[ratgti]

i ride around like a grandma ,,,,, mostly.... there is no law about how fast you get to the speed limit. i stay out of cars blindspots. watch the tires of cars at intersecting roadways. if they start to turn as your approaching they may not see you . try not to position yourself between cars in the fast lane and exits to your right . some one may think oh crap i need to get off here and your history. like the other guy says . think like nobody can see you and dont EVER ride above your comfort level.live to ride another day ... be safe out there

[katgolddigger]

i ride around like a grandma ,,,,, mostly.... there is no law about how fast you get to the speed limit. i stay out of cars blindspots. watch the tires of cars at intersecting roadways. if they start to turn as your approaching they may not see you . try not to position yourself between cars in the fast lane and exits to your right . some one may think oh crap i need to get off here and your history. like the other guy says . think like nobody can see you and dont EVER ride above your comfort level.live to ride another day ... be safe out there

I am much like you, but i try not to even go near cars, im either in front or back and if i find myself parallel than i speed ahead a little bit or drop back. Also using lane positioning to your advantage, I.E. furthering yourself and giving yourself more time to react and see potential hazards.

[Nasdaq]

Man, lately the more I ride normal the more problems I seem to have with cagers. I had one guy I almost rear ended because he was waving his hand in frot of me to wheelie and hit his brakes like an idiot. It ****es me off that everyone expects you to drive 100 mph no matter what

[setite]

I personally like to stand up and shake my butt, and swerve a little to make cars stay away from me. I think when a big black man on a motorcycle shakes his butt at you, it freaks you out I am still pretty uncomfortable with biking, well mostly just that I'm still a little scared to lean, but I live in a very open desert area of Las Vegas. As such I have had too many near misses with gravel and low speed maneuvers.

That said, as has been mentioned, the big thing to take from the class in my opinion is turning. Remember the somewhat counter-intuitive methods of low speed (below 15mph IIRC) and high speed (15mph and above IIRC). Whenever I am brave(foolish) enough to let a friend ride my bike, that is the thing they usually have trouble with. The fact that below 15mph you turn the bike sort of like a car, turning the bars left for a left turn and right for a right turn, while balancing. But over 15mph you reverse the logic, and press the bars opposite of the direction you want to turn and lean, as well as looking where you are going and not in front of you. The MSF is great because it gives you maneuverable bikes, (Honda Shadows I think in Vegas at CSN) and drills this counter-intuitive skills into you.