A bit of both for me .

I was an 'Old dog , learning new tricks' , did my 'direct access' here in the UK and because 21 was ancient history for me I could ride any bike I wanted after that.

Problem is it was 5 months before I could scrape together the cash for a bike/insurance , so picked up the old 1000F as a novice rider and it was like going back to day one....... but with a 150 mile ride ahead of me through some of the busiest traffic

Not funny , but it comes back , I made it home in one piece

On the bike you've got to feel the way , nothing like a car .

As for street smarts 30 years of driving boxes on wheels helps , you just got to adapt it to two wheels

 

I saw my two best friends riding so I had to get one. 1969. 200cc Yamaha twin scrambler in my favorite "Green Lantern" green. My mom let my buy it, and without a lesson I jumped on and my buddy (the seller) told me what to do and I took off without a hitch. Made the first turn, then the second turn, then it was time to get out on the "big road" (wide 4 lane roadway) so I turned right and started shifting. Kept shifting. While still trying to turn (after shifting and accelerating too much for the circumstances) I crossed the center line into oncoming traffic. Fortunately no one was right there to kill me (One of the benefits of the slow, suburban life), Got back in my lane and learned the first lesson. Don't just keep shifting and accelerating just because you can. I'm not even sure they had motorcycle courses back then. I sure never heard of one.

 

My first motorcycle I ever bought was my 01 F4i. I had rode an xr80 and a yz 125 one time. Thats pretty much all the motorcyle experience I had before hopping on the CBR.
Everything came fairly easy but, I am a MUCH better rider now than I was lol.

 

I got a yamaha banshee after high school. I rode it for a few years ( worked on it more than I rode it ) I rode a friend's ninja 600 and another friend's dual sport 650 short distances with no problems. However, when it came time to buy a bike I was leaning toward getting a pos that had been downed and didn't look that good... so I wouldn't be devastated if [when] I dropped it. Then I had a family member tell me about an ABATE class (basic MSF). After taking that class, I knew I wanted a pristine bike because I had lost the fear of dropping it from shear ignorance. As for the poll, it came naturally... but the MSF course helped build my confidence dramatically.

 

I never had riding lessons, my 1st ride on a friends bike ended with me on my ****. After that, got a bike & a learners permit. A lot of my riding ability when I 1st started, I put down to riding a push bike. But it still was & still is a learning curve & I still made some silly mistakes. eg. When riding a 2 stroke, engaging full throttle & popping the clutch, be prepared to end up on you're back while the bike goes it's own way.

 

+1 to Kuroshio's post!

I felt great on the bike first time, but I have learned a lot since then. The first few weeks learning curve was very steep... the next year was fairly steep. I'm still learning every day.

The bike courses are great in that you SHOULD get a lot of experience safely. Learning on the street is asking for one minor mistake to be your last... running wide in the school is a lot different than running wide on the street.

 

I'm in the middle. By the time I got interested in street bikes I had so much time on clutched 4-wheelers and cars and the occasional dirt bike that the controls were nothing to learn. On the other hand leaning to turn is something that a month into riding I'm still learning the proper instincts. I guess you could say that it is something that is coming to me quickly but that I was not born with. When I was first riding, every time I would come to a curve I would have that heart in mouth feeling. At first it was a big thing and I'd have to think and react, especially the first few corners of a ride. Now that I've been on the bike for a month and put some miles on her I don't have that feeling until I hit something like a corner that tightens, or has some gravel I have to dodge, or anything I wasn't expecting. Last ride I hit a corner that turned in harder than I expected and had a moment of that heart in mouth sensation but it was for a heartbeat before my instincts took over and I counter-steered it in and it wasn't anything to take.

In short, I have had to develop the instincts the hard way but it hasn't been that hard to gain them.

 

Riding came naturally the moment after I dropped my first bike by not realizing you have to take your feet OFF the pegs when you come to a stop ...

After that, it was a breeze.

 

Be sure you are countersteering.

 

Played with a mini bike at a friends farm for a while. It was to easy riding that. Eventually one day I thought for the fun of it to get my permit and buy a bike right before my mother would know what to say. Here comes a heavy tank(f2 94) home with me. Learned at my buddy's house and was riding it fairly good within half our. Next day went back to pick it up and rode in the rain. To this day I have no clue why the hell I would ever ever start on a 600. Gosh I was stupid.