I have had my 400 since 4-14-04 and will break the 1000 mile mark on my odometer this week. I really love the scooter and want to take the MSF course in the Cleveland area......unfortunately, I have to wait until July 31st at 8:00 AM to register for fall classes. I was told to be there by 6:30 or 7 AM to make sure I get in....they have been overwhelmed at the registrations. Evidently a lot of people have bought scooters or cycles recently and demand is high for the classes. Anyone else have this problem :?:
Hard To Get Into the MSF Classes
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164 Posts
Amen!!
In Illinois, the course opened for enrollment in March. As soon as I learned of the start date, I express overnighted my application. The date I was assigned was in September.
Apparantly, there must have been a bunch of people that drive down (3+ hour drive) and hand delivered their applications.
So, I drive my 650, and wait for the class.
In Illinois, the course opened for enrollment in March. As soon as I learned of the start date, I express overnighted my application. The date I was assigned was in September.
Apparantly, there must have been a bunch of people that drive down (3+ hour drive) and hand delivered their applications.
So, I drive my 650, and wait for the class.
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268 Posts
BMV
I went to the BMV here in Ohio and was told to just show up on the first day as they take all "Walk-ins". I haven't done it yet because I still want practice. I have to use one of their bikes if you walk in, that's the rules! The class in Central Ohio usually is on Wednesday for the first day, then Saturday and SUnday for the last two.
I went to the BMV here in Ohio and was told to just show up on the first day as they take all "Walk-ins". I haven't done it yet because I still want practice. I have to use one of their bikes if you walk in, that's the rules! The class in Central Ohio usually is on Wednesday for the first day, then Saturday and SUnday for the last two.
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1,593 Posts
You might check your program's admimistrator to see if they take walk-in's to fill in for no-shows. In PA we'd many times have 1 or 2 no-shows in a scheduled class of 12 (max allowed for 2 instructors). If someone who wanted to take the class was there with their auto license or M/C learner's permit, we'd admit them to the class to fill the vacant slot. Of course, you'd be taking a chance on all of the scheduled students showing up and there being no open slots. The later in the season it gets, the better the chance of no-shows. 
No walk ins!!
casek, I am an MSF instructor in Ohio and whom ever told you we take ALL walk ins is mistaken. We give every walk in a ticket and, depending on how many preregistered students don't show up, that is how many tickets are drawn. We used to do first come first served, but we had people showing up at 3:00 for a 6:00 class and since most are held in a school, it was disrupting classes, so we went to the ticket lottery. Sorry, and I know how hard it is to get in. I teach 25 - 30 classes a summer and most of the other instructors teach a lot, and still trouble getting in. But, it is well worth it. Sometimes you can call a sponsor and maybe, just maybe, there has been a cancelation or another class added and you simply slide right in.... good luck.... Jeff :?
casek, I am an MSF instructor in Ohio and whom ever told you we take ALL walk ins is mistaken. We give every walk in a ticket and, depending on how many preregistered students don't show up, that is how many tickets are drawn. We used to do first come first served, but we had people showing up at 3:00 for a 6:00 class and since most are held in a school, it was disrupting classes, so we went to the ticket lottery. Sorry, and I know how hard it is to get in. I teach 25 - 30 classes a summer and most of the other instructors teach a lot, and still trouble getting in. But, it is well worth it. Sometimes you can call a sponsor and maybe, just maybe, there has been a cancelation or another class added and you simply slide right in.... good luck.... Jeff :?
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Thanks Jeff
Thanks for the update Jeff. I was told by the BMV they would take all walk-ins. I live in Central Ohio and according to the BMV the classes are filled until October! So I guess I have to walk in and play the lottery. Where do you instruct Jeff?
Thanks!
Thanks for the update Jeff. I was told by the BMV they would take all walk-ins. I live in Central Ohio and according to the BMV the classes are filled until October! So I guess I have to walk in and play the lottery. Where do you instruct Jeff?
Thanks!
Walk-ins?
Hello, I teach the MSF in Jackson Township (Canton), Kent, and Salem. The only time we take a walk in without the lottery thing, is if there is an opening and the walk in is under 18. Since the state requires them to take the course to get their license, we take them first. We do allow walk ins to "audit" (sit in the evening class) and then they can show up on Saturday and if there is a missing student, they can take the class (if they are the only one) or they can go throught the lottery again if more than one walk in has audited the class and shown up on Saturday. Never had that happen. We had one girl who came seven times as a walk in and never got into the class.
As a retired Police Motor Officer, I know how important these classes are and wish there were more of them so everyone could take one.... Oh well, good luck to you. Are you going to Mid-Ohio for the Vintage Bike days? I will be there with the Burg and the MSF instructors escort the group around the track during the lunch break.... Jeff
Hello, I teach the MSF in Jackson Township (Canton), Kent, and Salem. The only time we take a walk in without the lottery thing, is if there is an opening and the walk in is under 18. Since the state requires them to take the course to get their license, we take them first. We do allow walk ins to "audit" (sit in the evening class) and then they can show up on Saturday and if there is a missing student, they can take the class (if they are the only one) or they can go throught the lottery again if more than one walk in has audited the class and shown up on Saturday. Never had that happen. We had one girl who came seven times as a walk in and never got into the class.
As a retired Police Motor Officer, I know how important these classes are and wish there were more of them so everyone could take one.... Oh well, good luck to you. Are you going to Mid-Ohio for the Vintage Bike days? I will be there with the Burg and the MSF instructors escort the group around the track during the lunch break.... Jeff
How times have changed. When I moved to Bisbee, AZ in 1976, I hadn't ridden a motorcycle since 1969, in California. I bought a Triumph 500cc Trophy in San Francisco in 1964 and rode it until I left in 1969 to go teach in the midwest. As far as I can recall, there was no such thing as a motorcycle endorsement in California at that time.
After buying a house in Bisbee and moving in, I bought a 1976 Honda 550 supersport and drove it to the motor vehicle registration department to register it in my name. An Old man came out with a clipboard. "Start her up," he said. I did. We then went through all the turn signals, stop lights, bright/dim stuff. He OK'd the bike, then told me I had to pay extra for a motorcycle endorsement on my driver's license (On the back it says "M" if you've got it).
"How long you been riding motorcycles?" he asked. "I'm not sure," I said, "Maybe a total of ten years?"
"Well, you're still alive, must be doin' sumthin' right," he said, with a cackle at his own humor, and signed off on my application.
For some stupid reason, I quit riding again, from 1987 to 1994. Time had changed. It mattered naught that I once had a previous MC endorsement. I would have to take the test again. I had an XT350 Yamaha Enduro.
I got 100 on the written, then was told to follow the examining officer (he had a pickup truck) to the "course" location. We drove a few miles out in the country to an abandoned agricultural check station. He removed from the pickup bed a number of orange rubber cones and set them up in a row about fifty yards long. Spacing between the cones was about 20 feet. "OK," he said, "You got to drive between these cones. You hit one, you fail the test. You put a foot down, you fail the test. Got it?"
I got it. Having done some trials riding, I simply stood up on the pegs and negotiated the cones. I returned and stopped in front of the examining officer, thinking that was it.
"What? You some kind of wise ass? Standing up on them pegs? What the hell was that all about? Now listen, boy, you got one more chance. You sit your butt down on that seat and you go through them cones again like a regular motorcycle rider and keep that show-off crap for your friends. You understand me?"
I sure did. I sat down on the seat and negotiated the cones once again.
I certainly learned my lesson.
After buying a house in Bisbee and moving in, I bought a 1976 Honda 550 supersport and drove it to the motor vehicle registration department to register it in my name. An Old man came out with a clipboard. "Start her up," he said. I did. We then went through all the turn signals, stop lights, bright/dim stuff. He OK'd the bike, then told me I had to pay extra for a motorcycle endorsement on my driver's license (On the back it says "M" if you've got it).
"How long you been riding motorcycles?" he asked. "I'm not sure," I said, "Maybe a total of ten years?"
"Well, you're still alive, must be doin' sumthin' right," he said, with a cackle at his own humor, and signed off on my application.
For some stupid reason, I quit riding again, from 1987 to 1994. Time had changed. It mattered naught that I once had a previous MC endorsement. I would have to take the test again. I had an XT350 Yamaha Enduro.
I got 100 on the written, then was told to follow the examining officer (he had a pickup truck) to the "course" location. We drove a few miles out in the country to an abandoned agricultural check station. He removed from the pickup bed a number of orange rubber cones and set them up in a row about fifty yards long. Spacing between the cones was about 20 feet. "OK," he said, "You got to drive between these cones. You hit one, you fail the test. You put a foot down, you fail the test. Got it?"
I got it. Having done some trials riding, I simply stood up on the pegs and negotiated the cones. I returned and stopped in front of the examining officer, thinking that was it.
"What? You some kind of wise ass? Standing up on them pegs? What the hell was that all about? Now listen, boy, you got one more chance. You sit your butt down on that seat and you go through them cones again like a regular motorcycle rider and keep that show-off crap for your friends. You understand me?"
I sure did. I sat down on the seat and negotiated the cones once again.
I certainly learned my lesson.
Great story Paul. I've never had to take a riding test. Like you, I've been at it for a long time, but if I had I might have also been tempted to stand up. I too, rode trials most of my cycling life.
On that note, it's a shame that you can no longer get the older style trials bikes. They made really good play bikes. The trials bikes today are way too trials-specific. My first new bike was a '69 Suzuki TC120 Cat, which I sort of converted to trials. Then in '74 I got a Suzuki RL250 and a Penton 125 Cafe-motocross (weird name - it was really a trials bike with too-high gearing - quickly resolved). My last play trials bike was a 80-something Honda 200 Reflex. That was my very first four-stroke and a great fun bike. The Kawasaki Sherpa is in no way any sort of trials ride.
On that note, it's a shame that you can no longer get the older style trials bikes. They made really good play bikes. The trials bikes today are way too trials-specific. My first new bike was a '69 Suzuki TC120 Cat, which I sort of converted to trials. Then in '74 I got a Suzuki RL250 and a Penton 125 Cafe-motocross (weird name - it was really a trials bike with too-high gearing - quickly resolved). My last play trials bike was a 80-something Honda 200 Reflex. That was my very first four-stroke and a great fun bike. The Kawasaki Sherpa is in no way any sort of trials ride.
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Classes in California and Oregon
I inquired about classes in Medford, Oregon... They were filled until September. I also inquired in Eureka, California and they had two spots left... So I lucked out and found a spot in two weeks. If this is a sign that people are turning toward scooters and motorcycles, I think this would be great. It probably would help relationships among Americans also (I'm sure you noticed how people who ride motorcycles or scooters have an almost instantaneous camaraderie!) Bob Dorsett
I inquired about classes in Medford, Oregon... They were filled until September. I also inquired in Eureka, California and they had two spots left... So I lucked out and found a spot in two weeks. If this is a sign that people are turning toward scooters and motorcycles, I think this would be great. It probably would help relationships among Americans also (I'm sure you noticed how people who ride motorcycles or scooters have an almost instantaneous camaraderie!) Bob Dorsett
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85 Posts
Scooter man and the Hell's Angels
Brian, when I get out on the road with my Burgman, we will see if they also waive to me and how friendly to Hell's Angels really are!!! Bob
Brian, when I get out on the road with my Burgman, we will see if they also waive to me and how friendly to Hell's Angels really are!!! Bob
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