Since I just took the CA motorcycle written test a couple of weeks-on for my automobile license, to earn my learner's permit, and having studied for that, the classroom work for the safety course was easier than I hoped but there was lots of new, more complete information offered in this course, too, so it wasn't boring in the least. Sierra College's course turned out to be a bit less expensive than others in my area, and was closer, too, so I opted for it. Since I started riding motorcycles when I was about 10 on a tiny dirt bike Daddy bought us (a Fox), and used to ride my brother Chris's bike when I was in high school, but have ridden nothing with only two wheels but bicycles in the last 40 years, except a few hours on my 1979 Honda Express (50 cc), I knew the motorcycle skills part would be hard; I just had no idea it would be as difficult as it turned out to be. I asked to use the only Honda Rebel (250 cc) in our group, and the largest bike in our group, because that is the bike Rick is thinking he'll buy for me. It was almost more than I could handle: too heavy to go as slowly as needed for tight turns with my low skill level, and a persnickety gear set that didn't easily shift to neutral without shutting the bike down, and so tight that it actually rubbed a blister on the top of my big toe from shifting up past 1st, it proved a challenge.
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| Honda Rebel 250 like I rode for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Course this weekend
The first day of class started Friday at 5:45 p.m. on Friday and ran until 9:00 p.m. at Sierra College, Rocklin, CA campus. I took the class to waive the DMV motorcycle skills test. It is a California DMV course, overseen by the CHP, run by a private company, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. It is a bit expensive unless you are under 21, but it is cheaper at Sierra College than anywhere else near me. It is also the closest location, though that is still 40 minutes away. The advantage is that they supply the motorcycles, the coaches, all the class materials, all the testing materials, and even helmets if you don't have a DOT approved helmet. I used Rick's old DOT approved cycle helmet that he bought to match his 1998 Honda 750 Shadow.
Friday evening was all classroom work. Saturday morning began our actual riding experience, the last half of the classroom work, and the written test at the end. We had to be on the course driving site at 6:45 a.m., which was difficult since I'm totally unfamiliar with either the route or the campus. Each day of class we were told that if we didn't arrive 15 minutes early we would be considered "late" and could actually be denied entry to class. No refunds and no retakes for No Shows. So I gave myself plenty of extra time.
We arrived Saturday to find our class divided into two distinct groups, with one of 12 students meeting on the west side of the course (parking lot) and the other of 6 students on the east side of the course. I was fortunate to be a part of the smaller group and our coach was our same classroom coach, too, making it a little more familiar. He was also about my age, which I was more comfortable with, rather than the young men who were coaching the other, larger group. There were only 6 motorcycles set out for our group and of that group only 1 Honda Rebel. He assigned me to a smaller Kawasaki Eliminator but I asked for the Rebel because that was the bike Rick is looking at for me. It is a 250 cc engine, making it freeway legal, too. The others were not, with 150 cc engines. It seemed prudent to "test" drive a bike similar to what I might buy. The beginning exercises were true beginner levels, starting with, "this is the starter, the clutch, brake(s), fuel supply on/off switch," etc. We weren't allowed to get on the bikes until he demonstrated proper mounting and dismounting techniques, either. Once we were allowed to get on them it was at least another half hour before we were allowed to turn on the engines. It was a very detailed, safety driven introduction to motorcycles, and I truly appreciated the experience. We turned the bikes on and learned how to power-walk them for another half hour or so before beginning to ride them in a straight line, turning them in a U-turn by power walking, and riding them back across the practice area. (Meanwhile the other group was supposed to be doing the same things on their side of the practice course but they were also broken into smaller groups of 6 and having to alternate riding exercises within their dual groups.) We worked hard, riding nearly continuously until noon, when we completed all our riding practices and exercises for the day, dismissed for an hour break for lunch, and met back in the classroom at 1 to finish the classroom work and take our written exam at the end. It was a long, hard day, and I developed a blister on the top of my left big toe (through my boot socks & heavy leather cowboy boots) from moving the gear lever up from 1st. The classroom work was much easier than I expected but I had just completed my DMV motorcycle written test a couple weeks before for the learner's permit. I did miss one question on the written, scoring 49 of 50. It was something that I just misunderstood, and was obviously not paying enough attention to in class because it was discussed in some detail just a half hour before we were tested. I just missed it. Counter Balancing in tight, slow turns, turns out to be my nemesis. I thought it was talking about shifting weight over obstacles. Not bad regardless.
Since I had a bigger bike than I've ever ridden before I had a lot of difficulty with balance in slow, tight turns. On Saturday I slowed too much to enter a corner, and the bike fell under me. I was able to control the fall, holding it off the ground, stepping away on the right side, and gently lowering it to the asphalt. I was right next to the coach and he said, "Wow! You did that just right! I didn't even hear it make a sound as it hit the pavement. And you stepped away, unhurt." On Sunday, as we were practicing the double U-turns inside a for-purpose marked rectangle on the asphalt, I lost the bike again, still stepping away, but this time dropping it to the asphalt. I was being watched by the whole class, and of course it stopped everyone's forward progress because they had to wait for the coach to assist me in righting the bike. I was a bit shaken this time, exited the box since I was on the last U-turn before exiting, and finished the next exercise part before getting back in line for the Box. It was so nerve-wracking after that, that I felt that I couldn't possibly succeed in the Skills Test. I said something to our coach that I didn't think I had a snowballs chance, but he responded that if he didn't think I could do it I wouldn't still be in the course. Saturday they excused one man from the other group because they felt he was a danger to himself and the other students. He said he'd have done the same for me if he felt it appropriate. He was so encouraging and so thoroughly taught and enforced the basic skills that when it came time to take the skills test Sunday just before noon, I was able to negotiate the Double U-turn box without incident except to cross the solid yellow line once as I was preparing to exit, which only earned me 3 points. (0 points is a perfect score and we were allowed 20 points before Fail. We were told that if we dropped the bike it was an automatic Fail.) I finished that section, which included an emergency "Swerve" at the end after accelerating to 2nd gear and coming to a full stop, with no further mishaps, did the straight-away emergency stop beautifully and within time allowed, and then began the last exercise, double right sweeping corners. In this final skills test we had to complete the course within 17 seconds, and no less than 12 seconds, having accelerated into 2nd gear, had to negotiate the corners "outside to inside" on the marked lane, have a proper entry speed into the corners, hold a constant speed through the corners, accelerate away, and stop at the designated spot, never gearing down throughout until the end. I did well on the first corner, began well into the second corner, but somehow had a brain stutter when I tried to set my speed in the second corner. I pushed the throttle away from me instead of rolling it toward me, causing the bike to slow to idle. It took most of the way around the 2nd corner to figure out what I had done, I accelerated away and stopped properly at the end. I was marked 5 points for having failed to maintain a constant speed in the second corner, and 5 points for having taken longer than allowed over the whole exercise. That gave me 13 total marks against my score but it was still within passing.
I don't believe that anyone who stuck with the class to that point failed the class. I think the coaches were very generous. I know what they were looking for was whether or not we were trying to follow proper, safe technique, and could handle the bikes in a safe manner, figuring that the rest would come with practice. I know that they were far easier giving passing scores than the DMV. My understanding is that with the DMV even crossing outside the box of the Double U-turn would have been considered a fail. I know that one of the ladies in our class who was also in my small group failed her test at the DMV and she's ridden for years, owns a Honda Shadow 750 (new but like Rick's old bike) and only took the DMV test because she'd allowed her license to lapse. She certainly had the skills but their parameters are very exacting. I think I could probably handle the DMV test with my tiny Honda Express but certainly not with a bigger bike. It takes a lot of finesse on the clutch and throttle in the Friction Zone to keep a bigger bike upright at such slow speeds in tight turns, and a real trust of the equipment to counter balance.
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