Topic: Officially Licensed! (Well as close as I can get for 18 months)

[my78k]

Finally got around to getting my license this past weekend. We have graduated licensing up here in Canada so I have what they call an M2 now. Been riding dirt bikes all my life and have spent a fair amount of time on buddies' bikes on the road but figured since I am hoping to get my beast ready for the road any week now that I should get around to getting myself licensed as well.

Took a course through Durham College and would highly reccomend these guys ( motorcyclecourse.com ). They were able to take folks who had NEVER been on a bike and by the end of the weekend get them to the point where they passed the ministry standards. The testing itself wasn't all that difficult but it did take me a while to get over some bad dirt riding habits like covering the brake with 2 fingers etc...probably the biggest one was I had a habit of being heavy on the rear brake because I liked to slide it a bit heading into corners in the dirt...not the best idea on the street though...

Anyways, I have am now officially licensed to ride now I just have to get the bike there as well...

Dennis

[Dennis]

......but it did take me a while to get over some bad dirt riding habits like covering the brake with 2 fingers etc...probably the biggest one was I had a habit of being heavy on the rear brake because I liked to slide it a bit heading into corners in the dirt...not the best idea on the street though...

Dennis

" .....  like covering the brake with 2 fingers ...."  is this really that bad on the street? can't imagine why!

Of course there is no doubt about the rear brake operation.

[my78k]

Yeah they claim it can actually slow down reaction time...guess the thought is that you may need to get your other fingers out of the way in an panic stop or you could prevent it from braking enough...funny thing was that one of the instructors did say to me that he covers his all the time but will do it with all four and just throttle with that sort of webbing between thumb and first finger...ofcourse he rides some brand new bike that is alot easier to tame than the throttle on my bike.

[Bodi]

Of all the issues with the training course, that finger thing causes the most arguments among instructors. Almost all of the more experienced ones do cover the brake at least some of the time - like in downtown traffic.
Bottom line is that "The Book" says you shall not cover the lever: so don't, at least during the course and any future MOT tests.