starter bike???
OK, listen up as i'm only going to say this one time. Sounds like a drill sargent dont it? LMAO. For real though. Take a course or even two courses. There you will learn about terms that you dont know exist now. How about "Target fixation"? You said you were new at this so pay attention. How about the "No zone"? Like someone said before, handle bars straight when coming to a stop even if it's in the last 4 feet. You will learn a ton and these guys that have piped in here at your request have offered their advice because they've been there and done that and they want to keep ya paying taxes. To do that you have to stay alive. Myself i've riden i dont know how many bikes in my life. My son at 17 rode one of my Wings from West Plains, Mo. to Greeneville, SC with mom and i. He was the youngest Wing rider out of 11,000 people. Great accomplishment for the lad but he had been put through the paces in more than one course simply because i loved him. Now he rides at will and does so safely as best as one can with idiots on the road. I ride a 1500 Wing. The bigger the better for me. Comfort is first and formost. A crotch rocket cant be comfortable. My longest day with the wife with me was 807 miles. Now sweet Suzy aint gona feel good humped up like a june bug on a turd ball on the back of no rice rocket. Remember this also. Ride your own ride. If you dont feel good trying to ride at someone elses pace then dont. Ride your own pace. At night NEVER outride your headlites. Wet leaves are slippery and so are painted lines. Gravel is not your friend. What else did i miss guys? Oh yes. There's a lot to be said about parking lot practice.
I'll think of more later. Be carefull.
Small Block
Listen to what he just said.
If you are out riding with friends for the first time.
Ride your own ride, arriving a few minuates later is better than the ER.
90% of the time I take the last position in a group of friends, just to make sure everbody is ok, plus I chew tobacco, so I have to spit.
One ride a new rider which rode semi-slow was way behind everybody else, on a bike he just bought, he really was trying to keep up, a big straight strech cam up and he open his bike up.
Me and my wife was behind him, he hit a turn way to fast, fixcated on a road sign, there was a state road sign there, he hit it, went over the hill, broke his leg and ended up 20' down a ravine.
If we were not behind him, he might not have been found for days.
I can still remember to this day seeing the complete undercarrage of his bike in the air.
Ride safe