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My current steed. Previous bike was a Cbr1000rr…did 46,000 miles in it… toured all over Europe and the uk in 6 years. Still like new when I sold it!

Got the Ducati and within 2 weeks, it leaked oil! 😂

Got a tour of Ireland in June/July, so we’ll see how she holds up.

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@Shavingeveryday , that's lovely! I considered a (modern) SuperSport to replace my F800s, but the fit wasn't quite right. I'm currently looking at the Duke 890 and the RS660, both of which seem to have some options for luggage. :)

I had a CBR954rr for a while, but I had no need to shift past 2nd gear and it was so high-strung that it was no fun on the street. Had I needed a liter bike for the track, it would have been perfect!
 
@Shavingeveryday , that's lovely! I considered a (modern) SuperSport to replace my F800s, but the fit wasn't quite right. I'm currently looking at the Duke 890 and the RS660, both of which seem to have some options for luggage. :)

I had a CBR954rr for a while, but I had no need to shift past 2nd gear and it was so high-strung that it was no fun on the street. Had I needed a liter bike for the track, it would have been perfect!
Compared to the blade, it’s like an armchair. 😂 I’ve done a few 500 mile days on it, and it’s super comfy. It’s only 120bhp compared to my 190 race prepped blade, but the torque for the roads is perfect. I agree, my blade was snatchy as hell on the roads, due to the tune and quarter action throttle, plus I has the suspension set up for track and fast road…on track and good roads it was a proper weapon, but tours through Swiss and French villages and country roads where a nightmare at times. Hence the change to the supersport. It seems to do everything well so far.
I’ve always had race bikes, but at 51 and various speeding tickets, it’s time to slow it down a tad and have a bit of comfort.
 
I started riding later in life, at 36. It was perfect as I was stationed near Napa Valley and loved the area. When I retired and moved back to PA I didn't ride much. I had a Yamaha FZ7 and it was a great first bike. Then on August 29th 2019, after receiving notice of a new job I was recruited for, an old man pulled out in front of me from a side road.
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Long story short, please be safe and keep your eyes open. Wear the best gear you can afford, no matter how hot. If I didn't, I wouldn't be writing this. I miss riding, jealous!
You are quite correct. A friend's grandson was wiped out by a pickup truck that ran a red light. He was not expected to live. He was in ICU for a month but is making a miraculous recovery. He has to learn to walk again and his speech is impaired. He is expected to be released next week but will be confined to a wheelchair indefinitely. He has had multiple surgeries so far and will have numerous more as he progresses.
 
It's always interesting to me when someone shows up to post cautionary tales in an enthusiast's thread and it seems to happen a fair bit when motorcycles are the subject. I don't see the same thing happening in the Brown Leaf, the Speakeasy or elsewhere, but maybe I miss such things.

I was a motorcycle safety coach for 10+ years. As I taught my students, good habits, good awareness and good gear (including visibility aids) reduce the risk, but it never goes away. Ride with that in mind and you'll likely ride more safely and for longer.

We willingly draw sharp steel across vital arteries and a windpipe. We walk next to traffic, we get in boats and go onto waterways, we talk to strangers, we cross streets, we eat fried foods, we spend time in the sun. There's an element of danger to life, no matter what you do, no question.

Life is for living; even so, nobody gets out alive. Everyone has to make his own choices and as I told my students, riding isn't for everyone.

For me, because of the sheer, visceral joy that riding brings, I'll continue to ride.
 

Toothpick

Needs milk and a bidet!
Staff member
Speaking of tours…a friend at work recently took a MSF course for his endorsement. He said one of the ladies in his class was about 60ish years old and told that she and a friend are planning a trip to Ireland to do a motorcycle tour of the country. So she was taking the class to learn how to ride. She dropped out of the class because she could not handle the motorcycle. I can’t help but think they still went through with the motorcycle tour :letterk1:

Someone else in the class duck walked their bike through all the exercises he said. And they passed her! Because for liability and safety reasons the instructor can’t tell you NOT to put your foot/feet down. So I guess you can just walk your bike through the MSF course and pass :ohmy:
 
Speaking of tours…a friend at work recently took a MSF course for his endorsement. He said one of the ladies in his class was about 60ish years old and told that she and a friend are planning a trip to Ireland to do a motorcycle tour of the country. So she was taking the class to learn how to ride. She dropped out of the class because she could not handle the motorcycle. I can’t help but think they still went through with the motorcycle tour :letterk1:
I'll keep it short, but one of my students was adamant that she had to pass the course. She was a lady in her late 50s or early 60s. It turns out that her husband had purchased a Harley for her and "told her" that they were riding to Sturgis, from California...in two weeks. She was nervous as all get-out and, predictably, did not pass the course.

That just tells me that her husband was a selfish, self-involved a**hole.
Someone else in the class duck walked their bike through all the exercises he said. And they passed her! Because for liability and safety reasons the instructor can’t tell you NOT to put your foot/feet down. So I guess you can just walk your bike through the MSF course and pass :ohmy:
Unless something has fundamentally changed, the RiderCoaches were doing it wrong.

In order to display the skills necessary to pass the Skills Evaluation, the rider has to achieve certain speeds in three of the four events, notably in the Cornering, Emergency Swerving and Emergency Stop events. That cannot be done if you're duck-walking...and if you're duck-walking at 15+ mph as you turn, or swerve, or stop quickly, that's not safe.

You also can't demonstrate your ability to execute a U-turn in a tight space without dabbing. Dabbing once is points off, dabbing multiple times is more points off.

And if the person duck-walked all the way to the Skills Evaluation, the RCs failed that student in a different sense, because that's not riding and that student is not ready for the street, even with a permit. RCs are - or were - empowered to make the decision to "counsel out" a rider who was dangerous and/or not demonstrating sufficient grasp of the skills being taught.

So, yeah, if the Skills Eval is being scored correctly, you have to pick up your feet and demonstrate command of the basic riding and emergency-maneuver skills in order to pass the class.
 
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Nice thread. I still keep a sport bike, but ride a cruiser almost exclusively for the comfort and relaxed pace. I call my bike my "RV" as it truly is my recreation at a fraction of the cost of a pusher or a boat or sports car. Limited season though for sure.
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Toothpick

Needs milk and a bidet!
Staff member
I'll keep it short, but one of my students was adamant that she had to pass the course. She was a lady in her late 50s or early 60s and she was supposed to ride to Sturgis in two weeks; her husband had purchased a bike for her and "told her that was the plan". She was nervous as all get-out and, predictably, did not pass the course.

Unless something has fundamentally changed, the RiderCoaches were doing it wrong.

In order to display the skills necessary to pass the Skills Evaluation, the rider has to achieve certain speeds in three of the four events, notably in the Cornering, Emergency Swerving and Emergency Stop events. That cannot be done if you're duck-walking...and if you're duck-walking at 15+ mph as you turn, or swerve, or stop quickly, that's not safe.

You also can't demonstrate your ability to execute a U-turn without dabbing. Dabbing once is points off, dabbing multiple times is more points off.

And if the person duck-walked all the way to the Skills Evaluation, the RCs failed that student in a different sense, because that's not riding and that student is not ready for the street. RCs are - or were - empowered to make the decision to "counsel out" a rider who was dangerous and/or not demonstrating sufficient grasp of the skills being taught.

So, yeah, if the test is being scored correctly, you have to pick up your feet and demonstrate command of the basic riding and emergency-maneuver skills in order to pass the class.

I took the same class back in December. It was a Tuesday-Wednesday class, the 21st/22nd the week of Christmas. Only 3 of us in that class. We did half a day in the classroom the first day. Covered the MSF workbook. Answered a bunch of questions collectively and boom, were told we passed the written test. We then did 1.5 days on the riding course. None of us ever duck walked and we all did the exercises as we were supposed to. At the end of the 2nd day we were given the option - She said we could all take the riding skills test one by one and she would grade us OR we can call it good as is and sign our certificates because the skills test was 9(?) of the same exercises we just did and she felt confident we would pass them all in an actual exam. But we had to be unanimous in our decision.

So duh, naturally the 3 off us were like “yeah, we’re good, let’s sign the certificates”. :lol: So not only did we not take the written test, we also did not “technically” do the riding skills test. I even told my work buddy that they would probably do it all the same way they did for me. Apparently they did the actual paper test and actually one by one ridding skills test. But…sounds like the instructor might be letting some folks sneak by so maybe they don’t have any students that fail. I’m not sure. But my buddy said they docked him a point on the riding test and gave this duck walking girl a 100%. My work buddy got a motorcycle 2 months ago and has been riding it all over the place before he actually took the class. He has cycle experience from several years ago so he had no trouble, he basically did it just to refresh his skills and easily get the endorsement from the DMV.

I read the MSF manual cover to cover and went through and actually wrote down answers to all the questions in every chapter of the MSF book before the class. I’m confident I would have passed the MSF course regardless of actually doing the exams or not.
 
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