First ride to bring my new (big) bike home ... advice?

[Flipper]

Rogero, glad you made it back safely. I've sorta been worried about you.
That was quite a trip for your first time and it sounds like you experienced lots of first time noobie things. Congrats.
Sorry about the drop, but it happens to everyone eventually.
Thanks for sharing your adventure.

[jstark47]

Later - still winding, I cam upon a snake. I almost swerved but Bill the instructor's voice came to my head - Never swerve for anything smaller than a raccoon.

Sometimes stated, "Never swerve for anything small enough to eat at one sitting"

Did the typical low wave and thought ....... that letting go of one handlebar at 60mph is WAY harder (and I'll be honest, Scarier) than I would have thought.

It really isn't, as you'll eventually discover. Remember riding a bicycle "no-handed"? A motorcycle at speed going straight on smooth pavement is perfectly content to continue doing so without you holding on. (Not that I'm advocating anything so squidly as riding one-handed... ) The difficulty comes from unpredictable encounters with not-so-smooth pavement...

[El Conquistador]

It was helpful to have my wife in the car behind me.

I did the same, although my ride was not nearly as long. Just 2 or 3 miles to home, but it gave me some additional confidence for the trip home.

And I haven't dropped my bike (Vulcan 500), yet...