[Dagger969]

Its good to be cautious! rookie and veteran riders alike. You should always respect your motorcycle and respect your limitations. That's what keeps you safe and keeps you riding for a lifetime.

Agreed, the moment you feel completely safe and within your own means is when you mess up and hurt yourself!

[md86]

Yeah , I had my first wreck mainly due to complacency . Seat time is the only real way to learn . And following other riders is a great way to get better faster .

[Crackshot]

I'm still pretty green as well.

Leasons i've learned?
NEVER brake while turning.
You are always going faster than it feels like
don't look at the heads that are turning to watch you :-p

Finally: Don't kill it at the light. You feel like a real douche.

I was told by my MSF instructor to get up off of the seat when making slow turns. If you are turning left, slide a little bit to the right to make it harder to fall over and vica versa.

Oh, and you are an addict like us now *scratches*

[phattanglo]

Greetings from a brit Kat rider, the only advice about cornering I could give is based on the fact that compared to US roads brit roads are narrow and very twisty.
If your taking a curve and your tense then don't go faster until you can take the same curve and feel relaxed, tension is the killer.
Ride within yourself and forget what anyone else thinks.
If your adrenalin rush is 50mph slower than everyone else's so what, it's your ride, enjoy.

[Char]

I know the feeling hon. I'm a newb myself. I passed my MSF course on Friday. And have been saying for the last few days that I'm going to take my Kat and feed her. (Meaning going to the gas station.) But I'm afraid to go out into traffic. I trust myself, but I don't trust other people. I tend to favor my front brake, and not applying the back brake at all. I've went around my neighborhood already and just to be able to get it out of first and into second gear was such an awsome feeling. Even more so when I got it into third.

I know the feelings of uncertainty will dissapate to some extent. I just have to be smart and ride safe.

[AkBigN]

When I finished the MSF course I got on my Kat and was still nervous as hell to start it up. Once I got going it just started happening and I was comfortable pretty quickly. Every once in awile I will go read a sport bike riding book at the bookstore and I always come away with something useful. Shifting without the clutch, using PROPER braking during turns, proper way to turn etc etc... The Kat is not that heavy in comparison to many other bikes, and even those u-turns will become easy with some practice.

[loudnlow7484]

I reason that 99% of riders WILL fall at some point in the learning process. If dropping it doing a low-speed u-turn is your time, then consider it a blessing. Mine was a high-side in the rain at maybe 35-40. It takes a minute to get comfortable, don't rush yourself. And you know what? I still suck at u-turns. Roads are just too narrow.