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Hello from a Noob... (and it's true, I talk too much...)
OK, so here you go...
Hello to KR-world, from a Newbie. I own a 2005 Katana 750 in midnight blue that I bought as my very first bike ever in May. I was lucky to find a very low mileage bike in very good condition from an honest private party seller.
Based on my age and family circumstances (2 kids under 7 years of age), I really have no need for a motorcycle and yet it is something that intrigues me for many of the same reasons as you (i.e. independence, excitement, seeing the sights from a whole new perspective, fuel economy, etc.) I say I have no need because I can safely drive my truck and minimize the odds of the serious results of a crash and all but eliminate an easy way to become paralyzed. Obviously, we (as a group) accept a certain level of risk each time we put "lard to leather" because each of us has calculated our own personal risk/reward ratio to determine we want to ride a bike. Now, just like you my ratio tilts toward rolling the throttle back as I ease out the clutch!
Judging from other posts on the site, I (too) have had painful experiences on the bike I wish I could take back -- but for the valuable lessons learned that I hope never to repeat. Experienced rider friends have told me the old adage "a new rider is most dangerous during his/her first 3 months" and I was no different. It'd been 3 years since I received/earned my "M" endorsement and never having ridden either before or after the 2 day MSF class, I am and was quite amateur.
I am just now being able to laugh at my mistakes on the bike that caused me to "kiss the pavement" twice.
I am so lucky that my bike got away from the incidents with only cosmetic scratches. (It was so pristine when I bought it! ) I am even luckier that I was fully "geared up" with helmet, armored jacket, boots and gloves.
To absolutely show you that I have no problem admitting my mistakes, I will share the 2 lessons I learned within a week of each other at the beginning of the summer-- and after I had been riding for 4 weeks safely in rush hour traffic and weekend practice sessions at the local high school parking lot).
(A) Having a slightly shorter in-seam than I wish (in my next life I want to be 6 feet tall!) on the Kat did not help when attempting to turn around on an inclined driveway. Once I accidently let the bike start to lean too far down the declining side and not recognizing the imminent danger that the thing was going to be so heavy, I ended up being the captain that went down with the ship.
Bruised ego and soft tissue injury lessons learned there.
(B) Being distracted by the fear of a particularly sharp 270 degree elevated turn about a third of a mile down the road caused me (while waiting at a stoplight) to either forget I came up to the stoplight in 2nd gear and forgot to shift to 1st gear or I was in 1st gear and let the clutch out too fast -- either way I stalled and not expecting to do so as I started up from the traffic signal, despite trying my darndest to hold the bike up on one foot, I fell down to the other side than the prior incident. This time, my helmet did it's job because I hit the pavement. Not going fast and not a particularly hard impact (since I had just started up from the traffic light). Nonetheless, knees and wrists just weren't made to bump into pavement. Thank God, there were no cars behind me that were moving and it was a sparsely populated intersection or else I would've been road pizza.
So, the 2 valuable lessons I learned involved basic rider's common sense (that yours truly lacked apparently) -- always know what gear you are in at each and every intersection as well as always pay attention to the small details such as incline issues when the bike is perpendicular to the slope.
I am humbled to be a new member to the group and want everyone to know that I proudly consider myself as a fellow motorcyclist. (Oh yeah, when safe to do so, I always waive to fellow bikers -- be they cruisers, sport bike owners, or even the folks on scooters.) I am not a speed demon and definitely not the type trying to compete with the sport bikes racing down my city's main cruising drag. I hope to gain information from this website and appreciate you reading this message. In closing, safe motorcycling is exciting and I am glad to join the community.
Hello to KR-world, from a Newbie. I own a 2005 Katana 750 in midnight blue that I bought as my very first bike ever in May. I was lucky to find a very low mileage bike in very good condition from an honest private party seller.
Based on my age and family circumstances (2 kids under 7 years of age), I really have no need for a motorcycle and yet it is something that intrigues me for many of the same reasons as you (i.e. independence, excitement, seeing the sights from a whole new perspective, fuel economy, etc.) I say I have no need because I can safely drive my truck and minimize the odds of the serious results of a crash and all but eliminate an easy way to become paralyzed. Obviously, we (as a group) accept a certain level of risk each time we put "lard to leather" because each of us has calculated our own personal risk/reward ratio to determine we want to ride a bike. Now, just like you my ratio tilts toward rolling the throttle back as I ease out the clutch!
Judging from other posts on the site, I (too) have had painful experiences on the bike I wish I could take back -- but for the valuable lessons learned that I hope never to repeat. Experienced rider friends have told me the old adage "a new rider is most dangerous during his/her first 3 months" and I was no different. It'd been 3 years since I received/earned my "M" endorsement and never having ridden either before or after the 2 day MSF class, I am and was quite amateur.
I am just now being able to laugh at my mistakes on the bike that caused me to "kiss the pavement" twice.
I am so lucky that my bike got away from the incidents with only cosmetic scratches. (It was so pristine when I bought it! ) I am even luckier that I was fully "geared up" with helmet, armored jacket, boots and gloves.To absolutely show you that I have no problem admitting my mistakes, I will share the 2 lessons I learned within a week of each other at the beginning of the summer-- and after I had been riding for 4 weeks safely in rush hour traffic and weekend practice sessions at the local high school parking lot).
(A) Having a slightly shorter in-seam than I wish (in my next life I want to be 6 feet tall!) on the Kat did not help when attempting to turn around on an inclined driveway. Once I accidently let the bike start to lean too far down the declining side and not recognizing the imminent danger that the thing was going to be so heavy, I ended up being the captain that went down with the ship.
Bruised ego and soft tissue injury lessons learned there. (B) Being distracted by the fear of a particularly sharp 270 degree elevated turn about a third of a mile down the road caused me (while waiting at a stoplight) to either forget I came up to the stoplight in 2nd gear and forgot to shift to 1st gear or I was in 1st gear and let the clutch out too fast -- either way I stalled and not expecting to do so as I started up from the traffic signal, despite trying my darndest to hold the bike up on one foot, I fell down to the other side than the prior incident. This time, my helmet did it's job because I hit the pavement. Not going fast and not a particularly hard impact (since I had just started up from the traffic light). Nonetheless, knees and wrists just weren't made to bump into pavement. Thank God, there were no cars behind me that were moving and it was a sparsely populated intersection or else I would've been road pizza.
So, the 2 valuable lessons I learned involved basic rider's common sense (that yours truly lacked apparently) -- always know what gear you are in at each and every intersection as well as always pay attention to the small details such as incline issues when the bike is perpendicular to the slope.
I am humbled to be a new member to the group and want everyone to know that I proudly consider myself as a fellow motorcyclist. (Oh yeah, when safe to do so, I always waive to fellow bikers -- be they cruisers, sport bike owners, or even the folks on scooters.) I am not a speed demon and definitely not the type trying to compete with the sport bikes racing down my city's main cruising drag. I hope to gain information from this website and appreciate you reading this message. In closing, safe motorcycling is exciting and I am glad to join the community.
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