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MSF Basic Dirt Bike Class
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December 20, 2009 at 4:59 am #3622eonParticipant
I spent today taking the MSF Basic Dirtbike class and it was a lot of fun. Got soaking wet and a little muddy but had a great time. No action pics but here is a shot of the bikes we were playing with.
click for large pic Okay so we were not playing with the F800GS, that belonged to one of the guys on the course. The fact someone with such a bike was taking the basic class should give you an idea it was not as as basic as the street riders class. There was no discussion about the controls, or walking the bikes. It was straight on and away you go (this might change depending on the experience of the students, not sure).
I was on the little Yamaha 125 in the middle of that shot. Thing was tiny and light as a feather. Apparently the lighter/smaller bikes are better to learn on as they react more to your body position. Mess it up and you know it, get it right and you can feel it.
A lot of the course consisted of trying to get us to position our bodies properly. Basically get all your weight to the front. Was easy sitting down but surprisingly hard, and tiring, when standing up. Leg muscles were trembling very early on and I thought I was in reasonable shape too. Maybe it’s like skiing, seems to be different muscles from other exercises. Was fun riding around on wet grass (soon to be mud), feeling the rear slide a little but feel in total control.
If this course is offered near you I would recommend it. It’s something slightly different from your usual riding.
December 20, 2009 at 6:19 am #23785SantaCruzRiderParticipantI’m going to see if they have one of these in my area — looks like nothing but fun.
December 20, 2009 at 11:38 pm #23786IxecapadeParticipantdidnt even know they had these!!! I really want a dual sport to do dirt riding… I can totlaly see riding becoming a big addiction on all surfaces…. hellafun. another thing for the to do list!
December 22, 2009 at 5:12 am #23797eonParticipantLots of emphasis on body position, sitting as far forward as you can. Then it was counter weighting in tight turns. Not much different from street riding but when your crotch is on the handlebars surprisingly difficult to do. Then it was riding in a tight circle, then a figure 8, then a figure 8 in formation with the other riders, crossing over in the middle, then riding over some humps in the ground Then we got to go over some obstacles, maybe a foot and a half high. Easy to do but pretty hard to do it right (the seat would come up and smack you in the ass if you did not get your body forward in time). Then it was off to the hill where we practiced a tight turn on a hill, turning your bike around on a hill after you get stuck, then riding parallel to the hill. The only spills of the day came on the hill.
Think that was about it. Over 5 hours in riding time, not as much “class” work as on the street courses. Two days later and I can still barely walk.
At the end of the class we got to practice on other bikes so I had a go on the KLX (the green one in the top right of the pic). This is proper dual sport, only a 250cc engine but physically large. I almost could not get my leg over the seat. Completely different experience from the little 125 I had been on. Very smooth clutch (the 125’s clutch was on/off and I had struggled with that all day, thought it was just me being a dumbass). But being so high made it weird. Did not push my luck sliding it in the turns as I did not want to fall at this stage of the day. The guy who had the 800GS tried to use it briefly but gave up cause it was so slippy. His tires were not as knobbly as the true dirt bikes and I am sure his tire pressures were too high. I could press in my tire with my thumb with ease.
Here is cheesy promo video but it gives you a taste of what they teach.
December 22, 2009 at 4:38 pm #23799JackTradeParticipantThanks for the great review Eon…ever since I went to the AMA motocross grand nations this summer, I’ve been thinking about buying a small dual-sport in a year or so, and definitely would like some formal instruction before doing the other part of “dual”. Cheers!
December 22, 2009 at 5:32 pm #23798eonParticipantGlad to have helped a little. I was in two minds about whether to take the Basic or the Intermediate class. I went for the basic mainly because the last (and only) time I have changed gears on a bike was on my BRC. I was worried though it would be a BRC on dirt. That would have sucked. It was not like that though and there was no way I was ready for the Intermediate class. The instructor said there was not a lot of difference between the two but you get shouted at a whole lot more on the Intermediate On the basic class they let you make mistakes as they want you to feel the difference between doing it wrong and doing it correctly. On the intermediate they get on your case if you are doing it wrong.
We did not do the slow-mo stuff shown in the video but we did do the slalom. You were supposed to steer the bike with just your knees but I sucked at that. Actually sucked at pretty much everything (as did we all). Would really need to get my own dirtbike and practice before taking the Intermediate class.
December 22, 2009 at 8:33 pm #23803JackTradeParticipantFunny how it’s the opposite of the MSF on-road courses…they yell like crazy during the BRC, but are more mellow during the ERC. Of course, the cost of screwing up offroad is usually a lot less than on the tarmac.
Thanks for the differentiation between the two. I’ll definitely be starting out with the basic course!
December 23, 2009 at 11:37 am #23805eternal05ParticipantI definitely need to check this out…sounds like it’d be a great learning experience. How far out of town was this eon?
December 23, 2009 at 7:01 pm #23808eonParticipantReasonably far. Just south of Tacoma in Roy. I think it was 53 miles each way for me.
December 23, 2009 at 8:03 pm #23809eternal05ParticipantIt’s about the same every time I hit the track, so a one-time trip wouldn’t be that bad. Sounds like the class is worth it!
December 23, 2009 at 8:42 pm #23810eonParticipantDefinitely worth it, but 50 miles of interstate in the rain sucked. 10am start meant the traffic was light on the way there but coming back at 4pm I got caught up in xmas shopping traffic, it was dark, wet and my jacket had given up all pretense of being waterproof after 6 hours in the rain and my visor continually fogged up. Was glad to get back home in one piece that night. But now I’ve got an excuse to go shopping for gear during the holidays
December 30, 2009 at 9:31 am #23852eternal05Participant“my jacket had given up all pretense of being waterproof”
I’m not a fan. That point when even a fancy schmancy waterproof jacket starts getting soggy and bleeding through is just the worst, especially when you have plenty of time still to go before you get to take it off and warm up. I empathize completely!
Sounds like a great opportunity either way, so congrats on getting that under your belt. Now I’ll just have to play catch-up!
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