Hello everyone!

[dr_bar]

A friend of mine asked me to teach her how to ride....


I refused. Why??? Because over the years I've developed many bad habits that I would definitely pass on to her. I recomended that she take proper instruction from a certified organization.

Me - 30 plus years of riding (on and off)
Her - 2 years of riding

She's now a much better technical rider than I ever was...

Way to go blues2cruise

[ill'n]

I was just wondering, because my moms boyfreind has been on bikes since he was my age, and Im sure he could teach me a lot of basics.

The following table was taken from a report that came out in January of 1981 by Dr. Harry H. Hurt. The report is pretty well known and is commonly referred to as the Hurt Report. It was a collection of data of all motorcycle accidents in the L.A. Basin area.

Code: Select all

Training                            Risk Factor
-----------------------------------------------------------
Professional training                0.46
School/club course                   0.50
Self taught                          0.90
Taught by friends/family             1.56

(Where 1.0 indicates the average of those studied.  Numbers higher than 1.0 indicate a greater than average accident involvement.)

According to the report, having friends or family teach you is statistically a bad idea.

[intotherain]

ha ur just like me, were both young and we want sporty sport bikes

[Koss]

Heya there!

+1 to what everyone has said.

I would refuse any instruction from friends or family if they ask if you want some pointers or anything. Just say that im waiting for the MSF course and want to start the slate clean when I get there.

Diffently get the book Proficient Motorcycling from David Hough. I have never learned as much as I have from any other source. You will notice that after reading, you will understand more of what people say or refer to on this message board. Another good book is Motorcycles for Dummies (I know I know, sounds silly but it actually is a good book. its geared more towards beginners). If I had a choice on just one book, I would pick Proficient motorcycling 10 times out of 10.

Check out the stickies here in the new riders forums, have alot of good info about beginner riders and what to look for.

Another great site is this one from dragonhawk I believe. Although I haven't seen this person around the TMW forums in awhile, but its their site. It will put some things in perspective, and offer some great advice... all for free! I know it helped my decision on which bike to get.

[darek]

Oh ok, I will see if i can learn a couple things before hand though.

[intotherain]

Lol I got my bike a month before my MSF course and taught my self on an internet training site.

It was just like a paragraph of two on how to start the motorcycle.. FINE-C, fuel, ignition, neutral, etc etc. and on another paragraph on how to shift the motorcycle. I dont think it was too good of an idea but I had no body else to teach me and my class was 1 month away and all these days were like clear 80 F+ days! I couldnt resist! I circled my block for a couple of days.
then I slowly entered small roads, then on to bigger roads, and i mastered the ultra noob aspects of motorcycling before I even entered the class.

Ill prolly get yelled at by this from the veterans. but oh well, im done with y MSF course, got my liscence, my bike doesnt have a scratch on it, (never been dropped) and im still alive. yay.

[darek]

Sorry about my last post, I didnt see that there was another page of this thread. So for that matter, I take it back . Thanks everyone.