Take the MSF (or Harley's "Rider's Edge") course before you hurt yourself

or someone else.

Please.

 

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Go buy yourself a smaller beater bike for afew hundred bucks to learn on & save your Fatboy for after you are more comfortable handling a bike. Also, as others have said, take a safety course and practice in a big parking lot before you go back to the streets again. The course will teach you a lot & really boost your confidence.
Good luck.[sm=signs003.gif]

 

Get a riders course under your belt and get the DVD "Ride Like a Pro". Motorcycle riding is not rocket science, but there are some basics you need to master.

Regards,

Bill

 

Park it until you take the MSF course. I would not even suggest buying any videos until you have some basic training under your belt. If you try and ride, you may develop bad habits that will be difficult to break, at best, and could kill you, at worse.

You will not believe how much more you will understand AFTER you take the course.

I went from never riding to riding my wife's new 125 scooter last summer. I thought that was fun, so a couple of week later I had a 650cc bike. I immediately took the MSF course. 1 month later I traded the 650 for a new Softail Deluxe. The past few thousand miles since then has been a fantastic experience.

Good luck!

 

Like everyone else has already said, TAKE THE CLASS - it offers so much invaluable information.

I am 38, and my first time EVER riding was at the MSF on a 300 lb Suzuki. They teach you the basics of stopping quickly; staying upright - well, the things you are SUPPOSED to do to stay upright; 90degree turns (very tricky for one who has never done it); how to handle riding over obstacles without crashing. Things like that. THEN I highly suggest riding only in your subdivision, or a school parking lot, industrial park, something like that that will allow you to practice u'ys; simple turning techniques from BOTH directions, stopping suddenly. Weaving, etc. I know it sounds silly but so much we take for granted being a "cager" that does not translate the same to biking.

And the part about your bike going where your eyes are looking ------- this is one of the most important lessons to learn. I'm still working at it. (I WILL get those U'y's one way or another da*n it!!!!!!!!)

Everyone will tell you to buy a beater, lightweight bike, etc, to learn on. You can learn on the Fatboy IF you take your time and are smart about it. Otherwise you are going to spend lots of money fixing up whatever got messed up in your crashes (presuming you hurt only the bike and not yourself or someone else).

AS I said, the bike I learned on was 300lbs. The bike I bought is almost 600lbs. Intimidating?? HE11 YEAH! Not to mention that blasted weight distribution thing. Took some getting used to but I barely notice it now. I don't think thats a factor with the Fatboy tho.....

Good luck and keep us posted!!!

 

Take the course before you do another thing! It's EXCELLENT and you'll learn a helluva lot from it. It'll help keep you aliveand may helpyouprevent demolishing the bike during your learning curve.

 

Protrucker and jr_c6 are right. I would park the Harley and buy a smaller bike, say something in the 350 to 500 cc range. Take the MSF safety course and continue practice on the smaller bike until your skills improve, then jump on the Hog. I have seen alot of guys jump on bikes that they were not ready to ride, and it always ends badly, either a wrecked bike or a dead rider. These bikes will kill you if you dont respect them. Please take the course.

 

Take the riders course or sell the bike. Or if you won't take the course swallow your pride and find someone here that lives close to you to come over and help you. Dude that ain't a toy, it can kill you.

 

check tire pressure
practice in an empty parking lot

They told me to leave the YMCA parking lot today, "find somewhere else to play"

I've been riding for a long time, logged many many miles, but every now and then
(especially in the spring) I'll find an empty parking lot
to practice figure 8's, left hand turns, right hand turns
to practice shifting mid-turn, braking mid-turn (while leaning)
and panic stops

Ya need to know how the gyro effect works with a bike,
Ya don't want to steer the thing, ya gotta (like you said) - R I D E it.
it's going to want to lean over in the turn, sounds like you were fighting it

Check the tire pressure too!!, bikes handle BAD when a few less lbs. than recommended

 

The beater bike for a few hundred bucks is a great idea. Even if you only ride it for a month or two, it will take the scars and beatings of your first drop and first slip, etc. Then you can hop on the H-D and go from there. The beater you can usually sell for what you paid for it.

We did this with my wife's riding... She rode a '97 Honda Rebel 250cc for a year and then sold it for $50 more than we paid for it.Now she's on my '01 V-Star 1100 and having a blast.