Newly licensed motorcycle rider in PA (and parts)

[secbyte]

Well gang I did it. Today I finished the MSF course at Tobyhanna Army Depot. and passed. I now have my license.

I have been riding for only three month without incident, that is until I came in contact with this course. It the process of the range exercises I have dropped the scoot once and crashed doing the figure 8 in that stupid box.

Now I am not going to say for a moment that I have seen everything in three months but let me tell you this. I have yet to need to do a double figure 8 U turn in a 40 X 20 frigging box. I have to be honest I am not sure what application this even has in real life. If you want me to do a u turn fine. I just do not get why I need to do figure 8s.

I am not sure that scooters should be allowed in these boxes. They do not seem to be designed for them (At least mine) My automatic clutch catches at about 2800 to 3000 RPMs. At that engine speed you are going to fast to control the bike in those close confines, and as soon as I drop below 1800 no power is there to pick you up again when coming out of the turns. I can see this with a manual in playing with the "friction zone" but this is really hard if not impossible when applied to a certain Apollo 250, as todays damaged bile and a trip to the hospital for me can assure you. Before the hospital trip, I righted my bike, tossed the busted rear brake lever into the trunk, did the box again, (Bleeding this time) went over two lines and finished the test perfectly. OK I blew the box. But I maintain the box doesn't belong on that test concerning a scooter. To me is just is not save to have it there.

So me elbow (And the rest of my body) is banged up pretty good, the bike is scratched up pretty good, but I did pass, and the teacher called me a tough Mother Fu--er (I took that as a compliment) for passing the test. He did say the rest of the test was perfect including the quick stop with only one brake.

So where is the best place for me to buy a rear brake lever for my Apollo 250 (Really jonway)?

Anyway I am tired and sore and I am going to go relax for a while, but before I do, I want to thank you guys again for your words of encouragement and support. I could not do this without you guys!

George

[cfmoto250cc]

When I took the class in Kentucky (Morehead University) I used a Honda Rebel 250 ran over one line and got -10 points but still passed the test with a 90. I tried it on my scooter and couldn't do it and still can't. I think your right about the automatic vs manual. I've never seen a double figure 8 box on any road I've been on so I guess it is not all that important. That is also what the two instructors said.

[Gary]

Good job George. Hope your recovery is speedy.
Gary

[Don]

i found that when doing my test going a touch faster than you think you should makes the 8's much simpler...i know it does not make sence.....but if you go too slow you just cant do them....

[stehack]

Took the MSF course in Philly but did the whole Motorcycle thing was the one whose experience was bike riding .Was buying A scooter but figured would get the full license .Am riding in Marshalls Creek area ate at that restaurant Few times . The MSF was pretty intense 5 Hours on course in June with no shade .

[nulldevice]

The whole point of the figure eight is to demonstrate your competence in low speed tight places handling, like parking lots, and 20 X 40 feet is lots of room. I can do it in my driveway with my 250cc scooter and the driveway is only 16 feet wide.

As for the friction zone technique, rev the motor slightly to clutch engagement and control your speed with the back brake.

[SylvreKat]

Null's right, it's the same technique you use for the slow part, where the motorcycles are using their clutch to not stall out. We drag the rear brake instead.

Having said that, I totally suxed at the u-turns. We didn't have double figure 8s. We had a u-turn left then a u-turn right, more of an S layout. Still suxed. Stunk it so bad on the beginner class's Honda Rebel I think the teacher didn't even bother to score it. Didn't do any much better on my own scoot for the experienced class. I figure I won't u-turn in the streets, and in tight places like parking lots, I can duck-walk it into position.

Congrats on passing your test, George, and I hope you recover quickly from your wounds.

>'Kat

[stehack]

Hope you recover quickly see you around town!

[stehack]

Hey George took ride around Marshalls Creek they seem to be redoing roads they laid down gravel
on some well traveled roads.Ie creek road hope their doing chip and tar.Right now very dangerous.
SEE YOU Down The Road!

[richardthescooter1]

I remember when I took the MSF course, I also crashed in the figure 8 (thank God in the practice) but after that passed the test. congrats, safe scooting and have fun.

[CCProf]

I foot faulted the figure 8. The instructors told us that the figure 8 has a max penalty of 8 pts and you can rack up 20 and still pass. In essence you could skip the figure 8 and still pass. That was 4 years ago and maybe it's changed. If you take the PennDot section, that doesn't count. I was told to keep the rpm's up by using the left brake and keeping the throttle higher. Also - look over your shoulder when making the turns.

Note - the MSF guys told me if you drop the bike at any stage, you fail.

Richard - I took the course in Johnstown - how about you?

[bigphillip79]

I've been riding my whole life and took the MSF a couple years ago to get my license. Even though I had my own scooter at the time. I used theirs. A little Eliminator 125. Figured I paid for it the coarse might as well use their bike and gas. Didn't know what to expect so figured I could dump their bike all day and they wouldn't care. We had 10 riders in the class and only 2 of us had ridden before. We had one guy drop the bike one time. The box was tough for me because at 6'5" the bars kept hitting my knees. U turns though no problem.

[mrnoitall]

Aug 10, 2012 10:13:12 GMT -5 bigphillip79 said:

I've been riding my whole life and took the MSF a couple years ago to get my license.

How irresponsible of you, You mean to tell us that you actually enjoyed and exercised your common law RIGHT to operate your own private property on roads that you pay for without an official endorsement and permission from the state?

Are you some type of radical? You probably don't come to a completely stop at a stop sign when you can clearly see nothing coming for 100 yards in all directions.
People like you who ignore laws which are clearly designed to protect the public, and not to raise revenue, are what's wrong with the world today.

Next thing you are going to tell us is that you do not separate bottles and cans from your other trash.