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ABATE of Florida Inc SOUTHWEST CHAPTER
A Tip on Safety
What They Didn't Teach During the MSF Class
And a couple of things they shouldn't
By: James R. Davis
MSF classes must teach an enormous number of facts and skills to
people who must be assumed to have no experience whatever with
motorcycles. As such, they do not have time to teach the kinds of things
that are found in these various Tips & Techniques articles, or they have insufficient time
to emphasize these various ideas to the extent that I do. [Lest anybody gets the wrong
idea, this Tip is not meant to be antagonistic towards the MSF nor of its teachings - I am
one of the strongest advocates of MSF training to be found anywhere.]
The MSF teaches their students how to get and maintain control of their motorcycles. What they
fail, utterly, to do is teach their students how to REGAIN control if it is lost. Students should be
told that if they ever lose control of their bikes (pop a clutch; for example), they are to SQUEEZE
BOTH LEVERS! Fast! No thinking! React!
When riding alone or in the lead of a group, as you approach the crest of a hill, move away from
the center line. By the time oncoming traffic is visible it can be too late to move should you find
someone coming at you in your lane if you have not already bought some air-space. (Actually,
this one IS taught in the MSF class - I include it for emphasis.)
When riding in a group it is far more important to put your most qualified/experienced/prepared
rider in the drag position than it is to put that person in the lead. This person is, after all, the first
person who will need to deal with an accident, is in the best position to observe the riding skills of
the others and recommend changes to accommodate them if need be, and is the person that
most often obtains that new lane for the group. That's plenty of activity and responsibility, and
merits the best, not the worst of the group.
When riding as a group, lane changes into a lane that is moving slower than you are should be
done just as you do when passing a car - one at a time, first bike to last. The drag bike being the
last bike to make the lane change. Observe that so long as the lead bike takes over the slower
lane and maintains speed, the hole in the target lane gets larger and everybody can move over
(one by one) with minimal time consumed. Only after the drag bike has made the lane change
should speeds for the group be changed (lowered) to insure that everyone can get into the new
lane. Note, please, that this assumes that there is sufficient opening ahead of the car being
The
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