09-11-2004, 10:50 PM
G.Irish Wrote:Where's that report fool?!
Alrighty... Last night was the classroom portion, today was all riding, and tommorrow is test day.
Classroom - Of questionable worth, IMHO. This could've been 2 hours rather than 4. There were a few good points raised about being aware of your surroundings and having a way out of every situation, but far too much time was spent explaining HOW to ride a bike without the bike actually underneath you. Maybe it's just me, but I learn by doing, and having somebody tell me "push down on the left handgrip to turn left" doesn't do a lot of good unless I can then immediately get on a motorcycle and try it out. Lots of time spent looking at vague diagrams of secondary motorcycle controls (lights, signals, fuel valve, etc) that weren't anything like what was actually on the range bikes.
Riding - Awesome. Instructors were in their element (much more so than last night in the classroom), and the pace was great. We went from "this is a motorcycle" to getting familar with the clutch to executing panic stops with both brakes to leaning into turns and accelerating through the apex, etc... I had some trouble making a sharp right hand turn from a stop, and the instructor spent a good 10 minutes just working with me to get it right. Finally, my brain and my hands agreed and it went real smoothly - that was my only issue the whole day. It was all time *very* well spent, and I don't anticipate having any trouble with the riding test tommorrow. Actually, it kind of sucks, 'cause now I really want a motorcycle too :twisted:
Pros:
Great riding instruction, good personal attention and coaching
Nice variety of situations to ride through
Lots of nifty tips and tricks that even experienced riders (like my father-in-law) found very useful
Indestructible range bikes - these things basically idled for 6 hours in 80 degree heat
Cons:
Interesting mechanical explanations ("The clutch takes away power from the engine" - was repeated several times)
Classroom instruction / videos were pretty paltry and not real useful
As a side note, we only had one person drop a bike today (no it wasn't me). He hit a curb after going *way* too wide in a turn, and laid it down - then, to his credit, he got some help to pick it up and got right back on and finished the exercise.