5
Yes, that's exactly what I think... Took the words right out of my mouth.
You said "the MSF doesn't have the nuts to say "Wear a light colored helmet, hi-viz clothing, and practice the 'Anti-SMIDSY Manuever*"'
That's great... except most of the stuff you don't think they have the nuts to talk about makes up about HALF of the current BRC cirriculum. A considerable amount of time is spent talking about all the different types of gear (including color choice), ways to be visible to others (by adjusting lane position, using your lights, wearing light colored clothing, etc), risk management strategies (like "Search, Evaluate, Execute", "Rider Radar", Margin of Safety, proper following distances, etc) and emergency maneuvers such as emergency stopping, emergencty stopping in a curve, swerving, etc.
To say that the MSF doesn't have the nuts to talk about that stuff is absolutely laughable.
Do I think it's the be-all and end-all of motorcycle training? FUCK NO! Room for improvement? Of course! But considering the fact that this course is designed to teach these very same people how to ride motorcycles FROM SCRATCH and give them some basic tools for survival in just 16 short hours, I think it does a pretty damn good job.