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Old April 17th, 2015, 05:51 PM   #1
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MSF Dirtbike school worth it?

I'm interested in the Closed Range Exercise for the MSF dirt bike school. They provide the bikes and smelly off-road helmets. I've been a street rider for many years on & off. Never ridden dirt before. Would like to get the back end loose and hopefully gain experience and skillsets I can transfer back to street riding.

Cost is around $250. Class (both classroom and in the field) from 9am - 5pm.

Anyone have experience with this? Any MSF coaches have experience with this? Is it worth it?
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Old April 17th, 2015, 06:02 PM   #2
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Dirt bike riding is great fun and will enhance your skills on the street.
Yes well worth the cost.
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Old April 17th, 2015, 06:05 PM   #3
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I'm interested in the Closed Range Exercise for the MSF dirt bike school. They provide the bikes and smelly off-road helmets. I've been a street rider for many years on & off. Never ridden dirt before. Would like to get the back end loose and hopefully gain experience and skillsets I can transfer back to street riding.

Cost is around $250. Class (both classroom and in the field) from 9am - 5pm.

Anyone have experience with this? Any MSF coaches have experience with this? Is it worth it?
You could find a cheap dirt bike for not much more.
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Old April 17th, 2015, 06:43 PM   #4
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It's worth it. More tools in the stay alive toolbox are always worth it.

Let us know how it goes.

Ride on,

J~
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Old April 17th, 2015, 07:05 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fishdip View Post
You could find a cheap dirt bike for not much more.
Only if I knew a cool land owner. There are no dirt trails by me at all!
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Old April 17th, 2015, 07:06 PM   #6
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Only if I knew a cool land owner. There are no dirt trails by me at all!
Front yard?
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Old April 17th, 2015, 08:08 PM   #7
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Right now, to practice on the dirt (gravel), I take this road that has a portion that's unpaved. It's all gravel (and some sand). The first time I went on it, I got so tense because the bike was moving all over the place under me. And because I was tense, it made it so much worse. Now that I've traveled on this road a few times, I've experimented with being really loose. I don't grab onto the tank hard and I don't white knuckle the grips. It's a much more relaxing ride. But I still don't know if I'm doing it right.

I still feel uncomfortable when I feel the rear tire slide a bit (especially when I accelerate when slightly leaned over for a corner). And the front tire is always moving around....like when you're riding through a metal bridge. So....on gravel, I just don't lean it over much. I would love to.....if I had a beat up bike that I don't mind being dropped. But I don't want to drop my 300.

Here's an example of the road. As you can see, I'm not going that fast (only 25-30mph) and I don't lean over to corner. I just slow down. I just don't want the bike to hit the ground.

Have you guys ever taken a street bike on a road like this? Tips? Videos of your gravel ride?

It feels much worse in person that in the video. You can notice how much the bike is moving around. On the street, we all know the bike is extremely smooth and steady.

Link to original page on YouTube.

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Old April 17th, 2015, 08:12 PM   #8
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@csmith12 - Have you taught dirt? Any of your colleagues taught dirt? Worth the $250? Your thoughts?
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Old April 17th, 2015, 08:44 PM   #9
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Sorry Cadd, I have no dirt coaching experience and I consider myself a dirt n00b at best. I think I have a buddy that has dirt racing experience but I am skeptical until I speak with him more.
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Old April 17th, 2015, 10:25 PM   #10
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Thanks Chris. I was hoping an MSF coach on this site taught dirt.
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Old April 17th, 2015, 10:39 PM   #11
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Sit tight, maybe someone else does have some experience, I am interested too. If I have my way about things this season, I will be taking both my kids to the MSF dirtbike school. I will take the course with them as a parent first and learner second (it's just the way I am). I will post up my impressions.

Now, take this with a grain of salt please. I have taught my son to ride a little bit. He is still very much a novice by my grading scale, which some say is very high . But none the less...

I am super tired right now, but I might be able to help you with the gravel and sand riding. I have been riding over 1 solid mile of gravel to get home ever since they tared and chipped my road.

Until I get to posting, try this... Use your legs to assist the suspension to work as it should (there is more to that...). Ride light in the saddle and keep a loose grip like you have been but don't completely lose your lower body connection with the bike, the traction feedback is important, don't sit up on the tank, 40%/60% weight distro and for pete sakes... don't fight the front and have good throttle control. Gravel and sand is another area where smooth roll offs are as important as smooth roll ons.
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Old April 18th, 2015, 05:54 PM   #12
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Thanks for the tips. What you said makes perfect sense to me.

Today, I went back to that road. I wanted to see what was under the gravel and this is what I found.

Link to original page on YouTube.

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Old April 18th, 2015, 08:05 PM   #13
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Training is always good. In the mean time, it looks like you have things under control.
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Old April 19th, 2015, 05:20 AM   #14
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MO

It seems like you don't have the opportunity to ride a dirtbike and you don't own one. That being said i don't see how taking a 1 day dirtbike course is going to help improve your streetbike skills much.

If you were going to continue to ride in the dirt (with a dirtbike) after taking the course i would say sure. They are hopefully good teachers and are capable of explaining, the how/why/when type stuff unlike (your buddy down the road). But just like the road version of the MSF, they are going to put the seeds of particular riding skills in your head, it is then up to you to practice what they preach over the next weeks, months years to become proficient at it.

They will be able to give you those seeds of knowledge but with out a dirtbike to ride every now and then to practice i just don't see it being overly useful. I would not practice dirtbike skills on a streetbike, they are completely different beasts in more ways than i could mention.

I do think some dirt skills can be useful on a streetibke and even the other way around but again what are you going to take home from a crammed 1 day course without a place or bike to practice on?

It looks like you are already comfortable/competent on gravel with your streetbike and do fine. Just remember it's not a dirtbike, it weights 150lbs more and has essentially slick tires so turn it back a notch, keep things smooth.

P.S. if you have loose change and $250 isn't going to be a big deal and you are looking for something to do, then do it

You could always scoot out this way on a weekend, we can ride dirtbikes all day. I can dig up an extra one or two. Cost you less than $250
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Old April 19th, 2015, 09:08 PM   #15
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Thanks for the offer dude!! If you weren't 4+ hours away, I would totally link up with you to do this.

I guess you're right that a few hours on a dirt bike can't really help what I'm trying to do since I can't practice on my own afterwards.

My main goal:
While riding on the road, I hit a corner and suddenly there's sand/gravel/pebbles/dirt right there! I never slid on it before because I normally don't ride fast enough to do so. When I do the debris, I normally flick the bike up really hard and hit both brakes pretty hard to slow me down a little more, then lean back into the turn.

Because I have no dirt experience, I just use the good ol "clench my butt cheeks and hope for the best" method.

But if I do start to feel like I'm sliding a bit, and the rear (or front) tire gets a little loose, I wouldn't know what the proper technique would be to go through it as safe as possible. What should my body position be? Do I lean more? Do I kiss the mirror even more? Or do I counter lean (lean the bike, but stay as perpendicular to the ground as possible)? I have absolutely no clue.
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Old April 20th, 2015, 06:58 AM   #16
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Originally Posted by cadd View Post
Thanks for the offer dude!! If you weren't 4+ hours away, I would totally link up with you to do this.
I guess you're right that a few hours on a dirt bike can't really help what I'm trying to do since I can't practice on my own afterwards.

My main goal:
While riding on the road, I hit a corner and suddenly there's sand/gravel/pebbles/dirt right there! I never slid on it before because I normally don't ride fast enough to do so. When I do the debris, I normally flick the bike up really hard and hit both brakes pretty hard to slow me down a little more, then lean back into the turn.

Because I have no dirt experience, I just use the good ol "clench my butt cheeks and hope for the best" method.

But if I do start to feel like I'm sliding a bit, and the rear (or front) tire gets a little loose, I wouldn't know what the proper technique would be to go through it as safe as possible. What should my body position be? Do I lean more? Do I kiss the mirror even more? Or do I counter lean (lean the bike, but stay as perpendicular to the ground as possible)? I have absolutely no clue.
still closer than that Ohio dirtbike MSF Assuming you are in New Jersey?
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