What was your Experience...From day 1.

I've been riding for only a couple of weeks. For years I would see the MSF students at the college I drove past and always thought about signing up. Then I moved to Texas (from MD) where there are bikes everywhere. I found the local MSF school and went to their web site a few times a day for perhaps 2 weeks. I was always too nervous to sign up. Finally, I gave in and thought why not try it and if I didn't like it, I would at least know. So, I took the BRC over 2 days in February. Cold, rainy and a little ill. Otherwise it went fine. I called my wife early on the second day and thought I was going to fail the riding test. I actually did pretty good. So, now I have my BRC certificate and promptly went to get my endorsement.

Now it was time to look for the bike. I read a lot, searched online and decided on a Virago 250. My brother in law kept telling me to get at least a 750cc...something about the torque. I disagreed and am glad I have my small cruiser to train on. But I got ahead of the story. I spent the next several weeks on craigslist and Ebay looking formy Virago. If I found one too far away I was afraid I wouldn't be able to ride it home. I ultimately found a 2003 Virago with 4000 miles about 2 hours away and the seller trailored it to my house!!

Next, I rode around my small street. I have a circle to practice on. After 2 weekends of doing this and feeling what it feels like to run out of gas and use the fuel knob, I said either go out into the street or sell the bike. So, I rode out into the neighborhood. Had fun. Almost no traffic. A squirrel ran out in front of me and once I put my left foot down at a stop sign right on top of slippery cardboard box and almost fell off. But otherwise no problems. I love my bike and really enjoy riding it. My issues to practice:
1. Cancel the turn signal
2. Better braking/downshifting prior to turns
3. Smoother starts and smoother turns from a stop
4. Keeping the balls of my feet on the pegs, not my heels.

Wish my story was as thought involved. I grew up around bikers. Mostly the old school Harley types. For entertainment they would pop Fat Boys up and see how much gravel they can pick up with the rear fender. Of course as a kid this can scare the bejeebers out of ya. So 20+ some years later.... I am at my shop and shooting the bull with the other mechanics. Motorcycles came up and I told them how it was cool that some of them would ride but I didn't have the intestinal fortitude to get on one and hit the highways. Apparently that was the wrong thing to tell my brain. 2 days later I found myself here on BBM and reading all of Ben's reviews. Settled on the V500 which I ended up purchasing a week after I said what I did. A week after that I had the Riders Edge course and permit. Riding regularly I put 3,000 miles on it before moving up to my current V900. I am now another 2,000 miles into riding the V900 and love every minute of it. Took my daughter on her first ride 2 up yesterday and am impressed at how well she did!I have gone through every imaginable weather experience with the exception of snow and ice. It just keeps getting more and more fun. Next month.... my first real long haul ride... will be going from Central NC to southern Georgia...I am stoked!
Work hard, play hard, and keep the rubber on the road!

Back when I was 19 and worked a minimum wage and was a student, one of my buddies let me ride his blaster (quad) and I never wanted to get off of it after that. Not being able to afford something like that, I was craving that same feeling and started purchasing small, old, beaten up rat bikes, dirt bikes and the like. I had a 1977 enduro bike that had a warn clutch, but ran well. It cost me $150 at the time and I pretty much rode it on trails. Protective gear was a luxury at the time and I didn't have a helmet. I ended up colliding head on with one of my buddies while he rode a YZ-80 and I came out of the crash with not a scratch. It was a low speed collision that nearly totaled both bikes.

After that, I got my motorcycle permit and took a private motorcycle lesson. The private lesson taught me a lot and I enjoyed learning. There was no MSF course at the time and I was only 20 years of age back then and 50 lbs lighter (1994). The whole road test with a motorcycle scenario was very intimidating for me and inconvenient. Both of my parents didn't support my interest in motorcycles so it wasn't easy. I looked for other ways enjoy this hobby and eventually purchased a 1984 Honda V65 saber for $500 which turned out to be too tall and big for me. A very scary bike that needed lots of cosmetic work (tach/speedo didn't work). I didn't get to ride it much due to the fact that it was in need of more work than it was purchased for. I did manage to trade it for a 1978 Honda Hawk 400cc bike that I loved. That bike was perfect for me and I unfortunately had to get rid of it due the fact that I was joining the Army in November of 95'.

13 years have passed and the passion was dead since then. I have a decent job now and found out about the MSF course and eventually got back into motorcycling. I got my motorcycle license in late September 08' and my Kawasaki Versys in October. I just got all new gear and I'm looking forward to spring.

I just woke up one day and said I want to ride a motorcyle. Probably due to my typical asian parents not letting me get one in my younger years and my buddy got his M1 and was riding a couple of months already. Rounded up a couple of friends and we took the MSF together. The day after I got my orange slip, I was at the DMV and got my M1. A few days after that I got my first bike, the SV650S. In those few days, I really wanted an R1 and researched Yamaha dealers. My buddy who was riding before me talked me down to the SV. I was planning to do a month of parking lots, but being impulsvie, that lasted a couple of weeks before I hit the streets. A few days after hitting the streets, I was taking on the highway. Probably not too smart, but you can't learn if you don't do. After the first few days of starting to ride the streets, I was scared shitless. I was scared shitless the first few times on the highway. Ben actually saw me one weekend at work riding around campus and trying to not suck on the bike. I got used to the street and the highway pretty quick. About a month later, went on my first group (the first BBM) ride and that was awesome. Been riding pretty much everyday in the dry and wet ever since. Picked up my second bike in July, the Ducati 848. It's almost a year now and I've racked up close to 15K in quality twistie, street, and highway riding. Did my first trackday in November and doing 12 trackdays this year. An impulsive decision has turned into a lifetime love. Even after having my first substantial crash in October, I didn't have any questions that I'd be back on the saddle as soon as I could. This has been the best impulsive decision I've ever made.

I started out on a 50cc mini bike of my friends when I was 10, moved up to a 4 wheeler of my own at 14. It was all my parents would allow, my dad's favorite line "You're lucky if you die in a motorcycle crash, otherwise you are a vegitable." This from a man who refused to wear a helmet when he drove our 4 wheeler. So I went to school , got a job, got married, had a son.....Turned 34 and said I don't live at home, I am going to get a bike. First thing I did was hit the web, research it, found this and other sites, decided I better take the MSF. Best $450.00 ever spent. I thought I new a lot about bikes. Well I did, what I learned I didn't know, was how to stay alive in traffic and our MSF drilled that and how to stop, swerve, survive stupid people on cell phones etc. That was important. Riding during that course in September here, the very end of season for most people, I was addicted, Riding is like crack for me, and as stressful as it can be, it actually calms me down?? Anyway, There are 2 grades of licenses here, 550 cc and under and unlimited, I already decided my first bike would be likely less than 550 cc but if you don't get the unlimited the first time around it is long waiting list to do it all over again. I took the big bike test on a S40 Suzuki, had to go first because they did alphabetical order, Aced the test, thank god, got my endorsement. Started looking for a bike even though I was supposed to wait until I had the money saved, per agreement with my wife. Same day I got my license I found an 81 CM400T Honda. Guy wanted 800. I went to see it, and since I have been fixing cars, quads, lawnmovers etc. I could tell the bike was good. Offered the guy 600, he said 650.... SOLD, went to the bank and got the $$ off credit line, then went home to face the music. My wife was pisssed to say the least, but I got insrance and went and drove the bike home. No real traffic etc. Then started taking it a block away to the MSF course parking lot in the evenings for a few weeks, got to know the bike and then started taking it everywhere. My wife wanted me to sell it and I almost did. I had put 2500 kM's on it in less than 3 weeks. She wanted to do an overnight trip to a town about 4 hours away. I said we don't the money for gas, it was pushing 75.00 to fill the SUV and would take about 2 tanks to go there and back plus hotel room, meals etc, she said we would have the $$ if I didn't buy the bike, then I said, lets take the bike it will only cost liek $25 for gas. Our son was staying with his grandparents so no issues. She said OK, so we went. Took all the back roads, no Highway, it took us 2 hours longer to get there but we had a blast! When that trip was over she said "I don't think we should sell the bike" By the time the snow flew the old bike had another 3000 K's on it and then disaster struck. I was on my way to a meeting at a hotel for work, taking the highway running 7500RPM when the bike started to act funny, then went crunch, and I blew a piston. Came to find out a piece of a cheap gasket, (Previous owner had used) had come off and plugged the right oil channel for the cylinder. I was devestated, I thought, I have no money to fix this, what am I going to do. I tore the bike down and was ready to part it out. Did some research again and discovered the newer model 450cc bikes honda built had better motors, extra oil hoses to prevent this. So I found a parts bike with a good motor but crap frame and forks etc. and 150.00 later, rebuilt the bike and just took it for it's first ride. It is now a 6 speed and the motor is great, nice little boost in power. Then it snowed again so the bike is sitting until the weather improves but in about a week or so it will be ridden until I can afford to go bigger so my wife and I can do longer trips together.

Cheers.

She kept mentioning how I'd look good on a bike. A friend bought a new Honda VTX1300, a beautiful machine, and then she really ramped it up.

I had another friend show me the basics on a beat up old Yamaha XS400, in his office parking lot. That hooked me, because it was an absolute blast.

A co-worker encouraged me to take the MSF class. After thinking about it for a while, I decided to take the class as a birthday present to myself. When I went out at lunch and bought a helmet, folks realized I was serious. When I bought a used bike, it finally dawned on my wife that I'd been paying attention when she said I'd look good on a bike (she claimed it was idle speculation on her part).

When I went to buy the bike I was too nervous to take it on a test ride. I couldn't get the thing under motion. The seller threw me on the back and took off down the road, intent on demonstrating what a Honda Magna is capable of. It scared the bejesus out of me--this is a damned fast bike. I had to get the friend who owns the VTX to ride it home for me.

I took the bike out every day after work to a parking lot at the end of my street, working on basic throttle control. I had to knock that off pretty quickly though, because to buy gas I would need to go into town, and there was no way I was ready for in-town traffic. Fortunately, it was only two weeks from purchase of the bike to MSF class.

Class was stressful because I was learning a lot of new skills. It was also fun, because I got to apply those skills, and had fun with the other folks in the class, who were largely in the same boat. Testing was nervous making because of the u-turn box, which I just barely passed (it's easier on my larger bike, even in the same box).

After I got my endorsement, I kept it to local roads for a couple of weeks, mostly training runs in the evening and on weekends to expand my skills. I finally took it out on the highway so I could go and show the bike to my parents.

Riding on the highway showed me that I needed to change some of the setup on the bike. The cruiser windshield was okay for riding on surface streets, but at highway speeds it made too much turbulence, so I took it off. The ride got smoother, but it took a lot more strength to hold on, and I got kind of tired after an hour or so. A flyscreen solved the problem, on a friend's recommendation. A lot less air resistance and no turbulence.

Now I'm eager for the weather here in Michigan to get decent so that I can start riding to work again. We've been having freezing mornings with warm afternoons. So when I'm driving home in the cage, I can watch all the guys riding around, which is annoying. I'm compensating by doing motorcycle maintenance. Zenlike it isn't, but it keeps me from going mad.

I wanted a motorcycle from the time I was 9. The local Honda/HD dealership was a few miles from my house. I went there every morning that summer. I sat on all the motorcycles that fit me. Fast forward 6 years. My Dad and Mom got divorced and my Dad (as his first choice to prove he was his own man) found a couple of matching Honda CL 100. We were both big guys and looked like monkeys F%C*ing footballs. They were just the right size. We got our permits and then got into the MSF course. This was 1976. We put TONS of miles on those little mini-bikes. Fast forward again, it is now 1996 and I decided, after a 15 year hiatus from riding, that if I didn't ride this year, I never would again. I took the MSF course again. That year I got a 1996 HD Sportster. I put 8000 miles on it that season. I rode summer/winter. In 1997 I decided that I wanted to do something to keep my skills fresh, so I spoke to a MSF instructor who worked at my job about becoming an instructor. April 1998 I took the instructor course and proceeded to work every weekend for a year. The rest as they say, is history. I don't work EVERY weekend now, but, I do work 2-3 a month. It is one of the most rewarding things I have done.

Jay T.
www.ridesafe.today.com

First real riding experience was a dirt bike weekend with friends in Palm Desert, Cali. 2nd day out I took off on my own on a borrowed bike, jumped it into a dry creek bed and failed to consider that the other side of the creek was waiting. Seeing the 2-foot dirt wall quickly approaching, I hit the gas to try to get the front wheel up. Unfortunately, being a moron, I didn't think this through too well. Front wheel cleared the bank but the frame/engine did not. I flew forward, both my knees hit the bars, hyper-extending and dislocating both joints and providing sufficient leverage so that the bike tumbled over the embankment and on top of me.

Luckily, the bike stayed running and I was able to ride back to my friends -- staying in 1st gear because I couldn't shift. I ended up totaling the bike (frame, forks, front wheel, bars and engine were destroyed). 6 months on crutches/in casts, then another 6 in knee braces and I was wanting to try again.

But I waited 10 years for my next episode. I was living in Hawaii, went to the DMV, took the written test, rented a big scooter and passed the practical. I then showed up at the Harley shop and bought a new Sportster. Dealer showed me how to shift and off I went. First month in, I set the bike down at a stop, and broke a taillight (subsequently replaced with a nicer set). Otherwise, rode the bike 360+ days a year for several years with no incident.

Sold the bike and took a break from riding when my son was born and I moved out of the states.

A few years later I was back in Cali -- so back to the DMV for another MC license. Written test for the permit, borrowed a friend's bike for a couple hours refresher, then passed the DMV practical on it. Now racking up 1,500+ miles a month riding to work and loving every second.

At times, my knees still ache from that first crash 25 years ago -- a good reminder of the consequences of a momentary lapse in judgement.