msf-usa.org/

[Smuddpie]

OK, I'm bracing myself for the flogging now, but after I got done with my MSF course, my Buddy just felt, well....wrong. The seating position made me feel like I didn't have as much control as I did with a motorcycle. Bear in mind that I had a dirtbike as a kid, so that may be influencing my feelings a bit. Let's just say that I have found urban scooting a lot more scary than knocking around pastures and dirt roads. Sure there was loose gravel and prickly pears, but that's not the same as hard pavement and fast, big cars. The real deal is, I hate to go over about 50 on it, and I really need to go 60. And I hate the crosswind thing, which may very well be a deal breaker for all things 2-wheeled.

I am considering changing over to a motorcycle and selling the Pamplona (which is still by far the winner in the style department!) while the market is so hot. That Mana is cool, though. Auto transmission and storage have kept me with the scoots up to now. A nearby dealership has just begun selling CF Moto, which has an auto motorcycle sans storage. They carry Aprilia as well, but maybe not the Mana, because I can't believe they wouldn't have shown it to me. I tried an MP3, but that's a whole 'nother thread.

[jfrost2]

This is suprising to see that aprilia makes a automatic/manual motorcycle. The Mana though expensive is interesting. I've never seen a motorcycle which could change from manual or automatic by the user's choice. Even the auto has 3 different modes (sport, touring, rain)

[jmazza]

This is suprising to see that aprilia makes a automatic/manual motorcycle. The Mana though expensive is interesting. I've never seen a motorcycle which could change from manual or automatic by the user's choice. Even the auto has 3 different modes (sport, touring, rain)

Well from the info I've been reading it's really all automatic. The shift "switches" are just that- electronic switches. You're not actually doing anything mechanical with the shift lever, even on the foot one. I don't understand it all but it seems it's not truly manual/automatic.

Some interesting YouTube video/reviews on it.

I have no idea about motorcycle pricing so I didn't know if $10k was sensible or not. I know I won't be dropping that kind of $$ anytime soon!!

[jfrost2]

10k for a bike like that, I'd say it's expensive, but better than other 10k bikes with less features. I like how the "gas tank" is really a storage area, and the "under seat" area is the gas tank. It's like a scooter, but on a crotch rocket body...with 800cc

[ericalm]

10k for a bike like that, I'd say it's expensive, but better than other 10k bikes with less features. I like how the "gas tank" is really a storage area, and the "under seat" area is the gas tank. It's like a scooter, but on a crotch rocket body...with 800cc

That's 849cc!

I don't find the Mana crotch rockety. It looks like a "modern" bike and seems to incorporate a lot of design elements from a number of inspirations. Yeah, it has the sporty tank and tail. But the look is still very European, more along the lines of BMW and Ducati than Honda or Yamaha. It's not often I see a MC that makes me drool. This one does!

[ericalm]

Aprilia Mana review from a new owner on ModernVespa:
http://www.modernvespa.com/forum/topic28075

[Xena]

I am beginning the MSF course in Rhode Island this weekend.

Has anyone here done the test here???? I am a wee bit nervous about doing it on a motorcycle as I too drive a Buddy all the time.

Advice? Input?

[mandyscoots]

What were the highs and lows of the MSF course?

Anything really tough?

Anything ridiculously easy?

Give us the recap...I already have my license but I'm doing the course this weekend just to become a better rider.

And yes, I'm nervous about using their motorcycles.

Thanks!

The things that I found most difficult was the cone weave (this is where most people failed in my class). Look where you want to go not at the cones!
And the second one is the quick stop. I actually got points taken off for stopping to quickly before my front tire touched the line.

Most of the other stuff was pretty easy. You can't put your foot down on any of the tests unless you are stopping. This was difficult for a lot of the guys with bigger bikes during the U-turn and cone weave. But with a Buddy it is pretty easy.
I would recommend to anyone to practice the cone weave, it was probably the most intimidating.