Floribama Riders

10 October 2008
Atlanta, GA

I attended a Motorcycle Safety Foundation Experienced Ridercourse today, literally the day after my return flight from Guatemala. The main purpose was to knock some points off a speeding ticket I had received, but I'm also thinking of becoming an instructor. This offered a chance to experience the class again and make some connections in the program.

My first impression upon entering the range was the speeds were way too low, and the experience wouldn't be very challenging. After riding a KLR650 up mountain passes coated with slick mud, how much could I learn from riding over a 2x4? As the morning progressed, I realized I could push myself even at low speeds.

My first emergency stop resulted in the VFR800 hopping up and down as both wheels fought for traction, the suspension compressing and releasing with each hop. Whoops! "Use a little less rear brake, and be smoother on the controls" the ridercoach advised. Umm, yeah. Maybe it would help if I didn't attempt full-on stops on cold tires as well.

I had a lot of fun with the turning drills, since my WERA races have given me a lot of experience at good lean angles. I know I can touch the footpegs down on the VFR, but I was reluctant to push it that far.

Noodlehead
Every once in a while, I run into a motorcyclist who makes me cringe. In this MSF ERC class, a guy riding a Honda RVT10000 had been riding on permits for years. For some strange reason, Georgia allows you to renew a motorcycle permit again and again. This imposes a few restrictions, such as the inability to ride at night or carry a passenger. Of course, people on permits flaunt these restrictions regularly, and thankfully, Georgia will make the permit a one-time event in the future. I mean, if you can't pass a simple cone test, you shouldn't be riding.

This guy could pass a cone test with some effort, but he clearly didn't have a subtle touch on the controls, and he had way too much bike for his ability.

We ended up riding together to pick up some lunch. It was a non-event, other than the fact that Noodlehead rode way too close and blipped his throttle incessantly.

Once the class re-started after lunch, Noodlehead used our five-minute ride as an example of one of the points in the lesson. "Me and my campadre here, we went to Taco Bell at lunch, and this SUV made a last-minute turn, and we locked up our brakes to avoid him. Those cages are out to get us." Sigh. It was one thing for Noodlehead to tell this story and get the facts wrong in private, but this was in front of the whole class. "We didn't technically *lock* the brakes," I said.

Additionally, nothing happened that I had not expected. The SUV was making a right turn without a signal, but I had anticipated that because he was (ahem) in the right turn lane. I was closing quickly on his bumper, but scrubbing off the speed was not an issue. I should have paid closer attention to Noodlehead behind me. I didn't realize he was having such issues.

I didn't want to beat the guy up in class, so I kept quiet. (But I'm venting my feelings here. Thanks for listening!) This got me thinking though. A lot of motorcyclists must live in a constant state of terror, traveling from one near-disaster to the next.

This story included one of my  pet peeves--a motorcyclist who complains about car drivers. The MSF class says this, and everyone in class agreed with it, but I think that some people still don't get it. If you worry about blaming the car, you're going to get hurt. Everything that happens to you and your bike are your responsibility. There are some obvious exceptions, like someone running a red light or a last-minute left turn into a motorcyclist, but you can take steps to minimize these risks also.

This goes beyond motorcyclists who blame car drivers. You're not going to get anywhere in life if you worry about why other people have done you wrong.

As long as I'm kvetching, another funny experience occurred when a Harley rider asked me for an opinion on the aesthetics of his motorcycle. "Do you think I should paint it 'denim' black or leave it like this?" he asked me and a BMW GS rider. He didn't seem to realize he was asking the two guys who probably cared the least about motorcycle aesthetics. I had the dirtiest bike in class, and the BMW GS rider, well, he was a BMW GS rider.  :)

That said, this fellow with the Road King Classic was very smooth on the controls and eased the big bike through the tight maneuvers with finesse. He took the class seriously and improved his skills through the day. His friend on a Suzuki M109 cruiser was good as well. I don't mind people who ask silly questions about bike colors as long as they focus on riding well.

This Experienced Ridercourse included a license waiver for people without a motorcycle endorsement on their license, so it included tests. The riding test included the infamous box drill, where you attempt to make two U-turns inside a tight box. For me, this was the toughest part of the course because the VFR does not offer much handlebar lock. Also the bars force your wrist and thumbs into the tank when you're at full lock.

I went into the box drill test determined to attempt the smallest box I could. I ended up not using the farther green line at all, almost by accident, and once I made that turn, I was like, "F--- it, I may as well do the small one." For MSF geeks, this was the small lengthwise box but the medium width box.

I made the first turn ok, but the second one to the right was turning into a problem. I was in danger of going over the line, so I turned the bars all the way to the right and slowed the bike to a stop using the rear brake. I still wasn't going to clear the line, so I waited a split second. The bike tilted farther over to the right, and it felt like I was going over, so I took my right foot off the peg. I was too experienced to touch my foot down. It wasn't going to happen.

Then, with the right amount of lean angle, I was able to clear the box. I gunned the engine, let out the clutch and headed between the cones, laughing and smiling at the instructors. It's a lot easier to play on the course when you already have your motorcycle license and are just there for fun. The other MSF students were impressed and said it was really fun to watch. I didn't tell them that my right butt cheek had a huge cramp in it from the tension of holding my foot out, deciding whether to put it down.

Results
I got 100% on the written test, which made me feel like I was back in grammar school, taking the CATs or whatever. I got 10 points deducted in the riding test because I did not use the front and rear brake and also decelerated in the turn. (For the record, I did use both brakes but did so very lightly, and it probably wasn't noticeable.) I decelerated in the turn because I retained a higher entry speed and wanted to make things interesting. That said, I should have been able to work within the boundaries of the test at a higher speed.

Back to Noodlehead
I'm still bugged by this guy who will probably go off to ride not-too-well. He said he had concerns about high speed corners. He's a prime candidate for a track day, but he said he didn't feel comfortable with high speed corners, so he couldn't come to a track day. I said that clubs like the Floribama Riders offered three groups, and if he started out in the Street group, he would be riding with a bunch of old guys in Aerostich suits. He still sounded intimidated.

He mentioned riding with the Atlanta stunters who meet each week. Ah, so that explains all the throttle blipping. I've ridden with that group as well. I'm impressed with some of their skillz in empty parking lots, but I thought about half the group was full of idiots who would crash into me from behind if I stopped suddenly on the street.

I don't know what to do about this guy. I have the urge to take him up to Suches, Georgia or better yet, a track day, and show him how to really corner his bike. Ugh. Maybe I would get some of this out of my system if I became an MSF instructor.