No MC endorsement?

[buf2phx]

In NY they follow you in a car while you ride around the block. At some point in the trip, they have you ride circles and figure eights in the street. Here in AZ they have a closed course,from what I've been told. Didn't have to find out,since they accepted my NY endorsement and transferred it to my AZ license. I got my endorsement right away when I bought my first bike in 95. I didn't want to take any chances of being towed by a LEO,or having an insurance claim denied.

Mike

 

[thewoodman]

My first 3 years riding I did not have the endorsement but I did get permits so no issue with insurance. You can get up to 3 in Wisconsin before the MSF is mandatory.

There were two reasons for this.

1. I don't have a lot of time to take off work and doing the DMV test during the day is almost impossible for me.

2. In wisconsin they give you a radio and give instructions while folowing in a car behind you, I was not real excited about having an inatantive driver behind me.

I took the MSF last June and now have the M on the liscence.

The course was actually very frustrating because

1. all riding is done at 25mph or below IIRC.

2. about 50% of the class had never been on a motorcycle and getting them to go over 15 or even shift into 2nd was almost impossible. I did not get to practice at spead like should be done.

3. I missed one of the hand signals for the emergency swerve/brake excersize because I was busy looking at the speedo trying not to go over 25.

4. Every single person passed the class. I find this disturbing when half of them were to scared or intimidated to even go over 15mph. I hope they practice much much more before getting on the road.

5. Doing 25 and braking before a a turn that could easily be done at 35-40 was tough to do. It became more of a u-turn than a sweeper turn. I know they are teaching braking and looking through the turn but it was difficult to go that slow.

Now, with all that said, the MSF is a must do for everyone. Even at the low speeds I learned that one of my issues with smooth cornering was not looking far enough through the turns. Working on this I beleive has made me a better rider and I may not have noticed this had I not taken the MSF.

I am looking into the ERC for next spring. I know I am no expert rider and I beleive every bit of training/instruction helps.

One more thing, if you have been riding a big heavy bike such as my 06 Concours I had or an FJR or similiar, be careful when they hand you a Yamaha XT250. It is very easy to throw it right on the ground in the first turn you make after riding a bigger bike. :blush: Although I did not crash, it made for some exiting peg scraping and flailing around to correct the issue. What saved me from embarassment all day was the fact that the instructor did the same thing with a Rebal 250 not 10 minutes later. He jumped off a fully loaded touring Harley and about tossed the Rebal right to the ground.

Anyway, that's my MSF experience.

Take the class, it's worth it.

Greg

 

[FJR-Voltron]

4. Every single person passed the class. I find this disturbing when half of them were to scared or intimidated to even go over 15mph. I hope they practice much much more before getting on the road.

Yes, it was the same deal in my class...

However, my instructors were very cool in that they said that the M endorsement is not a license to ride a motorcycle, but a license of continued and ongoing learning of riding. They stressed that we all should come back to that MSF training field to keep our skills honed. Especially, the folks that were scared of going more that 15mph during the class.

 

[Silver Penguin]

My Dad mandated a license, for me to ride on the street when I was a kid. Back then, in the dark ages, the man with a clipboard stood on a street corner and had you ride up and down, then stop when he jumped out in front of you. Did that once on a moped then once on a bike.

Fast forward 20 years, to when I took a refresher course with the MSF. My 17yr old some came along just for fun. Learned some new stuff, refreshed some old skills and passed the test on a bike that was suitable for riding in small circles. Since then I've taken the MSF basic class many times on my way to becoming a Rider Coach. Like others on the forum I got very frustrated with the students who had never ridden a bicycle (i.e. you have to put your feet down when you stop), and students who hadn't a clue what a clutch and shifting was all about. Fear prevented many of these riders getting the bike going fast enough to feel stable, so it bred more fear.

I believe that way too many folks ride without an endorsement, for many reasons. A friend from work just didn't bother with insurance, since they wanted to see his non-existent license. A random sweep of riders on a favorite twisty road had netted a parking lot filled with impounded bikes. I chatted with the officer for quite a while, since my license was in a purse, in my wallet which was in a backpack that was bungied to the bike.

Education folks, that's what it's all about. Get the learning and get the license. THEN go out and learn to really ride.

 

[Silent]

2. In wisconsin they give you a radio and give instructions while folowing in a car behind you, I was not real excited about having an inatantive driver behind me.

Are you trying to imply that there might be a cager somewhere that actually IS attentive?

They almost failed me in my USMC MSF course because they require a rear wheel lockup and skid. Can't be done on an '84 Venture Royal with linked brakes

 

[Gerry.GEG]

Only my brother-in-law but, he's kind of and idiot.

On a good note; he has the intention of getting it soon. Mostly to avoid a huge ticket in WA state if he's caught! He'll never carry insurance though. It's not required in WA for M/C's and he'll never have the money to buy it anyway.

Blood from a turnip if he gets in an accident anyway. Good thing his Kawasaki 440 most likely won't do too much damage to anyone else.

Last year, after purchasing my FJR, I took the MSF basic course to refresh my skills after not riding for several years. I still had a M endorsement from back in 1990, however I thought it would be a good idea to go back to basics.While taking the class, I noticed that there was a huge number of individuals who owned/rode motorcycles for many years without ever getting an M endorsement. In fact, the only reason they were taking the MSF-basic course was so that they wouldn't have to take the official DMV test..

My question is, how many people do you know that have been riding who don't have a motorcycle endorsement.