Ride like a Pro

Has anyone taken the Ride like a Pro course with their SilverWing?
When I was riding a motorcycle I was thinking of taking the course but we don't have it here in Canada. I was just told they may be coming up here for one weekend organized through a riding club I belong to. I was told as long as you have 2 wheels the techniques will apply, however, I see they use the clutch and rear brake a lot. As we don't have a clutch I'm wondering if anyone has taken the course and if they found it useful?

I took a MSF ERC refresher course with my Reflex----MSF instructor did not worry about gas/clutch/rear brake coordination=typical for MSF. My MSF instructor card is dated 1974. Not real fan---as DOD Safety Manager had to work with what they turned out over 35 year period.

Ride like a pro, places a lot of emphasis on slow speed stuff---real good in my book.

Honda linked brake set ups, say rear brake comes on first, so rear brake lever can be used as sort of speed controller and balancing aid----keep speed down and seems to work.

So can be done.....any training is good.

Note on scooters: They handle well, can be well controlled, but must be ridden right, with feet doing a lot of work.....push right, go right....feet in foot wells.
My new Burgman 400 (second one) does not have linked brakes and does work work better in real slow stuff using rear brake as balancing and control aid. But, SilverWing has smoother power take up.

Hi John,
I've been riding motorcycles for about 7 years now and did take a safety course when I started. I do have my full M licence. I heard the ride like a pro was to be proficeint in slow speed and if you have to make a uturn, etc. With my bigger bikes I always had problems with u-turns. My Silverwing comes home tomorrow as we have had unsual mild temperatures here in Ontario but I am trailering it home as I don't know the bike yet. You sound like you have ridden motorcycles before. Did you find it difficult to transition to a scooter. I purchased it as I have arthritis in my legs controlled by meds but I still find the odd days the legs are sore. When riding my motorcycle after about a half hour I have to use the highway pegs. When I sat on the Silverwing I could fully extend my legs, the seat was comfortable and I loved that its fuel injected and when I saw the storage capacity it was a no brainer for me. When I first got licenced I tried riding my dad's 400 burgman but I hadn't any experience except for the course and the instructor instilled in our brains "be one with the bike" hug the tank with your legs, etc. So when I went on my dad's without a tank to hug, it was very akward for me so I went with a motorcycle instead. But I do have the experience and have ridden many miles now but not on a scooter so I'm wondering how the transition will feel. How was the transition for you? I still have my 1000cc virago in my bike shed but have had a couple of people who want to buy it. I"m really torn on whether or not I should sell.

I can tell you that I started riding 60cc motorcross bikes at the age of 12 and worked my way up eventually to a 900cc sportbike in my mid 20s. (As stupid as it sounds) I had never bothered to get a motorcycle license in NY because you didn't need to have one to register bikes, so I rode without a MC endorsement for may years.

I gave up cycling in my late 20s after a very near miss that scared the crap out of me. A few years later I started getting the "itch" to ride but promised myself I wouldn't buy any more big powerful bikes, so I bought a Honda Reflex and took the 2.5 day MSF ridercourse to earn my MC license (you can't register a MC in NJ without a MC endorsement, so it sat unused for a few weeks).

At the MSF course I was far from a beginner, unlike the majority of my classmates who had never been on a MC before. A few people were intimidated by the manual transmission bikes because they had never shifted before (including, surprisingly a police officer) and they dropped out of the course after the first day of riding.

The MSF instructors were able to break me of a few bad habits that I had developed over the years and helped me learn some defensive driving techniques (including lane positioning to be the most visible while also being able to anticipate potential accidents), low speed maneuvers (without putting my feet down), and basic MC physics (like counter-steering vs. counter-balancing and when to use each). if I have the time I would love to take an advanced riding course if I can find one in my area.

All things considered, I highly recommend any certified course.
Jesse in Atlanta

I sent and got the DVD's put out by Ride Like A Pro and found them very helpful in my riding expirence. I continue to look at them has a refresher. You can check them out on the Ride Like A Pro web site.

Swing one,
So you found it helpful with riding the Silverwing? I saw a few utube clips from there and it looks interesting, just wasnt sure if it was good for the scooter since we don't have a clutch but someone mentioned we can use the rear brake and throttle to find the friction zone I believe.
Bike comes home tomorrow can't wait to try it around the block. I won't go far as its still pretty darn cold out but the roads are dry out here right now. I bought the bike on faith without a test ride but I paid for it so it is mine so like it or not I'm gonna have to love it.

CSN, February in Ontario and you're planning a ride. Ain't it great! actually I would try to get out on a long strech (several miles} of open rode to get a feel of the scooter. "Around the block" sounds simple. but it involves more braking and slow speed stuff that can be more complicated. I would try to find an empty parking lot to practice the slow speed riding without other cars to worry about. Personally I learned to ride in an apartment parking lot with a bunch of laughing kids watching me try to master the clutch throttle dynamic. Little heathens. I think you will be pleasantly surprised how easy the Swing is to ride. Your biggest problem may be putting it away and waiting for spring. Best of luck with your new Swing.

To answer CSN second set of questions---yes I am a motorcylist since 1955---some over 1.5 million miles......but would never buy a Cruiser type bike! Riding position sucks, feet work better under you making standing on pegs easier.

That said for at least 45 years, I have kept scooters on the side, first Vespas, then the feet forward type beginning with Helex, to ReFlex, Daelim, Burgman, TMAX. Here the feet forward stuff works right, if done right.

I get paid for bad knees from VA, have had stroke----bought NT700V Honda and rode it 16,000 miles to make sure I still had and could re-learn proper MC skills like gas/clutch/shift coordination---worked.

New Burgman was choice I though about awhile----is satisfactory and $1500-2000 cheaper than best deal I could find on SilverWing.

So, I am old 73 (on paper) in good shape, ride everyday----500 mile days don't bother me other than being bored. SUGESTION: ON RIDING SCOOTER==get off every hour or 50 miles regardless, walk around...my dog goes with me....so besides peeing at stops I have to tend to him. wakes legs and butt up and BE ACTIVE part of bike while riding---no additional back rests, use feet and legs.....you cannot "post" on feet forward, but somewhat maybe by moving feet relieve crash/strain on spine on bumps/bad road surface.----cold doesn't bother me but pro quality MC clothes/boots/water-proof stuff seem to work. Rubber boots over reg riding boots make feet/legs/knees feel better in cold season. If legs tend to stiffen up plan and prepare for stops----remembering only one foot needs to come out----left in proper motorcycle form comes out for me. Think heated grips might be nice, but don't have them.

Bottom Line: I like big scooters and they can be fun plus feet have chance to stay dry.

You can use the rear brake and throttle to make u-turns and on vary slow turns like in a parking lot. But when you are just taking off just twist the throttle and go. The scooter usually doesn't take off until you get over 2,300 rpms.

I bought the ride like a pro 6 digital download version of DVD and have been practicing all the maneuvers in an empty parking.  I'm halfway through completing all of the skills.

I've improved immensely, getting a great feel for the bike and how I handle it.  Add in the long open road just ride for the fun of it = me lovin' it.  

I've been driving a carbon fiber bicycle for years, stopped counting miles 20 years ago at 35,000.  So ya see that the Silver Wing is a tad heavier.  Was unsettling at first.  The low speed skills has helped transition the confidence from one bike to another.  And, I get to blow away the DMV skills test "dude."  

Osprey, like me, you're a two-wheel junkie!

CSN
We have courses called bike safe (here run by several police forces and basically you use police advanced riding technique (Published under the title road craft)
Personally I think any advanced training is a good thing and actually challenges to adapt to scooters because of the lack of clutch & tyre size etc.
Give it a go be the first to take a course with a maxi scooter good habits are harder to masyet than bad ones.

Coming from geared bikes I'm used to the clutch and back brake thing for slow riding.
Getting on a scooter for the first time I found myself automatically still using the left lever as a clutch, and it works wonderfully providing resistance to the drive from the throttle.
It also works in corners where you would usually use the foot/rear brake to tighten a line or control errant suspension damping.

Steve, I read on the net that the Silverwing doesn't have a sweet spot, just stop or go, go go.

You're right on. A little left brake and can stand upright at 3 mph running inside a 28 ft circle, and tight corners at traffic lights here where I live.

Ah well if you must go believing everything (anything?) you read on the net ... lol
The SW's sweetspot seems to be between 5 and 105!

Osprey wrote:

... snipped ... Steve,   I read on the net that the Silverwing doesn't have a sweet spot, just "stop or go, go go".

This is the Silver Wing's sweet spot.

Steve_h80 and sonuvabug, LOL. I stand corrected regarding the SW sweet spot..........

steve_h80 wrote:

Coming from geared bikes I'm used to the clutch and back brake thing for slow riding.
Getting on a scooter for the first time I found myself automatically still using the left lever as a clutch, and it works wonderfully providing resistance to the drive from the throttle.
It also works in corners where you would usually use the foot/rear brake to tighten a line or control errant suspension damping.

Never tried trail braking a SW other bikes it works great. I'll have to try it. Free wheeling below 12-15 mph in slow turns can be a issue. I also like that the rear tire has a larger contact area a little sliding is ok. If front locks you can go down so fast but rear can slide a little. After riding dirt bikes for many years it feels more natural.