1st Day of Class

Yesterday, I began my long await motorcycle safety course. The first day was was virtually all classroom work. To keep our attention, our instructor had each of us (there were 4 of us) go to the board repeatedly and write key points we needed to remember. When we hit the part where we had to identify the various important parts of the motorcycle ex. front brake lever, our instructor showed us the bike we'll riding for the practical part of the test. The bike is the Buell Blast. After learning about some of its features, I wasn't impressed. Most alarming in my opinion was the fact the bike doesn't have a fuel gauge! You have to guess how much fuel you have left. Also, I was surprised the bike only had a 3 gallon tank. I expected a bike of its size would've had a larger one. Still, the bike should work for the practical part. I just hope I have minimum problems getting it out of 1st gear. Like standard transmission cars, that's the one you'll be most likely to stall in.

The classroom part of the course went fine though I found myself very nervous. I haven't taken any kind of instruction like this since I took driving lessons with EZ Method Driving School over 20 years ago. Plus, I know from learning how to drive a car with a clutch how tricky it can be to get such a vehicle out of 1st gear. On a rare occasion, I still stall my car. In the case of this course, I'll have just a day to get the hang of riding a bike with a clutch (half a day today and half a day tomorrow). Lastly, there are a few serious differences with controls on a motorcycle vice a scooter. The left handle lever controls the clutch on a motorcycle whereas on a scooter it controls the rear brake. You have a foot pedal on the ride side for the rear brake on a motorcycle. The blast has a fuel control valve you have to remember to turn on and off whereas my scooter doesn't. Lastly, you have to put the motorcycle in 1st gear at the beginning. Every time you stop, you have to make sure you put it back in 1st gear and hold the clutch lever in. With a scooter, you don't have to mess with any of this. This makes me appreciate the hassles free of a scooter that much more.

Our second day of class will have us riding the bike and taking the written exam. The exam is 50 questions multiple choice. Our instructor assured us it will be the easiest multiple choice test we've ever taken. We'll see. I've been studying just in case. I'm determined to get my license if I can. Stay tuned for more updates.