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MSF or DMV.....which is harder?

Sinfulwish

Sinfulwish

New member
Joined
Jul 14, 2002
Location
Hayward, Cali
Moto(s)
1987 Camaro 2.8l V6 FI
Hey guys.....i took the MSF bout 1 1/2 years ago when i had my old Vulcan750....I went to DMV to get the license itself....but since i have never had a class C license (i can't stand driving cages), they required me to take the DMV test as well! WTF?! Anyways, i had to make a whole new appointment for that, then some shit went down, and ended up selling the bike before i could get back into DMV. Just got this new bike.....and just curious how difficult the DMV test is. I've heard that its easier, but also heard that its harder....so i'm just kinda curious. I'm positive that i'm a good driver with alot of control....but hey, never know :p
 
can't comment on the MSF test, but I took the DMV test on my CBR900RR and thought that it was pretty tough. Or course, if I had practiced--at all--it might have been easier.

If you take the DMV test, I highly reccommend taking it on a scooter of some small displacement bike. However, the toughest thing about taking the test on the CBR was not the size, but rather the lack of practice and the fact that the steering was almost at full lock.

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I went the dmv route. passed the written my first time and spent about three sundays mastering the keyhole on my f4i. passed it the first day(3rd attempt) and that was it. another friend of mine took the msf so he wouldnt hafta keyhole on his 929 and he passed that no sweat. said it was candy. so i dont think you'll lose either way. i would just do dmv personally. easier and quicker. especially if you dont feel like you need to learn anything.
 
No matter how long you ride, there's always something to learn at MSF :p I loved that class, and did great...but i waited too long, now that certificate isn't valid for the DL anymore =\ So its either wait 6 months for it, or do DMV this week!

What keyhole? I've never seen any of the DMV motorcycle courses, so i have no clue! I'll be going to the one in hayward. I'll be using my ninja zx6e, so its not TOO big, but yet, not too small where my knees have to stick out in a turn like the little bikes at MSF! LoL Everyone got a kick out of that one! I'm just gonna be practicing in my parents court circle turns.....round and round till i'm gonna puke from the dizziness....lol
 
If you are taking the DMV test, you have to go there on a sunday and practice the real thing. Nothing is the same as that. It is really tight, but with practice it's no prob. as your doing the turn let the clutch out fully in 1st, then control the bikes speed with the brakes. I tried to feather the clutch on my first try and put my foot down a bunch cause it was so jerky. He let me retry right there. before my turn, a big ass harley did it, so bike size doesnt really matter, practice practice practice. good luck.
 
another good technique, to add to morts comment, that i found was staying away from the front brake at those horribly low speeds and just using my rear brake. avoiding nose dive at steering lock pretty much guarantees you keeping your feet up.
 
OOoh, i know what your talknig about....yeah, letting the bike just coast is cool.....as you get minimal speed, but yet constant. During MSF......i never had a big problem with the turns, I think i only put my foot down.......wait.....no......i didn't put my foot down actually. Right when i was going to, i stopped myself, and throttled a bit more, and it helped to keep the bike up :p During the final test at MSF, the only point that got docked was the instructor (bald guy, Kevin i think his name is? anyone know him?) didn't see me turn my head clear enough during a turn....which is ridiculous because i did look.....but hey, second best score in the class! hehehe (i just ain't gonna tell anyone the class was filled with dolts(hope nobody here was in my class)) lol
 
go to your local DMV and look around the parking lot where people start their drive tests. There should be a cpuple of concentric circles painted on the ground. During the test, you'll have to keep the front wheel between the two circes.

I posted a question about this about a month ago and someone posted a picture of what the test looks like. So, you should be able to look it up by doing a search.


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Agou: ok, cool, thanks. I'll try to look it up :)

Problem is....i can't go down and practice =\ Bike doesn't have curent tags, don't wanna risk getting it towed by some prick cop! I get the bike registered on Friday at 8am, and the license test is 11am.....so if there's nobody out there, maybe i'll see if i can take a few laps just to see how i do :p
 
Correct..... as "agou9" stated, there is a set of circles with one inside the other.
**The trick is 1st useing a small cc bike and setting the IDLE pretty high for the test. When doing the keyhole portion the high idle will help you. With the clutch, control you speed. Let the clutch out and back in ( takes a little practice to determine how much ) to give you just enough speed in the circle to keep you from going too slow and dropping the bike. Your hadlebars may be locked all the way in one direction to be able to make the turn.
-- I do suggest going out there a day or so in advance and getting the practice that you need then. It is a bit tricky at first to get it just right, but be patient and it will come.
-- Also I've heard that for some reason that It's eaiser to pass down in GILROY than other places. Ran into a guy from Hayward donw there when I took mine and he told me that story. Dont know how much water that holds. All I know is I took it there, and it was a "cake walk". When all was over I said " That's it???".

Good Luck and See you around.
 
There is a technique you can use to make the keyhole test w/o brakes or clutch... in fact, I find it MORE difficult with any sort of change in forward velocity. I simply idled around it - no brake, no clutch. Lean the bike WAY in and keep yourself vertical; this will dramatically tighten your turn radius. Hey -- now that I have a scanner I can post the pic that taught me just how to do this...

...back in a few w/ the photo! ;)
 
Adjust the idle.....was thinking about that, but no clue at what rev to put it at. I try to keep a 1.5 idle, should i up it to 3-4? I'm going to try it out tonight around my block.

Lean the bike over while keeping myself upright, so counterbalance the bike....god....anyone know the dimensions? If so, i'd go out there with some street chalk and make my own! LoL I wish i could get down there before hand, but theres no way =\ I think i have a good chance to get it, but want to know what i'm up against like i've said before.
 
just to add:
the msf circle is a tighter circle than the dmv one. i'm not sure on the numbers but i think the dmv circle is 10' and the msf one is 7'
anyone can pass msf. the instructors are good about making sure that you learn...
 
agou9 said:
go to your local DMV and look around the parking lot where people start their drive tests. There should be a cpuple of concentric circles painted on the ground. During the test, you'll have to keep the front wheel between the two circes.

I posted a question about this about a month ago and someone posted a picture of what the test looks like. So, you should be able to look it up by doing a search.


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Click to expand...

Hey man, i just searched through your posts and i found nothing =\ Mind helping me about a bit? heh, thanks
 
I took the test last year at Redwood City DMV. After running through the simple stuff like "where is you front brake, where is your clutch, turn on left signal..." etc, I did the riding part. On the first part you had to go up one leg of the leghole, do a complete circle, and back down the other leg. Then you had to do it again starting on the other side to get the reverse direction. I also had to slalom the dots in between the legs, do a complete circle and slalom back.

The guy giving the test said it was the best on he had all day... But it can't be that hard on an RS50!! :p
 
Depends on what you are taking it on, if you do DMV, take in a a dirt bike, they make you do some tight ass circle, many high performnce bikes will make it difficult to take, I would say to the MSF, its a good course, even if you know how to ride, they go over EVERYTHING, it would be a good brush up on the skills!
 
btw...

That other thread with the picture of the layout is titled, "DMV Motorcycle test".

I'd post a link, but I don't know how.

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Take MSF again, no question about it. You will learn things you have missed the first time that will definitely save you one day.

DMV Test is probably harder since in MSF you will practice the test before you take it, and they will tell you what you need to work on after the practice runs.
 
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