Mandatory motorcycle courses

[Agent Orange]

Originally Posted by Diamond Lil

This is a sore point for me where my passions run high and my words tend to be strong. If a course is to be mandatory it must be more meaningful.

The MSF instructors deserve great credit for what they do out there on the course. If it were not for them I would not be on two wheels. I respect them in the utmost. That being said, from my perspective there are deficiencies in the course that must be addressed.
Here a just two:

• In light of the fact that crashes due to the fault of the rider are often caused by lack of skill, the course is simply too short. It should be a series of meetings where the individual skills of the course are introduced, drilled with the group, practiced by the individual riders and then tested.
• Real traffic challenges are encountered by the learner permit carrying rider before they take the licensure test, but not in the MSF course. Considering how many riders are killed or maimed by automobile drivers it makes no sense that the course does not include mock and real traffic challenges.

It is time these courses become sum totally about the rider. If riders whine, they should consider the consequences of most crashes and get on with the business of saving themselves from themselves.

Ok...point one..how long do you think the course should be..you could have the students come back every week for an entire summer and some would still not get it..and some will do good from the start..no way to tell...maybe after the first summer we could send them all to superbike school in California..
Now to point 2...whos going to pay the insurance bill on taking all the newbies on the road?? you?? I thought not..
The set up is not perfect...nothing is..but I'll tell you what..It sure gives them a better shot at survival than nothing at all, and in a few months they should come back for the ERC..kinda like your point 2..
I am an MSF instructor in Denver..and we cannot turn everyone into an expert..that takes years of PRACTICE..not just years of RIDING....got to start somewhere with the right tools..and THAT is what we try to give the students..

[MR.MF]

Wow just going to put my two cents in the hat with the rest of you, since we have to be old enough to get a lic to drive a vehicle, and hopefully by that time mature enough, also we have all seen the mature teen, and the imature adult, we are old enough to know what could happen to us on the road, and still we choose to ride our bikes its a choice that we have, the right to ride or drive what we want, be it street leagal, and it shouldnt be up to our gov., to force by legislation upon its citizens, the taking away of our rights of choice one after another, we have lost way to many of our choices now as it is all in the name of progress or safety its still choices that are being taken away at an allarming rate every year we loose more and more of our choices, and at some point you have to ask yourself, are these choices or rights !

[Agent Orange]

I agree..I don't like the gov mandating stuff...however...this one I like. WAY to many "new" riders getting hurt out there,this is why I became an MSF instructor/rider coach...I consider it a survival course for the newbies...they can use all the help they can get...besides riding is a priveledge...did you take Drivers Ed in school???