Passed permit exam; next up: MSF course!

[kari-star]

I'm happy to report that I passed my NJ permit exam and am now officially cleared to take the MSF course (already registered for) starting tomorrow night!

Of course, I had a moment of panic when I sat for the test and the first screen that pops up says: "if you fail this exam you must wait 6 days before taking it again." YIKES. I *had* to pass b/c my course starts tomorrow... I definitely shouldn't have procrastinated so long before getting down to the DMV for the permit. And then I missed the first 2 questions! Happily got the rest correct.

Tomorrow my MSF course starts - it's hosted by the local HD dealership and seems to be an incredibly long amount of time: Friday 5-10, Saturday 7:30-5, Sunday 7:30-3, and then Monday 6-8. Hopefully it will go smoothly (fingers crossed for no rain!) and by this time next week not only will I be on my way to Myrtle Beach but as a fully licensed rider!

[TylerR]

seems to be an incredibly long amount of time

It will be worth every minute... congrats on taking all the steps to fulfilling your dream of riding in a smart, conscientious way! :wootrock:

[sweptwingnut]

:clapping:Congrats on the permit exam!

We will be standing by to :ears: about your weekend experiences. Good luck, relax and have FUN!!!

[Astir]

:thumbsup: Awesome! Can't wait to hear how it goes!

[evolwife]

Enjoy! You're about to have an unforgettable experience :-)

[Luna Tique]

:clapping: Congratulations on passing your writtten test.:thumbsup:
Tomorrow my MSF course starts - it's hosted by the local HD dealership and seems to be an incredibly long amount of time:

Relax and try to absorb as much as you can. In my opinion 8 hours is really not a long time to grasp the basics of riding. Be patient and try not to get bored There is much to learn.

I missed the first 2 questions! Happily got the rest correct.:

:chin: Just curious What were the 2 questions you missed?

[indianscout]

You will do fine...............:meditation: You will do fine................:meditation:







:riding:

[Unforgiven]

Congrats and let us know how the weekend went!

[ridingAK]

The class will be a lot of fun. Parts may seem slow, but once you really start riding, you will be amazed at how fast the time goes.

[indianscout]

rAK is right! Before long you will be supporting others too!


:riding:

[Diamond Lil]

:ecstasy:

Congratulations!

If you are as happy as I was at this time, you don't quite know what to do with yourself! :yahoo:

Much good luck on the course. It is a great way to learn. Take it again a few times as the seasons go by.

:clapping:

[KansasKawboy]

:wootrock:

[kari-star]

Holy Cow, guys! how awesome to get back to 2 pages of good wishes. Thank you!

I wasn't online at all this weekend because I had my very long course - and y'all were right, it IS totally worth it.

I can't remember the second question, but the first one I missed was how to brake with a flat - I said both brakes smoothly, but obviously that's not right. Most of the test questions were on actual riding methods, and while it was all covered in the NJ motorcycle handbook I don't have any prior riding experience so it wasn't really embodied.

OK! very long course details!

Friday night was 4 hours in the classroom. We got through all of the basic riding stuff, including the defensive riding information.

Then Sat. we met at 7:15 at the range. It was cloudy and with a 40% chance of rain, so they wanted to get started right away. We were riding Buell Blasts, I guess because this was a HD sponsored MSF course. The first day we covered the friction zone and then went up through cornering exercises and the tight turns. We were really lucky, it didn't rain all day except for a few sprinkles.

Riding was *so great!* I knew I would like it, but I didn't realize how quickly it would become super fun. By the time we hit cornering and the counterweight exercises I was having so much fun, ear to ear grins. They could even tell through my full face helmet - my cheeks were puffing up so high! I felt like I was really getting the hang of it quick, and I wished that I could do the exercises faster. :):

After the range we went back to the classroom and finished up a couple more hours of questions, and then the writing test. And then I went home and fell asleep by 9PM. I was SO TIRED.

Today we met at 7:30 and it was DARK AND GLOOMY SKIES. we got started right away with a pretty technically difficult manuver - it was the s-turn and noodle, I think. it's all a blur by now. after that the exercises seemed much easier but it really started to pour by about 11AM. I was wearing the corazzo jacket and I wanted to try it out in the bad weather in prep for our big trip to myrtle beach so I was a little glad it rained - but my gloves got SOAKED and we all got cold and tired and started to make sloppy mistakes. Just in time for the evaluation!

By the end of the day, though, all 12 of us had passed. I didn't do as great on the eval as I had on the exercises, I would like to blame the wet and the gloves and the fact that the buells were stalling all over the place in the humidity, but it could have been nerves too. but! passed! tomorrow night we have a little celebration and do the paper work at the dealership, my permit gets stamped, and then I just have to go to the dmv to get my license!

Originally HD tried to set this course up to be full of women, but there were just 4 out of 12 of us. I'm not sure what kind of a ratio that was compared to other classes! The dudes that we were riding with were two wheel female worthy, actually - really good people. Actually the instructors said we were their favorite class of the year (um, so far, and it's early) - we had a really good vibe.

All in all: MSF course is the freakin' bomb. Highly highly recommended. Riding in the rain is a pain but doable (and would be better if you put your rain pants on before your pants get damp). And yay! motorcycle license!

[Luna Tique]

:yahoo: Congratulations on passing your course :clapping:now take what you have just learned and practice, practice, practice and when you think you've got it do it again


and Hey Kari-Star :pompom: Welcome to the world of two wheel (s)miles.:riding:

[TylerR]

All in all: MSF course is the freakin' bomb. Highly highly recommended. Riding in the rain is a pain but doable (and would be better if you put your rain pants on before your pants get damp). And yay! motorcycle license!

Great write up!! Now comes the time when you get to take as much time as you can to get on that bike and practice, practice, practice... oh darn!! CONGRATS!!! :yahoo:

[sweptwingnut]

:wootrock: CONGRATULATIONS!!! :wootrock:

[ridingAK]

:pompom::pompom::pompom: CONGRATULATIONS!!!:pompom::pompom::pompom:

You must be feeling on :cloud9: about now!

[kari-star]

thanks everyone! I am so excited. I don't have a bike of my own but my partner told me last week he'd get out his red suzuki sv650s and get me on it to practice. I told him he didn't have to give up his baby if he didn't want to - but I gotta say, I do want to get back out there asap!

now I have to figure out what kind of bike *I* want to ride! I'm kind of old fashioned (cafe racer?) - and by old fashioned I mean CLASSY but several people have told me totally out of the blue that I'm supermoto style. whatever that means! :cool:

[Astir]

:wootrock: Awesome kari-star! :wootrock:

Let the bike shopping begin!:cool:

[Unforgiven]

Congratulations and that SV650 is a great bike to learn on.

[indianscout]

Congrats Kari, now it's no looking back for you!!! :yahoo:






:riding::thumbsup:

[KansasKawboy]

:yahoo: Good job and now you won't be afraid of riding in the rain.

[KCDakar]

Congratulations and that SV650 is a great bike to learn on.
:iagree: :thumbup:

[kari-star]

Congrats Kari, now it's no looking back for you!!!

that's for sure! we had our "get your permits stamped and enjoy cake courtesy HD of Bergen County" tonight and the instructor told me that the other instructor (home sick because of our rain day :P ) had said that I would be a really good rider - that I *have it,* and the instructor that was there said that riding must be in my blood because I live in orange county! (he lives in orange county too, and there are some good rides through here.) it was really nice. I got points off for putting a foot down during the u-turn exercise and for letting up on the throttle on the decreasing curve. um, I blame the rain? (actually letting up on the throttle is a bad car driving habit I really have to break.)

[KCDakar]

(actually letting up on the throttle is a bad car driving habit I really have to break.)

Yes you do, or you could find yourself in the ditch, rain or no rain! :thumbup:

Congrats for "having it". Not every one does.:wootrock:

[kari-star]

Yes you do, or you could find yourself in the ditch, rain or no rain! :thumbup:



That's what one of the instructors said - "if you do that on Rt 1 in California, you'll end up over a cliff hanging out with sea otters!"

It's a bad habit for driving, too. It's always better - car or bike! to make sure your speed is good going into a curve.

[ridingAK]

It's always better - car or bike! to make sure your speed is good going into a curve.

Yup. Slow down first, then roll on to the throttle as you go through the turn. I had trouble with that one on downhill right hand turns for the longest time. Someone with a little more experience than I Dakar suggested that I visualize doing it correctly since I had such a block against doing it right on the bike. It worked almost immediately and I haven't had the problem since.