I LOVE that episode! So funny, yet true…
The majority of harley riders here arent bad. The worst thats happened to me is like what jeff said, they just won’t acknowledge me, and that was once or twice when I went to wave at them riding by (so now I let them make the first move lol ) Of course I’m on a sportbike so that does make a slight difference I suppose. Either way, 99% of riders will respect you for being a rider and making that initial first step to put yourself on 2 wheels (or 3 in eon’s case ), if the other 1% wants to be a douchebag, then so be it! I dont think the main reason why you decided to ride was to give all of the harley rider chubby’s when they see you was it?
And as for shifting, before the class I had never driven a manual car or ridden a motorcycle, but once I was actually on the bike, it came fairly easily. Like you, I was worried about not being able to do it, but I promise you, its really not a big deal. The main thing is clutch control, once you get that, shifting will become second nature. and eon was right the usual pattern is 1-N-2-3-4-5-6.