Motorcycle Safety

[Arachnodisiac]

Sorry for thread-bombing you today...

I'm buying my first bike in a week or so.
I need to take a motorcycle safety course, and while I could take one at Lethbridge College, I wanted to explore other options.

Some offer the licence testing on-site at the end of the course. Some let you bring your own bike, others provide them.

I would go to Calgary if there was a course much superior to the one I have access to in Lethbridge.

Advice? Suggestions?

I've never rode before, and I want to take a course - and it also will save me half off my insurance. I just want to make sure that I get the best bang for my buck, and learn as much as I can.

Thanks as always!

[fish gunner]

We just had that out and I got heck for being conservitive.and perhaps bullheaded.

[new LT]

Look for one that has a defencive riding and object advoidance course

[Arachnodisiac]

Originally Posted by fish gunner

We just had that out and I got heck for being conservitive.and perhaps bullheaded.

What? I'm not sure I understand.

[Selkirk]

Originally Posted by fish gunner

We just had that out and I got heck for being conservitive.and perhaps bullheaded.

Originally Posted by Arachnodisiac

What? I'm not sure I understand.

No worries . . .

Let him sleep it off, and he'll be 'right as rain' in the morning.

TF

[megadodge]

Under the revised licensing system (to my understanding anyway), the course/examination combination is no longer allowed -- a 45 minute road test now required, independent of the course.

More to your question - TNT motorcycling has an excellent training program.

[fish gunner]

Originally Posted by TriggerFinger

No worries . . .

Let him sleep it off, and he'll be 'right as rain' in the morning.

TF

Who me. no man, we hashed out the new rider debate and veiws that promoted safe small light manageable motorcycles were quelled on behalf of choose what ya like then learn how to ride. Imo.

[Tactical Lever]

Buy used, cheap, small, and pre-scratched. The less cylinders, the wider apart the power pulses will be, and the more tractable the bike is, losing traction (or gaining it). Look for a single or twin (v or parallel).

Ride everywhere; mild offroad low traction surfaces will teach you how to handle the machine, and you would be surprised at the places a street bike with street tires will go.

That said, "dirty" tires while they might squirm under hard cornering on pavement, help a lot. Along with having an easy to handle bike with low power output.

Look for a track school to bone up on the technical aspects of riding, vs. basic traffic on 2 wheels type training. Not to leave out street riding, there is lane positioning and asserting your presence in traffic; probably 20% of riders do it right.

[fish gunner]

Originally Posted by Tactical Lever

Buy used, cheap, small, and pre-scratched. The less cylinders, the wider apart the power pulses will be, and the more tractable the bike is, losing traction (or gaining it). Look for a single or twin (v or parallel).

Ride everywhere; mild offroad low traction surfaces will teach you how to handle the machine, and you would be surprised at the places a street bike with street tires will go.

That said, "dirty" tires while they might squirm under hard cornering on pavement, help a lot. Along with having an easy to handle bike with low power output.

Look for a track school to bone up on the technical aspects of riding, vs. basic traffic on 2 wheels type training. Not to leave out street riding, there is lane positioning and asserting your presence in traffic; probably 20% of riders do it right.

Very well presented, buy a bike to learn on,then when you have a foundation make a educated preference on what suits your level of skill/style .

[Hunter65]

I took a course last year. My advise is to use your own bike for the road test, especially if you have been practising on it. It will generally be in much better condition that the training bikes offered by the course. At least that was the case for me. The bikes at the course were generally 125's, mine was a 750. Bigger and heavier, but so much nicer to operate.

Get a bike you like, keep it smaller to learn on, practise/ride it lots before your test, and take your test with confidence. No need to be nervous.

Otherwise I'm sure most courses are good, and offer much the same thing.

[sewerrat]

I'm signed up for this one http://albertamotorcycletraining.com/index.html If you were in the Red Deer area this is the one to take, My course starts may 13 -15 and do the road test on the 15th as well , by using their bike. You have to have your knowledge test done before. The course is $500.00 +gst , road test is $125.00, and the knowledge test is $17.60.

It will be a blast.

[honda450]

Is this motorcycle course mandatory now?

I took my test years ago. They gave ya a temporary permit to get there, then ya had to go thru a bunch of pylons and park the bike on a hill and stopping etc. Then the road test..........following a car with the tester in the back seat watching you and had a 2 way radio on your helmet.

He asked me how I was going to get home if I failed the test.........I said riding this bike. LOL I passed

Took it on a 650 Yamaha.

I was fully confident in my riding capabilities, it was other drivers who scared me.

I just stick to quads now. LOL

[Sushi]

Too Cool Motorcycle School in NW Calgary is superb. Google their website if you please. May not be an easy choice due to logistics. They do charge slightly more I believe, but worth every nickel. At any rate, you are gonna love riding!!

[RedRussian]

I just took mine out of Red Deer at Alberta Motorcycle Training, Money well spent.
They can not test you but you can start your test from their building, the Bikes for the road test are in decent shape. IF you have never driven before, learning on a smaller cc is better so you learn control. But I would totally recommend taking a training course for your safety. Real life does not sale extra lives.

[reelhooker]

Originally Posted by Sushi

Too Cool Motorcycle School in NW Calgary is superb. Google their website if you please. May not be an easy choice due to logistics. They do charge slightly more I believe, but worth every nickel. At any rate, you are gonna love riding!!

x2. A colleague just took the course through them and has nothing but good things to say.

[yoteblaster]

Have had my bike licence for 34 years now. Be careful this time of year as there still may be some sand and gravel accumulations at intersections from winter sanding operations. Also in your part of the country the wind(especially crosswinds) when passing a semi can make things real interesting real fast. Good luck, you,ll have a blast on a bike.

[Arachnodisiac]

Originally Posted by Tactical Lever

Buy used, cheap, small, and pre-scratched. The less cylinders, the wider apart the power pulses will be, and the more tractable the bike is, losing traction (or gaining it). Look for a single or twin (v or parallel).

I'm getting a 1996 Suzuki LS650 Savage, which is a single cylinder. It has 6,586 kilometres, new tires, new battery and it actually has a new engine in it too because the owner had removed the oil, then needed to move it, and started it without having replaced the oil. It's been indoors its entire life. I'm picking it up on Mother's Day.

Originally Posted by Sushi

Too Cool Motorcycle School in NW Calgary is superb. Google their website if you please. May not be an easy choice due to logistics. They do charge slightly more I believe, but worth every nickel. At any rate, you are gonna love riding!!

I will check this out. I have a friend I can stay with in Calgary to lessen the cost of going further from home.

I am rather nervous to ride - I don't even know how to drive standard - but I plan to have full protective gear. I just want something I can easily go to town in, and something that will be way less gas for my herping trips to the east side of the province. I could carry a one-person tent, a couple sandwiches and my custom collapsible snake hook I just received! (I'm as excited about the hook as I am the bike.)

It expands to the length of the longer hook beside it. It doesn't match the bike's colour, but it is green, which is what the viridis in Crotalus viridis (the Latin name of the prairie rattlesnake) means. I may be a geek, but at least I'll be a geek on a motorcycle!

[403BigGame]

Harley-Davidson of Calgary has a great course as well, http://www.harleydavidsonofcalgary.c...orCycle-School highly recommended!

[TheClash]

I took the course at the college, it is a great course and will make you a better rider for sure....I would suggest that as a starting point and then look into an advanced course with a personal instructor on your own bike (the college course is on their bikes).

not trying to sell anything on here, but I work in the mortorsports clothing industry....take the time to really really buy good gear it can save your life. if you have any questions feel free to ask.

happy riding.

[omega50]

At least you don't have to worry about Mountain Wave or riding on gravel- Oh Wait.... Never Mind

[Arachnodisiac]

Mountain wave?

[Gunfighter]

My wife took the course at the Med Hat College. This could be done with out buying her own bike in a controlled environment. After this she decided that she was not comfortable on her own. Only cost to us was the course. No Bike to sell if she didnt like it.

[Gunfighter]

Originally Posted by TheClash

I took the course at the college, it is a great course and will make you a better rider for sure....I would suggest that as a starting point and then look into an advanced course with a personal instructor on your own bike (the college course is on their bikes).

not trying to sell anything on here, but I work in the mortorsports clothing industry....take the time to really really buy good gear it can save your life. if you have any questions feel free to ask.

happy riding.

x2 Med Hat has a group advanced class with your bike as well

[omega50]

1984 I drove my 82 Honda Goldwing to Vancouver Island from Winnipeg. Coming back over the Bow River heading East just outside of Canmore at about 120 km an hour when I learned what Mountain Wave is. Like the hand of god pushed my bike over like it was a feather. My ex on the back and fully packed for vacation and in the right lane in traffic.It shot me to the North so violently that I leaned full on out the right side to keep it semi-upright. Only my left ankle was on the seat and the rest of me hanging off the right.
Hit the left shoulder but kept it upright and then stopped. Ex refused to get back on the bike and had an emotional breakdown on the side of the road- Good Times!!

Instinct tells you to hit the brakes , but any application of the brakes tends to stand the bike upright and I needed to try to stay away from the left ditch and the only way to do that was counter-steer and prayer

[Arachnodisiac]

So, I just decided I'm going to ride exclusively in the prairies.

[omega50]

Originally Posted by Arachnodisiac

So, I just decided I'm going to ride exclusively in the prairies.

Great then you can develop a taste for Monarch Butterflies and Grasshoppers!!
And besides- You will be fine unless you live in a windy area on the Lee side of the Rockies

[tri777]

Originally Posted by omega50

1984 I drove my 82 Honda Goldwing to Vancouver Island from Winnipeg. Coming back over the Bow River heading East just outside of Canmore at about 120 km an hour when I learned what Mountain Wave is. Like the hand of god pushed my bike over like it was a feather. My ex on the back and fully packed for vacation and in the right lane in traffic.It shot me to the North so violently that I leaned full on out the right side to keep it semi-upright. Only my left ankle was on the seat and the rest of me hanging off the right.
Hit the left shoulder but kept it upright and then stopped. Ex refused to get back on the bike and had an emotional breakdown on the side of the road- Good Times!!

Instinct tells you to hit the brakes , but any application of the brakes tends to stand the bike upright and I needed to try to stay away from the left ditch and the only way to do that was counter-steer and prayer

Wholly smokers,never even knew about such a thing,thx highly for this nugget of gold education!

[Arachnodisiac]

I've been thinking about moving anyway.

Originally Posted by omega50

Great then you can develop a taste for Monarch Butterflies and Grasshoppers!!
And besides- You will be fine unless you live in a windy area on the Lee side of the Rockies

[molly]

Originally Posted by Arachnodisiac

I've been thinking about moving anyway.

Why? A bit too breezy?
I hope your bike is very heavy so you have a better chance of staying upright when cruising along and a wind gust hits you! I have noticed there are not nearly as many motorcyclists down in that neck of the woods as there are up here. I always assumed the wind had something to do with that, as I know lots of them just hang a right at Longview and roar off to Kananaskis.
Regardless, I am not a biker chick, but yours looks pretty cool.

[Tactical Lever]

Originally Posted by fish gunner

Very well presented, buy a bike to learn on,then when you have a foundation make a educated preference on what suits your level of skill/style .

Thanks, I probably would not be around if at one time I didn't follow my advice! Much less crying when you scratch an old bike. Nothing to get stressed out over Arachnodisiac, minor tip overs happen, especially to new riders. Sometimes you might not even be involved (directly)! (A kickstand puck is not a bad thing to have.)

[QUOTE]

Originally Posted by Arachnodisiac

I'm getting a 1996 Suzuki LS650 Savage, which is a single cylinder. It has 6,586 kilometres, new tires, new battery and it actually has a new engine in it too because the owner had removed the oil, then needed to move it, and started it without having replaced the oil. It's been indoors its entire life. I'm picking it up on Mother's Day.

It's a little shiny, but it'll do! Good choice for a very cheap to run/maintain bike. I recommend picking up a manual to help you do your own minor maintenance.

Originally Posted by molly

Why? A bit too breezy?
I hope your bike is very heavy so you have a better chance of staying upright when cruising along and a wind gust hits you! I have noticed there are not nearly as many motorcyclists down in that neck of the woods as there are up here. I always assumed the wind had something to do with that, as I know lots of them just hang a right at Longview and roar off to Kananaskis.
Regardless, I am not a biker chick, but yours looks pretty cool.

I've rode for quite a while, and probably for a few summers a bike was my only transportation. Went through the mountains a few times, rode through snow, along the ocean, just before and just after a Central Alberta Christmas, over ice (pull the clutch in and don't do a thing!), and through some pretty crazy downpours. Can't say I've ever been close to being blown off the road though. Did not find much of a difference between any of the bikes I have had or rode in that regard.

Gravel is something to get used to. Not sure why (maybe steering geometry), but one of the best bikes on gravel I had was a newer Z1000. I've broke the tonne on gravel (by a bit) with that one. And a friend's newer Electra Glide with a warmed up Twin Cam (twinkie) was pretty good as well.

On a bike you will naturally gravitate to the more scenic and usually twistier, entertaining roads.