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After looking at bikes for six months, yesterday I bought my first bike at age 52. I thought long and hard about buying a cheap beater bike to learn on, but was afraid I'd end up pumping money into repairs. I ended up with a 2002 Kawasaki Vulcan 800 Classic with 2700 miles. It looks brand new, was driven by a retired man who's moving up to an 1100, and the price was right. Now I've got a few challenges...to stay off main roads till I take my rider's education class in Sept., to keep from dropping it, and not to let my elderly father with a weak heart find out just yet.

Sounds Great!

Good purchase - you skipped the huge initial depreciation and still got a new enough ride that it should still be very reliable. You got a way to get to a parking lot to put in a few miles without traffic?

I live on a small farm south of St. Louis, so there are no parking lots close. I plan to start riding around the farm, then ride on a paved private street across the road from my house, then ride the many miles of paved back roads on weekend mornings when there is no traffic. If you were me, what would you practice first?

Go to the home page of this web site and go through the tutorials.

Read More Proficient Motorcycling my David Hough, ans Street Strategies as well, and even Complete Idiots guide to Motorcycling.

good choice of bike. congrat!!!!!

Let's roll

stay off the front brake on dirt and gravel.

Don't lean it over to far either, it's easy to lose traction once you get off pavement.

If you haven't ridden before you should start by famialiarizing yourself with the controls. Then start the bike up in neutral. Then put it into first and slooowly let the clutch out without going anywhere and just rock back and forth heel to toe to get a feel for the friction zone. After you have that let yourself ride point-to point in first gear in a straight line a few times before you take any turns. That's how they do it in MSF class - worked for me. Don't forget to put that kickstand down! And until you get used to things, confirm that you are actually in neutral before letting go of the clutch if the motor is running. The neutral light on lots of bikes will occasionally lie to you. Good luck - you're gonna have a blast

http://www.ridelikeapro.com/ This is a particularly good link for cruiser riders. Everybody can do these exerises, but the training is kind of geared toward cruisers...particulary at low speeds. Very good for learning basic control of the bike. Nice bike BTW! Good choice.