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Well I have now taken both the MSF Beginner(BRC) and Experienced(ERC) rider courses. Here are my thoughts.
Beginner – Excellent for someone who has never been on a bike before and wants to see what it is all about. Also great for someone who has been out of the riding Scene for a long time.
Mine was a three day class. The first day we covered class room work, like TCLOCKS and other acronyms and the affects of drugs and alcohol on your riding. It also covered a lot of items that will be on the exam test later n the class (to get your waiver for the riding portion of the DMV Motorcycle license testing.)
The second day we started basic, this is a motorcycle, these are its controls. We used the clutch to get the bike moving and slowly progressed to riding versus walking the bike. We eventually got to do harder tests of skill like weaving and such.
The last day we improved on what we learned in the prior day and did the old figure 8 in a box, swerving, obstacle avoidance and etc. We ended the day with a skills test and the written test. The whole thing was pretty easy, I thought, because of the slow progression from one skill to the next. To give you an indication on how easy it was I scored 100% on both the written and riding portion of the test. If I can do that anyone can. My background is that I have not ridden a two wheel motorized vehicle in over 16 years. If anything the test gave myself more confidence in riding. Owning your own motorcycle is not required for the class.
Experienced – Excellent for someone who has changed bikes to a different class of machine or needs a refresher after a few years.
This was a one day class. The new curriculum contains one motorcycle instruction and on site class room instruction. This is geared more toward those who know how to ride and those who own their own motorcycle. (You use your own motorcycle for the tests and skills tests.) The first part of the day we did basic items so that the instructors could get a feel for what we knew and our experience level. We did simple turns, obstacle avoidance and such. Basiclaly it is just like the Beginner class but without the preliminary stuff and there is not a written test unless you only have your permit. I enjoyed the class only because it allowed me to practice skills I would not normally practice on my bike. Things like U-turns, serving, weaving, and stopping. Our group for the day consisted of a few cruisers, 7 goldwings, babs and I. I must say you can make fun of goldwings all you want but these boys had some skills. The skills test was easy, I did get points taken off for not being fast enough in a turn. Imagine that a sport bike not fast enough in a turn, but hey I passed.
In retro spec, would I have taken the ERC so soon after the BRC? Probably not. However it was nice to practice some skills on my bike in a closed setting. The only issues I had were in the box I was afraid of dropping my bike and scraping my plastics. Even the instructor realized that. All in all it was a good day, HOT, but good. Poor babs had full black leathers on in the scorching sun all day. Our poor kats were feeling the pain by the end of the day with the heat and the bikes being air cooled and all.
for more information on either of these classes and availiblity check out www.msf-usa.org
Cheers!
Z
Beginner – Excellent for someone who has never been on a bike before and wants to see what it is all about. Also great for someone who has been out of the riding Scene for a long time.
Mine was a three day class. The first day we covered class room work, like TCLOCKS and other acronyms and the affects of drugs and alcohol on your riding. It also covered a lot of items that will be on the exam test later n the class (to get your waiver for the riding portion of the DMV Motorcycle license testing.)
The second day we started basic, this is a motorcycle, these are its controls. We used the clutch to get the bike moving and slowly progressed to riding versus walking the bike. We eventually got to do harder tests of skill like weaving and such.
The last day we improved on what we learned in the prior day and did the old figure 8 in a box, swerving, obstacle avoidance and etc. We ended the day with a skills test and the written test. The whole thing was pretty easy, I thought, because of the slow progression from one skill to the next. To give you an indication on how easy it was I scored 100% on both the written and riding portion of the test. If I can do that anyone can. My background is that I have not ridden a two wheel motorized vehicle in over 16 years. If anything the test gave myself more confidence in riding. Owning your own motorcycle is not required for the class.
Experienced – Excellent for someone who has changed bikes to a different class of machine or needs a refresher after a few years.
This was a one day class. The new curriculum contains one motorcycle instruction and on site class room instruction. This is geared more toward those who know how to ride and those who own their own motorcycle. (You use your own motorcycle for the tests and skills tests.) The first part of the day we did basic items so that the instructors could get a feel for what we knew and our experience level. We did simple turns, obstacle avoidance and such. Basiclaly it is just like the Beginner class but without the preliminary stuff and there is not a written test unless you only have your permit. I enjoyed the class only because it allowed me to practice skills I would not normally practice on my bike. Things like U-turns, serving, weaving, and stopping. Our group for the day consisted of a few cruisers, 7 goldwings, babs and I. I must say you can make fun of goldwings all you want but these boys had some skills. The skills test was easy, I did get points taken off for not being fast enough in a turn. Imagine that a sport bike not fast enough in a turn, but hey I passed.
In retro spec, would I have taken the ERC so soon after the BRC? Probably not. However it was nice to practice some skills on my bike in a closed setting. The only issues I had were in the box I was afraid of dropping my bike and scraping my plastics. Even the instructor realized that. All in all it was a good day, HOT, but good. Poor babs had full black leathers on in the scorching sun all day. Our poor kats were feeling the pain by the end of the day with the heat and the bikes being air cooled and all.
for more information on either of these classes and availiblity check out www.msf-usa.org
Cheers!
Z
... and that more than made up for the discomfort .. 
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