[Moto J]

What do you guys think? How long or how many miles before I’m no longer a beginner? I’ve got almost 800 miles now. I know I’m still a beginner, but how long does it take? At least one full season?
I feel like I’m already ready for a full dress bike. I’ll be waiting until next summer though. I need a cup holder and a stereo, some bags, and a full windshield. My Sy-Max helmet is very noisy. I notice myself ducking down below my short windshield to reduce the noise. And I miss my morning coffee on the way to work. I sound like a baby, I know!

[owlie]

I think that this is a hard question to answer. From my experience with a cage, I’ll say this:

– I had my license for roughly two years before I began driving regularly. So even though I occasionally drove during that time, when I got my first vehicle, I was definitely still a beginner.

– I had been driving for more than four years before the first time I experienced my brakes locking up. Had I ever practiced what to do in this situation? No. Was I still a beginner? I dunno.

– I have put more than 100,000 miles on my car driving back and forth between Anchorage and my home on the highway during non-rush hour traffic. Does that mean that I have the skill to deal with Los Angles, NYC, Denver, or Dallas? Definitely not.

It is all a matter of perspective. Even in my car, I still encounter new situations and am learning new things. I don’t think it makes me a beginner, just a life-long learner.

[wbsprudels]

Here’s a simple rule of thumb: anyone checking this site regularly is still considered a beginner. I have nearly 11,000 miles logged in a little less than a year, but I keep checking this site.

–> Still a beginner!

[eon]

Ah, but we are the best beginners!

[eon]

After 9000 miles I have not reached the end of my learning, not even the beginning of the end, but it is the end of the beginning.
Sorry, couldn’t resist a little Churchillian plagiarism there.

There is no line in the sand where you cross over and leave the learning stage behind. Whether you want to label yourself as a beginner is up to you, does not change how much experience you have.

[briderdt]

The black belt. The idea is the belt that is given is to be worn, it’s not a ceremonial thing, and in wearing it and using it, it fades and becomes…

White. What is the color of the first belt that is given? That’s right — white. Full circle. The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know.

And I want to live like that. To always have that wonder of the beginner, to never think I have it all figured out, to never think that there isn’t something I can learn from any one.

[owlie]

Every now and then I get grief for my white belt. For some reason people don’t understand that a white belt that gets dirty because you have sweated in it, bled in it and rolled around on the mats and in the dirt with it, isn’t supposed to be white any more. Are they actually suggesting that I should put it in a washing machine and wash it? *shudder*

[zipperZee]

You can never be TOO experienced…

[A]

When other riders start to ask you why you leave your helmet on the bike and you asnwer: they are covered with dead bugs and stinky sweat, why would anyone steal it.

When you carry a block of wood to place under your sidestand when you park.

When you park your bike closest to moving traffic in a parking spot so it won’t be obscured my parked vehicles next to you.

When you know to face your bike uphill before you have to make a K-turn, to let gravity assist in reversing your bike.

When you act as reflex to look for ways to avoid impact rather than grabbing a handful of brakes.

[Author]

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