Harley-Davidson Riding Academy - Day 4 - Part 3

After the driving skills test, we broke for an hour lunch, then resumed the classroom portion.  Today, we picked up supplemental information and "fun/games" that prove a point.

Supplemental Info

Sometimes a motorcycle won't trigger the car sensors for a red light.  In Indiana, you only have to wait 2 minutes and if it hasn't changed, then you can legally run it.  I researched this after the class and confirmed.  Here's an article, and here's the official Indiana House Bill 1080.

I don't plan on carrying adult passengers for awhile, but the kid info was interesting.  A child can be a passenger, but must be tall enough to reach the foot pegs.  And must have on helmet and full protective gear.  Also, if the kid isn't directly yours, even if you are grandparent, then you must have written permission of the legal guardian.

Indiana doesn't require a helmet.  (I'll be wearing one anyways.)  But some neighboring states do.  Some places sell fake "DOT" stickers that can be placed on lightweight plastic hats.  This way a motorcyclist and try to trick a police officer if pulled over and claim it is DOT approved.  That's ridiculous.

Don't drink and drive is obvious, or really should be.  What is also interesting is the caution in the handbook about having a drunken passenger.  Even if your a sober driver, a drunk behind you could seriously mess up your ride.  Good thing to keep in mind.

Fun & Games

They had a pair of "beer goggles."  These distort your vision so that you can't walk in a straight line.  We went through trying to walk a straight line with and without them.

There was the center of vision test.  Where someone looked straight ahead.  Another person slowed moved a large number card far out far into their center of vision.  The person looking ahead said when they could make out the number.  This is point out that you can only see directly where you are looking.

There was also the ruler drop.  A person drops a ruler and you see how quick you can grab it.  This is to point out reaction time.

The fun & games were nice points to drive home.

Written Test

The test is multiple choice.  Twenty questions and you can miss up to 5 questions to pass.  My advice carefully read each question and the answer.  Sometimes the question is tricky. You'll read it and be like A sounds good, B sounds good, wait a minute, what?  Other times, they might slip in a term from the handbook in a slightly wrong setting.  Most questions are straight forward, but some are trying to be tricky.  (However, high school level tricky, not college/genius tricky, don't over think it.)

A few of the questions were about how a motorcycle reacted.  The prior actual driving portion helped with that.  I was like I remember when I did that on the bike.  I know what it does when you do that.

There wasn't a time limit.  I went through the test, answered the questions I was sure on, and marked any I wasn't certain on.  Then I took a second pass through and answered the questions I wasn't sure on.  I looked up and no one had turned it in, so I went back to the start and re-read it all over again, slower this time just to make sure, not like I have anything better to do :)

Turning in the test and waiting for the results is nerve racking.  You think you did okay, but you know there's a few tricky questions.  Was C or D on question X the best answer?  As we finished, we could exit the room and talk to the others in another room.

There was something that made me feel good the whole time both the skills and written tests.  I took the course before buying a bike.  If I didn't pass or didn't enjoy it, then no big deal.  A few of the other guys did that in the opposite order - bought a bike and then took the class.

Results

After what felt like the longest time in forever, we go the results.  We all passed!

After that, the instructor went through the test question by question asking if any of us had questions on each one.

They gave us all official paperwork for the license branch.  That's all we need to get our motorcycle endorsement on our license.  And they gave us a completion certificate showing we did a MSF class.  They said insurance companies give discounts for that.  (Which is true, later I found out mine did.)

On top of that, they gave each of us a personalized certificate for something we had personally done.  For me, it was "Weaving Wonder."  I did bad on the cone weave in practice, but on the skills test, I did it perfect.

Then we got a free T-shirt, which my wife claimed when I got home :)  And we did a group picture.

I asked the instructor for any practice tips.  They suggested empty parking lots.

Next up, the license branch.  However, I have to wait a whole day, because the license branch in Indiana is closed on Monday.  Whoever thought that up?

Harley-Davidson Riding Academy - Day 4 - Part 2

Skills Test

The MSF Rider Course lists the skill tests as "To assess basic skills using a cone weave, normal stop, turning from a stop, U-turn, quick stop, obstacle swerve, and cornering maneuver."  Here's how each part went.

There are 5 sequences where you have to demonstrate what we did, like the U-turn in 20 feet, cone weave, swerving, quick stop, and a short circuit course.  Each of us went through one at a time.  I was last in line.  This was good and bad.  I got to see someone else do it, so could understand what we're trying to do and where the common mess ups are at.  Bad, because it gave me more time to fret over it, think over it, and so on.  Being in the middle of the line would be ideal.

Quick Stop

You have to go fast and then stop as quickly as possible.  They are making sure you properly used both the front and rear brake.  I think I did fine on it.

Obstacle Swerve

You have to go fast and then swerve to the right of cones a few feet before and then come to a stop.  Here is where you have to use counter steering.  You are going fast, so you push in the direction you want to swerve.  The push actually turns the handle bars in the opposite direction.  I know, don't question the physics.  Think bugs bunny.  I think I did fine on that one too.

Cone Weave

There are little cones lined up in a straight row, about 12 feet apart or so.  You have to take the bike back and forth throw the cones without touching any of them.  The key isn't to look at the cones.  You want to look at the space next to each cone, and then once you are about there, start looking to the next space after the next cone.  Here is a good example of pacing of the class.  In practice, I had just started getting this.  I was coming close and with more practice could have nailed it.  Apparently, I was right, because on the test, I nailed it perfectly, better than any of my practice attempts.  They awarded me "Weaving Wonder" due to this feat.

U-turn

You start off and do a sharp right turn.  That was easy after the first day.  Just look where you want to go.  The challenge was the second part.  You have to drive into a twenty foot wide rectangle and make a U-turn.  My memory is hazy due to the ending, but I think I was doing well at first.  I think I had it in the line or very close to it.  But just as I was completing the turn, I looked down to where I was supposed to stop at.  I suppose I was so used to doing the S-turn and needed to think just U-turn.  But, when you look down, in a U-turn, your bike goes down.  My bike didn't fall, but started to.  I put my foot down and gave it throttle.  I did both really quick without thinking.  My heart was pounding.  The instructor called me lucky.  Lucky, because if you drop the bike in the test, you automatically fail.  I will admit that threw me off a bit for the rest of the test.

My advice on the U-turn is keep your head up.  If your worried that you can't make the turn in the space, then go out of bounds.  It is better to take the point hit on going out of bounds, then to drop the bike and fail immediately.

Side note, the bike won't fall once it is moving.  But in a U-turn, your going very slow, barely moving to make that tight turn.  And when you slow down and lose momentum and start to come to near a stop, it is at that point that the bike can fall. Never completely come to a stop in the turn.  The greatest risk is at the end of it, when you've already spent all your forward momentum.

Cornering Maneuver

I should have nailed this one.  I did well on it in practice.  You start off taking a curve and are supposed to reach a high speed.  (I forget the exact target.)  Then slow down (but don't stop) and take another corner around and come to a stop.  Honestly, it isn't that hard of a test.  But...

I was last in line and trying to forget about the U-turn incident.  I kept hearing "remember go fast" as each person went ahead of me.  And I over thought it.  I kept thinking go fast.  So when it was my turn to go, I went fast, far too fast, faster than I did in the whole course.  I nailed the first part.  But I was in way too fast for that second curve.

I knew that as soon as I midway through.  I went wide, off the track and did a giant curve off to the side.  Cursing under my helmet the whole time.  And then looped back into the track and finished it up.  My instructor wasn't happy with me to say the least.

I told my Uncle who drives bikes daily to work on the interstate.  He said he was proud of me for the quick thinking.  I messed it up by going too fast, but when presented with something that would have made me crash - taking a sharp curve too fast, I evaded the obstacle safely.  Also, even in that U-turn, when I was coming to a stop, I acted quick.  I need to learn more skill and practice more.  But I'm glad I've got the quick thinking reflex.  My skills are going to lag until I practice more and build it up.

Results

Honestly, it was a bit of a blur after my high speed curve escapade.  My head wasn't in it.  I remember I passed, but not by much.  But hey keep in mind, a day ago, I had never driven a motorcycle or a dirt bike, and my bicycle is the simplest model they make.  I went from that, to passing.  Even if I hadn't have passed, being able to do all that or even come close in only 12  hours of practice is impressive.

Road ready?  I don't think anyone who completes this test, perfect even, is prepared for the road.  This is just the basics of motorcycle operation.  I feel like I'm prepared to practice more.  I'll start in empty parking lots and work up to some low speed roads and just see how I progress and my comfort level.  Also, keep in mind, all you need to do to be street legal is take a written test for the permit and then you're allowed to drive in daylight with no passengers.  I look at like a license to learn more.

What if I had failed?  My advice is go into this expecting to fail and expecting to have to re-take it and expecting to have practice far more.  Because even if you pass, you need a lot more practice.  This is just the most basic start.  If I had failed, I would have just taken a written test and got a permit and then re-taken the class again later.

The most important thing of this class to me was to know if I enjoyed motorcycling or not.  Is it for you is important question before spending thousands of dollars on a bike.  And it taught me the basics of operations, so I could go and practice more.  And it gave me a license, so now I'm legal to venture out and practice where I'm comfortable.

Harley-Davidson Riding Academy - Day 4 - Part 1

On day 4, we built on what we had learned doing more advanced maneuvers.  For instance, we had to do a S-turn in a limited space rectangle.  The rectangle starts at 24 feet across and goes down to 20 feet across.  You drive the bike into and make a u-turn and then make a u-turn the other direction.  Roughly, you make an S.  I and most had trouble with that.  Though once or twice I got it perfect.  I wondered about the utility of this lesson.  But I looked it up online, this is preparing you to do a u-turn on a street.  Most streets are about 24 feet wide.  The S-part is just for extra practice or the really indecisive about which direction they want to go :)

We did other things, like swerving.  This is something you don't think about on a bicycle, but its weird.  At a low speed, turn the handle bars in the direction you want to go.  At a higher speed, turn the handle bars the opposite of the direction you want to go.  Or as they said in the class, push to the direction you want to go.  Roughly explained, as turn handlebars for a turn and push in direction for a curve.

Another neat thing is look in the direction you want to go.  Turn your head in that direction and you'll go there.  There were turns I didn't think I could make, but if I did that, I did them.  It doesn't make sense, but it just works, like magic.  Speaking of magic, it is magic that the bike doesn't fall over when your turning.  I was talking to a classmate.  I told him I thought of it like Bugs Bunny.  Bugs didn't know gravity existed, so he could walk off a cliff.  I just thought to myself I am Bugs Bunny and didn't question the physics.

And we actually got to ride in a giant loop for a few exercises.  That was the most fun, actually trying out riding the motorcycle.  I understand why they go over the braking day 1, you've got to know how to stop.  But it was sure nice to actually try out the actual driving part.

Physically, this wasn't as a hard as day 1.  My legs still hurt from the smaller bike.  But less pushing, power walking, and on/off bike meant less physical exertion.

Overall, I would have liked a slower pace.  Both today and yesterday, it felt I just started to get something and we'd move on to the next sequence.  Like I had that S perfect and then messed up the next try and then sequence over.  As someone who studies all sorts of things, it felt like mastery level was around half or slightly better.  However, the MSF course is a lot to cram into 2 days, so I don't know how much flexibility the instructors fully have.  But I wouldn't have minded practicing each sequence until I felt around A or at least B level confident.

Still I learned a lot and the instructors were supportive.  I went from never driving a motorcycle or dirt bike to being able to drive a motorcycle in 2 days.  That's amazing if you think about it.

We had two instructors.  One was the owner of a dealership.  I really liked that the owner did this.  It showed really caring.  The other was a retired fellow who had been riding his whole life.  He had lots of tips and stories from his long motorcycling life.  I was glad we had him.  I had choices in where to take the MSF class.  One I didn't think about too much in advance was who would be teaching it.  You might consider that if you have a choice.  If schedule and everything else works, maybe call them up and ask about who will be teaching the class and their background.

Harley-Davidson Riding Academy - Day 3

Today was the first day driving.  We were in an empty school parking lot that had been divided into an area with cones.  That's where the driving was on both days.

The bike:

We were on Harley-Davidson Street 500.  The bikes were outfitted with extra protective frames so that when they fall it wouldn't damage them.  They looked nice at first.  Even though you know, they've been heavily abused the whole season with beginner drivers like me.  I got the one with a tall seat.  This bike was a solid bike, but it didn't fit me at all.  The instructor and even classmates were all telling me that the bike wasn't a fit.  At first, I didn't know if it was me or the bike.  After two days, it is the bike.  My legs were all bunched up.  The bike wants to fall over with me standing because I stand so tall over the top.  If your average height or short, this is a good starter bike.  But if your tall, don't get this as a starter bike.

One thing I learned quick was to ignore the Neutral light.  This gave me a lot of trouble at first.  I went to shift into Neutral and the light wouldn't be on.  And at one point, I was driving the bike around with the Neutral light on.  I told one of the instructors.  He told me, good lesson for you.  I think it was.  I always treat the light as a suggestion and ease off the throttle just in case and start the engine with my hand on the throttle.

The sequence:

It had a very good start.  At first, we pushed the bikes in Neutral.  Didn't start them, just pushed them across the parking lot, turned them, and pushed them back.  After that, we started them up and did what they called "power walk."  Power walk is where you sat on the bike, walk it with your feet, but ease out the clutch so that the engine is moving it along.  This was a very good introduction to the controls and moving.  After that, we worked up to a short ride back and forth with lifting our feet up.  Then we updated our ride books with signed date of "first motorcycle drive."

It may sound simple or easy.  But it was physically hard.  I'm in very good shape.  I can weed a large field, cut down a tree with an axe, and anything else.  But I really felt this was a work out.  It was a few things.  You start by pushing the bike.  It is a lower end bike, but still heavy.  You also get on and off the bike many times in a row.  Plus, I think me being tall and having to bend my legs so much made it worse.  The other taller guys in my class said their legs hurt from it too.  But I didn't hear anything from the average height older guys.  So either they are in better shape or being tall has alot to do with it.

Oh and another thing is your leg position.  Even on a bigger bike, there's something about having your legs in that riding position.  (I still feel that a bit after I got out today.)

In retrospect, good leg exercises for a few weeks before this would have been wonderful.  Or if you could borrow a friend's bike and don't drive, just sit on it and push it.  If you can do that for a few hours, then you'll have a giant leg up (or rather non-hurting leg) in the class.

After that, we start into other sequences, like stopping and later swerving.  The MSF website lists out each point if you want to know details.  The key thing overall is day 1 you learn the basics.  You don't ride on the bike much.  You'll be pushing, braking, mounting, and dismounting.

After the first day, I was left feeling like motorcycling was a lot of mental and physical work.

As the class ended, I felt like I was getting things, but really felt like I needed more practice.  Here is where not having a bike puts you at a disadvantage.  There's not a good way to "study up" or practice.  What I did was to watch YouTube videos of people riding motorcycle and explaining how they drove.  I practiced moving my hands and feet with the different motions, like shifting gears.  I even did that a bit on the drive between home and the class.  I also tried to close my eyes and remember back through it.

Next day 4 and the skills test!

Harley-Davidson Riding Academy - Day 2

The second day of riding academy was a triple bonus.  It was a Friday, so weekend.  Second, I had the whole next week off.  Third, I was looking forward to the class.  I know we wouldn't be driving yet, but it was still exciting to look forward to.  Overall, the session was 6pm to 10pm and it pretty much started and ended on time.

Here is my overview of day 1:

We continued going through the manual in groups.  There were a few more videos and slides.  Overall, much the same as day 1.  Day 1 was the basic controls of a motorcycle, where is the clutch, what the throttle does, etc.  On day 2, we started talking about going through curves and some street driving scenarios.

Some of what I learned:

Open up the view on the road.  If you stop before turning on a road, but have a fence, tree, or something else to the side, then pull forward so that you can open up the view and see more of the road before turning onto it.

A lane divides into three sections.  Also, go where you can best be seen and what is safest.  Generally, that is in the left lane.  But coming over a hill, the middle lane makes you more visible.

Always be looking for an escape route.  If something happens, always have an escape plan. Like, pay attention if you have grass off to the right or left that you could jam into if you needed.  Or if someone cuts you off, are you able to quickly switch to another lane.  Now when I drive the car, I'm scanning the road for obstacles and escape routes.

Whenever you come to a stop on the road, stay in first gear.  That way if someone is coming up on you, you can quickly make a get away.

I like what the handbook says about accidents - there's rarely just one single cause.  They describe a few scenarios of a crash incident and then list all the things involved.

Also, overall, when riding a motorcycle pretend your invisible.  Even if a driver looks you straight in the eyes, it doesn't mean they have registered that you are there.  People in cars, aren't expecting to see motorcycles.  Drive cautious and defensive.  I know they said that back in drivers ed when I was a teenager, but it sinks in on a motorcycle, because a car has nice metal siding and air bags.  A motorcycle has two wheel and open air.

Overall, good info.  Only thing is I am still not comfortable with the basics of the controls.  Right now, I'm not worried about lane visibility, as much as I'm worried about driving a few feet.  I wouldn't have minded some way to practice the basics of the controls more.  And then put the road info after the driving practice.

Interesting stories:

Some of the guys talked about a "Dragon" motorcycle route in Tennessee.  It is a winding difficult path to take on a motorcycle.  Adventurous try to prove themselves by taking it fast.  Apparently, so many people get hurt that gruesome photographers camp out waiting for people to get hurt to take pictures.  Me, I'm more like where is Puppy road?  Or kitten road?

Tomorrow is driving day!

Harley-Davidson Riding Academy - Day 1

The first day met at the dealership. I arrived early to have a chance to look around at the bikes, gears, and accessories. I easily spent an hour and still had more to look at when the class was starting. That helped, getting a feel for things by looking around.

The class started with signing a waver and introductions of everyone. Then we had a tour of the store. They divided us up with sales people who went over some of the bikes. Then around to the motor gear section where they showed us the helmets, jackets, and so on. And the accessories section where they talked about all the add-on you can get. And lastly the service, where we got to tour the back service room. We asked questions about servicing and accessories. I think it helped.

Finally in starting, we had two books. A little Harley-Davidson leather bound journal. It looks nice, but it is a pain to lay flat and actually write anything in. And the MSF Basic Rider Course Handbook. This handbook is about 70 pages long and is what the classroom portion is mainly focused on.

My class had 9 people, but one canceled last minute. We divided into 3 groups. We went through the handbook as a class. Each group was responsible for summarizing a section of the handbook to the rest of the class. The instructor then highlighted anything important that needed to be stressed or was missed. It wasn’t a bad way to go through the handbook. However, I’d really advise reading and studying it individually.

The handbook starts off with the basics of the controls. This is helpful for true newbies, like myself. It goes over the how to change gears, brake, etc. It was interesting to learn that the front tire provides the like two thirds of the braking force. This is because as you brake, the weigh pushes forward. Overall you get a feel for the layout of a motorcycle, but it is still different when you actually go to drive one.

In addition, there's a few slides and videos the instructor plays as you go through the handbook.  They didn't really add that much material the first day.

The first session was 6pm to 9pm Thursday and pretty well started and ended on time.

My classmates varied in background. All were men. (The week before, the dealer had did a special women’s only class, so I don’t know if that’s why it was all men or if that is normal.) Age varied widely. Some were fairly young, in 20s. And some were already retired. One guy was already driving a motorcycle and wanted to get better. It was an good group of fellows to take the class with.

My only complaint with the class is that it is billed as a starter course, but I was the only one who was really new to driving a motorcycle. Only 4 people claimed no experience. One of them had lots of experience driving a dirt bike. The other was a pilot and had driven motorcycle decades ago. That left me and one other who had no experience. (The other one dropped shortly into the actually riding day.)   

Preparing for the class

I downloaded a copy of my state’s motorcycle manual. I then read and studied it. I was halfway tempted to take the written test and get my permit as a prep work for the MSF class. This wouldn’t hurt, but also may not help all that much. What I heard about the state test sounds a bit different than the test I took.

I practiced putting on and off my helmet. I tried wearing it around for a little bit to get a feel for what it was like to wear it. It is better to try it on for twenty minutes before committing to wear it for a two full days in a row.  Get comfortable with it.

I aired up my bicycle tires and drove my bicycle. I tried low speed maneuvers. And I tried out high speed maneuvers, or at least as high speed as I can peddle. I tried out braking, going up hills, and anything else I can think of. I wanted to get a feel for the balance and the feel of two wheels. While the motorcycle is fairly different, I think this helped.  If you have more time before your class, this would be great to try do in the days leading up to the class.

My bicycle is rather basic, but I think a better prep would have been a complicated bicycle. One with lots of gear shifting options, and independent front and rear brakes. Basically, the more complicated the bicycle, the better to prepare you for learning to ride a bicycle.

I also watched many youtube videos on driving a motorcycle. There’s a wide assortment of quality in those videos. But most of them cover the basics, which I didn’t know at all.  On the whole, this was helpful to do.

One tip from one of the videos was to practice your hand movement of pulling in the clutch and opening/closing the throttle. I started doing that. It may feel silly to do, but it did help. The thing is you can read and memorize the controls. But you need the actions ingrained deeper into muscle memory and habit, so that there’s no thought required.