Learning To Ride

[FJRski]

Was reading Silver Penguin's posting about First Solo Ride.

One question has always intrigued me:

What size bike is best to learn to ride on?

I learned to ride on a dirt bike. Dirt is forgiving. Does one kind of bike make learning to ride easier? If you were giving a friend advice (I'd like my wife to learn), what would you recommed for a first street bike? Dirt riding is out of the question.

I think a bigger midsize bike is easier to handle if you are learning to ride on the street. The FJR is not a beginner's ride, in my opinion. I used to ride my little 125 cc on the street. It may have only done 70 mph, but it was a bracing ride. You could watch the forks flex and feel the chasis bend in a tight corner. My 750 plain jane was much more stable. It took a lot less concentration to ride.

 

[twowheelnut]

Nighthawk 250, Ninja 250, etc...

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

EDIT: the first bike I rode was a Bridgestone, that was a neighbor's bike.

Then a Yamaha Seca 750. That was a chess rival's bike (friend)

and then a 1975 R90s (mine)

Whoa...found a link to the first bike I rode:

click

 

[GOPHER]

I know you said, "dirt is out of the question" but I think this is a mistake.

I talked my wife into learning to ride about 7 years ago after riding pillion with me for many years. She had never ridden a motorcycle solo before so I bought her a 250 Ninja.

WHAT A DISASTER. I made her ride around in a school parking lot for several months to get a feel for things before letting her onto the street. The first 3 months following her on the street was the most stressfull time period in our entire marriage. She came so close to being seriously hurt or killed so many times I sold the bike.

4 years ago I bought her a Yamaha TTR125 dirtbike. She learned to ride very quickly without having to worry about traffic. Sure she fell a lot, but it was in the dirt so it wasn't life threatening. Now she has excellent bike control and I would feel totally comfortable putting her on the street. Learning to ride a bike should be fun............not life threatening.

The street is just too dangerous and unforgiving to let your loved one use it as a training ground. Please don't do it.

 

[bikerskier]

Start in the dirt, stay in the dirt until you can spin donuts, do wheelies, climb trees, jump logs, etc. The transition to the street will be a piece of cake. I did this many years ago and then bought my first street bike. a '73 Kawasaki Mach 3 (2 stroke triple). One of the wildest bikes I have ever ridden. It could wheelie in every gear. felt like the back end was coming apart in hard corners (due to poor frame design and crappy welding), noisy and I rode the hell out out it. Even did a couple of 3000 miles trips. But I always felt I could handle it because of the dirt experience.

 

[FJRocha]

Ahem, ahem... my first bike EVER was a Honda Shadow VT500C (Samba) that I bought February 2005. On May 2005 I received my FJR (Pandora) and have been riding it almost every day since then. When I first got it, I was more afraid of a slow speed tip over, than a fall on the road. Now I feel confident, but never safe, at least as long as there are cagers sharing the roads.

Was that a good approach to riding initiation? Would I recommend that to everyone? Of course not!!! It depends greatly on the abilities of the person to learn new skills and the size and quality of the cojones of said rider. From that perspective, the FJR may or may not be a good first bike; I know it was good for me, and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. But your results may vary.

It doesn't matter what you learn on, what is really impotant is to practice, practice and practice.

As I knock on wood, I can tell you that up to date I have not had any mishaps with my bikes.

Rider size is also important... a 250cc bike would not have been good for me. Heck, I could barely keep up on group rides with Samba. Check the rider's weight and double it on cc's, i.e. me = 250# --> 500cc bike.

 

[Mike-H]

Motorcycle safety training course in Canada is basically a survival training course for the street......but my vote goes for the dirt to learn proper motorcycle control 1st.... bar none... then the saftey course to survive or attempt to survive the cagers on the street....with that in my cc size becomes a mote point <_<

 

[zzkenoman]

When I took my MSF class, two women had VStar 650's. Because it has a low stance, they can easily put two feet on the ground. I think forward leaning sports bikes are harder to learn than a comfortable VStar, however there are other manufacturers your MSF instructor can recommend.

 

[sparky3008]

Well, you asked the wrong person if you were to ask me directly and didn't want the dirt to be your answer.

I just recently bought my wife a Kawasaki KLX125L to learn on. I wouldn't dream of buying her a street bike as a starter when she won't even shift out of 1st on this bike. She is still trying to learn throttle control and clutch which we take for granted.

She has driven clutch all her life but it is two different limbs and she might as well be learning all over again.

I know you have heard about all the death's recently in Daytona. Many of those bikes were guys that had just bought brand new bikes and didn't have experience.

If you look around enough you will find where even target fixation with rookie riders get them killed on the street.

Enough preaching from me but I have to say dirt.

 

[Geezer]

As others have said, the ideal would be to learn to ride on the dirt. That is not a realistic option for many people.

I learned on the street, albeit on a minibike when I was 12 years old. My first real motorcycle was an Kawasaki H1 500cc. Some said it was too much bike for a beginner, but it worked for me. My wife, then girlfriend, learned on the same bike. My oldest daughter learned last year on my old 750 Yamaha Maxim. So, I'd say that the right bike to learn on is the one that is available. Preferably old enough that it won't be a problem when it gets scratched and dented.

If I were shopping for a first bike for myself today I would be looking at the FZ6, SV650, or similar mid-size bikes.

 

[Grumpy]

Number 1 answer is someone else's bike! :bleh: :bleh:

 

[yamaholic]

My wife just learned to ride last year. She purchased a '90 Honda Hawk GT 650 (NT650). Very light. Very forgiving powerband. Easy as anything to lean and operate. Also very inexpensive to buy and maintain. We tossed on a shield, did some restoration (caliper rebuild, etc) and off she went. Luckly it was low miles and in great shape so Ididn't have to do much to it.

IMHO, the 250's are almost TOO slow...you really have to beat on them to go anywhere. At least with a 650 they can get out of harms way if needed, but still not enough power to get in trouble.

Yep, she dropped it in a parking lot already. Learned real quick that proper safety apparel is a must (Sidi boots saved her ankle and leather jacket saved her shoulder).

I originally insisted that she needs to ride a dirt bike as an entry point into the sport, but that's not what happened. However after she rode my YZF250 for a few minutes in a grass field AFTEr she got her license, she did comment that the street seemed much easier. No standing up, no absorbing bumps with arms/legs, and no sliding.

I'm convinced that if you fine tune your dirt skills to the point where you can ride the average Nat'l forest trail, getting on a street bike will be more or less learning street survival skills as opposed to basic clutch/brake/thorrlt/shifting operations.

 

[FJRski]

Thanks for the recommendations. I've always believed that the best way to learn is on a dirt bike. But I like the sounds of starting off on a 650, not too big but not undersized, or just using someone else's bike LOL

 

[NovaFlyer]

Evening FJRski.

I'm a product of a safety course then going at 'er on the street. Not having access to 'dirt' where I was living at the time made the decision moot. Had Lot's of "oh sh*t' moments , but also got very wise to traffic flow and survival. So with that in mind, when my wife wanted to go from PAX to rider, I sent her on a riding course. Where I live, the course gives you 2 years credit towards insurance so it pays for itself. This may be something to check into where you live.

Now for what bike to get .... I wouldn't snub any noses at any of the metric middle weight cruisers out there. My wife started on a Honda ACE 750. The throttle was very progressive and clutch action a snap. Now the handling was standard cruiser stuff, but the seat height was Loooooow which inspired confidence in the vertically challenged. She now rides a new FZ6 and works 'er like a champ.

Just my

 

[red2kcbr]

I started with a '64 CB125 Twin. What a bike! I knew I was hot! Then I bought a new '72 HT2 90 Yamaha dual purpose bike. Spent a lot of time riding street and dirt.

Dirt is a good place to start. You can learn the mechanics of motorcycle control without being in traffic. That's a good idea for a lot of people.

My son started on a YZ80, wicked little two-stroke. Six-speed, water-cooled, definitely salty. He went from that to a '03 CBR600RR several years later.

My daughter started on a '00 Ninja 250. That was a pretty stressful time. Watching her learning bike control on the street was very nerve-wracking for me. Now she's looking at the new Ninja 650 twin. I think it's a good choice. Decent power, low seat height, nice bike.

There's no right answer to the best bike question. It depends on a lot of factors. My granddaughter will start on dirt bikes. If she has an interest in continuing, then it will be a bigger dirt bike, followed by something suitable for the street at the appropriate time.

One thing I know: she will have an opportunity to ride in the dirt first.

 

[Luke]

Dirt, Dirt, Dirt, Dirt...

Dirt is definitely the best way to start.

After that, I got a KZ400 street bike. Anything bigger or heavier and I probably would have got hurt.

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

Huffy Orangemobile, modifed by removing the banana seat and replacing with a 10 speed seat, removing the stock rubber pedals and replaced with metal spike pedals. Chain guard: gone. Sissy apeish bars replaced with BMX bars. Krylon painted...guess: Metalic Blue! I learned more about riding and flying on two wheels on that thing than anything else. BONZAI!

 

[bikepoor]

It's easy,

FJR 1300 (AE), don't have to worry about using a clutch and an all down gear pattern...

 

[Groo]

My starter bike was an '82 Virago 750... with about 12K miles on it, purchased from a friend in July of '03. Didn't have to worry too much about dropping it (which I never did, amazingly), it was a pretty easy bike to wrench (good learning experience), was light with a low CG (handling wasn't an issue), and had enough get-up-and-go to feel somewhat comfortable driving on the freeways. Sold it when the FJR came in to a guy who works for me for twice what I paid for it (but had done a lot of work on it in the meantime...).