VIRGINIA:
Article about the MSF:
Motorcycle Safety Foundation is about money, not safety
Motorcycle Safety Foundation is about money, not safety
The Motorcycle Safety Foundation is just a private club with its hooks in state government to extort money from motorcyclists.
How is it that Virginia allowed such training standards, according to the “so-called” experts? Nothing taught in this course could be applied to actual street driving.
Eventually, the MSF will use the politicians to replace the DMV (I’m sure they would like that). This supposed “nonprofit” has empowered itself through lawmakers who have delegated licensing to the MSF.
So what’s the problem? For starters, comparing prices with other training classes offered in Roanoke and beyond, the cost for the Bristol class is double! The first day is videos, forced group chats and selected reading from a MSF manifesto (the manual would have served a better purpose if the students read the whole “guide” themselves). On Day 2, you are tested on the written material then told to drive 20 miles to some obscure location in Abingdon (don’t be late or they’ll dismiss you, but gladly keep your money). For Day 2 and 3 you’ll “duck-walk” the bikes, learn to sit and dismount like a chorus line, and struggle to keep the bikes running while being yelled at by the instructor.
At the end you’ll ask yourself, “what did any of this have to do with driving a motorcycle on the road?” If you’re lucky enough to not stall and obeyed the instructions, for $300 you’ll get a nifty soon-to-expire license.
By the way, the MSF has used their politicking to ensure the Virginia test is so difficult that anyone owning more than a clown scooter is sure to fail, and after two attempts you have to take the MSF course! How convenient is that? The Motorcycle Safety Foundation is about money, not safety!
Tom Littrell | Gate City, Va.
