Always assume you’re invisible. Always have an escape path. Luckily you’re more maneuverable and can fit in tighter gaps than a car.
Sadly, that’s pretty true. Some folks give signs, some don’t. I was approaching an intersection with two left turn lanes. The lefthand lane had fewer vehicles, so I swung in toward it. The rearmost vehicle in the righthand lane had the same idea, though, and just as I was approaching he pulled out right in front of me. No warning, and if I hadn’t already been ready to slow down I probably would have nailed him right in the driver’s side door.
Mostly correct, but the MSF actually only requires full-fingered gloves (leather is not a requirement, but the half-fingered gloves are not allowed) and a long sleeve shirt (not a heavy jacket).
I always encourage more than these minimums to my students, especially the arm protection. A cotton long sleeve shirt will shred almost instantly when hitting pavement and will do extremely little to protect your skin.
Spiff, MSF-certified instructor of the MSF BasicRider Course (which everyone should take!)
Hmmm, now that I think about it I remember the book saying that you have to have full finger, unlined gloves and that leather was recommend. I really thought it said you have to heavy a heavy jacket, maybe not. I remember sweating bullets under my jacket, I would have loved to have taken off my jacked and just had a sweatshirt on. Maybe it was allowed and I was just nervous.
Leather definitely isn’t a necessity. I bought a mesh jacket and gloves before doing MSF, and I’m glad I did. June evenings in Arizona are Not Cool. They also had spare gloves at the training course, and thick mechanic’s gloves were in abundance.
If oncoming, you can often spot subtle movements of the vehicle body, or changes in the apparent intensity of their headlights (if they have headlights on).
If cross traffic, you can often spot the first hint of movement as rotation of their front wheel; sometimes their car starts to roll forward when they take their foot off the brake, before they even put their foot on the accelerator pedal.
This.
Watch the spokes of the front tire. Cover your brake and clutch handles … and get ready to do a panic stop or swerve to your escape path.
You DO have an escape path in mind, right? 
And this is why we what?
All together now “Never ride next to each other”
Ever see a pack or a pair of doubles crash? It’s one of the least pretty ways to do an unpretty thing.
Besides watching the vehicle, make eye contact with the driver if you can. He/she will still pull out in front of you but with some experience you get another split second warning. And when he/she is looking the opposite way and leaning forward - expect to get cut off.
Another good time for eye contact is passing a truck on the highway. I will make sure the driver sees me in his rearview (drivers side) mirror before I start a passing move. And once I start the move I make it fast, clean and I get well to the front before moving back to the right. The surest way I have ever found to cure constipation is to be about halfway up the trailer when the his turn signals come on or his tires cross the center line. It got Ex-Lax beat all to Hell.
Normal everyday riding, I can get a bit of sore behind on long rides in the first few days of the season, that is all.
Racing and track days are another matter entirely. I have seldom been as exhausted and beat as after the first time I took my bike to a race track. Neither have I had as much fun.
Thanks again to everyone who chimed in on this thread. Here’s a follow-up.
I took the MSF’s Basic course this past weekend and passed with only minor injuries.* I had a great time and I think this is something I will enjoy quite a bit.
*Dropped the bike once while cornering and once while trying to raise the side stand. (Shut up, it could happen to anyone).
Awesome, glad you like the course. I had fun and I felt much more prepared to hit the public roads.
Keep in mind that if you had difficulty with the MSF bikes, which tend to be small bikes, you don’t want to go out and get a 1200cc monster Harley or something. You can always work you way up to those if you feel the need.
In case anyone didn’t catch my other thread, I did recently take that bike out for a ride. Less then a mile, but still enough time to get a feel for it. Not that much harder then riding my bike. It’s like the difference between a Civic and a Silverado. Same concept just a little getting used to. Helluva lot nicer then my little bike.
I would think long and hard about why you dropped the bike those two times if you plan to buy one. As Control-Z said they’re small bikes with a tiny engine so they really shouldn’t be getting away from you. If you dropped them because you just did something stupid like tried to stop while going around the turn or flipping the kickstand up without paying attention or you were just plain nervous that’s one thing and a bigger bike in the 500 range will probably be fine, just take it easy. However, if this bike, by the end of the class, was still uncomfortable for you, still felt too big, then I’d stick with something the same size.
Dropping it while flipping the kickstand was a combination of leaning the bike too far to right while taking the weight off the stand and not understanding just how heavy the bike is. My previous experience is with bicycles and horses; bicycles just don’t weigh that much, and a horse will self-correct, within reason, if it’s pushed off balance.
The second fall seemed to come from not having enough speed in the turn. As far as anyone can tell, I didn’t skid. I believe I tried to lean into the turn without having enough forward momentum to keep moving through the turn.