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Hello everyone, as a new rider I've learned a lot just from reading everyone's accounts of their learning processes, close calls, smart decisions, stupid decisions, and everything else. What really got to me the most was reading about new riders who were having the jitters, which I can relate to very well! I felt it would be best to share how my first times on a motorcycle go and maybe it might help show a new rider that they're not alone in making very dumb mistakes or bring back some fond (embarrassing?) memories for the experienced riders.

So my first big mistake: Getting a motorcycle BEFORE the MSF.

Late summer of this year, I got the itch to ride a motorcycle. It wasn't the first time it happened but this was different. This was the type of itch that you know you can't hold out against and will eventually scratch. I'm not even sure where I got the notion from, just that I would eventually find myself on a crotch rocket.

Fortunately, I couldn't take the plunge right away since I was on a tight budget, I couldn't find a motorcycle I liked, and I was truly intimidated (a close friend of mine was in a fatal motorcycle crash a year or so back). So I did what anyone who wants to do anything in this day and age does: I googled. Lo and behold, there was a plethora of information online including this website and forum.

I knew from the get-go that motorcycles are machines to be respected and that starting out on a 900cc superbike would get me killed or too scared to ride no matter how I approached it. Not to mention the price of one absolutely puts it out of the question. Eventually I, like many other beginners, settled on the Kawasaki Ninja 250. Everything about it fit me - the small size, low seat height (I'm only 5'8"), sporty look, and great MPG.

After a LOT of reading, I went to get my permit in early September. Passed with flying colors, though some of the questions were admittedly a little tricky. With license number in hand, I registered for an MSF course in mid-October.

During this whole time, I had been scouring CL for a Ninja and two or so weeks ago, I found a deal I couldn't pass up and lightened my pockets. This was about two weeks ago. With motorcycle in hand (or on ground that is), I had no idea what to do and just left it sitting until four days ago, when I took it out for the first time.

Now here's why I know I made a mistake in getting the motorcycle before the course. Even just sitting on it, everything felt so foreign to me that I really had no way to tell that this was "the" bike for me with no experience at all. The only thing I had going was other people's testimonials and a brief run on a Honda CBR600 a few years back (now that bike scared me to death and veered me away from motorcycles until now). Really, I should have taken the course and then figured out just what I wanted in a motorcycle. Fortunately, I believe the Ninja fits me well. After those first awkward sittings everything became a little more relaxed and the motorcycle felt comfortable under me.

The reason why I didn't take it until four days ago is another mistake I made: I killed the battery.

After the seller dropped it off at my street and all the legal things were taken care of, I pushed it over to my driveway without turning off the ignition (not the engine). In fact, I didn't even know about turning off the ignition. So I walk it to my driveway and go in to rest my arms (forgot I was holding the brake lever in half the time I was trying to push ) and get some coffee. By the time I come outside to start it up for no reason other than to hear it, I get it to crank once and then stalled it by closing off the choke completely. I reach over, press the starter, and all I can hear is *clickclickclickclick*. Damn. I had read enough on ninja250.org to know that I drained the battery. Motorcycle cells really are tiny!

So in I went to order a Battery Tender Jr - they work great! - and figured I might as well use the shipping and delivery time to get my gear all set. Down to the local dealership I went and picked up a nice Arai helmet, Joe Rocket mesh jacket, textile pants, and riding boots, and a pair of Teknik gloves. The total price came up to be more than half that of the motorcycle! That one fact alone built a lot of confidence in me.

And now we're up to four days ago. I've got all my gear, the battery is charged up, the bike is inspected and problem free (missing a lower fairing bolt on the left side but that's it), and I'm good to go. Except I still hadn't taken the MSF course and had only my reading to go by.

Day 4

While I didn't plan on skipping days, I just had to add this in here today.

My bike went down! Well, without me on it that is.

Apparently it was parked in the motorcycle parking area of a lot when some girl in a black Mercedes pulls out, backs up, and knocks it over. The front left turn signal is broken off, the front fender is broken off, both handles and the clutch and front brake are scratched up badly. And the tach is cracked.

Best part is what the girl tried to do after. I was out doing things so I didn't see the crash happen but after it did, she apparently tried to leave the lot when a police officer stopped her and asked her why she was just leaving. She said to him, "Oh I know the guy who owns it."

Needless to say, he took down all her info, including her insurance which I'm assuming should cover my damages.

I'm amazed that anyone could run into a parked motorcycle while backing up. Only my fourth day and already having bad experiences with cagers!

Well, hope your still enjoying it. At 5'8" your a veritable giant I'm 5'4.5" and do really need a low seat.
Don't know the ways insurance companies like to get out of paying out in the New World, but here in the UK Car parks don't count.
Check out your insurance.
Ade

Good luck on the insurance, and welcome to 2 wheelworld


At least you got your cherry drop out of the way in a nice non-bleeding kinda way.

Think of it as a chance to get fammiliar with the parts you wanna put on your bike

Day 1
Time: 2 hours
Distance: 5 miles

Silly isn't it? 5 miles in 2 hours.

Anyways, I started off the day by gearing up, starting up the motorcycle, and trying to slowly edge out the driveway in the friction zone. My God was that difficult! I had learned from all the research I was doing that the best way to control at slow speeds is to pick both feet up and feather the rear brake while in the friction zone. I ended up spending about 45 minutes trying to do this in my driveway, not realizing that I was really only going at about 2 mph at most, and tipping over every-which-way. I finally get the guts to let the clutch out a little bit more and get a small turn or two in, which really built my confidence. At this point I figured I have to get out of the driveway.

So I creep up to the end of the driveway, duck-walking it most of the time, and pull out into the road decently smoothly, although I flared the throttle (sensitive thing!). I figured out that I need a REALLY light touch on the throttle. Not sure if it's just my motorcycle or if it applies to every bike. Anyways, I steady myself and cruise down the street at 10 mph, though I swear that it felt like 25. Did some practice in the parking lot of figure 8's and whatnot.

Here are some things I found:
- Turning from a stop is hard. I always go wide on these turns, especially to the right.
- My right hand has a mind of its own. When I try to panic stop, more often than not I flare the throttle trying to grab the brake when I should be reaching forward and squeezing it.
- When stopping from third gear, I'm holding the clutch in while downshifting and braking at the same time. I have a feeling this might not be the right way to do it.
- I always seem to want to tip over almost immediately after coming to a stop. Does this have to do with me using the front brake too much?

In any case, I took a few spin around the neighborhood. My biggest problems right now are my head and my right hand - I really don't stay calm and I keep flaring the throttle in any panic situation. The look at where you want to go method really works, but also for places you don't want to go! Went a little wide on a turn, seemed to be heading towards a parked car, panicked, looked straight at the car and of course went veering towards it. Pulled in the clutch and flared the throttle while going for the brake, but managed to stop with quite a good margin (talk about stopping power on these things!).

I tried that same turn again a few minutes later after circling around and this time really pushed on the handlebar into what I thought was a pretty deep lean. I have to say that felt good.

Heh. I did the handfull of throttle thing the first time I rode a street bike. Thought well lets see what the brakes are like. twisted hand back in anticipation of grabbing the front brake..... Oh hello 11k in 1st. nice to meetcha. My name is holy christ!

As far as stopping I do it a little differently every time. I tend to use the brakes more than I should, unless I'm in a hurry, at which point each gear gets a chance to slow the bike along with the pads.

For the falling over thing when you stop.... I think of it as a physics thing. Once you stop, you lose the resistance to falling over that rolling round objects have. It IS possible to maintain the bike at a dead stop with no feet on the ground. It aint easy, but it comes with practice confidence familiarity with your balance and bike etc... I can do it for a second or two, then I need a foot. It helps to be as smooth as possible too. Jerking to a stop isn't conducive to good balance.

Keep practicing and be safe Glad you're having fun.

Keep your wrist down on your throttle hand. You will find that if your wrist is already down there is far less chance of you panicking and rolling the throttle open by accident. So wrist down, wrist down.

olebiker wrote:Keep your wrist down on your throttle hand. You will find that if your wrist is already down there is far less chance of you panicking and rolling the throttle open by accident. So wrist down, wrist down.

Words of wisdom. When you do this, you have to roll off the throttle to reach the brake.

You would really benefit by taking the MSF class. They teach you all the basics that you're currently discovering you lack.

Thanks for the replies everyone! That wrist down trick is something I heard about before and applied the second day. As for the MSF, I'm already scheduled and can't wait to start it. The classes fill up really fast here!

The motorcycle is still damaged and can't start (not sure why, tried all sorts of things) but the good thing is that her insurance is going to cover everything including towing next week.

Day 2
Distance: 15 miles
Time: 2 hours

Got a lot more done this time. After reading about my mistakes and ways to solve them, I headed out to my friend the parking lot again. My right turns in general still went a little wide but a lot better than before. Shifting up also became smoother. Not dropping the clutch right after the shift helps a lot.

So I practiced that... a lot. It's almost second nature to me in the parking lot but I found that it doesn't come so easily on the street. Also one of the biggest problems I have is the turn signal. In the process of doing everything I keep forgetting to hit the signal. And the few times that I do I forget to turn it off for quite a bit after. Definitely need more practice with that until the point where it just comes without thinking.

Not so much flaring of the throttle this time and the braking action is a LOT smoother. I keep forcing myself to not brake until just a little bit further before a stop because I found myself stopping way too early and inching up to the stop signs. Worst is that it's hard to balance when creeping up to the intersection.

On the way back, I hit my first real challenge. I was on a small street with no dividing line and there were two parked cars hogging up the road, one on each side. One was parked and the other was offloading stuff from the trunk, leaving me about 5 or 6 feet of space in between. I hit a brief moment of panic before making myself stare past the two cars straight in-between them. A small left swerve and a little bit of braking later I found myself between the cars so I opened the throttle a bit and made it through. Of course most people here would consider this elementary and not a panic situation at all but I could hardly believe myself when I made it through.

There's also this great little curve in the road that I took at about 20 mph and what a wonderful feeling it is to lean into that! I can understand why people enjoy twisties now because if I could I would just run that bend over and over.

Here are a few pictures of the damage to the motorcycle. There are more but the photo quality isn't that great.