[SurfriderNC]

Here's a funny, sad and true story that just happened today.
My wife was taking the MSF course at the local college today. During one of the riding exercises, one of the (lady) students took a spill. KNOCKED OUT COLD! Apparently, this chick had the bike in 5th gear, and was down shifting into a corner (while braking) and lost it. OK...stop right there. How in the world do you obtain 5th gear on a closed circuit, parking lot course, which you barely have enough room to hit second? Any who, this girl is laying there, bike on top of her, eyes rolled back, and out of the office. The guy that was behind her said that her head never hit the ground, and that it didn't look serious.
The Paramedics, Fire Dept and Police were called. After a few minutes and as she is coming to, the emergency people arrive and eventually take her to the hospital.

Here is where it gets funny or sad.

Her husband explained later that whenever she falls or lays down quick, she blacks out.

Two lessons to be learned here.

1. Never obtain 5th gear, downshift and brake going into a corner, on a marked parking lot course. Especially if your being watched by trained professionals, who will be grading your performance.

2. If you have a medical condition that may cause you to BLACK OUT, maybe motorcycling AND driving cars should be reconsidered and avoided whenever possible.

Those poor MSF instructors....They thought they had seen it all.

 

[nodakbassmaster]

:lol: :lol: sheesh...

 

[eddiecohen]

I'm guessing that in addition to learning how to ride a bike, she was learning how to use a clutch. I don't think ANYONE should be allowed to ride a bike unless they have years of experience with a clutch in a car. It's just too much for them to learn all at one time - "information overload".

Same concept: If they can't ride a bicycle proficiently at high speed with curves, they shouldn't be allowed to ride a motorcycle.

Eddie

 

[Morgan Buchanan]

I learned "clutch" on bikes, and I'd never driven a car with one until some friends of mine called me to come get their drunk butts from a bar, so me and another guy drove to get them. Rico throws me his keys and asks me to drive his car back. Turns out to be a 5.0 Mustang with a standard. Oh, did I mention it was in the middle of a -40 degree blizzard in North Dakota?

The MISTAKE this woman made was in not informing her instructors of her condition. I don't see how this is a TERRIBLE condition to ride a bike...i mean, once you're down, sure it's nice to be able to get up and out of the way, but down and out happens a lot for other reasons.

Shrug...just one other factor to consider. But if I were me, I'd ride. I'd just be really careful to not fall over! LOL (like I'm not now or something)

 

[Morgan Buchanan]

250s, and yes, they do.

 

[Guest]

There is always that one person in each class who dropps their bike.

I am glad it wasn't me. Although, I had mentally prepared for the class months in advance (I was pretty excited) so I was confident it wasn't going to be me.

 

[e]

Took the beginners class in Arlington. They had 250s and 125s.

I've done minibikes, bmx, sportbikes, mopeds, downhill mountain biking, and dirtbikes. I was surprised how challenging the class was.

I was surprised at one of the girls, who couldn't even drive a car with stick, did quite excellent by day two, and passed with one of the best scores.

I was surprised by the guy who RODE to class on some 1100cc cruiser. He looked wobbilly throughout, and laid the 250 down twice.

They were surprised when I, at 300lbs then, was scraping the pegs on that nighthawk 250. :twisted:

e

 

[floptop 454]

I go this weekend. I hope they can't take my cycle endorsement away from me. From an 1800 to one of the little ones might feel weird. I guess if I can retrain myself after over 30 years on an 1800, I should catch on.

 

[Largejake]

When I took the experienced course last year. I watched a women lay her softtail down in the figure 8. Only one person in the class laughed about it. Of course when he dumped his sportster a couple of people later we were all rolling on the ground. See there is a God.

 

[toasted_3111979]

When I took the experienced course last year. I watched a women lay her softtail down in the figure 8. Only one person in the class laughed about it. Of course when he dumped his sportster a couple of people later we were all rolling on the ground. See there is a God.

yep, God does have a sense of humor. :lol:

Wonder if she or her husband thought it was a good idea with her condition to get on a bike?

 

[oldnavylaw]

Not only was I the only one to drop my bike during the class, the instructor stopped the class, called everyone over, and demonstrated how to pick a dropped bike up. Good information to have but I would rather it had been at my brother's expense - he went to the class with me solely so we would have something to do together that weekend. It hurt even more when he scored better on the riding portion than me.

 

[Guest]

When my son was taking the course last year I decided it might be cool to observe the riding portions. They had 12 riders in the group, there was this one woman who seemed overly nervous. Well the got to a point where I guess they had the student ride the bikes under power in a straight line and STOP. They were all lined up and pointed towards the other end of the parking lot which ended with a curb and a wooded area.

Well they started them off one at a time with an instructor at the other side in front of each student to tell them exactly where to stop. When it came to this womans turn she throttles up a bit, pops out the cutch and WHOOOOOOOOOSH ... almost runs over the instructor and rides over the curb and into the woods!

Well she came out of the woods, minus the bike and said " this ain't for me". Got her purse, went to her car, rode off and was never heard from again.

I wish I had brought along a video camera.

Now every so often, since the course is 1/2 mile from the house, we will go to the course on Saturday and observe. I have come to know the instructors well and some of them run a 'crash pool', they pick out the student they think is most likely to drop their bike withing the first 30 days of licensed riding.

 

[Morgan Buchanan]

I go this weekend. I hope they can't take my cycle endorsement away from me. From an 1800 to one of the little ones might feel weird. I guess if I can retrain myself after over 30 years on an 1800, I should catch on.

It's not how weird the 250s feel, it's how weird and heavy your X will feel at the end of the day!

 

[bugleboy]

I took it in March it was pretty tough but fun.Nobody in our class dropped thier bike.

 

[Caps]

I'm guessing that in addition to learning how to ride a bike, she was learning how to use a clutch. I don't think ANYONE should be allowed to ride a bike unless they have years of experience with a clutch in a car. It's just too much for them to learn all at one time - "information overload". Eddie

WRONG eddiecohen!! I learned a clutch on a bike when I was 7 years old. I had to wait til I was 15 years old, legal age, to learn it in a car. I'm also incouraging my young daughters to learn a clutch on a small dirt bike as well. They won't be able to reach a clutch in a car for another 5 years.

 

[Guest]

My wife and I took the MSF course together in 2003, shortly after we bought our bikes. One of the class members, a pretty young lady who was exceptionally well endowed, seemed to get a LOT of attention from both instructors (males.) She dropped her bike twice on the final ride, and during the figure eight rode out of the box and into the hedge that bordered the lot where the class was held. Big surprise...she passed.

 

[Caps]

My wife and I took the MSF course together in 2003, shortly after we bought our bikes. One of the class members, a pretty young lady who was exceptionally well endowed, seemed to get a LOT of attention from both instructors (males.) She dropped her bike twice on the final ride, and during the figure eight rode out of the box and into the hedge that bordered the lot where the class was held. Big surprise...she passed.

I took the class after about 10 years of not riding to freshen up my skills. We had two ladies that dumped there bike and a guy about 65 that never rode before and could not do 90% of the final test. The instructor passed us all :shock:

 

[eddiecohen]

I'm guessing that in addition to learning how to ride a bike, she was learning how to use a clutch. I don't think ANYONE should be allowed to ride a bike unless they have years of experience with a clutch in a car. It's just too much for them to learn all at one time - "information overload". Eddie

WRONG eddiecohen!! I learned a clutch on a bike when I was 7 years old. I had to wait til I was 15 years old, legal age, to learn it in a car. I'm also incouraging my young daughters to learn a clutch on a small dirt bike as well. They won't be able to reach a clutch in a car for another 5 years.

Actually, you've validated my point exactly. I guess I should have specified that an ADULT who has never ridden a bicycle, or driven a clutched vehicle, needs to master these two skills first. A child can learn much more easily than an adult. Besides, I would bet that you also knew how to ride a bicycle before you started on the motorcycle.

Eddie

 

[X RTD]

We learned on tractors first, then cars, (most of our family cars were sticks) even had a stick in drivers ed along with the auto trans.
Bikes were not a problem to learn to shift.
4 speed, dual quad, posi-traction, 409

 

[Reaper]

I'm guessing that in addition to learning how to ride a bike, she was learning how to use a clutch. I don't think ANYONE should be allowed to ride a bike unless they have years of experience with a clutch in a car. It's just too much for them to learn all at one time - "information overload".

Same concept: If they can't ride a bicycle proficiently at high speed with curves, they shouldn't be allowed to ride a motorcycle.

Eddie

I learned a clutch on a bike also, and it took seconds for me to get, later in life when trying a clutch on a car it took two days for me to get it right. My wife drove a stick car one time, and did it right away, then never tryed again, but she will be doing the class this summer, and getting a bike, she is a very smart girl, tell her something one time, and she remembers it forever, I dont think she needs a car first, or that that has a thing to do with it. Its just getting a person to understand how a bike works, and getting there brain and body to do all that insinc, but opinions very.