So Im a truck driver trainer. Last student a Harley owner. Young kid. 21 but its his bike hes had ot for 2 years. I have always wanted one butnout of reach. Never got my license because Im not into ricer bikes. Never have been. Nothing against them really other than I didnt like them. So he told me about some things Harley does so you cam get a bike. Long story short I ended up with the 05 softail Deluxe in the new members area I posted. He got me the bell for it which regardless of if they work I like a legend and I appreciated the gesture more than he will ever know. He rode it home for me and showed it off then to my buddys house to store until I got my license. Well in Oregon you have to take a class. So I got the last dealer slot available for the year withoutbhaving to drive 100 miles. I did ok. About middle of the class so not best or worst. Only problems were one that was not an issue with the Harley. And the other making a right turn from a dead stop. Got that seemingly over.

So I got my rider card and before I got my license I picked up my bike and rode it for the first time straight home. Much heavier than the class bike but amazing. So I go get my license next morning and come back to take the bike to work. I pull out of the driveway to the left mind you which I had no issues and was slipping the clutch so I was nice and slow and headed right for the parked beemer accriss the street. ****. Well I had 2 choices hit the car. Jack my insurance up. Late for work. Accident as my fault on record etc. **** that I took option two. Leaned hard and tried to get away. Which I did but before I could take off. Down I went. **** ME. Pride hurt like hell. Small VERY minor 1 inch scratch on my knee. Now foe the bikem. Oh god I ****ed up my baby before I got to enjoy it. A corner of the rubber passenger peg was scrayched up pretty bad. The peg that I remember putting up when we parked the bike at the buddys house. Thats it. No other damage. Except my pride. Even the damn crash bars were not scratched. How I dont know. Funny think is I was planning on replacing those pegs anyway. Odd part is the pic I am attaching is about 30 minutes before I took off. So seconds into my first licensed ride I drop it. I didnt have the bell on but it was in my pocket.

P.S. Leaving my buddys house I got wobbly on the right turn from a stop and went WAY wide. Also I noticed at low speed she wants to tip over. I have to fask duck walk ot when even stopping or slam the brakes. Very unatable at low speed. So that made me uneasy but if I hadnt been cautious I woulda nailed the car and ****ed the bike. Being tired I didnt look all the way to my left. Didnt lean enouhj either. Forgot about the look due to being tired. Didnt lean because of the uneasiness of it being so top heavy whem going slow. Even rolling on the throttlem

Notice the peg. The one that saved the back end of the bike. While I will still be replacing them I will be keeping that peg forever.

 

if you were teaching someone to drive an 18 wheeler that had never driven any vehicle before would you suggest they start with a car and work up?

 

Get the "Ride Like A Pro" video. It's great for some principles of slow riding and slow turning.

 

First of all, I'm glad it was a relatively minor incident. Be thankful that your pride is what was hurt the worst.

Second, don't let this sour your feelings about riding. We all had to learn at first, and **** happens all the time in life.

You took the course and passed. I'd recommend starting slow, and only driving in relatively safe environments, such as a mall parking lot on a Sunday morning, then possibly some quiet residential streets with very little traffic, and so on.

You want to approach this with baby steps initially. Do that and this time next year you'll be riding your bike with confidence and a big smile on your face.

Oh, by the way, nice bike. Congrads.

 

Definitely force yourself to start looking where you want to go. The bike will follow. Don't stare at the parked car, the pothole, ditch, guardrail or whatever. That will only direct you right at it as you've found out with almost hitting the BMW and taking a wild and wide turn out of your buddy's driveway.

Slow speed maneuvers are tricky for this reason, sometimes you're almost looking over your shoulder to get that nice tight turn in a parking lot or making a U-turn on a street. You just have to trust that the bike will go where you're looking.

 

I agree on the Ride Like a Pro videos. There are several on Youtube that would help you out greatly. I'm subscribed to his channel and he puts out new videos all the time.

 

There's the problem, bell wasn't installed correctly.

Glad it wasn't worse, congrats on the new (to you) bike.

I was also an over-the-road trainer the last few years I drove, takes nerves of steel for that job.

 

My wife used to be my passenger. I told her to take the course that way she knows more about what it takes to ride and she did. She also fell in love with riding.
Move to December she finds a '02 Sportster 1200C with a 21" front wheel. I rode it home to make sure it had nothing wrong. Then we rode around the neighborhood and all went smooth. We never went past 25MPH and we talked (intercom) the whole time about what she was doing and stuff like that. We get home and I dismount to open the garage door. She tries to put her kickstand down and is having trouble with it and she falls over. Her and the bike hit the ground hard, I heard her yelp on the intercom as the bike landed on her. I thought well she will never get on the bike again. WRONG!! she now gets complimets from riding instructors of her common sense riding style.

In other words, we all drop a bike and bruise the ego, but we learn from them and get right back on. I have dropped a bike or two and at speed. I learned from each incident and from each ride.

 

Not to worry we've all done it, keep on riding. Welcome to the Forum from Central Texas, there is a wealth of knowledge in here at your finger tips, so make your self at home.

 

Go over to a parking lot and practice lots of circles and figure 8s. Stay in your neighborhood on familiar roads on a quiet early Sunday morning. As others have said don't look at the obstacles, look where you want to go. Think about positioning your bike when you come to a stop to make a right hand turn. It's much easier to be angled to the right rather than making a 90 degree turn. And don't use the front brakes when your handlebars are turned when you're riding slow.

Just keep on practicing, even if it's just turning the bike around in your driveway a few times each day. All that backing up and slowly going forward will pay off.