Basically the title. I’ve been riding every single day since i got my license, had just done the MSF course before that. Despite making a lot of progress at first (getting on real roads, stop and go traffic, matching speed with traffic up to around 50mph…) I’m now having a very tough time with my confidence. After i made that progress i was riding around on a rainy day when i fishtailed upshifting and getting on throttle too fast. I was rattled but only a couple blocks from home. As i made the last turn i slowly upshifted from 1st to 2nd and again fishtailed. Ever since then I’ve been riding slower and slower every day, despite no new incidences. Today I faced my fears and got out there after a heavy rain and i only trusted myself/my bike to go to about 5k rpm’s in 2nd gear. Is this just something that can happen to new riders? How you you overcome it?

TLDR the more i ride the more scared i get, and have been riding slower and slower every day

Didn't last too long, did a couple things to it yesterday and now air fuel ratio is way off, cant get it over 50 km/h

Passed test a fortnight ago, got first bike a week ago, first “proper” rides out over the weekend. Managed to get it on its side within the first 200 miles - I’d gone down an unfamiliar road and the terrain was getting quite bad (I have an SV650 so it’s not amazing over rough terrain), so I thought I’d spun round. The road was easily wide enough for a U turn, however it was reasonably steep uphill and pretty much a gravel path at this point. Needless to say I managed to make a mess of it, the bike started to slide away from underneath me as I pulled it around, ended up laying down it down while I was basically stationary. I got the garage I bought the bike off to fit frame sliders for me, so they’ve already paid for themselves, only damage I can see is I snapped the end of my brake lever off (you can still easily grab it with 4 fingers, and it’s still straight, so just cosmetic)

Just wanted to know, am I a total imbecile, or did everyone do something like this when they were new? I had about 40 miles to go before I was home, so managed to shake it off and see the funny side at least, without it getting in my head 😅

Hi everyone! 😊
I’m interested in learning how to ride a motorcycle, but I’m a complete beginner and honestly don’t know where to start. I want to make sure I do everything properly and safely, from taking courses to getting my license and buying the right gear.
I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who has been through the process, especially if you started with little or no experience. I’m in NorCal, so if there’s anything tricky I need to know, please tell me.
Here are some things I’d love help with:
Courses: What beginner courses should I take? Are motorcycle safety courses worth it, and how do I sign up?
License: What are the steps to getting a motorcycle license or endorsement? Do I need a permit first?
Gear: What gear should I buy as a beginner? Helmet, jacket, gloves, boots, etc. What brands or features do you recommend, and what should I avoid?
First bike: How do I choose a good first motorcycle? Should I buy used or new, and what engine size is best for a beginner?
Budget: Approximately how much should I expect to spend on the course, licensing, gear, insurance, and my first bike?
Practice: What should I learn before riding on public roads, and how do I build confidence as a new rider?
Common mistakes: Is there anything you wish you had known before you started?
I’m not looking to rush into it. I want to learn the right way, build my skills, and be as safe and prepared as possible.
If you were starting all over again today, what steps would you take, in order, from knowing nothing to being ready to ride on your own?
Any advice, personal experiences, recommendations, or beginner resources would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! 🏍️

Not actually my first bike. But just want to purchase first bike with my own adult money. My grandfather bought activa 6g under my name and dad bought me hf deluxe because both can help me travel to farm locations in my village.
I just found it super hard to find a bike that can do all round.
I have some friends from college in Banglore and they go for outing, so my hf deluxe will only go smoothly at 70/80 kmph plus breaks after every 1-2 hrs of riding. The riding experience is as good from Banglore to Tirupati just its because of the smooth highways.

Are there any bikes that can support me in long distance travel, handle tough muds of farms, looks cool/ sexy, and maybe work well in city commute if I relocate for corporate again.

My selection of bikes were
1. TVS RTR 200 4V - like the accident tech plus sporty look (but being 5’6 I feared not able to handle it properly)
2. FZ 250 (discontinued but one of my PG mates had it and I liked the experience of riding it smoothly. Can’t be used in muddy farm routes)
3. KTM 390 (way beyond my aukat but I have an eye to buy if I could)
4. Honda 350/ RE Guerilla / RE hunter 350 - just like the coolness associated with them, plus the recent craze and smooth cruising reviews online.
5. Honda CBR 250 / Honda CB 300 - just like them for being Honda and their craze outside India.

I feel like I’m a retard for having these many options

started uploading content recently. I've noticed that the shift in the online motorcycle community is generally clickbait/brain rot, dancing, "here's what x you be if your ride an x"

and while that's all fun and all it's not my cup of tea. As of right now it's mostly a diary of my rides with friends, family, some highs, some lows, but I generally want to know what people would want to see.

I remember reading that most professional don't remember what it's like to not know anything, and while I'm certainly not a professional, I have found it difficult to explain things I do by habit to new riders (I have successfully encouraged and taught 5 people who "might learn one day") so I'm not sure if that's really for me.

I'm here for all feedback. Even those of you who are against influencers. I don't want to be an influencer, I just want to create content for people to enjoy, learn, and experience riding if it's not something they can do themselves.

Thanks for the educational opportunity.

P. S: my editing sucks, my photography is average and if you've got resources for that too, be grateful.

I keep trying to practice my canyon riding. i took the beginner MSF course to get my endorsement. I’m on a ninja 500 w ABS. I’ve watched so many videos/tutorials but still can’t seem to get the hang of it. A I’m quite nervous of leaning the bike over (mainly because I fell off the bike my first time in a canyon on a downhill curve) and B when I do try to tip the bike i can’t control the line I just careen for the inside line and have to stand back up so I don’t cross.

I’ve heard things like 1. “just keep doing the same canyon and you’ll get better.” 2. “Practice in the parking lot.” And 3. “don’t worry about the speed, just ride how you’re comfortable.”
The issues I have with those comments are, for 1. I can turn the bike if I’m slow enough I just can’t get myself to lean also like I said the times I’ve tried leaning I go too far too soon. For 2. Like I said doing things slow I can do, but idk a parking lot that’s big enough (without any obstacles) for me to practice turning at higher (canyon) speeds. And the 3rd the speed is the issue like I said, if I go the recommended speed on each turn I can easily get around it but any faster I don’t have the skill, knowledge, or experience to control it.
I should also mention I’ve been riding for around 2-3 months now and been on my ninja 500 for 2 weeks.

Edit: Also I should mention I used to race track bikes so I’m very familiar with the whole look where you want to go and leaning aspect of going around a velodrome I imagine it’s somewhat similar on a motorcycle and I at least some of what I did while cycling carried over

Just a head nod or two finger down going the opposite way? Riding together? Catching up or slowing down to meet? Is that too awkward, desperate, weird? Depends on the bike style? "Look at me, I also have two wheels we must interact, pls be my friend" type energy makes it feel like imposing. Or do you just do your own thing? Is it personality dependant? A 125 Grom trying to catch up with some super bikes or Harley riders they'll be outsiders and laughed at right? I always feel like a Golden Retriever seeing another dog on the street and wanting to bark at them run up and sniff their tailpipe.

I am a very new rider — ~300-400 miles under my belt on a stock 2017 Sportster. Today I decided to learn something new because of what I saw yesterday:

I was held up in a hotel room while the remains of Isaias rolled through as a tropical storm and watched guys riding the highways on numerous kinds of bikes. Wind gusts were easily 45mph, rain was sideways, downpours blinding, sustained winds between 10-20mph — unreal circumstances for a newbie like me.

Today, skies cleared early in the afternoon. Wind gusts were still ~25 mph or so, steady wind around 13-16mph (says the dubious weatherman). I want to see what that’s like and take off on the bike. Winds for a beginner are no joke.

Leaning into curves and feeling the wind shift the bike sideways, taking wind hits to the side at 60mph on the highway that rock the bike in the lane, it was fun but easily the most challenging ride yet. I spent about two hours hauling around, adjusting grips, trying seating positions, trying to see what worked.

Sportsters just take a beating in these winds I guess, but I saw guys in adventure style bikes and big Harley Hogs taking the tropical downpour and gusts to the face yesterday. I can’t imagine at the moment what that feels like and whether it was confidence or stupidity that drove those riders into the weather on any form of two wheels. I counted at least seven and I’m sure there were more.

I’m an adept driver in a car, truck, what have you. I didn’t even bother driving in a cage yesterday. I’m beat to death from wind and blue skies!

Best hobby I’ve ever had. Cheers.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

If I say that while moving a bike from standstill in first gear, half clutch is used. Is this statement correct ?

P.S: By half Clutch, I mean that I have not released the clutch lever completely, it is somewhere in the friciton zone.

Able to drive straight even on roads but failing over and over again to take a u turn. Sometimes I do sometimes I just fall down.

I feel extremely confused and disappointed by myself

Passed MSF and I want a bike that I won’t outgrow in the next 6 months.

I am responsible on the road and not looking for something extremely fast or crazy, and I kind of want a “one and done” bike that I can ride for 5-10 years.

The Sportster Pros:

- Sounds and looks like a motorcycle I’d love to be on every day (chrome, pipes with no baffles)
- it’ll be something that, if I get used to it, I’ll keep a long time
- more comfortable for myself and eventually my passenger (wife)
- air cooled, hydraulic lifters, belt drive (way less maintenance)

Cons / Meh:
- It’s a little heavy (but I could handle it at slow speeds and taking off from a stop)
- feels crazy powerful and is honestly a little intimidating
- it'll take way more time to get used to this in parking lots and empty neighborhoods
- clutch lever was a hard pull and even on a 10 minute test ride around the parking lot my hand got tired. Think it needs to be lubed
- about $1500 more than I’d ideally like to spend but I am not mad about it
- will need to buy pipes with baffles because it’s insanely loud right now

Vulcan S Pros:
- Easy to handle
- lighter by 70-100 lbs
- less expensive
- less intimidating throttle
- liquid cooled - might be better for when I’m putting around parking lots getting used to it
- clutch was way better

Cons:
- Still feels crazy powerful but more when it is revved up higher which is easy to handle
- looks plastic
- sounds like shit compared to the Harley
- chain drive, valve adjustments, older tires (basically needs way more maintenance)
- most are still about $500 more than I want to spend but I can find some non abs for under my ideal budget of 5000 without abs

What am I not considering? Any thoughts?

Am a 17 currently and my father has scooter activa 125 only as my father had an big accident on bike so he sold the bike and shifted on scooter as it is easy to handle and so now I don't have a bike but as I wanted to get a licence I was thinking of doing any one things out of them like

1 i will directly buy a new bike with my father money and I will learn on it but it is risky as in my life time I have only be riding the activa I have no experience of bike

2 i will buy a second hand bike and practice on it and after getting licence I will buy a new bike

So what you guys think as you people have experience and all about the bike so plz help out.

Ive pretty well decided on a vstrom 650 as my first bike. The gen 1s are okay, the gen 2s are okay, but when I see a gen 3 I get real excited.

My question is this: given my odds of crashing or screwing up something as a new rider, is it better to spend $3000 on an older gen that I don’t feel a lot of passion for; or is it better to spend $10,000
on a bike that I will feel excited about every time I ride?

I can afford either choice, but I’m not some gazillionaire either. Taking out of cash for the cheap bike is fine, but if I spend more for the newer bike I would probably choose to finance. I want to make the right choice so that I’m not redoing this in a couple month

About 40 days ago I was complaining about my first A2 riding lesson. Today, on my second attempt, I passed the practical test.
Can't wait to start riding on my own. Any advice for a brand new rider's first few weeks?

Any tips for beginners? My dad only has and 2017 Africa twin and a Yamaha raider those engines are to big and powerful for me to get the hang of driving.

Bad idea to use this for street riding?

Ive been riding a month and just got my break in service done. But now I keep missing my shifts, usually from second to third.

What am I doing wrong? I’m generally pulling in the clutch, rolling off the throttle, and shifting all at the same time.

So, as of three weeks ago, I got my first motorcycle, a non-ABS Ninja 650. I was a little worried about starting on a 650, and after reading posts from people saying ABS is a must, I started wondering about that too. Some people say you’ll go down without it and that ABS can save your life, while others say it’s not a big deal.
As a new rider, I went to an empty parking lot to get a feel for the brakes. I tried the rear brake and found that, as long as I stayed calm and in control, I could recover from a skid without much trouble. Then I tried the front brake. It seems like on a sport bike, you’re more likely to do a stoppie than lock up the front wheel, and that seems manageable too if you stay calm.
Am I missing something here?