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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
motorcycle safety/training programs
so, lars and i went for a nice long ride this weekend and decided to stop at a Harley dealer just to take a peek around. he had me "try out" a few bikes on the show floor and then started talking about me getting my license.
i'm on the fence on this but wanted to hear from those who have taken a motorcycle training/safety course. is it hard? i know how to drive a manual transmission car but i motorcycle seems way harder to me.
i admit, i'm scared.
Re: motorcycle safety/training programs
I would really recommend the Harley safety class. I was so leary of learning how to ride - more nervous of that than getting married. Seriously. DH laughed at me when I told him that. It's the fear of the unknown and not being able to pick it up in front of others. But I spent time watching what he was doing when I was on the back with him so I knew the basics, but not how to put it all together.
DH didn't want to try & teach me and have me take my test with the state because of all the bad habits that he's collected over the years. He actually paid for the class one year for my Valentine's gift. lol
The class through Harley is a little more expensive, but I liked it. They'll provide the bikes, give you classroom and the field tests. They were really helpful, patient and kind. There were men and women in the group who had a hard time and they spent extra time with them one on one. The start you off slowly by walking the bike, barely putting your feet up and then shifting. I had a brother in law take the course through the state and he said there was no extra time for slower learners.
You take the classroom and then the field learning and then they give you your motorcycle test at the end so you get your license right there. All the things that you learn are fresh in your mind and it's much easier. No one in my class failed and there were some women who had a really hard time.
After riding with DH, even if I wasn't interested in riding on my own all the time, I wanted to know how to do it. DH wanted me to know too. If something happened with him I could understand how to ride his bike and understand how to help him if I needed it. But once I got my license, I borrowed a small 250 bike and spent a week riding around with DH. And I fell in love with it. It's a cool confidence builder and once you get comfortable, it's pretty relaxing to ride.
I loved it! You learn so much. I didn't find it to be too hard, you learn on little bikes 125 or 250 cc's. I'm 5' 1" and I had no problems fitting on the bikes. I do not know how to drive a manual (tried many times and failed miserably) and I had no issues learning on a motorcycle. There were a few people that didn't pass. You actually take the test at the end of the class and become licensed. You do need to wear long pants, long shirt, gloves, helmet, eye protection and boots that cover your ankles. They teach you a lot of stuff, even how to go over items that could be in the street. You rarely go into 3rd gear if I remember correctly.
Totally worth it! Let me know if you have other questions.
Thought I'd butt in.
A lot of the technical colleges have the training classes, and I highly recommend them.
That's what I did and what my DH eventually did as well, and now we ride our bikes together. I love the college courses because you don't need to have a bike to take the class, since they have bikes there to use. It's super easy and I loved the fact you get to take your test at the end of the class, so you'll be approved for a license. I really enjoyed the class and had a blast, I did it by myself and it was easy and worked for me.
I believe other colleges have this as well.
Here's the site and description:
http://www.dctc.edu/continuing-education/public-safety/motorcycle-safety.cfm
that is comforting to hear because i'm also only 5'1" and was concerned about this. do they teach you how to lift your bike if it tips over? i have heard there are ways to do this even if you are small. the idea of righting a 500lb bike is daunting to me.
i COULD reach the ground on this one... it's a nightster?
for those that drive, do you like it more, less or the same as being a passenger?
I thought they taught you how to pick it up, but I can't remember - I bet they would show you if you asked them how. They may demonstrate it, but you don't actually do it. It's been about 2-3 years since I took the class.
It was very easy for me to touch!
We had to learn to life the bikes we were using in the Harley class and they taught us how to pick up any size bike.
I have a Nightster. The bikes that you use for the Harley class were all Buells. But they've stopped making those. They're all pretty small bikes and low power for the class. I'm 5'6', but have shorter inseam so the bigger cruisers are usually too tall for me. But you can get lowering kits on them.
My mom just took a class 2 weeks ago. After riding with my dad for years, she's finally going to ride on her own ... starting at age 60! I'm so proud of my gray-haired biker chick mama :-) They bought a Harley Heritage Soft Tail for her earlier this spring, but she wasn't comfortable riding it until she took the class. My mom is pretty small too, she's 5-2, and she fits on her Harley just fine.
My mom's class was in St. Cloud, but it sounds similar to what others have described. The bikes were provided for the class, they were little Yamaha 250's. My mom was a little nervous about riding in front of the other people in the class, she was worried she would screw up and be embarrassed, especially since she felt a little out-of-place among the other learners (most of the people in the class were men, and the few women in the class were all MUCH younger than her). She felt like the class moved along a little faster than she would have liked, but she was probably more nervous and scared than the average student.
Her class was a 2-day deal, the first day started with a written test and some riding. Then the second day was all on the bikes.
I know DCTC offers a class, I saw it going on in the parking lot when I was driving home on Saturday. That location wouldn't be too far from you (you're in Eagan, right?).
I'm jealous that you get to ride. I would love to get a motorcycle, but Andy wants nothing to do with it. He says he's "too risk averse to ride motorcycles". Maybe I'll have to get one just for me :-)
Mr. Sammy Dog
If you're really into looking around and just relaxing when you're on the bike, being a passenger is more for you. I like to be in control when I'm on the road so I prefer to drive. I also took the community college course and the instructors were great. Made sure that everyone understood what they were supposed to be doing and would take extra time to make sure everyone got it. There were a few slow learners in my class and they never got frustrated with them, they really just wanted everyone to learn properly so that when they got out on the road they were confident and safe. I just looked last week and there are still a bunch of courses open through the community college in Brooklyn Park. And Edina I believe.