The MSF course is split into three days - one classroom course and two days of riding. The classroom course was on Wednesday and scored 100% on my written test - good for me, but it was no indication of how I'd actually ride the motorcycle. I wouldn't find that out till I showed up at the range at 6:45 AM on Saturday.
Saturday and Sunday were spent practicing accelerating, braking, turning, weaving, avoiding accidents, running over obstacles, and various other skills. Frighteningly enough my worst skill was panic stopping, though I was able to finally nail it. Regardless, the two days culminate with the final skills test. For this test you start with a score of zero and must demonstrate all of the skills you have learned - for every mistake you make, you are awarded points up to 20. If you get 21 points, you fail. I scored one point through the entire test and scored highest in the class - yay me!
I actually celebrated a little in advance and bought all of my gear yesterday. Now that I've completed the course, I can go back to the store and they'll refund me 15% of my purchase price - sweet. The other thing I did yesterday, even though I haven't sold the car yet, was to buy a bike. That's right, I am the proud owner of a 2002 Suzuki GS500!
This is the actual bike...it's just still at the dealership in Marin.I am totally stoked and ready to ride, though I have learned enough to know that I need a little more practice before I start riding to work every day. I pick up the bike in two weeks...anyone want to go riding with me? On your own bike of course - I'm certainly not carrying passengers just yet.
-easy ridin' jonathon
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