Basic Rider Course 2 2012

A quick post today.  Sunday before last I attended a MSF Basic Rider Course 2 class.  It's been two years since I took the first class, to get my motorcycle license, and I wanted a refresher.  This class was a 5 hour track day that went over tight cornering, quick stops, swerving, riding over obstacles, etc, using our own bikes.  I was considering signing up for the Advanced Techniques class but decided to refresh things first before biting off more then I could chew.  I think I'll attend one of the advanced courses this spring.

It just so happened that Southern Arizona had a cold front move through on the exact day of the class.  So it was a little chilly and wet when I arrived.  They usually don't cancel these classes unless there's bad lightning in the area.  I heard one of the instructors state, "People pay good money to take wet track training.  You guys are getting the discount rate."  I arrived third, and parked behind another Bonneville owner.

It didn't take too long for the others to arrive.  We had eight students total, including me.  Since we used our own bikes the instructors go over them with a fine tooth comb to make sure they're in good enough condition for the class.  One gentleman had to switch out his bike for a class loaner since the instructors didn't feel safe letting him use his for the training.  That Mobile-mini to the left is filled with quite a few 250cc bikes used in the Basic Rider Course 1 class.  Two of the students were scooter owners.  I believe in Arizona, if your scooter is over 100cc's then you have to have a fully endorsed motorcycle license.

 A quick shot of the riders before we start to get down to business.  One of the instructors, Mike, is on the left in yellow.

As we only had a few minutes between each exercise I didn't get a lot of photos.  The rest of the pictures were taken after the training portion of the class was over.  There were two of us that already had our licenses endorsed and didn't have to take the MSF test to waive the State skills test.  The other 6 students had to pass all of the skills so they could get their waivers.  I snapped a few pic's during testing.  Not sure if this was legal or not, so I took the pictures quickly.  Troubadour will have to let me know if this was a no no.

The first test involved making a tight figure eight in a small rectangle area and then coming out and performing a smooth S curve.  I believe this gentleman forgot to execute the curve.  The instructor is informing him he has one more chance.

The dreaded box, which you can't see from this angle.

Overall it was a great morning.  We only had three incidents during the training sessions.  Both scooter riders went down during quick braking.  I think they grabbed too much front brake.  Nothing serious through, they both were at very slow speeds so no issues at all.  The third incident happened during the final testing.  As you see below all riders wait in line while each student goes through each exercise.  The grey scooter rider lost control of the throttle somehow and plowed into the student on the loaner bike pretty hard.  She dinged up her scooter pretty bad and hit her lip on her wind screen.  She ended up having to leave the testing and will have to come back to get her licensed endorsed.  I talked to her for a little bit.  She was a little shaken up but was still in good spirits.  She told me she was upset at herself but was definitely going to come back out and finish the test.

As I said, short post this week.  Until next time.  Thanks for reading!