What is the size of the area the MSF class gives you to do figure 8`s in? Im going to take the class, just curious how difficult the figure 8`s will be.
Thanks,
Craig

Hope this helps
http://www.ridelikeapro.com/PracticeGuideChart.htm

Gee.
Our box for the 2 u-turns was only 18 feet wide....... 24 feet wide is cake.

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Bill and Pete do the Dragon's Tail at Deal's Gap:
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You know, now that you mention it the msf I took in PA. had 2 boxes, one for "normal" bikes and one for larger "dresser" bikes. We had to use the smaller of the 2. Maybe start with the 24 and work your way down to the 18. In any event i hope the info helps.

I finished the MSF a few weeks ago and after a few practice trys, the figure 8's become less difficult. Listen to your instructor, crank your head as far back to look where you're going, and shift your weight the opposite direction (turn left, look way left, shift your body weight to the right side of the bike) I did manage to do it during the class, but never felt comfortable. Strangely enough, a few days later, I was able to do them easily on the road and was amazed that I could do it without thinking about them. The instructors told us that we are given so much info during the class that it may take a few days to sink in.

Good luck with your class. You are going to have a great time!

I'll give you my tip that got my wife through the class. The figure 8 is kind of a silly thing that's good to know and it's indicative of some skill level, but it ain't something you'll be bringing out a lot in the real world. Nevertheless, that's where most people (in my experience) lose the most points. In our class (and my wifes) tons of people screwed up the 8s. I think it's because it's such a slow speed maneuver that you can screw up several times while on the other testing items you can usually only screw up once with maybe a few extra points off for being slow. Anyway, on her first try my wife put a foot down twice and went outside the box, basically failing the entire test right there on one exercise. My advice on her second try was - if you are feeling at all apprehensive about making the turn - is to go ahead and blow the first turn - conciously keep your feet up and forget about staying inside the lines on the first turn. Go wide and then the second turn is a piece of cake. You easily avoid putting a foot down. Now you've only lost five points and you have 15 to play with for the rest of the test which should be a piece of cake. This info is for the state of washington which doesn't use the exact same stuff as the Motorcycle Safety Foundation but I hear it's real close. Obviously you'd rather just ace the U turns. If you feel you might not though, just blow the first turn wide, give up 5 points to ensure that you don't panic and lose 15 all because of the stupid U-turn. My wife aced the second test by the way - three points better than me and I'm still hearing about it.

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1974 Honda CB360
1985 Honda Magna VF700c

I used a Yamaha TW 200 in my MSF class. The figure-8 made me nervous the first couple of times until I realized that if I started the bike in 2nd gear and used the clutch friction zone and not the throttle, that it was a breeze. I did the turns with plenty of room to spare. Also, look ahead, not at your front tire!

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Doug Boyd
Greenville, NC, USA
My Suzuki SV650S

Like someone else said, this is not a manuever you'd do on the road. So it's point value is "very" low. You can blow this part of the test, (as probably 80% of the class will), and not hurt your total score much at all.

I blew it big time..........and passed.

Al

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Big Al
2005 Suzuki C50T
Bryson, TX

I hated this part of the test and surprisingly I passed it. My front tire left the box by about 2 inches, at least I thought it did, but they didn't deduct anything from me. Apparantly the whole bike has to leave or something. Anyways, in my test, you could totally blow the u turns, and still pass as long as you were good at everything else. I also don't think we had 24 feet, it felt smaller than that. As mentioned before, get your head around and shift your weight, the head being the most important part of it.

Personally, I think this is a harder thing to do during the class and test than in real life. One because it's not super practical in real life, and two, during the class your bound by certain parameters, the box. I think there is added pressure to do the manuever within the outlined box, rather than just practicing the technique.

Out here in Michigan, you get 22 feet to make the U-turn. Any bike over 500cc gets to do it within 24 feet, as they're expected to have larger turning radii.

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-'95 Honda VT600CD / 'Shadow VLX Deluxe'
-'84 Ruestman WTF606

"[The four stroke] cycle is basically this -SUCK, SQUEEZE, BURN, and BLOW." -Dan's Motorcycle Repair Guide.
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