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Hello All, I am a new rider and I will be taking my rider course on April 6th and 7th. I have already purchased a 2009 Yamaha V Star 650, she only has 75 miles on her! I can't wait to ride her. Because it is my first time ever driving a bike I find her quite heavy. I am 5'6" and weigh about 130lbs. I did done some very basic training with my husband on clutch and throttle control last weekend, trying to work out the friction zone. I did O.K. with that. We were in a huge parking lot and decided to try big figure eights in first gear, which I also did well with. That is, until I stopped. Being the noob I am I didn't apply the brake soon enough, I ended up applying the brake too suddenly which caused my bike to fall over!. He was right there and caught the bike and neither the bike or I was hurt. A valuable lesson for me about how smooth and slow I need to do things on a bike. It taught me a lot of respect for what you experienced riders make look so easy. I am a lot more nervous now though and I definitely will not be getting back on her until after my course! Hopefully my training course will help me through the jitters, and crash bars too, lol. Will keep you posted, to let you know if I made the right choice by buying this 500 pound bike!

Welcome Wendy to the community! So glad to have another new rider join us. We are really friendly here and if you have ANY questions at all, feel free to ask us.

You have chosen wisely on your first bike, great choice! You will get used to the weight of it in time and it's best to take it slow and easy doing so as it's a new bike. Congratulations on taking a MSF course as well, another great choice!

Try not to practice on the bike BEFORE your course, it can lead to bad habits the instructor will have to work out.

Welcome the TMW community!

Mike

Hey nice 2 meet you. It sounds like you respect the bike you understand its a learning experience and thats whats up

Hello Wendy and welcome to the forum. Hows about a picture of your bike.

650 VStar is a great bike, if treated well, it will last a real long time. How did your training go?

Congratulations! You got the first dump out of the way. Only one or two more to go My husband dumped mine for the first time last week while stopped on the side of the road. Called me all freaked out. Cutest thing ever.

Enjoy the ride!

MmeMagpie wrote:My husband dumped mine for the first time last week while stopped on the side of the road. Called me all freaked out. Cutest thing ever.

Slightly OT but "cutest thing ever"? You are mind-bogglingly understanding.

My bike looks like holy hell, so I'm making him ride it for a year to get the hang of things (and to get those first two or three dumps out of the way) before we buy him something pretty and shiny. I am an awesome wife

Hi All, Thank you so much for your kind Welcome's! My training was the most nerve racking, frustrating thing I have been through in a long time! I being a typical Fe cried during the lunch break on the second day, lol. I have never driven a standard anything before so I was truly starting from scratch. I was the only girl in the course that weekend. I thought for sure I wouldn't pass, my gear shifting sucked, I was afraid to go to fast, I had trouble staying in the lines of the sharp curves and those small bikes they use for the course are the most unforgiving machines on earth!! But lo and behold I passed!!! At first, going out on my own bike was almost like a chore, I was a bundle of nerves and the stress was no fun at all. I dropped my girl a few more times from bad breaking and kickback but she has engine guards thank god and has come out unscathed. But now? I have already put over 700 km's on my V Star and I am absolutely in love!!! I enjoy going out for rides and hate the rainy days. The thing I found most difficult was starting up from first gear on an incline, like at a stop light, My god! I stalled the poor thing like crazy, six times at one light and traffic started to go around me lolololol. But I have mastered that now as well, YES!!!!! I look forward to a wonderful summer of riding and can hardly wait to get on her and go, to feel the tank between my knees and the wind turning my hair into a rats nest! Regards All, and I will post a picture as soon as I figure out how to.

Congratulations. Keep practicing and stay safe.