PTRider wrote on 06/15/09 at 13:17:56:Charon wrote on 06/15/09 at 12:41:42:I agree that the MSF course is not especially good. I suspect that many who take it do so in order to avoid having to take the driving test at the Department of Motor Vehicles rather than because they expect to learn anything useful. At least one article has claimed that, after six months or so, the crash rate for MSF-trained riders pretty much equals the rate for self-trained riders. It is unclear whether the untrained manage to learn the needed skills, the MSF riders become overconfident, or some other factor is at work. The Hurt Report did mention the lack of counter-steering skills among the unschooled as a major factor, and that is a skill that some on this Forum seem to deride as well. Both countersteering and proper brake usage are at least mentioned by the MSF, and the MSF does not teach the ineffective technique of "laying it down."
I passed the MSF Experienced Rider Course Saturday.
Here's what I wrote about it. There was no mention of countersteering either by the Rider Coaches nor in the book. To the contrary, we were told to press the handlebar down in the direction of the intended turn rather than correct and effective countersteering to push it forward...push right to turn right, etc. They didn't teach the best rear braking technique, either. One should come off the rear brake progressively as the bike slows and more weight is transferred to the front--essential to avoid locking up the rear, skidding, and the likelihood of a low side crash.
Most of the students in the ERC needed the card for motorcycle access to the nearby military facilities. One needed it for their license, and I wanted the knowledge and coached practice.
Trick question---what's the easiest way to "lay 'er down?" Lock the rear brake, of course. Laying it down in front of an imminent crash has one simple result. You hit the object going faster than if you'd stayed rubber-side-down. Steel, plastic, leather, and flesh slide easier on pavement than rubber does. The force of the impact varies the square of the speed. If you could stay upright and brake down to, say, 5 mph before you crash vs. laying it down and skidding into the object at, say, 20 mph, you hit at 1/4 of the speed and 1/16th of the force (hit 16 times harder at 20 mph vs 5 mph).
The MSF course I took actually covered a lot of this stuff pretty well. The very strongly recommended NOT laying the bike down, for the above mentioned reasons. You lose braking power, and what little control you have in a panic stop.
They also covered countersteer very well, in the classroom, and obstacle course. They laid out a section of the course to mock-up having to swerve around a stopped vehicle; had to wait til you pass the first cone to start the swerve, and go outside the second set either to the left or right, set at the width of a truck. You wouln't know if you were going left or right until you got right there, and they'd yell either one. That way you can't think too far ahead. Good countersteer practice I thought.
Oh, and in honer of Phelonius' excellent "attention getter", I dug up a new avatar dude.
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