MSF Instructor was an MF'er

I signed up for a beginner MSF course which started today to learn how to ride, and much to my surprise I was so unlucky to receive the MSF instructor from HELL. I was in a class of 8 people. There was an extra person in the class that had not signed up prior to. I think he was a friend of the instructor because he came in late and did not get dismissed as the rules say. The course was not at all as I expected. I have alway been a passenger on bikes and had no riding experience. When I paid for the class, I confirmed that the class was for beginners who had no riding experience and was told that was correct. The first part of the class today was supposed to be class instruction but consisted of the class finding answers to the review questions in the back of the MSF book and watching a few videos. It was not exactly a detailed, informative session as I had expected. After lunch, we went out to get on the bikes. The instructor proceeded to fly through the controls and the process of cranking the bikes. He then had us to briefly practice with the clutch and do the power walk, After doing the power walk a few times, he informed me that he did not feel I was learning the process. I explained that I signed up for a beginner course but was made to feel like I was holding the class up. Instead of patiently working through the process with me, the instructor was a very impatient jerk. I was one of two people in the class that had no riding experience. All the others had riding experience. He was letting the ones with riding experience determine his class. I feel like only BEGINNERS should be allowed in the BEGINNER class. This was a very bad experience for me, but he did not break my spirit of learning to ride. Not sure if I will learn through another MSF course. My tolerance for jerks gets lower as I get older.

I'll give your lame rant/critique a 2.7

No where near enough colorful language and you failed to call your instructor a "twatwaffle"

My wife took her BRC in July, and had never been on a running motorcycle. She had a wonderful experience, (except for the triple digit temperature) and left the class with more confidence and desire to ride.

There should be an option to retake the class with another instructor, at a reduced rate, in cases of student/instructor incompatibility.

This is not Jm, and you aren't helping.

To the op, keep at it, and if you aren't happy with your experience, raise hell until you get a refund and a decent instructor.

What you describe isn't anything like my BRC either. Although I was one of the people in the class with previous experience, there were several people with no experience, and at no time was there any pressure for the beginers to "catch up", and the class was definitely geared toward their pace.

I'll chime in a bit because no one knows how difficult she can be to get along with better than me(Luv ya Hun)! This case was not her fault. She has been excited beyond belief to get her chance to learn to ride, and was very cooperative in gathering equipment, and mentally preparing. As far as name calling she has a long way to go to learn all the good ones, so therefore I will step in and lend a hand. First the instructor was being a major dick, and he is not the first that has been encountered during a BRC. I push my friends to take the course and always try to find out as much as possible about their experience so I can push others to take it. I hear about 25-30% complaining about instructors that are not tolerant of newbs. IT IS A BEGINNERS F'ING COURSE! If you don't like newbs don't teach BRC. I hate teaching anything so I don't. So my summary is as follows: Instructor was a dickhead, and just so you don't feel left out Dakez, YOU SIR ARE A TWATWAFFLE!

They are granting her a refund which is great. It is very difficult for her to schedule due to her work so hopefully she can find another class before end of season. She wants to ride some during winter and I won't let her touch pavement till BRC is completed! Thanks for everyone's input and keep'em coming. All names from me are good natured!

Call that twatwaffle's supervisor and see if you can retake with someone else.

It is unfortunate you feel the instructor was not professional with the manner he spoke to you.

As an instructor myself, what you have described is exactly what the MSF Beginning Rider's Course is supposed to be. MSF provides a script and a schedule. If the instructor spent 45 minutes or more before telling you that you were not progressing, then he was most likely properly following MSF guidelines.

You indicated that you paid for this class. If this is a private for-profit school you could try calling them and expressing your expectations and see if they can place you with a different instructor or class. Otherwise you may consider finding someone who can provide one on one instruction.

Good Luck!

I want her wiggly butt off the back of my bike and on her own before I kll us both.

You need to teach Mrs6gun how to post a rant.

If it had been directed at me you wouldn't say that, then again I don't think they can put language like that on the interweb!

Generally you get the book in advance. Most students, even those who have never seen a motorcycle or used a clutch, find that 10-20 minutes of waddling across the range is sufficient to learn the basics. Still, it isn't for everyone.

Perhaps Mr. 6gun can help you practice on a static bike (ie parked in the garage). If you learn where the brake is, where the clutch is, where the ignition is, it'll probably help.

[small]Sounds like you also won the Miss Congeniality award.[/small]

yep I am not sure how a noob feels and I can say this if you want fun and sloooooowwwwwww pace


enroll in the ABATE course at Richmond Indiana!


even though I rode everyday for a year before going! I could see that this class was for beginners just like me !

Now my bike is non stock sohc! sevenfifty honda!


so my bike had no kill switch, no turn signals and no tach and the little bikes were so cool I was slinging them around like toys!

the guys who ran the place there were four of them! so if you needed to have an extra bit of time then you GOT IT


Now sad to say but facts are facts every year these guys rank top 5 testing center every single year since the group has started in the COUNTRY! no one in my class scored lower than 90 on the written test! and no one scored except one out of 15 lower than 93 on the riding course!


ME personally I scored perfect on riding and so did another guy who lived in Indy,

I scored 94 in written and the other guy who tied me on riding scored a 100 percent

so he got the cool prize they hand out.


I can honestly say that I would love to go back and do the figure 8's and have the fellowship all over again!

If the TW was as bad as he was described, he has no business teaching a beginner's course. Discuss a career change with his higherups.

I disagree that only beginners should be allowed in; that's absurd. There are many returning riders that could benefit from the class, and many supposedly experienced riders that are still a gust of wind away from dropping their bikes at the local mini mart. Your issue was with the instructor, not the relative capabilities of other students that signed up and paid for the class. If he was letting the experienced riders dictate the pace, then he wasn't doing his job.

The same is also true if he lets a struggling student slow the entire class down to the point that things are no longer being accomplished in the set time. A good instructor finds a balance.

Most people who come through the class have some small bit of riding experience. In the vast majority of clases there are only two or three true novices. The most I've ever seen is about six out of twelve. Generally it's better for a novice to be in with an experienced class. It gives the novice people to emulate and something to shoot for. Too many complete novices in a class can create problems. They frequently get too comfortable with their lack of skill and it's hard to get them to progress. You can almost see little cartoon bubbles appear over their heads as they look around. "Man I suck at this, but I'm not as bad a him, so I'm good-to-go!"

That being said, for whatever reason it didn't work for you. You don't appear to like the group setting. I recommend you take a few private lessons. They're a little expensive, but well worth it for someone in your situation.

The instructors read from a scripted flip card with time limits.

You either keep up or you don't.

I had years of riding before I took the class and throroughly enjoyed it.

My 15 year old step daughter with a reading comprehension impairment took it the following year and enjoyed it and passed it easily.

A good friend's wife who has ridden bitch her whole life took it, couldn't keep up, couldn't remember which side was the clutch or the brake, dumped the bike twice and finally left in a crying hissy fit because they kept telling her to LEAN in the curves. She then traded her bike in for a Can-Am Spyder. You can't fail the state test on three wheels and she will never return to ANY class because no one was there to suck up to her Barbie Doll performance.

If you seriously think you need EXTRA attention from the instructor to figure out which way to squeeze the clutch and don't figure it out within 2.1 seconds, then perhaps riding isn't for you. It couldn't be any more remedial without letting you drool on yourself.

If you still have the desire to ride, go out and get a dirt bike and learn it yourself. You can spend a billion dollars on private tutoring, but if you still lack the self confidence and basic motor skills, then you are a liability to yourself with a license.

Your own husband summed it up best when he said you have a wiggly ass as a passenger. You can't sit still when someone else is in control, you won't listen when someone criticizes you, you are the victim of everyone else's attempts to help you and you are probably a spoiled brat as well because your husband had to thump his chest at anyone who poked fun at you.

That Georgia Peach bullshit don't fly around here.

Inb4 the kick downstairs

>>> sig material