Learning Motorcycle

Mini

I was looking for old post about learning motorcycle but that thread has quite some posts blocked.  I guess I need to ask again.

Is there any good driving school teaching motorcycle?  If I'm just a 5'3" female, will I be able to ride one?

Thanks!

its_visa

um.....well i know every weekend....theres classes teaching motorcycles @ the richmond Kwantlen area....u can go and ask ask about it =) and i see a few females around ur height the last couple of times. so im pretty sure u can =)

tofu

i am 5'3" too and i learned it years ago....but i failed the 2nd test and never go back.  the instructor told me that size is not an big issue.  he said most of his students are already have experience or they are good on riding bike.  we used to learn it at the langara's parking lot, but i think they move to kwantlen. so probably the same as what its_visa talking about.  i found that my problem is when the bike fall on one side, it is really difficult for me to pull it back to the middle, since i am not strong enough.

阿九

@ Langara, that's Pro Ride. I learned from them about 10 years ago

BarF1

BCSC at Kwantlen.

I chose PRS.

B2L2

http://www.proride.net/
http://www.safetycouncil.bc.ca/Motorcycle.php

Both are good.  I believe ProRide has more classes.  However, if you haven't registered yet, chance is you wouldn't able to ride this summer.  Their classes filled up quick.

I don't see you have any problem riding.

字典仔

i am taking action's riding course next month; i think my friend is 5'2 and she rides a 250; another gal is about 5'6 or 5'7 and she rides a CBR954RR...i guess it's just a matter if you are good with balance and control etc

the more you practice the better it is too!

r u the "mini" i know?

B2L2

Have fun with action and good luck with the coming test, 字典仔.  Yes, Mini is the one we know.

When I took my test a number of years back, there was no road test at all.  Everything finished inside the parking lot.  I rent a bike to take the test (I had my motorcycle license back in HK) after few hours of practice.  Since then I only rode 3 times.  

- Brian

Lik

I'd go with Pacific Riding School ( http://www.pacificridingschool.com ). Some of the instructors from other schools were originally taught by Dat and Kramer and PRS. PRS has tons of street cred and a very strong following over at BC Sportsbike. At $745 now, the course is not cheap, but I guarantee you it is money well spent. In fact, I'd go as far as saying that if I could only spend $750 between taking riding lessons from PRS or spending the same amount on protective riding gear, I'd go with the course. (Of course, I'd never ride without proper protective riding gear.)

Stature is generally not a problem, although the length of your legs / inseam certainly plays a role. At PRS at least, the shorter folks will most likely be assigned to ride the cruiser MC instead of the taller dual purpose bikes. Assuming a typical torso-legs ratio, 5'3" should not give you any problems with the learner bikes.

The only "problem" you'll run into down the road is, because of your shorter stature, bigger bikes will present a bigger challenge to you should you choose to ride them. The big cruisers, in particular, are really heavy and you'd have to be extra careful should you choose to ride those. Bike selection will also be more limited to you because of your height. When you're out looking to purchase your own bike, chances are, you'll find the smaller displacement bikes (600cc or less, but most probably 400cc or less) make for a better match for your physical size.

-Lik

B2L2

Big-C should have no problem riding since she has 40" legs.  

The bike I had for my test is Magna 250, a low riding cruiser.  I actually find it helped a bit to past the test.    So stable and easy to balance.

So it is $750 now, last I checked many years back was $550 or $600, I forgot.