It isn't about how tight you can make a turn or "look what I can do on my bike"
experienced courses are done to upgrade/refresh skills and make you think about how you ride your bike. Everyone picks up bad habits riding their scoots after time and these classes help highlight those bad habits and give you big time refresher skills to keep you on track. I teach both the basic class and the experienced class and I've had many students with your attitude walk in the door Friday night. I haven't had one person yet leave one of my classes not thanking me for giving them a better skills set or how to thing about things while there riding and assessing traffic.......I'm not saying it's all about me or how I do my classes. It proves even the most experienced person can learn something during these classes.
Itell them when they leave to NEVER stop,learning while on their bikes........ your never THAT good....................never...................
and yes I take the experienced course once a year as a student, just to refresh and let someone else take a look at what I'm doing..................take care...

 

If you are self-taught, chances are good that you don't use the front brake enough; don't know how to ride curves efficiently or make the bike turn more sharply when necessary; probably have to duck walk the bike to turn it around on a two lane road or parking lot; will probably lock up the rear wheel instead of steering/braking to avoid a crash; etc.

20 or 30 years of riding experience may simply be 20-30 years of doing it the wrong way or, at least, not the best way.

Take the Basic Rider course, Experienced Rider course, Ride Like a Pro class, and any other training offered on a regular basis, and PRACTICE, PRACTICE, and PRACTICE some more.

Carl

 

Never be afraid to learn, and don't be so critical when your told of a bad habit you've picked up.

 

After 45 years of motorcycle riding , Keith Code school at Sears Point and Wayne Rainey Superbike school at Laguna Seca in the 80's , I took the basic Riders Edge Class offered by my local H.D. dealer last September. Did I learn alot ?,Yes .Was it money well spent ? , Yes . At 63 do I question my ability ,yes but I'm either smart enough or dumb enough to realize that everyday is a good day to learn or relearn something . Sometimes it the little things you learn that make the biggest difference .

 

[QUOTE= Sometimes it the little things you learn that make the biggest difference .[/QUOTE] I agree with that. Like when your buying a bike don't buy a 800 lb bike so you can take 1/2 hr rides around town every other weekend. If you fall down alot get another hobby. If your bike falls and you don't want to risk hurting your back, get help picking it up.I 've seen the video where a cop was doing the tight riding stuff, dropped his bike on the left side and while picking it up according to the great training he had, proceeded to have it fall over on it's right side along with him. If you feel the need to test the limits of your bike riding abilities go ahead. If you look closely at just about any cop bike you'll find they get dropped. The difference is they don't have to pay for repairing it.,,

 

my daughter got an 06 883c end of 06. i rode that a bit for a couple months. i got an 07 ultra in march 07 after not having owned a bike for 20+ years. did some riding, but on other people's bike and not that much during those 20 years. had a road bike and a dirt bike previously.

that ultra is a big heavy bike and i was having some difficulty adapting to it. got the ride like a pro cd, watched it and practiced the drills. comparing what i was doing to what they were saying, i found a number of things that i was doing wrong, or not completely correct.

made a huge difference.

then took an advanced course, and it taught a lot of the same things as ride like a pro. and it was nice having someone else watch you and critique you. picking out some things you do that could be improved upon.

i still have room to improve and will continue using their techniques.

as for making a right handed u turn at slow speed, a lot of it is just being able to handle the bike, and to do it correctly. getting a confident feel of the bike at low speed will help at higher speed.

because of the cd and class, i can maintain the bike upright at extremely slow speed, almost to the point of standing still. i know some of you might laugh at that, but in traffic, stop and go, it make a huge difference in controlling the bike. some might feel that they can do that without a problem, but on the top heavy ultra, it is a bit different than on some of the other bikes with a lower center of gravity.

taking off on a turn from a stop is another one. a big help when you can do it correctly.

it has helped with being able to slow quickly and swerve because of sand or dirt on the road.

and a lot of these things i felt that i could navigate without an issue. the cd and course showed me that i could do a better job at navigating them then i had.

definitely worth it.

 

I don't understand the BigCahuna's point. First of all, who said anything about dropping one's bike all the time? If you are referring to my post in which I desrcibed dropping the training bike once, well that was the point of taking the course and paying to use their beat-up bikes. It allowed me to be aggressive (and not passive) during the course, so as to maximize the learning. Frankly, that has been the only time I have dropped a bike (knock on wood). I think BigCahuna completely misses the point about the course: You learn techniques that you wouldn't necessarily pickup over years of riding--techniques that with practice really improve one's riding ability and safety. I have already integrated many of the techniques into my riding; and I can really see the difference in my enjoyment as well as execution of certain maneuvers. In terms of the tight, right-hand u-turn that I described, the BigCahuna is right that it isn't something that one needs to do very often. But again, he has missed the point of the lesson. The technique to do that turn is something that carries over to other situations that you face while riding. Sure, there is another way to accomplish getting to where you need to go; but not as efficient as you can knowing the techniques learned. By the way, I coincidentally used that right hand u-turn technique when I was on a narrow bridge road. We had parked our bikes with the left side of the bikes against the bridge railing, facing against traffic (although there was no traffic as this was a remote area). In order to turn the bike around to go the other direction, the righthand u-turn worked beautifully. One of the other riders that is very accomplished as a rider, didn't know the technique; and he dropped his bike trying to make the turn.Lastly, while I haven't seen the tape from the course, I would suspect that it can't be as good as actually taking the course. You really can't expect to get as much out of watching a "how to" instructural tape as you can attending a course in which you observe the instructor, and then practice the techniques with his guidance.

 

[QUOTe If you feel the need to test the limits of your bike riding abilities go ahead. Funny how people come up with all this good stuff and try to sell it as a MUST DO. Like the "safety" course they have for new riders where they can get their license in one weekend. My wife and a few other women in the club took this class. And you would be foolish to think after 3 days, 1 class in the room and 1 on their parking lot, and the road test that your ready to ride a bike on the street. All of them were scared to ride because of lack of experience. They never leave the lot and ride with traffic, but they have a license that allows them to buy the largest most powerful bike made. Does anyone here think that's a good thing?.Now they try to sell the ride your bike to it's limit video, because you need to. Chris Rock once said 'You can drive your car with your feet, but that don't make it a good idea!

 

Your latest post, BigCahuna, seems to be more of a non sequitur than your previous posts. Who is saying that taking a course is going to make you an expert overnight or otherwise substitute for extensive riding experience? I may be misinterpreting what you are saying, but that's what it sounds like. The thread started by someone wanting to take a riding course to improve their riding skills. Several people, including me, responded with some suggestions. What is wrong with taking a riding course--advanced or otherwise? No one is saying that it is imperative to do so or that you will become an expert rider by doing so. I'm really baffled by your apparent angst toward the idea of taking a riding course. That's it for me on this thread.

 

Spiker:
Take the course, whatever course you want. The MSF Advanced Rider course will teach you a few things, & point out the bad habits we all [except maybe Big Cahuna, maybe] make. If you take the Ride Like A Pro, esp if it's from Marc Paz, a former MSF instructor, you will hear both what MSF teaches and why RLAP/West Coast teaches the same skills using a different theory.

For those of us who are independent thinkers, the overwhelming response recommending taking the course can be reassuring, especially as one considers what the various posters have said about what they either learned or un-learned. The fact that there is one [from my perspective, irrational] dissent would confirm the wisdom in taking a course.

Stanford Man is right in his posts on this thread. But, then, I admit a bias as we agreed on the same point [contending with the same dissenter] in a previous thread.

Spiker, One of the things I considered was taking the lady I've been dating & have her ride with me as much of my riding is 2-up. Our schedules didn't work out, & I found that I was not the "hot shot" I thought I was. What that means is that I not only urge you to take the course [MSF Advanced Rider or RLAP, or both], but that you practice enough to have the confidence to take your little woman with you through the exercises. That way, when you come to a point where you have to use a skill you practiced solo, you won't have one of those "Oh, S---!" moments when the lady is on the back. In the first month of riding my EGC, and before the course, I had one of those moments & had to ask my date to please get off while I attempted the maneuver. Boy, was that manly!

Big Cahuna What has made you so negative? Your last two posts have brought me to an inch or two of asking you where you live so I can pay your tuition at your local RLAP course, & go & watch you, video camera in hand. If you demonstrate you are truly as good as you say you are, I'll do everything in my power to have you nationally recognized as the [I]one[I] best motorcyclist in the nation. If you are what my 60+ years of experience expects you to be, . . . . Naa. No point in picking a fight. The readers of this thread might have a hard time telling which is the fool.

Spiker: Tell us what you learned from taking the course of your choice.