Total Motorcycle Community Forums

There was a about 4 people in my MSF class that had never ridden either. The instructors were very experienced and helped everyone. I had ridden dirt bikes so I had a little experience. Most of the ones that had never ridden were in there 40's and 50's, I am 44. If you can ride a bicycle you will have the basic balance part, they survey everyone to get a feel for experience level as well as by watching you they will be able to offer advice.

Welcome
Well i started at 52
if I can do it anyone can..

mayhem39 wrote:Ok, so once I get through the course I will be looking to buy my first bike. I am 6 ft tall and around 200 lbs. I would like to get a cruiser. Do I need to start out small, such as a Rebel or should I be looking at something bigger?

Go and read the STICKY THREADS at the top of this forum. See if your question (actually most all of them) isn't answered there.

P

Thanks for the responses so far everyone. I feel much better knowing that I probably won't be the oldest one in the class.

JC Viper wrote:Don't forget to buy David L. Hough's Proficient Motorcycling book. It's a good read for what you're up against and may also give you some insight on certain tasks.

Once you're done with that book, then there's More Proficient Motorcycling by the same author.

I just bought this book. Kind of pricey ($25) but well worth it. Really gets into the physics of bike riding. Only a few pages into it but it is well worth it so far.

I started at 44 too (this year). Apart from having ridden a Vespa for a few months, I had no experience either. It was in fact the MSF course, which I took for the Vespa, that made me want to get a MC after riding a couple of those little beat up cruisers and standards they use.

So similar to Wrider, my first bike (purchased in July) is a Suzuki Boulevard C50. It's a great bike, but, if you get something this size, be REALLY careful and take things slow. They are inarguably heavy for a first bike. I have no problems above 7 MPH, but at very slow speeds the weight of the bike can really catch you off guard -- pulling away from the gas pump, maneuvering in and out of the garage, etc. The Hough book is a must, and I think should be required along with the MSF course.

Also, I gotta fault ALL of you mofos on this forum for failing to warn me about the greatest danger in getting a bike: the insatiable obsession with riding, modding, tweaking, reading the forums and generally dedicating so much time to the damn bike that my job, my relationships and my bank account are all suffering horribly. But damn I love that bike.
Oh yeah, and there really is no other imaginable scenario that would have had me actually pay for and download a movie like "Wild Hogs." So uh, yeah, thanks for that.

tropicalhotdog wrote: Also, I gotta fault ALL of you mofos on this forum for failing to warn me about the greatest danger in getting a bike: the insatiable obsession with riding, modding, tweaking, reading the forums and generally dedicating so much time to the damn bike that my job, my relationships and my bank account are all suffering horribly. But damn I love that bike.

Hey c'mon. Do we have to spell it out for yuh? Can't yuh just tell from reading all this stuff that we're a bunch of crazy obsessives. Sheesh!

tropicalhotdog wrote:Oh yeah, and there really is no other imaginable scenario that would have had me actually pay for and download a movie like "Wild Hogs." So uh, yeah, thanks for that.

Groan! OK yes. I rented a copy from Blockbuster to [Edit - maybe even 'two'] nights ago. I'm no cruiser fan so there was nothing here for me at all. But I still watched the sodding thing from beginning to end. Explain please! Brrmmm brmmmm!

mayhem39 wrote:Hi, I have been reading the forums for a few days and found some good stuff here. I do have a question for everyone. I am 44 years old and have never driven a motorcycle. The thing is....I really want to start riding. My question is, how hard is it to learn how to ride one? I am planning on taking the safety course but I really don't want to be embarrassed at the class. I guess I'm just a little nervous about it all.

I just stopped in a dealership one Sat back in 84 and at age 52 bought my first motorcycle, never was on one before that. Got my son who rode to ride it home for me and I practiced for an hour and put it away. Next morning I hit the road alone and never stopped. Now 23 years and 350,000 miles later I still ride every day I can and intend to keep on doing so as long as I can walk to the bike and climb on. Riding can be addictive.

I've always felt that anyone that rode a bicycle as a kid and can drive a stick shift car can get on a motorcycle and ride it. I never took the MSF course, never heard of it when I started, and never read any books about riding. It's a different world out there now so take the course and learn everything you can about defensive riding before you start.

mayhem39 wrote:Hi, I have been reading the forums for a few days and found some good stuff here. I do have a question for everyone. I am 44 years old and have never driven a motorcycle. The thing is....I really want to start riding. My question is, how hard is it to learn how to ride one? I am planning on taking the safety course but I really don't want to be embarrassed at the class. I guess I'm just a little nervous about it all.

When I decided to get back into motorcycling at the age of fifty I couldn't work up the courage to buy a bike at first, so I went out and bought an expensive helmet instead and blackmailed myself into it. What would I do with a lid and no bike?

If you get some training, you will probably find the fear of embarassment is a bigger problem than riding the bike. Just try to remember that bikers, on the whole, are very supportive of beginners because they want to see new people coming into the sport. They understand the nerves and the difficulties. They were all beginners once.

As a beginner there is nothing to be embarrassed about if you make a mistake or if you don't ride like Rossi the first time you sling you leg over the saddle or you find some people getting the hang of it quicker than you do. Give yourself a break. Everyone learns according to their own pace and rhythm. There is no shame if you don't get it first time. Speedy learners don't necessarily make the best bikers.

tropicalhotdog wrote:Also, I gotta fault ALL of you mofos on this forum for failing to warn me about the greatest danger in getting a bike: the insatiable obsession with riding, modding, tweaking, reading the forums and generally dedicating so much time to the damn bike that my job, my relationships and my bank account are all suffering horribly. But damn I love that bike.

Rookie!! Wait 'till you've got two or three or four or more bikes, bwahahaha!!!!!

tropicalhotdog wrote:Oh yeah, and there really is no other imaginable scenario that would have had me actually pay for and download a movie like "Wild Hogs." So uh, yeah, thanks for that.

Heh. Yesterday another biker at work and I admitted to each other with chagrin that we'd both paid money to see that dumb thing last spring!