My First Ride!!!

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NOVAgator87 · Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:20 pm

This evening I went for the first ride on my motorcycle. It felt liberating, exhilarating, and some other adjectives that I'll skip mentioning. Anyways, rather than being a random poster, anyone else want to share any stories of their first ride?

I drove to my girlfriend's house on some back roads, traffic was light, and surprisingly, I didn't stall out once

(that's my biggest enemy when I ride my bike, guess not anymore). After about 5 minutes, I started speeding up and really testing the RPMs on my bike (which is a ninja 250 btw). As for that, WOW, 9000+ RPMs and the bike screams, but it accelerates like nothing I've ever experienced before!

Anyways, I'd like to hear some other first bike rides, if you all would like to share...

jonnythan · #2 Unread post by **jonnythan** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:32 pm

Mine was a couple of weeks ago on an '89 Harley Sportster 883. Spent a couple hours on the lawn and on some back roads in backwoods Tennessee at her mom's place with some pretty good instruction, then another hour practicing and leaning the bike with a passenger (my girlfriend).

Then we took off on Highway 19 for a 15 mile ride into the mountains up to a reservoir, with my girlfriend's mom on the back of her partner's Dyna and my girlfriend on the back of the Sportster I was on. 40mph highway, just twisty enough, up to the mountain road that was a little steeper and a little twistier. I had so much fun it was totally ridiculous. The drove the few miles into town. Stalled it once or twice in town, once making a left hand turn in some traffic that was a little hair raising.

Hung out in town, got some food, then headed back after the sun went down. It was even more fun at night and no traffic.. just me and the road. I've been bike shopping ever since, trying to decide whether to save up the cash and get a Sportster, or get a beater bike in the meantime and get some other Harley later, or what. I've decided on a ~$1000-$1500 cruiser now and the Harley I want later

jmillheiser · Wed Jun 28, 2006 4:47 pm

if you think your 250 accelerates like nothing you have seen before, just wait till you move up to something bigger.

I thought my old 500 was fast until I got my 600 over 8000rpm for the first time, the 600 feels like someome strapped a rocket to my "O Ring" when it gets into the power.

Dragonhawk · Wed Jun 28, 2006 6:46 pm

jonnythan wrote:Mine was a couple of weeks ago on an '89 Harley Sportster 883. Spent a couple hours on the lawn and on some back roads in backwoods Tennessee at her mom's place with some pretty good instruction, then another hour practicing and leaning the bike with a passenger (my girlfriend).

Then we took off on Highway 19 for a 15 mile ride into the mountains up to a reservoir, with my girlfriend's mom on the back of her partner's Dyna and my girlfriend on the back of the Sportster I was on. 40mph highway, just twisty enough, up to the mountain road that was a little steeper and a little twistier.

Wow. Without professional instruction, you rode 15 miles on a 500lb. Harley Sportser, doing 40MPH, with your girlfriend as a passenger, when you only had a "couple hours" of riding experience?

VermilionX · Wed Jun 28, 2006 6:51 pm

jmillheiser wrote:if you think your 250 accelerates like nothing you have seen before, just wait till you move up to something bigger.

I thought my old 500 was fast until I got my 600 over 8000rpm for the first time, the 600 feels like someome strapped a rocket to my "O Ring" when it gets into the power.

i'll never know how that feels... unless i ride a busa or a ZX-14.

after the gixxer1000, almost everything's a downgrade in power. not counting heavily modded bikes, of course.

BigChickenStrips · Wed Jun 28, 2006 11:58 pm

yea, the ninjette is awesome. i remember after i got mine, i didnt have insurance yet, so i was jsut riding in my grandmothers neighborhood. my dad helped me get the bike out of the back of my truck, i pushed it to the end of the driveway. put all my "gear" on. turned around where my mom, dad, girlfriend, and grandmother are standign and said- "if i stall it dont laugh"

with that i turned on the gas, the ignition cutoff switch and pushed the start button. wow. my own bike. i eased out the clutch and pulled into the cul-de-sac. i took the first turn a little wide but didnt hit anything. then i accelerated down the street. i was in heaven. i looked down at my hands on the bars and thought "WTF am i doing? im riding a motorcycle?!"

jonnythan · #7 Unread post by **jonnythan** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 2:44 am

Dragonhawk wrote: Wow. Without professional instruction, you rode 15 miles on a 500lb. Harley Sportser, doing 40MPH, with your girlfriend as a passenger, when you only had a "couple hours" of riding experience?

Well, not exactly.

Ended up riding about 30 miles at the end of the day, the last 13 or so of which were at night.

But yeah, the guy wasn't a professional instructor, but he is a safety-conscious ol Harley guy with a very systematic approach to teaching. I've had good instructors and bad instructors in everything from theoretical physics to fencing, and this guy was a quality instructor.

Crazy, though, huh? There were no problems, I lived to tell about it, all is well and good. I suppose it was decidedly on the "dangerous" side of things, but I knew nothing whatsoever about bikes, and today I'm really quite happy I was able to have such an experience as my first ride. A lot of the things I hear people say in these forums seemed like perfectly intuitive common sense when I was actually on the bike learning.

I'm signed up for MSF in about three weeks. I'm sure I'll learn a lot.

Muse · #8 Unread post by **Muse** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 2:57 am

My first ride on my own bike (meaning outside of the motorcycle training course) was when I picked up my (used) bike from the dealership. I had a friend who was following me in a car, and another friend riding his bike out in front of me. Unfortunately, about 100 meters from the dealership, I dropped my new baby! There was gravel, and a pothole, and a stop sign, and quite a bit of nervousness. Anyway, the friend riding with me got off his bike and was convinced I'd never ride again, but I just said "Well, now that that's over with, let's get on with it!" and I picked up my bike and off we went. We found a quiet parking lot and I rode around getting used to the controls, and then we rode home! It was heaven!

Funny, that "heaven" feeling never really goes away. In fact, it only gets better because the nervousness that goes along with it decreases with more experience.

#9 Unread post by **bok** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 3:21 am

my first ride off of the training lot i dumped the bike getting off the dealer's parking lot. bent the rear brake lever and scuffed my pipe. After that it was a windy ride at highway speed up to my fiancee's parents house and then back home. In hindsight i should have had the bike delivered, because the initial ride wasn't a lot of fun....after that though my second ride was great and they keep on being fun.

I'm signed up for MSF in about three weeks. I'm sure I'll learn a lot.

you will young Skywalker...you will.

pinger05 · #10 Unread post by **pinger05** » Thu Jun 29, 2006 3:32 am

First ride was from the lemon lot to my house for more repairs. The main fuel line from the tank to the carbs had a hole in it so I had to repair it on the lemon lot.

I was scared the entire time. Scared the new fuel line would fall out and I would die in a blazing enferno, or scared that I would drop it, or scared a cop would come and see the ruined headlight.... So scared that I forgot the shifting pattern and kept trying to start it in second gear.

Fortunately I made it home for more repairs.

My first ride after the repairs was great.