yey! glad to hear it

 

I would like to ad something about riding on the street. I would suggest to anyone that has never ridden on the street to take the MSF beginner course. I made my son take it before I would allow him to get a bike. It taught him the right way to do things. I have been riding since I was 10 years old (i m now 48). I took the MSF advanced course and learned a ton of things. The advance course teaches you so many things such as cornering, stopping, obstacles, awareness. I highly recommend it to anyone, no matter how much you may think you know. You are never too old to learn something new. It has made me so much smoother and faster on the street.

 

+1

Nice, if we had rep on these boards, I'd give ya some. Its good to see a grown man who's humble enough that he is willing to learn. (besides the OP of course lol)

 

The reason the guy said to try using only the rear brake is that he has probably seen a few drops from too much front brake grab. Don't listen to that nonsense. The majority of your stopping is in the front, as long as conditions allow.

 

Yeah I took a MSF or something like it course in about 90 or 91 and would take another or the advanced if it was offered here. The GF took a course and got her license in Japan and it sounds like they are very intensive in the training in Japan but that was also almost 20 years ago so I would put her in a course if one was offered. There is talk that something will be started sometime this year here. Would be nice.
I definatly realise I have more to learn. For example I thought I had a major imbalence and also loss of performance when I mounted the 140 rear tire. The bike used to bounce off the rev limiter in 6th going up hill with no problem and after the 140 install it did not accelerate as quickly and also had a pulsing from the rear. Was asking my new neighbor who has mucho experance off road to give it a ride and evaluate it. He had me sit on the bike and pointed out my chain was too tight. Sure enough I loosened it and acceleration improved and the pulsing went away.
Now I'm happy and a little smarter.

Cheers Jim

 

That is correct, but your last few words are key. When conditions allow. I use so much muscle memory its actually hard for me to recall, but when I'm offroad, I don't think I hardly ever use front brake. Only when onroad, and you must apply it evenly. When done so, the front will provide 70% of the stopping power. However, if you apply the rear brake harder, and only touch the front, then it could very well be 50/50... or 60/40. You get the idea.

You have to watch this bike because the front springs are so soft. If you have hard ones, and you get good you can do stoppies lol


heres me riding a nose wheelie,...like 10 -11 years ago. It helps to have stiff springs if you want to ride them.

 

The rear brake lacks feel IMHO. It's hard to do anything but lock the rear with it (useful at times but I'd like more feel.) Th front is pretty good and modulates well although at times lacks power and can lead to some impromptu evasive maneuvers.

"Use the force!" Compression that is, if you have good vision and look well ahead you can slow the bike pretty effectively and cover ground fast with a smooth style. It is less likely to unsettle the bike too (holding its poise) and deal with the terrain better.

 

I guess I left out a little more info that would shed light on the examiners comments.
When I asked if he wanted rear only he said something to the effect that the bike would flip over and only big bikes like harleys could you brake hard with the front and not have major problems. He refered to his bike saying he would not brake hard with his front(dont know what he had) Then at another point in the exam he told us he had just started rideing 6 months ago. So since the MSF course is not available to civilians here I doubt he had taken it and may be less experianced than you would expect a motorcycle examiner to be.

Cheers Jim

 

WOW!! The instructor has only been riding for 6 months??? He doesn't need to be teaching the class.......he needs to be taking a class!! Just for your benefit, there are many DVDs that teach drills that you can set up and practice. From street riding to dirt there are many out there that will meet your level of experience. When I decided to get back into off road riding I bought some dvds from Shane Watts. Within a week of practice I could see much improvement in speed and confidence. There are just so many little tricks that are taught by skilled riders that I would have never known. Plus I like to get better at whatever I am doing so I will invest the money and time to sharpen my skills. However, if I walked into a class and the instructor had only been riding for 6 months, I would not take any of his advice. Sorry, would not have any confidence in his teaching.

 

Ok I missed the part where the guy has been riding 6 months. That like 20 minutes in the big picture. Lets talk about the brakes for a second. Now for those of us that ride on and off road, the breaking sometimes is used differently. But to be honest even on gravel roads around here and with the steep grades, I can still grab the front brake without any worries of a washout or a flip. That guy needs to be sitting in the class instead of trying to teach it. I mean if that's the way things are then I should be a doctor since I took a first aid class...sheesh.