How did you learn to ride?

[flightdoc]

I learned on a friends Honda 305 scrambler around 1968. First bike was a kawa 500 triple.
No formal training until 1983 while I was stationed in Hawaii. Local bike group gave free lessons on weekends. Took the msf course in 2003 after a ten year lay-off...thought it was so well put together I became an instructor for the state of NH. I think every prospective rider should be required to attend the course.

[misunderstood]

My dad helped me find my 1st bike when I was 16, a yamaha 650 bored to 900. He'd ride me to a parking lot a let me practice till I was ready to get my permit. 3 months later I went to the DMV course and aced it. The rest is history. I did take a MSF refresher 2 years ago and think everyone, no matter how long they've been riding should take it.

Actually I should clarify that this really was my first bike and it sits on my desk.

[johnb]

Growing up I had always wanted a bike. Would read all the bike mags in the candy store while waiting for the bus to Jr.HS. Didn't actually get one until after college in 1976. A Honda 360. Turns out my license was issued with the motorcycle endorsement, so I never needed to apply for a license. The dealer told me to ride it oin the parking lot to get the feel of it and warned me about sand/loose gravel in turns. Used common sense and rode took it on two trips to upstate NY and up to Maine. In Oct 78 I upgraded to a Yamaha XS750E with touring setup (bags,bars & fairing). It was basically a budget BMW. Put on enough miles to breakin and then took it to S.Carolina & back. Only had one incident with it, got bruised up pretty bad. Made an emergency stop and almost steered it around the car that stopped short. Was paying attention, but never saw brake lights. Turned left ok but when I went to finish the swerve to the right I muist have still been on the brakes and the rear wheel slid out from under me. It had just staryed to drizzle rain so the road was a bit slick. Recovered (bruised kidney). Got back on a year later and then had to get rid of the bike in 88. After 20 yrs got the itch again (actually finally had the chance to get back on a bike). Bought a used 2006 Nomad. To learn to handle it I've used the excercises which are available in PDF from the Ride like a Pro video website. Wish I had that experience in 78! Clutch friction zone and proper use of brakes. With that I probably would have handled the incident with the Yamaha wiser. Nomad 1600...a Great Bike!

[justbrian]

Started out on on minibikes and quads as a little kid. By the time I was ten if you could not ride an 80 cc dirt bike you were the odd one. Then from there the bikes just got bigger and faster until one day i crossed from the dirt to a dual sport. I was not old enough to have a license but with a tag no one cared. 1975 Suzuki ts 400 it was a total junker i think i used my belt to hold on the exhaust pipe. What im getting at is that i started out on farms on little easy bikes and gradually worked my way up over the years.

[dlarue]

I learned on a very small 80CC Honda Dirt Bike. Good practice, great way to begin....