I've just spent the better part of the day reading all the threads I could find on the subject of MSF courses using the search button. I've even downloaded the DOT and MSF manuals. I had a few questions and thought I'd see what you guys thought...

Is Harley's Riders Edge 4 day course really any better or more thorough than the "run of the mill" 2 day MSF course? It's definately more expensive, but is it worth the extra money?

Do these guys actually TEACH you or do they run through a set of guidelines like a checklist and then put you on the course and tell you what you're doing wrong while watching out of the corner of their eye? How much "personal attention" do you get?

Are these "Riding Lessons" or just what you need to pass the tests?

What kind of guidence is done on the course?

I WILL be taking the course very soon and I'm trying to figure out which is the best course to take. The ROTM 2 day course uses little 250cc bikes while the Rider's Edge uses Buell Blasts (500cc). Neither of these bikes are close to my FXD in either weight or power. So whadda ya think?

Just trying to be safe!

Mike

 

The MSF course is only about $75 bucks here in Indiana through ABATE (and I think you get most of that back if you decide not to become a member), so why not just take that one and see what you think? I think it's a good beginner course (but since you already have a bike, maybe the 250's would feel pretty odd). Cheap enough to take first to see if it taught you what you wanted to know...

Then move up to the ERC if you liked what you saw. Too much training can't be a bad thing...

 

MSF is a great course though I am sure there are others.

I spent the better part of 4 hours on my bike, riding, manuvering, avoding obstacles, make u-turns, figure-8's, locking the breaks in a controled skid...etc etc etc.

I have been riding for over 30 years and I still learned stuff.

Take a course though.....it will improve things for anyone who rides.

 

The MSF course is $180 in Texas (set by T-DOT) and you don't get any of it back...lol. And if you fail you pay again to retake the course. The Riders Edge is $295 and is supposed to be mostly the same as MSF with more added to it. I just wondered iof anyone could give me some 1st hand anecdotes or opinions on how they actually teach, and what the better course might be. Now if it was only $75 bucks that's cheap enough to see what it's like.

 

The state of New Hampshire runs the MSF coarse throught the D.O.T. it cost me $86.00 to take the classes fri.5pm-9pm class time ,sat &sun 8am-5pm ,sat and sun were pure riding with the exception of 1 hour each day of class time,I put 47 miles on that honda 250 in two days of riding drills,what was nice about the weekend i took the classes was it rained heavy both days,on top of the class guide line stuff,my instructor did alot of drills for riding and braking in the rain, this guy was a hard A$$ and I'm lucky I had this guy,I learned alot more than I ever thought i knew,even having been a rider for some 15 years before giving up my license and getting away from the bikes due to a bad accident on my last bike.
the main reason for taking the coarse was to find out if I still had the skills needed to ride,and if I was comfortable doing so,with in momments It was as if I had never gotten off a bike,it all clicked right back to me,passes the coarse with 100 written,100 driving skills test. best class I have ever taken!

 

MSF courses are well worth the cost. You'll learn a lot and come away with a new appreciation of how much of a difference there is between riding a motorcycle, and riding with some education under your belt. Took the Advanced, Experienced rider course last April here in NY, cold day, drizzly weather and an instructor that was a great guy. The instructor rode a Beamer, the other two guys I took the day's course with were on Electra Glides, my bike is a Superglide. Recommend any course or training that you can get, it'll make you a much better rider.

 

Well I've taken the rider's edge course, and I was supposed to do the regular MSF (but it got cancelled for the forseeable future because of the hurricanes. I should also mention, I'm friends with the guy who runs the regular MSF.

That being said. The basic riders course consists of three parts. A part where you all go through the BRC handbook, and answer the questions in the back of the book. A part where you learn to ride, on the MSF course. A test, which you can fail if you are not good enough.

As far as the riding part goes, you will not get any more instruction on a rider's edge, than on the MSF. Its 2 full days on the range, no matter how you do it. The instructors do teach. We had 2 for 10 riders. They show you how to do everything first, and its a well written course for someone who hadn't ridden before. Everything is in baby steps, which build on each other until you are riding beautifully. You do get individual attention if you need it, and there are a lot of drills where you stop at the end of it, and get feedback from the instructors, even if its just 'you are doing great'.
Range is all day Sat, and Sun morning, with a riding test Sun afternoon.

For the theory part, you get the same information, and the same videos as the MSF course. You just get longer to talk about each section. You also get a couple of extra harley vids thrown in, mostly fluff, apart from one which talks about group riding which is quite useful. IN the regular MSF (well our local one) you would have 1 evening (Friday) to go through the book and watch the vids. (which is really all it takes). RE gives you twice that, (Thur, Friday - for a couple of hours and a couple of hours on the Sat). Monday, on the RE you take the written test (Sun night on the MSF).

Extras RE gives: Friday we had a dealership tour. Showed all the bikes, the service areas, the facilities. 10% off shopping ....
They laid on snacks, with sandwiches on the friday, oh and cake on the Monday to 'celebrate' passing. There was also a goodie pack of a T-shirt and a clip watch thing when you pass.

The cost of my RE was $275. My local MSF would have been $100. There is NO WAY its worth $175 more to do the RE.
RE over MSF would be useful if...
You are too lazy to read the book beforehand.
You have serious (I mean short bus serious) learning difficulties and need extra time to absorb things.
You really need to sit on a bunch of harleys to get you through the course.
You are a forgetful diabetic and need lots of free snacks
You really, really like cheesey harley videos
You think a T shirt and $2 clip watch that say 'Rider's edge' on them can be resold on Ebay for over $175

 

Ok.. I love this line..

You have serious (I mean short bus serious) learning difficulties and need extra time to absorb things.

 

MSF ... "papaw" and "chance" taught my course in Indy. these two payed close attention to all the riders on the range. Learned a lot, they helped break most of my bad habits on the bike, and I plan on the experienced riders course this spring. I think it was like $75 but part of that was for the years ABATE membership also, I think. Whatever the cost, I felt like it was money well spent...especially since I just spent $18k on the new bike!!

 

scooterbooter - I think I read a thread where you posted a review of your course... After reading that review I did get the sense that a lot of it was Harley dealership hype. That's why I posted these questions.

I thought that RE gave you more time on bigger bikes than MSF... which I need... lol! The RE course here is Thurs & Friday from 6 to 9 PM. Sat and Sunday from 8 - 5, and the test on Monday from 6 - 9 PM. Cost is $295. The MSF course was Sat & Sun from 8 - 5 and that included classroom and bike time. Cost is $180.

I take the classroom part very serious don't get me wrong (I'm not a know it all... I'm a know nothing and know less and less every day), but the reflexes and "bad habits" are where I really need the work. For me this isn't like I'm gonna leave the course and be flying around town on a little rice burner. I need to get good on a lot more weight and power than that. I plan on practicing every chance I get. I've even located the parking lot to do it in. And I plan on always having a buddy there with me in case...

I really want the best training I can get, so if you guys think that MSF is equal to RE, I listen.