I'm not proud of this, but yesterday I took the motorcycle safety course for the second time and still couldn't pass.  The main problem I have is with the tight turns.  
Any helpful hints or encouragement would be greatly appreciated. 

I DID get further this time around than I did the first time.  If at first you don't succeed...

Practice, practice, practice and look where you want to go instead of where you are.

Yep, the main problem have with tight turns is looking at the front wheel or right in front of it. Look out as far as you can in the turn and think about getting there. You can't do anything about where you are, only where you are going.

Try your best to keep power to the back tire. It is really hard to take a turn if you are slowing. You need to maintain or even increase speed through the turn. I know that is scarey but once you have the confidence it will get much easier.

And like RA said... practice, practice, practice.

Keep a constant throttle controlling your speed with the clutch and if necessary the rear brake.
Use too much throttle, in preference to not enough.
Keep your hand off the front brake, completely off.
Sit up straight and look good for the crowd.
TURN YOUR HEAD, exaggerate it, but do not tilt it down
Watch this guy. - Don't get all wrappped up in his skills. - Look at what he is doing


See him turning his head but not tilting it down!

Good luck Chica! It's nerve wracking if you are a beginner!

And remember..."If you take this training course, you can ride a motorcycle just like that...."

Bwahahaaahaaaaa, MAYBE, in a few years!!!
Gypsy, I've been ridin' bikes of one kind or another for over 30 years, and I still can't ride like that...

As far as the safety course goes, do like everyone's tellin' you. Don't look down...look around. (Around the curve)
MEANING, look THRU the turns, ahead of where you are. And stop thinkin' about it so hard.
When I quit tryin' (cause I had to be better than my bro's), I relaxed and it came natural.
That bike is only gonna go, where you point it, K? *(Definition of point...out in front>>>)

Ride Free
Tweek

All good advice aboveor you can try another tack on this,git out your bicycle (if available) and practice some of the techniques described above, I found this helpfull when I started back to riding again 14 years ago.While you may not be able to execute the manuvers on the motorcycle,the dynamics are very similiar,and could be helpfull in giving you more feel/control while trying on the motorcycle the tight circle/turns.
One tip thats good is look where you want to go & dont look down,keep the head level.The more you practice the more it will feel natural for you.

stay safe n enjoy the ride

I know the class moves quick and lots of time you may not have the feel for all the things just thrown at you.I understand about over thinking things.Quickly learned I had to snap my head around and lightly press on my left foot peg for inner weight shift while turning sharply to the left.By no means am I a master of u turns.....good luck and find a empty parking lot for quite practice....I know its boring, but if you want what you want its worth building skills.....Stay safe

ALL the advice above is good. And, I can't stress enough to keep your hand off the front brake. That's what did my wife in when she took the course and she ended up dumping twice. The instructor forgot to mention that one little thing. The front brake is best used on straight line braking only.

Listen to all said above, and I kid you not one of these days the light bulb will just come on, and you will feel like, damn I got it now. It will happen.
Best of Luck

I just had one of our members go through the course and she took what we had said and what she learned and applyed it and did great.  We went out to a local parking lot and set up to do tight turns and figure eights.  Once she (and the others) that went got comfortable doing it we took a break went to eat lunch then went back for 30-45 minutes they all had it down. She passed the course on her first time but she also did a lot of training around her block and in local parking lots.  But as said before keep trying and practice, practice, practice.  You can do it!

Gadzzooks Ya'll! The way you talk, they must've changed the "safety course" a bunch in the last twenty years or so.
Damn, back in the day, they were more concerned that you didn't "brake too early", or "keep your feet down too, long"...
From the sounds of it..I might fail that S**T!

Just practice, and you'll be fine. It's all GOOD.


Ride Free
Tweek

Thanks for the encouragement ya'll, also for the awesome tips. I'm taking them with me next time I'm in the class, especially keeping off the front brake. I think that's a big one...wish you were closer Seakers. Been looking for someone local to help me a bit.
Haha Tweek. I don't think breaking too early or how long to keep our feet down was mentioned once in my class. The focus is on the damn figure 8s and the tight turns. grrrrrrr...

Everyone here has given you good information. You (and the motorcycle) will go where you are looking. DO NOT look down. Keep your head up. stay calm and practice. Good luck.

My Friends wife had trouble with her class also. The instructor suggested an all female class, she did, felt more comfortable and passed the class leading her to finally get her motorcycle license. My suggestion for all new riders is too look down the road and not at the front tire. Don't try and ride to slow and always smile and relax while riding because it is the best damn sport in the world. Not to big a smile though because bug eating is no fun.

My motorcycle training is through the Portland Police Department Motorcycle Training, what everyone here said is FACT, look in the direction ur turning, find something in the direction ur turning to focus on then ride to it, start with wide turns the go smaller. Good luck brother n PRACTICE, PRACTICE N PRACTICE. I still practice years later n stil ain't as good as those trainers n I'm police trained...go figure.:-)