Total Motorcycle Community Forums

The school that offers the MSF course also offers the private lessons.

The problem is that I cannot practice anywhere without going about 40 miles in any direction. There are no parking lots, no driveways. It's going to be MSF --> License --> highway, and that's not ideal.

I'm okay with them being redundant. If an extra hundred bucks buys me a second riding vet to tell me I'm ready to go, that's fine with me...I'll need the ammunition for all my skeptical new yorker friends.

i'm really not trying to push scooters, but a 650 cc bergman will cruise on the highway at 80 mph all day long. Getting used to the squirliness of the smaller scooter tire is really no worse then learning to ride any other bike. its just different, not harder.

btw, there are some scooters out there, People makes a few, that have much larger wheels.

That said, it sounds like you just need to go buy a motorcycle

I don't mean to be dismissive of scooters at all. Actually I was amazed that there are scooters out there as powerful as they are!

I also haven't decided against them. It seems to me like a V-Strom 650 would be ideal for me down the road, but I'm going to pick up a used GS500 or Ninja for a season and educate myself a bit more (I'm about halfway through Hough's "Proficient Motorcycling") before I drop several grand on anything.

Picked up my helmet and gloves yesterday, along with my permit (three #!$!#% hours in the NYC DMV). I don't know how I would've done this ten or fifteen years ago since I don't know anyone around NYC who rides -- this forum has been great!

Make sure you go and sit on a bunch of different bikes. You may find that the fit of the one you want right now is all bad for you - or it could be perfect!

Good luck.

Hehehe, the one I *want* right now is a nice $11,000 BMW or a V-Strom....but the ones I'm going to sit on are the 250-500cc starter bikes so I won't have an anneurism the first time I drop it.

Septimus wrote:Hehehe, the one I *want* right now is a nice $11,000 BMW or a V-Strom....but the ones I'm going to sit on are the 250-500cc starter bikes so I won't have an anneurism the first time I drop it.

if you're as ana about your bike as you are quick at responding to this thread, you'll probably still have an anneurism

You're certainly right about that, but that's something that no bike can fix...

Septimus wrote: The problem is that I cannot practice anywhere without going about 40 miles in any direction. There are no parking lots, no driveways. It's going to be MSF --> License --> highway, and that's not ideal.

The thing is, you'd get a lot more out of that extra hundred bucks by saving it until after you've done the first MSF course. They will teach you the baby steps there. Then you can take a more advanced course from them or get some one-on-one with someone else. You'll get farther faster that way.

Unless I'm misunderstanding something and you think you have to get a bike and start riding immediately after passing the MSF. I don't see why you can't take another class afterward, then get your license and bike.

No, not at all, you're exactly right. I have no objections to spending another hundred after the MSF if I need to.

The reputation this particular school has is that their instructors are pretty hard on everyone (perhaps because it's NYC, who knows) and I don't want the very first time I get on a bike to be in a class with a lot of other people.

I won't have my license for at least a few weeks after the MSF anyway, so not much point in buying a bike before that.

Its a good idea to get a used bike for your first ride. Insurance will be cheaper, and it wont hurt your ego as much if you happen to drop it. You shouldnt have much trouble finding a lightly used gs500 or ninja 500 in nice shape for $2-3k.