Who taught you how to ride?

Just wondering how you went about learning to ride and who taught you....Did you take an MSF course or any other riding class first, or just learn from friends or a significant other? Did anyone just decide to start riding and learn all alone without help from anyone else?

Misti

Decided I wanted to ride motorcycles...spent the summer riding my friends yamie 450 then got legal.

Oh I left out the obvious stuff: Got a learners permit, did my 60 days, got my endorsement...went out and bought a '76 Honda CB750K and away I went. 25 years now

Greetings from California where ability to ride is not a requirement for a learner's permit and barely a requirement for a license.

To get the learner's permit I just had to take a written test. No sweat.

Then a buddy of mine who had a Nighthawk 450 took me to the parking lot at the Del Mar fairgrounds/racetrack, said, "Here's the clutch, here's the..." and turned me loose. Shortly thereafter I bought a 1983 GS450 and went to get my license. Also no sweat, though it did have more of a real-world component. I had to drive around the block and when I got back with no damage to the bike--indeed, got back at all--I got the license.

I took an MSF beginner course with my wife a couple years ago, but that' the extent of my non-self-taught rider training.

Oh yeah. It took me less than 6 months to total the 450. :huh

Rancho

I started on bicycles. Neighbor kids would have mopeds and dirt bikes, sometimes. I'd take those out when my parents didn't know. We had a supermoto type circuit through a church parking lot, before any of us knew what supermoto was. Of course, the best we could manage was hustling a Tomos moped through there. I had the fastest time, but no one saw me cut the corners and slam over a curb. All is well!

After that messing around in my young days, I didn't touch a bike until my older brother bought a CBR600. I took it around the block once, took the MSF class the week after that. The rest is history. I've since taken the MSF class a few times, taught for a few years (but quit), and took the MSF dirt bike class. Loved it, but didn't get anything close to a dual sport until 2007.

My opinion on training: Unless you've started on dirt, kicking around the yard, the farm, or racing, take the MSF class before you get serious about street riding. Even if you've started on dirt and can handle a bike well, MSF classes do a better job teaching you about traffic than any car-based drivers education.

Case in point. My older brother was self-taught on the street. He crashed several times during his first year and got hurt enough to realize that it wasn't for him (took more risks than I'd ever take on the street, too). He stopped riding. I don't even think he made it one full year.

My little brother and I took the MSF class and morphed into these strange ATGATT, ride-in-all-weather, all-road-conditions, fast-as-all-hell, 2-wheeled nuts, that want nothing more than to rack-up as much seat time as possible. My little brother is finally catching up to me on mileage (I'm at 97,000 miles in 7 years, he's at 82,000 in 5 years) and will probably pass me by next summer. On his side, he lives in the South and isn't married. On my side, my wife rides on the bike and we spend between 2 and 3 weeks a year on moto vacations.

I'd really like to understand exactly why my older brother hung it up. I always thought that it had to do with his non-education approach to riding. I think the deeper question with him is really, "Why did he start riding in the first place?" My guess is that he thought Tom Cruise looked really cool on that Ninja in TOP GUN. My older brother is not a traveller or an explorer. My little brother and me are.

I know I went off topic. I just think about the way my brothers sit juxtapose on how we came into riding, how we were trained, and where motorcycling has taken us.

Hope your book or article is coming together well!

Cheers,

Dave

My Dad on my Grandmas farm when I was 7 or so then got my learners permit at 14 and took MSF to get liscence at 16

My Dad who has never been on a motorcycle in his entire life taught me how to ride a '74 K50 that grandad too in partial payment (it didn't run) on an overdue feed bill. After we cleaned the carb and fixed the oil-plug that I stripped (I was 12) pops lined me up on the gravel road in front of our farm & told me to find first and ease out the clutch. I asked where the brake was and he replies "I think it's on the handlebar".
So off I go ( no gear at all) hit a ridge of gravel pull the front brake and give it gas at the same time, wind up snowplowing and lowside within 50' of dear old dad who says get back on that some bitch and go slow this time. :huh So I quit crying and got the rocks out of my arm and learned to ride.
That was 30 years ago and I still plan on taking the MSF corse .

My dad and my Z-50. He stood on the side of our suburban road and held out two fingers for 2nd gear, three for 3rd gear, until I learned how and why to shift. I still remember it. I was a little kid.

Kept riding...lots of dirt...eventually graduated to street bikes in the early 80's.

Found out I had no idea how a bike turned when I went wide in a turn on a V45 Magna in 1988. Learned a lot about how little I knew.

Hooked up with some racers. They talked me through some concepts, I followed their lines, got to be an okay rider. Discovered track days. Learned a lot, skills-wise, but I had the squidly judgement of an adrenalized gnat.

Started bike commuting about that time. Judgement improved.

Took an advanced street survival course about 6 years ago. Learned a lot.

Didn't take an MSF course until I became a rider coach 4 years ago.

Took an MSF dirt bike school class about two years ago to get back to basics and work out some heebie jeebies related to breaking the front end loose inadvertantly on the GS on wet pavement. Very basic class. Learned a lot.

Hope to do more track days this coming year.

I started on minibikes (the lawn mower engine ones) in the 60's. One of my brothers put me on my first motorcycle and taught me how to shift sometime in the very early 70's. It was a Aermacchi/Harley-Davidson enduro. And it was the coolest damned thing I had ever seen.

So I was hooked. I had a few crummy 70's dirt bikes graduating to even crummier 70's DS bikes when I got a drivers license. After 30+ years of owning bikes I have still never had anything but DS bikes and dirt bikes. But I guess somewhere along the way among the thousands of face plants I must have figured it out.

like the not technically a relative type... The Big Brothers of Orange County type

my family was not that well off, but he sure was... he taught me to ride a Kawasaki 90, how to water ski, how to snow ski, ride a snowmobile, etc.

He was my path to all the adventures I have had since... I learned that the pain of crashing goes away, but the joy of these adventures lasts forever.

Once I learned how to ride "properly", all it took was a friend with a bike, and an inattentive parent, and we would sneak the bike out and wreak havoc... all those places are now shopping centers and housing...

No wonder kids today turn in to video nerds... no place to play... it's one of the reasons I moved out of the burbs, and bought my kids motorcycles...

grew up on BMX dirt bikes...

Had buddies in school with YZ80's and YZ125...
Took the occasional few laps on those from time to time..
Didnt seem much different that a dirt bike with a motor, that could go FAST!! :eek1 WooFuckinHoo!!

Fast forward 10 years later living in North Dallas..
Just went out one day and picked up a Vstar 1100.
Been trying to spend as much time on two wheels as possible ever since.

Its been almost ten years now. No real schedule lessons.
Lots of learn as you go experience points..

some highlights..

After lowering the 1100 was in a 45mph curve really feeling good about the day, and wanting to get some lean on the ride... dug a floorboard into the asphault, polevaulted the backend... tried like hell to highside myself, but road that bitch out. :eek1
Went home changed my shorts, cracked a beer, and stared at the bike in the garage as I comtemplated the evenings lesson.

After new full length low slung Cobra exhaust, and Intake/jet kit... was running up the Dallas North Tollway.. thought I would rattle the toll attendants teeth while running the toll booth. Cracked the trottle wide, only to hit the oil slick, and have the assend come around to my right to say hello. Tried like hell to lowside.. but alas I rode that shit out.
I must admitted my ass was puckered like never before, but that shit had to look like I was a pro I had the bike sideways for about 60-80 feet.
I was pretty sure I was going down the whole time, but the gods were on my side and the ass end rather smoothly righted itself.

One particularly brave day, feeling like me and the bike had become one for quite some time.... I thought I would give it my all and try and pick the front end up on a launch.. IE: Wheelie the 1100.
I wrapped that bitch up, and a nice clean piece of concrete I knew had plenty of grip... then dumped the clutch, ready to yank the shit outta the bars.
Well launch the bike did.. like a rocket.. only straight out of the hole.
(keep in mind I had lowered the bike... so not much suspension travel)
Not only was I not able to yank the bars... I didnt even have the bars within my reach :eek1 There I was hanging on with my legs, thinking fuck Im about to fall off the back!!! What seemed like forever, wasnt long until momentum slowed and I had grip on the bars again.

That sums up my lessons... Hotrodding is scary. Dont be Stupid.
Let people admire the bike.. not many are impressed by stunts.

I must admit that I do have experience with cars on dirt track, and road racing... I'm no stranger to lossing control, spins, slides, etc.
I know that an object on path, really wants to stay that path..
I typically just relax controls, the vehicle naturally right itself, with minimal corrections for guidance. (which works, unless of course your heading straight for something you need to avoid) Then you working your ass off, hoping to not overcorrect.

The thing is.. in a car it seems like you have forever. When shit goes awry on the bike, it happens FAST!! :eek1

I guess I fit that bill kind of.... My father bought me a Honda SL70 when I was 10 or so. He didn't know how to ride... but he knew where the gas, brakes, and clutch were. He showed me how to use them and basically cut me loose. I had two rules...stay on the property- 10 acres... and if I EVER rode without a helmet, the bike was gone forever. I've been on two wheels ever since.... with a helmet..lol

I have always liked motorcycles, but for one reason or another never got into riding them until I was in my early thirties. I had the good (or bad) fortune one day of getting a programming contract with BMW, and walking past that F650GS in the lobby every day finally flipped my switch. The lust grew within my soul.

So I went and signed up for an MSF class a few miles from home. The rider coaches were kind and competent, and I think I did well in the class. It is now seven years later, and the bike I bought a few weeks after the class is well worn but running strong.

Proud to say I got my first bike and lesson from this guy who lived across the street from me. In this photo he just won the very first Daytona 200, back when it was run on the sand; M/C Hall of Fame member, ”Iron Man” Ed Kretz.

My friend Tom. In 1973 we were 18 years old. Tom had a Honda 305 and soon later got a Honda CB500. I learned on that 305. Since then we've both owned a number of bikes. We still ride together going on an annual trip for the last 35 years. This year he traded his old naked Gold Wing for a 2005 BMW R1200GS. One ride on that bike and I was sold. I traded my 1988 Harley Electra Glide for a 2001 BMW R1150GS: What a great move! Tom's broken a couple of bones over the years. I, knock on wood, have not had a crash (unless you count the 0 mph crash I had a week ago in a parking lot, when I inadvertenly popped the clutch with the front wheel turned all the way to the right and fell right over: humiliating). In my old age (53) I have become much more a student of proper riding technique, reading, watching video, practicing. I also am much more a believer in ATGATT.

First ride was on a cousin's CL90. Didn't know how to shift or even why someone would want to shift gears. My uncle heard that poor little Honda winding out and stopped my riding session. End of riding for the next 13 years.

Later, a work friend who raced two-stoke enduros on the weekends agreed to teach me how to ride. I bought a used Honda XL 350 and took offroad lessons from him. I was in West Texas at the time so I had no idea how to ride hills but I learned from day one how to ride mud--and how to keep up with a much faster rider.

I moved up to a Honda CB750 SS and took the Air Force MOST I and MOST II safety training. It taught me strategies and slow speed on-road skills. Got my license and have been riding since, about 28 years.

Bicycles, than 1,500 miles in 15 weeks on a 50cc moped, then MSF, then Kawasaki VN750 (when I also learned about fixing bikes). The moped taught me all about friction zones with its manual clutch and 1 gear. It took a lot of time in the friction zone to get that thing moving without stalling it. I never pedaled that thing either, except to start it.

The guy wanted to sell me a bike, an old Suzuki DS (TS175), but needed to show me how to ride first. Sand pits here we come. Gave that bike to my little brother after high school. Did not have another bike for quite a while, but ended up with a small honda DS (XL 185) next. Then on to a CB500T, actually got my learner's permit with that one (only a written test to get it). Rode that for less than a year, and let the learner's permit expire. Another long time passed before I would get the next (and current) bike. Thinking about the safety course. Time is tight though. Basically learning all over again. I did read on this site the best piece of advice, and have been using it every day on my commute. "Ride like you are invisible, and everyone is trying to kill you." So far so good.

In 1965 when I was 12 my best buddy Mike’s uncle had two CT90s that he taught us to ride. He spent at few minutes explaining the controls to us and then turned us loose on the dirt roads around his cabin. Man I have been absolutely hooked on motorcycles ever since. I rode dirt and street bikes through High School and flat track raced though the 70’s. Since then I have always had a dirt bike and one or two street bikes in the garage and thought I was a pretty good rider. Imagine my surprise in 1999, after riding for 34 years I attended my first of several of Reg Pridgmore’s CLASS schools and discovered that my street riding technique sucked. Turns out I had always ridden a street bike like it was a dirt bike. Thanks’, Reg I am a smoother safer rider because of you; wish I had taken a good track school sooner.

I was too young.

I can say that 40 years +/- later I am still learning.

It is like asking: DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN YOU LEARNED TO WALK?

I am sure it was a combination of Dad and older Brother.

I did go through the MSF with EX but I had been riding for 30 years at that point. I did not learn anything but I did have a good time.

Now I sell bikes for a living and I strongly encourage the class to all new and returning riders. I also offer to ride with them on my days off.

RIDE RIDE RIDE

My granddad taught me to ride when I was about 4.

At age 28, after reading Long Way Around, I decided to take the MSF class and buy an F650GS. I didn't know any other riders then, but I sure know them now!