Quote:
Originally Posted by csmith12
As a MSF ridercoach, I hear this all the time. "I wanted to do this and that to make the class easier or be more familiar with the bike." Thing is, that is what the class is for... all it does is cheapen the value of the classroom and biases the range drills to the negative perception of value. And now you're sitting there for that period of time listening to stuff your already know.
If the TX class is anything like the KY BRC, then the class is already set up for your success. Practice before hand in the name of "just to pass", need not apply.
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I agree with the general idea of what you're saying. Trying to practice before you learn how to do something is likely to just result in doing it wrong and forming bad habits, or resulting in damage/injury because you don't know how to do it properly.
However, I took the BRC with a lot of non-riders. It was Motorcycle Awareness month or something, so all the employees of the SoS (DMV) office decided to take the class. Most of them had no experience with or interest in motorcycles, it was just a learning experience. Despite being able to get their cycle endorsement by just taking a 20 question multiple choice test and paying a ~$10 fee after completing the class, some of the people simply chose to not take the final test of the class because they never planned to ride a bike again.
Whereas I had a lot of previous ATV experience (same basic controls) and had been riding on my temp permit for a while, some of those people had never even driven a manual car before. Operating the bike was second-nature for me, so I could concentrate fully on the details of how to ride. I could tell that others had to actively think about shifting gears and operation of the bike's controls, on top of learning how to ride.
I think knowing how to drive a manual is the biggest help. You have to get used to the bike controls, but the concept is the same. I think you can get a basic feel for the controls without even starting the bike. Obviously you won't be able to actually shift with the bike sitting still, but I think you can go through the motions enough to get your hands and feet used to clutch/throttle/shifting.
The class did a great job of turning complete n00bs into beginner riders. However, if you have some familiarity with shifting and/or bike controls, I think it's a lot easier to learn more about riding.