First rides

[Bellboy1]

Ok so I am so stoked about riding now. At 40 I feel like a brand new driver. So much to learn, so exciting, so FUN! I learn something every time I go out and I can't wait to go back out again. Even back roads I have driven a million times are new and vibrant again. All of my senses are at 110% both on alert and also just taking everything in. The sound, the smells, you just can't get that in a car. I know at some point this feeling will diminish some,but what do you remember about your first rides?

[C-bus]

Ok so I am so stoked about riding now. At 40 I feel like a brand new driver. So much to learn, so exciting, so FUN! I learn something every time I go out and I can't wait to go back out again. Even back roads I have driven a million times are new and vibrant again. All of my senses are at 110% both on alert and also just taking everything in. The sound, the smells, you just can't get that in a car. I know at some point this feeling will diminish some,but what do you remember about your first rides?

Still waiting for it to diminish. I remember thinking how fast 45mph felt and the "oh-shit" sensation when I would pass a semi.

[Mykill]

I remember thinking. . . Damn cars are huge!

It definitely is fun and creates such a different experience than a car.

[gen3flygirl]

The stupid grin on my face after riding around the parking lot going "wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" once I got the clutch control down

[swingset]

The thrill just changes, it never goes away. At first the pure excitement to be on two wheels was enough. Then, it was learning new techniques, becoming a better rider, then it was trying all the different kinds of riding or bikes, then exploration, then offroad, then a track day.

Yikes...that's an expensive progression!

Anyway, even after being well used to it some days I go out and it makes me feel new again.

[buildit]

Different types of rides produce different types of enjoyment for me.

Solo exploring, fast on the back roads, cruising the highway, group events, even heading to the IP for parts all offer different rewards.

[Helmutt]

I remember learning in the dirt as a kid and how fun it was, then I started riding with others and it was even more fun because it tested me to the next level - same on the street, wasnt much "learning to ride" involved since I'd already had many years experience in the dirt but pack riding amplified the fun factor there again - the experience of man and motorcycle is great, yet even better when there's buddies to share the experience - I love to ride, since I was a kid its captivated my attention. 27 years later, and I still cant beat the feeling......on and off the track:D

[ReconRat]

THE first ride? I had just bought the bike. Never rode one before. Only read about it in books from the library. "How to ride a motorcycle." It worked. But fun ended when I got to the right angle corner and realized I'd have to review the chapters on brakes and cornering really fast.

Don't tell me you can't ride brakes hard through a corner. It's the first thing I ever did on a bike...

edit: and agree that "in the wind" feeling with all the heightened senses...it never goes away, it never diminishes.

Edited April 19, 2011 by ReconRat

[NinjaN8]

My first ride was scary as hell. I bought an '05 Ninja 250R from some kid 2 hours away from my house by way of the highways. Anyhow, it wasn't in the best condition and the only experience I had riding was completing the MSF Basic Rider course a month before. Anyhow, I figured that I would have plenty of time to ride back down to the keys before it got dark out so I started heading south on the side roads. Within the first 20 minutes I had run a stop light cause I was going too fast and if I had stopped I would have been in the middle of the intersection. About 5 minutes after that I learned that the cagers really don't see you as I was pushed out of my lane by a tow truck. I remember thinking "What the hell did I get myself into?".

Anyways, after a few hours of driving through stop and go traffic and seeing that the sun was starting to go down I decided to hit the highway. I can still remember that blast of adrenaline as I hit that on-ramp... Anyhow I made it home without any further incident but, I had quite a few moments on the highway where the pucker-factor was through the roof.

[Jamez]

I had no riding experience whatsoever, in retrospect I should have listened to EVERYONE and started on a 250 but I climbed on my TT600 and I was so nervous I was breathing hard. I only went about a mile and turned back. It was not a pretty ride. I was jerking all over as I figured out the controls but I didn't lay it down. 35 miles per hour felt like warp speed.

When I got back home and realized I was ok, I couldn't stop smiling. I was hooked instantly.

My first 5 rides were like 10 minutes each. Ha ha

Fear mixed with excitement and my 5 senses on overdrive. Also I seem to remember making sure I had clean underwear on before my first ride ever

Edited April 20, 2011 by Jamez

[FZRMatt]

My first ride was in 1977 on a 5hp Briggs and Stratton mini-bike when I was 5. I learned in the pasture on my grandparents farm in McComb. Then when I turned 6 I got to take my first "road trip". My sister and I took a 100 mile cross country ride on those things. Ok, it was actually only about 4 miles but I was 6 and it felt like 100 miles. I was the shit in my kindergarten class (or at least in my mind)!

[scottie.harris]

i bought a brand new dirtbike from honda marysville and had to wait til the next morning to ride(that was forever). i understood the "concept" of how it worked but the clutch slipped out from my hand and ended up doing a 12oclock wheelie with me running behind it holding onto the handlebars. then i just rode up and down the hill for a few hours and thru the trails. couldnt stop riding since.

[TSB67]

I rode dirt bikes a few years before street, I just remember feeling like I was doing something really illegal by riding on the road. That turned into a grin thinking, "Yeah, that's right, I'm riding a motorcycle on the street and it's 100% legit."

I started riding buddies' bikes when I got my temps and I remember stopping by my parents' and my mom saying, "All you need to do is pass a written test and they let you ride a MOTORCYCLE on the STREET? That's scary!"

[216cityboy]

My first experience after the MSF course was riding it home from a coworkers house. Death grip on the handlebars, eyes scanning like an inmate that just broke out, checking my mirrors constantly to make sure the chic was still behind me playing defense. I waited a week to hit the freeway & that feeling of being THAT close to cars going THAT fast was certainly a different "oh shit" than skydiving. Got over it pretty fast. Can't keep me off the damn thing now. If my "errand" will fit in the bookbag, I'm twisting the throttle.

[keegan]

My first ride after the MSF class was last October. I bought my bike and the paperwork pushed the ride home after dark, I was not happy about that, but it was the situation I made for myself. The very first intersection was interrupted by a Columbus cop running a red light forcing me to panic stop (he panic stopped as well). Later on the journey home a van changed lanes into my lane at a red light, I honked, yelled, then got the hell out of the way, I'm glad someone had told me to keep it in first gear just in case.

It took me a couple days before getting back on the bike after the first ride, and I'm glad I did. The rest of my riding experience has been much less 'eventful' then the first ride, and much more fun.

It is nice to hear others talk about the feeling of the first time passing a semi, or the first time on the freeway, it is hard to explain to my friends who have never ridden.

[NinjaN8]

Can't keep me off the damn thing now. If my "errand" will fit in the bookbag, I'm twisting the throttle.

+1

I feel ya on that. I actually ended up buying some panniers to expand my errand running capability.

[crb]

My first ride was only a few weeks ago. My wife and I got our temps and already had our bikes it was cool low forties but nothing was stopping us. We had driven around the drive way and practiced with the clutch, brake, steering, etc. We live in the country so we rode the backroads about 5 or 6 miles the first round. I let my wife lead figuring she was going to go a little slower since she generally isn't as brave well not that day I found myself pushing my comfort level to keep up. I was fine but was planning to take it easier. We went home beca home because my bike was acting up, it was almost choking on for a second when I got on the throttle come to find out it was vapor locked. Anyway we were at an intersection I turned left and a caged came over the hill up on my butt before the wife turned (blind hill) I cracked the throttle to make some room and now I'm hooked! I went out two weekends ago when it was really windy out. I took the highway and between the high wind and cars flying by going the opposite direction I got a little nervous. I took the back roads a few miles until I felt more comfortable and back on the highway i went. I felt more confident the second time and really enjoyed it. I'm finding riding second nature because I'm used to watching the road and people so closly as a truck driver. I've been hoping to ride again but it keeps raining.

[Bellboy1]

Yep, rain sucks. My MSF classes were in pretty extreme weather. In my short time riding I can say I have now ridden in Rain, sleet, fog, high wind and even light hail. So the conditions won't bother me too bad if I'm caught in them, but I just don't want to voluntarily ride out into it yet.

My first real ride after msf took me out on 5 lane wide route 23 that I drive everyday to work. I remember thinking "Where did all this traffic come from and when did it start driving so fast?" Fortunately I only had to go a mile or so before turning off onto a side road, and now I realize traffic was very light that day!!! Over the last few weeks I've gotten used to it, but that first time got the heart pumping.

[Das Borgen]

my 1st ride? well...aside from the MSF course

I rode my new bike a quarter mile from the money/title exchange transaction to my place.......then later I went out for a quick jaunt up Riverside Dr, due North from where 257 and 161/33 meet in downtown Dublin since there was still a couple of hours of daylight. It was so much fun just taking in the sights and working the little parallel twin engine hard to 10,000RPM. it sounded so good with the Jardine pipe

thinking about that ride makes me miss that little naked bike....my orange with a rust mark on the tank from where it has been laid down 1998 Suzuki GS500

you really never forget your first. a coworker currently owns it and I still look at the GS500 with envy every time I ride in to work on my Duc and park by it (designated motorcycle parking)

[crb]

I just can't wait my course is coming up in 2 weeks I'm all excited like a kid at christmas lol! I'm hoping its nice this weekend so I can go for another spin THIS RAIN HAS TO STOP! I've got cabin fever I need out of the house. Sorry rant off

[Bellboy1]

I think we're all feeling it. I've been looking longingly out the office window all morning trying to see if I can squeeze in a semi dry ride in this evening.

[Bad324]

my first ride was also scary as hell and I probably stalled the damn bike at every stop sign in my neighborhood. I had only one lesson in a big parking lot on my friends Buell when I bought my 600rr. My first couple rides on it were just in my neighborhood because I was afraid to leave it

[Coyote]

Don’t remember much about the first ride (as a passenger). Have seen pictures of myself laying on the tank of my Dad’s Harley, hanging onto the handlebars for dear life…At maybe 3 or 4?

Learning the clutch of my mr50 at age 6 was a whole new freedom…Even better once I learned to shift to 2nd!

Hit the streets at 15&3/4 with a learner’s permit and a Honda Rebel. Took me a while to get comfortable anywhere cars were around. Was the only kid riding a motorcycle to my High School…Well, except for the kid with the moped…that kept ending up in a tree by the end of the day.

[Bellboy1]

…that kept ending up in a tree by the end of the day.

[NinjaNick]

My 1st ride was sitting on the bike and riding the brakes with it off down the hill of the driveway. Then sat in the road freaked out on releasing the clutch. (This was in the country, so no cars in the hood.) I just bought it and it was a brand new 0 miles bike. I was a little scared, but finally released the clutch fully and was moving about 35mph max through the neighborhood. I didn't want to get on the road at ALL!

1st highway experience I thought I was going to die! Wind was in control and I wasn't.

Nowadays, the bike feels as simple as walking. I love riding too.