I took the MSF BasicRider Course through Bay Area Motorcycle Training. They offer classes in San Francisco and Vallejo. You can access their website by clicking here. Don’t wait until the last minute to sign up because slots fill up fast! This article will focus on what the classroom portion of the course is like. I’ll also let you know what is needed to pass the classroom portion.

The BasicRider Course is three days long. The first day is a 5 hour classroom session, held on a Wednesday or Thursday night. The second and third day are riding days, held over the weekend. There is an AM riding session, starting at 6:45am, and a PM riding sessions, starting at 12:15pm. Each riding day is about 5 hours long, for a total of 15 hours for the course.

My classroom portion was on a Wednesday night at 5:45pm. The class had 24 students in it, combining the 12 AM riders and 12 PM riders for that weekend. We were separated into groups of 6 based on if we were AM or PM riders. You’ll be given some forms to fill out and read. One was a liability waiver, basically saying you can’t sue them if you get hurt. You’ll also be given a Rider Handbook.

In the back of the handbook, there are 126 study questions. The “teacher” would assign a certain number of questions to each group and have them spend time answering the questions. The groups would usually divide the questions equally. Then, we’d go around the room reading the question aloud and answering them. The “teacher” would only speak up if an answer was wrong. After we get through the assigned questions, we would watch a video about what we just learned. This is the basic format of the classroom portion.

LIST OF TOPICS COVERED

Unit 1: Course Introduction
- Course Requirements
- Course Structure

Unit 2: Introduction to Motorcycling
- Types of Motorcycles
- Risk Awareness
- Risk Acceptance
- Risk Management

Unit 3: Preparing to Ride
- Personal Protective Gear
- Pre-Ride Inspection
- Routine Maintenance
- Controls
- Basic Riding Skills Information
- Range Safety Rules
- RiderCoach Signals

Unit 4: Street Strategies
- Positioning
- Being Visible
- RiderRadar
- Mental Processing
- Common Riding Situations
- Maxium Braking and Swerving
- Special Situations
- Impairment

You’ll learn all the acronyms like SEE, FINE-C, and TCLOCS.

The “teacher” was there to basically move the class along. When someone asked a question, he had other people in the class answer. He’d only speak when someone was giving wrong answers. This was one problem I had with the classroom portion. The “teacher” didn’t really teach. He also got mad when no one was asking any questions, saying how we would be tested on the whole handbook and if no one asks questions you won’t learn. It’s a little much to ask someone who knows absolutely nothing about motorcycles or riding to absorb all this information in one sitting.

Now for how to pass this portion. At the end of class, you’ll be given about 60 minutes to take a 50 question multiple choice test. You’ll pass if you receive a 40 or higher. Each question only has 3 possible choices, so if you can eliminate one wrong answer, you’ll have a 50/50 chance of getting it right. What happens if you don’t pass? You’ll still be allowed to ride on the weekend; however, you’ll have to retake the test again on the next classroom session available.

I passed with a 48/50.

Next up, the riding portion Day 1, which can be found here.

The previous article in this series was about why you should take an MSF course, and can be found here.