I've never been a MSF instructor and I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I did have a neighbor in Ft Morgan who was presumed to be a great rider because he'd been riding "forever" and had had several bikes. But, we were talking one day and he mentioned how dangerous it was to use the front brake. I said something bright like, "Huh?" and he proceeded to tell me that using the front brake would cause you to go down and that you should never use it, but only the rear brake.I was an MSF instructor for 15 years, 1991-2006 and in that time saw many self-proclaimed "experienced riders" who could barely ride!
It isn't new... I saw the "returning riders" issue when I was moonlighting at a shop back in the early 80's. At the time I was assigned at Fort Huachuca, AZ. There were plenty of "Grey Power" folks in Arizona who wanted to buy a touring bike. A "well seasoned" rider, as we called old farts then, would come in and want a GoldWing, Venture, or Voyager (The original touring bikes, not the current incarnations) to tour with his wife. When asked about riding experience a lot would talk about riding a WLA when they were in the Army during WWII or Korea. No amount of discussion could convince most of them they needed to take a MSF class before getting a big, heavy touring bike. Those who listened and did take the class generally didn't buy any bike. Our well seasoned rider would then usually show back up a day or two after the bike was hauled in on a flat bed. They were usually on crutches and accompanied by a very annoyed wife telling us they wanted their money back. While the owner wouldn't refund the purchase price he did usually buy back the bike, at a fair price, to become a used "one drop" special. Those "one drops" sold for around 70-80% of a new bikes price depending on the damage and mileage. We had out of state dealers calling in to check on "one drop" specials...:rolleyes1: While I was moonlighting we didn't have any seasoned rider fatalities...just a lot of wrist, arm, ankle, knee, and hip injuries. And some really ticked wives...especially if they were on the back when the "one drop" occurred...This is not new and the phenomenon has been around for at least 10-15 years, perhaps longer.
That is a very good course to take. I recommend it too, just like bearbait51 and vzshadow. I have taken MSF classes too, but they don't compare. In my last MSF Advanced Rider class the weather was so bad that the instructor finally called off the class when there were just 3 of us left (counting the instructor). I thought it was great because the wind and rain made it more challenging and a better learning experience. A rider has to learn how to handle adverse riding conditions, hopefully before he finds himself in them.I decided to take the two day on the road, Advanced Rider Course with Stayin Safe. Eric Trow and his other instructor, Randy helped me regain my confidence and I learned a lot about cornering, awareness of my surroundings, and low speed turn arounds to name a few items. You are never to old to learn something new. In fact the six of us that took the course vowed to meet again in three years to take this course again so we can keep riding.
I agree with DF. Here are a bushel basket more facts or statistics, your choice, that just show to me that this is an old man's sport now...much more than it was in the 1960s-1970s.This is not new and the phenomenon has been around for at least 10-15 years, perhaps longer. The term used was "returning riders" without implying that they are generally older than the norm which was already a high number because we're getting very few new riders in their teens and 20s. Young, new riders these days seem to be in their 30s and 40s.
Anyhow the problem with returning riders is that they rode at a time and place - often during college - where the roads were much less congested and pace of traffic less frantic, plus they rode scooters or small bikes which are pretty much ignored by adult riders today. Now, these returning riders have a lot more disposable income so they buy something way too large and powerful for their meager skills. If they had any skills 30-years ago, they have all but gone away and other than knowing the location of the controls they are newbies. I would strongly suggest that any returning rider take a Basic Riding Course for their own good - you need to start at the beginning because some riding skills are not intuitive and won't come to you as you ride down the road.
I was an MSF instructor for 15 years, 1991-2006 and in that time saw many self-proclaimed "experienced riders" who could barely ride!
It is interesting to listen to psychologists talk about cell phone addiction and why addicts seem to think they need to look at their phones when they get an email or text. Or why people refuse to use bluetooth, even though I dont think it helps much with the distraction. part. Here in the Pacific North West, as a first responder, I think I got my first Motorola Brick around the middle of the 1990s, but cell phone coverage away from town was very iffy. Here are some interesting stats from the turn of the century to 2008....In the 90s, "distracted driving" (cell phones) had become a major problem in all sorts of road accidents. And at the time, no one even conceived texting while driving which unfortunately is still legal in many states. At least to me, texting while driving is about 10x worse. We've all experienced cars going too slowly or even drifting into our lane because of the driver looking down at some @#$%! personal device!
My guess is that it is rarely an emergency text and mostly idle chatter.
All of the text messages to a cell phone are in the providers cellular switch info... They won't see the one where you didn't hit "Send" but they will see everything else...like all the messages and calls, to and from, before the impact.But what if someone recieves a text and then tries to answer that text? IF they never get to the send button part of the text, how is a detective to know if a person was texting at the time of the crash?
Good for them...it just shows they have serious case of dumb :butt1: and need a little corrective action by the legal system. It isn't a big deal little Suzy "lost her phone", just subpoena their call records from their cellular carrier. They will have it all with time stamps down to the second... And those time stamps can be used to tie in with the Emergency Data Recorder (EDR) ala "black box" in modern cars. If you have a GM car with OnStar the amount of data available to law enforcement is unbelievable...I suspect that many kids have erased/done away with the cell phone even before the supena arrives at the house for the phone......
Very true. When I was with the patrol in 2004, the black box dump and cell phone records were important back then...cant remember if there was a supoenia needed for the black box dump.All of the text messages to a cell phone are in the providers cellular switch info... They won't see the one where you didn't hit "Send" but they will see everything else...like all the messages and calls, to and from, before the impact.
Good for them...it just shows they have serious case of dumb :butt1: and need a little corrective action by the legal system. It isn't a big deal little Suzy "lost her phone", just subpoena their call records from their cellular carrier. They will have it all with time stamps down to the second... And those time stamps can be used to tie in with the Emergency Data Recorder (EDR) ala "black box" in modern cars. If you have a GM car with OnStar the amount of data available to law enforcement is unbelievable...