u/roman_candles

I see so many people fearing that they're going to fail their MSF course because of all of the horror stories about failing that are posted here so I just wanted to share my experience from a little while ago about completing it successfully as someone who had never been on a motorcycle before.

My MSF course was at a Harley dealership bc it was the ONLY available course anywhere near me for some reason so I had to go through Harley. My class consisted of 12 riders, of which I was the only person who had never been on a motorcycle before. All of the others were guys who had ridden dirt bikes, who already owned bikes, or who'd had buddies teach them. There were two instructors, one lady who I think was the head coach of the program, and a former cop who'd been riding for like 20 years.

We had to do an online course before attending the in-person classroom session for the first day. I'd call myself more book smart than physically gifted, so going into that classroom session it was like I was the only person who had actually done the learning ahead of time, because every time the instructors asked a question I was the only person who knew the answers. I'm not saying this to gas myself up, but it'll become relevant in just a bit. They asked a question about any of the concepts, I immediately had the answers because I'd memorized everything from the online course.

The first day on the range was absolutely scorching hot. The day started off rough because getting onto a bike for the very first time and having it be one of those heavy ass Street 500s was SO intimidating. Immediately I had fear of dropping the bike. Also, the instructors started our range days off by telling us that an instructor had recently died on the range so the courses were potentially currently being watched by the state. Not very encouraging honestly. In one of the first exercises where they have you go across the space just using the friction zone, I managed to stall the bike about a million times. Everyone else in my class was perfectly fine but I hadn't really had the concept of the clutch explained to me and I just could not figure out what I was doing and I was getting stressed by the fact that I was the only person struggling. In hindsight I don't know why it was so hard, but it was something I'd never encountered before. I haven't even driven a manual car.

Eventually I figured out the friction zone and the throttle but as we got farther into the day the sun became extremely intense and the heat just kept rising. The Harley course doesn't allow for many breaks at all. At the dealership we were at, the range was like a 7 minute walk from the building with the nearest bathroom. We got 5 minute breaks. No time to go to the bathroom. Even during our 30 minute lunch, you had to waste half of it power-walking to the bathroom and back, which didn't allow for much rest. I definitely didn't drink enough water and eventually started feeling the effects of heat exhaustion. Everyone in my class was so supportive, offering me thumbs ups and shoulder pats when I managed to do maneuvers well. They all tried to encourage me during the breaks too. I think the best part of the course was how solid and supportive everyone around me was.

Unfortunately the time came for me to dump the bike. I was barely even able to stay standing upright due to heat exhaustion, my heart was racing even when I wasn't moving, and I couldn't focus. I went to do a right turn from a stop and just leaned too far to the left for some reason and fell right over with the bike on top of me. I still have a scar on my arm where the pavement tore through my shirt at a whopping 1 mile an hour. Despite this I rolled out from under the bike and got right back up and back on once the instructor picked it up. There was no stopping even for a bandage because of the fear of falling behind and being kicked out. I just kept going but I honestly can't remember most of the second half of that day. I know I even dropped the bike another time though I can't remember what I was doing when that happened (this was 2 years ago). The head coach told me after that one that after 2 drops they were supposed to counsel me out, but she could see how smart I was and how much I'd learned and improved from the morning and she wanted to let me come back for the second day better hydrated and better rested. I'm forever grateful that she saw the strides I'd made from how absolutely awfully I'd sucked at the start of the day and let me go on.

After the first day I was so frazzled and exhausted I didn't know if I should go back. I even called my dad afterwards (because he's been one of my biggest supporters in this journey) and told him I thought I should just try again later in the year when it was cooler. He told me that he thought I should sleep on it and go back for the second day, and even offered to bring me ice packs or whatever I would need. I went home and thought long and hard about whether or not to go back for the second day, but eventually decided that I might as well. I made sure to eat a good dinner, go to sleep early, and eat a light breakfast + drink a lot of water in the morning. I went into the second day feeling so much better than the day before.

On the second day we got on the bikes, and it was like everything had clicked in my brain overnight. Like I just needed to sleep on it. I didn't stall a single time, I didn't drop the bike, I DID struggle a bit with the U-turns but otherwise I didn't mess up a single maneuver. I stayed well hydrated and had small snacks during breaks to keep up with the heat, and it was like I was a whole different person than the day before. Going into one of the more complicated maneuvers, I was first in line. I remember the former cop instructor was explaining to me where to go and what I had to do, and then he told me "I'm glad you're going first. You're smart and you can figure it out." I don't know if he realizes what he did for me with that statement, but it's still something I think about now that I recently got my own bike and have been having to get reacquainted with riding. He'd seen in the classroom that I was able to learn and just needed to be able to implement it to really get it.

I really think doing well in the classroom portion is what allowed my instructors to not write me off when I stalled a million times and dumped the bike twice in one day. They could see me struggling physically but knew that I was capable of figuring it out, and they gave me that chance. I'm glad that I did go back for the second day, because it went so much better than the first. I will say that I think I'm forever going to hate those Harley Street 500s because for a beginner they are incredibly hard to maneuver and handle. And they feel incredibly heavy, which is funny to me now because MY bike (Kawasaki Vulcan S 650) is pretty much just as heavy (almost 500 lbs) but it just FEELS lighter and it's so much easier to ride.

Finally test time came and went, and all I got points for was putting my foot down during the U-turn. The instructor told me "I'd rather you do that than dump the bike, at least." Out of the 12 people in my class, only one guy failed. He'd just stalled during the test too many times and couldn't stop with his front tire in the box where we where supposed to stop. Also, he already owned a motorcycle. Somehow I (as the newbie) passed but he didn't. The head coach told me after I passed that I'd had her SO stressed that I wasn't going to make it through, but that she was glad I did. I was so happy and the other guys were so happy for me, it was great. I'm so glad that I pushed through and didn't let all the mistakes bog me down going forward. While I wouldn't really recommend the Harley class to anyone unless it's your only option due to how fast-paced and rough it is, I will say that the people there were what made it for me.

I didn't get my own bike immediately after because I wanted to pay off my car and finish college first but finally about two months ago (almost two years since the class) I bought my first bike. I was so scared to get on it because I remembered how rough that first day was, but (with my dad watching just like when I rode a bicycle for the first time) I got right on it and immediately took off down the street, no issues. I do still psych myself out a lot, but when I catch myself way overthinking it I just get up and get on the bike and go. When I'm on it I stop overthinking and start just doing. I've practiced around the neighborhood, in a nearby parking lot, and finally started going out on real roads. Every time I branch out a little I overthink myself into anxiousness beforehand, and then realize it's not that bad at all.

I know this is an incredibly long, probably rambling post. I just wanted to share my experience because I see so many posts where people talk about failing. I was scared to fail and I did make mistakes, but in the end it really turned out to be a success. Being new is scary, being the ONLY new person in your class is even worse, and being overwhelmed when things are moving faster than you think you can keep up with is super frustrating. But sometimes you just need to eat and sleep and come back to it with a fresh mind. Do what you can to learn as much as you can ahead of time so that you don't seem like you're a total fish out of water. Don't overthink things to the point that you paralyze yourself with fear.

And for the MSF instructors in here: I promise when you give a student encouragement and positive words, it sticks with them. I still think about the instructor telling me that he was glad I was going first in an exercise because he knew I could figure it out. That made me feel like I wasn't completely hopeless and I hold onto that confidence every time I have to do something new on my bike that I might be apprehensive of.

The gloves I have right now kind of have crappy grip, so my hand position on the throttle slides/moves the longer I ride and makes it more difficult for precise throttle control. As a beginner rider on a bike that's known to have a twitchy throttle (vulcan s 650) this is making it much more difficult to have smooth inputs. What gloves do you guys recommend that have really great grip as well as good protections like quality palm sliders and such? Preferably gloves that have some ventilation as well because I'm in a very hot and humid climate.