90% of people who are taught by another rider crash in the first year. TAKE THE MSF Course you will be much better off.

enjoy the bike the f4i is awesome

first time ever I got on a bike it was my cb350 i was 19 or 18 and my dad taught me all the stuff pointed it out and said ok go ride around the block. I barely made it outa the driveway :P got to the end of the block at a stop sign and promptly fell over :P hehe good times

 

First year??? Try within the 1st hour

Actually its good to see a lot of people admitting that they were scared or that they screwed up. Some people like to pretend that the first time they hopped on a bike they were ready for WERA. Considering how much power hides beneath the seat, I think anyone who wasn't a little afraid didn't fully understand the situation

 

First time on a sportbike was an sv650, yeah I know, Suzuki, but I was already set on the f3, and the only thing they had with similar power for me to try out in my local shop was the sv, I didn't want to ride an rr and ruin myself to where I would need the power and response of the newer bike that I clearly couldn't afford. Anyways, I only had the thing up to maybe 80, but the power and acceleration were well and above what I expected and almost scared me. Not to mention there was a wind advisory out that day and a light pole got blown over on the bridge I crossed at the dmv when I was getting my motorcycle license lol.

 

My first time was 05 on my irresponsible's father 03 GXSR 1000. He had that a R1 and a Busa. He said the Busa was to fast for me and his fav was the R1. After 10 years of him telling me what to do he "TRUSTED" me to be ok. I got right on it and did great going the gears never went above 75 that year but it was cool. I rode his bikes for years I didnt hit the asphalt till this summer when I got my own bike my F4. My dad thought it was so funny that I rode his GXSR 1000 for 4 years and never even scratched the tank and a month after I get mine I down slide !!!!!!!

 

thatsarachik: Whereabouts in Iowa are you located?

My first ride was on my buddies old hurricane in a big **** parking lot in town. That next spring I had to get my own bike and five years later im still goin.

 

The year was 1968 & my 1st time was on a friends Honda & I only got to ride it because I gave him money for petrol. Rode it around a football field in Toongabbie (*Aboriginal for :Where idiots come to fall off motorcycles. actually its aboriginal for "Place by the water or the meeting of the waters). Only knew how to use the throttle, had no idea about the clutch, gears or more importantly, the brakes. On my way to crashing into the fence, went down a gully that had been dug to drain water from around the field. Only thing broken was one of his mirrors & bruises on me, but I was hooked.

*I made the reference to Toongabbie, as 12 months later I had my 1st really bad stack on my own Honda, about half a click away.

 

I learned on a 125 cruiser. I was a bit overconfident after reading an about.com article about how to ride, shifted it up to third, realized I was concentrating more on shifting than the upcoming curb, panicked, missed the brake until the last moment and tipped myself over. This was in a small parking lot. That was the very first time I ever rode. Safe to say, it was one of the most awesome experiences of my life.

 

I was kind of scared not really. Got my permit in the morning, rode the F2 that night(1hr if that) and the next day rode it home in the rain(left it at my buddys house). Be calm and be alert. The more tense you are the worst off you can put yourself in situations. MSF class is a great class to do.

 

I learned to ride on a 1969 Honda CT90 when I was about seven or eight. It's probably one of the easiest bikes to learn on; auto clutch, hi/lo range, two brake levers and a pedal, and maybe 6hp on a good day. I still went down in the first five minutes, but it was at a walking pace and I never did it again. I then graduated to a Hodaka super Rat..

 

First bike experience for me I was 18 or 19. Was at a friends house and his younger brother's friend had his pitbike over, a Honda XR50. He knew I wanted a bike but had never ridden so he let me take it around the yard. I did fine in first, decided it was time to shift to second, but for some reason didn't think to let off the gas. So the thing goes up on the back wheel, and somehow I ride the wheelie for about 30 yards with my feet dangling off the side's dragging in the dirt trying to slow down (I still had the throttle pinned). Eventually the front wheel went back down, I went over the handlebars, and then the bike flipped over me. The owner of the 50 rushes up to me but then passes me to make sure his bike is ok. He then haphazardly asks if I was ok and then said "Good, you're done riding."

I couldn't afford my own bike until 6 years later, and didn't get on another bike for those 6 years until I took the msf course. Three years after that I've had two sport bikes and a dirt bike, and probably could drag knee on the street if I stuck it out far enough, but I DO NOT wheelie lol.