Your first time riding

[con]

I rode a friends XR50 as a kid when I was about 12 and always had access to a quad......fast forward to 2003, I was smart and bought a used in great condition '98 ZX-6R. I worked 9 hrs, then trailered 6 hrs to pick it up and another 6 hrs home. Was dead tired when I got home at about 2:30Am. Walked the bike off of the trailer and attempted to ride it onto my parking pad and into the garage. It had a carburetor and I didn't allow it to warm up so it easily stalled twice as I attempted to pull over the 1" lip from the street to my parking pad. I thought maybe if I give it more gas it would go, blipped the throttle and dumped the clutch. The bike shot off from underneath me, did a lil wheelie and bumped into my CRX slightly increasing the crack of the poorly molded on rear bumper. I tried not to notice the five neighbors lights coming on to see what was happening

I didn't touch the bike again until a month later after I passed the MSF which was elementary. I got removed from the class and sent riding on my own the second day after performing all maneuvers flawlessy and at above average speed. I then put about 2,000 miles on my own bike within a few days and started riding everywhere I went. Then I found GSB and it was off to the mtns. Similar to Bucky's experience I was riding with a group of experienced riders and had no idea of what body position was necessary to handle through deep curves. I had been dragging hard parts all day and even had been through this particular decreasing radius curve of 60 previously. However, this time I had a bit more speed and I was already dragging pegs. When the curve tightened up I had no more lean angle and I lowsided. I slid all of 5 ft on my butt and had so much momentum that when my boots hit the side of the road it stood me up and was able to run the rest of it off. I ripped the pocket off of my jeans, trashed a pair of Icon boots and had not a scratch on me. The bike on the other hand continued to slide off the street and got slammed by a log. All plastics were trashed, forks bent, frame dinged, subframe trashed, clip-ons, tank dinged, upper stay, the bike was a total loss. I had bought it for $2,500 and sold it to a track guy all mangled for $1,750. I later learned that he was more interested in the clean title as that is all the bike was good for, well that and the engine.

2 weeks later I bought a '03 ZX-9R (sold a year later due to a career change) and the rest is history.......'04 CBR 1000RR (sold), '05 GSXR 1000 (sold), '05 GSXR 750 (crashed and parted out) and '06 GSXR 750 (now sold )

I love telling that story! Too bad it will be a while before I ride again as I just sold the '06 750 to buy a bigger house and I forgot to take pics I had installed a brand new set of '07 all blk 600 plastics. It was so badass...... I'll be back on two as soon as I get adjusted to the higher mortgage and stack some more chips though. I prefer outright owning my bikes over leasing to keep a bit of stress off of my already rocket high credit Damn American Dream and owning the biggest home possible.....

For you guys who have never crashed and continue to ride, beware it's coming. The question is will you be prepared and geared up or reap the consequences???

[Brett]

My first bike was 9 years ago, I bought a Ninja 250 and I had to have my dad bring it home in the back of the truck from the dealership cause I was to scared to ride it...LOL. For a week I rode around my sub division afraid to get out in traffic, One day I fonally did it. One month later I sold the 250 and bought a Ninja 600 then had to sell it a year later when I got divorced. 9 years later I have a '06 R6 and getting back into it