.png "Powered by vBulletin")
Now that all the bickering seems to be done with...
To get my cycle endorsement, I took my MSF Basic RiderCourse a little over 12 years ago, and started riding my first bike, a GS850GL a bit more than 11 years ago. My impression at the time was that the class was useful overall, but would have been better if they put more emphasis on how the exercises actually help you out on the road. I get that there would be liability/logistic concerns to do otherwise, but I just don't feel like puttering around in a parking lot for a weekend is all the training one should need to get their full license.
Aaaaanyway, the vast majority of my riding since then has been commuting to and from work on the nicer days. I wear all the gear and ride in a spirited yet highly defensive manner. Head on a swivel, looking/planning ahead, not letting any cars get too close, etc. So after about a decade I consider myself a reasonably competent rider and got to wondering how my low-speed skills were holding up. On my way home tonight, I swung by the parking lot of the local community college where I got my endorsement and tried a few exercises...
All I can say is... NOPE! I could just about stay inside the S-box 50% of the time on the 850. Whereas it was no big deal when I took the class on a smaller bike. I would have stayed to try some other exercises but the pavement markings were hard to make out without the cones, and I was running low on gas anyway.
The way I see it, there are two options, both of which may be true:
1. My skills have atrophied to the point that I am somehow as bad or worse than when I was a beginner. I remember having zero problems with any of the exercises in the class. But I haven't had a lot of low-speed practice since then either and I have noticed as much when doing U-turns. One thing I can tell for sure is that my clutch/throttle control are lacking.
2. Low-speed maneuvers are more challenging on a GS850? Seems plausible but I haven't ridden enough bikes to know. Does the 850 have a high center of mass compared to a small MSF training bike like the GN125 or a 1000-pound Harley? If it does, would that make a difference? I'm sure a skilled rider can do the low-speed stuff on literally any production motorcycle but surely there are attributes that make a bike easier to handle at low speeds.
Thoughts from more experienced riders appreciated.
To get my cycle endorsement, I took my MSF Basic RiderCourse a little over 12 years ago, and started riding my first bike, a GS850GL a bit more than 11 years ago. My impression at the time was that the class was useful overall, but would have been better if they put more emphasis on how the exercises actually help you out on the road. I get that there would be liability/logistic concerns to do otherwise, but I just don't feel like puttering around in a parking lot for a weekend is all the training one should need to get their full license.
Aaaaanyway, the vast majority of my riding since then has been commuting to and from work on the nicer days. I wear all the gear and ride in a spirited yet highly defensive manner. Head on a swivel, looking/planning ahead, not letting any cars get too close, etc. So after about a decade I consider myself a reasonably competent rider and got to wondering how my low-speed skills were holding up. On my way home tonight, I swung by the parking lot of the local community college where I got my endorsement and tried a few exercises...
All I can say is... NOPE! I could just about stay inside the S-box 50% of the time on the 850. Whereas it was no big deal when I took the class on a smaller bike. I would have stayed to try some other exercises but the pavement markings were hard to make out without the cones, and I was running low on gas anyway.
The way I see it, there are two options, both of which may be true:
1. My skills have atrophied to the point that I am somehow as bad or worse than when I was a beginner. I remember having zero problems with any of the exercises in the class. But I haven't had a lot of low-speed practice since then either and I have noticed as much when doing U-turns. One thing I can tell for sure is that my clutch/throttle control are lacking.
2. Low-speed maneuvers are more challenging on a GS850? Seems plausible but I haven't ridden enough bikes to know. Does the 850 have a high center of mass compared to a small MSF training bike like the GN125 or a 1000-pound Harley? If it does, would that make a difference? I'm sure a skilled rider can do the low-speed stuff on literally any production motorcycle but surely there are attributes that make a bike easier to handle at low speeds.
Thoughts from more experienced riders appreciated.
Comment