Well april 2010 was the first time that I threw my leg over a motorcycle. I had been wanting a motorcycle for many years, probably since I was 16-17.(I am 25 now) I had walked into a couple of metric shops and saw some bikes but wasn't blown away with what I saw... I pass by a harley shop everyday and had never been in one. So the first time I walked in the shop I saw this beautiful 2003 softail duece and that was it... I bought it within less than an hour. And here comes the real interesting part of the story. Two of my buddies at work owned harleys. One on a 09 fat boy and the other on a 10 road king. I called them and they came on over so we could all ride home. My one buddie wanted me to ride around the parking lot first to get a feel for the clutch brakes and changing gears... I slowely let the clutch out and then it engaged... I pegged first gear right into a ditch,(they said just like in the movie wild hogs were he runs into the mail box) luckly a grassy ditch so it didn't hurt the duece. I got back up, very embarrased and rode it around the parking lot and then I was ready for the 30 mile ride home. They both rode behind me just in case that fiasco that happened in the harley parking lot didn't happen again. Since then I logged 7500 miles on the duece and took the safety course. In october of 2010 my two buddies and I all traded our hogs in on ultras classics. They both got brand new ones and o got an 09 with 2000 miles on it and a bunch of extras. I love riding and no matter what the temperature I am riding as long as mother nature permits it,- michael

 

I started by conning Santa Claus out of a Sears mini bike at age 5. Moved on to dirt bikes of progressive sizes then added street bikes to the mix when the law allowed.

50 years later I'm still learning every time I ride which averages 12k miles a year these days. For me there's been no classes, or books, or dvds, etc., just the road of hard knocks. I practice three things anytime I sit in the saddle; Counter steering, braking and objective avoidance. It's served me well but to each their own and what ever works because at the end of the day it's all about YOUR ride.

 

Don't even remember how I started, but just got on friends bikes when I was younger and rode around. About 40 years later (after raising a family), I bought my own and just got back on and every thing just seemed to click.

Up until earlier this year, I thought I knew how to ride, but after I completed and passed the Police Motor Officer Training, I can now say that I know how to ride.

 

Learned how to ride a bicycle at age 7 first and rode bicycles unitl I was age 13/14 delivering newspapers and such, and then had my first motorcycle at age 16, a Kawasaki 175 cc Bushwacker.

 

My sisters boyfriend, who is now my brother-in-law, would give me the keys to his 305 Honda scrambler so I'd leave him and my sister alone, and off I'd go. The only thing anyone ever showed me was what to do to shift gears. Later, after I got my MC license and a bike of my own, I took a course. I'd also like to add that Kumite's suggestion to read Proficient Motorcycling by David Hough is spot on. I read it every spring after a long winter of hibernation off the bike. It's a great book and should be required reading for all riders.

 

You hit that nail on the head! He is only 350 miles from us and practically next door to our corporate office. I see a ride to HQ followed by some time-off in the near future.

 

Wish I could join ya!

 

When my Schwinn Pixie with training wheels died, I bought a 2010 Road King...no regrets!

j/k.

 

When I was 15, I bought a real off brand (NSU YACK) trailbike. Paid the guy for it and he later stopped and dropped it off in my front yard with the keys stuck in it. Well....from there it was purely trial and error from there. A LOT on the error part. Great though.

 

I bought my first harley, an 02 Softail Std, in Sept. of 2001. It was delivered Jan 2, 2002. I spent the winter teaching myself how to start, stop, brake, shift and turn in the high school parking lot accross from my house. It was winter and cold so it was all low speed stuff in the parking lot. That April I took the MSF class through my local ABATE chapter and got my motorcycle certification.

I would like to take a refresher class someday. I think it would be fun just to see what else you can learn...maybe this time I'd take the Harley sponsored class.