Another new guy here.

[dieziege]

Truth be told... 'cause I wear glasses and the speedo on that little bike came out way below the bottom of my "corrected" field of view.

[camthepyro]

Oh, I never even thought about that.

[Scoutmedic]

For the part of your post regarding bikes and your size, the best bet is to go to the dealerships and sit on all kinds. It sounds like we're about the same size. I'm 5'7" and 215lbs. Cruisers fit me best. Smaller cc dualsports were ok as well. I could flat foot those. The Vstrom and SV650 had me up on the balls of my feet. Most of the sportbikes had me on my tiptoes. Not a good idea.

If you're dead set on a bike that's "too tall" for you, different seats can lower the height as well as the suspension adjustments. There are also kits for that from what I understand. I didn't look into it too much because the ergonomics of the sportbikes and I didn't "mesh".

I considered looking into a lowered Vstrom but ultimately decided on a cruiser.

Good luck in your search. Like I said before, you'll just have to go out and start sitting on some bikes.

Enjoy the MSF. I found it extremely informative and fun!

[MattL]

Even if you have a 14k redline doesn't mean you have to red line it... When i take my friends gixxer 600 out I've shifted it around 4-5k. No reason to bring it up much higher.

[Kim]

Even after having already driven a manual, I know exactly how you feel about having to shift, throttle, brake, steer, search, etc., etc. and wondering how you can possibly do most of that all at one time!? I was overwhelmed at the thought of it all.

Believe me, if I can do it so can you. I still have lots to learn and more practice ahead of me but it gets easier every time you ride. The MSF course is the best place to start!

[flynrider]

Truth be told... 'cause I wear glasses and the speedo on that little bike came out way below the bottom of my "corrected" field of view.

I had to do a double take on your post. I read it as "I wear glasses and a speedo on that little bike"

[ZooTech]

Truth be told... 'cause I wear glasses and the speedo on that little bike came out way below the bottom of my "corrected" field of view.

I had to do a double take on your post. I read it as "I wear glasses and a speedo on that little bike"

One step beyond squid?

[Z (fka Sweet Tooth)]

I barely ever looked at the speedo during the MSF class. On the first day, any time I looked at the speedo they would signal me to get my chin up, and anyway they were signaling everyone to go faster go faster go faster and I couldn't go any faster without rear ending the person ahead of me so it didn't really matter. I still had no trouble up and downshifting at more or less the right times.

Don't worry about it.

I had the same experience. He told me that he was going to duck tape my helmet back so I wouldn't look down any more But I was having a hard time with the foot controls because the bike was so small and I wanted to check my speed every once in a while.

[Dragonhawk]

If you are brand new and starting out, read this page I made:
www.CaliforniaBikeNights.com/learn

It will give you all the advice and tips I wish someone had given to me when I was starting.

As for being nervous about shifting, it's funny how perceptions change once you begin to ride. I remember I was nervous about it too. I never even learned to drive a stickshift. So, I thought it would be hard to learn shifting.

And you know what? It wasn't that bad. What I DID have a hard time with was stalling the bike. I'd constantly let the clutch out too fast without giving it enough gas and I stalled the bike over and over and over and over again. It was embarassing. No one else in my class stalled as frequently as I did. (But they did drop bikes and nearly run-down instructors, and I didn't screw up THAT bad.)

But, once I learned smooth clutch-control and stopped stalling, shifting was actually simple.

So, my advice is, don't worry about it or make yourself nervous before you even get on the bike. You may find shifting is simple and something else might prove to be the big challenge.

[Z (fka Sweet Tooth)]

Truth be told... 'cause I wear glasses and the speedo on that little bike came out way below the bottom of my "corrected" field of view.

Oh man you're never going to live that one down... what a mental picture.