I would not ride my own bike in the first MSF course especially if you aren't experienced. Those little 250cc cruiser bikes are more nimble and you can take what you learned and practice on your America in an empty parking lot. Once you get the technique down you can easily transition to your own bike. Don't drop whatever you ride or you have to retake the course but I would learn on their lighter stuff.
Slow riding around the cones in the MSF and the figure 8 at slow speeds is like pushing a wheelbarrow. I would start with an empty wheel barrow(250cc) than one full of sand(500 pound America).
In the advanced course you do use your own bike.
I practice slow riding once a month a so in the high school parking lot with cut up tennis balls for pilons. Riding fast is easy, riding skillfully, slowly in a crowded parking lot is where a lot of bike accidents occur.
Good luck!
Last edited by redbike7; 07/15/2007 5:30 PM.
