Hi, I just joined and have a few questions. I am looking into getting a first bike and right now i'm in the planning stages and doing my homework. From what I have read everyone says to take the MSF class. I agree with that. I've never ridden before. How long is the class? How much is it? Is it ok to take the class with zero riding experience? Do I need to have my own gear before taking the class?

I've been into fast cars my whole life (i'm 27 now) but i'm thinking about getting out of the car scene and getting into the bike scene. Right now I own a 92 Mustang with a 347 stroker motor, 4.30 gears blah blah blah. Low 11 sec capable car. I would be selling it to persue my bike dreams. I consider myself someone who respects power and I don't drive it around doing holeshots and burn outs. I drive it fairly easy. I would do the same with a bike, especially being a total noob with bikes.

I look forward to learning all I can and would appriciate any information you guys can give me.

Mike

 

The MSF BRC (Beginning Rider Course) is designed for someone with no actual riding experience--you just have to have an interest in riding. This last bit sounds blatantly obvious but it'll show during the class how interested you are by how you apply the techniques that are shown. If you go in with preconceptions about your abilities (or lack thereof) or are not open to the things being taught, that will show during the drills and during the skills evaluation.

The course gives you the basics necessary to pass (or waive) the government (DMV or whatever your state calls that office) riding test. Here in Nevada, successful completion of the MSF BRC waives the written test AND the skills (riding/driving) test. The written and skills evaluation during the course suffices as far as Nevada is concerned. YMMV.

I think it is helpful to understand how to shift a manual transmission (i.e. work a clutch, change gears at appropriate engine/road speeds, etc.) and if you can ride a bicycle (balance, steering fundamentals since bicycles steer just like motorcycles, etc.). If you are a quick study, you do not need to have these skills for the course.

The BRC I took was 2.5 days: 4 hours on a Friday classroom-only session, and 2 8-hour sessions on Saturday and Sunday with short classroom sessions. I paid $250. The local city college is cheaper, the local HD dealer is more expensive. Same course either way. Price will vary so you have to contact the place is sponsoring your class for actual prices. I would think anything up to about $300 or $350 is reasonable to charge for the class.

I think it's a uniform requirement for all MSF BRCs that you have to wear a DOT approved helmet, gloves (closed finger, I believe), long-sleeve shirt or sweatshirt, long pants (jeans are OK even though they really don't provide that much protection in Real World use), and shoes/boots that cover your ankles. My class supposedly had helmets available but everyone had they're own. You can, of course, buy actual riding gear if you know what you want.

HTH.

 

Welcome and we are almost in the same boat. Was in the car scene, but now want to be in the bike scene. I owned a 99 SVT Contour (yeah, yeah) and was out there against the imports. But anyways, the MSF here in Michigan (coming from friends experiences) is an 8 hour course and only bypasses the SOS Riding test. You still have to take the written which is pretty much a brochure. It's $25 for the course in most places, unless you do one over the winter, which a few places do them for $300.

Again, welcome and what you thinking of getting?

 

Welcome to KF!

 

Welcome to the KF family. You are already on the right track. The MSF course is great.I, too, am a Mustang owner (88GT, 302, T-5, 3:08 gears, and a 347 being built for it, at which time I will change to 4:11 gears. My advice is to keep the Mustang. You can still have fun with it, just use the bike as your daily driver. Pull the insurance on the Mustang down to pleasure use only, and that should drop the price. You can finance a nice bike with little down and a low monthly payment. Whatever bike you get, make sure your gear is top notch. And when you do get your bike, make sure you buy it in black. Green might be faster, but black is more comfortable and reduces wind buffeting by 9.5% If you are going to sell the Mustang, let me know. We might be able to work something out.

 

I'm with the others on this Mike. The class is worth it and you get a waiver on the riding part of the rider's test from the State Motor Vehicle people if you pass the course in New Jersey too. Its definitely worth it if you haven't ridden before or its been 20 years or something since you last rode. The Ninja 500R is a good starter bike, anything smaller and you'll be unhappy especially if you drive a Mustang. Good Luck.
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welcome to KF

 

Welcome...good luck with the bike and the course

 

welcome to kf

 

The mustang already is pleasure only. I have a saturn as a daily driver. The mustang would have to go, I have no room for another toy nor do I wanna pay for 2 toys. I kinda wanna get out of the mustang thing, i've lost interest in it. Eventually I wanna get a newer daily driver to replace the saturn so it would just cost too much to own 2 toys + a newer daily driver that i'd be making payments on.

As for what bike i'd want when I felt comfortable to get a 600cc sportbike, it would be a yamaha R6 or a kawasaki ZX-6R in lime of course