[quote]dcb wrote:
If you can balance a bicycle you can balance a motorcycle. However, I think you’re much better off learning with a smaller bike in terms of engine displacement as it should be a bit lighter and easier to ride. If you have access to one, I’d say get a dual sport bike and take it out on a grass field someplace so if you dump it, it won’t be an issue. [/quote]
That is pretty much the plan of action I was thinking of taking.
[quote]atypical1 wrote:
I learned a long time ago by doing what dcb said which was riding a dirt bike. Not sure where in Ca you are but that’s an option. I took a break from riding and when I came back I took the MSF course and found it really helpful and a good introduction to bikes.
I would probably take the course and then buy a cheap 250 dirt bike and spend a bunch of time in a parking lot with it.
Best of luck. Motorcycles kick ass.
james[/quote]
I don’t think this would really be an option, just cuz I won’t have the money to spend on a dirt bike and a motorcycle. I was thinking of just getting a classic starter bike like the ninja 250
[quote]Pigeon wrote:
Take an MSF course. They’ll start you out on a 125 or 250 riding around the parking lot. If you’re going more than 5 mph, the bike stays up by itself. If you like riding after the course and you get your permit or license, buy a small-displacement beater to get comfortable on for a year or two. A used 600cc cruiser, Ninja 250, something like that.
Don’t go out and buy a brand new literbike or Harley for your first bike. You’re bound to drop the bike once or twice and too much engine mixed with inexperience can get you in trouble.[/quote]
Haha I would never have the money to buy one of those bikes anyways
[quote]waldo21212 wrote:
[quote]Pigeon wrote:
Take an MSF course. They’ll start you out on a 125 or 250 riding around the parking lot. If you’re going more than 5 mph, the bike stays up by itself. If you like riding after the course and you get your permit or license, buy a small-displacement beater to get comfortable on for a year or two. A used 600cc cruiser, Ninja 250, something like that. Don’t go out and buy a brand new literbike or Harley for your first bike. You’re bound to drop the bike once or twice and too much engine mixed with inexperience can get you in trouble.[/quote]
This is what I did about a year ago to learn.
Not sure about California rules, but where I live taking the MSF class (I took it at a local community college over Friday night, Saturday and Sunday morning and afternoon) get you out of taking the riding portion of the motorcycle test at the DMV to get your license. I still had to take the written portion of the test, but that’s the easy part. I thought the class was well worth the $100 or so it costs.
I think getting the smaller bike (I got a Ninja 650R) was probably the best idea, I am now looking to get a liter or bigger at the end of this summer.[/quote]
This sounds good. My greatest concern is that I will take the class and fail it. How hard was it for you? I’m pretty sure it’s around 200-300$ in California. I’ve never driven manual before and I’ve heard that’s one of the hardest parts of the transition to riding a motorcycle.
[quote]Derek542 wrote:
http://www.harley-davidson.com/en_US/Content/Pages/learn-to-ride/learn-to-ride.html[/quote]
Thanks for the link dude
Having to shift is a bit tricky if you’re not used to it. I had never driven manual before taking the course. You’ll stall a few times, but pretty much everyone passes the course. Once you get a bike, go ride around on empty roads for awhile until you feel comfortable. I got used to riding at highway speeds by going out for rides at 11pm.
[quote]Vanagandr wrote:
I don’t think this would really be an option, just cuz I won’t have the money to spend on a dirt bike and a motorcycle. I was thinking of just getting a classic starter bike like the ninja 250[/quote]
How big are you? The 250 is a great bike but you’ll outgrow that really fast and it might be small for you. If you’re looking at the Kawi family then take a look at something like the Versys. If you want something that looks sporty then a used SV650 is calling your name and you won’t outgrow it anytime soon.
james
[quote]Vanagandr wrote:
This sounds good. My greatest concern is that I will take the class and fail it. How hard was it for you? I’m pretty sure it’s around 200-300$ in California. I’ve never driven manual before and I’ve heard that’s one of the hardest parts of the transition to riding a motorcycle.[/quote]
I don’t regularly drive a manual transmission car (as in I know how and have before only) but the feel of the clutch on a bike is different than on a car anyway. Everyone kills the bike multiple times - my instructor kept threatening to fail me if I killed it one more time.
The rumors I have heard are no one fails the class. The only way to fail is to drop the bike during the skills test at the end, and I had heard if you do, the instructors will keep you after everyone else has left and let you try again.
I recommend learning on a dirt bike. I started riding at 10 on a Honda XR-80. Moved onto a Yamaha YZ-125cc(2 stroke) then onto a Yamaha YZ-250. Didn’t learn to countersteer properly till I hit the road though.
If you can ride a bicycle and can work the clutch on a car and have a modicum of co-ordination, you can ride a motorcycle.
[quote]Vanagandr wrote:
[quote]Derek542 wrote:
http://www.harley-davidson.com/en_US/Content/Pages/learn-to-ride/learn-to-ride.html[/quote]
Thanks for the link dude[/quote]
I took the class after 20 years of being off bikes, it was worth it.
Nobody wants to look like a newb, but better at a class with other newbe’s instead of at a red light when you stall the bike, or lay it down on a slow turn.
[quote]putter2712 wrote:
If you can ride a bicycle and can work the clutch on a car and have a modicum of co-ordination, you can ride a motorcycle.[/quote]
If you were riding in the middle of no where this is true, OTHER people in cars that go full retard are the problem.
[quote]Derek542 wrote:
[quote]putter2712 wrote:
If you can ride a bicycle and can work the clutch on a car and have a modicum of co-ordination, you can ride a motorcycle.[/quote]
If you were riding in the middle of no where this is true, OTHER people in cars that go full retard are the problem. [/quote]
Exactly. As an instructor I cringe when I watch people ride on the street, being able to get the bike going and (mostly) get it around corners doesn’t qualify as being able to ride a motorcycle. There are important differences between motorcycles and cars and motorcycles and bicycles.
Do you know the difference between a motorcycle clutch and a car clutch? Why is it bad to ride the clutch in a car but okay, even necessary to slip the clutch on a motorcycle? What’s the correct sequence of control activation for maximum braking? Why can’t you just lean your body to make a motorcycle turn and how do you correctly make it turn at high speed? How do you keep control of a motorcycle at a walking pace with your feet up such as in a parking lot? What’s target fixation and how do you avoid it? What happens if you glance outside on a corner (say at a guard rail) while taking a hard turn?
These are all things you’ll learn in a motorcycle course that are important. Up here most people easily save more on their first year of insurance than the course cost, plus of course they learn to how to ride properly. It’s not like a car where you can learn by trial and error and you have seatbelts, crumple zones, and airbags to keep you safe when you screw it up. Screw it up on a motorcycle and the only crumple zone is you body. . .
[quote]Vanagandr wrote:
What’s the best way in your opinion?[/quote]
Motorcycle Safety Class.
Go dirtbiking a fair amount before getting on the street. (The price of poker for making a mistake is MUCH lower. Don’t go doing jumps or all that; just learn how to handle a bike.) Get like 25 hours riding on dirt, at least.
Your first MC should be underpowered, light, and crappy. This will keep you alive, and not cost you much when you drop it. Ride around for a couple months, then trade it in on your real bike.
The primary ways cars kill you are:
^thats the best way for teh funkshinal strayngthuh
This is awesome that this thread popped up. I’m actually learning to ride a motorcycle right now and I want to take the MSF course in a month. My roomate is a friend from high school and has been riding motorcycles for a long time. He owns the second most expensive production motorcycle in the world, an MV Agusta F4. Two days ago he let me ride it around the parking lot at our apartment giving me coaching tips and basic braking instruction.
Snatching the brake is something you do not want to do I quickly learned! His bike has a ridicously hard learning curve however because it is a street legal race bike pretty much. The bike’s brembo brakes are huge and mucho sensitive. But riding his bike in the parking lot is good for me at least because the bike I want to ride will be similar, a DUCATI 848 CORSE!
I’m going tomorrow to put a deposit on this Ducati but I will not pick up the bike until I take the MSF course, and ride a dingy bike for a while just to get a feel of riding. The only reason I want to put a deposit on one is because it’s the bike I want and 2012 will be the last year they make it I think cuz of the introduction of the Panigale 1199.
I want to ride a crappy bike for a good while just so I don’t drop my brand new Ducati and hurt myself or much much worse.
[quote]FrozenNinja wrote:
I want to ride a crappy bike for a good while just so I don’t drop my brand new Ducati and hurt myself or much much worse. [/quote]
Wise. I am very serious about the need to ride a dirtbike for a while.
Dirt is a lot softer than pavement and there are (almost) no cars.
[quote]thethirdruffian wrote:
[quote]FrozenNinja wrote:
I want to ride a crappy bike for a good while just so I don’t drop my brand new Ducati and hurt myself or much much worse. [/quote]
Wise. I am very serious about the need to ride a dirtbike for a while.
Dirt is a lot softer than pavement and there are (almost) no cars.[/quote]
Haha very true. What I’ve noticed here in San Francisco and the bay Area as a whole is motorcylce awareness is MUCH higher here than in Florida. I think it’s because Lane Splitting/Lane Sharing here is legal, so people are constantly widening their lane for motors that want to pass and are very concious of where bikes are at. My buddy told me that there are far less deaths on Motorcycles in this area than in Florida and the population of riders is greater. That and there is a HUGE motorcycle culture here. Because parking is so limited many ride motorcycles or scooters around the city.
I would venture to say that our helmet laws here have a great deal to do with the fatality rate.
Never, never depend upon cars to notice you. Never depend upon them for your safety. You take charge of that and you rely on nobody by yourself for your own safety.
For the record, and not to be a dick, but…the F4 is not the second most expensive production bike.
james
[quote]thethirdruffian wrote:
The primary ways cars kill you are:
I respectfully disagree. In my mind the only way that a car kills you is that you become complacent in your riding and allow them to dictate what happens. I’ve had all of those things happen to me and the only thing that saved me is being able to anticipate and react accordingly.
james