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 Discussion Topic  |
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gershon
Ex-Member
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 Posted - 08/24/2007 : 11:49 AM
 
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Poll Question:
Where did you receive your training to ride before getting your license? (If there is more than one answer, use the first answer that applies.)
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| Results: |
| Professional Training (MSF, Rider's Edge, etc.) |
[48%] |
23 votes |
| School/club course |
[0%] |
0 votes |
| Self taught |
[42%] |
20 votes |
| Taught by friends or family |
[10%] |
5 votes |
| = Guests |
(10
votes) |
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Poll Status:
Closed »» |
Total Votes: 48 counted »» |
Last Vote:
09/07/2007 1:46 PM |
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scottrnelson
Advanced Member
6954 Posts
[Mentor]
Meridian, ID
USA
Honda
XR650L, 790 Adv R
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Posted - 08/24/2007 : 12:55 PM
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I got my motorcycle license before I learned to ride. But I had many years of bicycling experience first. The written test was all common sense, and I passed it 100% with no studying whatsoever. The riding test was also pretty simple, and I passed it with less than two hours total of riding any sort of two wheeled motorized vehicle.
There were no riding classes available back then (you know, in the olden days). |
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nomad dan
Advanced Member
1276 Posts
Denver, Colorado
USA
Kawasaki
06 Vulcan Nomad 1600
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Posted - 08/24/2007 : 1:00 PM
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I don't know about self-taught, can you really teach yourself all about shifting and the gear pattern without anyone telling you how? If so, I suppose you are amazingly intuitive.
I learned from friends. It was in the safety of an old gravel pit and orchard by my house. Surrounded by trees, ditches, canals, fences, etc. Taught by other 11 or 12 year old veterans, on two stroke 80cc dirt bikes.
Not ideal, but it worked out. I only have one good scar on my leg from a barbed wire fence as a penalty for that way of learning. It could have been worse. |
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scottrnelson
Advanced Member
6954 Posts
[Mentor]
Meridian, ID
USA
Honda
XR650L, 790 Adv R
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Posted - 08/24/2007 : 3:28 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by nomad dan
I don't know about self-taught, can you really teach yourself all about shifting and the gear pattern without anyone telling you how? If so, I suppose you are amazingly intuitive.
Do you really want to call a 30-second explanation of how the shifter works "training"? |
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bkikkert
 Advanced Member
847 Posts
[Mentor]
Cornwall, Ontario
Canada
Harley-Davidson
Ultra Classic '08
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Posted - 08/24/2007 : 7:41 PM
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| The manual for my first bike told me how to shift and I was already driving a standard shift car. Yes you can learn to ride by yourself after riding a bicycle for many years and driving a standard shift car. No one I knew at the time had a motorcycle and there were no courses so I had no choice. I was given a traffic riding test in a big city environment by the Motor Vehicle people and I passed the first time out.... |
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sixsigma
Advanced Member
801 Posts
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Suzuki
Marauder vz 805
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Posted - 08/30/2007 : 5:50 PM
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Shame on me because I am self taught 30 odd years ago. Back then they did not have formal/mandatory MSF courses in Ontario(since rectified)and sadly ironic, the only way to get a "M" endorsement on your licence was to buy a bike, practice illegally on the road without a licence until you were proficient enough to go to the MOT (then the DOT) and ride around the block unseen from your examiner (unless they followed you which mine did not). You had to write the test to obtain a "temporary permit" to take your bike in and be tested. Presumably, if you returned to the testing center intact ? you passed and were granted a licence and thus able to return home without having your bike "transported home in a truck". Thank goodness all of that has changed and I have since attended a voluntary "refresher MSF" course (should have been mandatory however I had "grandfather rights"). "Fumbling around" during a "self taught" period is NOT (gee, I am more mature now ) in my opinion the way to go. The volume of traffic and the defensive riding insights discovered in the last few decades should make this mandatory from the "get go" however we all note that government responds and rarely leads.
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Wide Glide
Starting Member
4 Posts
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada
Harley-Davidson
2006 Wide Glide
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Posted - 09/05/2007 : 3:47 AM
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| I started riding back in '81. Rode for a year before getting my licence. The wife wants to get a licence, and we are presently checking out some motorcycle training courses. When she takes one, I think I'll look into some sort of course, maybe a collision avoidance class or something. Can't hurt. eh!!!!! |
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fnotneyrod
Junior Member
34 Posts
Cornish, ME
USA
Honda
96 Goldwing sidecar
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Posted - 09/05/2007 : 6:14 AM
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I learned by teaching others.
Say what?
I worked at a Honda dealership briefly, in '74. When a new rider bought a bike, the service manager would send whoever was free at the moment, out to show the customer how to ride. That frequently happened to be me.
I did not have a motorcycle endorsement, and in fact had never even ridden on a motorcycle...even as a passenger.
I bought my first bike a year after leaving that dealership, and of course with all my "experience", I had no trouble teaching myself to ride. |
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shadowrider
Advanced Member
602 Posts
[Mentor]
Phoenix, Arizona
USA
Harley-Davidson
FLT Tour Glide
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Posted - 09/05/2007 : 8:49 AM
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I started riding trail bikes (90 & 250cc) when I was very young for about 10-12 years. I then bought a bike and went and passed the written and road tests and got my license. I've had a license and been street riding for about 11 years or so.
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Lockjaw
Senior Member
413 Posts
San Francisco, CA
USA
Honda
73 CB450, Kymco 150
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Posted - 10/10/2007 : 5:04 PM
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My grandpa taught me when I was twelve. First lesson: Pull in clutch, twist throttle all the way back. Release clutch. He was not a real nice guy. Luckily it was a Rebel 250 and I was OK. My Mom was not happy.
LKJ |
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ron39503
New Member
12 Posts
gulfport, ms.
USA
Harley-Davidson
dyna super glide
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Posted - 11/10/2007 : 6:16 PM
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I was self taught to ride. Howerever I was required to attend and pass a safety course to recieved a sticker to enter the Navy base. I remember being shocked at how much I didnt know.  |
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Niebor
Ex-Member
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Posted - 11/10/2007 : 11:44 PM
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| I started riding in the early 70's, in Idaho. Back then, there was no seperate motorcycle endorsement. When we moved to Colorado in 1981, my drivers licence transfered over, but not the motorcycle aspect. That ammounted to a one-page multiple guess, and a ride from the DMV office to the highway and back. This was perhaps 500 yards one way. When I returned, he asked "what didn't you do?". I shrug, he says, "You didn't signal your turn, do it again". I had failed to signal a U-turn at the end of a dirt road. Anyhow, The moment I left for the second lap, he walked back inside the building. When I returned, my licence was ready. |
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Discussion Topic |
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Training