Motorcycle Safety Foundation Basic Rider Course Acworth, Ga.

I took the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Basic Rider Course in Acworth, Ga. recently with my 17 year old son.  I thought I'd share a few tips and perspective that I could not find online myself.  Also, I've included a few links below which I found helpful.

The course is amazing and well worth the money.  Those who have not ridden before can take this course before having purchased a bike!  As they say in the course, motorcycling is not for everyone.  This course is a great low cost option to find out if you want to get a bike.  New riders, those who had never ridden a bike or operated a manual transmission, made amazing progress and passed the assessments at the end.  Formerly experienced riders (like me) learned many critical skills that are difficult to pick up on your own.

For me, the most valuable skill that I learned was counter-steering.  20 years ago I went into a right hand curve at 60+ mph and rode the yellow line all the way around, battling to stay on my side of the road, with oncoming traffic (scary).  I was dumbfounded, not understanding why I couldn't get the bike to lean further and get off the yellow line.  The bike I was on should have been able to take that turn at that speed, and I had been riding for 3-4 years.  I quit riding shortly after and didn't figure it out until I recently learned to counter-steer.

We spent 4-5 hours in the classroom (I wasn't timing it).  Classroom time consists of reading assigned sections of the class workbook, 2-3 paragraphs at a time, and verbally summarizing it.  The instructor discusses real world experiences to help illustrate the workbook.

We were on the range by 10:30 on our first day.

Choose a motorcycle that fits you.  The largest bikes are 250cc, and I believe there were several 125cc.  These are all small bikes.  There were 3 or 4 cruiser style bikes, and I think they are the most difficult among the set.  If you have some experience, I recommend that you choose one of the cruisers and have the less experienced riders take the others.

The photo below shows the bikes.  I remember the cruisers as GZ250's and a Rebel 250.  There was a Nighthawk 250, TU250x, I don't recall the others.  I'm sure these will vary by course location and over time, but these were the bikes at the Acworth location.  I really enjoyed riding the GZ 250, but (I think) it required a lot more counterbalancing than the others to make some of the tight turns.

All of the riding exercises are clearly described by the instructors and then everyone rehearses the activity before starting the bike.  For example, if the next range exercise would include turning, then they would have you get on the bike, without it running, and practice turning the wheel.  

At first, I found it difficult to make sense of the course.  It's a large parking lot with lots of lines on it that you have to ignore, because they are not part of the current exercise, and there are small orange and green cones which make up the current course.  At first, I couldn't even see the cones, but I acclimated over time.

One of the rider coaches will ride the course to show everyone how it's done.  Be sure to find a spot where you can see exactly what they're doing and ask questions if you don't understand.

Listen carefully to each instruction.  The instructors will be giving some fairly precise steps such as - grab the front brake before mounting the motorcycle, turn your wheel to the left after leaning the bike on it's stand, use the engine kill switch (and not the key) to turn the bike off.  Also, pay attention to when you should have your helmet and gloves on vs. when it's ok to have them off.  It holds the class up if you took your gear off and have to put it back on.  The instructors will call you out if you're not following basic instructions and are holding up the class.  

You need to be 100% attentive and following instructions during time on the riding range.  Some people simply don't do well with coaching and following instructions.  If you're one of those, then consider private lessons and take the skills test on your own.

As I'm sure you know, the course concludes with a riding assessment and a written test.  I highly recommend that you go into the course for the purpose of learning to ride and do not think about the assessment at the end.  If you must, the riding test at the end consisted of riding a figure 8 in a rectangular box (see link below), a swerve test, emergency stop, riding through two curves, one small 90 degree curve followed by a larger curve, which I think was 120 degrees.  You will have time to practice all of the exercises before taking the test.

Here are some resources that I found helpful:

• Beat the box:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGCgbEID83U
• View of the MSF from a Go Pro:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU-52fqy9yQ
• The seven most common MSF student rider fails:  https://rideapart.com/articles/7-common-msf-student-rider-fails
• BRC Course Review (48 questions): http://www.msf-usa.org/BRCQuiz.aspx#/H3w0CSdF1x/PlnH05KLo1/SfsW80tFCk
• How to turn a motorcycle properly (counter-steering): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlc1bGPTR3c 

In summary, the course was top notch.  The instructors were highly attentive and consistent, and they kept the course moving efficiently and safely.  Tom and Theresa were perfect, and I hope you can get these same instructors.  I learned important riding skills, and...  it was a lot of fun!  Feel free to comment if I can help answer any questions based on my experience.