Wife Taking MSF Beginning Rider Course!

[Boxer]

Okay, we finally did it! I got her registered for the weekend of October 28, 29, 30. There is a Friday evening session for 4 hours and then 2 days of riding..8 AM-6 PM. It'll be 2 looong days for her. 54 years old but solidly built and lotsa guts! They furnish 250CC Hondas for students to ride I believe.

Can anyone suggest any procedures, pointers I should go over before she enters this thing? She has ridden pillion with me but has never "driven" a bike before. She is beginning to get scared that she will "flunk" the course, but I think it will end up being a breeze and she will enjoy it after she gets rid of the jitters. But what can I do to alleviate this somewhat?

Any suggestions?

[jonothan]

Yes, Boxer.

Show her around your own bike. Where everything is, how it all works. Get her to walk around with it, get the feel of it.

I spent about an hour with Elaine before her CBT, just explaining all the mechanics and mounting/dismounting, taking it on and off the stand.

Simple as this might sound, she said it really helped a lot as she was very familiar with the "feel" of a bike before she rode one.

I'm sure you're very patient with her. Wives just make the best riding buddies.

J

[DSKYZD]

I hear over and over how the ladies usually do very well in the BRC. They start you from the very bottom and teach you how to work the clutch and then walk with the bike.

The advice to just get familiar with a bike sounds like a good idea to me. You get to answer all of the "what's this thingy" questions and be her hero, and she isn't distracted by those little things the day of.

Right on!!


DSKYZD

[arkline]

Good onya. This is gonna be fun...

The one piece of wisdom that I would impart is that the bike is way more stable when it is moving than when you're just walking it around. Important concept...

[guest1]

I took the clas about 11/2 years ago. Out of approx 40 people, only about 4-5 failed. Ther were several women that did very well. The bikes are small and everything is very basic. No pressure and they seem to be very forgiving on the driving tests.

[guest1]

oh, out of the 4 or 5, one woman actually just quit, said it was not for her and she was better off as a passenger. The instructors ask you to walk you bike to get used to it and also walk the bike while sitting on it. Thought I would mention that because it seems that until you actually do the walking while of the bike, its feels very weird and set some nerves on end.. Hope that helps? Dont tell ur wife, but there were a few crashes also. they dont stop the class due to wet weather in the parking lot. You do the math..lol

It should be a breeze for her and for anyone with average or better coordination!

[JohnR]

Hi boxer,

I believe that a little time on a smaller bike would be good for your wife's confidence, and make the course more meaningful for her. A 125cc bike would be perfect.

If you can make this work, find a empty parking lot and parctice riding the bike at lower speeds. Help her figure out the "friction zone". For someone that has driven a stick shift car this may be easy. For someone that has had no expericene slipping a clutch, this might be very helpful. The course, for me, was done in a parking lot and at low speeds and low gears. I assume it will be the same for your wife.

I practiced figure 8 turns in an empty parking lot, leaning the bike and shifting my weight. That made that part of the course much easier for me.

The idea is to be able to concentrate on the lessons taught in the MSF course and not to be worried about the mechanics of operating the bike.

Good luck. I imagine that having a wife that can ride her own bike, part of the time, will make riding more enjoyable for both of you.

-John-

[djwaudio]

>>She is beginning to get scared that she will "flunk" the course, but I think it will end up being a breeze and she will enjoy it after she gets rid of the jitters. But what can I do to alleviate this somewhat?

Let her go through the fear. It's natural and will turn to excitement with her success. If she flunks, it's better to do it there than on the road.

Motorcycling is dangerous to the novice and becomes less dangerous as skills, experience, and mental awareness increases. Perhaps you can prepare her with the best safety gear available (good boots, gloves, Aerostitch, etc.), and remind her that getting the education that the MFA offers will dramatically reduce the risk of riding *considerably*.

You may suggest she try some of the obstacles on a bicycle under your guidance. Learning to keep eyes on her destination and scan; practicing head turns, riding figure 8s, tight turns, progressive braking, swerving, can all be done on a bicycle and get her a head start in a non threatening way. Set up an obstacle course using pine cones in the driveway.

Also I would suggest that she get plenty of rest, eat a well balanced diet, and hydrate leading up to the class. A little bit of stretching and basic exercises can help her get in touch with her physical side.

A excellent book on riding called "Proficient Motorcycling" by David Hough will help get her education on the art of motorcycling underway.

The MSF are very well organized and trained. They will give her a great head start to a long, safe, and exciting life of motorcycling. Best of luck to her.

[yjleesvrr]

Hey Phil - glad to hear your lady is wanting to ride. I'd agree that riding a bicycle helps one become a better motorcyclist. I think the fact that I've ridden a bicycle most of my life helped.

I think being relaxed and having the willingness to enjoy the course is the best way to prepare. Most people I know who washed out or otherwise didn't finish the course were nervous and wound too tight. Being nervous on a motorcycle is not a good thing. As others have suggested, give her the opportunity to develop a tactile comfort with your Roadster by letting her handle it in the garage and move it around. The 300 lbs. trainers they have at the MSF course will feel like a bicycle by comparison.

[Kevin]

Congrats on getting her signed up. I took the course here in Ohio this Spring, and it was a bear to get into. I whole-heartedly second the notion of having your wife become very familiar with the controls, choke, finding neutral, turning off the fuel knob, etc. The instructors that I had went out of their way to make people feel stupid if they forgot to turn off the fuel supply, or put the bike in neutral when we stopped a drill, and that sort of thing. I'm sure most of the instructors are not like this, but I would guess that they follow a similar instructional protocol. We had 1 Honda Rebel, 1 Kaw Eliminator, a few Buell blasts, and a few Yamy TW something or others, which is what I ended up with. It was a bit high for me, but pretty easy to control being an enduro-type bike. We had 3 or 4 of 12 people fail, but one of them being because he locked up the front brake so hard during the quick stop section that he did an endo and almost flipped the bike completely over. Overall, I'd say it was a very helpful course, especially for those with little or no experience piloting a bike. Assuming, of course, that you don't have the 2 jerks that were leading our class.

Good luck and have fun!

Kevin

[queenpdog]

My best advice is to not try to help too much. You could actually end up making her feel MORE nervous. Having the fear is natural and she needs to work through that. A little fear is super healthy. It seems to me that loved ones are much better at learning from someone other than us.

I am an excellent snowboarder but I had a very hard time teaching my partner to do it. Our relationship suffered some because of all the emotions and baggage that come along with going through the stress together. Finally I sent her to a good instructor and everything just clicked! Being a technical expert does not mean you will be a good, patient teacher. Especially with your wife.

Just my two cents. She's gonna have a blast!

[NCRoaster]

Boxer,

I taught the MSF RSS/BRC course for twelve years. (Taught over 600 people to ride in that time.) I found that women over 40 sometimes had trouble believing they were actually riding. It seems they have been told their entire lives that girls don't ride and shouldn't so their confidence suffers from a lifetime of people trying to discourage them. The young women, though usually very careful, seemed on average -- fearless. The older women more often were fearful. The weird thing is that even though they were riding as well as anyone in the class they did not believe they were doing it right. Many times I had to tell them they were doing fine and that I would let them know if they needed coaching about any part of the learning process. And just between you and me sometimes they had a boyfriend or husband who discouraged them either because they feared for their wives'/girlfriends' safety or felt threatened by their mate learning to ride on their own. My experience is that if she can ride a bicycle (balance) and really wants to be there, she will do fine. You'd be amazed by how many women took the class because their husbands told them to or because the club they belonged to pushed the members to take it. (Those students, because they really didn't want to be there, never finished and often got hurt because they were very scared.) If your wife can drive a stick shift car, she is already halfway to knowing how to ride.

Your wife should know that it is likely that half the class will be women. And that the men are not always the better riders. You should familiarize her with the friction zone and that she should never pop the clutch. That is to say, "EEAAZZZE IT OUT". If you can familiarize her with the controls (throttle, brakes, gear shifter, clutch, and fuel supply valve/petcock)and how they work, you will definitely increase her comfort level. Explain that she should balance the throttle with the clutch when starting out to find that friction zone. Show her the knuckles up position for holding the throttle and that the throttle is rolled on gently not rapidly. Teach her what it means to ROLL On (open throttle) and ROLL Off (close throttle) the throttle. Impress upon her the need to look all the way through the turn when riding and not at the ground ten feet in front of her. (That happens all the time with new riders.) Remind her that she has to remember where the controls are and how to use them because once she starts moving under power she needs to be looking ahead and not down at the controls. The intent of the class is to teach students to use the controls simultaneously. So if you can explain to her, for example, the process of stopping. I liked to divide the bike in half when teaching. I'd tell them to pull in the clutch and downshift. There, half the bike is spoken for. Now apply the brakes slowly to come to a slow steady stop. Also show her that when making a turn, she should press the handlebar in the direction of the turn. Press Right, Go Right. Press Left, Go Left. Do not talk about countersteering. It would be very good if you show her how to apply the brake while holding the throttle shut with her thumb. And lastly, she MUST make the bike go at least 12 miles per hour. The riding objectives cannot be met at very slow speed. In fact, it is harder to ride when the bike is going slowly then when it is going quickly. It is also a lot easier to gain confidence riding when you are not worrying about the bike falling over. So faster is better. She will be riding between 12 and 25 mph as directed for each exercise. But she must get her speed up to successfully complete the class.

She should know that the class uses a building block process that quickly has her riding. The fastest she will go is twenty-five miles per hour and she will never get over third gear. (That is if she follows directions.) The class will teach her to Minimize the Risk of riding and teach her good riding skills right from the start.

And if she is a Perfectionist, you need to STRONGLY, and I mean STRONGLY impress upon her that in the class she will learn to ride but she will perfect her skills after the class on her own motorcycle. Learn it there at slow speed, Perfect it later at her own speed. Only a handful of people taking the class are excellent riders at the end of the class and those are usually people with previous riding experience.

I hope this helps,

NCRoaster

[tipstall]

NCRoaster,

Great info. Input like this makes this board so useful.

[Lion_Lady]

My best recommendation is... help if SHE ASKS FOR HELP!! Otherwise leave her alone.

My hubby went bonkers trying to help me when I decided I wanted to learn... the flip side is that he wasn't riding yet, either (his dad commuted when dh was in school, so I didn't have to deal with the 'but its dangerous' angle). I finally had to tell him to BACK OFF.

The class provides everything she needs from square one. All she needs to remember is to pay attention, ask questions if she doesn't understand. Sometimes it doesn't become clear until you're actually DOING an excercise.

I'll second that the emotional baggage and stress that having you help her can be more of a hindrance than a help.

I took the class the last weekend of the year it was offered and managed to freak myself out over one of the excercises. Sometimes it happens, and even if she does not pass, she will still have learned more than she realizes.

Pam

[NCRoaster]

Boxer,

Back in 1970 a friend taught me the controls and how to use them on a 100cc Kawasaki street bike. He also let me sit on the bike, but he did not let me ride it that same day. The following day was the BIG DAY. That night I went over using the controls a hundred times in my head. I started and stopped and drove many dream miles. I wanted to know only what I absolutely had to know for the task before me. And that is what he taught me. If you take that approach in helping your wife, I think you both will be satisfied by the attempt. But let me assure you, in the long run more information is always better than less information. That is why you take the class to begin with. If you share the information I suggested in a loving manner, your wife will be much more comfortable. If you have access to a BRC workbook, your wife could read it in advance of the class and be even better prepared. If you know an instructor or someone who has recently taken the class, ask to borrow their book. Your local motorcycle dealer might even have a copy of the book.

NCRoaster

[leno]

Don't try and teach her anything that's just the road to devorce. Just tell her that it does not matter if she does flunk, after all what does it matter. And then remind her that it's some body elses bike so if it gets bent or dented then it does not matter as long as she is okay.