I just took the MSF course this week and just barely passed! I did much worse than I thought I would but here's my story. Got my first motorcycle license at 17 in 1971. It was a permit and I think it was good for 6 months. I rode my 350 Honda for 2 or 3 months, got used to the bike's clutch, throttle, brakes, turning radius and handling characteristics, and passed my DMV test no problem. Did my MSF at age 70 on a 500 lb Street 500 and barely got used to the bike late in day 2. If I had more time to practice all 14 exercises, I know I would have done much better. And like you say, it's the slow speed exercises that are the hardest. The guys who owned bikes and rode all did great. Unfortunately, me, after 40 years of not even touching a motorcycle did not. I passed but did not enjoy the experience. I hated the Street 500 and Harley doesn't even make them anymore so that should tell you something. If you can practice this test ahead of time , do it. Get a feel for the bike and if you're a smaller person I would not suggest the Harley course. Those bikes are 500 lbs and feel every ounce of it. The other MSF courses are done on much smaller lighter bikes and much easier to handle.
Agree with your points. I took mine at a community college and my first time was on a Suzuki TU250X and I couldn't do full handlebar locks because the bars ran into my knees. It really set me back in the class and that's how I failed by a point. When I retook it I had been riding with a permit on my Shadow (a 550lb bike) practicing this stuff and when I was on a Yamaha V-Star 250 (around 350lbs) it became a cake walk. I hope that when people get coached out, it's not because they're on a bike that doesn't suit them and the coaches end up throwing the baby out with the bath water. 2 days is hardly enough time to get comfortable with a bike.
I passed the MSF course with very little effort on my part 😅 I've been riding a bicycle since I was a kid and I've been driving cars with manual transmissions since I was 16, so when I took the class it all came very naturally to me.
I just took the MSF course this week and just barely passed! I did much worse than I thought I would but here's my story. Got my first motorcycle license at 17 in 1971. It was a permit and I think it was good for 6 months. I rode my 350 Honda for 2 or 3 months, got used to the bike's clutch, throttle, brakes, turning radius and handling characteristics, and passed my DMV test no problem. Did my MSF at age 70 on a 500 lb Street 500 and barely got used to the bike late in day 2. If I had more time to practice all 14 exercises, I know I would have done much better. And like you say, it's the slow speed exercises that are the hardest.
The guys who owned bikes and rode all did great. Unfortunately, me, after 40 years of not even touching a motorcycle did not. I passed but did not enjoy the experience. I hated the Street 500 and Harley doesn't even make them anymore so that should tell you something.
If you can practice this test ahead of time , do it. Get a feel for the bike and if you're a smaller person I would not suggest the Harley course. Those bikes are 500 lbs and feel every ounce of it. The other MSF courses are done on much smaller lighter bikes and much easier to handle.
Agree with your points. I took mine at a community college and my first time was on a Suzuki TU250X and I couldn't do full handlebar locks because the bars ran into my knees. It really set me back in the class and that's how I failed by a point. When I retook it I had been riding with a permit on my Shadow (a 550lb bike) practicing this stuff and when I was on a Yamaha V-Star 250 (around 350lbs) it became a cake walk. I hope that when people get coached out, it's not because they're on a bike that doesn't suit them and the coaches end up throwing the baby out with the bath water. 2 days is hardly enough time to get comfortable with a bike.
I passed the MSF course with very little effort on my part 😅 I've been riding a bicycle since I was a kid and I've been driving cars with manual transmissions since I was 16, so when I took the class it all came very naturally to me.