I walked in to a motorcycle dealer and bought my first bike years ago. They got the bike ready and pushed it around front. I rode away and rode for the first time all at once. Since then I have taken a few motorcycle safety courses from different states. I have taken the Military Riding course and I have taken a motorcycle race course at Sears point.

 

1st time I rode a bike, I crashed, had never ridden before or driven a car. So knew nothing about gears & throttles (or brakes) Not long after I got my 1st bike & rode it home from the dealer. Have never done any riding courses, just learned from my mistakes

 

i rode an atv when i was litte. utility quad so not much to it. i honestly couldnt stand on a skateboard or ride a bike if my life depended on it. i have no balance whatsoever. not even ice skating or rollerblading. dirtbike? forget about it.

within 3 hrs of buyin my f4i i was touchin knee with all the confidence in the world.

motorcycle came natural to me. everything else i = teh fail

 

I learned on a small cruiser and stumbled quite a few times and it was shaky at best. As soon as I hopped on a bike with a leaned over stance, it came to me like second nature. Dealing with road hazards and whatnot is an entirely different story, but you live and you learn. To this day I find a bike with high handlebars and "comfortable" riding position feels clumsy and difficult to ride.

 

The first time I got on a bike it was as if I'd been practicing since before I was born. Totally natural feeling. Maybe that's why it took so many incidents for me to really figure out how to ride.

Over confidence squared.

 

I learned to ride on my cousins Yamaha MX100 dirtbike when I was 9. Not long after that I had my own 79 RM80, then 85 YZ 80, then 89 CR80 (started racing motocross) CR125, RM125 and I still have my 00 RM250. see below, that jump is nearly 90' long

I had only ever ridden 2 streetbikes before getting my CBR900 (Nighthawk 650 & FZR400) but I feel I have taken to the street very well after a year. We'll find out on June 21st when I go for my road test for my Bike lisence (I still have my squid permit now, lol)
I did learn a valueable lesson a long time ago on the FZR400, watch for the cagers!!! You never know what they're gooing to do... long story short, a lady did an unexpected U-turn in front of me, the FZR didn't make it

 

I'm a very fast learner when it comes to things like this. The first time I ever rode a/my motorcycle was right after I passed over the cash and put it on a trailer. Yeah I felt a bit sketchy and I'm sure I looked sketchy. But I had the right idea for everything and how to operate it. After I took the MSF course I felt a lot more confident. That class for me was more of a fine tuning of what I already knew and lots of it was stuff I've never thought of.

I'm not saying I'm good. I'm still learning and I feel like I will forever continue to learn. I learn something new about riding every time I go out. For 2 months and over 500 miles I'm doing alright.

Thanks a lot to this forum for helping me learn new techniques.

 

Ive always been pretty quick to pick up on operating all kinds of machinery.

Been driving since i was 12 around the farm... tractors, combines, front end loaders...

had to get a CDL for work a few years ago to drive one of the boomtrucks the company used. also the forklifts and stuff like that.

grandparents had a small trucking company when i was in high school. got to drive them around because i did alot of the maintenance for them for extra $$$.

 

i toke MSF course to be sure that i would like riding, so thats how i rode my first bike. been happy ever since.

 

A long time ago the first bike I ever road was an old R6. The first few times I tried to get it going from a stop I stalled, but once I got going it came pretty naturally. I had no idea what counter-steering was at the time, nor did I understand anything about bikes themselves, but I cruised around my buddies neighborhood for an hour or so no problem.

For me at least, riding is all about feel. You have to feel out the throttle, brake and clutch. You feel what the road is like through your tires and somehow you manage to process all of that information to keep the shiny side up. Because there is so much to think about while you're riding I have found that it isn't for everyone. I have had a few friends buy bikes, then sell them a season later because they just couldn't get past that point where it all "clicks" and you can really enjoy riding.

If all goes as planned I should be picking up my new bike on Monday or Tuesday after a two year absence. Am I bit nervous? Sure, It's been a few years since I've really ridden a bike. I know I can still do it, but I know I'll have to shake the rust off the first few hours.

Does riding come naturally? For some yes, for others it takes more work, but I think as long as you work at it and don't give up almost anyone can learn and enjoy to ride.